I Have a Golden Crow

At nightfall, Du Yu returned to Xishu Garden, weary and dusty.

He stood at his front door, too lazy to take out his keys, and just knocked directly: "Brother Tree, open up!"

"Click."

The door opened, and a Firethorn Branch poked its head out curiously, sizing up Du Yu outside.

"Hello there, Brother Tree!" Du Yu grinned widely.

But he was still carrying the "bad luck" from the Bottomless Pit, so his smile didn't feel sunny at all—on the contrary, it looked a bit gloomy.

Still, compared to half a month ago, Du Yu's mood was much better now.

The Firethorn Tree, of course, picked up on it. One branch reached out to Du Yu's cheek and gave a gentle poke.

"I'll play with you later, let me go take a shower first." Du Yu said as he handed the Demon Soldier Bow to the branch.

The Firethorn Tree obediently brought the Demon Soldier Bow into the room, and then a few more branches reached out.

Du Yu took off his coat and hung it on one of the branches. He casually brushed aside the bothersome leaves in front of his face. "What's up, you're not disgusted by my dirtiness again?"

That actually reminded the Firethorn Tree, which immediately rolled Du Yu up and delivered him all the way to the bedroom and stuffed him straight into the bathroom.

Du Yu: "..."

He knew, though, what to expect next.

But that didn't stop Du Yu from enjoying a comfortable hot shower. Hmm… at worst, later he could let Little Tai Sui play with the Firethorn Tree~

Sure enough, the second Du Yu stepped out of the bathroom, he was swept up by soft branches.

"Whoa!" Du Yu let out a little yelp. Sometimes, having too big a house isn't great, eh?

From the bedroom to a corner of the living room, Du Yu was like a roller coaster, his body whipped up and down crazily by the tree branches.

"Stop!" Du Yu shouted suddenly at the Firethorn Tree in front of him.

The surging thick foliage came to an abrupt halt, and the scene immediately froze.

"Interrupted Casting"

"Look, what's this?" A surge of Demon Breath rippled across Du Yu's brow, and a plush toy fell into his arms.

"Ying?" Little Tai Sui blinked his shiny black eyes, curiously looking around. He hadn't figured out where he was yet before a branch poked his little nose.

Turns out, love might not disappear, but it can definitely be transferred!

Du Yu nodded with satisfaction and added more fire to the pot: "Little Tai Sui's been fighting Demon Beasts for over half a month, but his Staff Technique hasn't leveled up at all. Could you help him with some training?"

The Firethorn Tree's branch swayed up and down, making a nodding gesture.

Little Tai Sui finally realized where he was. Staring at the Firethorn Tree in front of him, he started fussing and whining, his fluffy little head burrowing frantically into Du Yu's arms.

You could tell, the Firethorn Tree had left a deep psychological shadow in Little Tai Sui's young heart.

"Don't worry, don't be scared." Du Yu comforted the little guy softly, "This is a Gold Medal Teacher—proficient in all eighteen kinds of Martial Arts, specializing in training newbies.

Back in the day, I was trained by the Firethorn Tree myself."

"Ying?" Little Tai Sui looked up at Du Yu, clearly unconvinced.

"Why would I lie to you? If you can graduate from its hands, your Staff Technique will definitely skyrocket by several levels." As Du Yu spoke, he used the Contract's spiritual communication, leaving Little Tai Sui dazed!

When it comes to dreams and promises, Prince Du is a master of the art…

Little Tai Sui put a little bear paw on Du Yu's shoulder and turned to look at the Firethorn Tree.

Du Yu reached out and grabbed the nearest branch: "Brother Tree, be gentle, okay? Tai Sui is still young—unlike me, you can abuse me all you want."

The layers of leaves surged, piecing together a "leafy little bear paw," the imitation spot-on, and stretched it toward Little Tai Sui's face.

"Ying?" Although Little Tai Sui didn't like this tree that bullied him, he trusted his master a hundred percent.

Little Tai Sui's bear paw slowly reached forward and gently slapped the leafy bear paw.

Du Yu cheered inwardly. Nailed it!

The target has shifted!

