Eagle Cry Valley, the place where Qing-Yun’s number one core disciple—Xiao Jianming—lived.

　　Xiao Jianming was speaking to his uncle at Shanhe Valley, and Eagle Cry Valley was currently deserted. During this time, Xiao Jianming’s steel eagle had flown back by itself and gone into the forest near Eagle Cry Valley to hunt. Although this steel eagle was a spirit beast, Xiao Jianming had always fed it live animals and the flesh and blood of spirit animals to keep it from losing its animalistic nature. When there were no more live animals available, it would typically go to the nearby forest on its own.

　　The target of both Fang Xing and the golden crow right now was none other than this steel eagle. The pair had settled at a low cliff, and the two of them sneakily peeked out at the steel eagle. “Is that pellet of yours going to work?” the golden crow asked.

　　Fang Xing nodded with confidence. “This is the poison pellet Shijie Linyun crafted earlier for the Myriad Beasts disciples. As long as they don’t activate any Qi, nothing happens; however, if they do activate Qi, the experience is even worse than death. I decided to keep one for the hell of it, and when I asked Xiao Mahn, she said the pellet has the same effect on spirit beasts like that eagle as well. If it’s fed this pellet, it won’t be affected when it’s flying normally, but when it comes to the fight tomorrow…. Hehehe….”

　　The golden crow grinned as well. “Then let’s do it!” He then dragged over a not-yet-dead gazelle and shoved the poison pellet into its stomach with Fang Xing’s help. The poison pellet soon dissolved into the gazelle’s blood, making it so it carried the same effects as the poison pellet they’d prepared.

　　With a sly smile, the golden crow held the still-struggling gazelle in his claws and flew away.

　　The steel eagle had been circling in the air while scanning the ground for prey when it suddenly saw a yellow gazelle held up by a golden crow flying lazily towards it from afar. The crow swerved at times to the left and at others to the right, as though trying to show off his score. It was like a man who was holding a roasted chicken while swaggering and singing as they walked—it was the kind of performance that would make anyone who saw it immediately want to slap the perpetrator in response.

　　The eagle had once been blinded by Fang Xing, so he already held a grudge against him which naturally included this crow as well. However, Xiao Jianming had always warned the eagle that offending Fang Xing was not a good idea, so the eagle did not dare to do anything under normal circumstances. When the eagle saw this golden crow appear all by himself within its hunting grounds, however, its expression immediately turned vicious as it filled with malicious hatred.

　　Yet the eagle had been warned quite frequently that it was not allowed to hurt humans within the Qing-Yun Sect area, nor prey on spirit beasts owned by sect disciples. Despite its growing hatred, it did not dare to rush at the crow to fight and so swallowed its anger down.

　　This actually caused the golden crow to worry a bit. He circled a couple rounds in front of the eagle, and when he saw it was still not buying it, he decided to fly even closer. When the distance between them had shrunk to only thirty to forty feet, the crow suddenly turned his backside towards the eagle, let out a loud fart, and then arrogantly laughed while shaking his rear to provoke a fight. This caused the eagle to become so mad it finally spread its wings and gave chase.

　　The eagle and the crow, one chasing, one fleeing.

　　After having learned the Giant Peng tribe’s secret flying skill, the golden crow’s full speed was not something the eagle could catch up to. The crow was not in a rush to actually flee, however, and he would turn around every so often to provoke some more before fleeing once the eagle had gotten closer. This was done again and again, and it left the eagle so furious it even let out ear-piercing shrieks from time to time. Its eyes were filled with viciousness, as though it wanted to slice the crow into pieces this very instant.

　　When the crow felt the time was about right, he pretended to accidentally relax his grip on the gazelle, and the animal slipped away to start falling down towards the ground. The crow acted as though he was shocked and made an attempt to grab the gazelle back, but the eagle was already a step ahead of him and swiftly managed to grab the struggling gazelle before it hit the ground.

　　While this was going on, the golden crow was pretending to be scared of the eagle and screamed in anger. The eagle’s intelligence was perhaps similar to Xu Linyun’s white crane—around that of a five or six-year-old child—while the golden crow was an old fox who had roamed all over the place for many years; how would that eagle be comparable at all? When the eagle saw the crow appear so disgruntled, it released joyous cries and landed on a nearby hilltop to start provocatively pecking the gazelle to death and chew on its meat.

　　The golden crow was circling and loudly crying out above the eagle in anger, and the more he cried, the more motivated the eagle became. The gazelle was soon nothing more than a bunch of bones, and it was only then that the crow pretended to finally give up all hope, letting out an angry cry before flying off into the distant sky. The eagle felt it had won this round, and even though it could not match the golden crow’s speed, it still let out two more complacent cries of provocation towards where the crow had left before it turned to head back to the Qing-Yun Sect.

