I Have a Golden Crow

”Ying~” Xiaoyan clung onto Yang Qingqing’s slender fingers, whining and acting cute, but still failed to win Yang Qingqing’s favor.

Compared to the heterochromatic demon pets, Yang Qingqing was clearly more concerned about Du Yu.

She frowned slightly and reached out to touch Du Yu’s right cheek, where there was a very obvious whip mark, now bruised and swollen.

As Yang Qingqing’s fingers touched the bruise, Du Yu couldn’t help but grimace, ”Mm.”

”Seems like your talent’s pretty decent.” As she spoke, little wisps of glow bloomed at Yang Qingqing’s fingertips, gently rubbing over Du Yu’s cheek.

Magically, the bruise actually started to fade away. Who knows which demon pet’s skill from Yang Qingqing achieved this—it was seriously handy.

Du Yu enjoyed the strange sensation at Master Qing’s fingertips and asked doubtfully, ”Why do you say that?”

”If you were dumb and your combat skills were lacking, the Firethorn Tree would never have gone that hard on you.”

Du Yu nodded inwardly; that was true. At least in the first few days, the Firethorn Tree had never attacked him, just poked him on the face and at his kidneys for show...

Yang Qingqing glanced down at the struggling Little Fire Fox in her hand, and then placed Xiaoyan onto Du Yu’s shoulder as well.

”Ying~” Xiaoyan was not happy at all.

All along, she’d been super confident in her looks and vibes—she’d never met anyone who could resist her charms.

Finally, today, she met her match!

Heh, woman~ Sooner or later, you’ll be the next to fall into my bed.

Yang Qingqing casually waved her hand, piecing together swirling fire demon breath, and a flaming saber suddenly appeared: ”Come, let me see the results of your special training.”

”Huh?” Before Du Yu could react, the flame roared, and Yang Qingqing gripped the fire blade, hacking straight down!

Du Yu jerked sideways, moving nearly on pure reflex; his hunting bow wasn’t fully drawn, but as soon as he loosed the bowstring, a fire arrow had already shot out!

Rapid Fire!

This had become Du Yu’s go-to attack method these past 18 days, because under the Firethorn Tree’s 360° encirclement, he never had time for further adjustments.

You still wanna calmly deal damage?

If you take even a second longer to aim, those vines will smack your bow out of alignment!

Right now, Du Yu could be summed up in two words: stupid fast!

Yang Qingqing suddenly lunged forward in an archer’s stance—a double win. Not only did she close the distance, but her low stance dodged Du Yu’s headshot arrow as well.

Damn!

Du Yu hurriedly leaped backward.

Yang Qingqing’s figure instantly closed in, her bright eyes lit up: ”Not bad.”

This was the style befitting a student trained by the Firethorn Tree—the proper way to dodge!

A pro could see what’s what—Du Yu’s backward leap basically brushed the ground, which meant he could power off his feet and switch dodge direction at any time.

That was the result of hundreds, maybe thousands, of backward jumps, surely hammered in by the Firethorn Tree’s relentless punishments. The right dodge move was basically burned into Du Yu’s muscle memory.

”Ghost Firefly!”

”Whoosh~” From above Du Yu’s head, the burning black flame ball suddenly flared up with high flames. A wind and fire vortex swept out under Yang Qingqing’s feet, trying to block her chase.

There was a dull ”dong” sound.

Yang Qingqing stomped the ground hard, a wave of pure demon breath rippling out, instantly breaking up the wind and fire vortex. She dashed forward, slicing upward with her blade again!

Du Yu hurriedly dodged sideways, the fire saber scraping past his chest—a rush of heat!

He barely had time to counterattack and instantly ducked down, letting the fire saber swipe over his head.

From his crouch, Du Yu explosively darted to the side in a diving leap, dodging Yang Qingqing’s slashing swing again.

The scary part was that even Du Yu’s leaping back-for-distance dives still basically skimmed the ground.

Just imagine the psychological scars the Firethorn Tree left on him...

But by now, Du Yu wasn’t that ignorant newbie Xiaobai anymore. After his dive, his roll and rise were smooth as flowing water, bouncing himself sideways yet again.

”Xiaoyan!”

Yang Qingqing, like a life-taking fierce ghost, hacked her saber at the spot Du Yu had just vanished from.

”Bang!”

A fireball shot out from Du Yu’s shoulder, blasting straight toward Princess Consort Yan’s big bed.

But Yang Qingqing flipped her fire blade upright, smacking the fireball with the blade body in a move so slick, it totally surpassed Du Yu’s understanding!

