The Name of Beast Taming First Emerged!

Two months was neither a long time nor a short one.

Yet the marketplace had changed beyond recognition.

After the eight minor Qi Refining clans under Hongtian City's jurisdiction had moved into the marketplace one after another, the little cultivators' market, which had originally consisted of just two streets, had expanded by half a lane on either side, becoming considerably larger.

The Feng Clan excelled at forging and had set up an ironware shop.

It specialized in repairing low-tier Law Artifacts. Though its prices were much higher than Sun Tieshan's, its artifact-refining skills left Sun Tieshan a hundred and eight thousand li behind.

The Chen Clan were old hands at growing spirit rice. They had opened a grain stall in the general goods district, selling spirit rice by weight at honest prices for young and old alike, in a thoroughly conventional manner.

The Xu Clan knew a rudimentary method of inscribing formation plates. Though they were only first-tier inferior-grade, they were reliably made and in considerable demand.

All eight clans paid twenty percent in rent, settled monthly without fail, come thunder or lightning.

Feng Shoude still wore that deadpan face of his. As soon as the ironware shop opened, he buried himself in work. Apart from showing his face at the marketplace management office on rent day, he could barely be bothered to say an extra word.

But his ironware shop did the best business.

Many rogue cultivators made their living hunting Demon Beasts, so their Law Artifacts were often knocked about. Whenever people passing through Hongtian City stopped to rest, three out of ten needed their Law Artifacts repaired.

The Feng Clan's craftsmanship really was excellent. Sun Tieshan would watch now and then or strike up a conversation to build rapport, hoping to steal a move or two...

Sun Bo'an, for his part, felt no jealousy over it.

The patriarch had said that what the marketplace needed was people, not face. The more Feng Shoude earned, the more rent he would naturally pay. There was nothing to say about having inferior skills.

But what truly kept Sun Bo'an awake at night was the general goods shop!

Over the past two months, the general goods shop had taken in another seventy-three batches of goods.

Most were odds and ends of spirit materials from rogue cultivators. Individually, they were worth only a few Spirit Stones, but once piled together, they amounted to a considerable sum...

Among them were three batches that made even Sun Bo'an's eyes light up!

The first was a nest of spirit bees.

The seller was a lone rogue cultivator, his face covered in dust and grime. He had brought back a nest of first-tier spirit bees he had found in the mountains to the south, honeycomb and queen included, packed in a sealed spiritwood box.

When properly raised, spirit bees were treasures from head to toe.

Their honey could be made into spirit honey cakes and spirit dishes, and could also be used in Pill Formulas or offered to the patriarch. Their venom could be refined into poison pills, and their beeswax could be used as a base material for talisman paper.

But raising spirit bees required fields of flowering Spirit Plants as a nectar source, so not just anyone could afford to keep them.

The rogue cultivator could not raise them himself, but could not bear to throw them away. When he heard that the Hongtian City marketplace bought such assorted goods, he brought them over to try his luck.

Sun Bo'an paid sixty Spirit Stones, and the man left with profuse thanks.

The second was three spirit fruit tree saplings.

The seller was an old woman at the third level of Qi Refining. She said she had secretly dug them up from the ruins of the destroyed Zhao Clan and was selling them cheaply for fear of bringing trouble upon herself.

Sun Bo'an could not identify the variety, so he sent them to Shi Jian on the back mountain that very night for appraisal.

Shi Jian gave them a sniff and recognized them. "Jade Heart Fruit, a first-tier mid-grade spirit fruit. A very good one. Raise them for two or three years and they'll bear fruit, which helps Qi Refining cultivators refine their spiritual power."

"How much did you pay?"

"One hundred and twenty Spirit Stones for three."

"Not a bad deal."

Shi Jian yawned, showing little interest. "Plant them beside the spirit fields and let Sun Caiya look after them. They'll make a decent source of livelihood."

"These spirit fruits would be good for nurturing the younger generation."

The third batch was the most interesting of all.

It was a damaged Cultivation Method Jade Slip!

The seller was a young rogue cultivator who had acted furtively, and it was probably obtained through dubious means. It contained a badly incomplete first-tier beast-taming inheritance.

Called the "Beast-Luring Instruction," only the first five levels of its cultivation formula and some taming methods remained.

Everything after that was missing.

Sun Kezheng had paid thirty Spirit Stones for it and sent it to the back mountain that same night.

Shi Jian looked it over, spending the whole night reading through its contents.

It was somewhat incomplete, but its foundation was sound. Its core principle was to use a cultivator's spiritual power to simulate the fluctuations of a beast's presence and establish a mental link, thereby taming demons and transforming them into spirit beasts.

Shi Jian committed the fragment to memory, then compared it with his own Demon Race instincts and quietly filled in several crucial gaps.

