LAVW – Chapter 47 Time-Thousand Gold Pill

Shi Qian finished off half a spirit ginseng while the clam demon continued its desperate attempts to curry favor.

Watching the scene unfold, Shi Qian gradually felt that something was off.

This clam demon… didn’t seem very smart.

It hardly showed any intelligence—just raw power.

Its aura was unstable, clearly indicating it was injured. Most likely, after swallowing the entire auction house, it had been attacked by multiple cultivators, suffering significant wounds.

Otherwise, with how it was clinging to Black Crane You Fang, it would probably be glued to him all the time.

Shi Qian had seen You Fang many times before, but this was the first time encountering the clam demon.

Curious, Shi Qian asked, “Squeak Squeak?”

Brother Black Crane, why isn’t the Senior Clam Demon speaking?

Hearing this, Black Crane whoosh—jerked his head out of the white water, sweeping a fierce gaze at Shi Qian.

The white water seemed to have a staining effect, coating You Fang’s black crane head in a layer of white. But in no time, the white was absorbed, revealing the “dazzling” black of You Fang’s feathers once more.

It might sound strange, but to Shi Qian, You Fang’s feathers seemed to shine, appearing sleek and glossy.

Putting aside other matters, You Fang’s true form was that of an elegant and handsome black crane.

Then, the black crane spoke in human tongue: “Because I poisoned him into stupidity.”

Shi Qian: …

Regret and silence overtook Shi Qian.

After a while, Shi Qian finally let out a small squeak, “Squeak”

I’ll behave.

Shi Qian realized the question had been a mistake.

Clearly, that wasn’t something You Fang wanted to hear.

When You Fang mentioned poisoning the clam demon into stupidity, the clam’s axe-like foot was still stubbornly clinging to the crane’s slender legs. The sight filled Shi Qian’s mind with question marks.

Even though the clam demon had been poisoned into idiocy, it still had no defenses against You Fang?

No, the truth was, before being poisoned, the clam demon had already placed absolute trust in You Fang.

So even in its current state, acting purely on instinct, it remained fully devoted—allowing You Fang to do whatever he pleased.

But wasn’t the clam demon already obedient? What had happened that made You Fang decide to poison it?

A dispute?

Shi Qian quietly pondered while absentmindedly gnawing on his spirit ginseng.

As an inexperienced young spirit beast, being obsessed with eating, drinking, and improving his strength was completely normal.

Black Crane was still in a bad mood. Impatiently, he kicked the clam demon away again, then, visibly annoyed, stepped out of the pond. He transformed into his human form and, without warning, grabbed Shi Qian and dragged him to the medicine room.

The movement was so sudden that Shi Qian nearly dropped his spirit ginseng.

Instinctively, he stretched out his not-so-long claws, just barely managing to catch the ginseng mid-air.

Unaware that Shi Qian had set a diligent little goal of finishing the ginseng, You Fang simply found the whole scene ridiculous.

These spirit beasts were so foolish.

They knew that after indulging in these benefits, they would end up as fattened livestock ready for slaughter, yet they still couldn’t resist temptation.

Without a second thought, You Fang clutched the little creature and once again cut Shi Qian’s wrist, letting the blood drip into the Eight Dragon Gold Cup.

Shi Qian whispered from the side, “Squeak Squeak.”

Just a few drops.

But this time, it was even more than before—five drops. Shi Qian felt his heart ache, thinking he had been shortchanged. Clearly, he hadn’t eaten enough to bankrupt You Fang, that lunatic.

After stopping the bleeding, You Fang stared intently at the golden pearls in the dragon’s mouth.

One by one, the pearls lit up again—sixth, seventh…

Seven pearls lit up in succession, but this time, the seventh one only glowed halfway, looking somewhat dim.

You Fang’s face twisted with disbelief, his expression filled with doubt. “How is this possible?”

Immediately, he sent his spiritual energy into Shi Qian’s body to inspect him.

Shi Qian obediently lay down.

