Chapter 7: The Phoenix-Eyed Butterfly Advances

A breeding center called Qingmu opened in Shanhai City without the slightest fanfare. If it had been an ordinary shop, operating like this would have been no different from waiting to go bankrupt, given how remote the location was.

But this was a breeding center run by a High-Level Breeder. It sold Elite-rank spirit beasts, specialized in insect-type spirit beasts, could be reserved through the official website, and possessed all the proper qualifications.

Because of that, any ordinary family or somewhat well-off household with a child nearing graduation kept a close eye on the breeding center's information every single day.

Wang Mu set the prices of his various spirit beasts at the midpoint of the recommended range. The Breeders Association had suggested prices for spirit beasts of different grades and species, and most breeders followed them.

At the lower levels, this protected the breeders' interests. At the higher levels, it ensured that buyers could still actually obtain spirit beasts. At certain Breeding Masters' centers, once every few years, a single purchase slot for a Lord-rank spirit beast would be released and sold through ordinary public channels. Tens of millions of people would enter the lottery for it. It was utterly terrifying.

Wang Mu had entered those lotteries when he was a child and had never succeeded even once.

The spirit beasts he was managing now still fell within the category of low-level spirit beasts, so there was no need for anything so dramatic. He only offered online reservations and in-person sales. Reservations were already open, but direct sales would have to wait. At the very least, they would not begin for another half month.

Wang Mu spent several million buying a large quantity of materials from the Association for breeding spirit butterflies.

One great advantage of insect-type spirit beasts was their strong reproductive ability. A single laying could produce hundreds of eggs. In the wild, this naturally meant survival of the fittest, and it was entirely possible that not a single one would survive in the end. But this was a breeding center, and Wang Mu was caring for them personally.

Recently, Wang Mu's life had been incomparably full. The moment he opened his eyes, he went straight to the ecological zone to inspect the condition of the Greenleaf Caterpillars. The moment he closed them, it was already the next day. Other than going home for a meal with his family after returning from the assessment, Wang Mu had not left the breeding center at all.

At last, after fifteen days, all the Greenleaf Caterpillars from the same batch began entering the cocoon stage. Only at that moment did Wang Mu finally have time to rest for a while. All one hundred online reservation slots had been taken, and those reservations could not be canceled.

Wang Mu was genuinely surprised. He had known that the breeder trade was a seller's market, but this was still far too exaggerated...

There had also been people who came in person. The intelligent service robots registered every single one of them. Among them, twelve had signed contracts and paid deposits, while several others had booked a visit to inspect the goods before deciding whether to buy.

Wang Mu rubbed his brow. In truth, intelligent robots could already handle most situations. He did not like having other people interfere with his daily life, so he dismissed the idea of hiring service staff.

It merely meant he had to set up a few more things himself.

With that in mind, Wang Mu sent a mass message through the backend system, informing all one hundred and twelve customers to come to the breeding center over the next two days. First, they would choose their cocoons. Then they would confirm the time at which the cocoon would break, and the buyer had to be present at that moment.

This was a special requirement Wang Mu had set himself. It ensured that the initial bond between the spirit beast and the Beast Tamer would be strong enough. As for Wang Mu himself, he had personally handled every step from the very moment the Greenleaf Caterpillars hatched, so once these spirit beasts broke out of their cocoons, they already had a Shared Level of 3 with him.

If he added a routine follow-up process, then after several more meetings in the future, that would rise to levels 4 or 5, enough for him to share most spells.

In truth, follow-up service was a function every breeding center was supposed to provide. The Association claimed it was necessary, but what breeder had that much spare time to deal with such things? As a result, most centers simply had the buyer come in periodically for an inspection, then sent them away.

Wang Mu sincerely hoped his peers would not regard what he was doing as "needless escalation."

The announcement also made one thing clear: those who came earlier could choose first. Because of that, eighty-seven people made appointments to come the following day. Once they arrived, they would line up at the entrance, take a number, and enter one by one.

The remaining customers could arrive the day after that, while the earliest cocoon-breaking time was three days from now. There was enough time for all of it.

Once that was settled, Wang Mu directly called Wang Lingfeng. The call connected several seconds later.

"Hello? Mu-Mu? I just got back into the city. What is it?"

