Chapter 3007 — Even Spirit Beasts Have Martial Techniques

"Who said I was going? I still have exams to take!" Gu Mengyao shot Shen Yushu a glare, embarrassed and annoyed that her secret thoughts had been laid bare.

"Oh, oh, then Little Shu will just go by herself," Shen Yushu said, batting her eyes.

"Yaoyao, Little Shu, I think I'll go alone this time. This isn't a pleasure trip—it's for discussing business, and it probably won't be much fun anyway. Besides, I plan to ride the Wind-Thunder Violet Lightning Beast, which is faster, so I won't drive." Wei Zhao had no intention of bringing the two women along, because he still had to open the third stone gate, and that matter was secret—he did not want anyone paying attention.

Though the young miss and Little Shu were both trustworthy, if the two of them came along, the underlings would surely follow as well, and then Wei Zhao would have no grounds to refuse them.

"That works too—it'll be quicker. In that case, Little Shu, you're not going either. Stay and keep me company through my exams!" the young miss said, her expression calm, though a faint trace of disappointment flickered in her heart.

"Actually, I'll be back before long," Wei Zhao said with a smile. "This trip won't take many days."

"Boss, should we send a few men to go back with you?" Zhao Qilei asked.

"No need. Just leave a few people here to protect Yaoyao and Little Shu. The rest of you have been out for a while now—go home and take care of your own affairs. I'll call on you when I need you!" Wei Zhao waved his hand in refusal.

"Understood." Zhao Qilei did not press the matter. After all, Wei Zhao's strength spoke for itself, and sometimes bringing along underlings like them was more of a hindrance than a help.

Wu Chengtian, however, looked somewhat apologetic. "Boss, among our secular families, only the Yu family and the Liu family were truly wealthy. Now that the Liu family has gone bankrupt, there's really a limit to what we can contribute! I'm starting to regret it—back when I was bewitched and wasted so much money courting Jingyi, if I hadn't, I could have scraped together a bit more now!"

"Haha, it's enough that you have the thought. I'll figure out a way to handle what comes next!" Wei Zhao waved his hand dismissively.

Money was needed on every front right now, yet Wei Zhao's ways of earning it were frustratingly limited. The Life-Extending Detox Pill could absolutely not be brought out into the world again—if it truly reappeared, Kang Jingming would probably come looking for trouble again, and might even take the opportunity to cancel the Qi-Gathering Pill redemption as well.

Unwilling to stir up trouble, Wei Zhao could only keep a low profile and let the "Marrow-Cleansing Bone-Tempering Pill" become the "Life-Extending Detox Pill." And the cultivators' market had not yet opened—otherwise Wei Zhao could have sold another batch of pills, which would have greatly eased the current situation.

That night, Wei Zhao did not rest. Instead, he went to the villa's courtyard. Since he had decided to leave, the first thing he did was upgrade the strength of his three spirit beasts. Once the Wind-Thunder Violet Lightning Beast reached the Earth rank, its speed should be even greater than before, and riding it back would give Wei Zhao a considerable speed advantage.

"Little Wind, you'll be accompanying me back to West Star Mountain Village this time. I'll upgrade you first!" Wei Zhao beckoned to the Wind-Thunder Violet Lightning Beast.

"Roar, roar—" Hearing Wei Zhao's words, the Wind-Thunder Violet Lightning Beast immediately came scampering over eagerly.

Wei Zhao found a clean spot, sat down cross-legged, and then circulated the mental cultivation formula and incantation of the second level of the Xuan Yuan Dragon-Taming Art, beginning to upgrade the Wind-Thunder Violet Lightning Beast!

This was not the first time the Wind-Thunder Violet Lightning Beast had received Wei Zhao's true qi transmission, so it was not alarmed. Instead, it endured the pain and reveled in the thrill of breakthrough and upgrade.

At that moment, the Wind-Thunder Violet Lightning Beast was at the peak of the late Mystic rank, and Wei Zhao helped it break through all the way to the Earth rank. Its strength then soared, finally settling at the peak of the late Earth rank!

Although this upgrade from Mystic rank to Earth rank consumed more energy and true qi than the previous Yellow-to-Mystic upgrade, Wei Zhao's second level of the Xuan Yuan Dragon-Taming Art had now reached great perfection, so its circulation speed and true qi transmission speed were on an entirely different level. Thus, in only a few hours, the Wind-Thunder Violet Lightning Beast successfully advanced.

Next it was the turn of General Mighty and the Thunder Pig. But General Mighty, as the "spirit beast" that had followed Wei Zhao the longest, graciously yielded the opportunity to the Thunder Pig first!

Wei Zhao did not bother himself with their courtesy toward one another. Whoever went first or last only meant entering the Earth rank a little sooner or later. Since the Thunder Pig came first, then the Thunder Pig it was.

However, while Wei Zhao was upgrading the Thunder Pig, he was suddenly startled by a flash of fire and lightning from not far away!

At first, Wei Zhao thought lightning was flashing in the sky and it was about to rain, but when he looked carefully, it was the single horn on the Wind-Thunder Violet Lightning Beast's forehead discharging lightning! Although the intensity of the discharge did not seem great, it was enough to astonish Wei Zhao!

Could it be that the Wind-Thunder Violet Lightning Beast, having advanced to the Earth rank, could also unleash martial techniques? Wei Zhao had previously heard that the Wind-Thunder Violet Lightning Beast could unleash martial techniques at the Earth rank, and he had not expected it to be true! And it was even a lightning martial technique that looked quite impressive and flashy! He wondered how strong it was against enemies?

But Wei Zhao was currently upgrading the Thunder Pig and had no time to test the strength of the Wind-Thunder Violet Lightning Beast's martial technique. It would have to wait until the work at hand was done.

Yet what astonished Wei Zhao beyond measure was that, during the several hours he spent upgrading the Thunder Pig, he witnessed the Wind-Thunder Violet Lightning Beast's lightning martial technique go from clumsy to nearly proficient! However, as the Wind-Thunder Violet Lightning Beast continued to unleash it, the lightning grew dimmer and dimmer, as though the beast's physical stamina and true qi had been completely spent. Human cultivators consumed large amounts of physical stamina and true qi when unleashing martial techniques, and it seemed spirit beasts were no different.

Wei Zhao paid it no mind for the time being. Only after finishing the Thunder Pig's upgrade did he ask the Wind-Thunder Violet Lightning Beast, "Little Wind, is this your martial technique? Just how powerful is it?"

"Roar, roar—" the Wind-Thunder Violet Lightning Beast said weakly.

"Squeak, squeak!" The Thunder Pig translated by writing on the ground with its claw: "If unleashed with full proficiency, it should be about the same as the ninth form of your Earth-rank martial technique. But there's a limit to how many times it can be unleashed—at full power, only two or three times."

"Oh? Only the ninth form..." Wei Zhao felt somewhat disheartened. If it was only the ninth form, then there really was not much of an advantage, because all of Wei Zhao's underlings were now peak late Earth-rank experts, already preparing to learn martial techniques one after another, and unleashing the ninth form was not difficult for them! But then Wei Zhao's gaze suddenly sharpened, and he asked, "You mean it's about the same as the ninth form of my Earth-rank martial technique? Are you talking about the Mad Fire Fist, or the Mad Fire Eight-Trigram Palm?"