Thinking back to how the last pearl had taken a moment to light up, and remembering Long Ye covered in blood last time, he suspected that the seventh pearl might not have been activated by his own blood at all.

Shi Qian could clearly feel that his bloodline and aptitude had improved—You Fang’s methods were effective.

He had indeed grown stronger. The Eight Dragon Gold Cup wasn’t faulty, so the anomaly had to be related to Long Ye.

But under no circumstances could You Fang discover that Long Ye also had dragon blood.

Shi Qian racked his brain and started making things up. “Squeak Squeak.”

Brother Black Crane, I’ve been feeling pain in my body lately.

“Be specific” You Fang responded while internally analyzing the issue.

His inspection confirmed that the little creature in his hands had indeed improved—its bloodline had become purer. This meant that his medicine was working correctly. Yet, the Eight Dragon Cup hadn’t lit up the eighth pearl, and even the seventh one had only partially illuminated.

Could it be possible that after consuming all those precious ingredients, this little beast was somehow getting weaker instead?

Shi Qian chirped again, “Squeak Squeak.”

After eating and meditating, my body feels tight and a little sore. I think I might be growing again.

“Idiot.”

You Fang cursed and started pacing around the medicine room, rummaging through various ingredients to formulate a new medicine.

After a while, as if finding Shi Qian in the way, he casually immobilized him with spiritual energy and placed him in the corner.

Shi Qian curled up there, watching as You Fang entered a near-manic state, muttering to himself while rummaging through the room, fully absorbed in researching a medicinal concoction.

The cauldron at the center of the room was a three-legged furnace, set upon a blazing orange-white ground fire that burned continuously.

From time to time, You Fang would pull out jade slips, study them briefly, then move on to others, carefully selecting and tossing materials into the great cauldron.

Sometimes, when You Fang couldn’t find what he was looking for, he would stand in front of the bookshelves and scratch his head, turning his hair into a complete bird’s nest.

Two days later, You Fang force-fed Shi Qian a bowl of pitch-black sludge that nearly knocked him unconscious.

Disgusting.

As the black sludge slid down his throat, an immense medicinal power surged forth, squeezing into the bones wrapped in his flesh.

Immediately after, You Fang tossed Shi Qian into the giant cauldron. Engulfed in terrifying, searing heat, he was bombarded by waves of medicinal energy.

Pain followed swiftly. It felt like vicious parasites were crawling out from his bone marrow, gnawing at every nerve ending, making Shi Qian curl up in agony.

“Squeak Squeak!”

Too hot!

Shi Qian suspected he was about to be boiled bald and desperately tried rolling toward the edge of the cauldron.

You Fang’s merciless iron grip pressed him down, his own hand also submerged in the cauldron without the slightest change in expression.

“Keep cultivating.”

His voice was cold as he forcefully restrained the young spirit beast and guided Shi Qian’s spiritual energy, forcing him to adapt to a new cultivation method.

Different techniques manipulated spiritual energy in different ways. The more advanced the technique, the more complex and difficult it was to operate.

Shi Qian was forced to switch to a new technique while enduring unbearable pain. He had no desire to move, instead whimpering pitifully and completely giving up.

You Fang had no choice but to keep an eye on him constantly.

After two grueling days, Shi Qian passed out midway and slept for a day and a half. You Fang, on the other hand, had visibly lost weight.

But when he tested the blood again, seeing seven golden pearls glowing brightly—and the eighth one on the verge of lighting up—he smiled in satisfaction. “As expected. Adding meteoric iron powder accelerates the catalyzation process, forcing the bloodline to awaken faster while expelling impurities.”

After speaking, he immediately lowered his head and carved numerous notes onto a jade slip.

Standing in front of the giant cauldron, with towering bookshelves lining the walls behind him, You Fang’s shadow seemed heavier under the dim lighting of the lofty room.

Using his fingertip as a carving knife, he moved only his hand and eyes while engraving, entirely ignoring the spirit beast he had been boiling for two days.

Shi Qian quietly crawled out of the cauldron, looked up at him, and was tempted to bite him twice.

At first, he had genuinely thought he was about to be cooked alive—scared him half to death!

