I Have a Golden Crow

In the living room, Yang Qingqing was casting flower leaves with one hand to protect the Firethorn Tree, while listening to Du Yu recount his cultivation life over the past month.

The more she listened, the more Yang Qingqing clicked her tongue in amazement: "If I get the chance, I should spend a few days in your Red Bamboo Courtyard and enjoy the peaceful life there."

"It's not mine, it's not mine." Du Yu shook his head repeatedly. "The Red Bamboo Courtyard was built for me by the Chi Bear Race... um."

The more he spoke, the softer Du Yu's voice became.

To be honest, that courtyard really was given to Little Fen Yang by the Chi Bears.

Now that Du Yu had left, probably no one else would move in. Even Demon Tamers found it tough to enter Bamboo Grove, so who had the right to live in the Red Bamboo Courtyard?

Noticing the slightly amused look in the woman's eyes, Du Yu scratched his head awkwardly, then suddenly remembered something: "Oh right, Master Qing, the Chi Bears also gave me a gift."

Du Yu got up and walked to the door, brought over his backpack and the Red Bamboo Leaf Conical Hat, and offered them for his master to inspect.

"Look." Du Yu handed over the exquisite bamboo leaf conical hat, then opened his backpack and brought out the cloak woven from red bamboo leaves.

Yang Qingqing picked up the hat, her long jade fingers pinching the fiery red bamboo leaves, finding them very novel.

She considered herself well-informed, but had never had the chance to visit Bamboo Grove, let alone touch these unique bamboo leaves in person.

All of this naturally fell into Du Yu's eyes, and he could tell Master Qing genuinely liked them.

You could tell how much she liked plants just from all the demonic plants at Master Qing's house.

After a moment's thought, Du Yu spoke up: "Master Qing, I went to Jinguan City but didn't bring you back anything as a souvenir."

"Hmm?" Yang Qingqing seemed to sense something, and looked up at Du Yu.

Just as she expected, Du Yu handed over the Red Bamboo Leaf Cloak: "This hat and cloak, I'll give them to you."

"Hehe." Yang Qingqing chuckled softly, but didn't take the Red Leaf Cloak. "These were gifts from the Chi Bear Race—they're so precious, you should keep them yourself."

"I still have some." Du Yu pulled out the red-leaf woven short sleeves and shorts, "I'll keep this set, and the cloak can be my gesture of respect for you."

Respect?

Yang Qingqing, at 26 years old, hardly ever heard such a word.

Yang Qingqing giggled and glared at Du Yu: "I appreciate your filial piety, but the clothes, just forget it."

Du Yu mumbled, "When I was cultivating there, I only wore the shorts and T-shirt. The cloak and hat, I never wore them, so they're not dirty."

Yang Qingqing: "..."

Du Yu pressed his advantage: "Just take them, Master Qing."

They say: beauty for the fair lady, and a treasured sword for the hero.

To Du Yu, since Yang Qingqing had given him a Spirit-level Demonic Plant·Firewood Tree, any way of expressing his gratitude wouldn't be too much.

"Alright, then I'll accept this conical hat." Yang Qingqing stopped refusing, spinning the hat with her fingers.

Unexpectedly, Du Yu started to wonder.

She's only taking the hat?

You love wearing green dresses too. If you wear this red conical hat, wouldn't that be the classic red-and-green combo?

Under Du Yu's insistence, Yang Qingqing finally accepted the cloak as well.

She thought it was precious, but Du Yu didn't think much of it.

If he really wanted, next time when he visited Bamboo Grove to see Hongye, he could always ask the Chi Bear Clan Leader to weave another set!

The soldiers won't let people wreck the environment, but could they control the Chi Bears?

"Thank you." A branch extended from Yang Qingqing's hand, picking up the Red Leaf Cloak as she tilted her head for a closer look, and the more she looked, the more delighted she seemed.

Apparently, even someone as powerful as Master Qing couldn't escape the nature of being a woman.

Plus, she especially loved flowers and demonic plants, so this gift from Du Yu truly won her heart.

