"Excuse me. I’ve arranged to meet with one of your Breeders, surnamed Shi. I’m here to see them now." After arriving at the Sky Realm Cultivation Base, Li Qian surveyed the main gate for a moment before walking straight up to it.
An old woman was standing guard at the main gate of the Cultivation Base.
Li Qian politely greeted her and briefly explained his situation.
"You’re the Breeder, the one named Li?" The old woman looked Li Qian over, her gaze probing and skeptical.
Li Qian’s youthful face was probably the source of her skepticism.
Li Qian nodded.
The previous night, he had briefly exchanged information with them on the Breeders’ internal network.
So he wasn’t surprised that the old woman knew who he was.
The old woman didn’t let him in right away. Instead, she immediately returned to the guardhouse and made a phone call.
About two minutes later, the old woman walked back. Before she even reached him, she raised her arm in a gesture of invitation.
"Dou Ding, come here. Take this esteemed guest to see our boss." As the old woman finished speaking, a Douding Bird, only about the size of one’s palm, suddenly darted down from a nearby branch.
The Douding Bird flew above Li Qian’s head, circled once, and then flew off in a specific direction.
Li Qian’s eyes lit up when he saw this.
’This Sky Realm Cultivation Base is rather interesting. I didn’t expect a wild Pet Beast to be my guide.’ Li Qian couldn’t help but murmur to himself.
The Douding Bird was a fairly common bird-type Pet Beast, and its Potential wasn’t considered very high.
Currently, the Douding Bird is known to have two stages of evolution, both of which have been fully researched by human Breeders.
Its first-stage evolution is the Gale Swallow, which has the Potential to reach Tier Nine Elite. Its second-stage evolution is the Great King Swallow, with Potential reaching Commander Sixth Rank.
Its Potential could only be described as decent.
Its simple evolution made it one of the more ideal Pet Beast choices for the average Beast Master.
Of course, to young Beast Masters from prominent backgrounds, or those who were simply scions of prestigious families, such a Pet Beast was utterly unremarkable.
After briefly reviewing what he knew about Douding Birds, Li Qian strode forward without hesitation, following its lead deeper into the Cultivation Base.
Just as he’d suspected from outside...
This Cultivation Base was indeed not very large; even compared to his own Jiaoyang Cultivation Base, it wasn’t much bigger.
Li Qian walked at a relaxed pace, with the Douding Bird fluttering leisurely ahead of him.
It chirped happily, CHIRP CHIRP, bobbing up and down as it flew, leading the way in a certain direction...
Soon, a building that looked like a castle, with white walls and dark tiles, came into Li Qian’s view.
Li Qian was rather surprised to see a castle-like structure built inside a Cultivation Base.
Generally, buildings inside a Cultivation Base were built for practicality; it was rare to find one so refined and beautiful.
Driven by curiosity, he continued to follow the Douding Bird’s lead and soon arrived before the White Castle.
The castle wasn’t very large, only five stories tall. It was topped with a round roof and a lightning rod, which looked quite pleasant.
The castle’s walls were painted in alternating shades of blue and green, creating a distinctive and rather beautiful style...
The eaves of the castle were also adorned with various carvings.
Li Qian recognized most of these carvings. They were all depictions of various Flying Pet Beasts.
Of course, there were a few he didn’t recognize.
Judging by their appearance, they weren’t ordinary Flying Pet Beasts—they looked to be at least Emperor Level.
Furthermore, these particular Pet Beast carvings were placed higher up, giving them an air of superiority, as if they were looking down on all other beasts.
As Li Qian was curiously taking in the sights around the castle, a girl suddenly waved at him from the main entrance not far away. She wore a white dress with a giant bow and looked as cute as a porcelain doll...
"Hello, are you Breeder Li?" the girl in the white dress greeted Li Qian while waving.
Since Li Qian had only given his surname when he messaged her on the Breeders’ internal network, he wasn’t surprised by the slightly odd form of address.
Li Qian looked at the girl in the dress, feeling a little surprised and, admittedly, a little disappointed.
After his experience at Gao Yaxin’s Changfeng Cultivation Base in Nandu City, Li Qian had become somewhat wary of Cultivation Bases run by young girls as a mere hobby.
Even if he was only affiliating temporarily, Li Qian had no desire to get involved in what looked like a rich girl’s playground.
Yes, as far as Li Qian was concerned, this Cultivation Base was, in all likelihood, the exclusive playground of the girl in the white dress.
Whether or not any real research was accomplished was one thing, but Li Qian had no desire to be inexplicably squeezed out again.
"Hello, Breeder Shi!" Li Qian greeted the girl in the dress, using a similarly strange title.
The girl in the dress couldn’t help but burst out laughing when she heard the strange form of address.
"’Breeder Shi’... The way you say it makes it sound like an insult."
Hearing this, Li Qian also started laughing.
He held up his hands and explained, "The old lady at the gate just told me the owner’s surname was Shi. I don’t know your full name, so that was the best I could do."
"Besides, calling you ’The Unmoving Seesaw’ would be even more inappropriate, wouldn’t it?"
"The Unmoving Seesaw" was this girl’s screen name on the internal network.
Li Qian’s screen name on the Breeders’ internal network was "Hooray for Understanding," so calling each other by their screen names would be even stranger.
Their shared laugh broke the somewhat awkward atmosphere...
"Welcome to my Cultivation Base... the Sky Realm Cultivation Base." The girl in the dress made the invitation, and she seemed quite sincere. After a moment’s thought, Li Qian followed her.
In any case, even if he had no intention of affiliating with this Cultivation Base, there was no reason to be rude to someone being so friendly.
Especially not when it was such a charming and pretty girl.
After entering the castle and walking a few more steps, Li Qian followed the girl in the dress towards the second floor.
After turning a corner, the two of them climbed the stairs to the second floor.
Along the way, the girl in the dress introduced herself.
Her name was Shi Gui Fang and, just as Li Qian had guessed, she was the owner of this Cultivation Base.
As for whether she was a rich heiress just dabbling for fun, Li Qian was wise enough not to ask.
Some things were best understood without being spoken aloud; asking would just make it awkward.
Li Qian’s emotional intelligence wasn’t that low.
After entering Shi Gui Fang’s office, they chatted for a while after their brief introductions.
Li Qian frankly explained his situation.
Even if he really joined this Sky Realm Cultivation Base, he could only stay for a little over a month.
In a little over a month, he had to return to Lingshui City and then head directly to Shazhou Beast Taming University to enroll.
Once school started, even if he could still visit the Cultivation Base, it certainly wouldn’t be for long.
Li Qian didn’t want to be deceptive, so he laid out his true situation.
He had thought that Shi Gui Fang would reject his strange request without hesitation... but what Li Qian hadn’t expected was... after a moment of thought, she readily agreed.
"That’s acceptable. You’re already an Intermediate Breeder at such a young age; your future potential is limitless. It’s an honor for the Sky Realm Cultivation Base to form a connection with someone of your caliber." Shi Gui Fang’s words were beautifully phrased.
Li Qian was pretty thick-skinned, but even he felt a little embarrassed hearing that.
At the same time, a part of him grew more wary.
’This girl might look sweet and charming, but her words and actions make it clear... she’s no blank slate. She’s probably an old hand at this!’
Her ready agreement also put Li Qian in a difficult position. Now, it seemed, it would be much harder to refuse...