As the sun rose and the moon set, then the moon rose and the sun set, several days passed in the blink of an eye.
After helping First train its first racial skill to proficiency, Xu Bai didn't idle around. Instead, he planned his daily routine in even greater detail.
He got up at six sharp and woke First for breakfast.
After breakfast, he continued training First.
Since First had already mastered Metal Spirit Power, he no longer needed to take it into the wilderness for training. That saved him quite a bit of trouble.
They trained until noon. After lunch, Xu Bai went straight to the Spirit Hall Branch to read. He had already finished all the books about tiger-type Soul Beasts, but there were still plenty about other Soul Beasts.
At his current reading pace, he figured the books about Soul Beasts here would only last him a year.
After that, he would have to look for another place with books about Soul Beasts.
Besides all those dull, repetitive tasks, something else had happened over the past few days that made Xu Bai happy.
The Hundred Herb Liquid worked very well.
It was hard to tell how much the Blue Silver Grass had grown. After using the Hundred Herb Liquid, all Xu Bai could see was that it grew rapidly. He couldn't tell exactly how many years of cultivation it gained in a month.
Now that he had planted the Clear Heart Orange Trees, he finally knew.
One portion of Hundred Herb Liquid could add five years to the cultivation of a plant-type Soul Beast under a hundred years old in one month.
These ten-year fruit tree Soul Beasts generally bloomed once every six months and bore fruit six months later.
After he used the Hundred Herb Liquid, all five Clear Heart Orange Trees bloomed in about three days and bore fruit around three days after that. The fruit was no different in quality from fruit produced through a normal blooming and growing cycle.
The only thing troubling Xu Bai was that the Hundred Herb Liquid sped up the Clear Heart Orange Trees' fruiting while also making them grow faster.
The wall around his courtyard was reasonably high, and it had easily hidden the newly planted trees. But now it was barely enough. Their canopies were already faintly visible from outside the courtyard.
At this rate, it wouldn't be long before the canopies rose above the wall. Then, anyone—not just particularly observant people, but any normal person—would notice something strange about his little courtyard.
"No, I have to finish modifying the Beast Taming Space in the next couple of days. At the very least, I need to make a patch of land to grow the Clear Heart Orange Trees. Otherwise, I'll have no choice but to grit my teeth and chop them down."
Xu Bai patted the slightly thicker trunk and silently calculated:
"This harvest, the five trees produced exactly a hundred oranges. If I can sell them for more than one Gold Soul Coin each, I'll break even. In six days, I'll be making a profit."
"But I definitely can't sell the Clear Heart Oranges at the Seven Treasures Trading House. For safety's sake, I'd better go to another city."
"But traveling to another city and back will take time. I'll also have to gather the materials to modify the Beast Taming Space, which will take quite a while. By the time I get back, these five trees will definitely be taller than the wall..."
"So, you're the one! Come on out, my Phantom Beast Palu... Ahem, I mean, my tamed beast, First!"
Xu Bai had a thought, opened the Beast Taming Space, and summoned First.
"Roar—"
With a mighty tiger's roar, First strode out majestically, then tilted its head toward Xu Bai.
Beast Tamer, what did you mean when you called me Phantom Beast Palu just now? Were you talking about me?
Xu Bai froze. Looking at First's innocent eyes, he cleared his throat and said with a straight face, "Ah, of course Phantom Beast Palu means you. In the world of Beast Tamers, only tamed beasts that have made outstanding contributions to their Beast Tamer are called Phantom Beast Palu."
Really?
First was puzzled. But I don't think I've ever made any outstanding contributions to you.
"That's why I corrected myself." Xu Bai didn't even blush. "It was what I hoped you would become. I just let it slip by accident."
So the Beast Tamer values me that much?
First was deeply moved. Then its expression hardened with determination.
Don't worry, Beast Tamer. I'll work hard and become your Phantom Beast Palu!
White Tiger, moved.jpg
Xu Bai coughed softly. He felt that lying to First like this was a little unethical. But then he thought about it: a Beast Taming world had come to Douluo Continent?
He was the only Beast Tamer on the whole continent, all right? As the founding patriarch of the Beast Tamer world, wasn't whatever he said the truth?
Right, from now on, Phantom Beast Palu would be an honorary title for tamed beasts that had made outstanding contributions to their Beast Tamer.
With that thought, Xu Bai felt perfectly justified. He spoke solemnly: "You don't prove your effort with words. You prove it with actions."