He completed the version, but also distorted part of its essence...

He changed the idea of enslaving Demon Beasts into one of equal coexistence with them, and even left a few flaws and hidden backdoors for when the Sun Clan's descendants cultivated the method in the future.

Not only could they become connected in mind with spirit beasts,

They could also use the method to briefly borrow the other party's strength and increase their combat power. That was the completed inheritance. As for the flaws and hidden backdoors,

They were Shi Jian's countermeasures, in case someone harbored ill intentions in the future.

At the same time, this Cultivation Method gave Shi Jian an important insight: there was profit to be made in the way of beast taming, too!

Half a month earlier, Lord Rat had reported something to Shi Jian.

"Patriarch, that brood of demon pups of mine has had another litter." Lord Rat crouched beside the boulder, his tail curled around a grain of spirit rice as he gnawed on it.

"Counting the ones from before, there are now thirty-seven rat pups of all sizes with awakened intelligence around the back mountain. In a few more years, I reckon they'll all become demons."

"They're breeding too fast. I can barely keep them under control. Patriarch, what do you think...?"

Shi Jian had said nothing at the time, but his mind had begun to turn. Though the thirty-seven rat pups had yet to form demon cores, they had already gained intelligence.

They were in the transitional stage between beasts and Demon Beasts, making them a kind of pseudo-demon.

They had already taken the rudimentary form of first-tier Demon Beasts.

But rats were different from dogs. Demon dogs could serve as Dao-protecting beasts, with decent combat power and obedient temperaments. One look was enough to tell they were valuable.

These pseudo-demons with awakened intelligence were not as precious as demon dogs, but they still made decent spirit pets, especially for rogue cultivators who explored remote mountains and ancient forests.

These rat pseudo-demons were not only cheap and able to understand commands, but also suited to scouting and searching!

Dao-protecting beasts were too expensive for rogue cultivators to afford.

But what about an obedient spirit pet rat that could scout ahead and give warning of danger?

The price did not need to be high. Twenty to thirty Spirit Stones apiece would be enough, about the price of an inferior-grade Law Artifact.

Cheap, useful, and easy to raise!

Spirit pet rats only needed spirit rice. If kept on a poorer diet, ordinary food would do in a pinch. They consumed very little and took up few resources. Ten spirit pet rats would bring in two or three hundred Spirit Stones in trade. That was no small sum...

And the cost was extremely low.

Since Lord Rat had gained intelligence and become a demon, there had already come to be nearly a hundred thousand rats in Hongtian City, with six or seven demon rats among them.

A few pseudo-demons awakened their intelligence every year.

Once their numbers grew, there would only be more and more demon rats in the future. By then, they could exercise some control and castrate all the Demon Beasts sold.

It could well become a long-term livelihood!

Soon, word went out.

A new spirit pet shop opened in the marketplace. The storefront was small, with three spirit pet rats displayed at the entrance. Their coats were glossy as they crouched in little bamboo cages, some gnawing on grains of spirit rice and others washing their faces with their paws.

When someone approached, they would even stand up, tilt their heads, and salute with their paws clasped.

On the first day, no one bought one.

Most rogue cultivators passing by scoffed. Who would spend Spirit Stones on a rat?

On the second day, Sun Bo'an had the manager put up a wooden sign outside the shop:

"Spirit pet scouting rats: they can scout earth veins, find spirit objects, and warn of danger. Tested to give accurate warnings within half a li. Buy one and die one fewer time!"

"Not satisfied? Return it within three days for a full refund of your Spirit Stones."

On the third day, a rogue cultivator at the fourth level of Qi Refining decided to give it a try, gritted his teeth, and spent thirty Spirit Stones on one...

Five days later, the rogue cultivator returned.

"Two more!"

He slapped down sixty Spirit Stones, his face positively glowing. "Your rats are damn useful!"

"A few days ago, I was exploring deep in the mountains and nearly missed a first-tier superior-grade Blood Lingzhi. This little thing started squeaking from half a li away!"

"I sold that one superior-grade Blood Lingzhi for thirty-five Spirit Stones. Made back my money in one go, with a few Spirit Stones to spare."

Several nearby rogue cultivators overheard him, and the remaining spirit pet rats sold out that very afternoon.

Someone even asked, "When will the next batch arrive?"

Sun Bo'an stood at the back of the shop, looking at the empty bamboo cages, the corners of his mouth visibly rising. In just a few days,

Ten pseudo-Demon Beasts had brought in three hundred Spirit Stones, at almost no cost!

This affair firmly established the Sun Clan's name in beast taming, and even in the not-too-distant future, spirit beasts produced by the Sun Clan...

Would become objects sought after by countless cultivators!