The Master of Beasts

Upon returning to Eden Garden, Chen Jiuge had quite a few matters to deal with, especially concerning the handling of Spiritual Beasts.

The Master was right; I've been learning too many things lately. With the help of the Golden Finger, I'm destined to achieve great things in beast mastery; it really isn't necessary to spread my energy too thin.

Developing special Spiritual Beasts, earning the title of a Spirit Beast Breeding Master within the Myriad Beasts Sect, building connections—all in preparation for the upcoming War of the Abyss. This seems rather similar to the development path of a Great Elder in a sect.

The world is polarized: the Heavenly Realm represents light, while the Demon Abyss is its opposite, the embodiment of darkness. Many minor worlds, once captured by the Demon Abyss, would see all their living creatures turned into food, with the entire world becoming a breeding ground for demons. The situation was truly tragic. All the dominant forces in the Heavenly Realm basically had their own Demon Abyss Battlefield. This was also the reason for the perennial peace of the Heavenly Realm.

War Song and the other four beasts were still not out. The Master had also mentioned that Elder Tian, responsible for the Fierce Beast minor world, would visit soon to request Spiritual Beasts. Chen Jiuge was not in a hurry and would simply inquire when the time came.

"Black Eye, where are Yue Meng and Da Bai?" Chen Jiuge asked, looking at Black Eye, who was diligently herding.

After instructing his kin to continue working, Black Eye ran over and said, "Yue Meng went into alchemy more than a year ago after she crafted Second Rank elixirs. She kept saying she wanted to give you a big surprise upon your return and took her Alchemy Furnace to practice. As for where she's practicing alchemy, I really have no idea."

Indeed, Black Eye felt frustrated about this. He, a mere dog, couldn't locate Yue Meng, even though he was certain she was definitely within Eden Garden.

Yue Meng has such ambition? Chen Jiuge was quite skeptical.

Seeing this, Chen Jiuge didn't press further. Black Eye's appearance was actually quite frightening, but his personality was honest. This was why Chen Jiuge wanted to train him to be a permanent resident Spiritual Beast of Eden Garden.

"And Da Bai?" Chen Jiuge continued.

"Da Bai has been with another Fire Qilin for the past two years. However, it seems he has gained quite a lot from that Fire Qilin. I've noticed his cultivation progressing very quickly." Black Eye was not too familiar with Da Bai's situation, as his own roaming territory mainly covered the Grasslands where the Red Flame Sheep grazed. He seldom went over to the Spirit Lake District.

"Alright, go call Da Bai over, and I'll go find Yue Meng," Chen Jiuge said with a nod.

Activating the Lifebound Decree in his mind, Chen Jiuge quickly pinpointed Yue Meng's location—an unexpected place.

「Gravel Forest」

Chen Jiuge watched from afar as the Golden Iron Back Apes, who had been appointed as Feeders, followed Yue Meng's commands. One group of apes continuously passed Spiritual Medicine, while another group constantly released Spiritual Energy to maintain the Spiritual Fire within the Pill Furnace.

As time passed, the alchemy was complete.

The apes below were overjoyed. Yue Meng's snow-white fur was also coated with some black ash as she pulled out a handful of elixirs and put them into a Jade Bottle.

"I didn't expect Black Eye was actually telling the truth," Chen Jiuge said, watching Yue Meng with a look of satisfaction.

Chen Jiuge's sudden voice startled Yue Meng, who then haughtily straightened up and said, "Truth or falsehood? Look, I've already refined Fourth Rank elixirs!"

"Very good. What do you want?" Chen Jiuge offered as a reward.

"I want some helpers. These monkeys are too careless. They don't handle the Spiritual Medicine well, and the elixirs I refine are always only of medium or lower grade," Yue Meng said without hesitation.

These words convinced Chen Jiuge that Yue Meng had truly changed.

After pondering for a while, Chen Jiuge said, "I'll cultivate some Medicine Rabbits to help you. Since you're not skilled in Fire Techniques, I'll also give you a few Fire Flood Dragons as your assistants."

"That would be best."

