The beast cultivation institution was small, with a quiet and desolate atmosphere.
Inside, there was only a man in a black short-sleeve shirt, sitting on a low stool, playing a card game called Dou Dizhu with two sand moles.
"Pair of twos!"
Qiao Sang walked in just in time to see the man excitedly throw down his cards.
"Bo bo."
One of the sand moles lazily played four cards, likely a bomb combination.
The man instantly fell silent.
"Uh, is anyone here?" Qiao Sang looked further inside, hoping to call someone else out.
"Yes, yes, yes!" The man immediately put down his cards and got up to greet her.
What luck! A customer at just the right moment, a perfect excuse to ditch the game.
The man was overjoyed, and his face was all smiles as he said, "Are you here to look for a breeder, a caretaker, or do you want your pet to learn a new skill?"
Qiao Sang was taken aback. Did this place really offer such a wide range of services?
Pet breeding, pet boarding, and teaching pets new skills were all big tasks, and it was rare for one place to cover all of them.
Qiao Sang's opinion of the institution improved. She hadn't expected such a small place to be so comprehensive.
The man noticed Yabao beside her and his eyes lit up, not because he recognized Yabao as the newly evolved form of the Fire Fang Dog from the news, but because he was stunned by its appearance.
Flame Hounds always gave off an impression of wealth.
It seemed like this customer had money...
Thinking this, the man’s attitude grew even more enthusiastic.
"We have professional breeders here. As for boarding, we offer monthly, quarterly, and yearly plans. We also provide skill training."
He pointed to the two sand moles still holding cards.
"Look at these two, they’ve only been here about a week and already know how to play cards and roll dice."
"Do you have any particular skills you’d like your pet to learn? Whether it’s Werewolf, Three Kingdoms Kill, or Scripted Murder, we can guarantee they’ll master it."
Qiao Sang: ...
So, it turns out skills meant those kinds of skills...
"I’d like to have a month’s supply of energy pills made according to this." Qiao Sang handed over two nurturing plans, explaining her intent.
The man took them with a smile, casually glancing at the documents. But just that quick glance almost made him lose his composure.
Oh boy, refined liquid, molten fire fruit, fire element crystals, warm powder...
Even a quick glance revealed that these were all rare ingredients.
What a big spender... Only an advanced energy pill maker would dare use these materials for pill production.
If this order went through, they’d have to hire external help to produce it.
"Are you expecting us to provide the materials as well?" The man asked more seriously, impressed by such high-quality ingredients.
"How much would it cost if you supplied them?" Qiao Sang asked.
She hadn’t bought the materials beforehand because she wanted to save time, planning to have the institution provide them.
The cost might be higher than if she purchased them herself, but was money really an issue?
No!
She was now a person with five million in assets!
"About 200,000 for a month’s supply of two types of energy pills." the man estimated.
Qiao Sang froze, her brain quickly doing the math.
200,000…
That’s 2.4 million a year, she could buy 24 Fire Fang Dogs with that...
Damn!
This place was a rip-off!
"Sorry for bothering you." Qiao Sang yanked the two papers from the man’s hand and turned to leave.
"Wait!" The man swiftly blocked her.
"We can negotiate the price. Don’t rush off."
He admitted he had inflated the price a bit, but only by a little. Energy pill prices were never uniform in the market. Who hears the price and just walks away without haggling?
Having a potential sale in hand, he didn’t want to let it slip away.
Qiao Sang paused.
"50,000."
"You can leave." This time, it was the man’s turn to walk away.
Qiao Sang: ...
Fine, I’ll go!
Ten minutes later, Qiao Sang found herself back at the shop...
After calling the vice principal, she confirmed that the materials and production fees indeed amounted to about 200,000.
No wonder people often said it’s easy to form a contract with a pet but hard to nurture it. Now, she understood deeply...
After half an hour of friendly negotiation, they settled on a final price of over 180,000 per month.
Payment would be made monthly, 2,000 upfront as a deposit, with the remainder paid upon receiving the energy pills each month.
---
Qiao Sang returned home feeling heavy-hearted.
She originally thought that five million would be enough to indulge herself for a long time, but now, just customizing a year’s supply of energy pills would eat up nearly half of her savings.
Not to mention the materials needed for her Little Treasure’s ring and the Dark Nether Crystal required for his evolution later. She might burn through all her money...
For the first time, Qiao Sang felt an unprecedented sense of crisis.
And this was just for one intermediate-level pet and one beginner pet. What would she do when their levels got higher?
Sitting on the sofa, Qiao Sang picked up her phone and started searching for the materials needed for Little Treasure’s ring.
There weren’t that many, only ten.
Seeing the search results, she let out a sigh of relief. Thankfully, they weren’t as expensive as she had imagined...
She ordered eight of them online for only 32,000 alliance coins.
However, she hesitated over the century-old Rootgrass and Ghostflame Fruit.
There were too many counterfeits online, and these two were the most expensive, over 60,000 and 80,000 respectively.
Buying materials wasn’t like buying clothes, where you could easily spot fakes.
If you bought the right ones, great, but if you got it wrong, you’d have to fight the seller for a refund. What a hassle.
For such expensive materials, it was better to either have them appraised after buying them or go directly to a reputable physical store.
After some thought, Qiao Sang decided to visit a store for those two items later.
Just as she was looking at her phone, a series of crackling sounds came from the courtyard.
"What’s happening?" Qiao Sang looked up, startled.
"Xun!"
"Xun xun!"
Little Treasure excitedly floated to the left, mimicking Yabao’s fire-breathing action.
Then he floated to the right and, imitating Water Luriana’s fainting from last time, closed his eyes and collapsed.
Qiao Sang: …!
She had completely forgotten about this!
In the morning, she had tricked Yabao into going to school early to avoid fighting with Water Luriana.
Then, she got so caught up in researching materials when she came back that she forgot about Yabao.
Could they be fighting already?!
At that moment, a loud boom echoed from the courtyard.
No doubt about it, that was the sound of a battle…
Qiao Sang leaped to her feet, her expression tense, and hurried toward the courtyard.
She could only hope that Water Luriana was hiding underwater, just like yesterday when Yabao launched his fire spark...
"Xun~"
Little Treasure followed behind with a gleeful look, eager to watch the chaos.
When Qiao Sang reached the courtyard and saw the scene before her, her vision went dark.
Yabao stood proudly with his head held high, while Water Luriana lay on the ground, fainted.
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