Chapter 295 - 280: Spirit Beast Tournament, Reputation Skyrockets

Chapter 295: Chapter 280: Spirit Beast Tournament, Reputation Skyrockets

Far more people wanted Jiang Zuo’s help taming Spirit Beasts than he had anticipated.

To avoid the hassle, Jiang Zuo publicly announced a rule.

When multiple people sought his services at the same time, he would offer three Beast Taming slots per year. One of these would be decided by a lottery.

The other two slots would go to the highest bidders in a blind, single-bid auction.

As his fame soared, his Beast Taming Reputation began to skyrocket as well.

Cultivators awarded more Beast Taming Reputation than mortals, and the amount increased with the Cultivator’s level of Cultivation.

The Cultivators who passed through Yunyuan Immortal City had fairly high Cultivation, so the Beast Taming Reputation Jiang Zuo gained naturally surged as well.

After building five Miracle Buildings in a row, Jiang Zuo’s Beast Taming Reputation had dwindled to just over ninety thousand.

During the competition a year ago, after Great Black and the giant golden wolf made their appearance, Jiang Zuo gained a huge wave of Beast Taming Reputation.

Now that the news of his ability to tame Tier 4 Spirit Beasts had spread, his Beast Taming Reputation skyrocketed once more.

In just a short amount of time, Jiang Zuo’s Beast Taming Reputation reached a total of 170,000.

In a little over a year, his Beast Taming Reputation had shot up by more than eighty thousand.

Yunyuan Immortal City was an Immortal City with a massive flow of Cultivators. All Jiang Zuo had to do was make frequent public appearances to meet the conditions for earning Beast Taming Reputation.

Over the next year, Jiang Zuo brought Great Black around the Immortal City every day, enjoying the local delicacies just like an ordinary person.

He also made sure to attend every auction held by the three major auction houses, bidding on various materials to show his support.

Through these constant public appearances, Jiang Zuo gained over forty thousand more Beast Taming Reputation within the year, bringing his total to an unprecedented 210,000.

At the same time, after deducting the expenses for the Time Cultivation Tower, Jiang Zuo’s Spirit Stone savings had reached just over four million.

Attracted by the Super Reproduction Tower, the Star Dust Birds had just produced several offspring, so Jiang Zuo began the process of raising the Star Birds.

Since he only had a little over a hundred Star Dust Birds, Jiang Zuo carefully managed their reproduction. He did this to ensure he would have a steady supply of young to raise each year, and to avoid a situation where too many were born at once for him to raise via his system.

With Jiang Zuo’s current methods, raising Spirit Beasts was incredibly simple.

The Star Dust Birds’ growth could be accelerated inside the Time Cultivation Tower. If not for the need for training in the outside world, they could reach maturity in just three months.

Even factoring in the time needed for taming them in the outside world, one year was more than enough to reach 100% raising progress.

Everything for Jiang Zuo in Yunyuan Immortal City was now on the right track.

However, starting from the third year, the rate at which Jiang Zuo gained Beast Taming Reputation dropped significantly.

The reason was quite simple.

Although he was diligently making public appearances with Great Black and the giant golden wolf, it was still difficult for most of the Cultivators passing through the Immortal City to run into him.

Even if they did cross paths, they were often in too much of a hurry to pay much attention to his accomplishments.

After some thought, Jiang Zuo paid a visit to a certain Cultivator in the city.

This man’s name was Min Rulin. He was a minor official in the Immortal City, responsible for managing its Martial Arts Arena.

"What a rare guest! Master Gu, you honor me with your presence. To what do I owe the pleasure?"

Min Rulin, who appeared to be a middle-aged man with a Cultivation at the mid-stage of the Three Flowers Realm, spoke with surprise upon seeing Jiang Zuo at his door.

For the past two or three years, Jiang Zuo had been the most talked-about figure in the Immortal City. Leaving aside his astonishing Beast Taming skills, the two Tier 5 Spirit Beasts he possessed were enough to command respect.

Never mind a Three Flowers Realm Cultivator like himself; even a Dao Fruit Realm Cultivator would have to be cautious when facing two Tier 5 Spirit Beasts.

"Lord Min, you’re too kind. I’ve come to discuss a certain matter with you."

Jiang Zuo smiled slightly and explained his reason for visiting.

His reason for seeking out Min Rulin was simple: he wanted to borrow the city’s Martial Arts Arena annually to hold a competition.

After hearing Jiang Zuo out, Min Rulin couldn’t help but fall into silent contemplation.

"Master Gu, what do you stand to gain by spending so much money to host a competition like this?"

After a long moment, Min Rulin still couldn’t understand, so he asked.

"Is increasing the Immortal City’s popularity not enough?"

Jiang Zuo replied with a laugh.

’Spending a fortune just to boost the Immortal City’s popularity?’

Min Rulin wouldn’t believe it for a second.

"Lord Min, there’s no need to overthink it."

"What I’m proposing will bring absolutely no harm to the Immortal City."

