Chapter 84: Chapter 72: Soul Bond, Ah Long Evolves
Li Qian’s father, Li Chengyang, had decided on his second Pet Beast—he wanted to contract a Clay Doll. Naturally, Li Qian would support him unconditionally.
He checked the Beast Taming Mall, and soon, rows of information appeared.
Li Qian glanced over it. They weren’t cheap; the price was close to twenty million, and there was also a Contribution Point requirement.
However, this wasn’t much of a problem for Li Qian now.
As long as he sold one Cyan-Scaled Flood Dragon, he could cover both the twenty-million price tag and the Contribution Point requirement.
This was because, at the moment, all the Pet Beasts at the Cultivation Base—Liu Changfeng’s Ah Long, Fatty An’s Tan Tou, and the Koi Carp that Zhou Weiping sent over—were special cases, despite all being there to train for their evolutions.
He had only charged ten million for both Liu Changfeng’s and Zhou Weiping’s pets, which fell into the category of friendly support and special cooperation.
As for Fatty An, that was another story entirely.
The entire Cultivation Base had been bought and gifted to him by Mrs. An, so evolving Fatty An’s Tan Tou had become a form of reciprocal courtesy—a way to repay the favor.
Naturally, Li Qian wouldn’t accept any money from him.
This meant that, at this very moment, he really couldn’t come up with twenty million.
He could only make a mental note of the matter and purchase it later, once he had the money.
...
Li Qian didn’t know where Liu Changfeng had taken Ah Long, nor was he interested in finding out.
But that night, something major happened in Lingshui City that caught Li Qian’s attention.
In the dead of night, an explosion suddenly rocked the North Suburb of Lingshui City.
The explosion sent a towering blaze into the sky, and even from the Cultivation Base in the South Suburb of Lingshui City, he could see the clear glow and hear the considerable commotion.
The moment the explosion occurred, Li Qian went up to the roof of Building One to gaze into the distance and see what was happening.
This explosion reminded him of the time he, Fatty An, and a group of their classmates were attacked at Taoyuan Villa.
Taoyuan Villa was located in the North Suburb.
In that incident, aside from Lu Kuihuan, who was beaten black and blue, and Sun Shouhe, who got a cut after exposing... his size, no one else was seriously hurt, so Li Qian had quickly put it out of his mind.
But tonight’s explosion brought that memory back to the surface.
’Actually, if I think about it carefully, the whole incident was very strange.’
’Who was Lu Kuihuan?’
’He was just a good-for-nothing rich kid. Why would the Mechanical Desecration Association target him?’
’Did that Mechanical Octopus really just happen to wander into Lingshui City and then possess a Shadow Soul?’
Shaking his head, Li Qian forced himself to stop thinking about these things.
Whether there was truly something suspicious going on or he was just being paranoid, his guiding principle was not to get involved and not to stick his nose where it didn’t belong.
Li Qian knew very well that some matters were too deep for him to probe with his current level of strength.
The best way to handle it was... to keep a respectful distance.
Besides, if the sky falls, the tall ones will hold it up.
After watching from the rooftop for a while, Li Qian returned to his bedroom in Building One to get some rest.
The night passed without incident... at least, it did for Li Qian.
Early the next morning, Liu Changfeng arrived at the Cultivation Base, a look of anxiety on his face.
Li Qian wasn’t curious enough to ask any questions he shouldn’t, instead cutting straight to the point. "Can we begin the evolution?"
"The sooner, the better." Liu Changfeng nodded, not bothering to hide the urgency in his voice.
"We can start right away." Li Qian wasted no words and led Liu Changfeng to the Evolutionary Ground.
This was the flat clearing not far from the Central Pond.
A pit had been dug in the clearing—Li Qian’s handiwork from when Xiaoliu evolved last time.
"Have Ah Long get in," Li Qian said, pointing to the pit in the clearing.
Liu Changfeng didn’t hesitate. He followed Li Qian’s instructions, summoned Ah Long, and placed it in the pit.
After doing this, he turned and left without another word.
He only stopped when he reached the edge of the woods behind the clearing, the same spot where the three admissions teachers had waited that day.
He stood there, motionless.
Li Qian didn’t say anything more. He walked directly into the Frostfire Array and placed new Fire Energy Stones and Ice Energy Stones at the two nodal points of the array.
After replacing the Energy Stones, he sat down cross-legged and began to use his Spiritual Power to guide the array’s activation.
A faint crimson glow and a blue-white light lit up one after another.
The evolution officially began...
At that very moment, as if on cue, Liu Changfeng summoned his Vajra Ape and Fire Mastiff from his position outside the woods.
Even though they were inside the Cultivation Base where, logically, there should be no danger, it was always better to be safe than sorry.
Besides, the events of last night had made him worried about the safety of Lingshui City. Summoning the Vajra Ape and Fire Mastiff was a precaution against the unexpected.
Less than half an hour after the evolution began, the three admissions teachers and Han Yuqing arrived together once again.
The purpose of their visit was self-evident.
However, because they hadn’t timed their visit with Li Qian’s work schedule, they had missed their chance again. Or perhaps, for them, this was the perfect time.
They could witness the evolution of a Frostfire Salamander a few more times, understand its success rate, and more easily assess the value of this evolutionary method.
This would, in turn, help them weigh the price of recruiting Li Qian.
