I Have a Golden Crow

”Bzz bzz~ bzz bzz~”

In the quiet master bedroom, the phone’s vibrating rang out again and again.

Half-asleep, Du Yu groped for his phone near the bedside, but ended up grabbing Xiaoyan from his dreams instead, pressing her fuzzy form to his ear: ”Hello?”

Why does this feel weird, since when did my phone case get all fluffy...

”Mrr~” Xiaoyan let out a disgruntled whimper, wriggled a bit as if protesting, then tucked her furry lil’ head down and fell right back asleep.

”Bzz bzz~ bzz bzz~” The phone kept vibrating, relentless. Du Yu placed Xiaoyan in his arms, finally got hold of his phone, and groggily answered the call: ”Mm.”

Yang Qingqing stood in a lush green balcony, gazing at the morning sun outside her window, one eyebrow rising just a little.

It’s already past 7 AM. This kid’s still not awake?

”Got the wrong number.” Before Yang Qingqing could even speak, she heard Du Yu’s foggy voice.

”Du—” Yang Qingqing had just started to speak when the ”beep beep beep” of a busy tone cut her off. Clearly, the other party had hung up!

Yang Qingqing’s expression was odd as she looked at her phone screen—students hadn’t dared to hang up on her in a long time.

Meanwhile, in the cozy master bedroom, Du Yu tossed the phone aside and rolled over to keep sleeping.

Someone’s calling me?

Hah, as if! It’s not like I have any friends, okay!

A few seconds later, the phone started buzzing again.

Feeling awful, Du Yu snatched the phone, finger automatically hitting ’accept’ with the intention to go off—when he squinted at the caller ID in a daze.

”Oh crap?” Du Yu shot awake, scrambling to answer. ”Aunt Qingqing... uh, sorry, Teacher Qingqing—good morning, Teacher Yang!”

Yang Qingqing had intended to say something, but hearing Du Yu call her that, the corner of her mouth twitched into a peculiar smile.

Aunt Qingqing?

Is that from how Lin Shiyi refers to me or what?

”Teacher Yang?” When he got no reply for a bit, Du Yu called out nervously.

Yang Qingqing hit the speakerphone icon and handed her phone to the waiting Flower Vine beside her, then rolled her neck side to side: ”Awake now?”

Clad in a white yoga outfit that accentuated her elegant figure, she was truly a sight to behold—pity there was nobody around to admire the view.

”Teacher Yang, was there something you needed?” Du Yu blurted, hustling to respond.

Yang Qingqing raised one leg, striking a yoga pose reminiscent of a worshipping Buddha: ”Heard you got a ring from Demon Spirit Academy?”

”Yeah, got it yesterday.”

”Mm.” Yang Qingqing closed her eyes, letting out a slow breath. ”Why don’t you tell me about it.”

”Alright.” Hugging Xiaoyan, Du Yu lay sideways on the big bed and recounted everything in detail.

As she listened to Du Yu’s tale, Yang Qingqing’s lips curved into a smile: ”Not bad—brave, smart, bolder than most.”

”Thank you, Teacher.” Du Yu’s heart fluttered. He’d thought the teacher might just call him ”lucky,” like that young soldier-girl had before, but Teacher Qingqing hadn’t—her praise was high.

”How’s your cultivation going these days—don’t just do missions to rack up points.”

Du Yu: ”Teacher, my Heterochromatic Little Fire Fox already advanced to Mortal Level·Great Success Stage and I’m now a Demon Tamer Prentice·Minor Success... eh?”

Yang Qingqing’s long legs showed off shocking flexibility as she slid into a split, sitting on her yoga mat: ”What’s up?”

On the other end, Du Yu’s voice was hesitant: ”Actually...I think I just ranked up to Demon Tamer Prentice·Great Success Stage.”

Yang Qingqing: ”...”

These Paper Crane Disciples really do have freakish talent.

Even among the Paper Crane Disciples, Du Yu’s talent had to be top tier.

Awakened just over ten days ago and already at Demon Tamer Prentice·Great Success?

The academy gave the extra students a whole year, with Demon Tamer·Peak Stage as the qualifying standard.

Basically, it was a way to filter people out.

Normally, that standard should weed out a good chunk, since these extra students are all older Awakeners—cultivation is slow for them, and most will get stuck at some initial stage for life, never making further progress.

Sounds harsh, but that’s reality.

This year’s batch of extra students might actually blow up the whole system.

Yang Qingqing composed herself and asked, ”As long as you didn’t slack on your cultivation. The task I assigned—how’d you do on that?”

Du Yu: ”Already completed.”

”Hmm?”

Du Yu spoke in a small voice: ”I fought the Little Flying Fish a few times—they’re kinda weak... uh, but fun to play with.”

Yang Qingqing’s brows drew together slightly at that, falling into thought.

Another long bout of silence from the teacher made Du Yu a bit anxious. What is with this teacher, always ’lagging out’?

Suddenly, Yang Qingqing spoke up: ”Since you finished the task I gave you, then come back.”

With that, Yang Qingqing stood and headed back into the living room. The supple Flower Vine, curling around her phone, followed closely behind all the way to the huge wall of trees next to the living room TV.

”Huh?” Du Yu hesitated—he still had to pick Nether Leaf Small Pearl Fruit and wanted to raise his Ghost Firefly Fire Types.

Yang Qingqing asked gently, ”What is it?”

”It’s not that, Teacher.” Du Yu hurried to explain. ”I contracted a new partner, Ghost Firefly Fire Types. The Demon Pet Center classifies them as high potential, worth investing in. It’s only at Mortal Level·Minor Achievement right now, so I was hoping to train it more here in the Newbie Demon Spirit Realm.”

”Ghost Firefly Fire Types.” Yang Qingqing was visibly surprised. ”How did you get those?”