His voice was loud, and there was a great deal of background noise. Wang Mu kept it brief. "Dad, come to the breeding center tomorrow. Go ahead and finish what you're doing first. I'm hanging up."

Wang Lingfeng was standing in line at the city gate. The moment he hung up, the people beside him began speaking.

"That was Mu-Mu, wasn't it? Is the breeding center opening tomorrow? Did he call you over to help?"

Wang Lingfeng was somewhat surprised. "How did you know that?"

Someone beside him immediately exposed the matter. "We know the name of your family's breeding center. Is it hard to search it online? Old Zhang's daughter is about to graduate too. Of course he had to prepare a spirit beast for her. Half a month ago, I already saw Old Zhang make a reservation."

Zhang Tiancheng looked rather helpless. "I was planning to give Brother Wang a surprise tomorrow, and now you lot have gone and blurted it out."

"Brother Wang, can I go line up in the middle of the night?"

After thinking it over, Wang Lingfeng shook his head. "I'm familiar with those spirit butterflies. Mu-Mu told me about them. Every single one has been carefully bred by him, and the differences in quality are tiny. Only a Breeder would be able to tell them apart. We're all laymen, so there's no point in scrambling to be first."

"And if I remember correctly, Mu-Mu said he'd pay attention to follow-up visits and provide training advice afterward."

After considering it, Zhang Tiancheng agreed. "Fair enough. Then I'll sleep first and head over after I wake up."

He had already gone through this sort of thing before. Back then, he had queued up in the dead of night and gone in first, only to discover that everything looked the same. Even after staring until his eyes blurred, he could not pick anything out. In the end, he had merely chosen whichever one looked pleasing to the eye.

Ordinary people had no need for fancy tricks.

After passing the security check, Zhang Tiancheng said to Wang Lingfeng, "Brother Wang, are you still coming out with us during this period?"

Wang Lingfeng answered without hesitation, "Of course. My Phoenix-Eyed Butterfly only needs a little more tempering before it can advance."

Lu Lin, standing at the side, explained, "Mu-Mu is already starting out as a High-Level Breeder. His future is boundless. The wilderness is dangerous. Can you really bear to let him worry about you?"

"Given what I know of that brat, he's definitely going to make arrangements for you too. Let's rest for a week this time, and you can think it over once you get home."

This time, Wang Lingfeng did not reply immediately. After thinking about it, it really did seem true. That brat Mu-Mu looked cold on the surface, but in truth, he was rather proud and overbearing. Ever since childhood, he had never spared a proper glance for those his own age, and he had always had plans of his own that allowed no interference from others.

And yet, he had done exactly what he set out to do.

If Mu-Mu were to draw up a full plan for him as well...

Well, he could not think of any reason to refuse.

At that thought, Wang Lingfeng could not help breaking into a foolish grin. The others immediately began jeering at him in disgust, though only they themselves knew how much envy they felt inside.

Wang Mu had been the sort of child every other family compared their own children to.

And they had watched that child grow up with their own eyes.

Back when other people's children had been unruly little troublemakers at five or six years old, Wang Mu had already begun studying on his own, year after year without pause.

Half a month earlier, when they heard the drunken Wang Lingfeng blurt out that his son had passed the assessment and become a High-Level Breeder, these old brothers of his had found it both unbelievable and completely natural.

When someone possessed talent and was also extraordinarily hardworking, who else was supposed to succeed if not him?

Because of that, they had accepted it naturally, and none of them could even bring themselves to feel jealous. After all, if they searched their own hearts honestly, not a single one of these men in their fifties could say with certainty that they could have spent over a decade steadily honing themselves through study. What right did they have to feel envy?

Their own children, however, had it rough. Compared to Wang Mu...

After washing up at home, Wang Lingfeng brought dinner with him and headed to the breeding center. Wang Mu was not surprised at all. He knew his father's temperament very well. Sure enough, Wang Lingfeng's first words were:

"I came by first to have a look. Is there anything you need help with?"

Wang Mu glanced at the Phoenix-Eyed Butterfly on Wang Lingfeng's face and said directly, "Give me Xiao Jin. I'm going to give it something good. You go to the simulation room and pick out an Azure Jade Butterfly for yourself. If something else suits you better, you can choose that instead. Take this."

