Celestial Beast Taming

Zhou Yang’s ability to become a Director at Starlight City’s Senhe Hall was a testament to his excellence.

It was extremely difficult for a member of a branch family to achieve what Zhou Yang had in a power like the Golden Leaf Chamber of Commerce, which prioritized the direct lineage.

In fact, he had basically reached the highest ceiling he could touch.

Zhou Yang had only been transferred to Starlight City’s Senhe Hall less than two years ago.

However, he was already well-acquainted with all the established and top-tier powers in Starlight City.

While this was certainly due to the reputation of Senhe Hall and the Golden Leaf Chamber of Commerce, it was also inextricably linked to Zhou Yang’s own capabilities.

Now, Zhou Yang had chosen the most opportune moment to approach Zhong Yi, not leading with his title as a Director of Senhe Hall right from the start.

His words, "a personal discount for you, within my authority," and especially the word "personal," directly conveyed his goodwill to Zhong Yi.

Zhou Yang was young enough, and interactions between young people held a natural advantage over those between the middle-aged and the young.

Fu Hongning watched the smiling Zhou Yang and couldn’t help but think of his own son, Fu Wei.

Fu Wei was exceptionally talented in his potential as a Guardian Beast Master, but his emotional intelligence and interpersonal skills were a far cry from Zhou Yang’s.

Zhong Yi didn’t refuse Zhou Yang’s kind offer. From his Storage Pouch, he took out five pits from the Dragon Root Fruits that had been brewed by the Dragon-Brewed Immortal Mink.

A potently spicy, aromatic scent immediately filled the air.

The Dragon Qi emanating from these five amber-colored pits, each no bigger than a fingernail, nearly enveloped Zhong Yi’s palm.

"I have a material here that can enhance the bloodline of Dragon Species Guardian Beasts. It’s called Drunken Dragon Jade."

"I plan to exchange this Drunken Dragon Jade for Federation Coins to buy that Wind Flash Butterfly."

"I need you to help me appraise the value of this Drunken Dragon Jade."

The Dragon-Brewed Immortal Mink was a Guardian Beast that had never before existed in this world.

Therefore, the Dragon Root Fruit pits brewed by the Dragon-Brewed Immortal Mink—the very material Zhong Yi had named Drunken Dragon Jade—were making their first appearance in the world.

Zhong Yi needed a professional to clearly establish the value of the Dragon Brew Jade.

This would let Zhong Yi know what price to sell the Drunken Dragon Jade for in the future.

Senhe Hall’s appraisal of material values was undoubtedly professional and authoritative.

Materials that could enhance the bloodline of a Main Dragon Species Guardian Beast were exceedingly rare.

Enhancing the bloodline of a Dragon Species Guardian Beast was a common problem that all Guardian Beast Masters who had contracted one had long faced.

Zhou Yang didn’t ask Zhong Yi any more questions about the Drunken Dragon Jade. He carefully took one and said,

"Sir, we currently have a Five-finger Creator and two Five-star Scholars at Senhe Hall. I will have the three of them lead the appraisal team to evaluate the value of this Drunken Dragon Jade."

"Please, continue to look at the other Exotic Beasts on display. I will come find you with this Drunken Dragon Jade once the appraisal is complete."

After speaking, Zhou Yang left with the Drunken Dragon Jade, his expression slightly grave.

Senhe Hall’s internal appraisals of material prices were extremely strict; otherwise, they wouldn’t have a Five-finger Creator and Five-star Scholars stationed there.

Zhou Yang didn’t have the authority to deliberately raise or lower the price of the Drunken Dragon Jade.

As a Director of Senhe Hall, Zhou Yang had no control over the appraisal team, which was jointly managed by the main branches of several chambers of commerce.

Zhou Yang was somewhat afraid that the final price set for the Drunken Dragon Jade by the appraisal team wouldn’t meet Zhong Yi’s expectations.

If the appraised price failed to meet Zhong Yi’s expectations, forget about befriending him.

He would be lucky just to avoid incurring the wrath of this Celestial Destiny Seeker, who was a good five or six years younger than him!

Zhong Yi did, in fact, have an expected price in mind for the Drunken Dragon Jade.

Drunken Dragon Jade could enhance the bloodline within a Main Dragon Species Guardian Beast, and its effects were comparable to a potion concocted by a Five-finger Creator.

For a Fifth Level Potion that enhanced the bloodline of a Dragon Species Guardian Beast, the price of the materials alone was nearly three million Federation Coins.

Among Fifth Level Potions, it was considered one of the more expensive ones to produce.

Excluding the labor cost of a Five-finger Creator, the price of a single piece of Drunken Dragon Jade should be at least three million Federation Coins.