He leaped onto You Fang’s back, then climbed onto his shoulder, peeking at what he was writing.

You Fang glanced at him sharply, then chuckled. “Don’t tell me you can actually read?”

For demonic beasts, learning human script was incredibly difficult. You Fang had gone through immense hardship to master it, only to realize that the Heavenly Dao inherently favored human cultivators—refusing to grant true “wisdom” to demons.

But Shi Qian used to be human. He had learned to read and had received an education. Picking up words shouldn’t have been difficult.

Yet, when he first tried, it felt like his brain was wrapped in fog, making him dizzy just looking at the characters. Even learning spells had been painfully difficult back then—he had survived purely on his innate talent for running away. The struggle had been real.

At this moment, Shi Qian screamed in his heart: I haven’t been illiterate for a long time!

But out loud, he tricked You Fang: “Squeak Squeak.”

What’s writing? Can you eat it?

“Something that doesn’t taste good.” You Fang replied casually, ignoring the fearless little creature while pulling out another jade slip, comparing and recording more data.

Shi Qian was openly spying.

One particular line of text made his eyes widen in shock, and he instinctively held his breath.

—”Half-formed demonic beast, body white as silver, bearing the head of an ancient dragon, but much shorter—more like a short snake than a long one. Covered in scales, with backward-facing spines along its back, powerful limbs, and a pair of wings. Attempting to excise…”

Shi Qian: ?

A short version of a dragon? Judging by the description, it sounded a bit like a Western dragon.

Looking at the handwriting, it was clearly You Fang’s. Meaning the person who had documented this short dragon… was also You Fang.

So this guy wasn’t just some reckless experimenter—he had already succeeded before.

Shi Qian’s shock was so obvious that You Fang glanced at him again.

Sensing his gaze, Shi Qian quickly clutched his head with both paws and rolled forward, landing directly onto the jade slip.

“Squeak Squeak.”

Brother Black Crane, why is my head spinning…

Luckily, he had actually fainted before, so his acting was very convincing.

You Fang shot him a look of disdain. “Not something you should be looking at.”

Seeing the tiny beast sprawled over his jade slip, You Fang simply grabbed another one to rewrite his supplementary formula. But as he prepared to carve it, he hesitated—for once, because this little creature ate too much.

Ever since he started mingling with demonic cultivators, he hadn’t had such thoughts.

As he continued engraving, he sighed, “You eat way too much.”

Shi Qian didn’t dare respond.

What if replying made You Fang cut back on the good stuff? Better give him some face for now.

But then You Fang casually muttered—“Raising a real dragon wouldn’t be much different.”

Shi Qian couldn’t hold back. “Squeak Squeak.”

Don’t think I don’t know—dragons are already extinct.

“Heh, so you even know that? So what if they’re gone?” You Fang raised an eyebrow, full of confidence. This time, he was determined to breed a “true dragon.”

Shi Qian challenged him: “Squeak—”

Brother Black Crane, gone means gone. If dragons are extinct, how do you even know how much they eat? I don’t eat that much!

You Fang flicked his fingers and bonked Shi Qian on the head, like knocking on a wooden fish—completely ruthless.

“I’m not a black crane. I’m a white crane. Stop calling me that. Understood?”

Shi Qian thought, Are you trying to scam me?

He didn’t dare say it out loud, so he just raised his head and stared at You Fang like he was an idiot.

You Fang felt speechless under that gaze. “I was born atop Immortal Cloud Ridge. My father is the White Crane King, and my mother is also a white crane. My true form may be black, but I’m nothing like those wild black cranes.”

Shi Qian actually knew about the White Cranes of Immortal Cloud Ridge—they were a famous breed of celestial cranes, considered some of the most prestigious demonic beasts.

Big cultivation sects often hired white cranes for aesthetic purposes. First, they’d build an elegant and grand sect, then generate some mist, and finally, let a few white cranes take flight—instant celestial vibes.

