Li Qian felt a little awkward, so he didn’t voice his intention to withdraw just yet. He decided to see how things would play out first.
If she was sincere, it wouldn’t be out of the question to affiliate with them temporarily. Besides, Li Qian figured that although this Shi Gui Fang was, in all likelihood, some rich kid or a Second Generation Beast Tamer whose motives for running this Cultivation Base were questionable, nothing was ever certain. ’Maybe she genuinely wants to accomplish something!’
Of course, whether she was genuinely trying to accomplish something didn’t matter to Li Qian, as long as she didn’t interfere with his research.
If she could manage that, Li Qian wouldn’t mind leaving behind some minor achievements for her during his month-or-so stay.
Having made up his mind, Li Qian didn’t say much more and followed Shi Gui Fang on a tour of the Sky Realm Cultivation Base.
After a brief tour, Li Qian found that the Cultivation Base was, just as he’d expected, not very large.
At most, it was only slightly larger than his own Jiaoyang Cultivation Base.
Perhaps noticing the lack of excitement in Li Qian’s eyes and guessing he wasn’t impressed, Shi Gui Fang gave an awkward laugh. "In terms of size, our Sky Realm Cultivation Base admittedly isn’t a large one."
"But we have our own advantages..."
Hearing this, Li Qian showed a flicker of interest. "Oh? Go on."
Shi Gui Fang was slightly taken aback by Li Qian’s response, likely not expecting him to bite.
But she quickly recovered and said, "This place was originally called Langela Cultivation Base. I only recently took it over."
"After taking over, I spent a considerable sum renovating almost the entire facility."
"The equipment inside still can’t compare to the large-scale Cultivation Bases, but among facilities of a similar size, it’s definitely second to none."
Li Qian nodded slightly. Shi Gui Fang’s description was accurate; he had noticed as much during the tour.
The Sky Realm Cultivation Base wasn’t much larger than his own Jiaoyang Cultivation Base, but its facilities were indeed very luxurious.
For a Cultivation Base of this class, at least, it could certainly be considered "luxurious."
Of course, whether this "luxury" was a good thing was a matter of opinion.
After all, what was that saying? You’re not afraid of a rich kid who knows how to spend money; you’re afraid of one who’s determined to make it.
Seeing Li Qian nod, as if in agreement, Shi Gui Fang continued, "Beyond that, I’ve also made huge changes to the staff."
"I got rid of almost all the original employees who were just coasting. Everyone here is a new hire. As you probably saw during the tour, the staff is very young. That’s another one of my goals—I want to build a young, energetic team."
Li Qian nodded again. He didn’t offer any commentary, just listened attentively.
’This petite girl seems to have a lot of ideas.’
Whether any of those ideas would come to fruition or lead to real success, however, was hard to say.
After walking around the base for a while, Li Qian made a request. "Could you take me to see your base’s data archive?"
Every Cultivation Base had its own data archive. In a sense, the archive was the true heart of the entire operation.
Li Qian had only asked on a whim.
He knew full well that the data archive wouldn’t be opened for a new Breeder who was just there for an interview.
So, after asking, Li Qian was already prepared for her to refuse.
To his surprise, however, after only a moment’s thought, Shi Gui Fang agreed without hesitation.
"Sure. I’ll take you there right now."
Shi Gui Fang agreed to Li Qian’s request, and even added an explanation, "But I only took over this Cultivation Base recently. I’m not really sure what’s in the data archive myself."
Li Qian froze for a second when he heard that, but he quickly recovered.
Without hesitation, he followed Shi Gui Fang as she led him toward a different part of the Cultivation Base.
The two of them chatted as they walked, and before long, they arrived at the top floor of the White Castle.
Upon reaching the top floor and rounding a corner, they came face to face with a large iron door.
Shi Gui Fang led the way forward.
There was a screen set into the iron door.
After her iris scan was approved, the iron door slowly swung open.
Li Qian’s eyes narrowed. He quickly saw that the space behind the iron door was quite large.
What was even more surprising was the faint, musty smell that wafted out from within.
Catching a whiff of the scent, Li Qian couldn’t help but wrinkle his nose.
At that moment, he truly believed what the young woman had said.
She really must not have known what kind of records were in here.
Judging by the circumstances, it was obvious no one had set foot in this archive for quite some time.
His brow furrowed, but Li Qian didn’t waste any time and walked right in without hesitation.
Once inside the archive, he immediately noticed that the top-floor room was quite spacious.
It had to be over two hundred square meters.
The interior was filled with rows of shelves, like bookcases.
The shelves were lined with all sorts of paper documents.
Li Qian was slightly taken aback by the sight.
’In this day and age, who still uses paper to store precious cultivation data?’
It was almost all stored in a base’s cloud database.
If you wanted to view it, you could just use VR glasses to connect to the Cultivation Base’s intranet and access it with ease.
As far as Li Qian knew, aside from a few ancient libraries, almost no Cultivation Base still used paper to store its data.
Noticing the curiosity on Li Qian’s face, Shi Gui Fang explained, "Most of this Cultivation Base’s records are stored in here."
"There used to be an old-timer at the base who wasn’t comfortable with high-tech gadgets and preferred to back up all the data on paper."
It was easy to guess where this old-timer was now.
He had either retired or passed away.
The amount of dust in the archive was a clear sign that no one had tended to it for some time.
Besides, judging by Shi Gui Fang’s tone, she seemed to admire the old man and likely wouldn’t have been the one to fire him.
Li Qian gave a slight nod. Without saying anything more, he walked farther into the room at an unhurried pace.
His gaze gradually landed on the nearest row of shelves.