"Don’t be polite. You should first get accustomed to your current body. After you’ve completely mastered it, I’ll notify your master," Chen Jiuge said casually.
"Okay, thank you, Master."
A month later, Li Chengfeng, who had received the transmission, arrived at Chen Jiuge’s cave mansion with a worried expression.
It’s only been a month. Could Junior Chen have made a mistake? That would be a terrible outcome, Li Chengfeng thought anxiously.
"Senior Brother Li, the Thunder Lion has been successfully cultivated. Take a look," Chen Jiuge said, pointing at the Thunder Lion whose fur color had changed significantly.
Upon forming a mental connection, Li Chengfeng knew this Thunder Lion was his. He felt its aura, now even stronger than before, and carefully tested its Thunder Resistance. Li Chengfeng was shocked. This Junior Chen’s beast cultivation methods were incredibly potent, likely far surpassing those of an average cultivation master.
After Li Chengfeng repeatedly expressed his gratitude, Chen Jiuge finally managed to send him off.
He thought that from now on his days would be carefree.
Unexpectedly, seven days later, Li Chengfeng underwent his Tribulation.
As anticipated, Li Chengfeng couldn’t withstand all seventy-two strikes of the Heavenly Tribulation. Overwhelmed by the fiftieth strike and having lost all hope, he released the Thunder Lion in a desperate struggle.
This struggle completely dumbfounded Li Chengfeng. He watched the Thunder Lion recklessly power through all seventy-two strikes of the Heavenly Tribulation from start to finish, giving him a tremendous surprise.
Overjoyed, Li Chengfeng immediately consumed a Nine Revolutions Soul Returning Pill and dodged the final nine strikes of the Heavenly Tribulation, achieving the status of a Loose Immortal.
Although Loose Immortals were at the bottom of the Immortal hierarchy, they were still considered Immortals. The ’immortal’ in the ’immortal-mortal divide’ also included Loose Immortals.
With Li Chengfeng achieving Loose Immortal status, various Stewards who had close relationships and comparable Cultivation levels all had to offer their congratulations. To repay Chen Jiuge’s kindness, Li Chengfeng specifically mentioned that his success was largely due to Chen Jiuge cultivating the Thunder Lion for him.
Then, Chen Jiuge’s renown as a master of Spirit Beast Breeding, a reputation initially spread by his senior brother, was confirmed.
In an instant, numerous disciples and Stewards eager to enhance their strength or improve their chances of surviving their Tribulations flocked to him.
"HISS! What’s going on here? Am I seeing things?"
Chen Jiuge had intended to go out for a stroll this morning, but as soon as he opened his door, he saw many Stewards waiting respectfully at the entrance, their eyes practically glowing as they looked at him.
Am I still half asleep? Chen Jiuge was perplexed. I was just anticipating a leisurely life ahead and even took a day off from Cultivation. Could I be trapped in an Illusion Realm?
"So, you all came here for me to cultivate your Spiritual Beasts," Chen Jiuge said, his expression complex as he looked at the dozen or so Stewards before him.
According to these Stewards, many more people had originally come, but they had all been turned away by this group; not even Direct Disciples were an exception. After all, positions as Stewards within the Myriad Beasts Sect were typically reserved for Inner Sect Disciples of advanced age who had no hope of becoming True Immortals.
(The "no hope of becoming immortal" here refers to becoming a True Immortal; Loose Immortals don’t count.)
Now that they had finally seen an opportunity to increase their chances of becoming True Immortals—even if that goal was still distant—the prospect of becoming formidable Loose Cultivators was also acceptable. They weren’t picky.
"Esteemed Steward Brothers, cultivating Spiritual Beasts is part of my duties, so I will accept your requests. However, with more than ten of you arriving at once, I don’t know whose to take first."
Seeing that the Stewards below were about to start arguing, Chen Jiuge quickly continued, "How about this: each of you leave one Spiritual Beast that needs cultivating. I’ll work on them together. When they’re ready, I’ll send you a transmission. How does that sound?"
"Junior Brother, do you have any idea how long the cultivation will take?" the eldest Steward asked with some concern.
After all, cultivating a Spiritual Beast usually takes a very long time, and their Life Spans were genuinely limited. Even with the Sect’s Magic Treasures, they feared they wouldn’t be able to suppress their Immortal Ascension Thunder Tribulation for too long.
"Didn’t Senior Brother Li tell you? It only took me a month for his Thunder Lion. Based on that, it should take about two years at most," Chen Jiuge said with a look of surprise.
Two years was a period that even the Stewards with the least Life Span remaining could afford to wait.
With his Grotto Heaven now housing over a dozen new Great Mahayana Spirit Beasts, Chen Jiuge also found his hands full of Spirit Plants. I don’t get it, he wondered. Why are they all using Spirit Plants as payment?
Chen Jiuge had no idea that Li Chengfeng had specifically mentioned Master Chen’s fondness for rare Spirit Plants. These Stewards, having lived for so long, naturally had their own savings. For them, finding a rare Spirit Plant was a simple matter.
These Spiritual Beasts were all very obedient, perhaps due to their masters’ instructions or some other reason. They became even more compliant, especially after Chen Jiuge demonstrated before them how he could enhance a Spirit Beast’s strength by leaps and bounds.
After dealing with the last Spiritual Beast, Chen Jiuge let them adapt to the changes. He wasn’t worried about them causing trouble. They would need at least a month or two to adapt to their new bodies. After nurturing them for another half a year or so, he could claim the cultivation process had been very smooth and send them back.
As for whether those Stewards would be suspicious, it wasn’t that Chen Jiuge was arrogant, but mere Stewards, even if they became Great Stewards after achieving Loose Immortal status, posed no threat to him.
「Three months later.」
"Jin Yuanbao?" Chen Jiuge looked at the long-absent Jin Yuanbao in surprise.
"Weren’t you caught by your cousin and taken away to cultivate? How do you have time to visit me?"
Upon hearing the word "Cultivation," Jin Yuanbao couldn’t help but feel a surge of sadness. Although that period had been brief, it had left an indelible mark on young Jin Yuanbao’s mind.