　　Although Xiao Jianming had warned it not to eat food others had given it, the eagle wasn’t aware he’d been tricked into eating this particular meal. When Xiao Jianming saw that it had remnants of blood on the side of its beak, he just assumed it had returned from a hunt and so wasn’t concerned at all. Of course, the eagle couldn’t speak, and it wasn’t able to tell him the entire story.

　　—

　　When the golden crow returned, Fang Xing went up to him and nervously asked, “All done, Goldy?”

　　The crow revealed a smile. “How hard is it to trick an idiot?”

　　Fang Xing was overjoyed by this and hugged the golden crow’s head with a smile. “My good brother, I’ll cook some fresh gazelle for you tonight!”

　　“With wine!”

　　“Of course. How about I’ll make a fresh full gourd for you?”

　　“That’s my good brother!” Delighted, the golden crow patted his wing against Fang Xing’s back with a smile.

　　A boy and a bird, these two scumbags were in an excellent and upbeat mood. With their arms around each other’s shoulders, they returned to the Valley of Hidden Dragon to celebrate with some roast gazelle.

　　—

　　“Linyun, I’m deeply disappointed in you….” Inside the Danxia Valley, Elder Qin’nyao had her hair neatly bound and wore a red robe, her gaze stern as she sat atop a stone desk.

　　Xu Linyun stood in front of her. Her head was lowered, and she did not speak a single word.

　　“I picked you up from a pile of corpses when you were five years old and brought you to this Qing-Yun Sect. You’ve been here for a total of fourteen years now. How have I treated you?”

　　“Esteemed Shifu has treated me… I am forever indebted to you!”

　　“So you do know you’re in my debt!” Elder Qin’nyao suddenly grabbed hold of the small cauldron beside her and slammed it heavily against the ground as she began to angrily scold, “I asked you to do everything possible to get that Foundation Pellet, and what did you do? Do you not know how important that pellet is to me? A Foundation Pellet crafted by a Purple-Furnace Master contains the powers of the heavens and earth and holds a complex understanding of alchemy. If I were to have it and study it carefully, my alchemy skills would surely improve, and even forming the golden core might not be out of the question. And yet? You let such a great chance slip through your fingers just like that….”

　　Xu Linyun was surprised by Elder Qin’nyao’s anger and quietly replied, “Esteemed Shifu, I was… but I was defeated today….”

　　Elder Qin’nyao yelled, “You were defeated? Accepting the loss so easily? Let me ask you, why did you not pierce that boy with your sword when he was so close to you? Do you think he would actually activate that Exploding Flame Talisman and die together with you? I’ve told you so many times, yet you are still so soft; you are such a disappointment!”

　　Xu Linyun lowered her head once again and returned to being silent. Even if she were to be given another chance, considering her temperament, how would she actually pierce the boy? Besides, she knew all too well that the only reason Fang Xing had dared to come so close to her was because of his trust towards her. Considering how many unusual and crafty schemes the boy always seemed to have, there were probably at least a hundred methods he could have used to activate the Exploding Flame Talisman without even getting close.

　　Elder Qin’nyao became even more furious when Xu Linyun remained silent. Just as she was about to scold some more, however, she saw from the corner of her eye a beautiful and smiling little girl holding a steaming cup of Pellet Tea. The girl cautiously walked over, raising the tea above her head in polite offering towards Elder Qin’nyao. “I tried to make some Pellet Tea for you, Esteemed Shifu, but I’m not sure if it’s good.”

　　When Elder Qin’nyao saw the girl, her anger suddenly disappeared with a sigh. “Xiao Mahn, you’re the more lovable and clever one. Remember, don’t be like your shijie in the future; she’s just too stubborn and a blockhead. People like these, no matter how great their innate talents are, how would they be able to stand within the realm of cultivation?”

　　As Elder Qin’nyao spoke, she accepted the Pellet Tea and took a sip while Xiao Mahn shrewdly came over and began massaging her leg. This left Elder Qin’nyao very satisfied, and an idea suddenly sprang to her mind as she looked at Xiao Mahn. “Nevermind. Linyun, go and do half a year of seclusion!” Elder Qin’nyao waved off Xu Linyun before patting atop Xiao Mahn’s small head. “I, your Shifu, can still rely only on you!” she sighed.

　　Elder Qin’nyao placed the Pellet Tea to the side and smiled. “Xiao Mahn, considering it’s your first time making this Pellet Tea, the taste is not bad. However, the heat control was a little weak and the flavor is too strong, which made the aftertaste less memorable. I happen to have some time tonight, so how about I teach you a few things about making tea?”

　　Although she’d originally planned to sneak away once she’d helped Xu Linyun out of this, Xiao Mahn naturally did not dare to reject this offer. She could only smile and reply, “Yes, of course!”