Not only did he get out of being tortured himself, now Little Tai Sui had a top-tier teacher to help him build a foundation—absolutely perfect!

"Oh, right, Tai Sui's about to reach the Peak of Mortal Level. When you give him special training, make sure there's a nice concentration of Fire Demon Breath in the surroundings." Du Yu gave the Firethorn Leaves a few pats and, having received a positive reply, got to his feet.

He left Little Tai Sui under the Firethorn Tree and himself summoned Xiaoyan, hugging her as he retreated to the big bed in the master bedroom for sleep…

Isn't this what being Prince Du is all about?

I've spent half a month on the battlefield—don't I deserve to enjoy life for a bit?

...

The next morning, sunlight streamed through the gap in the curtains, laying a bright stripe across the bed.

A human and a demon pet slumbered sweetly on the bed, but the phone was less well-behaved, buzzing and vibrating.

Du Yu cracked his eyes open in a daze, fumbled by his pillow, pushed aside Xiaoyan's big fluffy tail, and found the phone underneath.

As he stared at the message notification, Du Yu's sleepy eyes instantly widened!

Account credited?

Units, tens, hundreds, thousands, ten thousands, hundred thousands… A hundred and fifty thousand!

Du Yu, one arm hugging the slumbering Xiaoyan on his chest, sat up in silence.

The Celestial List had finally updated, and the entry bonus for making the list just hit the account.

Du Yu opened his mobile wallet, staring at the string of numbers—even though he'd mentally prepared for it, when it really happened, it still felt dreamlike!

He blanked out for quite a while before finally opening up the Demon Spirit Atlas and finding the rankings tab.

The list on the screen made Du Yu's heart leap for joy.

Xiaoyan had landed straight at number one on the Celestial List, trampling all other demon pets below her!

The Demon Spirit Bookstore had even given Xiaoyan a beautiful profile pic—probably snapped during the assessment. And at the lower right corner of the avatar, there was a golden crown symbol.

The Bookstore really knows how to decorate things—it's just like the ring icon on Du Yu's profile card, a pretty nice touch.

Du Yu tapped on Prince Yan's avatar. Who knows if the Bookstore is protecting Demon Tamer info, but the profile card only showed demon pet details—there wasn't even a place for him to enter his own name.

Obviously, except for the Bookstore personnel who have Demon Tamer data, no one else can see what tamer owns the top-ranked demon pets.

On the profile card, Power Tier was listed separately. The other six attributes were displayed with a six-dimensional chart.

At the moment, Xiaoyan wasn't a Hexagon Warrior yet—her strengths were very much specialized, and her weaknesses equally glaring!

Her Demon Power, Intelligence, and agility were all maxed out!

In comparison, the other attributes looked downright weak.

Du Yu delighted in admiring the stats for a while, then scrolled down and found Little You Ying.

Except, Ghost Firefly, who should've been ranked 47th, was now at 48th. Looks like someone did a last-day sprint and started boosting scores.

Du Yu patted his chest over the Xuanji Acupoint, where Ghost Firefly was still enjoying the nourishment of its Acupoint Home.

Little You Ying is about to level up soon, too. Coincidentally, January 1st marks a new quarter—another chance for a free assessment.

If it climbs another Small Tier, Ghost Firefly's six major stats will get a decent bump, and the Power Tier entry alone will net a big jump in points!

If both my demon pets make the top ten, that's 200,000 in rewards every quarter.

Looks like paying the mortgage isn't as soul-crushing as I imagined~

Du Yu thought quietly, exited the Demon Spirit Atlas, and opened the chat app.

First, pay back Master Qing 100,000; the remaining 50,000 can pimp out Prince Yan's boudoir and maybe set up a kid's room for Little You Ying…

A promise made is a promise kept, after all!

Soon, Du Yu found Master Qing in his contacts.

Funny thing is, the master and apprentice had been friends for a long time, but had never messaged—always calls, never texts.

100,000, sent~

Du Yu remembered Master Qing's teasing words before parting—real joke or not, this was a prime opportunity to connect.

