Chapter 9: An Invisible Contest

Zhang Wenting frowned and thought for a while before finally understanding what her father meant. A trace of disappointment welled up in her heart. In truth, she had always worked hard. She had consistently ranked among the top three in school, but she had never skipped a grade, nor had she attended an advanced Association academy. Instead, she had gone through an ordinary compulsory education school.

So now that she had reached the age of sixteen, she could only purchase a spirit beast herself, rather than receiving one as an academy reward.

Even so, she was content. This was something she had earned through her own efforts, and through the hard work of her parents as well. Her elder brother's first spirit beast had only been Excellent rank, while she could begin directly with an Elite-rank one. That was already very good.

Her state of mind was calm. Carrying that calm with her, she entered the area where spirit beasts were chosen an hour later, led by Zhang Tiancheng. She discovered that some of the spaces were already empty, which meant those spirit beasts had been selected and moved into individual rooms.

The hall itself was divided into two sections. The area they were currently in consisted of two corridors, with specially made containers of one square meter lined up on either side, each holding a spirit butterfly cocoon.

And on the screen of every container was the information Wang Mu had entered.

"An Elite-rank Azure Jade Butterfly, with Wood Spiritual Affinity at Intermediate, Low Grade? Wow, and it even has three skills!" Zhang Wenting exclaimed softly. "Dad, a top-quality spirit beast like this is only 2.7 million?"

Though Zhang Tiancheng was also surprised, he still said, "Come, let's look over there first."

That was the second section of the hall, a row of private rooms.

【Silver Butterfly: Elite rank, Mental Power Amplification at Low Grade, High Quality, possessing the mid-tier spell Mental Scan, and the low-tier spells Mental Pierce, Mental Blade, Mental Reinforcement, Mindforce, and Mindforce Burst.】

【Azure Jade Butterfly: Elite rank, Wood Spiritual Affinity at Intermediate, Low Grade, possessing the mid-tier spell Leaf Storm, and the low-tier spells Leaf Blade and Whiplash.】

【Azure Jade Butterfly: Elite rank... possessing the mid-tier spells Leaf Storm and Energy Beam, and the low-tier spells...】

Zhang Wenting's theoretical grades were quite good. She understood very well that if an Elite-rank spirit beast possessed a mid-tier skill, then there would be far fewer obstacles when it advanced to the Fourth Rank. A mid-tier skill of the spirit beast's own element would not only greatly raise its combat power, but would also save the cost of one breakthrough treasure.

And here was an Azure Jade Butterfly that possessed two mid-tier spells. Especially Energy Beam. Beam-type spells had always been famed for their speed. The moment one was fired, it would strike its target.

At the same time, Leaf Storm was also an area spell, and in forests, it received an enormous increase in power.

Even though Zhang Wenting had favored the Silver Butterfly with Mental Scan at first, she now found herself unable to decide. All she could do was look toward her father for help, full of tension, because she was not certain whether they would actually buy one. The spirit beasts here did not merely require 15 million. They also required one item from a listed set of materials.

Breezefeather—the feather of the Third-Rank demon beast, the Clearwind Great Owl. Generally, only the three feathers atop its head held real value. Needless to say, what was needed here certainly was not an ordinary feather.

Three-Colored Brocade Pheasant Tail Feather—the feather of the Third-Rank demon beast, the Three-Colored Brocade Pheasant. It possessed a trace of phoenix bloodline, though that trace was vanishingly thin.

This item had a chance of allowing a Greenleaf Butterfly to evolve into a Phoenix-Eyed Butterfly.

Many of the materials listed here came from Third- or Fourth-Rank demon beasts, while others were ores that could only be found in areas of the wild where demon beasts gathered.

Naturally, Zhang Tiancheng knew what his daughter was thinking. Ever since she was young, she had always been sensible. If the family could not afford something she wanted, she would never say it aloud. It was precisely that kind of good sense that pained his heart.

At this moment, however, they were facing a choice that would influence his daughter's entire life.

He reached out and stroked the top of her head, smoothing down a few strands of hair that had stuck up. Then he said softly, "Choose one."

Zhang Wenting blinked, and her eyes suddenly grew hot. She lowered her head at once.

