After dealing with the Hu Family "chicken," Chen Kui began to reorganize Taiyuan City. All forces that refused to follow orders and attempted to resist were effectively uprooted, which made the elders of Taiyuan City recall the horror of the Outer Heaven Demons from thirty years ago. Chen Jiuge had no intention of intervening in these matters, but instead developed a great interest in the Exotic Beasts of this world, constantly sending Daoist Soldiers out to the wild lands beyond Taiyuan City to capture them.
「Inside the Eden Garden alchemy room.」
Yue Meng’s eyes were fixed intently on the fragile Spiritual Fire in front of her, muttering nervously, "Success, success, success, success."
At last, a pleasant fragrance emanated from the Alchemy Furnace. Yue Meng trembled slightly and immediately stepped forward to lift the lid. Gazing at the several milky-white Second Rank Nourishing Essence Pills inside, she exhaled triumphantly, "Mere alchemy, and it only took this old lady a month! Just you wait, I will definitely become an Alchemy Master!"
Black Eye, who was affectionately nuzzling a female dog in the courtyard, overheard Yue Meng’s bold proclamation. A hint of surprise flickered across his mature canine face as he murmured, "Even Sister Yue has come to her senses? This world truly is crazy."
"Dear, what’s wrong?" the Golden Dog, who was licking Black Eye’s fur, asked in confusion.
"Nothing, let’s go play somewhere else," replied Black Eye, changing the topic.
As the head steward of Eden Garden, Black Eye had always been the most reliable among all the Spiritual Beasts. Although he could be temperamental at times, he never let it interfere with his work. This was why Chen Jiuge seldom chastised him.
「At the Spirit Lake.」
Da Bai and Qi Daoyuan were fishing with rods. After discovering this little brother who had an even purer Bloodline than his own, Qi Daoyuan had been living in Eden Garden every day, spending time with Da Bai ever since Zhu Yingque entered the small world.
"Little brother, shall we see who catches more fish today?" Qi Daoyuan raised an eyebrow.
Da Bai wasn’t interested. During his beginner’s grace period for fishing, he had won every day and was now thoroughly bored with such dull contests.
Seeing Da Bai’s disdain, Qi Daoyuan produced a wager that Da Bai could not refuse—the Cultivation Technique of the Qilin Clan. Even Da Bai, with the mind of a child, knew how important this technique was for him.
An hour later, Qi Daoyuan stared at the bucket, now overflowing with silver fish, utterly bewildered—he hadn’t cast any spells this time to prevent himself from catching fish! After tearfully handing over the Qilin Inheritance Technique, a dejected Qi Daoyuan retreated onto the shell of a Green Turtle. As the turtle swam away, he disappeared from the Spirit Lake’s vicinity.
Da Bai didn’t understand Qi Daoyuan’s sadness but was instead eagerly trying out the new Magic Technique. In the following days, Da Bai’s Cultivation soared, and the Secret Techniques in the inheritance made him a formidable fighter. He was now truly a young Fire Qilin.
Beyond the changes in the Spiritual Beasts, Sister Wen had also overcome her Heart Demon Tribulation. To conquer the Heart Demon Tribulation in such a short period and be merely one step from becoming immortal was an achievement truly befitting the foremost prodigy of Hundred Herbs Peak.
Upon learning that Chen Jiuge had ventured into the small Secret Realm, Sister Wen took the initiative to care for Eden Garden. After all, it was her junior brother’s property, and it was a good opportunity for her to relax.
The appearance of Sister Wen, Hundred Herbs Peak’s foremost prodigy, in Eden Garden drew crowds. Multitudes of her admirers, along with disciples from the Sect who revered her, flocked there, causing business to boom. The stock of various Spiritual Beast mutations that Chen Jiuge had left before his departure quickly dwindled. This could only be described as the "celebrity effect" within the Cultivation World.
Apart from the changes in Eden Garden, perhaps the greatest change lay with those five "beasts" in the Fierce Beast mini-world.
