14: Mission accomplished

However, Beast Companions were not everyday consumables. Even among those with purchasing intent, most would observe several shops before making a final decision.

Thus, throughout the afternoon, most visitors were just browsing, and not a single one made a purchase.

Perhaps it was because there were too few Beast Companions in the shop, offering customers limited choices.

Or perhaps it was because the shopkeeper seemed too young, appearing to lack sufficient experience in Beast Companion cultivation.

Luo Chen's task was also stalled at the sale of the final Beast Companion.

Today, Luo Chen did not close up shop early as he had the previous day. He planned to extend business hours until 10 PM.

A little past 6 PM, Luo Yang brought food to eat with Luo Chen, naturally bought from a nearby restaurant just like at noon.

Seeing Luo Yang, Luo Chen, who had been worrying about how to sell the last Beast Companion, suddenly had a flash of inspiration.

Wasn't Luo Yang a ready-made customer?

So, just as Luo Yang placed the food on the table, Luo Chen eagerly pulled him aside and said:

'Little brother, aren't you about to advance to the Rank of a Spirit Beast Beast Master? You haven't purchased your second Beast Companion yet, right? I think this Fragrant Rabbit suits you perfectly.'

??

Luo Yang was confused by his brother's sudden action. Did his brother mean for him to contract the [Fragrant Rabbit] as his second Beast Companion?

He placed his palm on Luo Chen's forehead, voicing his confusion, 'Brother, do you have a fever? Hmm, not hot though.'

Luo Chen swatted Luo Yang's hand away, putting on the authority of an elder brother, 'I can see you really like that Fragrant Rabbit. You must want to buy it and take it home. Good, now go take it to the front counter and pay.'

The question marks on Luo Yang's face multiplied. Could it be that because business was bad, his elder brother had suffered some shock? This seemed even more terrifying than a soul-departing illness.

But Luo Chen paid no mind to what Luo Yang was thinking. He half-dragged, half-pulled him to the checkout counter.

'That will be 25,000 spirit coins.'

Looking at Luo Chen with concern, Luo Yang, in a daze, took out his terminal and paid.

'Task completed. Extract reward now?'

Luo Chen immediately chose 'No.' He took the [Fragrant Rabbit] back from Luo Yang's hands and returned it to its cage.

Watching Luo Chen's actions, Luo Yang scratched his head in confusion. Still, it was good that Luo Chen didn't actually intend for him to contract this [Fragrant Rabbit].

'Warning: Unacceptable behavior of bullying customers. Please return the Beast Companion to the customer. 10% of this reward will be deducted.'

Hearing the system's voice, Luo Chen stiffened. It seemed exploiting system bugs wasn't so easy. A quick-witted idea struck him, and he immediately shouted:

'Little brother, you want to leave this Fragrant Rabbit here for boarding, right?'

'Ah. Right.'

At this point, as long as Luo Chen didn't let Luo Yang take this [Fragrant Rabbit] back to contract it, Luo Yang would agree to whatever he said.

Hearing the system prompt in his ear fall silent, Luo Chen relaxed, but immediately felt a pang of heartache.

10% of the reward—that was a stalk of mystic spirit grass worth 300,000 spirit coins!

After hastily finishing dinner, Luo Chen shooed Luo Yang back home.

He then locked the shop door from the inside and hung a 'Closed' sign outside.

Then, he eagerly checked the reward he had obtained.

'Extract reward,' Luo Chen silently chanted in his heart.

A crack opened without warning in mid-air on the first floor of Chenyang Pet Store. Then, several items were tossed out from the crack as if they were garbage.

The crack then quickly closed. Luo Chen could even sense the crack's utter disdain for the shop and the reward items.

But Luo Chen felt no such disdain for the pile of mystic spirit grass on the floor.

These grassy plants with a few sparse leaves and branches indeed looked identical to the mystic spirit grass from his memories. In fact, the ones on the floor seemed even larger and more robust than those often seen in the news.

Luo Chen hurriedly fetched flowerpots used for cultivating plant-type Beast Companions from the second-floor warehouse and planted each of the nine mystic spirit grass stalks in a separate pot.

Just from this brief effort, Luo Chen could feel the energy activity within the shop rising.

The Xiao Maoqiu by his side even actively hugged one pot of mystic spirit grass, refusing to let go. Luo Chen could only let it be.

With the abundant energy in the air, the most obvious effect was on the few Beast Companions kept in the shop. Now, with every breath, they could absorb a large amount of energy.

Therefore, they could develop a better foundation than other Beast Companions even without extensive cultivation.

'Task issued: Sell six Beast Companions, receive 200 customer visits, achieve a Beast Companion boarding count of three. Time limit: 10 days.

Task reward: Permanent exploration rights for a Rank 1 Secret Realm.'

'Shop Level System activated: Current shop level: 1.

Evaluation: Just a trash shop run by a small-time amateur. Do people actually spend money here?'

This time, it wasn't a voice, but a panel similar to the Eye of Truth.

It somewhat resembled the crude, simple web version of management simulation games Luo Chen had played in his previous life.

Luo Chen forced himself not to look at the shop system's evaluation, lest he get angered by the system's nasty personality.

'What's this shop level about? What permissions does it have?' Luo Chen inquired in his mind.

The system's voice answered in Luo Chen's ear,

'Shop level is determined based on a comprehensive assessment of shop revenue, customer satisfaction, the Rank of managed Beast Companions, shop influence, etc. Different levels correspond to different permissions.

Permissions for a Level 1 shop include: The Nurturing Pool's daily cultivation slots increase to five for small Beast Companions, possession of one permanent Secret Realm slot, shop space of 500 square meters (two floors), and one Shopkeeper.'

It didn't seem much different from before, though the increase of two slots in the Nurturing Pool was good news.

'And what about this Secret Realm?'

'It can be understood as the shop possessing an exclusive Secret Realm. Only with the Shopkeeper's permission can other people or Beast Companions enter or exit.

Moreover, it contains environments suitable for cultivating Beast Companions or houses some special Beast Companions.

The highest Rank of Beast Companions living in a Rank 1 Secret Realm is Ferocious Beast, and the cultivatable Beast Companion Rank is also Ferocious Beast.'

Luo Chen understood everything now. This was essentially providing him with a stable supplier. Once he possessed a Secret Realm, he could capture Beast Companions from within for sale, no longer needing to personally select Beast Companions from outside, cultivate them, and then resell them.

Realizing this, Luo Chen couldn't wait to quickly complete the second task issued by the system and obtain the shop's exclusive Secret Realm.