Ah Chen was unaware of the Jin siblings’ schemes; she planned to make a trip to the Spiritual Beast Peak. Most of the spiritual beasts in the sect came from the Spiritual Beast Peak, including those birds that work daily to earn their food.
Besides the birds, there were other spiritual beasts helping with tasks, but the sect did not treat them unfairly.
Of course, there were also some spiritual beasts used for meat. These spiritual beasts were almost never allowed to develop spiritual intelligence, and if they did, the sect would put them to work in exchange for rewards and generally would not kill them for meat.
Ah Chen landed on the Spiritual Beast Peak and was immediately surrounded by its disciples, asking her what she needed.
The commissioner rarely came here; previously, if there was anything, they would use items to ask other disciples to help.
"Just looking around," Ah Chen said, casually tossing a bottle of elixir to the disciple who came to greet her, "you can show me around."
"Thank you, Senior Sister Pei, my name is Yuan Tong." Yuan Tong accepted it joyfully, not expecting such an opportunity; she had only mixed spirit roots and was at the Qi Refining Fifth Level.
With poor talent, she had been in the sect for years and still didn’t know when she could achieve Foundation Establishment, perhaps never in her lifetime.
There were many disciples in the sect who had no hope of reaching Foundation Establishment, ending up retiring to the mountain villages when they were old.
She’d heard that Senior Sister Pei was generous, and she must seize this chance; maybe she could get an opportunity for Foundation Establishment. She also knew about some in the sect who benefitted from Senior Sister Pei but gossiped behind her back, which always made her feel heartbroken, wishing she could replace those disciples.
To be favored by Senior Sister Pei and gain benefits, what a great opportunity! Were some people really stupid, or did they think Senior Sister Pei was stupid?
Ah Chen felt Yuan Tong’s enthusiasm and started wandering around the Spiritual Beast Peak with her.
The spiritual beasts with intelligence didn’t need much management; they would follow the sect’s rules.
Those spiritual beasts without intelligence were kept in enclosures, intimidated by the intelligent spiritual beasts, so most disciples at the Spiritual Beast Peak didn’t have high cultivation, with those at Foundation Establishment being quite capable.
Next, what shocked Yuan Tong was that every spiritual beast that approached Ah Chen was given a treat.
In no time, rumors circulated among the intelligent spiritual beasts at the Spiritual Beast Peak that Pei Chen was here. They quickly gathered around, with some shamelessly performing tricks or showing their bellies for a rub.
Ah Chen petted a few, then rewarded them, and the spiritual beasts became even more excited, performing harder.
Ah Chen smiled, thinking this was better than giving benefits to those ingrates. Giving rewards to spiritual beasts meant they would try to make her happy in return.
"I’ve recently learned alchemy and have some talent, so there will be no shortage of food for you in the future," she said.
Yuan Tong on the side didn’t know what to do with her envy at this point; one day, she regretted not being a spiritual beast.
Why wasn’t she a spiritual beast?
Aah, if only she were a spiritual beast!
Unknowingly, Ah Chen came to a lake.
Yuan Tong finally snapped back to reality, quickly approaching Ah Chen with some caution: "Senior Sister Pei, this is Senior Sang Biao’s territory, and his temperament isn’t very good."
Sang Biao?
Ah Chen was a bit puzzled; she had certainly heard this name before. Didn’t it just represent a kind of ferocious cat? Of course, Sang Biao was initially a person’s name.
Upon thinking, such a name wasn’t uncommon, and it was normal for someone to be named Sang Biao.
The commissioner wasn’t familiar with the Spiritual Beast Peak, and Ah Chen didn’t have many memories of this place either.
Ah Chen looked around; no wonder the spiritual beasts that had surrounded her earlier were nowhere in sight. She thought they had tasks, but they hadn’t gone far, only waiting over there, with deep dread in their eyes toward the lake’s direction.
"Senior Sang Biao wouldn’t randomly attack people, would he?" Ah Chen asked.
Yuan Tong nodded: "Just a bad temper, with a cold and proud demeanor, a bit scary when angry, but won’t attack people randomly."
She was just concerned about possible conflicts between the two sides.
Previously, there were some thoughtless disciples who tried to pet Senior Sang Biao and got beaten up. He wouldn’t randomly attack, but if provoked, he would hit back.
There were also female disciples who wanted to take Senior Sang Biao as a spirit pet, and it’s undeniable that Senior Sang Biao’s appearance was quite appealing. Of course, in the end, that female disciple didn’t succeed, bore a grudge against Senior Sang Biao, and brought her supporter over.
Ultimately, her supporter got beaten up too.
Moreover, from then on, the Spiritual Beast Peak didn’t welcome that female disciple and her supporter anymore; to contract spiritual beasts, they had to look elsewhere.
Even the birds serving as transportation across various peaks refused to carry that female disciple’s supporter, showing the serious consequences of provoking Senior Sang Biao.
These were events from many years ago, and if she hadn’t been assigned to the Spiritual Beast Peak, she wouldn’t have heard about them.
She was just reminding Senior Sister Pei not to carelessly go up and pet Senior Sang Biao just because of his handsome appearance in case she angered him.
If something went wrong, what if Senior Sister Pei never came to the Spiritual Beast Peak again?
Yuan Tong had an intuition that her opportunity might be coming.
Ah Chen continued walking toward the lake; the scenery here was quite nice, and soon she saw a tabby cat...fishing, with a grumpy expression.
A thought arose in her mind, and she asked Yuan Tong beside her: "Is he Senior Sang Biao?"
It’s because the strength of this tabby cat was indeed formidable, clearly one of the top powerhouses in the sect. However, it had yet to transform, which was puzzling.
Yuan Tong quickly nodded: "Yes, that is Senior Sang Biao."
Ah Chen chuckled, still facing the tabby cat that was fishing.
The tabby cat heard the chuckle, turned its grumpy face around, and saw the woman underneath the tree, smiling radiantly. A hint of surprise passed through its eyes, curious about why the sect master’s daughter would come to the secluded Spiritual Beast Peak. Identifying her was due to the memory stone replaying her image for three days and nights across the peaks some time ago.
"Senior Sang Biao, this is Senior Sister Pei, just casually wandering here," Yuan Tong quickly greeted. If not provoked, although Senior Sang Biao looked a bit grumpy, he wouldn’t hurt anyone and would even share fish with the disciples of the Spiritual Beast Peak.
Speaking of which, the fish grilled by Senior Sang Biao was particularly delicious.
Isn’t it normal for a cat to grill fish? Yuan Tong had no doubts about this.
Senior Sang Biao was an impressive spirit cat with unfathomable strength, intelligence comparable to humans, and even capable of speaking human language.
Just then, the bobber moved. The tabby cat slowly lifted the fishing rod. The fish on the hook, although not spiritually intelligent, wasn’t an ordinary fish and was struggling hard. Fortunately, the fishhook wasn’t ordinary either; once bitten, it was hard to shake off.
After some struggle, the fish was pulled out of the water. Just as it was about to reach the bank, the tabby cat swiftly used a net to scoop it up, catching a ten-pound fish.
It was very skillful, like the action had been done thousands of times before.
Yuan Tong showed admiration. Senior Sang Biao was indeed a spirit cat; once a fish bit onto the hook, there was no chance of escape.