70: Chapter 70 The Disabled Kokkoro Mouse
Finished the order for the Volcano Dragon.
Li Yu didn't stop there; instead, he continued browsing the order system. After all, the Volcano Dragon's order was posted by a member of the Rongrong Group, and whether it would ultimately be accepted depended on the group leader—the person actually in charge.
If the group leader didn't agree, it would be useless for him, Li Yu, to accept the order.
So, stay calm, find some other orders, and accumulate some cultivation value.
The scope of a Senior Cultivator's work ranges from Elite to Lord and Monarch levels. Once it reaches the Lord level, intermediate evolution cards are required.
The drop rate for these isn't high; in the days he's been accumulating them, he only has two.
Collect cards.
Still need to collect cards.
Li Yu browsed carefully, but his browsing was strange; he didn't limit it by price or difficulty, instead focusing specifically on those with strange descriptions.
"What kind of orders are you looking for?" Zhou Ya asked.
"Ones that give a sense of accomplishment."
"A sense of accomplishment?"
"Right," Li Yu smiled. "Near death, failed evolutions, or those with a strong desire to evolve—preferably the kind where the difference between before and after evolution is like heaven and hell. Money doesn't matter."
He couldn't easily say he wanted the beasts to be so grateful they'd be moved to tears, so he tried to be as tactful as possible. Fortunately, those who can become Breeders are all quite clever.
Zhou Ya thought for a moment and understood what kind Li Yu wanted, but still asked, "It doesn't matter if there's no money?"
"Right. As long as the situation is special enough, pay... free is fine too."
Li Yu had wanted to say he would even pay, but thought better of it; that would be too shocking. There's no such thing as a Senior Cultivator paying a Beast Tamer to let them cultivate their beast.
Zhou Ya understood. She tapped on the keyboard a few times, and the order acceptance system refreshed, showing a new column of tasks.
"Take a look at these? These are poverty alleviation orders," Zhou Ya explained. "The company has a certain quota for poverty alleviation orders every year. Some people from poor families who are eager to become Beast Tamers and get ahead will submit applications, and if the company approves them, they get listed here. However..."
"However what?"
"However, very few people accept these orders. Usually, it's only Junior Cultivators or even apprentices looking for practice who would take them. Because they are free, even if they fail, they don't have to bear any compensation."
Speaking of this, Zhou Ya looked at Li Yu with a strange expression, wanting to say something but hesitating.
Li Yu didn't notice. He excitedly clicked into the poverty alleviation orders, opening them one by one, muttering to himself, then closing them again, enjoying it thoroughly.
Before long, Li Yu "clapped" open an order and said, "This is the one!"
Poverty Alleviation 71 - Treatment - Kekeluo Rat (Disabled, Elite C-rank, black iron Level 4)
Order description: An order from Grandma Xia of the Red Star Orphanage. The Kekeluo Rat belonging to the orphanage child Xia Xiaojie had both legs broken by other children at school, accompanied by a ruptured spleen and a slight skull fracture. Hoping a kind Breeder can lend a helping hand.
Li Yu stared at this order, a barely perceptible coldness flashing in his eyes.
He turned back and, seeing Zhou Ya hesitating, seemingly wanting to say something, asked, "What's wrong?"
"I don't recommend you accept these orders."
"Why?" Li Yu frowned.
Zhou Ya explained, "The Breeder profession is very particular about status. Even among Senior Cultivators, some have a status several times higher than others, yet they always have an endless stream of orders, while others don't charge much but have very few people seeking them out. Do you know why?"
"I don't know."
"Because the clients they serve are different. Some Breeders consistently cultivate for various large battle groups and major companies, or even become the designated Breeder for a powerful figure, and more people will want to seek their services, so their status naturally rises."
Li Yu blinked, looking at Zhou Ya with some astonishment.
Seeing that Li Yu wasn't displeased, Zhou Ya continued, "And conversely... some Breeders, in order to pad their success rates, often cultivate low-quality, easy-to-handle beasts. Their success rate will be very high, but their cultivation work lacks real value. Such people have low status, um... I don't know if you can understand it when I put it that way."
Li Yu narrowed his eyes, wondering what he was thinking.
"It's equivalent to being a sales clerk—one works at a mass-market brand store, and another works at a high-end luxury store. The luxury store clerk looks down on the one from the mass-market store, and even the customers look down on those in the mass-market store. Is that what you mean?" Li Yu asked.
Zhou Ya nodded, "Something like that."
"Heh!" Li Yu grinned and said, "Sounds pretty despicable."
Zhou Ya looked at Li Yu in astonishment.
"Since that's the case, then I have to accept it even more." A light called confidence flashed in Li Yu's eyes as he gently clicked the mouse, accepting the order to treat the Kekeluo Rat.
"Why?"
Li Yu looked eager to try: "Because what I want to do is make everyone I cultivate for proud of me! Let them be able to pat their chests in the future and proudly say, 'My beast was cultivated by Master Li! I had the honor of meeting him!'"
"..."
Zhou Ya looked at Li Yu suspiciously. Her understanding of Li Yu wasn't even as good as his opponents'. The only thing she knew was that Li Yu went to take the Primary Cultivation Examination and ended up with a Senior Cultivator certificate. As for his cultivation methods and materials...
Please, she was the one who organized the materials. She couldn't say he didn't know the methods, but it definitely had nothing to do with being skilled.
How come this guy feels... a bit unreliable?
But Li Yu was the one accepting the order, and Li Yu was the one doing the cultivation. She was just offering a suggestion; it wasn't appropriate for her to intervene further.
...
In the afternoon.
Li Yu was alone in the office when Supervisor Song walked in, his expression somewhat strange, carrying a metal case in his hand.
"Supervisor Song." Li Yu greeted him with a smile.
"Here," Supervisor Song placed the case on the table with a dull thud. "I searched the entire material storage for your top-grade spirit crystals."
Li Yu's eyes lit up.
Silver Scale Bubble Fish, there's a way to evolve it!
He hurriedly opened the case, and a thick wave of elemental spiritual energy rushed out, enveloping the entire office, almost making Li Yu dizzy. However, when he saw what was inside, he instantly sobered up.
"Water type, Metal type, Wood type, Light type..." Li Yu counted them one by one, then frowned. "One is missing."
Supervisor Song nodded helplessly.
"A Earth type is missing. I searched the entire material storage and couldn't find one. The person in charge of the material storage said that very few Earth-type spirit crystals have been produced in the last few months, and top-grade ones haven't been seen for over a month. The most recent top-grade Earth-type spirit crystal was taken and used not long ago."
"I see..."
"Don't worry, I've asked the people in the material storage to keep an eye out. As soon as an Earth-type spirit crystal arrives, they'll notify me immediately so I can go get it. The President specifically requested it for you; no one else can snatch it away."
Li Yu silently closed the case.
Regardless, nine-tenths of the top-grade elemental spirit crystals had been collected; he was very close to making progress.
At worst, he'd just take the Spirit Probing Armor to the Earth-type secret realm this weekend to see, and take the opportunity to test its spirit-probing ability to see if it was really as powerful as described.