The Elder in charge, who had wanted to acquire a Spiritual Beast with great potential for his newborn direct granddaughter, paid more attention to the performance of these five "beasts" in the Fierce Beast mini-world after learning about Eden Garden by chance.
(A Myriad Beasts Sect disciple’s first Spiritual Beast should not have a foundation in Divine Beast or Immortal Beast Bloodlines unless they are a genius with a special physique; otherwise, going overboard is as bad as falling short.)
Upon closer inspection, the Elder was astounded. Throughout the many years spent overseeing the Fierce Beast mini-world, he had encountered all kinds of Spiritual Beasts—those who battled above their level, bloodthirsty ones, berserk ones, cowardly ones, and deceitful ones, among various others. However, these five beasts were... different. They exuded a peculiar aura, and their Cultivation progress was simply outrageous.
「Inside the Fierce Beast mini-world.」
Yue Li swung a gigantic ten-meter-long bone club at a massive crocodile Fierce Beast that was close to biting War Song’s head, leaving it dazed and confused.
Wiping saliva from his face, War Song complained, "Ally, what took you so long?"
"It’s not my fault, War Bro. Look at Ayi and Ali; they’re even less reliable than me," Yue Li retorted, pointing his huge bone club at the two Dragons circling an early Fourth-Rank large bird in the air.
War Song was quite displeased. This was a battle, after all. Even though the enemy was weaker this time, the giant crocodile he was fighting was peak Fourth-Rank, and they weren’t quick enough to help him. If it weren’t for Yue Li’s arrival, I’d have had to transform again, ruining the leather pants I’d just painstakingly woven! Don’t they understand how troublesome it is to weave leather pants?
The crocodile, having regained its senses, roared angrily at the two beasts who had their backs to it. Opening its jaws wide, it aimed to swallow them whole.
Yue Li glanced disdainfully at the giant crocodile. Behind him, a colossal Dharma Image materialized—strangely, it resembled a massively enlarged, armored version of Yue Li.
"Giant Spirit, Divine General!"
Power surged from the enormous bone club; as the dust settled, the giant crocodile’s head was nowhere to be seen.
Yang Huan, who had just dragged back a giant serpent Fierce Beast, voiced his dissatisfaction, "My favorite part to eat, the head, is gone."
"I’m sorry, Ah Huan. I’ll be more careful," Yue Li sincerely apologized.
After the hunt, the five beasts gathered together, roasting their recent catch. If Chen Jiuge were there, he would have noticed that War Song’s Cultivation had reached the late Fourth-Rank, and the other four beasts were at mid-Fourth-Rank. The Spirit Light that radiated from their bodies indicated that their Cultivation Techniques were progressing rapidly, almost reaching minor completion.
Although time in the Fierce Beast mini-world flowed at a ten-to-one ratio compared to the outside world (meaning ten units of time passed inside for every one unit outside), their progress was still astonishingly fast. Only a month had passed in the Heavenly Realm since Chen Jiuge entered the Secret Realm, yet in less than a year of Fierce Beast mini-world time, they had achieved such remarkable results. This highlighted that battle was necessary to activate the potential of the Bloodlines extracted by the Golden Finger.
「In the Martial Arts World, Taiyuan City.」
After a decade under the new Governor’s rule, the citizens of Taiyuan City had grown accustomed to their current lifestyle. The streets had become so orderly that even local ruffians had vanished. Moreover, the common folk’s private way of referring to their rulers had shifted from ’Outer Heaven Demons’ to ’Heavenly Soldiers’—a truly significant change.
Of course, these achievements had little to do with Chen Jiuge. Over the past ten years, Chen Jiuge had been busy collecting Exotic Beasts and Martial Arts Secret Manuals from this world, attempting to integrate them into the Green Vine Immortal Body, but to little avail. However, in terms of Exotic Beasts, with the aid of the Golden Finger, Chen Jiuge’s gains far exceeded expectations.