Regardless, those who were spectating would never begrudge the matter for blowing up even more. Licking a shoe or kneeling while admitting to being a perverted degenerate were both exciting stakes. The Flameyellow Pagoda was a place of quiet cultivation, and hadnât been so lively for a very long time.
âWell, arenât you eager.â Wei Lingxuan glanced at Li Tianmingâs dirty shoes. She trembled somewhat, but she was so full of confidence that she wasnât deterred.
âExcited to clean my shoe? Donât worry, an hour will fly by.â Li Tianming smiled, approaching the Flameyellow Rock, Jiang Feiling in tow.
The Heavenâs Sanctum disciples cultivating by the Flameyellow Rock all halted when they heard of the bet. Stepping out of the rings, they watched Li Tianming and Wei Lingxuan with rapt attention.
âIs there something wrong with Li Tianmingâs head?â
âThere must be. Otherwise, he wouldnât have been dumb enough to attack Mu Qingqing three years ago and ruin himself.â
âHeâs a sensationalist. You actually expect him to act low-profile?â
All of them shook their heads, looking at Li Tianming with pity. Their minds were already full with the amusing events to come.
Wei Lingxuanâs cold voice cut them off just as Li Tianming and Jiang Feiling were about to enter the rings. âLi Tianming, this bet is between you and me. Jiang Feiling is not allowed to go in. Donât keep thinking of getting a girl to help you, coward.â
âLingâer.â Li Tianming stopped, giving her a smile.
âWill you be fine?â Jiang Feiling asked.
âJust wait and see.â
âIâm still worried big brother may lose...â Jiang Feiling pouted, her eyes full of worry.
âWhy would I be afraid of losing? Youâll help me take the punishment, right?â Li Tianming grinned.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om
âNo way!â Jiang Feiling giggled. She stopped walking after seeing how confident Li Tianming was. She watched with concern from the side as Li Tianming, with a yellow little chick on his head, walked into the outermost ring.
Everyone else could easily see the beginnings of a girlâs first love.
Li Tianming stood in the region for level one synchronisation. As a rule of thumb, that was where most disciples belonged to, an unspoken requirement of sorts.
âA spiritual energy storm?â From this distance, Li Tianming could already feel the spiritual energy emanating from the Flameyellow Rock. The ancient rock in front of him, which had experienced the vicissitudes of time, seemed to have an ancient story to tell. Rather than an inanimate object, it gave him an impression of an elder.
The spiritual energy storm was like a gentle breeze when it swept past him, the whistles that passed by his ear sounding like it was trying to communicate with Li Tianming. The spiritual energy wove in and out of his body a moment later, and it felt like the Flameyellow Rock was examining him was its hands.
âFor our Primordial Chaos Beast physiques, thereâs nothing weâre less scared of than violent energy. We can withstand even the spiritual energy chaos eating spirit jades puts us in, so who cares about some puny rock? If there werenât so many people around, itâll be in my stomach by now,â the little chick declared arrogantly, sitting in a nest made from Li Tianmingâs messy hair.
âHey, you said it! Donât screw me over, or else youâre joining me when I kneel later!â Li Tianming continued his approach to the rock.
âBro, you must be dreaming! Iâm not the one who made the bet,â the little chick cackled madly.
âSo you do admit youâre screwing me over?â
âNaturally.â
âAnd youâre supposed to be my lifebound beast? What about the bonds of brotherhood?â
âMy only dream is to see you humiliated in front of sister Lingâer so that Iâll look better.â
âYou beast!â
âWhen egg two hatches, Iâm abandoning you.â
âDo you believe Iâll go to the lifebound space right this moment and crack all nine runts?â
âHow impressive of you.â
Li Tianming had already reached the third ring as he chatted with Ying Huo. It was also where Wei Lingxuan cultivated.
Li Tianming closed his eyes to better sense the spiritual energy storm here, which was far stronger. The density of spiritual energy here was ten times as large as outside. However, standing here was like being besieged by howling wind and torrential rains. The difficulty of absorbing and converting spiritual energy into beast ki was ten times harder.
A moment of carelessness might allow the spiritual energy storm to disrupt the process of cultivation. If that happened, the cultivator would lose control of their beast ki and suffer severe internal injuries.
The Flameyellow Rock was an area of great fortune, but also of great danger. That was what made knowing your personal degree of synchronisation important. Overestimating yourself would only lead to ruin.
