3: Go to purchase
The next day was a sunny day, just as expected.
After a simple breakfast, Luo Chen headed out with Xiao Maoqiu. Their mission today was to go to the beast breeding farm to purchase beasts to sell in the shop.
To save some money, Luo Chen didn't call a specialized beast transport; instead, he hopped on a bus, which he heard was a very ideal way to travel before the arrival of the beasts.
Of course, in the era of beast civilization, small beasts were allowed on buses, though one had to buy different tiers of tickets depending on their size.
After paying for one adult ticket and one half-price ticket, Luo Chen took Xiao Maoqiu onto the bus heading towards the West District.
It was the morning rush hour, and the bus was filled with all sorts of people: students going to school, elderly folks who might be heading out for a stroll, and office workers.
Most of these people were accompanied by one or two beasts. Overcome with curiosity, Luo Chen looked at the beast next to a female student in the front row.
It looked like a rabbit overall, but its fur was pink, and its ears were adorned with one or two crystal-like objects.
If the pre-transmigration Luo Chen had seen such a pet, he would have definitely complained that the owner had over-dressed the rabbit. But now, Luo Chen knew that this was just how the rabbit naturally looked; it wasn't dressed up at all.
Even from his seat, Luo Chen could smell a faint, sweet Fragrance emanating from the rabbit.
[race: Fragrant Rabbit
Rank: One-Star Ferocious Beast
Type: Medical-type
State: Shy
Aptitude: Excellent
Skill: 1. Fragrance. A Fragrant Rabbit always emits a special scent that has the effect of focusing the mind and calming the mood.]
Luo Chen was slightly stunned when he saw the [Fragrant Rabbit]'s "Shy" State, and sure enough, he noticed the [Fragrant Rabbit] was bashfully peeking at him.
Luo Chen silently withdrew his gaze. He had been so focused on checking its information that he hadn't realized it was rude to stare so intently at others, even if it was just a beast.
Because of their gentle nature and the benefits they provide when accompanying children as they grow, [Fragrant Rabbits] had always been a very popular household pet beast.
However, the shortcomings of this beast were also obvious: they lacked ambition, were difficult to evolve, and their combat and healing abilities were practically non-existent.
Therefore, there weren't many Beast Masters truly willing to form a contract with them.
Nevertheless, this kind of beast was on Luo Chen's shopping list because they weren't as expensive as others and were well-loved by middle-class families with children, so he didn't have to worry about them not selling.
Suddenly, a commotion broke out in the bus carriage, originating from a few young teenagers.
One of the teenagers exclaimed, "What kind of beast is that? It looks so cool!"
His nearby companions, likely his classmates, all craned their necks to look in the direction he was pointing.
Then, they voiced their agreement.
Luo Chen's attention was also drawn, and he looked out the side of the bus.
A beast that looked very much like a horse was standing quietly in the middle of the road. Its entire body was covered in blue scales, and two sharp horns, about twenty centimeters long, pointed backward from its head.
It looked fierce and domineering. Just then, the red light turned green, and the beast shot forward like a sharp arrow, quickly disappearing from sight.
One of the teenagers seemed to recognize the beast and explained to his companions,
"That's a Wind-Riding Spirit Steed, a beast of the Spirit Beast Rank."
Spirit Beast—the Rank above Ferocious Beast. Compared to Ferocious Beasts, they were significantly stronger. Reaching the Spirit Beast Rank often meant a Beast Master had entered the true world of Beast Masters.
[race: Wind-Riding Spirit Steed
Rank: Four-Star Spirit Beast
Type: Wind-type
State: Anxious
Aptitude: Ordinary
Skill: 1. Power of Wind Riding (Yellow Grade): By commanding the swift winds, the Wind-Riding Spirit Steed's speed becomes even faster.
2. Scale Armor (Mystic Grade): Spiritual energy flows and protects various parts of the body's scales, greatly increasing defensive power.
3. Wind Blade (Yellow Grade): Condenses the power of the wind element into sharp blades.]
With two Yellow Grade Skills and one Mystic Grade Skill, this was a somewhat weak configuration for a Spirit Beast. After all, even a stronger Ferocious Beast could possess a Mystic Grade Skill if cultivated with care.
It seemed that either its owner had better beasts and didn't care much for the cultivation of this [Wind-Riding Spirit Steed],
Or the owner was actually broke and lacked the resources to let it learn more powerful Skills. However, for a Beast Master who owned such an expensive-looking beast, that possibility was infinitely small.
Luo Chen had originally wanted to check what kind of Evolution Paths the [Wind-Riding Spirit Steed] had, but in the time it took to look at the detailed information,
The [Wind-Riding Spirit Steed] was already out of sight. Left with no choice, Luo Chen had to give up on the idea.
The bus continued on its way, stopping and starting as people got on and off. About an hour passed.
Luo Chen finally arrived at his destination—the Qingyuan Beast Breeding Center.
From Luo Chen's perspective, the breeding center was quite large, spanning an entire street.
It was no exaggeration to say that land in the city was worth its weight in gold. Being able to open such a large breeding center within the city indicated that the owner was not only powerful but also quite business-savvy.
Luo Chen pulled back his thoughts just as he saw a young man storming out of the breeding center's entrance in a rage.
"Hmph! You at Qingyuan are just bullying customers! Why won't you accept individual purchases of beasts?"
Following behind the young man was likely a staff member of the breeding center. She explained patiently,
"We are a breeding center, not a retail shop. We only supply in bulk to shops. Please go to a shop to make your purchase, sir."
"Why can't I skip the middleman? Why can't I just come to the breeding center to pick one out myself?"
The young man's emotions seemed to have found an outlet as he bombarded the staff member with questions.
The staff member didn't get angry and continued to explain patiently,
"Please understand, sir. Not all the beasts in our breeding center have reached the age where they can be contracted or meet strangers. Furthermore, there are many pregnant females inside who should not be disturbed."
But the young man completely ignored the staff member's explanation and kept shouting about filing a complaint against them.
Seeing this farce, Luo Chen couldn't help but shake his head and walked past them into the breeding center.
Unexpectedly, the young man saw Luo Chen and, assuming he was also there for an individual purchase, shouted at him,
"Hey, brother! This place doesn't sell beasts to customers, only to shops."
Clearly, he wanted to pull Luo Chen onto his side.
Hearing the shout, Luo Chen pointed at himself in surprise and asked, "Are you talking to me?"
Perhaps wanting to recruit Luo Chen into his complaint against the breeding center, the young man's attitude toward Luo Chen was much better than toward the staff member.
"Yes, yes, you."
Luo Chen gave him a reserved smile but said something that left the young man frozen in place.
"But I'm here representing a shop."