The spread of Eden Garden’s reputation caught Chen Jiuge by surprise.
Initially, the efficient disciples from Vermilion Bird Peak came through the Transmission Array to Hundred Herbs Peak the very next day to purchase Spiritual Beasts from Chen Jiuge. He initially thought these few disciples had merely heard by chance that he was selling Spiritual Beasts and had just come to look. However, the number of visitors increased the following day, with most being disciples from Vermilion Bird Peak. Only then did Chen Jiuge realize the effectiveness of Young Master Zhu’s ’human advertisement’.
To cater to the customers, Chen Jiuge found himself so occupied that he hardly had time to refine Daoist Soldiers. Most of these disciples were ordinary ones without significant family backing, so the Spirit Stones Chen Jiuge earned were not very much.
To save time, Chen Jiuge appointed the most timid Da Bai as the sales guide, assigning a price range to the Spiritual Beasts within the ecosystem. It was somewhat an exercise to build Da Bai’s courage anyway; he was purely profiting, the only question was by how much.
After sending off the last customer of the morning, Da Bai couldn’t help but stick out his little tongue, depicting an expression of utter exhaustion, and planned to go boast to his master.
"Roasted whole lamb is good, but roasted chicken works too, and braised rabbit head smells quite tempting as well," Da Bai mused.
Taking a step forward, he realized he didn’t seem to be stepping on the ground. Da Bai was a bit puzzled and looked down. He thought he was about to fall into a pit, but then found he was just being picked up.
"Relieved? My furry tail! Who are you? Put me down right now, or I’ll bite... I’ll bite you to death!" Da Bai attempted to look fierce.
Zhu Yingque, looking at the little Fire Qilin in front of her, which seemed to be acting cute, curiously asked her own Fire Qilin, "Qi Daoyuan, were all Fire Qilins when they were young?"
With an incredulous face, Qi Daoyuan replied, "How could that be possible? Qilins are Divine Beasts, after all, and Fire Qilins are the strongest among the Five Elements Qilins. How could they look when they were young?"
"Then what’s the deal with this little guy?" Zhu Yingque, intrigued, reached out and touched Da Bai’s head.
"Um, Little Sister, this Fire Qilin is probably Brother Chen’s Guardian Beast. Isn’t it a bit inappropriate for us to hold him ?" Zhu Yinghuang reminded.
"Come, little one, take me to your master. Consider this Fire Element Fruit as an apology from your sister," Zhu Yingque said as she put Da Bai down and took out a fruit bursting with Fire Spirit Energy.
Looking at the enticing fruit before him, Da Bai said with a tormented expression, "I cannot betray my master!"
Zhu Yingque saw Da Bai’s expression and covered her mouth to stifle a laugh.
"Da Bai, bring Brother Zhu and his companions over here," Chen Jiuge called out. He had just finished refining a Daoist Soldier and had originally wanted to use his Divine Sense to check if Da Bai was slacking off, but instead, he saw Zhu Yinghuang, his sister, and a Qilin.
"I’ll bring you over, but do I still get the fruit?" Da Bai asked eagerly.
"You will," Zhu Yingque smiled.
Taking the fruit, Da Bai carefully placed it into the Storage Ring hanging around his neck and then led the two humans and one Qilin to the edge of Spirit Lake.
"Brother Chen, I brought my little sister over for a visit! Also, did you know that a couple of days ago, Little Three defeated a Divine Fire Steed with a Golden Crow Bloodline?" Zhu Yinghuang boasted proudly.
"Oh, is that so? Congratulations, Brother Zhu, for having such a keen eye; Little Three has great potential," Chen Jiuge praised.
"My sister’s name is Zhu Yingque. You can just call her Little Que, alright?" Zhu Yinghuang said nonchalantly.
Zhu Yingque’s mouth twitched unnaturally. "Senior Brother Chen, hello. I mainly came today to see this little guy." She pointed at Da Bai, who was squatting on the ground, happily nibbling on the fruit.
"Does Junior Sister Zhu need something from Da Bai?" Chen Jiuge asked, feigning ignorance.