"Roar~"
First agreed wholeheartedly.
"Then go dig up those five fruit trees. Be careful not to damage their roots." Xu Bai pointed at them with a smile.
First: ????
Those five fruit trees? Didn't we just plant them?
"I wouldn't ask you to do it if there weren't a good reason."
Xu Bai spoke with an earnest expression:
"You're still young. There are a lot of things you don't understand. So, for now, you need to talk less, do more, and learn carefully. Understand? That's how you'll become a qualified Phantom Beast Palu."
Uh, all right...
Although it was confused, First decided to obey its Beast Tamer's orders so it could become a qualified Phantom Beast Palu.
While First dug with all its might, Xu Bai turned his attention to Little Blue Silver Grass, which had been asleep all this time.
After mulling it over for a while, he joined the digging team too.
This trip could easily take four or five days. What if something happened to Little Blue Silver Grass while he was away?
The Manual had only given the odds of finding one as one in ten million. If this one was lost, it would be difficult to find another just like it.
Besides, that wasn't the main point. If Little Blue Silver Grass was gone, wouldn't all the spiritual power he'd spent on it have gone to waste?
After all, the Manual's cataloguing function treated Blue Silver Grass and Mutated Blue Silver Grass as separate entries. He had tested it before: the evolution path for Mutated Blue Silver Grass didn't work for ordinary Blue Silver Grass, and the function that checked attribute compatibility couldn't detect ordinary Blue Silver Grass at all.
Perhaps because it needed to absorb Hundred Herb Liquid, Little Blue Silver Grass's roots hadn't spread deep underground despite growing for so long. That saved Xu Bai quite a bit of effort.
After putting Little Blue Silver Grass into the Beast Taming Space, Xu Bai added some soil, then focused his mind on the space and created a simple suitable environment for it.
By the time he finished, First was nearly done too.
Xu Bai took a simpler, more heavy-handed approach with the five fruit trees. He didn't modify their environment at all and simply put them into the Beast Taming Space.
Looking at First, which was covered in dust, Xu Bai smiled warmly and said:
"First, we're going on a long trip. I won't train you for the next few days, so you can have a little vacation. How does that sound? Isn't that great?"
But First furrowed its brow, looking troubled.
"Are you unhappy because you can't train?" Xu Bai asked, puzzled. For some reason, he thought of a panda called Eleven.
That guy's Beast Tamer had used cheats to raise its skill proficiency, yet it had felt uneasy because it hadn't earned the proficiency through its own efforts. Then it had trained itself like crazy.
He used to think of that as a joke, but after becoming a Beast Tamer, Xu Bai was genuinely envious of Shi Yu for having such a self-disciplined tamed beast.
"Could it be that my First has awakened the same self-discipline trait as Eleven?"
Xu Bai looked at First with hopeful eyes.
But he was clearly overthinking it. First let out a low whine and explained why it had furrowed its brow.
Um, if we go on a long trip, does that mean we won't get any hot meals...?
Xu Bai: ...
That's so you, First. I should've named you Gong Baiwan from the start.
Utterly speechless, Xu Bai raised a hand and sent First back into the Beast Taming Space.
Qinghe City,
seventy kilometers south of Huangshan City, was another medium-sized city.
It was Xu Bai's destination.
In the carriage, he looked at the map in his hand, hoping to find a place near Qinghe City that was sparsely populated and had fertile soil.
As he searched, Xu Bai suddenly spotted a familiar name on the map: Nuoding City.
It wasn't far from Qinghe City either. It was only a little over thirty li to the west.
"Nuoding City. What a distant memory..."
Xu Bai muttered. Over the two years since he had recovered his memories, he seemed to have gradually grown used to living without phones, computers, or the internet.
Only when he saw that name did he come to his senses.
"So I really am a transmigrator..."
Xu Bai was dazed for a moment, then slowly shook his head and pushed down the strange feeling.
"Speaking of which, how old is this generation's child of destiny? Has he grown into a cute little boy yet?"
His thoughts suddenly grew lively. The news that the new Pope, Bibi Dong, had ascended the throne had arrived when he was five.
Tang San had probably been only one or two at the time. Three years had passed since then, which meant he was now four or five.
"The main story is about to begin..."
Xu Bai clicked his tongue, then put the matter out of his mind.
Although he had a rough idea of where he was on the timeline, it wasn't much use in Douluo I.
When transmigrating into another novel, you might gain the advantage of foresight by sorting out the timeline and snatching the protagonist's opportunities first.
