**Chapter 5: The Strength of the Crimson Flame Fox**
In the following days, Ye Jingcheng was extremely busy. He exchanged Detoxification Pills and Blood Essence Pills every half month and refined pills in the alchemy hall once every ten days.
By the end of the month, Ye Jingcheng was physically and mentally exhausted.
Even his daily cultivation had suffered delays.
However, the results were very promising. Although there was no public announcement from the Ye family, many cultivators were aware that Ye Jingcheng's Crimson Flame Fox was still alive.
For Ye Jingcheng, this was the most important thing.
The Crimson Flame Fox's exceptional talent provided excellent cover for him.
After a month of the treasure book's spiritual light, the Crimson Flame Fox had fully recovered from its injuries. Its fur was like red flames, its blue eyes were lively, and its large tail looked thick and powerful.
Its claws were razor-sharp, leaving multiple paw prints on the stone table, which made Ye Jingcheng both angry and happy.
He approached and patted the Crimson Flame Fox on the head. The fox responded with lively yips and even spat out some sparkling flames!
"Don't spit fire in here!"
This sight scared Ye Jingcheng, and he quickly pulled the Crimson Flame Fox away. Fire wasn't meant to be sprayed in the room.
In his mind, he sensed the Crimson Flame Fox's eager spiritual fluctuations.
Clearly, under the treasure book's influence, the Crimson Flame Fox was growing faster.
Ye Jingcheng took the Crimson Flame Fox outside to an open area on the mountain.
As soon as the Crimson Flame Fox jumped from his arms, it transformed into a red spiritual shadow, moving with incredible speed!
Ye Jingcheng was astonished by its speed and used a lightweight spell to chase after it, but even with the spell, he could barely keep up!
When the Crimson Flame Fox seemed to tire from playing, it yipped twice and leaped in front of Ye Jingcheng.
Its voice was light and somewhat excited.
At that moment, it turned its head and opened its mouth!
Boom!
A fireball the size of a palm flew out, landing on the open ground and creating a massive black crater.
"Much stronger than Fireball Technique!" Ye Jingcheng was delighted by the sight!
He was a cultivator of the Fire, Earth, Water, and Wood attributes and knew the Fireball Technique. However, his technique was not as fast or powerful as the Crimson Flame Fox's, despite his current cultivation at the fourth level of Qi Refining.
The Crimson Flame Fox's current strength was at the mid-stage of the first rank. In terms of a cultivator's level, it was roughly equivalent to the fifth level of Qi Refining.
This was indeed beyond Ye Jingcheng's expectations.
Moreover, the display seemed like the Crimson Flame Fox was showcasing its combat power, as if it knew about the dangerous journey to the mountains in the coming days.
Its intelligence was extraordinary!
Ye Jingcheng's Jade-ring Mouse, in contrast, only squeaked and was less advanced. Even the Flying Cloud Leopard, which his second brother had, was only comparable to the third level of Qi Refining in terms of speed!
After the fireball display, the Crimson Flame Fox landed at Ye Jingcheng's feet, looking somewhat tired, and its yips became calmer.
Ye Jingcheng then took out some spirit beast meat and two Spirit Nourishment Pills to feed it.
The Crimson Flame Fox ate slowly while Ye Jingcheng gently stroked its fur, feeling its warmth and thinking deeply.
At that moment, a red spiritual light streaked across the sky and landed in front of Ye Jingcheng.
He grasped it with one hand, revealing a communication talisman. The talisman quickly burned away, leaving a message: "Come quickly!"
Ye Jingcheng promptly patted the Crimson Flame Fox on the head. The fox looked up at him and quickly swallowed all the spirit beast meat without chewing.
Ye Jingcheng then used a spirit beast bag to store the Crimson Flame Fox.
Returning to his small courtyard, Ye Jingcheng saw his second brother, Ye Jingyong, his fourth brother, Ye Jingyu, and also Ye Jingli, who had gone to select spirit beasts. Only his seventh sister, Ye Jingyu, was missing.
"Jingcheng, you're the last one. How are you prepared?" Ye Jingyong asked loudly.
"Second Brother, of course, I'm well prepared!" Ye Jingcheng responded with a smile, then respectfully greeted, "Fourth Brother, Sixth Brother!"
"Jingcheng, I heard your Crimson Flame Fox is alive?" Ye Jingyu's voice was gentle, like a spring breeze.
"Yes, perhaps it was just luck that it survived!" Ye Jingcheng nodded.
"Take good care of it. It has great potential!" Ye Jingyu seemed to hint at something.
Ye Jingcheng's eyes brightened!
He had long suspected that the Ye family had some hidden aspects.
In the cultivation world, known as the Great Yu Cultivation World, other families and sects valued spiritual roots highly, while the Ye family was an exception!
Ye Jingcheng didn't think the Ye family was stubborn but rather believed that training spirit beasts for combat was crucial.
As the son of the family head, Ye Jingyu obviously knew something, which was why during the spirit beast selection, no one else had spoken.
The Ye family's spirit beasts were undoubtedly more important than he had imagined.
"Alright, let's go. Delay could lead to changes!" Ye Jingyu said, unwilling to discuss further.
[Translator: sauron]
He then took out a small boat the size of a palm, threw it into the sky, and with a burst of spiritual energy, it transformed into a green wooden boat, as large as a house.
"Board the boat!" Ye Jingyu stood at the front, maneuvering a device similar to a wooden rudder.
The other three looked on with admiration. Ye Jingcheng, who only had a first-rank low-grade magic sword for flight, found this boat astonishing. His magic sword had cost seventy contribution points and could barely sustain a flight!
The spirit boat was far beyond their imagination.
"This trip will take us to the deep outskirts of the Taihang Mountains. We will take turns operating the magic rudder. Jingcheng, as the weakest cultivator, you will handle it for fifteen minutes. The rest of us will take turns every thirty minutes. The direction is on this map!" Ye Jingyu handed out a map and engraved simple instructions for operating the boat on a jade slip for everyone to review.
"Jingcheng, release your Jade-ring Mouse first. It has a high sensitivity to powerful demons. As for the Flying Cloud Leopard and the Azure-scaled Snake, release them once we reach our destination to reduce our spiritual energy consumption!" Ye Jingyu instructed.
Interestingly, Ye Jingyu didn't mention the Crimson Flame Fox, clearly underestimating its combat capability despite its recovery.
Ye Jingcheng didn't comment further. He took out the Jade-ring Mouse, which surprised the others.
Named for its green ears resembling a large ring, the Jade-ring Mouse had exceptional hearing and smell. Among the Ye family's spirit beasts, it was relatively valued.
However, Ye Jingcheng's Jade-ring Mouse had grown significantly in just a month and seemed better than their Flying Cloud Leopard!
Its fur was shiny and emitted a faint spiritual glow. Its ears twitched, making it very impressive.
"Jingcheng, your alchemy skills must have improved!" Ye Jingyu observed with a glint in his eyes. Ye Jingcheng nodded, realizing his Fourth Brother's quick thinking!
He was momentarily stunned, as he hadn't expected the Jade-ring Mouse to grow so fast, considering it had only absorbed a bit of the Crimson Flame Fox's treasure book's spiritual light.
Yet his Fourth Brother had already prepared an explanation for him!
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**(End of Chapter)**