Among all the avian species currently existing in the cultivation world, the white cranes of Immortal Cloud Ridge were the most ethereal and elegant. Their strength and innate talents were also remarkable—some celestial cranes even managed to cultivate into human form and become elders of major sects, making them the envy of other demonic beasts.

But the white cranes of Immortal Cloud Ridge were clearly a fixed breed, so how could they give birth to a black crane?

Shi Qian realized he’d been calling You Fang by the wrong name this entire time.

Skipping past his mistake, Shi Qian decided to praise him instead: “Squeak Squeak.”

You’re different from the rest, how amazing! So unique!

“Being different has never been a good thing,” You Fang said in a low voice. His fingers reached out and pinched Shi Qian’s fluffy ears. “Don’t you think so?”

High-level psychopaths really are on another level.

He didn’t even grab Shi Qian by the neck—just one sentence, and Shi Qian already felt a chill in his heart.

What could a little chinchilla say to that? Shi Qian nodded and put on the most practiced business smile he had, one that rivaled Xu Rui’s professional grin. “Squeak Squeak.”

Brother White Crane, you’re absolutely right.

But You Fang seemed to hate this new nickname even more. Furious, he tossed the little beast out the door.

Shi Qian tumbled outside, just in time to hear another muttered insult—”Dumb thing.”

Struggling to stop his rolling, Shi Qian fumed inwardly: If you’ve got the guts, let’s see who’s cuter!

Just as that thought crossed his mind, he looked up—and saw the clam demon clinging to the pharmacy’s outer barrier, using its axe-like foot to scrape at the protective spiritual energy layer… and licking it at the same time.

Shi Qian: …

I lost.

Resigned, Shi Qian went back to rummaging for spiritual ginseng, all while watching the clam demon repeat its bizarre actions over and over again.

He tried to strike up a conversation: “Squeak Squeak.”

Senior Clam, why don’t you just break through the barrier?

After all, the clam demon was stronger than You Fang. A mere spiritual barrier should be nothing for him.

But the clam demon didn’t listen. It just kept climbing, seemingly enjoying itself.

A few more days passed—three or four, maybe—and Shi Qian got a new meal plan. You Fang disappeared again.

Shi Qian figured this meant the dragon-creation project had made a theoretical breakthrough, and You Fang was off to experiment once more.

But the thing was—Shi Qian had just been talking nonsense before. He had merely downplayed the pain of cultivation by a hundredfold and spouted random guesses.

Now, in secret, he started thinking.

Could it be that, whether demonic beasts or humans, neither could truly withstand the power of dragon blood?

The path of Long Aotian cultivation wasn’t just about improving one’s cultivation level—it was also about constantly strengthening the body. Humans only cultivated the Dao, but Long Aotian was essentially a dual-cultivation of body and Dao.

Following this logic, You Fang might actually succeed in creating a real dragon.

But why was You Fang trying to artificially create a dragon? Did he want a powerful bodyguard?

And what about the demonic cultivators—who were clearly You Fang’s sugar daddies? What exactly were they after?

In the original plot, You Fang never had a name, and the demonic cultivators were just opportunists, causing minor chaos while leeching off the true final boss.

But from what Shi Qian had seen so far… these demonic cultivators were anything but quiet. They were being hunted by the entire cultivation world, constantly in hiding, and yet still making big moves.

Oh, right—the true final boss was an ancient dragon from ten million years ago.

It was said that the Old Dragon King had committed countless atrocities, and thus was trapped in the cultivation world by an immortal’s formation, forever denied ascension.

Imprisoned and stripped of his freedom, the Old Dragon King had to endure the eternal torment of ice and fire from the forbidden land’s formation, suffering day and night. His days were full of pain, so he tried everything to escape from this damned cultivation world.

The most frustrating part? Shi Qian had no idea what the Old Dragon King was actually up to.

All he ever saw was Long Aotian fighting his way through, leveling up, picking up girls, and humiliating enemies along the way.

Now, looking at the bigger picture, it was clear that the so-called “low-key” demonic cultivators weren’t behaving at all. If that was the case, could they also be connected to the final boss?

