The benefits of this incident were not just the apparent ones; in reality, they were even greater.
For example, after Silver Flower broke through to the Golden Immortal Realm and took up residence in the Main Hall, the Great Elder sent Wen Tianming a Treasure that could help him with his Tribulation not long after.
Furthermore, the Great Elder’s affiliated powers wielded considerable influence. Having frequently heard Spiritual Beasts like Ba Tianba mention Chen Jiuge’s name, and realizing his assistance to the Great Elder, they green-lit all of Chen Jiuge’s external ventures. They even provided Spirit Stones and support to help rapidly expand his businesses.
These were just the visible effects; beneath the surface, the impact was even greater. The Chen Family, from which Chen Jiuge hailed, received a mining command from the Myriad Beasts Sect out of the blue, with a profit-sharing scheme so generous it nearly made the Chen Family Head think he was dreaming.
Leaving a positive impression in the hearts of multiple Golden Immortals ensured a smooth path for Chen Jiuge’s future Cultivation journey.
"HISS! Just how many Spiritual Beasts are there? It’s only been an hour or so, and I’ve already seen nearly a hundred different types. That’s just in the Red Flame Sheep area alone! How many more must there be in the other areas, especially in the Ecological Park?" Chen Jiuge drew in a sharp breath.
"I don’t know, but there are definitely a lot. However, they’re just breeding Spiritual Beasts without much Spiritual Wisdom," Yue Meng said, spreading her hands.
Breeding Spiritual Beasts were not like normal ones. Their Spiritual Wisdom was usually restricted to the level of ordinary wild beasts, though some might be a bit more human-like. However, the potential for these Spiritual Beasts to break through this restriction was considerable, and some Myriad Beasts Sect Disciples specialized in forming Contracts with these kinds.
"Even so, that’s still too many. Where are Da Bai and the other two?" Chen Jiuge thought. I can’t handle this alone; I need to call the other three.
"They’ve been released from their punishment. They’re probably playing in some corner. I’m not sure exactly where," Yue Meng said, a hint of regret in her voice. Since she had become a Fifth Rank Alchemy Master and acquired Da Bai and Qi Daoyuan as Fire Burning Boys, along with Silver King for quick and dedicated transportation, the Spirit Stones earned from Alchemy had increased substantially. It was just a pity their sentence had ended; it would have been nice to catch them and put them to work again, she thought.
Well, let it be. I had intended to have them help out, but on second thought, no. The previous punishment was quite exhausting after all. We’ll just take it slow, Chen Jiuge decided.
As his voice fell, Black Eye, leading his kin, rushed towards Chen Jiuge with a large group of new Spiritual Beasts.
Seeing Black Eye’s figure from afar, Chen Jiuge shouted, "That’s enough! Let’s stop here for today; no need to bring any more over."
Black Eye responded with a deep cry. With Chen Jiuge’s Cultivation soaring this time, the Spiritual Beasts under him also reaped many benefits. For instance, the feast leftovers from the gathering Jun Linseng had called allowed Black Eye and the others to advance several Realms, with most reaching the Returning to Void Realm. The gluttonous Yue Meng had even reached the peak of Returning to Void.
"Right, where’s Bali?" Chen Jiuge suddenly remembered the serpent brought back from the small world.
"Bali? Hasn’t it always been right there?" Yue Meng pointed toward the giant stone pillar at the entrance of the courtyard.
That’s Bali? Chen Jiuge wondered. Although I haven’t sensed it through the Contract Decree, that stone pillar doesn’t look anything like Bali at all.
"When Master was unconscious, that scary-looking uncle dripped some blood onto Bali, and then it turned into that," Yue Meng explained.
Dropped a drop of blood?! Chen Jiuge’s eyes widened in disbelief. Was that blood from the Ba Snake its essence blood or just ordinary blood? But even if it was ordinary, Bali is probably about to take off, considering Ba Tianba is a Golden Immortal!
Returning to the small courtyard, Chen Jiuge stretched and silently brewed a cup of tea. Looking at Yue Meng, who had reached the peak of Returning to Void, he asked, "You should be able to undergo Transformation now, right? Why are you still in this form?"
