Li Shu ran away.
Of course, officially speaking, he was "going home to rest for a while." After all, he had already stayed with Su Ping for over a week, so it was only natural for him to return home.
Su Ping felt a little regretful. Good labor like that was really hard to come by.
But it was also understandable.
Becoming a breeder was never easy. If Su Ping hadn't grown up among the Lin Wolves at his family's breeding base—and if he hadn't cheated with the Myriad Spirits Codex—then becoming a breeder himself would have been unimaginably difficult.
When Li Shu's father, Li Senlin, came to pick him up, he was extremely polite. He even tried to give Su Ping a hefty red envelope, but Su Ping refused.
His relationship with Li Shu was good, and Li Shu had helped out for many days here. Even though Su Ping had assisted Songzi the Falling Seed Pine in leveling up and even helped it comprehend Pinecone Cannonball, he himself had gained what he wanted as well.
That was more than enough.
Li Senlin ended up feeling rather embarrassed.
Li Shu's departure didn't affect Su Ping too much.
Although he now had to personally answer calls and receive clients, the busiest surge had already passed. All the confirmed breeding requests had paid their deposits and were now queued up.
After the initial chaos of the first few days, Woodheart had more or less stabilized and entered a steady rhythm.
Still, Su Ping acknowledged Li Shu's results.
No wonder the kid had been exhausted. An entire massive bundle of Wolfsmoke Grass, stirred and refined for an entire afternoon—several solid hours of work—had finally turned into this single barrel of dark green liquid.
It emitted an indescribably foul and bizarre stench.
Even Su Ping wanted to stay as far away from it as possible.
But an experiment was still an experiment. Even if it made his stomach churn, Su Ping went through with it anyway.
After seeing that Wolfsmoke Grass didn't bring only benefits, Su Ping naturally wouldn't use his own Lin Wolves as test subjects.
Instead, he directly bought several lab mice for experimentation.
The results left him even more speechless.
Not only did the mice show no aversion—in fact, being rodents, they rather liked it—but after consuming it, there wasn't the slightest change at all.
After being fed for two days, they even gained weight.
Su Ping was completely at a loss.
Still, just as before, he couldn't possibly use his own Lin Wolves, nor was he extravagant enough to buy a wolf-type pet beast purely as a test subject.
As a result, research into Wolfsmoke Grass had to be temporarily shelved until he had better conditions.
After Li Shu left, Su Ping's movements became much freer.
Over the past few days, he finished breeding all the entrusted Lin Wolves. Ten million had been credited to his account, and even after taxes, he still had nearly nine million left.
Unfortunately, such a sum no longer stirred Su Ping's emotions at all. Vice Chairman Liu's list of laboratory equipment—priced at three hundred million per machine—had made him realize just how little money this was in the world of pet beasts.
At the same time, aside from Mutou, a full twenty-five Lin Wolves, plus his own Xiao Qing—twenty-six Lin Wolves in total—had all completed their Woodheart cultivation.
What kind of concept was that?
It went without saying.
However, although they had all finished learning the skill, Su Ping knew this was only the beginning.
The special cooperative combat style demonstrated by the Zhang Wen and Zhang Wu brothers back then had given him a clear direction.
His contracted pet beasts were one aspect—but if possible, he also wanted to train these beasts in group combat.
Generally speaking, a beast tamer's main focus was always their soul-bound pet beast.
The reason was simple: ordinary beast tamers couldn't carry too many wild pet beasts.
But Su Ping was different.
He possessed the Beast Home talent. As long as the pet beasts didn't exceed his own level, and as long as his beast space could hold them, he could take them along.
Combined with the Myriad Spirits Codex—which granted him affinity and control over these beasts—he could fully attempt to walk a completely different path as a beast tamer.
That said, training group combat was far more difficult. Over this period, Su Ping had been actively searching for suitable methods.
It was a bit of a pity that the Zhang brothers hadn't shown up again since that last time.
He didn't know whether their family disagreed with such expensive training, or if there was some other reason. It left Su Ping feeling rather regretful.
If possible, he truly wanted to learn from them.
But now, he had another matter to deal with.
Night had fallen.
Su Ping had never come to the Lingxi River behind the forest at night before.
Gone was the daytime scenery of bright sunlight, green grass, and flowing water that soothed the soul.
Instead, the place felt eerie.
The swaying of trees and grass looked like shadows of ghosts dancing in the darkness.
Su Ping stood there, with Lao Sha and Xiao Qing at his side.
"Is it here?" Su Ping asked softly.
Lao Sha stared warily at the surroundings. Hearing his little master's question, he didn't make a sound, only nodded.
Over the past few days, the Lin Wolves' training had progressed rapidly. Their skill improvements had been particularly noticeable.
One of the Elite Rank Ninth Stage Lin Wolves had even pushed Vine Strangle—one of its core cultivated skills—to the Proficient level.
The effects of Heart-to-Heart Communication allowed Su Ping to respond more precisely to the Lin Wolves' needs, greatly benefiting their training.
At the same time, he also gained a deeper understanding of Lao Sha's warnings.
Previously, Lao Sha had shown extreme vigilance toward the Lingxi River area. At first, Su Ping had thought Lao Sha's senses were mistaken, or that perhaps some high-level aquatic pet beast had slipped through inspections and broken through here.
Such aquatic pet beasts, even when occupying territory, rarely attacked creatures on land.
But after gaining Heart-to-Heart Communication, Lao Sha's feedback became much clearer to Su Ping.
Only then did he understand what Lao Sha meant.
For the past few nights, a foreign presence had appeared along the Lingxi River, right by the backyard of his home.
This was something Su Ping couldn't ignore. If it truly was an undiscovered pet beast, and it caused trouble or damage, the consequences would be serious.
However, after waiting for a full hour, aside from the cold night wind, they didn't see a single thing.
Even Lao Sha—facing Su Ping's suspicious gaze—looked slightly embarrassed and puzzled. This old wolf, whose age was nearly twice Su Ping's, clearly felt awkward.
And yet, at that very moment—
In the distance along the Lingxi River, a ripple appeared—so faint it was almost impossible to see with the naked eye.
The next instant, a small figure surfaced from within it.
Su Ping didn't even have time to see what it was. He only caught a glimpse of a streak of snow-white under the moonlight—
When Lao Sha suddenly lunged forward!
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