Chapter 272: The Mysterious Flame Sprout! The Rapid Expansion of the Heart of Ten Thousand Spirits!

Chapter 272: The Mysterious Flame Sprout! The Rapid Expansion of the Heart of Ten Thousand Spirits!

This flame sprout was too small.

Even with the naked eye, it was difficult to see it directly.

Su Ping finally understood why multiple inspections had failed to reveal anything.

If this thing were hidden within real flames, inside the Fire Nurturing Domain, it would be completely invisible.

Moreover, since it originated from the mysterious Phoenix Flame, it was only natural that it possessed various concealment abilities.

Su Ping exhaled a long breath and then directly activated his mental power to inquire:

"Who are you? Why did you appear in my Beast Control Realm?"

"..." A voice, barely audible, emerged from the flame.

Su Ping narrowed his eyes slightly, instinctively listening with his mental power.

As expected, this was the ancient Snake Language:

"Humans... despicable... traitors..."

The voice was intermittent, but the content caused Su Ping to frown immediately.

What an impolite little flame sprout.

Su Ping continued to communicate mentally with a furrowed brow, "Is there some misunderstanding? Who are you?"

The other party was not polite, so Su Ping had no reason or need to be courteous in return.

But when he asked again, the flame sprout flickered slightly and spoke once more.

Su Ping quickly captured it with his mind, but the content of this voice made him pause:

"Who... am I...?"

This little flame sprout seemed to be asking itself the same question, and then, with a 'puh' sound, the small creature returned to the flock of birds after a few flickers.

This tiny flame seemed to realize that it had been exposed, so it no longer hid itself under Su Ping's observation.

However, Su Ping blinked, feeling perplexed.

This thing didn't even know its own identity? Then why did it have such intense hostility towards him, and even towards all of humanity?

"Speak up! Did you steal my Flame Fruits?"

"Hey! Answer me!"

Su Ping looked at the flickering flame sprout, which showed no intention of responding further. He seemed to understand the reason.

It appeared that speaking in the ancient Snake Language had caused a significant drain on its energy, leaving it unable to continue talking.

Could this thing really be a flame element split from the Phoenix Flame? But it didn't seem quite right.

After all, the flame element life that had condensed into a phoenix had left a profound impression on Su Ping.

However...

Su Ping recalled the final scene he had witnessed.

The flame that had condensed into a phoenix eventually shattered into countless flaming meteors that scattered away.

Clearly, for some reason, this fire phoenix had not fully materialized into a true fire phoenix.

Therefore, this flame was likely just one of those fragments! As for its energy aura... Su Ping sensed it briefly, and even after secretly consuming so many of his Flame Fruits, it was still only at the Ordinary Rank.

Was this the composite body of that fire phoenix? And if so, could he possibly form a contract with it in the future? If he succeeded, would it mean acquiring a Companion Beast with terrifying potential?

Of course, this idea was just a fantasy.

Putting aside other considerations, the words spoken by the flame sprout in the ancient Snake Language, filled with deep-rooted hatred towards humans, already indicated the difficulty of such a task.

But...

Treason? What did that mean? Su Ping was so anxious that he couldn't help but scratch his head.

Without a moment's hesitation, he immediately locked onto the little flame sprout.

He wanted to capture it, but as soon as he did, the flame disappeared into a nearby pile of burning wood...

"Tsk... What a temper!"

Su Ping narrowed his eyes and smiled slightly.

He hadn't tried this before, but now that he had seen the true form of the flame sprout, he was confident he could retrieve it if he wanted to, as this was his Beast Control Realm after all.

However, after some thought, Su Ping decided against it.

There would be plenty of time in the future, and he was genuinely curious about this little thing.

But in his own Beast Control Realm, how could he let it escape? Moreover, Su Ping was intrigued by what the flame had said earlier, but judging by its behavior, it was unlikely to respond again.

Humans, traitors? During the ancient times, this elemental fire phoenix might have been a legendary powerful existence. What had happened between it and humans? Why did it harbor such intense hostility towards humanity? And why did it not know its own identity?

Could it be that this 'Hundred Birds Paying Homage to the Phoenix' had reassembled, but its memory was incomplete?

Precisely because of these possibilities, Su Ping decided against further urgent inquiries.

The flame sprout struggled to speak, and it didn't seem to have any memories of the 'Hundred Birds Paying Homage to the Phoenix' either. Therefore, even if he brought it before him, it would serve no purpose.

Nevertheless, Su Ping's curiosity was thoroughly piqued.

What was the story behind this flame sprout? The secrets of ancient Companion Beasts seemed genuinely intriguing.

And so... three days later,

Su Ping, who had been engrossed in feeding the little flame sprout with Flame Fruits, as well as nurturing Xiao Qing and teaching the rest of the birds, including Yaya, was startled as his room door was suddenly pushed open, and a figure strode in with an imposing aura:

"Hey, didn't we agree on this earlier?"

