Su Ping put on a suspicious expression as he looked at the two men.
In truth, his heart was pounding a little, too.
Naturally, he understood what the Woodheart skill represented.
Possessing a priceless treasure could itself be a crime. Although the Dragon Nation took such matters extremely seriously, that could not rule out someone harboring sinister intentions.
If he had not been so short of money, he would not have wanted to attract so much attention.
However, Su Ping had already planned how to handle it. That suspicious, disdainful expression was part of his strategy.
"What's impossible about it?"
Hearing Su Ping's words and seeing the boy's disdainful expression, as though he were looking at country bumpkins who had never seen the world, Vice President Liu gave a dry chuckle before speaking.
"Student Su, did you breed this Forest Wolf yourself?"
Su Ping immediately furrowed his brows. Looking as though the question was beneath answering, he turned straight to Qin Xiaoxue beside him.
"Who exactly are these people?"
Through their soul contract, Qin Xiaoxue had already sensed Wooden Head's progress and changes with perfect clarity. At this moment, she believed in Su Ping's abilities completely.
This boy really was a breeding genius!
Only, this breeding genius seemed to be in a rather bad mood right now.
Qin Xiaoxue frowned and turned to look at Sun Chaoju and Vice President Liu as well.
Not only had these two swindled her out of several million before, they had also kept questioning her ability to spot a pearl among the stones!
Now that they were here, they had started interrogating him again. In the end, weren't they simply incapable themselves and jealous of the talented?
No wonder the Jianghai Province Breeder Association had produced no results all these years, leaving the province with no standing in this field throughout the Dragon Nation.
These wine sacks and rice bags bore an inescapable share of the blame!
Still, they were connected to the old man, so she could not simply throw them out. She could only give a soft snort.
Yet after seeing this, Qin Erlong and Vice President Liu were utterly convinced.
This boy really had bred it all by himself?!
Geniuses always had some pride and personality.
And the value of a genius breeder was often even more crucial than that of a genius Beast Tamer.
After all, a genius Beast Tamer might only affect their own combat strength, but a genius breeder could potentially nurture many top-tier pet beasts and Beast Tamers.
Anyone could tell which was more important.
For a moment, even Vice President Liu, who had not been particularly convinced before, looked at Su Ping differently.
At that moment, only one person present still wore the same expression.
It was none other than Sun Chaoju.
His bloodshot eyes remained fixed on the enormous Forest Wolf, Wooden Head. Drawing on his knowledge of Forest Wolves, he wanted to discover exactly how Su Ping had done it.
But neither the beast's appearance nor the feedback from True Eye told him anything, so he instinctively willed a thought into action.
In an instant, a flash of white light appeared inside the reception room.
Everyone abruptly fixed their gaze on him.
The reason was simple: that white light was the glow of a pet beast being summoned.
What appeared before them was an enormous jade-green python.
Its triangular eyes held nothing but cold indifference.
A commander-rank pet beast: a Cloud-Pattern Tree Python!
The atmosphere throughout the reception room instantly turned icy.
Yet the one who felt an even deeper chill was neither Su Ping nor Qin Xiaoxue, but Sun Chaoju himself.
It felt as though needles were stabbing him all over, making him shiver involuntarily. He soon noticed Qin Erlong's distinctly hostile gaze, along with Vice President Liu's equally unfriendly look.
Indeed, Vice President Liu had always looked after him. After all, he had once worked under him as a researcher, giving them a nominal master-disciple relationship, and he presented gifts every year.
But at this moment, Su Ping's talent had already earned the vice president's recognition.
If this truly was a rare breeding genius, nurturing him properly would bring enormous benefits. For decades to come, he could represent Linzhou City, or even Jianghai Province, at the Breeder Convention.
After all, both the Beast Tamer Association and the Breeder Association allocated resources according to results-or, more precisely, administrative achievements in their respective fields.
Thus, if anyone wanted to snuff out a genius merely to obtain the method for cultivating Woodheart, whatever others might do, Qin Erlong and Vice President Liu would be the first to step forward and destroy them with thunderous force!
This was also why all kinds of talented people had emerged in the Dragon Nation over the years.
Likewise, it was why, after easing his circumstances a little, Su Ping had dared to earn money through his breeding abilities rather than the Woodheart Potion.
