"Ding-dong..."
The doorbell rang.
Su Ping frowned. Still, with someone arriving unannounced, he could only drag his exhausted body over to open the door.
Two familiar figures stood outside in the gathering dusk.
They were none other than the twin brothers from the Zhang Family whom he had met during the day.
"Oh, it's you two. Come in!"
With guests at the door, Su Ping forced himself to perk up despite his exhaustion and led them into the reception room.
"I don't have much to drink here. Hope these will do."
Su Ping fetched two bottles of cola.
He did have some tea and drink-making machines, but he genuinely lacked the energy to entertain them properly right now.
Clearly, the brothers had not come over for such trifles either. After thanking him, the older brother, Zhang Wen, hurriedly began:
"Um..."
"Su Ping. Just call me by my name."
Only then did Zhang Wen blurt out:
"Su Ping, what services do you offer for Forest Wolf training here, exactly? And, um, you have a business license and everything, right?"
Although Jin Sheng, who seemed to know his stuff, had spoken extremely highly of Su Ping that afternoon, the brothers still needed to see things with their own eyes before they could be certain.
Again, breeding pet beasts was no trivial matter.
Aside from the enormous expense, more importantly, it would affect their futures!
The Zhang Brothers' caution was therefore perfectly understandable.
Su Ping merely smiled.
"Don't worry. If your pet beast dies because of my breeding, you won't even need to report me. I'll turn myself in."
With that, Su Ping grew a little more serious.
"But the breeding I offer differs from what you'll find elsewhere. The skill I cultivate is the rare wood element skill, 'Woodheart.' You should understand its value and significance.
"So the fee for successfully breeding one is four million! If it fails, the material fee is one million. I also offer breeding to raise skill levels, but I don't have time to take those jobs right now.
"If you come back after a while, I'll also offer Accelerated Casting training for Forest Wolves. I haven't decided on the exact price yet, but if you're the first to try it, I'll give you a discount."
Having said that, Su Ping looked as though he had just handed them a bargain.
That was right. Su Ping had raised his prices!
After everything he had experienced recently, Su Ping had gained a deeper understanding of his own abilities!
What kind of skill was Woodheart?
Sun Chaoju dared to demand three million outright for Accelerated Casting, with no refund whether he succeeded or failed. Compared with that guy, Su Ping could practically call himself the conscience of the industry.
For the service his ability could provide, his price was actually a little cheap.
If it truly succeeded, its value could not be measured in money at all.
That was the value of knowledge in a society of Beast Tamers!
Besides, things were different from a few days ago!
Su Ping was now a genuine Intermediate Breeder officially registered with the Breeder Association!
There was no telling whether this price would still apply in the future.
Clearly, however, the Zhang Brothers before him were not big-spending suckers like Qin Xiaoxue. Though their family plainly did not lack money, they were certainly not the sort who could casually throw eight or ten million down the drain.
The two exchanged troubled glances. After a brief hesitation, the older brother, Zhang Wen, spoke again:
"Su Ping, could you make it a little cheaper?"
Evidently, the young man who had only just graduated was not particularly good at bargaining. His cheeks even reddened after he spoke.
Su Ping shook his head.
"Sorry, but I'm taking on risks too."
Hearing that, the two finally said:
"Then how about this? Could we go home and discuss it with our family? We'll come back with an answer in a few days!"
Su Ping smiled.
"Of course. Since when was forcing someone to buy anything reasonable?"
Only then did the two breathe a sigh of relief and leave.
Su Ping sank into thought as well. Naturally, he was not thinking about a discount. In fact, even if the two had paid him on the spot, he would not have been able to breed their Forest Wolves yet.
The resources and materials he had purchased were still on their way. It would be some time before they arrived.
Su Ping was simply thinking things over. He had never intended to settle for what he had now. Becoming a Breeder was certainly part of his plans, but not one whose goal was making money. After all, however impressive a Breeder might be, however respected a master Breeder was, neither could compare with a truly high-level Beast Tamer.
Only mastering extraordinary beast-taming power was Su Ping's ambition and dream.
His breeding abilities were an indirect means of increasing his own strength.
The Zhang Brothers would be neither his first customers nor his last. As his abilities and reputation grew, there would surely be an endless stream of visitors. He did not want to end up without even the time to train his own pet beasts.
In that case, should he find some assistants in the future, or simply establish a complete production line like other pet beast breeding bases?
Su Ping blinked. He felt that would be necessary eventually.
It was not purely about money. A pet beast breeding base would allow him to interact with large numbers of pet beasts at any time, helping the Myriad Spirits Codex advance faster. Naturally, his own strength would improve faster too.
As for money, someone was going to earn it anyway.
His breeding abilities had to be far better than those of the other rip-off Breeders on the market, right?
Shaking his head, Su Ping dragged his exhausted body over and called the Forest Wolves back to him.
Their Self-Healing training could not stop.
However, the Forest Wolves that had fought during the day needed a proper rest first. For tonight's training, the few that had not participated would be enough.
Only after arranging everything did Su Ping return to pondering his earlier question.
Yet before he had thought about it for very long, Su Ping, who had not rested properly to begin with, slowly drifted off to sleep, his body weighed down by exhaustion.
Among the Forest Wolves in front of the woods, some were resting, while others voluntarily joined the training group.
Thus, the rest of the vast Wood Heart Pet Beast Breeding Base was completely deserted.
At that very moment, beyond Woodheart's woods, in the area bordering Yuntian Resort and the banks of the Spirit Creek River,
a faint ripple slowly emerged in the darkness.
It was a peculiar fluctuation in space.
Then, within that barely visible ripple, a tiny figure actually appeared out of thin air. It tilted its head and glanced around in confusion.
But soon, its form faded, and it vanished again.
Before long, Old Sha, who had been watching the Forest Wolves train in front of the woods all this time, seemed to pause slightly. He looked toward the distant Spirit Creek River, sniffed the air, and revealed a suspicious look.
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