But in Douluo I, there really weren't any opportunities worth snatching.
Looking over Tang San's life, how many opportunities had the poor kid actually gotten?
The Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well was one, Slaughter City was another, and then there was Sea God Island. That was about it.
And every one of those three opportunities was incredibly hard to obtain. If he tried to force his way in, he might end up paying with his life.
So he'd better not play clever and try to take shortcuts. His real path forward was to cultivate honestly with the Manual as his cheat.
Time passed. By the time Xu Bai saw Qinghe City's gates, the sun was already setting in the west, and dusk was beginning to fall.
After paying the fare and entering the city, Xu Bai found a reasonably decent inn. He fed First some food, then hurriedly passed the night.
The next morning, Xu Bai got up early. He took out the Clear Heart Oranges he had packed beforehand, asked the innkeeper for directions, and headed toward the city center.
Like any other medium-sized city, Qinghe City had plenty of trading houses.
After walking around for a while, Xu Bai was surprised to find that Qinghe City had a Seven Treasures Trading House too.
No wonder they were the wealthiest sect on the continent. Their businesses were everywhere.
"When will I have a business empire this big..."
Xu Bai's eyes were full of envy. He didn't need anything on the scale of the Seven Treasures Trading House. Even one small business would have spared him the hundred-plus-mile journey for a mere hundred Gold Soul Coins.
No, he should have had a fairly large business and a very substantial fortune in the first place.
It was just that his dear Second Uncle had stolen it from him...
At the thought of it, Xu Bai gritted his teeth. After two years of peaceful living, he had nearly forgotten that he'd once been well off.
"Oh, dear Second Uncle, just you wait. The first thing I'll do when I'm powerful is crack your skull open—no, I'll make you Zhu Gaoxu, and then you'll learn what it's like to have a little spending money!"
After silently fuming for a while, Xu Bai sighed. He could deal with the future later. For now, he had to focus on the present.
Xu Bai gave the several trading houses some serious thought. Remembering the service he'd received from the young man in blue, he finally decided to go to the Seven Treasures Trading House.
What was that saying? Big brands guaranteed quality service.
When he stepped inside, he heard a friendly voice: "Welcome to the Seven Treasures Trading House, little brother. Is there anything we can help you with?"
"Do you buy Clear Heart Oranges?"
Xu Bai went straight to the point as he watched the young woman in blue approach at a leisurely pace.
"Of course. But we'll need to inspect them before discussing the price. Would that be all right with you?"
Xu Bai nodded. "These are ten-year-old Clear Heart Oranges. I only brought a hundred this time, and they're at my inn. Could you send someone to take a look?"
"A hundred?" The young woman tapped her chin with a finger. "I can make the decision on that. How about I go take a look with you?"
Xu Bai didn't mind, so he took the young woman and two porters back to the inn.
The sale of the Clear Heart Oranges went smoothly. The fruit ripened by the Hundred Herb Liquid was about the same quality as ordinary fruit, though there was a smaller quantity.
So the young woman offered him 1.2 Gold Soul Coins per orange. A hundred oranges came to 120 Gold Soul Coins.
After completing the deal happily, Xu Bai's little savings had grown substantial again.
Now it was time to spend some of it.
After wandering around the enormous Qinghe City, Xu Bai bought five sets of ingredients for Hundred Herb Liquid, then decided to leave.
Once he was outside the city and had found a deserted spot, Xu Bai had a thought and summoned First.
Are we home?
The moment First appeared, it asked excitedly. It had only been away from home for a single day, but it never wanted to leave again.
The main problem was that the food someone had prepared in haste tasted terrible. Only last night's meal had been decent.
But when it looked around and realized it was somewhere unfamiliar, its spirits immediately sank.
Beast Tamer, why did you call me out?
Xu Bai gave the listless First an exasperated glance, then climbed onto the tiger's back and pointed ahead. "First, get moving. See that little valley? That's our destination."
After a pause, he added, "Work hard just for today. When we get back, I'll treat you to a good meal."
Hearing that, First—who had been about to complain at being treated like a mount—immediately fell silent, caught in a dilemma.
"I'll add braised Century Rice-Fragrant Pig," Xu Bai added.
First: ...
I only agreed to be my Beast Tamer's mount to repay his kindness. It has nothing to do with that braised Century Rice-Fragrant Pig.
First comforted itself with that thought as it kept running in the direction Xu Bai had pointed.