The Spirit Beasts' "Blessings"

Spirit Beast Garden.

Working for others

Did they mean to have those spirit beasts help them labor?

Su Ling'er couldn't help but think of the spirit beasts in the herb gardens at Hundred Herbs Valley. Were they really just used for guarding the herb gardens?

As the two walked, the mist ahead dispersed, and the outline of a massive courtyard appeared.

Waves of oppressive beast roars could be heard intermittently.

"Junior Sister, look, this is the Spirit Beast Garden of our Gui Xi Sect.

It's close to the sect's spirit stone mine, making it convenient for management.

And it's near the herb gardens, so it's convenient for employers to send them to Hundred Herbs Valley to tend to their herb gardens."

"The Spirit Beast Garden is divided into East and West Factories. The East Factory is mainly responsible for training, while the West Factory manages labor.

Further inside is the Beast Taming Hall.

In storybooks and plays, places with names like this were usually not good places.

The closer she walked, the heavier her heart became.

What appeared before her eyes were not pavilions and towers, but an open, empty field.

Several deep mine entrances gaped open, with simple tracks laid at their mouths.

With creaking sounds, heavy mine carts were slowly pushed along, pulled by dozens of Yao Beasts or spirit beasts of various sizes.

Their fur was dull, and their eyes were vacant.

On a high platform, a disciple in Gui Xi Sect attire sat supervising.

He was a player who played the beast taming path.

To increase his skill proficiency, he personally oversaw the spirit beasts working, constantly forming hand seals to improve his beast taming skills.

Lin Qingfeng seemed to notice Su Ling'er's confusion and explained:

"These are all spirit servants entrusted to the Beast Taming Hall for boarding by sect disciples."

Spirit beasts have lower intelligence and are prone to laziness, but unified management can ensure their continuous labor.

And with their labor, their owners can receive a fixed amount of spirit stone replenishment daily, allowing them to cultivate with peace of mind."

"This is also a form of cultivation, do you understand?"

Spirit beasts?

Su Ling'er couldn't understand; she had never even seen spirit beasts like these.

She had seen some Yao Beasts, though.

But in her understanding, spirit beasts were like the white ape revered as "Brother Ape" behind the Sect Master's mountain—they were fellow cultivators, companions.

The spirit beasts here... no, they should be called spirit servants.

They were nothing more than a group of tireless laborers toiling day and night.

They lived even harder lives than she did at Qing Xu Temple.

At least the outer disciples of Qing Xu Temple had fixed rest and cultivation times, and only did chores like sweeping and carrying water.

But the spirit beasts before her were lifeless, their eyes vacant.

"Bang!"

With a dull thud, a second-tier Pangolin carrying ore nearby collapsed and couldn't get up again.

The supervising disciple floated down, took a look, and shook his head:

"This one's done for. Buying a new one would be cheaper than saving it. It's old, so it can only be optimized."

Optimized?

What was that?

Was it to make it stronger?

Su Ling'er didn't understand the term that had other meanings in another world.

She could only watch as the still-breathing Pangolin was fitted with a rope and dragged away.

"Junior Sister, all things have birth, and all things have death."

"They fulfill their duties with their bodies; dust to dust, earth to earth, also following the Great Dao."

Instead of healing, it was better to spend some spirit stones and get a new one. After all, for low-level Yao Beasts, as long as you paid, there would always be others willing to do the job if you didn't want to.

This also allowed many players to experience the pleasure of being a boss, exploiting, and optimizing their employees from a different perspective.

Lin Qingfeng looked at Su Ling'er's expression as she gazed at the spirit servants, assuming his junior sister wanted a spirit companion. He then suggested:

"Junior Sister Ling'er, if you want to raise some spirit pets, you don't need to look at these low-level spirit servants used for labor.

Junior Sister could save up some spirit stones first and buy one or two spirit servants to board here, and let our fellow disciples supervise them on your behalf."

The profits from them mining can allow you to buy a spirit beast you're satisfied with soon, or you can use it to purchase spirit plants, or pills and magic tools. It's considered a stable income for you within the sect."

"Most of the spirit beasts that can be companions are small, cute, and have gorgeous appearances.

Of course, combat-type spirit beasts require more spirit stones.

