At the meeting ceremony with little Ziteng, the remaining Spiritual Beasts and Chen Jiuge all realized Da Bai’s poverty.
But from its ruthless behavior of forcibly pulling out scales, it was clear that Da Bai cared a lot about its appearance, so neither humans nor beasts dared to provoke it.
Da Bai had also realized the importance of Spirit Stones. However, in Eden Garden, earning Spirit Stones required labor. Consider the former ’iron triangle’ of workers: Qi Daoyuan, for instance, had a master who didn’t pay him much attention. While his Spirit Stones weren’t abundant, they were sufficient.
Silver King had fallen to become a transport eagle, still serving Yue Meng, who used to torment them day and night. Da Bai expressed disdain and firmly believed that it would never submit.
So the only options left were Ao Yi and Black Eye.
As for Ao Yi, he was a love-struck fool, spending every day playing with his male beast—clearly unreliable.
Brother Black Eye, here I come!
"What? You want to come and herd with me?" Black Eye looked bewildered as he turned to face Da Bai, who had sought him out early in the morning.
A Fire Qilin wanting to herd? How absurd! I know you’re really poor, but if it’s that bad, you could just go and act cute, roll around for your master. Getting some Spirit Stones shouldn’t be a problem.
Da Bai arrogantly declared, "Yes, I want to herd."
"Uh, okay. You can try it for a few days. If it works out, you can join us." Black Eye didn’t directly reject Da Bai; instead, he offered him a chance to try.
Due to the recent expansion of Eden Garden, plus the influx of many Spiritual Beasts, his clan members not only had to oversee more Spiritual Beasts but also had to patrol a much larger area. If Da Bai could handle it, his Cultivation could indeed reduce the pressure on his clan members.
Black Eye watched his clan members separating various Spiritual Beasts into different feeding areas and dealing with internal disputes among the Spirit Beast Groups. He nodded in satisfaction, then turned to Da Bai and said, "The work is as you see it. Different Spirit Beast Groups must be kept apart when feeding to avoid riots, and disputes within Spirit Beast Groups must be resolved without causing injuries to the Spiritual Beasts."
"It’s that simple? Great, I understand." Da Bai looked as if he understood.
"By the way, Brother Black, how much is the salary for herding?" Da Bai asked, somewhat shyly.
"Uh, normally it’s ten Top Grade Spiritual Stones. If you perform well, you might get more, but underperformance will result in deductions." Black Eye couldn’t help but take a few more glances at Da Bai. This poor fellow truly has nothing.
"What counts as performing well?" Da Bai asked eagerly.
"A single beast managing an entire Spirit Beast Group." Black Eye gestured proudly towards a few Golden Dogs nearby, the best herding employees in the clan.
"I can do that too." Da Bai rested a forehoof on Black Eye’s shoulder, his expression serious.
Although Black Eye initially didn’t want to agree, he ultimately couldn’t resist Da Bai’s pleading look and gave in. He eventually assigned Da Bai the most docile and easiest Spirit Beast Group to manage—the Ink Oxen.
Ink Oxen, whose horns occasionally formed ink blocks popular among Cultivators, were considered economic-type Spiritual Beasts. They were characterized by their utterly docile nature. Generally, they would quietly graze and then lie down to sleep after eating, making them exceptionally easy to manage. Black Eye usually only checked on them occasionally.
Da Bai, filled with a desire for Spirit Stones, excitedly led the Ink Oxen herd to search for a grazing area.
He eventually selected a pasture adjacent to the Giant Rhinoceros. Seeing that, apart from the Giant Rhinoceros, there were no other Spiritual Beasts in the area, Da Bai declared proudly, "This way, there definitely won’t be any riots! Earning these Spirit Stones is too easy!"
Da Bai didn’t know that although the Ink Oxen were docile, they were terrified of enormous creatures. Whenever a Spiritual Beast larger than themselves passed by, the Ink Oxen would become scared. If they got too scared, they would go berserk. Black Eye was also unaware of this characteristic. After all, who would bring their Spiritual Beasts near a Giant Rhinoceros? Those creatures were so large they could accidentally trample other Spiritual Beasts to death, which would mean a pay deduction.
