Chapter 452: Chapter 282: Enduring Humiliation for Survival—The Fire Cloud Beast

No wonder Fire Cloud Beast Ning Yun told him not to let anyone know about their conversation.

Zhong Mountain ran off looking all excited, but the next day, to Lu Chang’sheng’s surprise, Zhong Mountain came to say goodbye.

Lu Chang’sheng thought he’d finally come to his senses and decided not to waste any more effort on the Little Fire Cloud Beast, but— 𝘧𝓇ℯ𝑒𝓌𝑒𝑏𝓃𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘭.𝒸ℴ𝓂

"The spirit array by Purple Ice Lake is almost unsealed. I’m going to make some money and then come back to feed the Little Fire Cloud Beast."

Zhong Mountain said.

Lu Chang’sheng sighed, "Aren’t you afraid you’ll be too late by the time you get back?"

"Heh, you think I don’t know? That Little Fire Cloud Beast is sharp as hell. I’m just going away for a year or two. Won’t be a big deal."

"The only thing to watch out for is that brat He Feng. Serious competition, that one."

Zhong Mountain sighed. Honestly, he didn’t really want to leave either, but he truly was broke.

All Lu Chang’sheng could do was wish him a safe journey and hope all his wishes came true.

After sending Zhong Mountain off, Lu Chang’sheng did feel a bit guilty deep down. Sure, this whole thing was orchestrated by the Fire Cloud Beast, but in the end, he was still a beneficiary.

"If there’s ever a chance, I’ll gift you some good fortune."

Lu Chang’sheng thought to himself.

"The Little Fire Cloud Beast’s attitude has changed. Must be Ning Yun’s training working out."

Lu Chang’sheng guessed in his heart, and sure enough, that evening, Huang Ling came by from the Beast Institute to inform him about signing the Spirit Contract.

"That fast?" Lu Chang’sheng was a little surprised.

Huang Ling looked at Lu Chang’sheng with a complicated gaze. Remembering the miserable days of the Little Fire Cloud Beast, she sighed, "Ancestor Ning Yun is its mother, after all. And the way spirit beasts are disciplined is nothing like us cultivators."

Lu Chang’sheng followed Huang Ling to the Beast Institute and soon saw Fire Cloud Beast Ning Yun along with the Little Fire Cloud Beast.

At this moment, the Little Fire Cloud Beast was lying next to Ning Yun with its ears drooping, looking rather calm about Lu Chang’sheng’s arrival.

Lu Chang’sheng couldn’t help but marvel—how did they turn such a wild, unruly Little Fire Cloud Beast into this obedient critter in such a short time?

It was just unbelievable.

Lu Chang’sheng thought a bit, then took out a jade bottle, poured out a pill, and tossed it to the Little Fire Cloud Beast. Its eyes lit up, and it leapt excitedly, opening its mouth to swallow the pill—but then, as if remembering something, it hesitated, dropped the pill in front of Fire Cloud Beast Ning Yun,

and started nuzzling Ning Yun with its soft little body.

Lu Chang’sheng could actually see a look of flattery on that beast’s face.

"Did they break this Little Fire Cloud Beast with all the training?"

So young and already such a suck-up?

Well, aside from that, the rest wasn’t too bad.

Fire Cloud Beast Ning Yun lowered her head and nuzzled the Little Fire Cloud Beast a few times, and only then did it run over to Lu Chang’sheng with excitement—and start nuzzling him, too.

"It’s asking if it can eat this pill."

Huang Ling looked at Lu Chang’sheng with a bit of disdain, deciding he really didn’t seem like a good guy. As for Ancestor Ning Yun, she chose to just ignore her completely.

The Little Fire Cloud Beast’s obedient act made Lu Chang’sheng super satisfied. After all that waiting, it was worth it. With Fire Cloud Beast Ning Yun as witness, they signed the Spirit Contract.

"This Spirit Contract will last until the end of your natural lifespan."

When Ancestor Ning Yun mentioned this to Lu Chang’sheng through Huang Ling, Lu Chang’sheng keenly noticed the Little Fire Cloud Beast’s eyes brighten up.

"Maybe the reason it agreed to submit to me is because it thinks I won’t live as long as Zhong Mountain or He Feng?"

Lu Chang’sheng’s suspicion was quickly confirmed.

Fire Cloud Beast Ning Yun continued, "It only needs to sign a single Spirit Contract. Once it’s over, it’ll be free."

The Little Fire Cloud Beast couldn’t help itself and stood up in excitement.

The reason Fire Cloud Beast Ning Yun explained all this was to prevent Lu Chang’sheng from using the Little Fire Cloud Beast for his own gain in the future, trying to dictate its fate or life. There was a precedent for things going wrong that way.

Some cultivators, when their own lifespan was about to run out, would use more advanced contracts or even collude with outsiders to kill their spirit beast for profit.

