Chapter 10: Oddshroom

Thanks to the Greenleaf Butterfly lineage's rapid growth speed, another day later, all one hundred and fifty people who had purchased spirit beasts online or offline had arrived. They were each waiting in their assigned rooms for their spirit butterflies to emerge from their cocoons.

As for their family members, they sat upright in the hall. In truth, they were nervous as well, but today was special. In one corner screened off by several potted plants, a young man was reading a book. His appearance was exactly the same as in the qualification photo.

His features were youthful, yet his abilities were formidable, and that made the guests all the more restrained.

Such a young High-Level Breeder had previously existed only in the news. To think they could actually meet one in person now made them all inwardly sigh—he was simply too young.

Wang Mu had his reasons for waiting there as well. Before he could even finish breeding the second batch and hand them over to the Association, the Association had already come to him on its own after learning of the situation.

The Breeders Association and the Beast Tamer Association appeared to be two separate organizations, but in reality, they were one body. Whenever the Breeders Association produced something valuable, the Beast Tamer Association would immediately follow up. Whatever was lacking, they would provide at once. In short, anything useful was quickly equipped to their backbone members.

And so, the Silver Butterfly had caught their eye.

Detection skills were not especially rare. Most, however, belonged to the high-tier category, while the few low- and mid-tier ones tended to be far too obvious. Mental-type detection, on the other hand, had always been subtle. The Breeders Association had come specifically to register detailed information regarding the Silver Butterfly bred by Wang Mu.

Wang Mu had to begin sharing spells with the newly hatched Greenleaf Caterpillars around eight or nine o'clock, so he arranged the meeting between six and seven. The staff naturally had no objections. In all things, the breeder's schedule came first.

At around six-ten, the doorman and the lady Wang Mu had met last time appeared together. He could only marvel inwardly at just how meticulous the Association was.

At the same time, Wang Mu raised a hand and gestured. "This way, the two of you."

"Good morning, Mr. Wang. I am Shen Yu, an official staff member of the Association. We came today to consult you about a few matters regarding the Silver Butterfly. Are you able to breed spirit butterflies carrying Mental Scan on a stable basis?"

Straight to the point. It was obvious that they had judged Wang Mu's temperament before deciding to approach him this way.

It truly suited his taste.

Nor did Wang Mu hide anything. He had grown up in this world, so he naturally understood the Breeders Association's tradition of fiercely protecting its own. When it came to a "genius" like him, anyone who provoked him would only end up suffering for it.

So Wang Mu answered directly, "Silver Butterflies themselves are not difficult to breed. But Silver Butterflies that emerge already possessing Mental Scan are not easy to breed. At my current stage, I can produce roughly one every two months. I wonder whether you looked at the follow-up value-added service for the Silver Butterfly?"

Shen Yu understood instantly and immediately drafted two plans. "I have already reviewed it. It seems Mr. Wang is also interested in cooperation. May I ask you to look over these two contracts?"

"Of course."

In the next moment, Shen Yu input commands through a mental-interface device. The man beside her operated a machine, then handed over two printed documents.

The first contract stipulated that Wang Mu would provide five Silver Butterflies possessing Mental Scan per year. The Association would purchase them at a rate of 300 points each and then sell them according to the Elite-rank standard price of 150 points each.

The second contract stipulated that Wang Mu would provide thirty Elite-rank Silver Butterflies per year. Once those Silver Butterflies reached the Third Rank and fulfilled the remaining conditions, Beast Tamers could bring them to Qingmu Breeding Center for skill instruction at a rate of 100 points per butterfly.

It was Wang Mu's first time seeing a contract like this. Even the final selling price had been written into it. As for why the selling price was lower, that was easy to understand. Anything that could be exchanged through points counted as an internal welfare benefit. The Association had never marked up such things. If anything, it sold them at a discount.

The two contracts could be chosen separately or together.

Wang Mu signed both at once.

At this early stage, he was still badly in need of points. If he had a channel for earning them and still failed to do so, then there would clearly be something wrong with his head.

