Sword Sect Little Demon Child, Three and a Half Years Old and Extremely Fierce

Suning dragged me to watch the beast-taming competition.

The first event was a competition of collective animal training.

Whoever can tame the eagle on the chair will advance to the finals.

The chair eagle is a bird that looks like a chair and has a similar temperament.

Normally it squats still, but if provoked, it can kick a Golden Core cultivator three zhang away.

It now squats on a specially made shelf, its eyes haughty as if it owes someone eight million spirit stones.

One after another, the participating disciples went up to try to communicate with it.

Some tried to lure them with spiritual fruits, but the eagle glanced at them and turned its head away.

Some tried to soothe it with their spiritual power, but the eagle yawned and continued to pretend to be asleep.

Some tried to force their way out with contract talismans, but when the eagle flapped its wing, the disciple flew off the stage, tracing a perfect parabola in the air.

The whole audience burst into laughter.

Finally, it was Li Bufan's turn to take the stage.

He took a deep breath and walked over.

Instead of forcibly approaching the eagle, he squatted down, took out a handful of spiritual fruits from his pocket, and placed them on the ground.

Chair Eagle glanced at him.

He glanced at the spirit fruit again.

Then it stood up, walked over, and pecked at the ground.

The referee announced: Yu Ling Sect, you have qualified.

When Li Bufan stepped off the stage, his legs were still shaking.

But the smile on her face was sweeter than honey.

The audience cheered for him.

"Senior Brother Li is amazing!"

"The Spirit Control Sect is the Spirit Control Sect!"

"No wonder it's one of the five major sects!"

But I know that this eagle was not tamed by Li Bufan.

It was frightened by the Thunderwing Tiger.

Because Lei Yihu was squatting below the stage, staring at the eagle.

The look in his eyes could be interpreted as: If you dare disrespect my master, I'll bite you to death.

The eagle is very sensible.

Therefore, Li Bufan successfully entered the finals.

The eldest disciple of the Yuling Sect is in seclusion, attempting to break through to the Nascent Soul stage, and did not come.

Li Bufan unfortunately faced the senior disciple of the Lingqi Sect in the finals.

The Spirit Contract Sect is a sect that specializes in researching spirit beast contracts.

Although it is not as famous as the Yu Ling Sect, it is said that its strength is only slightly inferior to that of the Yu Ling Sect.

Just a little bit.

They have always wanted to squeeze out the Yuling Sect and be listed among the top five sects.

Therefore, the opposing team was determined to win this match.

The eldest disciple of the Lingqi Sect has reached the late stage of the Golden Core realm and is at the Great Perfection.

The spirit beast is a mid-level Netherworld Wolf.

The wolf was entirely black, with green eyes, and stood on the platform like a god of death.

Li Bufan was only at the early stage of the Golden Core realm, two minor realms lower than his senior brother.

Although the Thunderwing Tiger is also a mid-level wolf, it was only recently contracted, so its cooperation level is definitely not as good as that of the wolf that has been raised for many years.

We can't beat them.

That's what everyone thinks.

Game start.

The Nether Wolf pounced first, moving as fast as a black shadow.

Thunderwing Tiger flapped its wings and blocked it.

The ghost wolf circled around to the side and opened its mouth to bite.

Thunderwing Tiger flicked its tail, striking the wolf's face.

The Nether Wolf, in pain, took a few steps back, baring its teeth.

Li Bufan seized the opportunity to throw out the talisman.

The owner of the Netherwolf was not to be outdone and drew his sword, charging forward.

In an instant, the stage was in complete chaos, with spirit beasts roaring, talismans flying everywhere, and swords flashing.

Li Bufan was forced to the edge of the ring and was about to fall off.

Lei Yihu suddenly roared to the sky, his body bursting with lightning. He used one wing to blow away the Netherworld Wolf, then turned around, picked up Li Bufan, and threw him back to the center of the stage.

That scene was so cool I almost applauded.

Li Bufan steadied himself, took out a golden talisman from his pocket, and slapped it onto Lei Yihu.

The Thunderwing Tiger's body crackled with even more lightning, making it resemble a flying ball of lightning as it charged towards the Netherworld Wolf.

"boom--"

The Nether Wolf was knocked away and crashed into the barrier, losing consciousness.

The senior disciple of the Spirit Contract Sect was forced back a step, his face turning ugly.

The referee announced: Yu Ling Sect wins.

When Li Bufan won and stepped off the stage, his legs were shaking.

He gave me a grateful look.

That look, translated, means: Thank you for helping me contract with the Thunderwing Tiger.

I nodded to him, meaning: You're welcome, remember to give me lots of candy.

Su Ning, watching Lei Yihu from the side, exclaimed with shining eyes, "So impressive!"

I looked at Su Ning and said, "Third Senior Brother, you can learn beast taming from Elder Wen Zhiya."

Su Ning hesitated for a moment: "But... raising spirit beasts is very expensive."

Me: "We have a little Flame Mastiff. Let's keep it; it'll be very majestic when it grows up."

Su Ning thought for a moment: "...But the Little Flame Hound is a magical beast, leveling it up will probably cost a lot of money, right?"

I thought about it and said, "...Let's talk about it when we have the money."

Suning also remained silent.

"We'll talk about it when we have the money..." These four words are probably the most common saying in our Heavenly Sword Sect.

***************

Yan Chuan dragged me to watch the alchemy competition.

The back mountain.

Dozens of alchemy furnaces were lined up in a row, flames roaring and the aroma of medicine filling the air.