Wei Lingxuan actually had sinister intentions in proposing such a bet. She didnât want Li Tianming to kneel, but to suffer severe injuries. That was the only way for her to dispel her hate. She was the pampered, spoilt princess of Wei Manor. Flameyellow Scions Institute was the manorâs territory, which made it herâs too. How could she allow Li Tianming to get off scot free after provoking her in her own territory?
âLetâs get started. Itâs just one hour â time to see if youâre a real man!â The little chick was enjoying itself.
âWait.â Li Tianming felt the spiritual energy storm.
âScared?â
âHow could that be? Let me tell you something, donât look down on a youngster now just because heâs weak now.â After Li Tianming finished his words, he continued on, walking towards the rock.
The geniuses of Heavenâs Sanctum were all waiting for Li Tianming to cultivate in the third ring. When they saw him proceed inward, they all called out, âLi Tianming, donât waste time!â
Their natural assumption was that Li Tianming was only posturing, and would come out after walking around a bit inside.
Li Tianming simply ignored them and entered the fourth region.
The intensity directly doubled!
The region where Lin Xiaoting and the other core Heavenâs Sanctum disciples cultivated really was out of the ordinary. The storm was like the continuous attacks of a fierce beast. Anyone who could somehow cultivate here was impressive.
The little chick frowned. âYou want to cultivate here?â
âWhat, I canât?â His back facing everyone else, Li Tianming crossed his legs and sat down.
The little chick whistled. âGusty!â
âIâm not like you. Iâm only pretending to be scared, while youâre actually scared!â
âAre you looking down on grandpappy chicken?â
âYou said it.â
âHmph. Come come, letâs start our symbiotic cultivation, Iâll show you what a real man is!â the little chick said confidently.
Naturally, symbiotic cultivation was even more effective than cultivating alone here. And it was especially effective when the lifebound beast was outside the lifebound space than when inside.
The lifebound space was a miraculous area. Most lifebound beasts would feel very comfortable inside. Furthermore, the space was connected to the beastmaster by the beast veins, so symbiotic cultivation could proceed even if the beast was inside.
The beastmasters present would generally cultivate with their beast inside the space. Of course, although most lifebound beasts preferred to stay in the space, exceptions like Ying Huo, who liked to prance around outside, existed.
The man and chick disregarded the shock of everyone else as they actually sat down in the fourth region and began cultivating, with Li Tianming running his Aeternal Infernal Codex. Li Tianming and Ying Huoâs beast veins connected a heartbeat later, their infernalsources linking together. Now a singular entity, Aeternal Infernal Beast Ki began to rush madly through the connections.
Li Tianming had never seen any other cultivation techniqueâs description to be as domineering as their Aeternal Infernal Codex. Combined with their Primordial Chaos Beast Bodies, they had no equal when it came to resisting such a storm.
The Aeternal Infernal Codex could forcefully devour, convert and suppress spiritual energy. Eternally undying, the Aeternal Infernal Body could survive the battering of their beast ki with absurd ease.
The moment they began cultivating, Li Tianming was clear todayâs bet was a guaranteed win.
Level four synchronisation? Nothing much.
The spiritual energy storm seemed to have found a storm drain, and it gushed into the symbiotic cultivation system set up by Li Tianming and Ying Huo. It raged around violently, trying to tear apart Li Tianmingâs body.
However, the Aeternal Infernal Codex was a bottomless hole that devouring everything effortlessly. Every scrap of ordinary spiritual energy ignited, turning into the magma-like Aeternal Infernal Beast Ki that flooded towards the infernalsource to strengthen it.
Like a volcano, the area around Li Tianming immediately spiked up in temperature.
It was the same for the little chick. Its tender little wings began to emit blistering waves of heat. Although its wings were merely the size of a pinky, flapping them unleashed tempestuous heat waves that should have only been unleashed by a massive beast. For a moment, everyone almost mistook it for having sky-spanning wings!
The two of them were beginning to bring the Heavenâs Sanctum geniuses a sense of absolute suppression, as well as a hint of reverence none would ever admit to feeling.
The more they saw Li Tianmingâs specialness, the more vehemently they would reject those feelings.
After all, it was human nature to follow oneâs first impression. Who would ever admit that someone they once saw as a joke could instill reverence in them?