Yue Meng blushed slightly at his words and retorted, "Why do you care? I form."
"Little Yue Meng, Aunt Wen is here. Aren’t you going to come and greet her?" A charming female voice came from not far away.
As the voice faded, a noble-looking Wen Ruoshui appeared, holding a jade pipe in one hand and leading a somewhat shy Li He with the other.
"Hey, Jiuge, you’ve woken up, huh? And quite quickly too, a step into Mahayana—TSK, TSK, what great fortune," Wen Ruoshui said, exhaling a puff of smoke, her voice tinged with envy.
As a relative of Wen Tianming, Wen Ruoshui’s aptitude wasn’t exceptional. Even with Wen Tianming’s full support, she was still only at the Perfect stage of the Tribulation Realm—a level she had reached by consuming copious amounts of Heavenly Materials and Earthly Treasures. She had almost lost her life to the Heart Demon Tribulation. Becoming a true immortal was most likely out of the question for her unless she encountered a truly heaven-defying opportunity. Otherwise, she would have to settle for becoming a Loose Immortal.
"Steward Wen," Chen Jiuge greeted, performing a bow suitable for an elder.
"Don’t be so formal, just call me Aunt Wen. Li He and I came to see Little Yue Meng," Wen Ruoshui chided him slightly.
"Alright. Aunt Wen, Li He, please enjoy yourselves," Chen Jiuge said, not intending to stop them. There isn’t much else for me to do right now anyway.
Shortly after, Chen Tingting, who had reached the peak of the Nascent Soul Realm, rushed into the courtyard.
Seeing Chen Tingting’s Cultivation level and her Inner Sect Disciple Token from Hundred Herbs Peak, it’s clear she’s also gained quite a bit, Chen Jiuge mused. It truly is a case of ’when one person attains the Dao, even their chickens and dogs ascend to heaven.’ No, perhaps it’s more like benefits trickling down from the enlightened one.
"Senior Brother, there’s a significant shortage of Medicine Rabbits in the garden. The other disciples from the peak have been constantly urging us," Chen Tingting said, somewhat hastily.
Ever since the Medicine Rabbits were introduced, the reclusive Spiritual Plant Masters of Hundred Herbs Peak had gone wild for them. Each batch of Medicine Rabbits was snapped up within a day. If Chen Jiuge hadn’t been careful to avoid drawing too much attention by keeping some young Medicine Rabbits back, Eden Garden would likely be completely devoid of them.
"Junior Sister, turn them down for now. The garden has expanded significantly, and the number of Spirit Plants is immense. We’re also short on Plant Elves, so we need to keep some Medicine Rabbits to care for the Spirit Plants. Just tell them we don’t have any available at the moment. As for when they’ll be on sale again, we’ll see. Oh, and later, go to the Spiritual Beast Hall and buy some more Plant Elves and other Spiritual Beasts that can help care for the Spirit Plants," Chen Jiuge instructed.
"Okay, Senior Brother. There’s one more thing. This is a message from Sister Qiuwen. Since you were unconscious and couldn’t be contacted, she had to send this letter," Chen Tingting said, handing over a sealed letter.
After reading it carefully, the content is mostly about shortages of manpower and Spirit Stones, Chen Jiuge noted. Li Qiwen’s expansion is incredibly fast. Some areas are clearly expanding with the help of Great Elder Ye Sheng’s affiliated powers. In other places, it’s unclear who’s helping, but everything is proceeding smoothly, and construction costs are ridiculously low.
Still, this rapid expansion means the Spiritual Beast Garden’s resource supply can’t keep up, and there are significant shortfalls in Spirit Stones for construction.
"I’m aware of this issue. I’ll handle it. Is there anything else?"
"Not at the moment," Chen Tingting shook her head.
After Chen Tingting left, Chen Jiuge took out a Communication Stone to contact Li Qiwen. Without waiting for her to connect, he left a message: "Don’t expand blindly. The current scale is fine. Just focus on completing the construction of industries in the confirmed Immortal Cities. As for the Spirit Stones, have someone come back to get them."