The participating disciples sat cross-legged in front of the furnace, controlling the heat and adding medicinal herbs, their expressions as focused as if they were performing surgery on a patient.

"Look at that," Yan Chuan pointed to a pill furnace, "it's emitting black smoke, it's ruined."

As soon as he finished speaking, the alchemy furnace "poofed" and spewed out a plume of black smoke, turning the disciple next to him into a black man.

The disciple coughed as he ran off the stage, his face filled with despair.

Yan Chuan pointed to another one: "This one's going to explode."

really.

With a loud "boom!", the lid of the alchemy furnace flew into the sky.

It even circled in the air a dozen times.

Then it crashed straight down onto the empty ground next to it.

The disciple was covered in soot from the explosion, his hair stood on end like a hedgehog, and he still clutched the alchemy formula tightly in his hand.

He roared at the sky, "I—still—want—to—refine—!"

The referee this time was an elder in the Nascent Soul stage. He opened the barrier in time, and no one was injured.

He wrote "Eliminated" after the name of the disciple who had failed in the test without any expression.

Yan Chuan shook his head, looking like someone who'd been there all along: "Cooking is still the simplest thing. If you cook bad food, at most it'll taste bad, but if you mess up refining pills, they'll explode."

I looked at Yan Chuan: "Fourth Senior Brother, you seem to know a lot about alchemy?"

Yan Chuan scratched his head: "Maybe I've been cooking too much. The concept of controlling heat is universally applicable."

I asked again, "You also know about weapon crafting?"

Yan Chuan nodded: "I know a little bit. I was too poor before to afford a new pot, so I had to learn a little about weapon crafting and repair it myself."

Looking at his honest face, I suddenly felt a pang of sadness.

Because of poverty, a sword cultivator forced himself to become half an alchemist and half a weapon refiner.

The poverty of the Heavenly Sword Sect has forced out countless talents from different fields.

***************

After watching the alchemy process.

Murong Zhuo dragged me to watch the talisman drawing competition.

On the table were a table, talisman paper, cinnabar, and a talisman brush.

The participating disciples concentrated their minds and drew the talismans stroke by stroke.

It looked a lot like writing calligraphy.

But I know that it's ten thousand times harder than writing calligraphy.

Murong Zhuo explained from the side, "Drawing talismans requires a continuous flow. If you stop halfway, the talisman is ruined. If you make a mistake in a stroke, the talisman is ruined too. If you are not focused, the talisman is still ruined."

Sure enough, one of the disciples was halfway through drawing when his hand trembled, and the talisman caught fire with a "bang!"

Murong Zhuo shook his head and sighed, "We can't do talisman drawing either. Shaky hands are the natural enemy of sword cultivators."

I looked at him: "But your hands never shake."

Murong Zhuo was taken aback.

I started counting on my fingers.

"You didn't shake when you handed the sword to your senior brother."

"Don't tremble when serving tea to the elders."

"It doesn't shake when I brush the little Flame Mastiff's fur."

I paused for a moment, then said, "Your hand is so steady, you're perfect for drawing talismans, aren't you?"

He was stunned.

"But..." He opened his mouth, his face slightly reddening, "buying talisman paper and pens is very expensive."

I was silent.

Money again.

Drawing talismans costs money.

Alchemy costs money.

Setting up an array costs money.

Taming beasts costs money.

Sword cultivators don't need anything.

All you need is a sword and a pair of hands that don't tremble.

No, a good sword costs more...

Forget it, let's talk about it when we have the money.

****************

Gu Chenguang didn't take me to see the excitement.

Because I was watching his antics.

He went to set up the formation.

This was the only non-sword sport he signed up for.

His opponent was a disciple of the Array Sect.

It is said that he started learning formations at the age of three and could set up a level three formation by the age of eight. He is a genius that the formation sect has only seen once in a hundred years.

Known as the "Light of the Array Sect"!

The two faced off on stage for fifteen minutes.

Gu Chenguang set up three formations, and the opponent broke through all three.

The opponent set up a formation, which Gu Chenguang tried to solve for a long time but couldn't.

Finally, the referee announced: Zhen Zong wins.

Gu Chenguang stepped off the stage with a calm expression.

I ran over and said, "Sixth Senior Brother, you lost."

Gu Chenguang nodded.

"Isn't it shameful?"

"It's not shameful." He took out his notebook, made a note, and wrote, "First time setting up a formation for a competition, I lasted for fifteen minutes. Next time, I'll try to last for twenty minutes."

He paused, then added, "That disciple of the Array Sect has been studying arrays for over a hundred years. I've only been studying for three years."

I nodded: "That makes sense."

Gu Chenguang added, "Besides, my main focus is on swordsmanship. Formation is just a side job."

I nodded again: "That makes even more sense."

Gu Chenguang closed the notebook with satisfaction.

Looking at his expression, I thought to myself: Sixth Senior Brother's mentality is the best in the entire sect.

Losing is not shameful, winning is a win.

This mindset is suitable for starting a side hustle.

I looked at him and said, "Sixth Senior Brother, your side business is doing quite well. Why don't you continue to develop it?"

He thought for a moment, then shook his head: "No need. It's too expensive."

I sighed, "It's all because we're broke."

Gu Chenguang didn't speak. He opened his notebook and wrote in the notes column on that page:

—Hopefully, one day, the Heavenly Sword Sect will be so wealthy that every disciple can develop a side business.

I glanced at it and silently memorized those words.