So Lu Chang’sheng made a Daoist Oath on the spot and also signed an additional Immortal Contract, promising that nothing like this would ever happen in the future.

"Don’t worry. That kind of thing will absolutely never happen," Lu Chang’sheng promised.

"If it gets out of line, you can bring it to me. I’ll give it a proper lesson."

Before leaving, Huang Ling relayed Fire Cloud Beast Ning Yun’s instructions.

The Little Fire Cloud Beast, which was about to dash into its newfound freedom behind Lu Chang’sheng, suddenly froze in place, like it’d been struck by lightning.

Its bright eyes instantly went dim. It saw a bleak future ahead.

"I’ve just got to hold on until this damn guy kicks the bucket."

The Little Fire Cloud Beast thought to itself.

Its talent was even stronger than anyone imagined, and it knew Lu Chang’sheng only had a Grade D middle Immortal Dao Spirit Root.

At most, he’d live another sixty or seventy years—that’d be the time it’d be free.

Short-lived, can make perfect pills.

Mom was absolutely right—this is the perfect person for me.

······

Lu Chang’sheng had no idea what the Little Fire Cloud Beast was thinking, or he’d definitely scoff.

Right now, he was actually a bit excited. The Little Fire Cloud Beast had great fire control. When they got home, it’d be the perfect assistant in alchemy.

The speed at which he could make money had just leveled up again.

Because it was late at night, Lu Chang’sheng’s leaving the Beast Institute didn’t attract much attention. The manager, He Zhao, only saw Lu Chang’sheng’s distant silhouette from afar; even though he noticed something little bouncing along behind him, he didn’t think much of it. He just figured this Alchemist Lu picked up a random spirit beast from some other Beast Institute.

"What a waste!"

He Zhao shook his head and didn’t bother looking into it, since only one spirit beast had been born in the Grade A Beast Institute lately, and there was no way Lu Chang’sheng could’ve signed a contract with that one.

"I heard Zhong Mountain headed off to Purple Ice Lake because he’s broke—looks like a good shot for He Feng."

A smile crept onto He Zhao’s face. With Zhong Mountain—biggest simp—out of the picture, now only He Feng would be left to pick from.

Back at his place, Lu Chang’sheng dove straight into the Alchemy Room and started instructing the Little Fire Cloud Beast to help control the fire.

Of course, only for some simple alchemy phases, and Lu Chang’sheng’s own pill fire was still in charge overall.

Though the Little Fire Cloud Beast tried to mess around at first, with Fire Cloud Beast Ning Yun’s training and the lure of perfect pills, it got with the program fast.

Make ten furnaces of pills—get one perfect pill as a reward.

No pill, no reward.

And given Lu Chang’sheng’s current cultivation, the Little Fire Cloud Beast was on its best behavior. All it planned to do was stick by Lu Chang’sheng until his time was up.

After all, he really could refine perfect pills.

······

Two days later, He Zhao suddenly got word from Huang Ling that the Grade A Beast Institute would be temporarily closed.

"Ancestor Ning Yun’s closing the institute for a break?" When He Zhao heard it, he didn’t think much of it at first, but as Huang Ling turned to go, it hit him. "Fellow Daoist Huang Ling, wait! If Ancestor Ning Yun is closing up, what happens to the Little Fire Cloud Beast?"

There weren’t many spirit beasts in the Grade A Beast Institute, and in recent years, Ancestor Ning Yun had pretty much handled all the contract signings herself.

Usually, closure of the institute happened only after spirit contracts were signed.

Huang Ling said, "If the institute’s closing, don’t you know what that means?"

He Zhao froze for a bit and then started getting flustered.

"Fellow Daoist Huang Ling, could you tell me which cultivator signed the Spirit Contract with the Little Fire Cloud Beast?" He Zhao tried to fish for gossip.

Huang Ling didn’t answer. Though He Zhao was in charge of the Beast Institute in name, the Grade A Beast Institute was on a different level. With his status, he had no say in what happened over there.

All the spirit beasts in the Grade A Institute were at least at the Foundation Establishment level, right?

Two days later, in the Alchemy Room, the Little Fire Cloud Beast was sweating bullets as it puffed fire at the pill furnace. Whenever the pill fire inside started to weaken, it’d puff up its cheeks and spit out another flame.

Before, Lu Chang’sheng would never have dared let someone else help out, but since making it to the rank of Tier Two Alchemist, he’d become much more relaxed when refining Tier One pills; he could even let others help with the easier parts.

This time, of course, it was the Little Fire Cloud Beast helping out.

The Little Fire Cloud Beast was giving it everything it had—after all, one more batch of pills meant one more perfect pill for itself.

Mom said that signing a Spirit Contract was for its own good. Otherwise, in this little, weak body, it would have probably gotten captured and roasted by bad cultivators out there.

For the sake of freedom, it had to swallow its pride and endure for the next few decades—until it became much stronger!