"Alright, I'm going to refine elixirs now. Don't disturb me," Yue Meng said with disdain, stretching out her short paws to push Chen Jiuge away.

Seeing Yue Meng working so hard, Chen Jiuge didn't say anything and resolved in his heart to provide her with assistants as soon as possible.

As for Yue Meng, who had pushed Chen Jiuge away, she now found herself in a good mood, showing much more patience with the clumsy monkeys below.

When Chen Jiuge returned to the courtyard, he saw Qi Daoyuan and Da Bai fighting?

Watching the two young Qilins tussling on the ground, Chen Jiuge turned to Black Eye, who looked utterly helpless, and asked, "What's going on? And how did Da Bai achieve Divinity Transformation?"

"I don't know. They were fishing when I went to call Da Bai, and they've been arguing ever since. Once they got to the courtyard, they started fighting," Black Eye explained, puzzled.

"Stop, stop, stop!"

The two young Qilins glanced at Chen Jiuge. Da Bai was about to let go, but Qi Daoyuan exerted more strength. He mounted Da Bai, gaining the upper hand and forcing Da Bai to resist.

Chen Jiuge's face darkened. What was this Qi Daoyuan thinking? Did he really believe that he could do as he pleased without anyone intervening, as if this were Vermilion Bird Peak?

"Bali!" Chen Jiuge shouted angrily.

A huge shadow loomed over the two. Qi Daoyuan gulped at the sight of the enormous Bali. Did things have to be this outrageous? Wasn't Chen Jiuge just at the Nascent Soul realm? Why did he have a Spiritual Beast at the Returning to Void realm?

Standing upright, lifting his little hooves, Qi Daoyuan tried to ingratiate himself, saying, "Da Bai and I were just messing around. We're brothers, good brothers."

Chen Jiuge ignored the clowning Qi Daoyuan and spoke seriously to Da Bai, "Your cultivation progress is very rapid, which pleases me. It proves that you indeed haven't slacked off in my absence. But you need to continue making efforts. Relaxing occasionally is fine, but what happened today was unacceptable."

Da Bai hung his head in shame.

Patting Da Bai's head, which felt very pleasant to the touch, Chen Jiuge said softly, "I'll let it go this time, but I expect to see your actions reflect this conversation."

"I understand, Master."

"And you, what's your deal?" Chen Jiuge's attitude towards Qi Daoyuan was not nearly as kind. "I remember Junior Sister Zhu returned a while before I did. Why aren't you at Vermilion Bird Peak? What are you doing here?"

"Hey, what's with that attitude? Da Bai's breakthrough to Divinity Transformation was so quick because of the Qilin Clan's legacy I contributed. You actually want to drive me away?" Qi Daoyuan exclaimed indignantly.

"It was clearly because I won it through fishing," Da Bai argued quietly.

Qi Daoyuan didn't continue the conversation, just looking at Chen Jiuge while waving Da Bai and Black Eye away.

Chen Jiuge said to Qi Daoyuan, "You were a Heavenly Immortal in your previous life, and from what I can see, your memory isn't lacking much. Do you have some kind of motive for this?"

"What motive could there be, other than the pursuit of becoming a Golden Immortal? Da Bai's bloodline is much better than mine, almost on par with the Qilin Imperial Family. His chances of becoming a Golden Immortal are very high. Although I'm recultivating, I was forced into that situation before—becoming a Golden Immortal isn't so easy," Qi Daoyuan spoke somewhat dispiritedly.

"Seeing that you've provided the Qilin legacy to Da Bai, I won't say much. Just don't interfere with Da Bai's cultivation," Chen Jiuge said. He decided to observe Qi Daoyuan further. No matter how powerful he was in his previous life, now he was merely in Divinity Transformation. With Bali around, it was unlikely he could cause any real trouble.

After inspecting the Spiritual Beasts in Eden Garden, Chen Jiuge gathered Li Qiwen and the others for a quick meal. He informed them of their current status and the work they had to do in the future. Then, he planned to cultivate some special Spiritual Beasts to further expand the business of Eden Garden.