Success~

Du Yu was quite confident—this teacher definitely wouldn't give him a delayed graduation…

"By the way, Master Qing, how are my other two teammates?"

"Demon Tamer·Peak Stage." Yang Qingqing manipulated the branch to set the cloak on the sofa beside her. "The two of them are in seclusion, aiming for Demon Tamer, and preparing for the big exam."

"Big exam?" Du Yu thought for a while. "You mean the Demon Spirit Academy's end-of-term exams?"

Some exceptionally gifted students, after being invited by instructors and accepted as disciples, generally wouldn't have to take part in school activities anymore, like those end-of-month ranking battles Du Yu went to before.

But the twice-yearly final exams, all students must take part—no exceptions.

The end-of-term tests aren't just for students; they also assess the business skills of major instructors.

No exaggeration to say, if the test results didn't look good, the academy might forcibly break off the master-disciple relationship.

How the student is dealt with—whether returning to school or being matched with another master—is all a later issue.

The school's job is to keep standards high, to be responsible to both students and teachers.

"That's right." Yang Qingqing nodded gently. "I'm confident they'll break through."

As for Li Mengnan and Lin Shiwei, Yang Qingqing had high hopes, but for this beloved disciple before her, she didn't have any current expectations at all…

Because Du Yu had advanced to Demon Tamer more than a month ago!

By the end-of-December exam, Du Yu would likely break into Demon Tamer·Minor Success!

Having him take part in the end-of-term exams would be pure bullying…

Yang Qingqing continued, "This time, Paper Crane Disciples have a separate exam channel."

"What?"

Yang Qingqing sighed softly: "You've grown so fast, there's no way to compare you to ordinary Demon Taming students. So the Paper Crane Disciples group has to be assessed separately."

Du Yu: "That so."

Good, now there's no new-versus-old disciple drama.

And no need to listen to all those nasty, sarcastic remarks.

Yang Qingqing: "All of Great Xia is paying attention to your Paper Crane Disciples' progress.

You'd better prepare well, don't tarnish your reputation as the number one Paper Crane Disciple."

Du Yu: "The final exam, is it still like before, just like the monthly ranking battles—some kind of matches?"

"No." Yang Qingqing shook her head firmly. "You haven't realized yet what a huge impact the Paper Crane Disciples have on this country.

Your assessment, of course, has to test comprehensive ability. Simple on-stage matches aren't enough for a full evaluation."

Du Yu grew curious: "Then what's the format? Down to the battlefield?"

Yang Qingqing: "I'm not sure, but the Demon Spirit Bookstore has already gotten involved with the major schools.

Which means your assessments won't be just little games on campus; the students taking part might not even be limited to this school.

You have to understand, ever since the Paper Crane Disciples appeared, they've been upending everyone's understanding of the Demon Taming World.

Everybody's watching you, eager to see where your limits really are."

Damn~

Du Yu clicked his tongue inwardly. Judging by the sounds of it, this assessment is going to be quite the spectacle?

Yang Qingqing's lips turned up slightly: "So, feeling a bit of pressure now?"

"Mm!" Du Yu nodded. "Tomorrow I'm going down to the battlefield. After so much closed-door cultivation, it's time to stretch my legs."

"And make some money on the side?"

Du Yu: "..."

The way you put it, I can't even claim I'm going to make money—I'm just stretching my bones…

Seeing Du Yu clamming up, Yang Qingqing smiled: "You said before that your Xiaoyan and Ghost Firefly are both Celestial-level Demon Pets now?"

Du Yu: "Yes."

"Any Demon Tamer under 24 whose Demon Pet reaches Celestial Level can go to the Bookstore for evaluation.

If you make it onto the board, the Bookstore will hand out a reward.

If your Demon Pet stays ranked, you get a reward every quarter. It's like a stipend from Great Xia to encourage young Demon Tamers."

"Oh?"

Yang Qingqing: "Usually, it's best to have a Demon Pet at Celestial Peak before getting evaluated. But with your Heterochromatic Demon Pets, you should do quite well even now."

"Great! I'll give it a go tomorrow! Master Qing, how do they do the evaluation?"