Zhong Yi didn’t dwell on the appraised price of the Drunken Dragon Jade and continued to examine the other Exotic Beasts on display.

Among them, two mutated plant-type Guardian Beasts caught his interest.

They were the Pink Poison Hibiscus, a mutation of the Poison Blade Hibiscus, and the Molten Rock Cherry, a mutation of the Mud Cherry.

The Poison Blade Hibiscus attacked its targets by launching sharp, toxic leaves and petals.

Once its petals and leaves were used as weapons, it couldn’t attack again until they had regrown.

The offensive power of a Poison Blade Hibiscus was indeed exceptional among plant-type Guardian Beasts of the same tier.

However, regrowing its leaves and petals required nurturing it with relatively expensive materials to shorten the growth cycle.

Therefore, unless a Guardian Beast Master was a fool with more money than sense, they generally wouldn’t choose to form a Contract with a Poison Blade Hibiscus.

But the combat style of the Pink Poison Hibiscus, this mutated version of the Poison Blade Hibiscus, had changed completely.

The Pink Poison Hibiscus used its highly toxic pollen as its offensive weapon, spraying pollen laced with a paralytic toxin during battle to achieve area-of-effect crowd control and poisoning.

Its lethality might not match the sudden burst of a Poison Blade Hibiscus, but its strength lay in its endurance and ability to handle numerous targets simultaneously.

Wide-ranging lethal abilities were rare among Guardian Beasts.

One could say the benefits of this mutation far outweighed the drawbacks!

However, because its highly toxic pollen was too light, it was countered by Wind Attribute Guardian Beasts and was unsuitable for many Secret Realm environments.

Furthermore, the probability of a Poison Blade Hibiscus mutating into a Pink Poison Hibiscus wasn’t that low.

This caused the buyout price for this Pink Poison Hibiscus Exotic Beast to be set very low, at only 6 million Federation Coins.

The Mud Cherry was a dual earth- and water-attribute Guardian Beast. Its method of combat was to hurl the fruits it produced at its opponents.

The thick juice of the Mud Cherry was like superglue, capable of firmly sticking to a target’s body.

Although it didn’t possess much lethality, its control abilities were top-notch among Guardian Beasts of the same tier.

The Molten Rock Cherry, a mutation of the Mud Cherry, was a dual fire- and earth-attribute Guardian Beast.

While its fruit no longer contained the sticky juice of the Mud Cherry’s fruit, thus losing its control ability, the Molten Rock Cherry’s juice would violently combust and explode upon exposure to air.

Once the Molten Rock Cherry began to burn, its flesh would turn into a molten state, and the temperature it released in an instant was no different from magma.

If properly nurtured to the Fantasy Tier, the temperature of its explosion would be even higher than magma.

The buyout price for the Molten Rock Cherry was twenty-eight million Federation Coins.

Even though the price was steep, if a Guardian Beast Master compatible with the Molten Rock Cherry gritted their teeth and bought it for a Contract, it could greatly increase that Guardian Beast Master’s potential.

After looking at another twenty or thirty Exotic Beasts in a row, Zhong Yi still hadn’t found one he wanted to buy.

Zhong Yi couldn’t help but feel a little disappointed by this.

Zhong Yi’s main goal in coming to this Exotic Beast Garden was to find production-type Exotic Beasts, similar to the Blood Enchanting Bee Queen and the Dragon-Brewed Immortal Mink.

Just as Zhong Yi was starting to feel a little bored, he suddenly felt a stir from the Soul-Controlling Flower rooted in his soul.

It was as if the Soul-Controlling Flower had encountered something that greatly interested it.

Its interest in this thing was clearly greater than its interest in the Life and Soul Energy within corpses.

The further Zhong Yi walked, the stronger the excitement coming from the Soul-Controlling Flower became.

When Zhong Yi came to a stop in front of a chubby, milky-white grub that was as large as his own forearm, the excitement from the Soul-Controlling Flower reached its peak.

It was like a child seeing their most coveted toy, wanting to have it no matter what.

Seeing Zhong Yi’s interest in this insect-type Mutant Beast, Fu Hongning hurried to introduce it.

"Lord Zhong Yi, this is a mutated variant of a Devouring Ant Queen, sent over by a small chamber of commerce."

A Devouring Ant Queen!?

A strange expression appeared on Zhong Yi’s face when he heard this.

For an Ant Swarm, the Ant Queen is the most critical unit.

One could say that every Ant Queen is considered an extremely rare Guardian Beast.

In Zhong Yi’s memory, a Devouring Ant Queen was only about the size of a fist even after advancing to the Fantasy Tier.

And yet this big fellow in front of him, still at the Mortal Beast Tier, was actually a mutated Devouring Ant Queen.