CHAPTER 191: CHAPTER 162 VERMILION BIRD WHITE TIGER_3

Ba Tianba grandly declared, "What’s there to fuss about? I’ll bring Lan Tian over tomorrow. It would be rude to talk about compensation. Silver Flower has been consolidating her Cultivation recently, and there will be a big gift for you then."

「The next day」

The ominous-looking Ba Tianba arrived at Eden Garden with a languid Lan Tian in tow.

"TSK TSK TSK, you’ve struck it rich recently, haven’t you? The prosperity of the Four Holy Beasts’ clans must be your doing, lad." Lan Tian clicked his tongue as he surveyed the pile of Treasures before him.

"Just luck, pure luck," Chen Jiuge said modestly, scratching his head.

"Let’s get down to business. I’m itching to go back and sleep," Lan Tian said, stowing away the Treasures below into his sleeve and flying up into the mid-air.

Watching the incomprehensibly profound Spell Lan Tian cast, Chen Jiuge felt a headache coming on. In fact, a long time ago, after using his Golden Finger to earn Spirit Stones, he too had thought about developing some side businesses.

But as soon as he looked into it, he found Alchemy was much like chemistry from his past life, Artifact Refining was like physics, Arrays were equivalent to higher-level mathematics, and even becoming a Spiritual Plant Master required extensive knowledge of biology and agronomy.

Taming beasts, on the other hand, was relatively simple. As long as you could command people—no, Spiritual Beasts—just treat them well, max out their loyalty, and you’d be a fine Beast Master.

The already dense concentration of Spiritual Energy in Eden Garden had now formed a cloud of Spiritual Energy in the sky. The once lush grassland thrived even more.

In the Spirit Lake District, trees in the ecological circle grew immensely tall. Even if they were to be sold as Spirit Wood, they would fetch a large sum of Spirit Stones. Most importantly, the growth rate of the rare Spirit Plants in the Spiritual Plant Garden had increased manyfold, and some of the Spirit Fruit trees with shorter lifespans had already begun to bear fruit.

Having completed the Array, Lan Tian, gazing at Eden Garden, praised, "Your Eden Garden is exceptional! Never mind a Heavenly Immortal’s Grotto Heaven; even some of the poorer Golden Immortal Cave Heavens can’t compare to it."

Chen Jiuge smiled bashfully.

"Alright, the Array is set up. I’ve mainly strengthened the control of Spiritual Power and the intensity of the Array. However, the overall area might have increased a bit as well—though not by much, only about double."

"When those Spirit Fruit trees mature, remember to invite me. I’ve seen a few tasty-looking Spirit Fruits. Consider it my fee."

"You’re too polite, Senior," Chen Jiuge readily agreed.

"Okay, Tianba, let’s head back. Your daughter has been nattering about wanting to eat a giant turtle. If you don’t find one soon, your wife is going to blow her top," Lan Tian reminded.

Ba Tianba, who had been planning to stay for dinner, seemed to recall an unpleasant scene at the mention of this. His somber face revealed a mix of helplessness and fondness, and he reluctantly bid Chen Jiuge farewell.

These are truly good people. Indeed, as long as you have strong connections, problems aren’t really problems. But strength is still very important; after all, one must be strong to forge iron, Chen Jiuge muttered to himself.

First, I’ll deal with the Guardian Beasts that have piled up over the past few days. Once I’m done, I’ll rest for a few days. It’s been half a month; those people must be getting anxious. Some of them are even Elders who are True Immortals. I can’t get too carried away.

Having admonished himself, Chen Jiuge plunged back into busyness.

Meanwhile, the Spiritual Beasts of Eden Garden, once again sensing a change, let out excited roars, especially those in the ecological circle.

As the top-tier Spiritual Beasts broke through to Mahayana, the ecological circle once again descended into considerable chaos. As luck would have it, this competition for dominion over the ecological garden started right beside Li Kui.

Woken up irate, Li Kui immediately gave these Spiritual Beasts a full display of martial prowess.

Once calmed down, Li Kui looked at the trembling Spiritual Beasts cowering before him and warned fiercely, "From now on, you’re not allowed to make loud noises here and disturb my sleep, got it?"

The Spiritual Beasts nodded obediently. Seeing their compliant appearance made Li Kui suddenly think of that screaming rabbit. His eyes lit up. "I’ve got it!" he said.

Afterward, with eyes gleaming, he looked at the five Spiritual Beasts before him, a sly smile spreading across his face.

Months later, all the Mahayana Spiritual Beasts that had accumulated enough strength and were preparing to undergo Tribulation were caught by Li Kui, becoming his subordinates. Untrained in drilling them, Li Kui chose the simplest method: each day after waking, he would pick some Spiritual Beasts for a fight. Those who showed no progress in their strength would be hung up for a day.

This terrible punishment sped up the Cultivation progress of many Spiritual Beasts considerably.

On the other hand, Yue Li had already bought out his clansmen from the ecological circle while Li Kui was still building his cave mansion there. Most of the Spirit Stones for this were borrowed from War Song.

The Bloodline potential of the Violent Rabbit was actually not too low; with sufficient resources, they could reach Mahayana.

Thanks to the benefits of Eden Garden, several Mahayana-rank Violent Rabbits emerged among their clan.

Thus, unbeknownst to all, a second silent competition between Li Kui and Yue Li quietly began.

To rapidly accumulate their strength, both parties adopted different strategies.

Li Kui started to look for Spirit Fruits in the ecological circle that could boost strength and also passed on the Cultivation Techniques and Divine Skills he knew to his subordinates.

Yue Li, on the other hand, imparted his Giant Spirit Dharma Form to his clan. To acquire Cultivation resources, he even proactively contacted Li Qiwen through Su Mei to resolve a series of troubles faced by Concentric Industries.

After all, Loose Cultivators didn’t care who owned the business; as long as there was a benefit, they would dare to get involved. This provided Yue Li with an opportunity to earn resources.

Yue Li’s performance made other Spiritual Beasts realize that the previous events were far from over. However, this time, Yue Li refused help from War Song and others, at most borrowing a sum of Spirit Stones.

Though the other Spiritual Beasts were unaware of Li Kui’s performance in the ecological circle, Ao Li, the ’nanny dad,’ was very much aware. This ignited a fighting spirit in Yue Li’s eyes. So, you were thinking the same way, he thought.

While both were competing in the shadows, Wen Ruo finally returned after many years with Li He in tow. Accompanying them were his Senior Martial Brother Wudao Tian and Flower Fairy Valley’s True Inheritor, Die Luowu.

The two groups had met in an Immortal City on their way back, so they decided to return to the Sect together.