Shi Qian sorted through his thoughts but found no major leads. So, after You Fang left, he turned his attention to the giant clam lying by the pond, sunbathing out of boredom.

“Squeak Squeak.”

Senior, why didn’t you go with You Fang?

Receiving no response, Shi Qian boldly stretched out a paw and gave the motionless clam a little push.

Nothing. It didn’t budge—not even a tiny wobble.

Shi Qian crawled underneath to take a closer look, feeling deeply unscientific about this. The thing was only resting on a single sharp point, yet it remained perfectly balanced.

Left with no other option, he pulled out two of the most disgusting medicinal worms he could find and placed them near the clam’s opening.

“Squeak Squeak.”

Senior, do you want to eat?

At last, the clam demon reacted, extending its axe foot to gulp down the worms.

Shi Qian: “Squeak Squeak.”

Senior, can you talk? Say something to me!

The next thing he knew, a rough, raspy male voice echoed in his mind, a mix of wind howling and water gurgling.

Yet somehow, Shi Qian understood the meaning hidden in it.

“Hoo… hooo…”

“Xiao Hei… Long Long…”

Shi Qian tempted it with more food, but all he got in return were the same two words, repeated over and over.

In the end, Shi Qian could only come to a disappointing conclusion:

The clam demon is actually stupid.

So much for his plan of tricking the clam into opening the barrier, sneaking into the pharmacy, and secretly discussing things with Long Ye—it was completely dead in the water.

However, a friendship between two gluttons was still reluctantly formed.

Whenever Shi Qian got food he absolutely didn’t want to eat, he fed it to the clam demon, who ate anything without complaint. Over time, the clam demon even got used to lying next to Shi Qian while sunbathing.

But the moment You Fang appeared, the clam demon would immediately ditch Shi Qian, though, ironically, You Fang never paid it any attention.

Watching the clam demon suck up to You Fang once again, Shi Qian couldn’t help but wonder:

Could “Xiao Hei” be You Fang’s nickname?

And “Long Long”… maybe that was You Fang’s obsession?

For a suck-up to go this far, the clam demon was truly dedicated.

Meanwhile, Shi Qian ate, drank, meditated, and absorbed medicinal energy.

Soon enough, he could vaguely sense himself reaching the threshold of breaking through to the Golden Core stage.

Thinking about the Heavenly Tribulation, Shi Qian diligently chewed on minerals, metals, and even steel-like substances, even sneaking extra servings of Star Silver Stone.

Fortunately, thanks to his higher cultivation level, he didn’t turn silver this time—his looks remained perfectly intact.

One bright and sunny day, the salty sea breeze drifted into the courtyard.

Shi Qian: “Squeak—”

So nervous.

His tribulation had arrived.

Just as Shi Qian nervously put on his little vest, the clouds in the sky began to slowly gather.

By the time three to five dark clouds had floated in, a powerful demonic cultivator suddenly barged into the courtyard.

Shi Qian could sense his aura—a Nascent Soul-level cultivator—even fiercer than his junior master.

Someone had just broken through You Fang’s formation, causing the clam demon to suddenly enlarge, its giant mouth opening wide. The demonic cultivator was forced to retreat in embarrassment.

The demonic cultivator shouted, “You Fang! Get out here!”

Disturbed, You Fang immediately arrived, raising his eyes to look at the tribulation clouds in the sky.

The demonic cultivator’s face darkened. “Get that thing out of here right now! You actually let him undergo tribulation here? Are you not afraid of getting yourself killed?”

Heavenly Tribulation didn’t just strike the cultivator going through it—it had a habit of randomly striking demonic cultivators nearby as well.

With how densely populated this demonic island was, if it weren’t for You Fang’s grand formation concealing them, at least three to five demonic cultivators would be struck dead every day.

Now, with all the pending “work” for the Heavenly Tribulation, this Nascent Soul-level demonic cultivator in charge of the island was already annoyed by You Fang’s reckless actions.

Seeing an impending deadly tribulation, he completely lost his temper.