Zhang Tiancheng had already withdrawn his hand. His daughter was grown now, and patting her head was no longer quite appropriate. Knowing exactly what was wrong, he deliberately changed the subject.

"I didn't receive compulsory education back then, so I don't know as much as you do. But I still understand the spirit beasts in front of us."

"They can all advance to Commander rank. And there are simply no Commander-rank spirit beasts for sale on the market. Unless a family has been paying the second tier of the Beast Tamer Fund all the way from childhood, then no one's first spirit beast could ever be Commander rank."

"More importantly, even if a Commander-rank spirit beast were right in front of you, if your mental power wasn't enough, you still wouldn't be able to contract it. So these spirit beasts are the best possible choice."

"It says so on the screen as well—first come, first served. Your father has some savings too. Let's go home first."

There was no need to look at the other spirit beasts anymore. Though they were Elite rank as well, the difference between them was far too great. Since Qingmu Breeding Center could breed them in batches, if they missed out this time, there would still be another chance later. But not for these special ones.

Zhang Tiancheng guessed that the breeding center had only just opened, so it had deliberately put out a few premium spirit beasts to build its reputation. There would probably be more in the future, but once the center became well known, the competition would be far fiercer, and they might not even be able to secure a slot.

He would not dare guarantee anything else, but as for that Silver Butterfly with Mental Scan—even Beast Tamers above the Fifth Rank would be tempted by it.

He himself was deeply tempted as well.

Once they returned home, Zhang Tiancheng hurriedly began calling in favors to gather the required materials. His wife had wanted to ask whether, given their family's relationship with Wang Lingfeng, they could perhaps avoid rushing so much. But in the end, she said nothing.

No one truly failed to see things clearly.

The same situation was unfolding in nearly every family that had entered Qingmu Breeding Center that day. It was barely six in the morning when Wang Mu, having just gotten out of bed, discovered that a Silver Butterfly with the spell Mental Scan had already been purchased.

The buyer was a Fifth-Rank Beast Tamer registered with the Beast Tamer Association. In this world, powerful spirit beasts were the equivalent of weapons, so their sale was naturally regulated. Without a legitimate identity, there was simply no way to purchase spirit beasts of this caliber.

Because the buyer was Fifth Rank, Wang Mu even felt a flicker of anticipation. After all, for someone at that level, the resources needed to raise a Silver Butterfly were almost trivial. It would not be long before all of the Silver Butterfly's spells were elevated, and then Wang Mu would be able to "harvest" another wave of gains.

In a pleasant mood, Wang Mu got up and washed. Qingling also pulled its roots from the flowerpot and ran outside to take root in the garden.

This little fellow preferred quiet, but it also liked Wang Mu very much, so at night it always wanted to sleep beside him. It even crept in in the middle of the night, thinking Wang Mu did not know. In truth, after Wang Mu learned Mental Scan, everything within thirty meters was perfectly clear to him.

He found it rather amusing. Mental-type spells had already raised Qingling's spirituality and intelligence by quite a bit. It might develop true sentience ahead of time. According to rumor, spirit beasts at that stage behaved very much like human children. Wang Mu only hoped it would not become a little terror.

After eating a bit of breakfast, Wang Mu prepared to head out. The moment the thought arose in his mind, his shoes flew out from the cabinet, and his clothes automatically slipped onto his body. This was mindforce.

At present, Wang Mu's physical strength had reached the standard of the First Rank, while the strength of his soul had reached the Second Rank. Qingling had originally followed the energy-type path, so the mental-type spells Wang Mu shared with it matched it extremely well. After Qingling advanced a few more times, Wang Mu himself would naturally enter the Second Rank as well.

At that point, his own strength would be sufficient, and he would be able to contract spirit beasts of even higher quality.

The first place Wang Mu went was the storeroom. The item exchanged by that Fifth-Rank Beast Tamer had been placed there. It was a bottle of green liquid. No one was moving it, and yet the liquid within flowed of its own accord. This was the essence of a Fourth-Rank demon beast, the Mist Ancient Tree.