The blade didn’t even set the fireball off. Instead, she whacked it toward the Firethorn Tree, where it got wrapped up by dense branches, letting sparks explode in a cocoon of leaves.

Amid the muffled booms, Yang Qingqing’s fire saber quietly faded away. Her beautiful eyes glinted with admiration as she tilted her head slightly.

”Swoosh~”

A fire arrow grazed past Yang Qingqing’s face.

Du Yu hurriedly lowered his hunting bow—he totally didn’t mean it; Rapid Fire was in his muscles by now.

That was clearly the byproduct of specialized training. Surrounded and ambushed by endless vines, you just don’t have the luxury of being slow...

Realizing the test was over, Du Yu stammered, ”Th-thank you, Master Qing, for your guidance.”

Why did he stammer?

Because right now, the only thing going through Du Yu’s mind was: Damn, am I awesome or what?

Was that just me back there?

Was I the one dodging Master Qing’s attacks and getting out in one piece?

But these past 18 days, I’ve been beaten silly by the Firethorn Tree every day—I’ve never had a clean fight, not once...

Case closed!

Master Qing only has two hands, while the Firethorn Tree has ten thousand vines!

After all those endless whip beatings by the Firethorn Tree, dodging normal opponents’ attacks feels kind of easy?

Yang Qingqing wasn’t stingy with her praise for Du Yu, saying softly, ”Sharp senses and clear thinking. You know when to dodge, know how to dodge, and can even counterattack at just the right moment.”

Du Yu got a little embarrassed at being praised—this teacher was so nice! He really should drag Old Demon Gong here for some advanced training under Master Qing...

Yang Qingqing said, ”I can tell you’ve found your own close-combat style, but you rarely use the bow arm’s short dagger—work on that in the future.”

Du Yu: ”Yes, ma’am.”

Yang Qingqing asked, ”How’s your cultivation lately, still at Great Success as a Demon Tamer Prentice?”

Du Yu nodded repeatedly, ”Yes, but I should be close to reaching the Peak stage.”

”Oh?”

Du Yu nodded confidently, his bright eyes radiating conviction: ”Master Qing’s House has tons of demonic plants and thick demon breath. I train hard every day, and I can feel my body channels constantly expanding.”

On hearing this, Yang Qingqing couldn’t help checking Du Yu out from head to toe.

He really was a Paper Crane Disciple—zero blocks while cultivating. In just over a month, he went from rookie to Peak as a Demon Tamer Prentice?

Even prodigies who awakened at age ten or eleven were only so-so.

Under Master Qing’s scrutinizing gaze, Du Yu felt a little awkward too.

Yang Qingqing noticed the boy’s embarrassment and smiled, ”But you do look a bit skinnier. Did Xiaofu not keep up with supplies?”

Du Yu hastily said, ”Senior Brother Fu brought fruits and veggies over several times—I’ve been eating great. By the way, Master Qing, those dried fruits you stored in your kitchen...”

”What about them?”

Du Yu: ”I saw online that Ghost Firefly Fire Types like eating Fire Nether Fruit, and Little You Ying really likes them, so we just...”

Yang Qingqing waved it off indifferently, ”No worries. How strong are your demon pets now?”

Du Yu let out a sigh of relief—after all, he’d eaten a lot of good stuff. ”Ghost Firefly Fire Types and Little Fire Fox are both at Mortal Level·Great Success Stage. Little Fire Fox is growing a bit faster; I think she’s about to advance.”

”Since they’re heterochromatic demon pets, they’re bound to have something special.” Yang Qingqing finally looked at Xiaoyan and beckoned to her gently.

”Ying!” Hu Xiaoyan ditched Du Yu on the spot, leaped into the air.

Heh~ Woman.

Remember, this is the start of your downfall.

Yang Qingqing cupped the little thing in both hands, and just as her fingers squeezed Xiaoyan’s big ears, she felt the fluffy tailtip nudge aside her collar?

Yang Qingqing: ???

Quick as lightning, she clutched her collar with her left hand, yanked her right with Xiaoyan away, staring in shock at the horny little critter.

”Ying~” Xiaoyan tilted her head, giving Yang Qingqing her most pitiful look and whining in protest.

Yang Qingqing looked suspicious, glancing at Xiaoyan and then back at Du Yu.

Du Yu just felt his scalp tingle and scurried backward, ”Master Qing, this has nothing to do with me! Nothing to do with me at all!”

”Oh really?”

Du Yu nodded like a drum, face full of resolve, echoing Master Qing’s words, ”Well, they’re heterochromatic demon pets... bound to have some special traits...”