Chapter Fifty: The Little Tengu
The plane landed smoothly at Qiantang Xiaoshan International Airport.
Under such circumstances, with a safe landing, none of the passengers blamed the airline; instead, everyone was eagerly awaiting to see their loved ones as soon as possible.
Meanwhile, Hua was already waiting at the airport in a business vehicle.
Inside the car, Xiang Biao and two employees were animatedly discussing their ordeal in the air, clearly intent on boasting about their experience on social media.
Hua, driving, noticed Wu You’s silence and took the initiative to ask, “President Wu, shall we go to the company or head home?”
Registering a company requires a real address as proof; when Wu You registered the Ten Thousand Beasts Manor Biotechnology Company, he rented a standalone three-story office building in the XS district as the symbolic headquarters.
The environment was decent, with nearly a thousand square meters of usable space, and the rent was only four hundred thousand a year.
“Take me home first, then you all can do as you wish. No need to report to the company today.”
As a proper company, all positions such as finance and HR were fully staffed, and ordinary employees who weren’t on business trips were required to clock in at work.
Nominally, Wu You was the boss, but he rarely spent much time at the office. Aside from major decisions, most responsibilities fell to Hua and his team, as the company’s main business was straightforward: purchasing vegetation, arranging transportation, seeking suitable animals for ecological release, and planning symbolic structures for conservation areas.
Though he didn’t stay long, Wu You usually visited daily, but today was an exception.
...
He arrived home just in time for lunch. This time, Wu You had no intention of keeping Xiang Biao and the others, so he sent them away.
At the dining table, Zhang Guihua nagged incessantly.
“Xiao You, now that you’re a company boss, shouldn’t you enjoy the comfort of your office? Let your subordinates run errands for business trips.”
“What do women know? In those big companies, the busiest person is always the boss. You think it's like a TV drama, where the boss just plays golf and goes out for fun?” Wu Jianguo immediately contradicted his wife.
“Why so anxious? I wasn’t talking to you. You’ll wash the dishes later,” Zhang Guihua retorted, feeling slighted.
Wu You, preoccupied with his thoughts, ate absent-mindedly.
Suddenly, a sharp crack sounded.
The bowl in Wu You’s hand split in two.
Zhang Guihua anxiously asked, “Are you alright? Did you hurt your hand? How did the bowl break?”
Wu Jianguo also looked worriedly at Wu You’s hand. “Do you need a bandage?”
The crack had appeared right where Wu You’s thumb gripped the bowl; it was highly likely he could have been cut.
“No worries, I wasn’t hurt at all. I’ll just get another bowl and continue eating.”
Wu You feigned ease, waving his left hand to show he wasn’t wounded.
“As long as you’re fine. This faulty bowl, we hadn’t bought it long ago—such poor quality!” Zhang Guihua grumbled as she fetched a new bowl from the kitchen for Wu You.
Once they resumed eating, his parents’ attention drifted back to their conversation.
Wu You’s peripheral vision glanced at the tiger’s mouth of his left hand.
There, a faint white mark was slowly fading away.
Has my physical strength increased? The thought flashed through Wu You’s mind.
...
He quickly finished his meal and slipped away before Zhang Guihua could launch into another round of “advice,” knowing that if he didn’t escape, the conversation would inevitably circle back to the ever-present topic of marriage.
Inside his room.
Wu You opened several boxes stacked in the corner.
A distinct advantage of rural self-built houses was their sheer size.
The yard was spacious, the house was large, the living room was big, and the bedrooms were vast...
Wu You’s room, transplanted to a city like Shencheng where space was precious, could easily be divided into a master and a secondary bedroom.
Thus, the room could accommodate plenty of personal purchases.
These boxes contained mostly survival tools for the wild, as well as legally obtainable weaponry.
For example, Wu You held a Longquan refined steel longsword.
A machete was more practical for wilderness expeditions—Wu You had one, of course—but this sword was simply too cool to resist buying.
It cost Wu You over a hundred thousand, made with modern alloy refining techniques. Though not crafted by a renowned master, its strength and toughness were exceptional.
Purchased swords and knives weren’t sharpened, but hiring a master from a sword shop to hone the edge was no trouble.
In ancient times, this sword would have been a legendary weapon: rustproof, bloodless in killing, able to slice hair and cut iron as if it were mud.
He packed what he planned to bring into Ten Thousand Beasts Mountain, abandoning previous burdens he hadn’t used, and ensuring he included anything he’d felt lacking last time.
Ten Thousand Beasts Mountain had opened the Black Iron tier for summoning—this good news had resolved Wu You’s urgent needs.
Yet, he didn’t have many Black Iron creatures at the moment—only one useful, the Ghost Leech Mosquito.
The rest were medicinal herbs and a Ling Musk Deer with little apparent combat ability...
He hadn’t yet tested whether the mystical powers could be used in Ten Thousand Beasts Mountain; if they could, even without summoning creatures, he’d be fine.
But to be safe, he decided to activate the system and forge a batch.
Since it was limited to Black Iron, he couldn’t use too rare materials—first-tier alchemy was best.
The material warehouse held a lynx obtained by an employee.
Speaking of lynxes, Wu You had researched them; they were rare and formidable wild hunters.
Not as mighty as lions or tigers, but despite their small size, they hunted mid-sized animals like roe deer, proving their ferocity.
Prompt: Choose male black-backed dog, male lynx. Confirm?
Wu You selected confirm.
The next moment, the alchemy board with its black water background appeared as expected.
Wu You was now quite adept at alchemy.
He focused on the board.
A broad skull and narrow snout, hooked teeth densely packed with sharp canines at the front, two triangular ears erect atop the head.
Willow-like beast eyes concealed the fierce glint of animal pupils.
The limbs were slender yet muscular, combining the explosive speed of canines with the stealth and flexibility of felines.
The body was elongated, the tail like a steel whip, black in color, resembling a heavenly wolf.
System evaluation: Physical arrangement rationality 98%, alchemy success rate increased by 9.8%.
Current success rate: 70% + 10% (will resonance) + 9.8%.
Proceed with alchemy?
After the system upgraded to level three, the base success rate for first-tier biological alchemy had soared to a formidable 70%.
He chose alchemy.
The two beasts from the material warehouse transformed into streams of light, merging into the alchemy board.
Muscle cords creaked audibly on the board; there was virtually no chance of failure.
Seconds later, the strange beast on the board howled skyward.
Prompt: Alchemy successful. Please name the creature.
This time, the alchemy felt superb—the creature he created radiated both beauty and power, likely surpassing the Black Iron tier.
He wanted to name it “Heavenly Dog,” but felt that might tarnish the name; so, he settled for “Little Heavenly Dog” and “Little Black.”
Alchemy creature: Little Heavenly Dog, named Little Black.
Innate abilities: Agility, Breath Concealment.
Skills: Cutting, Tearing, Moon Howl.
Base rating: Advanced Black Iron (trainable).
System description: This is a beast of exceptional potential.
Wu You’s heart leapt with joy—it hadn’t exceeded the Black Iron tier after all, confirming that his willpower played a significant role in alchemy.
And the system had never given such an evaluation to a mere Black Iron creature.
Exceptional potential!
This assessment may not rival the Thunder Azure Flood Dragon or the Mountain Tree, but the word “potential” itself signified endless possibilities.