Unless special circumstances were involved, the authorities did not suppress geniuses.
Sun Chaoju abruptly came to his senses as well. Facing the two old men's piercing gazes, he hurriedly offered an instinctive explanation.
"President, Teacher, I wanted to test whether Miss Qin's pet beast had suffered any damage to its life potential or combat strength. If this boy deceived her and left it with some incurable underlying ailment, that would be terrible."
The balding Vice President Liu spoke coolly.
"Breeder Sun, if there were a problem, would I fail to notice it? Or do you believe your abilities have already surpassed mine and Brother Qin's?"
Sun Chaoju stiffened and hurriedly recalled the Cloud-Pattern Tree Python.
Su Ping instinctively licked the corner of his mouth. He had little interest in or concern for this fellow who had jumped out. At this moment, all his attention was focused on the title the man had just used:
President?
In this world, in the present-day Dragon Nation, there were only a handful of possibilities for someone addressed as president!
And every one of those possibilities belonged to a level Su Ping could hardly reach at his current stage.
Su Ping glanced at Qin Xiaoxue.
He regretted it again.
Showing off really did hurt people!
It hurt them so badly!
Why had I insisted on showing off before? Why had I rejected this supremely wealthy woman's offer and promises?!
Still, I had to keep my expression under control!
All this time, I had presented myself to Qin Xiaoxue as a breeder who took immense pleasure in beast taming.
Before these people, I had gone even further and adopted the bearing of an arrogant genius.
I couldn't go back to the rich lady and try to salvage things now.
Though inwardly marveling and lamenting, Su Ping's expression remained utterly calm, as if he did not care about anything that had just happened. Only after things settled down did he speak evenly.
"Are you finished? I've completed my task. If there's anything else you need, feel free to say so. Otherwise, you can pay now."
Seeing Su Ping take out the card terminal,
Qin Xiaoxue nodded and briskly pulled out her card. With a few quick swipes, a notification arrived on Su Ping's phone a moment later:
[Your account has received 5,000,000 yuan. This payment has been identified as business income. After a tax deduction of 550,000 yuan, the net amount credited is 4,450,000 yuan. Your current account balance is: 4,451,562 yuan.]
Finally, I had money!
Su Ping was thrilled, but he soon paused in surprise.
"Miss Qin, you paid too much."
Qin Xiaoxue hardly cared about such a trivial matter.
"Just call me by my name, or call me Sister Qin. Entering 3.5 million means changing keys three times. This is easier, and you have material costs too! Relax~"
Faced with reasoning so extravagantly wealthy that it left him speechless, what else could Su Ping say?
Meanwhile, seeing a smile finally appear on Qin Xiaoxue's face, Sun Chaoju hurriedly tried to make amends for his earlier behavior.
"You truly are impressive, young Brother Su. However, Miss Qin, now that the skill cultivation is complete, I noticed that some of your Forest Wolf's skill levels seem rather low.
"To be perfectly honest, cultivating Accelerated Casting is only a sideline at our Wolf Den Pet Beast Breeding Base. Our main service is helping pet beasts rapidly improve their skill proficiency levels.
"That strengthens their combat capabilities. If you aren't in a hurry, Miss Qin, you could come to our Wolf Den to improve its skill levels."
These words genuinely made Qin Xiaoxue pause.
He did have a point. Although she had raised Wooden Head carefully, her focus had primarily been on combat.
Yet because he had learned so many skills, their levels had advanced relatively slowly.
This was indeed something Qin Xiaoxue cared about.
Seemingly noticing her interest, Sun Chaoju hurriedly continued.
"Rest assured, Miss Qin. I have absolute confidence in this area. Even if I can't guarantee an increase in skill proficiency level within these few months, his progress will certainly be much faster! And don't worry, consider this compensation for last time. This time, everything will be free!"
Qin Xiaoxue thought for a moment, but rather than respond to Sun Chaoju, she turned to Su Ping.
"Does your Woodheart offer this kind of breeding service?"
Su Ping smiled, then nodded. Under Sun Chaoju's wide-eyed stare, he slowly answered.
"We do, but we charge for it, and it's very expensive!"
At those words, Sun Chaoju's expression, which had only just begun to improve, darkened once again.
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