Chapter 101: Divine Power Is No Different from a Deadly Poison

The three siblings rarely went out together for a stroll, yet this fellow came over to belittle them, claiming that all the knowledge they gained about beast-taming was useless.

How was it useless?

When shopping, who doesn’t compare goods from different vendors? Which seller doesn’t vigorously showcase the excellence and advantages of their own products?

So, as soon as that young master spoke, Qingjin grew displeased.

Their eldest brother was dignified and too embarrassed to quarrel openly; their youngest sister lacked the fighting spirit for arguments. Naturally, Qingzhen took it upon himself to respond.

If he didn’t stand up for them, who else would?

Those nearby took a good look and were stunned by the Shen siblings’ beast-taming prowess.

To see so many extraordinary beast cubs on the streets of Wuding City was nothing short of shocking, utterly astonishing!

But for that young master, it was a bitter pill to swallow.

Though his family’s beast-taming business had a wide variety, few of their beasts could match those of the Shen siblings.

At first, he assumed the three were just scattered cultivators who had come to gawk at the opening of the Xuantian Tower—fallen, insignificant folk, not real beast tamers, and certainly unable to afford the Shen family’s beast cubs.

The consequence of such disdain was a slap in the face.

In truth, the three siblings were genuine beast tamers.

Offending even one beast tamer was troublesome enough; offending three at once was utterly embarrassing. He felt utterly lost, unsure how to recover his dignity.

“A misunderstanding, a misunderstanding!” At that moment, Uncle He, who had escorted Chai Ning and the merchant caravan to Wuding City, hurriedly pushed through the crowd. “Young master, this is truly a case of water flooding the Dragon King’s temple—family not recognizing family.

“This gentleman is Shen Qingjin, the city lord of Panlong City in Dongli Mountain, whom you have long wished to meet. Shen Qingjin is a direct disciple of the Eternal Dao Master. This is his brother Shen Qingzhen and sister Shen Qinghu.

“Qingjin, this is our Chai family’s eldest young master, Chai Shao, the full brother of Miss Chai Ning.

“He is the eldest legitimate son of our clan head.”

Upon hearing this, both sides grew even more awkward.

Qingjin and his siblings had a favorable impression of Chai Ning and Uncle He, but Chai Shao was another matter.

Chai Shao thought to himself: I never expected the friends my sister made would be… well, very awkward indeed.

“Perhaps we should move inside the shop to talk,” Uncle He suggested immediately. Standing here only made them a laughingstock to the people of Wuding City.

Qingjin considered it and accepted Uncle He’s advice to go inside.

There was no need to break the Chai family’s face so suddenly.

Besides, Qingzhen had already embarrassed the other party enough.

As they entered the Chai family’s beast-taming shop, the surrounding crowd began to disperse, but as they did, they spread new exciting gossip.

For instance, the appearance of a white light tiger cub, a radiant sparrow chick, and a light-sword fish cub—all in the hands of these young siblings.

Though more and more younglings from the various tribes of the Eastern Wasteland were arriving in Wuding City due to the opening of the Xuantian Tower, bringing news of rare beasts, it was unprecedented to see three such extraordinarily rare and immensely potential beast cubs appear together at once.

This new topic quickly became popular and spread rapidly through the crowd.

Inside the Chai family’s shop, everyone took their seats, host and guests alike.

Uncle He quickly explained, “Most of the beast shops on Beast Street have strong backing. Our Chai family is supported by a well-known Daoist temple within Wuding City, which is why we’ve established a firm foothold here.

“On this street, the first ten shops on the left belong to our Chai family.”

So it wasn’t just six shops, but ten! The Chai family was wealthier than expected. Each shop was sizable, with front and back courtyards, occupying nearly as much land as the small courtyard the Shen siblings had recently acquired.

Their property was worth at least a million purple gold coins in Wuding City—an enormous fortune.

Before coming here, Qingjin had never imagined he would so quickly own such a valuable property.

But looking at the Chai family, they operated ten shops just on Beast Street alone.

