Su Ping put on an expression of confusion as he looked at the two men, though inwardly he was a little uneasy.
He naturally understood what the Wood Heart skill represented.
Possessing a treasure invites trouble—that was a real possibility. Even though Dragon Nation took such matters very seriously, it was still hard to guard against people with ulterior motives.
If he weren't truly desperate for money, he wouldn't have wanted to be this conspicuous.
That said, Su Ping had long since thought through a countermeasure. The confused, slightly disdainful look he was wearing now was part of that plan.
"What's so impossible about it?"
Hearing Su Ping's words and seeing the young man's faintly contemptuous expression—like a country bumpkin scoffing at people who'd never seen the world—Vice Chairman Liu let out a dry laugh.
"Student Su, did you cultivate this Forest Wolf yourself?"
Su Ping immediately frowned, putting on an even more dismissive expression, and looked directly at Qin Xiaoxue.
"Who exactly are these people?"
Qin Xiaoxue had already clearly sensed Mu Tou's progress and changes through their soul contract. At this moment, she completely believed in Su Ping's ability.
This kid was truly a breeding genius!
But that genius didn't seem to be in a particularly good mood right now.
Qin Xiaoxue frowned and followed his gaze toward Sun Chaoju and Vice Chairman Liu.
These two had scammed her out of several million before, then constantly questioned her judgment. Now that they were here, they were still interrogating him.
In the end, wasn't it just because they were incompetent themselves and jealous of real talent?
No wonder the Jianghai Province Breeders' Association hadn't produced any notable achievements in recent years—leaving the province without any prestige nationwide.
These useless old fools bore undeniable responsibility.
However, since her grandfather was involved, she couldn't just kick them out directly. She could only snort coldly.
Seeing this, both Qin Erlong and Vice Chairman Liu were now completely certain.
This really was cultivated solely by this kid?!
Geniuses often had pride and strong personalities.
And the value of a genius breeder, in many cases, was even greater than that of a genius beast tamer.
After all, a genius beast tamer might only affect their own combat strength, but a genius breeder could cultivate countless top-tier beasts and beast tamers.
Anyone could tell which was more important.
For a moment, even Vice Chairman Liu—who had been skeptical—now looked at Su Ping differently.
At this moment, only one person still wore the same expression.
Sun Chaoju.
His bloodshot eyes were still locked onto the massive Forest Wolf, Mu Tou, trying to deduce how Su Ping had done it using his knowledge of Forest Wolves.
But from appearance alone and the feedback of True Sight, he couldn't tell.
So, almost instinctively, a thought crossed his mind.
In the next instant, a flash of white light erupted in the reception room.
Everyone immediately turned their attention toward him.
The reason was simple—this white light was the glow of summoning a beast.
What appeared before them was a massive emerald-green giant python.
Cold and indifferent eyes.
A Commander-tier beast: Cloud-Pattern Tree Python.
The atmosphere in the reception room instantly turned icy.
Yet the one who felt the most chill wasn't Su Ping, nor Qin Xiaoxue—but Sun Chaoju himself.
It was as if countless needles pierced his body, making him shiver violently.
He quickly noticed the hostile gazes of Qin Erlong and Vice Chairman Liu.
Indeed, Vice Chairman Liu had always taken care of him. After all, Sun Chaoju had once worked under him as a researcher, with a nominal teacher-student relationship—and he had paid his respects every year.
But now, Su Ping's talent had clearly been acknowledged.
If this truly was a rare breeding prodigy, nurturing him properly could allow him, decades down the line, to represent Linzhou—or even Jianghai Province—at the Breeders' Conference.
That would be an enormous benefit.
Both the Beast Tamer Association and the Breeders' Association allocated resources based on results and achievements.
So if anyone wanted to suppress a genius over the Wood Heart cultivation method, Qin Erlong and Vice Chairman Liu would be the first to strike them down with thunderous force.
This was precisely why Dragon Nation had seen a constant emergence of talent over the years.