"Senior Brother Chen, over thirty years ago, when I was in the Secret Realm contracting Daoyuan, you were also there. A few years after your mission ended and you returned to the Sect, you were chosen by the Heavenly Immortal Elder because of this Fire Qilin and became his disciple," Zhu Yingque said, her expression indicating she knew everything.
Zhu Yinghuang frowned. "Little Sister, how could you investigate Brother Chen ? That’s going too far!"
"Brother Zhu, don’t worry. I just want to understand what Junior Sister means by this," Chen Jiuge said, his smile fading.
"Um, Senior Brother Chen, it’s not what you might think. I just want to know if you have a secret technique that can purify the bloodline of a Spiritual Beast. Don’t say you don’t—I had disciples from Vermilion Bird Peak buy Spiritual Beasts from you the other day, and their bloodlines were all quite pure," Zhu Yingque said with a knowing look.
Chen Jiuge inwardly relaxed upon hearing this. Thank goodness I’d already evolved ’Bloodline Transformation’ into a Divine Skill.
"Doesn’t Junior Sister know about ’Bloodline Transformation’?" Chen Jiuge asked, feigning confusion.
"Could it be that you’ve mastered the Bloodline Transformation Divine Skill? Impossible! I checked—you haven’t even been in the Sect for two hundred years, and you only broke through to the Nascent Soul Stage about fifty years ago. It’s impossible for you to have mastered it in such a short time!" Zhu Yingque said, disbelieving.
In her eyes, Chen Jiuge was merely lucky to have a Fire Qilin and be noticed by an Elder.
Catching a wandering Herb Turtle, Chen Jiuge demonstrated the Bloodline Transformation Divine Skill, showing its evolution from Fourth Rank to Fifth Rank. Zhu Yingque felt her face burning with embarrassment.
I guessed right; Chen Jiuge indeed knows a secret technique for purifying Spiritual Beast bloodlines. But I never imagined it was a secret technique of the Myriad Beasts Sect, let alone that Chen Jiuge had evolved it into a Divine Skill! I’ve made a complete fool of myself this time.
On the side, Qi Daoyuan was unburdened by such embarrassment. Seeing the bloodline limit evolve from Fourth Rank to Fifth Rank without any side effects, he pounced and hugged Chen Jiuge’s thigh, wearing a fawning smile. "Big brother, big brother," he pleaded, "I want to try that transformation thing too!"
Chen Jiuge looked expressionlessly at Qi Daoyuan clutching his thigh, thinking, Wasn’t this fellow a Heavenly Immortal in his past life? Why is he so shameless?
"Qi Daoyuan!!!" Zhu Yingque felt like she was going to combust with embarrassment. It was too humiliating.
After the commotion, Zhu Yingque took out a Five Elements Fire Element, bowed, and apologized, "I’m sorry, Senior Brother Chen. It was my fault."
Chen Jiuge didn’t think it was a big deal. With Zhu Yingque as a witness, it’ll be much easier to explain the purer bloodlines of the Spiritual Beasts in my Eden Garden in the future.
"Senior Brother Chen, I would like to ask you to help purify Daoyuan’s bloodline in the future," Zhu Yingque said.
Chen Jiuge, somewhat puzzled, replied, "Junior Sister, although the Bloodline Transformation secret technique is difficult, there are still quite a number of senior brothers and Elders who have evolved it into a Divine Skill. With the Zhu Family’s capabilities, hiring one shouldn’t be difficult, right?"
Upon hearing this, Zhu Yinghuang shook his head. "I know that Bloodline Transformation can evolve into a Divine Skill," he said. "But when it first evolves, it’s only a minor Divine Skill. However, if it can evolve successfully during the Nascent Soul Stage, it could potentially become a Great Divine Power, which would be even more effective. That’s probably the opportunity my little sister is hoping for."
"So that’s how it is." Chen Jiuge finally understood Zhu Yingque’s intention, accepted the offered apology gift, and agreed to her request.
Of course, if he failed, it wouldn’t be his fault, and Zhu Yingque expressed her understanding of this.