“Earlier, the young master was only joking. Please forgive the Shen siblings if he offended you. Young master, you should apologize to the Shen siblings as well.”

Hearing Uncle He’s words, Chai Shao put aside his pride and sincerely apologized, “It was my fault. I judged you with suspicion, assuming you came to listen to beast-taming knowledge for free. Please forgive my rude words.”

“Brother Chai, no need for such formality. It was just a minor misunderstanding. Let’s put it behind us,” Qingjin said with a faint smile, speaking on behalf of his siblings.

Seeing the reconciliation, Uncle He smiled, “Qingjin, did you bring your siblings out today to find suitable beast cubs or beast eggs?”

“Yes, but we haven’t found anything fitting,” Qingjin replied. In truth, once inside the shop and hearing the clerks introduce various beast cubs and eggs, they were completely captivated, absorbing much new knowledge.

“Our shop does have a batch of quality beast cubs and eggs. Shall I have someone show them to you?” Uncle He asked.

“That would be great, Uncle He,” Qingjin replied inwardly impressed. No wonder he recognized the mutant white mountain cat as a white light tiger cub at a glance.

So this was how extensive the Chai family’s beast-taming business was.

Uncle He immediately arranged for the items to be brought out. Soon, various high-quality beast cubs and eggs were displayed before the Shen siblings.

“I think that little black leopard is quite good. Its fur is soft and sleek, with some dark swirling patterns. Quite distinctive,” Qingzhen said, pointing at a small cage. The creature inside noticed the finger pointing and immediately emitted a threatening growl.

“Oh, it’s baring its teeth at me. Quite fierce,” Qingzhen teased through the cage bars.

The little black leopard growled various intimidating sounds.

“It’s telling you to back off if you don’t want to buy it. If you want to contract with it, you must provide fresh meat daily. Otherwise, it won’t agree to become your beast,” Qinghu stood beside Qingzhen, translating for the little leopard.

Qingzhen scratched his head. “This little black leopard doesn’t seem to match well with our little bird sons?”

“A wind leopard would be more suitable,” Qinghu agreed.

“Wind leopards are rare. The last one I saw was during the great beast tide over twenty years ago,” Uncle He said. “This shadow leopard cub is considered quite good.”

Qingzhen reluctantly let the little black leopard go and moved on to examine other beasts.

Their attributes didn’t quite align.

“Hey, why is this egg blue?” Qingzhen found a pale blue egg with black-gray spots.

“That egg is dead,” Qinghu said. “No matter what it was, it’s useless now.”

The egg showed no signs of life, unless she personally infused it with vitality—which she refused to do since it wasn’t her egg.

“What a pity,” Qingzhen said regretfully, looking at the blue egg.

“This blue egg, about the size of a chicken egg, was discovered by a lone human cultivator in an ancient underground cave in the Eastern Wasteland. At first, he mistook it for a dragon egg.

“We explained that dragon eggs are never this small, and he finally accepted it wasn’t a dragon egg. Yet, he still traded a large amount of resources for it,” Uncle He recalled with nostalgia. “Our Chai family was planning to find an appraiser to see if it still had any chance of hatching. But from Qinghu’s words, it seems there’s absolutely no chance.

“This deal is a loss.”

Sitting nearby, Chai Shao listened carefully and finally became curious. “Is the Shen family’s little sister a beast tamer with special talent?”

“She’s particularly skilled in beast taming,” Uncle He answered with a smile.

Qingjin and the others were speechless.

Chai Shao pondered deeply.

Since Qingjin and his siblings hadn’t found suitable beasts, they continued asking Uncle He about the situation on Beast Street, inquiring whether he knew of any especially rare beast cubs or eggs in other shops.

Uncle He patiently explained everything to the three siblings, but still no perfect match emerged.

Unnoticed, a whole day slipped by.

They were then warmly invited by Uncle He to stay for dinner.

Only after leaving the Chai family did they feel truly relieved.

Especially Qingjin, as Uncle He clung to his arm, unwilling to let go.

Upon returning home, Ning Qi had already arrived.

Seeing the three siblings return with company, he asked, “Where did you all wander off to? Why are you back so late?”

