71: Shops with few customers

On November 13th, 3397 of the Yuanhe Calendar, Chu Qinhui and Chu Shengfan spent two days scouring the town's various shops and the Treasure Pavilion, gathering all the necessary medicinal ingredients.

From November 13th to the 15th, three different evolutionary forms of Source Beasts appeared one by one in the Chu Family Ancestral Hall.

The same type of Source Beast would take a trip into Chu Mu's space, and when it emerged, it had transformed into a different appearance.

Because they lacked a contract, the members of the Chu family were unaware of the abilities of these never-before-seen evolutionary forms, so Chu Mu thoughtfully posted the abilities of each type of Source Beast.

In addition, the four guards hired by the Chu family also arrived successively, but after arranging accommodation for them, the Chu family was not in a hurry to assign them any tasks.

On November 16th, Chu Jingyu brought three evolved Source Beasts and headed to the Medicine Heart Hall in town. After a long talk with Sun Chunchen, he finally returned to the Chu family.

On November 19th, after only three days of closure, the shop next to the Medicine Heart Hall had completely changed its appearance. Its name was changed to "Medicine Beast Shop," and the various types of Source Beasts evolved by the Chu family appeared inside the store.

On the first day the Medicine Beast Shop opened, not many people came in to look around, because ordinary people knew it was a shop selling Source Beasts and did not dare to enter.

As for the Contract Masters in town, their purchasing power for Source Beasts was already weak, and if they needed to buy one, they usually went to the Treasure Pavilion.

Furthermore, the shop was operating under the "Medicine Beast" brand, which deterred even the few people who might have wanted to come in and look.

Chu Shengfan, who had specifically taken the day off for the shop's opening, looked at the deserted scene inside and let out his sixth sigh of the day.

Chu Qinhui emerged from behind the counter holding a piece of paper he had just finished writing, and then posted the paper, covered in neat script, onto the cage holding a Source Beast.

Seeing Chu Shengfan's dejected look, he chuckled softly, "Don't sigh, you'll sigh away all your good fortune. Your grandfather said it's perfectly normal to have no customers in the early stages."

"Wait another month, and the New Year will arrive. Most of the Contract Masters who went outside the boundaries will return to town then, and business will pick up."

Chu Shengfan imitated his father, taking a piece of paper from the counter and posting it onto a cage.

"I just feel it's a pity to spend Origin Rune Stone every day just to keep these Source Beasts here."

"A pity? Are you pitying the Origin Rune Stone, or these capable Source Beasts that haven't been put to use?"

Chu Qinhui reached his finger into the cage and stroked the rabbit whose red ears emitted a faint, sweet fragrance.

Watching his father tease the "Fragrant Powder-Eared Rabbit," Chu Shengfan shook his head dismissively. However, the next moment, his own hand reached into the cage.

The rabbit in the cage had extremely long fur. Just as Chu Shengfan's hand was about to touch it, its figure turned into an illusion and instantly reappeared in another corner of the cage.

Chu Shengfan, whose hand missed, awkwardly clenched his fist, then pulled it out of the cage as if nothing had happened.

"A bit of both, I suppose."

Chu Qinhui walked past the dozens of cages in the room one by one, occasionally checking the condition of the Source Beasts living inside.

"We don't necessarily have to wait that long. Tomorrow is the Treasure Pavilion's auction, and your grandfather has already sent a few Source Beasts over. I believe that based on their excellent skills, they will quickly gain recognition."

After checking the condition of the thirteen Source Beasts in the shop, Chu Qinhui turned to Chu Shengfan, "You stay here and watch the shop for now. I'll go home and arrange for two guards and some shop assistants to come over."

Chu Shengfan turned and sat back down behind the counter, summoning the Flower Medicine Butterfly from his Source Beast space.

"Alright. When you come back, remember to bring the pollen box I left in the courtyard. I was in a hurry and forgot Little Cai's food."

"Okay, you two stay here and behave." Saying this, Chu Jingyu stepped out of the shop door.

Not long after Chu Qinhui left, a figure walked in and asked with a smile, "How is business on opening day?"

Chu Shengfan looked at the newcomer, swallowed the "Welcome" he was about to say, and spread his hands, "Grandpa Sun, as you can see, there are no customers at all."

Sun Chunchen looked around, his gaze sweeping over the Source Beasts. A hint of emotion flashed in his eyes; he knew that as long as these Source Beasts were advertised, they would never lack buyers.

But right now, he just wanted to tease the young man, so he shook his head, "It's over. It looks like your grandfather's business is going to lose money. Tsk, tsk, tsk."

Chu Shengfan was quite familiar with Sun Chunchen now, and seeing his current demeanor, he knew he was being teased.

"Grandpa Sun, don't say that. If you actually turn out to be right, wouldn't you be a jinx?"

Sun Chunchen raised his hand and lightly tapped Chu Shengfan on the head. "Brat, who are you calling a jinx? Don't worry. In a few days, except for the two more common evolutionary forms,"

"the rest of the Source Beasts whose evolutionary forms have never appeared before definitely won't lack buyers. Even for research purposes, those Noble Families will buy a couple to take back."

Hearing Sun Chunchen's words, a look of worry appeared on Chu Shengfan's face. "After they buy the Source Beasts, how long will it take them to figure out the evolution method?"

Seeing the young man's worried expression, Sun Chunchen unhurriedly pulled out a rocking chair and comfortably lay down in it.

"Don't worry. Even if they have ready-made Source Beasts to study, the evolutionary path isn't that easy to figure out."

"The spiritual materials needed, the preparation techniques, the ratio of ingredients—step by step, if it were that simple to figure out, the Noble Families wouldn't guard their proprietary evolutionary paths more closely than their own lives."

Only then did Chu Shengfan breathe a sigh of relief. He beckoned lightly with his finger, and the Flower Medicine Butterfly, which had been wandering around the shop, obediently came to his side.

Following his command, a thin layer of phosphorescent shield attached itself to the surface of his body. It seemed he was using this time to practice coordination with his Source Beast and skill deployment.

Sun Chunchen, lying in the rocking chair, slightly shook his head upon seeing Chu Shengfan's clumsy method of skill deployment and began to instruct him:

"Although the Flower Medicine Butterfly's Phosphorescent Shield is a defensive skill, there's no need to cover your entire body every time you use the skill."

"You can try to control the deployment range of the skill within a certain area to reduce energy consumption, or make the shield harder under the same consumption level."

Chu Shengfan looked thoughtful. He used his finger to receive the Flower Medicine Butterfly and then tried to have it deploy the skill onto his palm.

Sure enough, under the same energy consumption, a shield that looked denser and thicker with phosphorescent powder appeared on his hands, as if multiple layers of the Phosphorescent Shield had been stacked.

It didn't seem that difficult. Chu Shengfan then tried to control other skills, such as the "Flower Medicine Fragrance." He attempted to have the Flower Medicine Butterfly condense the fragrance into strands.

Instead of letting the scent linger within a certain spatial area, he wanted it to form strands, allowing only specific targets to inhale it.

After trying for a long time, Chu Shengfan's mental power and the Flower Medicine Butterfly's energy were rapidly depleted. In the end, he could only condense a very broad strand, and controlling this strand of fragrance was not very skillful.

The consumption was too great, so both of them had to rest first. Sun Chunchen closed his eyes slightly, yet seemed to nod in satisfaction.