Wang Mu handed Wang Lingfeng a tablet with the spirit beasts' information on it.

Xiao Jin was the Phoenix-Eyed Butterfly's name, a name Wang Lingfeng had chosen with an utter lack of imagination. Having spent all these years with Wang Mu, it flew over of its own accord without even needing Wang Lingfeng to instruct it.

Phoenix-Eyed Butterfly (Adult): 3

Bloodline: Elite

Talent: Mental Power Amplification (Low Grade, Mid Grade)

Innate Spell: Phoenix Eye (Mastery) (Cannot Be Shared)

Spells: Mindforce (Proficient), Mental Blade (Mastery), Mental Reinforcement (Proficient), Mental Pierce (Proficient)...

Shared Level: 5

Wang Mu shot it a sidelong glance. Xiao Jin had actually brought two more skills up to Mastery. It truly was on the verge of breaking through its bottleneck and advancing. In that case, he might as well give it another push.

Share: 【Mental Scan】

The golden butterfly suddenly stopped beating its wings. Then, in the next instant, it transformed into a streak of gold and shot away from Wang Mu. Immediately after that, the air around it twisted. Vast mental power rampaged outward, blasting a great pit into the ground.

Fortunately, that violent upheaval only lasted a few seconds. When it ended, the Phoenix-Eyed Butterfly's mental power rapidly spread outward, and it formed a cocoon on the spot.

It was advancing.

Wang Mu was just about to go over and pick it up when he saw a dark figure reach the spot first. The moment he realized it was Wang Lingfeng, Wang Mu understood. Xiao Jin must have sent him a final message just now.

At that moment, Wang Lingfeng was beside himself with joy. He had already been astonished by how detailed the information on the tablet was, inwardly marveling that the internal materials truly were on an entirely different level. By the time he saw that one Azure Jade Butterfly had mastered the mid-tier spell Leaf Storm, he had already begun to lose himself in thought.

After all, a mid-tier spell was already extremely complicated. The knowledge contained within it could even make it easier for a spirit beast to break through to the Fourth Rank.

And right then, Xiao Jin's voice suddenly sounded in his heart.

"Master, I'm about to break through."

Then Wang Lingfeng felt his own mental power rise slightly, and his body started running outside on its own. Sure enough, he saw Xiao Jin in cocoon form.

"Dad, Xiao Jin learned Mental Scan, so its breakthrough is perfectly normal. Take it somewhere to rest first and wait for it to transform."

Wang Lingfeng reacted quickly. Remembering the things the academy had sent over earlier, he immediately asked, "Did you give Xiao Jin the Mental Scan crystal?"

Wang Mu shook his head. "Don't overthink it. Even if I had given it the crystal, it would still have needed time to digest it. How could it happen so quickly? What I gave it were my own insights."

Wang Lingfeng immediately felt relieved. Good thing he had not. Spell crystals were far too precious. There was simply no circulation channel for mid-tier spell crystals. Aside from the Association and academy routes, obtaining a second one was nearly impossible. If it had truly gone to Xiao Jin, he would certainly have been happy, but he would have felt even more ashamed than that.

Yet after hearing his son's words, he froze for a moment.

What did he mean by his own insights?

Did Wang Mu mean that he himself had learned it, rather than his spirit beast?

One look told Wang Mu exactly what his father was thinking, and he said without the slightest concern, "Didn't I already learn Xiao Jin's Mindforce and Mental Pierce as well?"

"Mental Scan is just another application of mental power. It's a bit more complicated, but my mental power has been growing all these years. Learning it wasn't that difficult."

Wang Lingfeng accepted that explanation.

He had no choice. Wang Mu had shown enough genius ever since childhood that just about anything seemed believable when it came from him.

A moment later, Wang Lingfeng's eyes lit up and he grew excited. "Then doesn't that mean you can teach skills to spirit beasts? And not just any skill, but Mental Scan! I'm afraid a great many people will come looking for you now."

Most skills were one thing, but Mental Scan was special. For Beast Tamers who needed to travel outside the city, it was practically a cheat. Calling it a second life for a Beast Tamer would not have been an exaggeration.