Looking at the Spirit Stones in the Storage Ring, there was enough—so there was no reason to hesitate.
After the two settled the transaction, Jin Xiao also selected his preferred martial mouse. It wasn’t the leader but another one wielding a long spear. Its Cultivation was one of the strongest among this batch, at the level of Divinity Transformation.
"This one. As for the Spirit Stones, Yuanbao, you pay for it. Just put whatever it costs on my tab," Jin Xiao said nonchalantly as he walked away.
That left Jin Yuanbao with a dumbfounded expression. Aren’t you, my cousin, the one ending up with the bill, since no one in the family would dare ask you for Spirit Stones?
Turning his head with an embarrassed look toward Chen Jiuge, Jin Yuanbao whispered, "How about a discount, Senior Brother?"
Chen Jiuge smiled amiably. "Sorry, Junior Brother, but no can do. Business is business, and that’s what you said."
In the end, Jin Yuanbao left grumbling after parting with a heart-wrenching sum. Before he left, he made sure to say, "The price for the next martial mouse definitely can’t be cheap either."
Jin Yuanbao’s connections were indeed robust. Two days later, he brought two more customers.
They were both Direct Disciples of the Myriad Beasts Sect, but it seemed they weren’t attracted by the potential and combat prowess of the martial mice.
"Wow, Senior Brother, are these the relatives of Jin Senior Brother’s martial mouse?" asked a disciple with buns in her hair, her large eyes wide, looking incredibly cute.
Chen Jiuge touched his nose, unsure how to respond to this enthusiastic Junior Sister, but thankfully Jin Yuanbao was there.
"Definitely! Senior Brother Jin Xiao is my cousin, and I personally brought him to pick his martial mouse," Jin Yuanbao patted his rotund belly as he assured her.
With that, another Junior Sister, who was more reserved, said, "In that case, Yueyue, let’s buy one."
Jin Xiao had the highest status among these Direct Disciples. Even some True Immortals might not match his. He was a disciple of an Immortal Daluo Golden Immortal, a definite future core disciple, the next Clan Leader of the Jin Family, and the first in line to succeed the White Tiger Peak. His reputation was truly remarkable.
So when Jin Xiao appeared in Bibo Immortal City with a martial mouse wielding a long spear, all those Myriad Beasts Sect disciples who admired him or wished to surpass him flocked to the scene.
However, since there were too few martial mice, and Chen Jiuge originally planned to keep five, he was forced to sell all but the leader mouse due to the enthusiasm of those disciples.
"Senior Brother, many Senior Brothers and Senior Sisters have placed orders. We’ll need to speed up the breeding of the martial mice," Jin Yuanbao said, grinning from ear to ear, his hands full of advance payments.
Chen Jiuge looked speechlessly at the greedy Jin Yuanbao. This time nearly a hundred martial mice had been pre-ordered, surpassing the number of Direct Disciples themselves. Given that it took him ten years to breed these twenty-odd mice, even if the Secret Realm expanded, it would take decades, as not every Light Spiritual Mouse possessed the martial mouse bloodline.
After realizing it would take decades, Jin Yuanbao offered some encouraging words to Chen Jiuge before leaving with his share of the Spirit Stones.
Inside the Secret Realm, Chen Jiuge sat on the ground opposite a martial mouse, both of them sighing in unison.
The popularity of the martial mice far exceeded Chen Jiuge’s expectations. Surprisingly, he became famous.
Now everyone in Bibo Immortal City knew about a Spirit Beast Breeding Master in the Jin Family’s business who could breed ancient Spiritual Beasts. While only a few knew his name, it wouldn’t be long before his fame spread through the entire city.
Jin Yuanbao, with his sharp business acumen, also released information stating that the Light Spiritual Mice he had obtained from Chen Jiuge were bred by the same breeding master.
A month later, an account of a Cultivator who escaped a deadly situation thanks to the strong danger perception abilities of a Light Spiritual Mouse caused a city-wide frenzy.
Chen Jiuge’s name began to spread throughout Bibo Immortal City, and even Dao Tian, the person overseeing the area, heard about him.
After another satisfying combat encounter with a Demon God from the Demon Clan, Wudao Tian, feeling exhilarated, took a big gulp of fine wine before he reluctantly began to sift through the pile of documents that had accumulated.
All these documents required the personal signature of Wudao Tian, as no one else had the authority.
"Why have the casualties in the Hunting Ground increased so much?" Wudao Tian asked the old man with dissatisfaction.
The elder, although only a True Immortal with a good record, was getting on in years, and his combat capabilities had waned. Besides that, he was from the same family as Wudao Tian and thus was placed in the city to handle miscellaneous matters.
"The Demon Clan has sent many from their Royal Family’s Direct Lineage. Young Master, as you know, the demons of the Aoli Royal Family are like animals in heat; they certainly don’t lack for exceptionally talented offspring. Consequently, even their servant armies might contain individuals with royal bloodline. Their combat power at the same rank is also significantly higher than that of other Demon Clans," the elder sighed.
"And what’s this about a Spirit Beast Breeding Master? Do we now have one in our midst? Which Elder came here to have fun?"
The elder glanced at the document in Wudao Tian’s hands and explained, "This breeding master is among the group of Direct Disciples, apprenticed under Wen Tianming at Hundred Herbs Peak. His Senior Sister is Wen Ruo with the Evergreen Body, and he himself has Mahayana cultivation. What I’ve gathered is that the Earth Dragon Beasts he bred have a defense about thirty percent higher than normal, and the danger perception of the Light Spiritual Mice is extremely strong, which has reduced the casualties of Cultivators in the Hunting Ground to some extent."