Demon beasts and spirit beasts were not merely two different names for the same thing. In principle, all creatures capable of developing intelligence belonged to the category of spirit beasts. They could also learn various spells through later study and undergo evolution.

Demon beasts, however, could not evolve. They were born with fixed bloodline ranks, and the limit of their growth was locked by that bloodline. Their development consisted only of unlocking the abilities already contained within their bloodline.

Even if a demon beast reached the Ninth Rank, it still possessed no intelligence, only instinct. It could not be contracted, though one could enslave it through overwhelming strength.

From Zhu Tao, Wang Mu had also learned that beyond those two categories, there existed savage beasts. They were extremely dangerous, and even the weakest among them possessed the power of the Fifth Rank. They slaughtered every lifeform they saw.

Demon beasts all possessed instincts for feeding and reproduction. Savage beasts possessed only the instinct to kill.

As for divine beasts, historical records truly did mention them. In ages past, the Shenzhou Continent had not yet been called Shenzhou. A star had fallen from the heavens and shattered the world into pieces, giving birth to the later Nine Provinces.

The fragment of the continent Wang Mu now lived on was named Shenzhou, and it lay in the lower right of the Nine Provinces.

Originally, that fallen star should have remade the world, and all life should have evolved anew. But an unknown creature shrouded in five-colored radiance intercepted the star, placed it in an extradimensional space above the continent, then reorganized the earth-veins and brought forth the new Nine Provinces.

Though the continent had shattered, it had not caused any great loss of life.

This was not myth, but history. And because it involved a certain overwhelmingly powerful existence, no one dared tamper with that history. Yet so much time had passed since that age that modern people had all but forgotten such beings, for they were simply too distant.

The only reason Wang Mu still remembered any of it was because memorizing the geography of Shenzhou had nearly made him lose his mind. This Shenzhou alone was larger than the area of the Earth from his previous life once it had been fully spread out, and yet he had then been told that this was only one-ninth of the ancient continent.

It was absurd beyond words.

Shaking his head, Wang Mu picked up the bottle of ancient tree essence. This was meant for the Water Mist Butterfly. It was only Excellent rank, and this would be the key to its evolution.

In the past, Wang Mu had seen some veteran on the forums claim that the Phantom Butterfly possessed both water and light attributes. Since Wang Mu already had both of those, he could give it a try.

It was said that the true great masters would first lay out huge numbers of possible plans, then test them within their own secret realms. After millions upon millions of attempts, once a stable method had been found, they would finally put it into use.

But that was something reserved for Breeding Masters alone. Even ordinary Breeders lacked the capital for it. What Wang Mu could do was only a crude imitation of those methods through the Greenleaf Butterfly lineage. As long as he succeeded once, he could replicate it.

The Greenleaf Butterfly lineage did not inherit, did it? Fine, then he would create inheritance by force!

The first batch of Greenleaf Butterfly eggs contained only one hundred and fifty eggs. Wang Mu had feared that he would lack the experience to handle more, but in truth, with the support of intelligent robots, it was all extremely simple. What truly required his control was sharing the spells at the correct time.

So, based on the speed of his own Sharing, Wang Mu set the robots to work at one-minute intervals. Once one process ended, there would still be a few seconds before the next began, leaving room for error.

As for this second batch, Wang Mu incubated a full five hundred eggs.

To be honest, even if all of them were released into the market, they still would not cause much of a splash. The ones in need of spirit beasts were not merely newly grown youths. Far more numerous were the Beast Tamers who had already embarked upon the proper path.

The wilderness was incomparably dangerous, and most secret realms were even more perilous. The casualty rate among spirit beasts was not low. Wang Lingfeng's Forest Lizard had been his first main contracted beast, and it had died in the wild.

Ordinarily, when a contracted spirit beast died, the Beast Tamer would suffer backlash as well. Nearly all the abilities that spirit beast had granted would be lost, and the Beast Tamer would need one or two years of recovery before beginning the contracting process again. All the resources previously invested would have been poured down the drain, and everything would need to be cultivated anew.

That was why the Silver Butterfly would sell extremely well among mid-level Beast Tamers. Buy it, raise it for a few months, and it could already be put to use.

That was an excellent bargain.