He also noticed something else. Within the Breeders Association itself, an Elite-rank spirit beast was worth 150 points. Back when he had seen them in the academy's exchange list, they had only been priced at 50. Even a Commander-rank spirit beast had only cost 150 there. It was obvious just how strongly the academy supported its students.

Once the contracts had been signed and put away, Shen Yu said, "Mr. Wang, upon completion of Contract One, the points will be transferred into your account. As for Contract Two, you will receive 50 points when each Silver Butterfly is collected, and the remaining 50 after the skill has been taught."

That had already been stated in the contract, and Wang Mu had reviewed it. Since there was no issue, he nodded. "Very well. People can be arranged to come and contract them at the beginning of next month. The Greenleaf Butterfly lineage is special, and since you are all Association members, you should know that already. They can simply come straight to the breeding center to form the contract. I will send notice when the time comes."

Naturally, Shen Yu knew all this. As she answered, she rose to her feet. "Understood, sir. Then we will not disturb you further. Farewell."

They were truly efficient, without a single wasted word or movement. Wang Mu checked the time. It was only 6:16. The whole matter had been settled in just six minutes without delaying him in the slightest. That meant he could head to the incubation room ahead of schedule, and with that thought, he set off at once.

At the same time, the first group of customers to complete their contracts had already begun coming out one after another. As expected, the first ones were the stronger Beast Tamers, and at the front was most likely the Fifth-Rank one. At that level, Beast Tamers had already opened a Beast Space where spirit beasts could rest. Even large spirit beasts they raised could be carried with them at all times.

At this moment, a Silver Butterfly rested upon the man's palm. The burly man wore a gentle expression. Sensing Wang Mu's aura, the Silver Butterfly also knew it was about to leave, and it flew over to Wang Mu.

Wang Mu stretched out his hand and let it land there. "Little one, you're rather sentimental, aren't you? Come back whenever you want. This place will always be open to you."

A faint ripple of mental power transmitted those words directly into the Silver Butterfly's mind. If Wang Mu had spoken aloud alone, it would not have understood.

The Silver Butterfly immediately grew cheerful and flew to its new master's shoulder, as though introducing him.

This Beast Tamer was very perceptive as well, and promptly said, "Hello. I am Cui Linhai, Yinyue's Beast Tamer. Thank you for bringing him into the world."

Wang Mu smiled and nodded. "Hello. Yinyue? That's a fine name. I hope the two of you get along well."

After that, Wang Mu also exchanged greetings with Zhang Tiancheng. Within a Beast Tamer's fixed team, the members' relationships were usually not poor. When one of them died, it was common for their child to be entrusted to a teammate. Wang Mu's father had been raised in just that way by one of his late father's teammates, who had even trained him into a Beast Tamer and gifted him an Excellent-rank Forest Lizard.

But that family mostly contracted water-attribute spirit beasts, so they had long since moved far away to Tianhai City. That place was a Frontier City, where the transmission of information was slow, often delayed by an entire month. Wang Mu should receive their gift next month.

At that thought, Wang Mu's steps grew even lighter. His parents' relatives were simply too awful, and the impression they had left on him in childhood had been terrible. By now, they no longer kept in contact. But Uncle Guo's family was wonderful, and Guo Zihao in particular had been especially good. To support Wang Mu's breeder ambitions, he had even emptied his own little treasury. The little chubby fellow had reduced his food so much that he had slimmed down by several jin.

The lives of ordinary people were usually calm and repetitive, without too many grand and stirring waves. Wang Mu, just as he had planned, quietly devoted himself to breeding spirit beasts. Other novice breeders still had to worry about breeding failures and losing everything they had invested. Wang Mu, however, had no need to consider such things.

His account now held more than twenty million directly, and that was after he had already purchased another batch of materials.

Among those materials were some truly costly ones. Even Elemental Jade, which averaged ten thousand per gram, was merely a derivative of this substance.

This material was Spiritual Essence.

