The next morning, the sun brushed away the dew. It was warm and the wind was gentle—a rare, beautiful day.
However, Zhong Yi hadn't slept well last night. He'd been restless and even startled awake once in the middle of the night.
Zhong Yi thought to himself, 'Looks like I should buy a Sweet Dream Cat to keep around.'
The Sweet Dream Cat, along with the Substitute Puppet and the Cleaning Mouse, was one of the three major Household Beasts.
Compared to the Cleaning Mouse, which could only clean with its disproportionately large tail, a Household Beast like the Sweet Dream Cat—which could use its Spiritual Power to improve the sleep quality of other nearby creatures—was undoubtedly more useful.
Compared to ordinary people, Guardian Beast Masters who had fought in Secret Realms were more prone to mental tension and shock!
The Sweet Dream Cat was the perfect companion for aiding sleep, but the small shop where Zhong Yi lived didn't sell them.
Although the Sweet Dream Cat was a Household Beast, it wasn't cheap.
Even a Sweet Dream Cat of poorer quality would cost over 100,000 Alliance Coins.
Furthermore, Sweet Dream Cats were very delicate and unsuitable for being raised in groups, so shops without a Creator to look after them generally didn't sell them.
After washing up, Zhong Yi changed into a crisp, blue-and-white tracksuit. The moment he pushed open his door, he saw Hong Ji standing right outside.
Hong Ji's appearance hadn't changed much from the night before, but the moment he saw her, Zhong Yi sensed a difference.
Before Zhong Yi could even ask, Hong Ji handed him a blood-stained Storage Pouch.
She wore a hesitant expression, as if wanting to speak but stopping herself.
Zhong Yi quickly pulled Hong Ji into the room and had her sit on the bed, listening as she guiltily recounted what had happened late last night.
The more Hong Ji spoke, the tighter Zhong Yi's brow furrowed, until a cold sweat broke out on his back.
Zhong Yi was well aware of Zhong Chenghuai's strength. How could a Guardian Beast Master whose Lifebound Guardian Beast's Origin was damaged possibly be a match for a Deceit Beast?
'Thank goodness I formed a Soul Taming Seed Contract with Hong Ji yesterday, giving her the ability to fight.'
Otherwise, every living creature in the shop would have been slaughtered by the Deceit Beast that suddenly appeared yesterday.
They wouldn't have lived to see today's sun!
Seeing Zhong Yi's brow furrow, Hong Ji's voice grew quieter as she continued, a wronged expression appearing on her face.
'The meal was served right to my lips... how could I have resisted?'
Just then, Zhong Yi suddenly looked up and said to Hong Ji with great seriousness.
"Hong Ji, you did a great job with this!"
While Hong Ji was recounting the previous night's encounter, Zhong Yi had asked her to reveal the Deceit Beast she had devoured.
Seeing this Deceit Beast, Zhong Yi was once again shocked!
After inspecting it, Zhong Yi understood the Deceit Beast's power. It was a dual-type Flesh and Curse Deceit Beast, just one step away from the Fantasy Tier.
Even though Hong Ji had made Guardian Beast history by becoming a Silver Tier Mortal Beast, she was clearly not qualified to fight a Deceit Beast like this.
If Hong Ji hadn't devoured the creature instantly and had given it time to recover, she would have been the one killed instead.
Hong Ji had been afraid Zhong Yi would scold her, but upon hearing his praise, a smile immediately bloomed on her face.
"Hong Ji, did you completely devour that creature last night?"
Hearing this, Hong Ji replied with absolute certainty.
"Master, it was too delicious. I can guarantee there isn't a single scrap left."
"I even sucked up every last trace of its aura."
Despite Hong Ji's answer, Zhong Yi went into the courtyard for a careful look before he could finally rest easy.
Zhong Yi instructed Hong Ji.
"Hong Ji, don't mention what happened last night to anyone. From now on, if I'm around, ask me before you eat anything."
"If I'm not here, you can decide for yourself."
Returning to his room, Zhong Yi opened the blood-stained Storage Pouch.
Inside, aside from some miscellaneous items, there were only four things of value.
