Chapter 977: Persuading Young Master He

"You want to compare it like that?" Dong Rui pointed in the direction where Fang Canran’s back had disappeared. "That person’s broken sword tip can sell for eight hundred thousand. That’s worth ten of your island chains, isn't it?"

The sword tip of the First Shore True Person was indeed successfully sold at the Dun Garden, which was managed by Fang Canran.

"Because I’m short on money and materials, my research has been stagnant for a long time." Dong Rui rubbed his hands together. "Once these eighty thousand taels worth of materials arrive, I can use them for a long time."

"..." He Lingchuan kept a straight face. "What kind of ghost are you researching anyway!"

"Remember that Child-Devouring Ji Beast you gave me? The one that wouldn't hatch?"

"I regret it." He should have thrown that thing away back in the Panlong Desert!

"It’s a good thing, a good thing!" Dong Rui’s face was filled with regret. "This is the first time I’ve gotten my hands on a living juvenile Ji Beast. Judging by its insatiable needs, it’s very likely an ancient demon breed."

"What breed?"

"The famous great demons of the ancient era have mostly disappeared by now, such as the dragon or phoenix clans. The spiritual energy of the current world cannot support their needs." Dong Rui explained casually. "But this Child-Devouring Ji Beast you gave me, after being modified by who knows whom, actually survived. However, in order to stuff it into a human body, the Heavenly Palace tortured it until it was extremely weak, making it very easy for it to die prematurely."

He Lingchuan frowned: "Is that Ji Beast a dragon or a phoenix?" Otherwise, how could it be worth eighty thousand silver taels?

Dong Rui let out a scoff: "Is your imagination of great demons limited only to dragons and phoenixes? Barren, truly barren!"

"Then what is it?"

"It has currently entered the childhood-return phase, so its characteristics aren't obvious. I can only confirm that it is a demon of the Earth Scale class."

He Lingchuan frowned: "At the time, no matter how much the Heavenly Palace’s Cloud Envoy He Jing urged it, it refused to leave its host to help in battle. Are you sure this thing will listen to you later?"

"Is He Jing its feeder?"

"I don't know." Would a Cloud Envoy personally feed a Ji Beast? This knowledge was not within He Lingchuan’s grasp.

"Then he probably didn't know that this Ji Beast was born weak and had extremely high requirements for food and spiritual energy. Being summoned out at that time would have meant death, so it refused."

"I heard Ji Beasts are very hard to control."

"Hard? They are almost impossible to control! Almost!" Dong Rui glared at him. "Only my demon puppets can be commanded as easily as moving one's own arm."

He Lingchuan made a sound of dismissal: "Then what about Shenyuan?"

The giant beast Shenyuan, which had fought with Zuoju at Xushan, had shown clear strategy in its later battles, obviously under someone’s control.

Dong Rui choked: "‘Almost’ means there are occasional exceptions. The Heavenly Palace has such great ability, what’s so strange about them tempering a few that can obey?"

"But the little Ji Beast you gave me is too weak, and after the Heavenly Palace’s reckless modifications, it would immediately grow into a full-grown form upon birth to help the Lamp-Guarding Envoy fight. But this process is like pulling on seedlings to help them grow; it would exhaust all its life force in a short time. Whether it fought or not, it would die very quickly after being born!"

He Lingchuan let out an "oh." So the so-called Child-Devouring Ji Beast was actually a one-time combat consumable.

The Heavenly Palace team never intended to bring them back after taking them out.

"This little thing has high spiritual intelligence, so it instinctively rejected He Jing’s summons." Dong Rui explained. "But the nourishment I’m undertaking can replenish its vital energy and nurse its congenital deficiencies, allowing it to emerge naturally at the right time. Hehe, this little guy is lucky to have met me!"

Lucky? He Lingchuan didn't know whether to laugh or cry. Don't look at how righteous this guy sounds; how much torture was involved in his process of researching and creating demon puppets?

"Of course, I also need to make some modifications to it to make it even more powerful!"

Right, that was the Dong Rui that He Lingchuan knew—never three sentences without talking about his trade.

"But because of a lack of funds and materials, my demon puppet research has been stagnant for a long time!" Dong Rui said righteously. "And you won't let me go out and make money myself!"

Then, of course, he could only reach out and ask for it.

"..."

He Lingchuan was helpless: "If this eighty thousand is spent, what exactly will it do? What effect will it have?"

He was the boss; if he spent the money, he naturally wanted to see results!

"Let me put it this way." Dong Rui looked serious, knowing this concerned his future research funding. "A Ji Beast that can be brought by Cloud Envoy He Jing to fight in a climactic battle is no ordinary player. It’s only because this little guy had flaws itself that it was raised as a Child-Devouring Ji Beast. If this Ji Beast can be successfully tempered, its initial combat power will be at least five or six times that of a Violent Ape—I’m talking about the initial stage—and in the future, as long as it’s nurtured well, its growth will be limitless!"

He was very rigorous, even adding "initial stage."

Even so, He Lingchuan glared at him gloomily: "Are you bluffing?"

"Not bluffing!" Dong Rui said sternly. "Is this something to joke about? The growth of a demon puppet doesn't necessarily depend on spiritual energy."

"I think you’re just trying to scam me for funding. You don't even know what breed this Ji Beast is."

"Ji Beasts and demon puppets are monsters created out of nothing to begin with; every one is different, so what’s the point of talking about breeds?" Dong Rui refused to back down. "One is a breed unto itself; they can't be categorized!"

As the two were locked in a war of words, Fang Canran returned and coughed from the side.

Dong Rui immediately shifted his target: "How is it? Any leads?"

Fang Canran hesitated for a rare moment before saying: "Do you need these three materials urgently in the near future?"

"Not urgent, but I’ll definitely need them in a few months."

He Lingchuan interjected: "Aren't they for the Ji Beast?"

Dong Rui glanced at him: "Yes, they are used for the mutation stability research of demon puppets. Whether it’s a Ji Beast or a demon puppet, they are products of mutation and are inherently unstable, prone to collapse and going mad. Even the Heavenly Palace hasn't figured it out yet. But as for that one of ours, there are no signs of it being born yet."

"The difficulty of obtaining these three materials is very high, and it’s not exactly legitimate." Fang Canran said slowly. "I can find someone to figure out a way; there’s an eighty percent chance I can get them, but I need to pay half the deposit in advance, which is—"

"—One hundred thousand taels!"

Buying these three materials would cost a total of two hundred thousand taels? And that wasn't even counting the other materials listed on the sheet that would eat up another eighty thousand taels. He Lingchuan’s vision went dark.

Seeing this, Dong Rui immediately persuaded him: "Building a Golden-Armored Copper General also costs a huge amount, and it’s not as useful as my demon puppets, right?"

For He Lingchuan to upgrade his Golden-Armored Copper General to a Divine General would also cost an astronomical sum, and there were limits on summoning time; demon puppets were different. As long as Dong Rui commanded them properly, they could operate for long periods, like the Snail-Toad that had carried them for tens of thousands of miles.

Dong Rui continued: "If spending a few hundred thousand taels could get you a powerful great demon that can fight, and one that might continue to grow in the future, wouldn't you do it?"

(End of chapter)