Each piece was a standard rhombus-shaped crystal, no bigger than the tip of a little finger, and each was worth roughly three hundred thousand. Its use was fairly singular: it raised a spirit beast's affinity toward a particular attribute. Wang Mu intended to use it on Elite-rank spirit beasts, and together with skills, there was a chance it could produce Commander-rank spirit beasts.

The probability was low, but it was not nonexistent.

By noon, Wang Mu had been busy enough that the entire second batch of Greenleaf Caterpillars had entered their first molt. Without the accelerated time of a secret realm, they would need to wait another two days in between. Although Wang Mu could already begin breeding the third batch, he was not the sort of person to wring every ounce out of himself. He had no urgent pressure on him, so he went directly to the Breeders Association instead.

He was going to Secret Realm No. 03!

Once again, the one who received him was Shen Yu. Wang Mu guessed that the Association probably assigned one receptionist to each breeder. Given the Association's immense size and wealth, it really could afford to do things that way.

While leading the way, Shen Yu began explaining, "The creatures within the secret realm have all undergone guided breeding. They yearn greatly for the outside world. If you encounter a spirit beast you like, you may simply communicate with it and take it with you."

"Secret Realm No. 03 is a low-level secret realm. The highest-ranking spirit beasts within it are Level 2. There are a total of 317 species inside, including two Lord-rank species, four Beast King-rank species, and eleven Commander-rank species. These are distributed across several lakes."

"Thank you," Wang Mu said politely.

He already knew the information, but those higher-order spirit beasts generally did not come out. And even if he wanted to take one away, he would first have to encounter it.

Just as before, after passing through a blue vortex gate, Wang Mu entered a forest.

The very first thing he saw was several colorful mushrooms bouncing and hopping about.

Wang Mu fell silent.

Oddshrooms.

Commander-rank spirit beasts.

They possessed a great many spells.

Their innate spells were Hallucinogenic Spore, Parasitic Spore, Toxic Spore, Healing Spore, and Inheritance Spore.

Their evolution-form-exclusive bloodline spells were Gigantification, Hypnosis, and Life Sharing.

Among them, Life Sharing was the spell for which Oddshrooms were best known. Once a contract was formed with them, so long as either the spirit beast or the Beast Tamer remained alive, the other could still cling to a single breath. Depending on the Oddshroom's strength, this state could be maintained anywhere from three to a hundred days.

If the Oddshroom also happened to know both Parasitic Spore and Inheritance Spore, then once it found a host, it could recover immediately.

Oddshrooms were the core of the early Beast Tamer school known as the Undying Style. If not for the fact that they found it so difficult to break through to the Sixth Rank, then high-rank Beast Tamers today would probably all have one.

Without the slightest hesitation, Wang Mu took out the specially prepared nutrient solution he had brought, opened it, and set it on the ground. Then he sent out a thread of mental power and spoke, "Come here, little ones. Come eat~"

At that moment, Wang Mu had transformed into some suspicious uncle, luring the little mushroom-heads into throwing themselves into his arms.

All the Oddshrooms looked more or less the same, so Wang Mu could not tell their specific conditions apart. There were three of them here. If he could take them, then he intended to take all three. As for the Jadefeather Birds and the Hundred-Flower Bee Queen? There was always the points channel. He could just buy them later.

Two of the Oddshrooms came hopping over, utterly unafraid of strangers. One remained where it was.

Just as Wang Mu was beginning to feel disappointed, that third Oddshroom vanished on the spot. The next time it appeared, it was already at his side, happily enjoying the nutrient solution.

"Earth Escape Art?" Wang Mu was somewhat surprised. It seemed this was a new evolution form. The Association only updated its teaching materials every few years, so some newly discovered developments were not announced immediately. It was perfectly normal that he did not know of it.

In truth, every breeder specialized in a different direction. It was entirely possible that even certain very common spirit beasts still possessed undiscovered new evolution forms.

A person's energy was limited.

Wang Mu, however, intended to challenge that limit.