“Don’t ask,” Qingjin recounted their day’s experiences to Ning Qi. “I never expected the Chai family to have such a vast beast-taming empire on Beast Street.”

“That’s not just their empire,” Ning Qi said knowingly. “Long ago, the Chai family formed a small merchant alliance. I don’t know exactly how many families are involved, but it’s definitely not just one.

“When running their shops and trading goods, they all claim to be the Chai family.

“Of those ten beast shops, probably only two or three truly belong to the Chai family.”

“That’s a business alliance. Is that really necessary?” Qingjin asked skeptically.

“It seems so. I don’t understand business much, but ever since forming this alliance, the Chai family has grown from an obscure minor clan to the powerful Chai family of today in less than a hundred years.

“In terms of influence, they’re not much weaker than some Daoist temples in human territories.

“And their reputation is excellent. Wherever there’s disaster, you’ll find them—offering medical herbs, affordable grain, all building their good name.”

“So, this Chai family isn’t as simple as they seem on the surface?” Qingjin asked.

“Simple? How many families that have a foothold in Wuding City are simple? Even you have the Eternal Dao Master backing you.”

Qingjin was speechless.

“By the way, you didn’t find anything good on Beast Street, right?” Ning Qi asked.

Qingjin nodded. “We were blocked right at the start, and later inside the Chai family shop, we still didn’t find anything suitable.”

“In that case, let’s have Qinghu and Qingzhen go to bed early tonight. I’ll take you to the night market at midnight to search for treasures,” Ning Qi said. “Anything can appear in Wuding City’s night market, though fake goods are rampant as well.

“It all depends on your eye. If you can’t tell, buying fakes is just bad luck. The sellers won’t care if you want a refund.”

“I’m going!” Qinghu immediately raised her hand.

“Me too!” Qingzhen’s eyes sparkled wide.

Qingjin felt quite interested as well. “Alright, we’ll all go.”

…

In the middle of the night, Qinghu was awakened by Little White’s calls—chirping sounds like a quarrel over who ate more and who ate less.

“Is Fourth Brother feeding his little birds?” Qinghu asked the attendant, Little White.

“Yes. Earlier, Qingquan came to deliver porridge and side dishes and said the little princes Fourth Brother is raising have a growing appetite. They eat more and more.

“He also mentioned that the little cat the Eldest Brother is raising is particularly voracious—finishing a whole big plate of meat in one meal. And that kitten is not even two months old.”

“Being able to eat well is good; it means they’re growing strong. Tell Qingquan and Jiuquan that feeding alone isn’t enough; they need to exercise often. Like jumping through hoops, fetching things, swimming, climbing trees—daily training is necessary.”

Hearing this, Little White nodded earnestly. “Understood. I’ll tell Qingquan and Jiuquan.”

The little chirpers didn’t realize Qinghu was once again meddling with them and the kitten, happily chirping away.

Qingjin and his siblings finished preparing and were ready to leave, though it was still dark outside.

With Ning Qi leading, they followed, heads bowed, walking steadily toward a section of the city.

Along the way, they encountered others hurrying similarly, some bearing large and small packages.

Arriving near the city walls, they saw a vast area of ruins—former mansions destroyed for unknown reasons, left unrepaired and unrebuilt.

“There are many strange places in Wuding City. Look here. This section of the city wall is relatively well preserved.

“But in this area, there are still many ruins. They haven’t been torn down or rebuilt, just left to waste.

“The black market I mentioned lies deep within this old ruin.”

Ning Qi explained to the Shen siblings.

From the moment they approached this area, Qinghu noticed the divine barrier on the city wall was still active, continuously gathering earth-element spiritual energy and converting it into divine power.

Because of the dense earth energy, other elemental energies were repelled.

This created a domain of purely earth-element spiritual energy.

Such a single-element energy field was unsuitable for beings of other elements.

Moreover, the divine barrier remained, radiating faint divine power.

For most low-level lifeforms, divine energy was akin to a deadly poison.

No wonder the ground here was bare and clean—no insects, no mice.

Le Wen