I wonder where she is now, whether her mission is dangerous, how far along she is…

Du Yu waited patiently for a bit, and when he saw the "transfer accepted" notification, perked right up, staring at his phone.

But, several minutes ticked by, and there was still no response from her.

"Wow~" Du Yu scratched his head. My Immortal Master is really so icy?

Sent 100,000 over, and not a peep…

Not even a single "oh"?

Du Yu hesitated but couldn't resist—he sent a message over.

Yu: "Master Qing, the list is out. Xiaoyan took first. The reward from the Bookstore."

Qing: "Mn."

Du Yu: "..."

Guess what goes around really does come around. No one escapes karma.

Du Yu finally understood. The way he used to reply to Li Mengnan, one or two words, today's Master Qing was serving it right back at him.

Qing: "Keep up the good work."

Seeing another message pop up on his phone, Du Yu felt a bit crushed and could only reply with a "Will do."

Alright, at least I know she's safe, and still in the mood to check her phone.

Just as Du Yu was about to put down his phone, a call came in.

He thought it'd be Master Qing, but caller ID showed it was his big bro.

Li Mengnan?

"Eh? You actually picked up, that's amazing!" As Du Yu answered, a cheerful woman's voice came through.

Du Yu: "..."

"Second bro, second bro!" Li Mengnan's voice overflowed with excitement. "Third Sis and I just came out of retreat!"

Du Yu: "How'd it go? Any results?"

"Hehe~" Li Mengnan giggled proudly. "We both advanced to Demon Tamer!"

"Huh?" Du Yu beamed. "Congrats, congrats!"

"How about you, you must've reached Demon Tamer·Minor Success already, right?"

"Almost, just a little more."

"Ha, that's really rare then!" Li Mengnan sat in the passenger seat, phone on speaker. She glanced at Lin Shiwei, who was driving. "In my lifetime, Third Sis and I can finally be in the same Stage as you!"

Lin Shiwei smiled at Li Mengnan and said softly, "Demon Tamer Journeyman is still the Newbie Stage, much easier for cultivation. After becoming a Demon Tamer, cultivating gets much tougher.

Du Yu just said he's about to reach Minor Achievement Stage.

That means, our gap with Du Yu hasn't narrowed—it's actually grown."

"Yeah, yeah." Li Mengnan nodded without argument—after all, her second bro is invincible!

"By the way, Second Bro, where are you? Still over in Bamboo Grove?"

"I'm at home, been back for over half a month already."

Li Mengnan's pretty eyes shone: "Did you contract a Chi Bear?"

"I contracted one…" Before Du Yu could finish, the call was cut.

Promptly, a video call request popped up.

Du Yu accepted with a sigh, and found Li Mengnan's eyes were practically glowing: "Hurry and let me see the Chi Bear… Eh? Xiaoyan, good morning!"

"Ying~" Prince Yan was disturbed from her dreams, but didn't seem grumpy.

Seeing the sweet-smiling girl on the screen, Xiaoyan's eyes smiled back, her golden-brown fox eyes blinking softly.

That one foxy look instantly "killed" Li Mengnan.

She stared at Prince Yan in a daze, completely forgetting about the Chi Bear.

But Du Yu hadn't forgotten; he got out of bed, still holding Xiaoyan, and headed straight for the living room.

Only when the camera turned did Li Mengnan snap out of her trance, mouth slightly open in shock: "The Firethorn Tree has gotten so big?"

"It advanced to Spirit Level." Du Yu looked amused. Under the Firethorn Tree in the distance was a Leaf Cocoon—Little Tai Sui was probably wrapped up inside.

Li Mengnan gasped to herself: "Spirit Level! Wow, a ton of Twin Trees are Spirit Level now too!"

"Well, Master Qing has been raising them for ages." Du Yu said off-handedly, stepping forward. "Brother Tree, loosen up—let's take a look at Little Tai Sui."

"Ying!" Before the Firethorn Tree could react, a bear cub cry came from inside the Leaf Cocoon.

Du Yu paused in surprise, and Li Mengnan quickly asked: "What's wrong?"

"Ah, the Chi Bear's about to evolve. Let's wait a bit and check later."

"Oh, alright…"