"Uh... no..."
Chen Shu's expression faltered, surprised that his abnormal Beast Taming Power had been noticed by the old man.
"You really didn't steal it?"
The old man frowned and said, "Except for some obtained through Beast Taming Pearls, most of your Beast Taming Power seems a bit strange."
"Of course not!"
Chen Shu coughed and said, "This is all the result of my sleepless nights and hard work in cultivation!"
"You can deny my talent, but you can't deny my effort!"
"?"
The old man gave him a deep look and didn't press further.
With his discerning eye, he admitted there was no known method to forcibly extract Beast Taming Power.
"Alright then."
He nodded and silently probed the Beast Taming Power within Chen Shu.
"..."
"Another contracted spirit?" Chen Shu looked at the light in the old man's hand, pondering in his mind.
This was not a power that humans could wield.
After a while, the old man withdrew his hand and said, "Roughly seven Gold King Beast Pearls."
"So many?!"
Chen Shu was shocked. According to his estimations, two or three pearls would have been enough.
After all, he had received a large amount of Beast Taming Power as a system reward, along with numerous Silver King Beast Pearls, and still needed seven Gold Pearls?
Was the old man deliberately trying to push his treasures?
"What do you think?"
The old man glanced at him and said, "Gold tier and Silver tier are two different concepts. If breaking through were that easy, there would be powerful individuals everywhere."
"A Gold King Beast Pearl costs three hundred billion Huaxia coins each! If you need them, I'll give them to you."
"..."
Chen Shu's mouth twitched. Could it get any more expensive?
"Um... the market price..."
"That's enough. It has little to do with me!"
The old man's lips curved upward, confidently stating, "Besides me, you won't find any other place in the world that can sell you seven Gold King Beast Pearls!"
Gold Kings were already considered top-tier combat power on Planet Blue, requiring at least three to four King-level individuals to hunt successfully.
"..."
Chen Shu's face contorted with pain. The cost seemed to be much higher than he had anticipated.
But thinking of the improvement that breakthrough would bring, he could only agree.
The old man smiled like a shrewd merchant and said, "Tell me if you need anything else!"
He was well aware of every cent in Chen Shu's account.
Chen Shu spoke, "Gold True Treasures, for Intelligence attribute and Fire attribute, as well as Defense attribute."
The old man said calmly, "Fire Element and Defense True Treasures are twenty billion each, and Intelligence is thirty billion."
"..."
Chen Shu took a deep breath and said, "Deal!"
He had over fourteen million Huaxia points in his account, which was approximately three hundred billion Huaxia coins. After buying the True Treasures, he would still have ninety billion left.
He pondered for a moment and said, "I want two Fire Element True Treasures, one Defense True Treasure, and one Intelligence True Treasure!"
"No problem!"
The old man nodded with a smile and, with a wave of his right hand, tossed out four Gold True Treasures and seven Gold King Beast Pearls.
"These were obtained by hunting dozens of Kings."
Chen Shu carefully collected them and then said, "Um, old man, I'm a big customer now. Can I get some discounts? Like, buy more, get more free?"
"???"
The old man gave him a dismissive glance. Was he treating him like a department store?
"I can give you a punch! Do you need one?"
"..."
Chen Shu's expression stiffened, and he instantly teleported away from his spot.
"This kid..."
The old man murmured to himself, "His earning speed is a bit too fast! I'm starting to think all my wealth will be used up by him sooner or later..."
Then, his gaze turned towards the sky.
"However, this escort mission is too difficult. I'll have to let Xiao Ning handle it."
...
Nanjiang City,
Chen Shu returned home, clutching seven Gold King Beast Pearls in his hand.
"These clearly have been sealed for a long time; they definitely weren't hunted recently."
He stroked his chin, estimating that the old man occasionally sent out his contracted spirits to earn some extra cash.
After all, facing legendary contracted spirits, Gold Kings were practically freebies.
"This is my first time breaking through on my own, right?"
He thought to himself, simultaneously swallowing the pearls in his hand in one go.
Boom—
In an instant, the spiritual energy contained within the seven Gold Pearls erupted, instantly pervading Chen Shu's body.
However, his body's toughness was extraordinary, and he easily withstood the impact of the spiritual energy.
It was only a matter of time before it was converted into his Beast Taming Power, and there was no danger involved.
Concurrently, Chen Shu's contracted spirits also swallowed their respective True Treasures, enhancing their primary attributes.
Just as Chen Shu was silently growing stronger,
The entire Beast Taming world of Huaxia had erupted into a massive uproar!
Various hunting missions were successively released by the authorities, involving different levels of异空间 (dimensional rifts).
Except for Long Yuan, all other 异空间 were designated as mission execution sites.
Beast Tamers were exhilarated, understanding that preparations were underway for a full-scale counter-offensive.
Previously, missions to hunt Kings were only accessible to a select few powerful individuals.
But now, it was different; it mobilized Beast Tamers from all over Huaxia.
Various resources from the official reserves were offered as rewards, which were far more generous than usual.
Especially for civilian Beast Tamers, they possessed good talent but lacked resources; this was their opportunity to soar!
In an instant, Beast Tamers on Planet Blue were eager to participate, spontaneously organizing with friends and family to form Beast Taming teams and undertake the official hunting missions.
Normally, a Silver Lord might be worth ten to twenty million,
But now, with the mission rewards, their earnings instantly doubled or tripled, naturally motivating them to act without hesitation.
Simultaneously, to encourage participation in hunting missions, the authorities specifically released hunting leaderboards for various Beast Taming tiers!
And Chen Shu, with his terrifying record of hunting forty-one Silver Kings, became the number one person on the honor roll!
The entire nation was in an uproar, never imagining that the notorious Nanjiang Bandit had unknowingly accomplished such an unbelievable feat!