After the research, will you help me with this regressive research?"

Ye Zhou's face was filled with sorrow and anger.

Su Ping scratched his head.

If it weren't for Ye Zhou's angry visit, he would have forgotten that he had such a number one person, and he felt a bit embarrassed.

"Haha, sorry, I forgot."

Ye Zhou was filled with resentment.

However, he helplessly shook his head.

"I really don't know what you're up to all day. I came over to tell you that I'm returning to Magic City, and school starts tomorrow."

"Hmm? So soon?"

"Soon?"

Ye Zhou glared at him.

Is it soon? For these students, the start of the school year in Magic City was already quite flexible.

This was already the last few days, and if he didn't return to report, it was truly unreasonable.

"Er... How are you getting back? I'll send you off."

"The Dean and Miss Qin will be here later, and I'll take Dong Muchun and send you both to Magic City. Really, you guy, what are you up to all day? When will we get to work on our regressive evolution?"

"I've been really busy lately, but speaking of which, in a few months, aren't you graduating?"

Su Ping didn't care.

"Who's as comfortable as you? What about after graduation? Forget it, I'm too lazy to talk to a leisurely young master like you. However, no matter how busy you are, don't forget the mid-year assessment. I heard from Miss Qin that you've created a pet beast that will shock the world."

Ye Zhou's true temperament disappeared, and in its place, Su Ping maintained his usual indifferent expression.

It was as if everything was within his grasp, exuding confidence and control.

Why was this guy so confident?

Could his pet beast's strength really be that powerful?

But even if it's strong, could it be as strong as the Thousand and One Tier?

This was clearly impossible!

However...

When the time for the competition assessment came, whether Qian Yi could use this external power was truly an unknown.

Amidst their casual chat, Su Ping left the room, bringing Dong Muchun with him, and they arrived at the tallest building of the Heart of Clouds.

As expected, it didn't take long before the familiar Tengyun Number arrived and hovered in the sky above the building.

Sang Sheng and the returning Qin Xiaoxue descended from above.

After a few greetings, Su Ping waved goodbye and sent off the few who had come from Magic City.

Dong Muchun was fine with it, but Ye Zhou, during this time, was undoubtedly a good friend of Su Ping's.

Well, Miss Qin's situation was a bit special.

After sending off these few, Su Ping heaved a sigh of relief.

He knew that the following time would be entirely his own.

It was also the last stretch before heading to Beiyuan.

In fact, there weren't many days left before he would go to Beiyuan Province to participate in the Special Beastmaster Force Breeding Master training.

The reason was simple. In the middle of March of the Common Era, after the Lunar New Year, there were only two months left.

Currently, the winter break had passed, and now, with the time approaching, there was less than a month remaining.

Thinking of this, Su Ping stood atop the building of the Heart of Clouds, overlooking the entire Heart of Ten Thousand Spirits. He stretched lazily.

In the following days, what he needed to do was to make various preparations for Xiao Qing's evolution.

For example, he needed to cultivate the two skills he had exchanged earlier, intended for Xiao Qing's clone: Life Burst and Poison Blast!

However, during this time, Ye Zhou hadn't been idle at home.

One of the important matters he had been working on was closely related to Su Ping.

It was the cooperation he had established with Dong Muchun, giving them the sales rights to a portion of the Time Medicine.

Although it wasn't exclusive sales, in the end, the Time Medicine wasn't something that belonged solely to Ye Zhou. He had provided a lot of help, but the main contributors were the various research professors and teachers in Magic City.

Such a life-saving treasure, its value, compared to the Wolf Heart and Illusion Heart that Pingyun was currently selling, was no less.

Clearly, this cooperation, aside from considering Su Ping's face, also had to do with Dong Muchun's relationship.

The specific profit-sharing was something Dong Muchun had discussed with Magic City, and Su Ping was too lazy to understand. He continued to be the carefree shopkeeper. This was also the reason why this woman hadn't had time to bother him these days.

Time passed slowly during these days.

In the blink of an eye, several days had passed.

And Su Ping, finally, had barely finished dealing with some matters regarding Xiao Qing's breeding. He arrived at the office, where he met with Old Guan.

"The Heart of Souls is proceeding smoothly."

Old Guan got straight to the point; he also knew that Su Ping's time was relatively tight.

"The Heart of Souls has already taken initial shape. The first scenario, the Death Wheat Field you selected, is almost complete. The construction cost, excluding the pet beast, is around 10 million...

At the same time, the basic framework of the Zombie Funeral Home, the foundation of Grave Sun Elementary School, and the Third Psychiatric Hospital has begun construction.

"

"Hmm! How is the training of Bai Cang's beast going?" Su Ping nodded, still satisfied with the speed.

"I don't know much about this, you'll need to go and check it out yourself when the time comes." Old Guan didn't directly bring up the topic of beast training, as it wasn't his area of expertise, and he couldn't tell much from it anyway.