Although there were few valuable items, each one was worth a great deal.
The first item was a potted Jinhua Turtle Back Bamboo, about a meter tall.
This Jinhua Turtle Back Bamboo was growing exceptionally well, its sturdy vines climbing a wooden stake as thick as a calf.
Many of its snake-like aerial roots had pierced the sturdy stake.
Each split leaf was patterned with white, yellow, and green, evoking the feeling of summer.
The Jinhua Turtle Back Bamboo was an extremely valuable, large, plant-type Guardian Beast.
If this pot of Jinhua Turtle Back Bamboo were planted next to an outdoor wall, it would quickly cover the entire surface and climb up to the roof.
The Jinhua Turtle Back Bamboo was easy to raise, and the three-color distribution on each new leaf was random.
It was like opening a blind box for an oil painting, which made the Jinhua Turtle Back Bamboo a highly ornamental plant.
As long as it had plenty of sunlight, it only needed watering to ensure rapid growth.
Once this Jinhua Turtle Back Bamboo grows taller than three meters, one or two of its leaves will dry up every month.
These dried leaves contained an extremely rich Wood Element, making them excellent materials for Creators to concoct Wood Elemental Potions.
Each well-preserved leaf could sell for around 120,000 Federation Coins.
Because it required no daily maintenance, it could beautify its surroundings while generating a monthly income of nearly 200,000 Federation Coins.
It was no exaggeration to call the Jinhua Turtle Back Bamboo a money tree!
The second item was a rust-spotted iron box. The box itself looked quite plain, but inside were three beetles, each about half the size of an adult's palm.
The three beetles looked very ordinary, their matte-textured carapaces covered in iron filings, giving them a dirty appearance.
But Zhong Yi recognized them at a glance—they were Iron-Eating Insects!
They were a type of Insect Guardian Beast that produced refined steel after devouring iron ore.
The refined steel produced by Iron-Eating Insects through devouring iron ore could maximize the steel's Gold Attribute.
For example, manganese iron refined by an Iron-Eating Insect could achieve more than double the hardness and sharpness of ordinary refined manganese iron.
Sensing Zhong Yi's presence, the three Iron-Eating Insects retreated in unison to a corner of the iron box, raising their forelimbs in an attack stance.
If Zhong Yi dared to put his hand into the box at that moment, the three Iron-Eating Insects would surely attack him.
Seeing this, Zhong Yi wasn't angered; on the contrary, he was delighted.
The Iron-Eating Insects would only react this way if they had laid Insect Eggs in the corner.
Zhong Yi fixed his gaze behind the three Iron-Eating Insects and, sure enough, saw a dense cluster of translucent Insect Eggs piled in the corner.
The Insect Eggs of an Iron-Eating Insect were extremely difficult to hatch. Even with the meticulous care of a Creator, only three to five out of a hundred eggs would ever hatch.
The market price for a single Iron-Eating Insect was around 600,000 Federation Coins. In reality, the high price had little to do with the insect's direct function.
The price of refined manganese iron with its Gold Attribute enhanced by an Iron-Eating Insect was only three to four times more expensive than ordinary refined manganese iron.
Ordinary refined manganese iron only costs a few hundred Federation Coins per pound, and it would take an Iron-Eating Insect about half a month to produce one pound of it by consuming manganese iron ore.
The true reason for the Iron-Eating Insect's high price was related to its potential.
With special induction during its promotion to Silver Quality, an Iron-Eating Insect could evolve into a Silver-Eating Insect.
A Silver-Eating Insect devours Silver Ore and can produce Refined Mithril, which is used by Creators to craft precision instruments and vessels.
Refined Mithril could easily be sold at the trading house for the high price of 500,000 Federation Coins per pound.
The reason Zhong Yi was so overjoyed was because, as the fabricator of the game's data, he had a guaranteed method for hatching the Iron-Eating Insect Eggs and also knew exactly how to induce their Evolution into Silver-Eating Insects.
The three Iron-Eating Insects in the box, plus their eggs, were worth around 3,000,000 Federation Coins.
But in Zhong Yi's hands, they could create a value that was truly immeasurable!