...

Master and disciple chatted late into the night and also watched over the Firethorn Tree's advancement.

Although a demonic plant's advancement wouldn't be targeted by Heaven, nor bring calamity, the advancement process really was a bit long.

It wasn't until after seven the next morning that Du Yu made breakfast for Master Qing, and, after eating, was forcibly sent back to bed by Yang Qingqing.

And that nap—man, he really slept like the dead.

It was past 3pm when Du Yu finally woke up.

"Mmm…" Du Yu opened his eyes confusedly, stared at the unfamiliar ceiling for a bit, before finally realizing where he was.

Turns out, I'm at my own house.

Du Yu sat up and looked around, feeling like something was off.

Hmm… where's my bear?

Du Yu scratched his head. Xiaoyan and Ghost Firefly were behaving in their Acupoint Home as usual, but inside Juque, it was empty—the little guy was off somewhere.

"Tai Sui?" Du Yu called out as he summoned by Contract.

He slipped his feet into a pair of slippers with chibi Lightning Cat faces, and just as he took two steps, Du Yu couldn't help but grin.

He'd privately complained about the style of these slippers before.

This kind of design definitely had to be Li Mengnan's idea. The queenly Lin Shiwei would never buy such cartoonish slippers.

"Tai Sui…" Leaving the bedroom and stepping into the living room, Du Yu was startled!

"No wonder you're so full of anger—you're butting heads with Brother Tree, aren't you?"

Looking at the towering living tree wall ahead, hearing the faint sounds from within, Du Yu could imagine: Little Tai Sui was being subjected to 'tough love'.

Master Qing should have left by now—otherwise the Firethorn Tree wouldn't dare to act this wild?

"Open up." Du Yu patted the tree wall. "Open up, come on!"

Swoosh~

Countless branches and leaves spread apart, revealing the chubby little one inside.

"Ying~ ying!" The little guy, wielding a Red Bamboo Stick, was fiercely whacking at the branches.

But the incoming branches were endless: poking Little Tai Sui's chubby bottom from the left, poking its head from the right.

Poked so much, Little Tai Sui was wailing non-stop.

The Firethorn Tree was having the time of its life.

Du Yu, unable to watch, rushed forward: "Alright, alright! Stop the hitting, stop!"

"Ying~ ying~" Spotting its master, the little one's black eyes immediately brimmed with tears.

It tossed aside its Red Bamboo Stick, twisted its little bottom, and made a beeline for Du Yu.

But it only managed a few steps before a branch tripped it, sending its fluffy head down with a thud…

Luckily, the floor was covered with Firethorn Leaves, so it was soft and not painful at all.

"Ying~"

Hearing the little one's sobs, Du Yu hurried over and scooped Little Tai Sui into his arms, comforting it, "It's alright, it's alright."

"Ying~" Little Tai Sui whimpered pitifully, its furry face nuzzling into Du Yu's neck, rubbing back and forth.

Obviously, it'd been thoroughly bullied by the Firethorn Tree.

While soothing the little guy, Du Yu looked over at the Firethorn Tree: "You… whoa~!"

The evil Firethorn Tree had successfully advanced!

It'd gotten huge!

Where once there was only a single trunk, now there were four, and each looked like a main trunk!

Just like Master Qing said, the Firethorn Tree really had been wronged.

This house was no more than three meters high, but the four trunks had already bumped into the ceiling.

The trunks had to curl along the ceiling, trailing along like vines.

Endless branches and leaves cascaded down like a green waterfall.

Spirit Level·Firewood Tree!

Poke~

A Firethorn Branch poked Little Tai Sui's chubby butt again.

"Ying!" With its master here, the little guy suddenly got braver and shouted back at the Firethorn Branch.

Just then, the Firethorn Leaves surged and revealed a bright red fruit.

"Ying?" Little Tai Sui blinked its black eyes, looking like it wanted to eat but was too scared.

"Go ahead, eat up. We both earned this." Du Yu's voice was full of bitterness as he plucked the Firethorn Fruit and stuffed it straight into Little Tai Sui's mouth.

"Ying?"