After a pause, he continued, "Besides, the special magnetic field in that area has already been prepared for excavation and testing.

The original dilapidated houses and shops across from the entrance to the Heart of Ten Thousand Spirits have also been completely demolished.

The construction of the building will be much faster than the speed of the Heart of Souls and the Heart of Earth.

However, due to the time of commencement, the relative speed is a bit behind. Regarding the bidding issue you mentioned before..."

Su Ping nodded, not surprised at all, "That's fine, we can do it ourselves if necessary.

In the future, this area will mainly focus on functionality, with shops, stores, supermarkets, and the internet cafe facilities I mentioned last time, exclusively for the Heart of Dreams."

This area is connected to the Heart of Clouds, and we will develop it into an industrial chain base."

Old Guan nodded, "As for the Heart of Earth, the speed has slowed down significantly. There's no other way, the scope is too vast, and it's not much less than the combined size of the Heart of Ten Thousand Spirits. It's estimated that it will need to be properly divided later on."

"That's true, but..." Su Ping raised his eyebrows and smiled, "Uncle Guan, speaking of which, the Heart of Ten Thousand Spirits is just over twenty kilometers east of the West Dragon Lake boundary, right?"

Old Guan's eyelids twitched, "Su Ping, the West Dragon Lake area isn't within the purchasable land deed range! Moreover, the Heart of Ten Thousand Spirits is already quite large, there's no need for it..."

Old Guan tried to persuade him.

Su Ping was a bit disappointed and clicked his tongue, "Alright, we'll talk about it later."

Old Guan heaved a slight sigh of relief and continued, "Apart from that, some beasts have been purchased.

The Powdered Peach Blossom Smile you mentioned last time, finally has news of two stocks, but the price is a bit high, one stock costs over two million and five hundred thousand!"

This price has already exceeded the value of a Commander Rank beast. However, considering the special purpose of the Peach Blossom Smile, although it's higher than the market price, it's still acceptable:

"No problem, I've already discussed it with the Peach Blossom. If we can buy it, we'll get it! What else?"

"Hmm... The lower-level plant-type beasts aren't difficult to obtain, but the more troublesome ones are this one, and the Black Water Black Snake you mentioned last time, a Monarch Rank beast, isn't something that can be bought with money! As for the Cloud Pattern Tree Python, we bought three through the Tianyun channel!" Old Guan said helplessly.

Su Ping nodded, the inheritance of the Wan She Saint was quite good, and it would be useful for the expansion of the Heart of Ten Thousand Spirits:

"Alright, I'll ask Liu Lao about the juvenile body of the Black Water Black Snake later! What about the Fading Sword?"

Su Ping hadn't forgotten about the evolution of the Fading Sword from the Yu Liangqing inheritance.

"The Fading Sword isn't a big problem, there are quite a few in the West Capital Province, but it will take some time to ship, and it will probably arrive in a few days! As for the twenty Flame Crows you mentioned, it's the same situation."

"Hmm..."

Su Ping nodded in satisfaction.

Finally, after reporting everything, Old Guan revealed the main purpose of his visit:

"Xiao Ping, we're almost out of money again!"

"Almost out of money?"

Su Ping blinked, "Didn't I just give you a five-hundred-million allocation last week?"

Farming was an expensive hobby.

Especially in a place like the Heart of Ten Thousand Spirits.

However, even after the large-scale expansion of the Heart of Ten Thousand Spirits, the speed of spending still somewhat exceeded Su Ping's imagination.

Old Guan's face turned bitter, "Xiao Ping, I'm not trying to complain! Although the Beastmaster Association provided the land deeds for this side almost for free, the beasts are numerous! Not to mention the billions you have, these beasts alone have cost a lot!

The Heart of Ten Thousand Spirits requires daily feeding, and you might not know that the daily feeding cost of ordinary food is already in the tens of thousands! It's not possible to achieve self-sufficiency for now."

Upon hearing this, Su Ping nodded.

The Pingyun Group had been 'printing money', but even so, he had to consider the basic expenses in this regard.

The Heart of Ten Thousand Spirits wasn't a business venture, it was related to the development and advancement of his beastmaster career in the All Souls Compendium. Therefore, it was essential for the expenses of the Heart of Ten Thousand Spirits to be proportional to its income.

The issue of beast feed was already showing signs of constraint.

If the number of beasts increased in the future, how to reduce feeding costs was indeed a problem.

Thinking of this, Su Ping couldn't help but feel a headache.

If only they could be like Old Sha, absorbing sunlight to obtain nutrition, and the need for ordinary food would be negligible. That would be wonderful!

Moreover, as he thought of this, Su Ping's heart stirred slightly. Old Sha's ability was indeed hard to replicate.

However, before Su Ping could think further, his phone rang, and Master Zhu Hong's voice came from the other end:

"Su Ping, Da Huang has evolved!"

Upon hearing this, Su Ping exhaled a breath of relief.

To be continued tomorrow

(End of Chapter)

Chapter end