It was also why Su Ping dared—after softening the approach—to make money via cultivation services rather than directly selling Wood Heart potions.
The official stance toward geniuses—barring special circumstances—was never suppression.
Sun Chaoju snapped back to his senses. Facing the sharp gazes of the two elders, he hurriedly explained:
"Chairman, Teacher, I just wanted to test whether Miss Qin's beast's life potential or combat power had been affected, to make sure this kid didn't deceive her and leave some irreparable damage. That would be terrible!"
Vice Chairman Liu said calmly,
"Breeder Sun, if there were any problems, do you think I wouldn't be able to tell? Or are you saying you believe your abilities have surpassed mine and Brother Qin's?"
Sun Chaoju stiffened and immediately recalled the Cloud-Pattern Tree Python.
Su Ping subconsciously licked his lips.
He had no interest in that guy who jumped out earlier.
At this moment, all of his attention was focused on one word he had just heard:
"Chairman?"
In this world—within Dragon Nation—there were only a handful of people who could be addressed as Chairman.
And any one of those figures was far beyond the level Su Ping could normally come into contact with at this stage.
He glanced at Qin Xiaoxue.
He regretted it again.
Showing off was dangerous—really dangerous.
Why had he insisted on showing off earlier?
Why had he refused the promise from this top-tier rich woman?!
But—expression management was critical!
What he had shown Qin Xiaoxue was the image of a breeder who genuinely loved beast cultivation.
In front of these people, he was a proud genius.
He couldn't suddenly turn around and beg the rich lady for favors.
Suppressing the shock and regret in his heart, Su Ping's face remained calm, as if none of this concerned him.
After the situation settled, he said indifferently:
"Are you done? My job is finished. If you have any further needs, you can say so. If not, it's time to pay."
He pulled out a POS machine.
Qin Xiaoxue nodded, smoothly took out her card, and swiped it.
The next moment, Su Ping's phone chimed:
[Your account has received 5,000,000 yuan. Payment classified as business income. Tax deducted: 550,000 yuan. Actual amount received: 4,450,000 yuan. Current balance: 4,451,562 yuan.]
Finally… I have money!
Su Ping was thrilled, but then paused.
"Miss Qin, you paid too much."
Qin Xiaoxue waved it off casually.
"Just call me by my name, or call me Sister Qin. 3.5 million needs too many button presses—this was more convenient. You also had material costs, right? Relax~"
Faced with such blatant extravagance, what could Su Ping even say?
At this moment, Sun Chaoju—seeing Qin Xiaoxue finally smile—hurriedly tried to make amends for his earlier actions:
"Brother Su is truly impressive. However, Miss Qin, while your Forest Wolf has completed skill cultivation, some of its skill proficiency levels seem a bit low.
To be honest, at Wolf Den Breeding Base, Accelerated Casting is just a side project. Our main strength lies in rapidly increasing skill proficiency levels, enhancing combat power.
If Miss Qin isn't in a hurry, you could come to Wolf Den to train skill levels."
This made Qin Xiaoxue pause.
Truth be told, although Mu Tou had been carefully cultivated, the focus had mainly been on combat.
Because it had learned too many skills, its proficiency levels had indeed progressed rather slowly.
This was something Qin Xiaoxue had been concerned about.
Seeing her hesitation, Sun Chaoju hurriedly added:
"Miss Qin, don't worry. I'm absolutely confident in this. Even if I can't guarantee a proficiency upgrade within a few months, progress will definitely be much faster! And please rest assured—this time, to make up for last time, it's completely free!"
Qin Xiaoxue thought for a moment, then ignored Sun Chaoju entirely and turned to Su Ping.
"Do you offer this kind of service at Wood Heart?"
Su Ping smiled, then nodded.
Under Sun Chaoju's wide-eyed stare, he slowly said:
"We do—but it's paid. And it's very expensive."
The moment those words fell, Sun Chaoju's face—just starting to recover—instantly darkened again.
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