You Fang glanced at him coldly and sneered, “It’s just a lightning tribulation.”

The demonic cultivator scoffed. “Easy for you to say. Would you dare let him undergo tribulation here?”

With a wave of his sleeve, he vented his frustration.

He wasn’t even allowed to step into You Fang’s territory, proving how much You Fang valued it.

A hundred years ago, after an unexpected accident, You Fang had fallen from late-stage Nascent Soul to Golden Core.

But even at that critical moment, his biggest concern hadn’t been his jade slips, medicines, or materials.

The demonic cultivator refused to believe You Fang would take such a risk now.

Hearing their conversation, Shi Qian also realized the problem.

He absolutely could not undergo tribulation in this wretched place.

Sure, the Dao of Heaven would secretly help him and make his tribulation relatively easy, but with so many demonic cultivators around, what if the tribulation got excited and decided to zap everyone for fun?

He’d be dragged down and killed with them!

Shi Qian jumped up anxiously. “Squeak Squeak!”

Brother White Crane, I don’t want to undergo tribulation here!

Despite his tough words earlier, You Fang’s face didn’t look great.

Still, he immediately grabbed Shi Qian with his spiritual power and took him off the island.

You Fang didn’t use a flying sword—he simply stepped across the air, his Shrinking Ground into Inches technique incredibly refined.

After just a few steps, Shi Qian could no longer see the island, having already traveled more than ten miles away.

They arrived above a tiny, isolated island, with the tribulation clouds struggling to follow from the main island.

You Fang plucked at Shi Qian’s little vest and muttered two words:

“Crude work.”

Shi Qian refused to let Lian Zhi’s craftsmanship be insulted, so he immediately retorted:

“Squeak Squeak!”

Brother White Crane, can you even forge artifacts?

You Fang admitted frankly, “I’m bad at artifact refining.”

Yet, as he spoke, he pulled out a treasure about the size of a wristband, used a hand seal to shrink it, and placed it around Shi Qian’s neck.

Shi Qian didn’t even need to touch it—he instinctively knew:

This was good stuff.

Just as he reached out a paw to examine it, You Fang suddenly tossed him down—his target being the small island below.

At that moment, Shi Qian felt no gratitude at all for the treasure.

Instead, he cursed You Fang as a complete psycho—would it kill him to give a warning beforehand?!

Grabbing onto tree branches to slow his fall, Shi Qian’s heart pounded wildly as he landed safely.

Even then, his legs felt weak.

“Squeak Squeak.”

Mom, I regret going out into the world.

Shi Qian deeply regretted everything. Really.

Why didn’t he just stay at Wuyue Mountain and slack off?

If he had just stayed put, let Long Ye grow up wild, and minded his own business, things would’ve been so much easier.

After all, his Brother Ye was a born overachiever—destined for success.

What was there to be afraid of?

Maybe, just maybe, if he had stayed at home and lazed around, he could have completed his mission effortlessly.

He had only himself to blame for misjudging Long Ye—not believing in him earlier.

Running into You Fang, this absolute lunatic, was by far the unluckiest thing that had ever happened to Shi Qian.

Still, despite all his internal cursing, Shi Qian touched the high-grade Earth-tier artifact around his neck and felt reassured as he prepared to face the Heavenly Tribulation.

Far away, You Fang stared at the tiny island, momentarily lost in thought.

In the beginning, this vast ocean had only one inhabited island—the one where the demonic cultivators now resided.

So, he had set up a grand formation, concealing the entire island within the sea itself, perfectly tricking the Heavenly Dao with the illusion of the ocean. This deception—what cultivators called “vanishing from Heaven by hiding in the sea”—had made him a highly valued guest among the demonic cultivators.

Then, a second island appeared.

But calling it an “island” wasn’t quite right.

This place was actually the corpse of his greatest creation—the best thing You Fang had ever made in his entire life.

Over the years, the remains had turned into a lush, thriving land.

Grass and trees had grown thick and vibrant, fragile little flowers had begun to bloom, and small beasts had taken up residence, reproducing and thriving.