You can also hunt Yao Beasts outside and bring them to the Beast Taming Hall ahead to be tamed with spirit stones.

There are many disciples who practice the Beast Taming style there.

You only need to pay a small fee, and they will help you tame the Yao Beast you desire."

What a 'supervision,' what a 'stable income' indeed!

Su Ling'er sneered inwardly.

Is he teaching me how to become one of them, a link in this chain of exploitation?

They exploit the disciples at the bottom, and then let those disciples exploit these spirit beasts?

Is this an attempt to assimilate me?!

But she didn't dare to react drastically now, only replying in a low voice:

"Thank you, Senior Disciple Brother, for your guidance."

Su Ling'er's gaze was then drawn to a cubicle in the corner.

Inside, a strange creature with a crestfallen expression was curled up and spacing out.

Opposite it, a disciple sat cross-legged, also spacing out face-to-face with the spirit beast.

Lin Qingfeng recognized it as Wang Xian, a famous "slacker" player in the sect, and his own nurtured "Melancholy Beast."

This beast was naturally born with a gloomy aura, seemingly unable to do anything and unwilling to do anything.

Wang Xian felt it was a kindred spirit and would often sit with it to slack off.

Su Ling'er's gaze met the "Melancholy Beast's."

The moment their eyes met.

In those numb and desperate eyes, she saw a reflection of herself, also trapped in this Demon Den, with no idea when she would be freed...

The Worry Flower in her arms also seemed to sense this, its petals' sorrowful faces appearing even more melancholic.

At this moment, Lin Qingfeng spoke, "Junior Sister, don't mind them... they're quite the slackers."

"Actually, they are quite strong."

"And this Beast Taming Hall has many interesting functions. If you have time in the future, you can come and take a look."

Leaving the Beast Taming Pavilion, the air outside rushed into her lungs, but it couldn't dispel the gloom in her heart.

Blue sky, white clouds.

But to Su Ling'er, all of this seemed false and fragile.

To help the junior sister integrate into the sect more quickly, Lin Qingfeng didn't let her ponder for too long and continued to lead her to the next core area of the sect—the Transmission Hall.

This grand hall was exceptionally magnificent, with clear divisions on the left and right sides.

On the left, Elder Qian sat solemnly. Jade slips were hung all over the stone wall in front of him, and countless disciples eagerly stepped forward to pick up their tasks.

On the right side of the hall was the Elder Qian who had his socks stolen in the past. He wasn't wandering around outside at this time.

She personally saw a disciple offer a large amount of spirit stones.

That Elder Qian merely pointed casually, and a dark light shot into the disciple's body. The disciple then showed expressions of ecstasy or dejection.

For some reason.

When she asked Lin Qingfeng, he merely gave a mysterious smile and didn't answer.

He even said that he would often come here in the future.

After Lin Qingfeng gave her a cursory tour, only four locations remained for the quest progress.

[Sect Guidance Quest: Familiarize the newly joined disciple Su Ling'er with the sect.]

[Current Progress: Food Pavilion (Completed), Pill Cauldron Pavilion (Completed), Artifact Refining Pavilion (Completed), Spirit Beast Garden (Completed), Transmission Hall (Completed)...]

[Remaining Areas: Cultivation Cave Mansion, Monster Locking Tower, Dao Seeking Ladder, Sword Mound.]

Only four more places left.

These four places were all excellent!

Once all of them were visited, this guidance quest would be perfectly concluded, opening the preliminary stage for subsequent sect advancement.

He stopped and turned to look at Su Ling'er.

"Junior Sister Ling'er, what you have seen and heard today must have been a great shock to you."

"But you must remember, the path of the Great Dao is, in itself, a cultivation of breaking and then establishing."

"Thinking is good, but thinking alone isn't enough."

A mysterious smile spread across his face, like the care and expectation an elder has for a junior.

"As your Senior Disciple Brother, I've prepared a small gift for you."

"When we reach the next location, I'll take you to get it."

A gift?

Su Ling'er looked up, meeting his "gentle" eyes.

In this Demon Den, where life was treated as raw material, a "gift" from the Senior Disciple Brother...

What could it be?

A magic tool that could monitor her mind?

A spirit servant, tamed from a young age to keep an eye on her?

Or perhaps... some kind of tool that could better "utilize her value"?