"The Martial Arts Arena is sitting idle most of the time anyway. Lord Min, you can simply tell your superiors that you persuaded me to fund this competition as my contribution to increasing the Immortal City’s popularity."

"Surely you don’t think that’s a bad idea, do you, Lord Min?"

’A lavishly funded competition to boost the Immortal City’s popularity, all at my persuasion?’

Min Rulin’s spirits lifted the moment he heard this.

It was a simple twist of the narrative, but for him, it would be a major accomplishment.

Just as Jiang Zuo said, aside from the annual boat ticket tournament in November, the Martial Arts Arena sat empty most of the time.

He didn’t know Jiang Zuo’s true motive, but as long as he stuck to Jiang Zuo’s script, the credit would be his.

"Excellent! It’s settled then!"

Min Rulin asked no more questions.

「A few days later」

A piece of news spread through the Immortal City.

To give back to the Immortal City and to promote the exchange of experience in raising Spirit Beasts, Master Gu had an announcement.

Henceforth, every June, Master Gu would host a competition in the Immortal City exclusively for Spirit Beasts. All Spirit Beasts of Tier 4 and below were eligible to participate.

The first-place winner would receive a prize of fifty thousand Spirit Stones, second place would get thirty thousand, and third place twenty thousand.

However, that wasn’t the most important part.

Every ten years, the top three Spirit Beasts from each of the annual competitions would be eligible to participate in a grand championship tournament.

In this championship tournament, only the single, ultimate champion Spirit Beast would receive a prize—but that prize was one million Spirit Stones!

Furthermore, Jiang Zuo made a special point.

The Spirit Beast that won the championship could still participate in the following decade’s competitions.

In other words, if your Spirit Beast was strong enough to defeat all the others, you could win over a million Spirit Stones from Jiang Zuo every decade!

When the news spread, the Immortal City was thrown into an uproar.

One million Spirit Stones every decade was a powerful draw for the vast majority of Cultivators, even for those from prominent clans.

With this year’s competition in June just over a month away, Jiang Zuo had Min Rulin arrange for staff to begin accepting registrations.

The number of Cultivators who registered was frighteningly large.

Left with no choice, Jiang Zuo had to raise the entry threshold, allowing only Spirit Beasts of Tier 3 and above to register.

Even so, the number of participants far exceeded Jiang Zuo’s expectations.

Originally, Jiang Zuo had planned to spend seven days determining the top three.

To achieve this, the Martial Arts Arena had to run matches around the clock, and even then, they barely met Jiang Zuo’s deadline.

In the end, every single one of the Spirit Beasts that made it to the top sixty-four elimination round was a Tier 4 Spirit Beast.

Tier 4 Spirit Beasts, normally a rare sight, suddenly seemed to be a dime a dozen.

The battles, featuring only Spirit Beasts fighting under the command of their Cultivators, captivated many onlookers. For quite a few, it was an eye-opening experience.

Jiang Zuo’s own prestige was also greatly boosted by the event.

Finally, after a series of fierce battles, the top three Spirit Beasts were determined.

Jiang Zuo personally took the stage to present their awards, announcing that the three of them had qualified for the championship tournament in ten years’ time.

Of course, these three victors would be ineligible to participate in the annual competitions leading up to the championship tournament.

Afterwards, Jiang Zuo held a post-tournament mixer and offered free diagnostic consultations for people’s Spirit Beasts.

And so, the first annual Spirit Beast Grand Prix came to a close.

’Not bad! I gained over thirty thousand Beast Taming Reputation in just one week!’

’This money was well worth it!’

Back at his home, Jiang Zuo looked at his recently skyrocketing Beast Taming Reputation and couldn’t help but grin from ear to ear.

In fact, his Beast Taming Reputation had been rising steadily ever since he announced the tournament’s rules and prizes a month prior.

By the end of the first Spirit Beast Grand Prix, Jiang Zuo’s Beast Taming Reputation had surpassed three hundred thousand for the first time!

And just like that, Yunyuan Immortal City gained a new annual event.

Compared to the year-end tournament for boat tickets, the Spirit Beast Grand Prix was even a little more popular.

Most Cultivators entertained the thought of raising a Spirit Beast, but many were unclear on what kind of potential their beasts could reach, or which species were the most promising.

The Spirit Beast Grand Prix gave them a way to find out.

And even for those not interested in raising a Spirit Beast, watching so many different species battle it out in the Martial Arts Arena was fascinating.

Thanks to the Grand Prix, Jiang Zuo’s annual gain in Beast Taming Reputation became much more stable.

It wasn’t as explosive as that first year, but he could still reliably gain around thirty thousand Beast Taming Reputation annually.

In the blink of an eye, ten years had passed since Jiang Zuo settled in Yunyuan Immortal City.

The Spirit Beast Grand Prix had been held eight times.

And Jiang Zuo’s Beast Taming Reputation had, for the first time, surpassed five hundred thousand!