Now, surrounded by the endless blue sky and vast ocean, it looked indistinguishable from a real island.

You Fang stood there for a long moment, before finally pulling his thoughts back to reality.

The third-generation beasts in the Jia Geng Caves had successfully grown dragon horns.

This time, he was determined—he would create a true dragon.

Thinking about the modified beasts he had engineered, he began considering ways to further refine his experiments.

On the island below, Shi Qian was about to face his first lightning strike.

Thin, dark clouds gathered slowly above the island, drifting lazily as the first bolt of lightning fell.

Before the strike: Shi Qian—so nervous.

After the strike:

Half of the lightning was absorbed by the artifact around his neck, and the remaining half struck him directly.

It felt… like getting zapped by a static shock.

The jolt left him lightheaded, his tiny body numb and tingling with a hint of pain.

In the past, this would have scared him half to death, but after so many painful experiences—including his recent “boiling session”—this felt like a gentle slap on the wrist.

Totally manageable.

The following lightning strikes gradually increased in power, but not by much.

Even the speed of the tribulation was unusually slow and relaxed, giving Shi Qian plenty of time to meditate and heal between each strike.

Half a day passed, and only two bolts had fallen.

Back on the main island, the Nascent Soul demonic cultivator—who had been watching the tribulation—was speechless.

Then, he snapped.

“That damn biased Heavenly Dao!” he cursed furiously.

“What do you have against us demonic cultivators?! Why do you always try to fry us to death?!”

“Are human cultivators your precious sons or something?!”

The other demonic cultivators, who had been panicking throughout the tribulation, were now watching with envy.

If they hadn’t gone down the path of demonic cultivation—a path with no return—some of them might have switched sides right then and there.

Two days later, Shi Qian finished his tribulation and received a huge wave of Heavenly Dao’s blessings.

Like other cultivators, his injuries healed instantly—

Oh, wait—he had no injuries left to heal in the first place.

His cultivation stabilized, and his spiritual energy even began to climb higher, stopping just a step away from the mid-Golden Core stage.

It took two days to endure the tribulation and three days to absorb all the blessings.

After all that effort, Shi Qian felt he had finally surpassed Long Ye again.

Feeling great, he happily rolled around on the soft white sand.

Rolling around doubled as a bath, so when he was done, he headed toward the shoreline, still covered in sand grains.

With a shake of his tiny body, he scattered the sand and looked toward the sky, where You Fang was a small dot in the distance.

Then, he called out: “Squeak Squeak!”

Brother White Crane! I’m done with my tribulation—come pick me up!

You Fang moved, seemingly on his way over.

Shi Qian, in the meantime, looked down at the water, admiring his reflection.

And then—he froze.

What the heck were those two soft, milky-white bumps on his head?!

Shi Qian struggled to lift a paw, trying to grab one, but his legs were too short to reach.

So, he held his own head instead and let out a confused sound: “Squeak?”

What is this?!

You Fang, not in the mood for surprises, landed directly on the beach and looked down at the tiny spirit beast clutching its head.

“You grew dragon horns too?” he asked.

Shi Qian looked up at him, eyes bright.

“Squeak Squeak!”

Can they grow longer?

If they did, he would look so cool!

For a moment, You Fang didn’t say a word.

Instead, his thoughts drifted elsewhere.

Damn those stingy demonic cultivators.

No wonder they were like sewer rats, always lurking in the shadows—they were so cheap and petty that they couldn’t even afford to act with grandeur.

Then, he finally spoke.

“Of course they can still grow,” he said. “Right now, they’re just barely starting to show.”

Shi Qian took that as a sign—he still had more free meals to mooch off.

Excited by the thought of his future, majestic dragon horns, he suddenly found You Fang much more pleasing to look at.

His tiny face lit up with a smile, and he chirped happily: “Squeak Squeak!”

Thank you, Brother White Crane!

In his heart, he silently added the second half of the sentence:

For all the precious treasures you’ve been feeding me.

_{I don’t understand the title, but it is what it is. And congratulations to Brother Qian to reaching the golden core.}