At first, the Ink Oxen herd was calm, but then they slowly began to grow restless. As for Da Bai, he was taking a nap at the moment. After all, herding was a boring job—especially for Da Bai, who was herding for the first time.
MOO MOO MOO! ROAR ROAR ROAR!
Somewhere, an Ink Ox, unable to bear the pressure, started to run wildly, and then the entire Ink Oxen herd began to stampede. The thousands of stampeding Ink Oxen directly frightened the nearby Giant Rhinoceros, which then also began to run wildly.
Da Bai, who was asleep, felt the ground shake. In a daze, he opened his eyes only to see an Ink Ox being knocked into the air by a Giant Rhinoceros before landing right in front of him. Seeing the nearly lifeless Ink Ox before him, and the sight of dead and flying Ink Oxen all around, Da Bai felt as if the sky was collapsing.
Not far away, Black Eye, who had been secretly observing Da Bai, also noticed the situation and quickly brought the elite of his clan to quell the chaos.
Due to a lack of manpower, over a thousand Ink Oxen ended up severely injured, with hundreds dead. The rest mostly suffered minor injuries. As for the Giant Rhinoceros, with their thick skin and robust flesh, none were harmed, though they were terribly frightened.
Seeing Da Bai’s dumbstruck face, Black Eye felt somewhat sympathetic, but he still reported the situation truthfully to Chen Jiuge.
「In the small courtyard」
Chen Jiuge, after hearing Black Eye’s report and observing Da Bai, who still hadn’t snapped out of his shock, laughed heartily. "HAHAHA, Da Bai, what were you thinking?"
Da Bai said with a bit of grievance, "I just wanted to earn some Spirit Stones for myself."
Chen Jiuge set his laughter aside. "Then why didn’t you tell me?"
Looking at the silent Da Bai, Chen Jiuge knew. This is probably part of the "pride of the Fire Qilin Clan," especially since I just punished him not long ago.
"You should try Artifact Refining," Chen Jiuge suggested, showing him a clear path.
"Artifact Refining?" Da Bai didn’t quite understand the concept.
"You can see from Yue Meng’s example; Artifact Refining and Alchemy are skills on the same level. If you could become an Artifact Refining Master, would you still worry about not having enough Spirit Stones?" Chen Jiuge enticed.
He had wanted Da Bai to learn Artifact Refining for some time but didn’t know how to broach the topic. If the child didn’t like it and was forced, it wouldn’t be beneficial. But now, it was a perfect opportunity.
"Can Artifact Refining really earn that many Spirit Stones?" Da Bai’s eyes gleamed.
"Perhaps even more. But Artifact Refining is tough. Just think about how much effort Yue Meng had to put into Alchemy," Chen Jiuge responded.
"I’m not afraid! As long as I can earn Spirit Stones, I can handle any hardship!" Da Bai stated firmly.
Chen Jiuge was secretly delighted, but he still said with a troubled expression, "Since you’ve decided, I’ll use some Spirit Stones to buy you some basic refining materials and a basic Artifact Refining Magic Technique."
"Thank you, Master! I will study hard!" Da Bai said, his eyes brimming with tears.
Chen Jiuge patted Da Bai’s smooth forehead. "Work hard. I’ll go buy them now, and you can pick them up here tomorrow."
He had originally planned to go to the Scripture Pavilion at Hundred Herbs Peak later to find an Artifact Refining Magic Technique. However, Da Bai, this fellow, was truly desperate from poverty and kept urging him. Helpless, Chen Jiuge could only prioritize Da Bai’s request first.
Basic Artifact Refining Magic Techniques from the Scripture Pavilion were free. As for Low Rank refining materials—alas, Eden Garden was full of Low Rank Spirit Plants. Although using Spirit Plants for Artifact Refining was a bit more difficult, sourcing them locally was convenient.