Chapter 51:Doing Its Best to Look Completely Dead

Qi Tian stared at Wang Jian for two breaths before turning to Wang Fuqiang.

"Has your son ever had his spiritual root tested?"

Wang Fuqiang froze.

"Well... not yet."

He glanced at his son, a hint of helplessness in his voice.

"Jian’er has always had rather ordinary talent. He’s fifteen now, but he’s still only at the first layer of Qi Condensation. He hasn’t made the slightest progress this whole time."

After saying that, he added,

"Though, the boy has always been rather friendly with cats, dogs, birds, and some smaller beasts."

Qi Tian gave a slight nod.

Fifteen years old and only at the first layer of Qi Condensation. With even slightly better talent, he should at least have reached the second layer by now.

It seemed his aptitude really was mediocre.

But that wasn’t important.

Ten thousand years ago, the Myriad Beasts Sect had produced a Saint Son who possessed a Beast-Affinity Physique. That Saint Son had only a Four-Element Spiritual Root, and his cultivation had only reached peak Foundation Establishment.

Yet he had been able to tame fifth-rank demonic beasts and have them fight for him. Even Nascent Soul old monsters wouldn’t dare provoke him lightly.

Qi Tian’s gaze returned to Wang Jian.

The Crimson-Scaled Beast’s enormous head was already rubbing back and forth against the boy’s leg.

If this kid really did possess a Beast-Affinity Physique...

Then it would be worth cultivating a relationship with him early.

Qi Tian’s eyes brightened slightly.

I’ll be making a fortune!

He immediately corrected himself.

No.

I’ll simply have another capable helper in the future.

Qi Tian pondered for a moment before saying to Wang Fuqiang, "Next time, I’ll find a spirit-root testing device and help him test his spiritual root. Then I’ll give him a suitable cultivation technique to practice."

Wang Fuqiang trembled with excitement, his eyes instantly reddening.

"Benefactor, your kindness to my Wang family... I... I..." His voice caught in his throat, and he struggled to put his gratitude into words.

Qi Tian then chatted idly with Wang Fuqiang for a while.

Before they knew it, the eastern sky had begun to pale. The first light of dawn filtered through the branches of the crooked jujube tree and spilled into the courtyard.

Qi Tian looked up at the sky.

"We should get going."

Zhuang Lili, who had been waiting impatiently for quite some time, immediately perked up.

"Hehe, let’s go! Let’s cause another sensation throughout the entire city."

Qi Tian frowned.

That was the last thing he wanted. And there was another problem waiting for them when they returned to the sect. Their departure from the city with a second-rank demonic beast would probably draw the attention of that Half-Step Golden Core cultivator.

Cai Zhenyu, who had remained silent until now, noticed the expression on Qi Tian’s face and suddenly spoke.

"Actually... if you don’t want to take it there, that’s fine too."

Qi Tian raised an eyebrow and looked at him.

"What do you mean?"

Cai Zhenyu’s gaze fell on the Crimson-Scaled Beast.

"The mission only says to eliminate the beast. As long as we have proof that it has been eliminated, that should be enough."

Qi Tian narrowed his eyes.

"You mean... the corpse will do?"

Cai Zhenyu nodded.

The Crimson-Scaled Beast seemed to understand what they were saying. Its entire body tensed, its tail immediately tucking between its legs as terror filled its crimson eyes.

Qi Tian glanced at it and patted its head.

"Relax. I have a good reputation for keeping my word. I said I wouldn’t kill you, so I won’t."

Crimson-Scaled Beast: "..."

"Senior Brother Qi." Chen Er suddenly stepped forward. "I have an idea."

"Go on."

"Use a recording stone."

Chen Er reached into his storage pouch and pulled out a grayish-white stone.

"We can record an image of you ’killing’ it, then take a few of its scales as physical evidence."

Qi Tian’s eyes lit up.

A moment later...

The Crimson-Scaled Beast lay on its side on the ground, utterly resigned to its fate. Its tongue lolled out to one side as it put on its best impression of a beast that was completely dead.

Qi Tian held Cai Zhenyu’s sword in one hand, with one foot planted firmly on the beast’s head.

Chen Er held up the recording stone and captured several seconds of Qi Tian’s imposing performance.

"Got it."

Qi Tian immediately removed his foot and crouched down.

"Let me break off a few scales."

The Crimson-Scaled Beast shuddered all over, but it didn’t dare resist. It could only watch helplessly as Qi Tian reached out.

Crack! Crack!

Three crimson scales were forcibly torn from its back.

The beast’s eyelids twitched from the pain, yet it stubbornly refused to make a sound.

Qi Tian tossed the scales into his storage pouch and stared at the Crimson-Scaled Beast.

"You stay here for now. Don’t even think about running away. If you do, I’ll hunt you to the ends of the earth. Can you agree to that?"

The Crimson-Scaled Beast nodded repeatedly, though Qi Tian had no idea whether it actually understood him.

Qi Tian continued, "Keep yourself hidden. Don’t step outside this courtyard. You forced your way into the late second rank by relying on that spirit fruit, so your cultivation is still unstable. If you run off and cause trouble, you might not even be able to beat an early-stage Foundation Establishment cultivator in the city."

The Crimson-Scaled Beast nodded repeatedly again.

Qi Tian turned to Wang Fuqiang.

"Look after it for me for a while. Is that all right?"

"No problem!" Wang Fuqiang thumped his chest. "Benefactor, you can leave it to me without worry!"

Qi Tian smiled and added, "As for its food, we’ll settle the cost next time. Uh... don’t feed it anything too good. Cheap meat will do."

The Crimson-Scaled Beast raised its eyelids and gave Qi Tian a long, mournful look.

Wang Fuqiang hurriedly waved his hands.

"No, no! There’s no need to bother with such a small expense! I can collect one hundred spirit stones from the City Lord’s Manor every month now. I have more than enough to spare. I can afford to feed it!"

Qi Tian nodded, secretly pleased. Saving the money was even better!

Finally, he looked toward Wang Jian, his gaze lingering for a moment on the excited young man’s face.

"Keep an eye on it for me."

Wang Jian nodded firmly, his eyes shining.

"All right, Benefactor."

Zhuang Lili had been waiting impatiently for long enough and couldn’t hold herself back any longer.

"Can we finally go collect the reward?"

Qi Tian glanced at her.

"There’s one more thing to take care of."

"What else?"

Qi Tian raised a hand and pointed toward the Bloodfire Spirit Fruit Tree strapped to the Crimson-Scaled Beast’s back.

"Find someone to carry the tree for me."

"..."

The three Falling Cloud Sect disciples were speechless.

After a moment, Cai Zhenyu and Zhuang Lili turned their heads in perfect unison and looked at Chen Er.

Chen Er: "..."