“Is this how your shop usually disciplines its attendants? And you still have a reputation in Changtian City?” Xiao Jing said coldly.
“Ah, well… Prince Consort Xiao, our apprentices do have a loose tongue. I truly apologize. Please, have a seat in the inner hall and enjoy some tea to calm your anger.”
“No need,” Xiao Jing said with hands behind his back, unmoving. “Just now, whoever insulted me—I want an explanation.”
“Fifty slaps to the face—do it yourselves! You blind fools! Business has gone downhill in this shop all thanks to your mouths! If I don’t smash your faces today, I’ll pull off your heads and use them as wheel blocks!” Dong Qu roared furiously.
With that, all the attendants except Li Er dropped to their knees and began slapping themselves.
Xiao Jing grew even more disgusted.
After a moment, he frowned and said, “Enough. I came to buy something today, not watch fools disgrace themselves. Get these clowns out of my sight. Li Er stays.”
“Yes, yes!” Dong Qu nodded repeatedly, bowing nonstop.
He followed that with two heavy slaps to each of the offending attendants and scolded angrily, “You blind idiots! Get out of my sight! I’ll deal with you later! If you’re not up to it, pack your things and scram!”
In no time, all attendants except Li Er were crawling out of the hall like frightened dogs.
Xiao Jing watched coldly, expressionless.
Then he turned to Dong Qu and said, “Let’s get to the point. I want to buy that war chariot.”
Dong Qu wiped sweat from his forehead, then forced a stiff smile.
“Prince Consort Xiao, Your Highness Fifth Princess, let’s not take these small things to heart. The apprentices were ignorant. How about I give you a flying Ruyi for free as an apology?”
Xiao Jing paused.
He hadn’t expected that kind of response.
A flying Ruyi worth 3,000 Spirit Stones? Was that supposed to make amends?
And was that what he meant?
Did he look like someone who threw a tantrum just to extort a cheap vehicle?
His expression darkened.
“Supervisor Dong, did you not understand me? I asked for the price of that war chariot!”
“Ah? Prince Consort Xiao, you… really intend to buy it?”
“What else?”
Clearly, this supervisor was no better than his subordinates. No wonder the staff behaved like that!
Even communicating was exhausting.
Seeing Xiao Jing’s face turn cold, Dong Qu finally realized that Prince Consort Xiao was genuinely interested in the war chariot.
However…
He had heard Xiao Jing was the least favored prince of the Liang Empire.
Though the Fifth Princess had just regained her bloodline, she hadn’t yet received any imperial resources from the Emperor of Yan Empire.
Could it be these two were trying to get something for free?
The workshop had suffered for years because of this one war chariot commissioned by the Crown Prince. If the Fifth Princess also tried to exploit them, then Windborne Workshop was truly doomed.
They had already offended the Crown Prince. If they lost the chariot and got no compensation, they’d suffer total ruin.
With this thought, Dong Qu hardened his tone. “Apologies, Prince Consort Xiao. This chariot is not for sale. Please forgive us.”
The moment he finished speaking—
A massive commotion erupted from the workshop’s inner courtyard.
A towering, ferocious spirit beast burst out—it had the head of a lion, the body of a qilin, powerful wings on its back, and shimmering purple-gold fur. Atop its head blazed a red flame-like mane. A beastmaster clung to its back, screaming in terror as the creature charged out from the inner courtyard!
It crashed through the back entrance pillar of the central hall, swept its wings and sent over a dozen displayed carriages flying, then jerked its enormous head toward Xiao Jing and Mu Lanchu.
“Move! Get out of the way!” the beastmaster screamed hoarsely.
The crowd scattered in panic.
The spirit beast, however, locked its eyes on Mu Lanchu, charging toward her as if it would crush the frail Fifth Princess into pulp!
Everyone in the hall held their breath.
Mu Lanchu, however, showed no fear.
From the beast’s fierce yet fuzzy gaze, she sensed no killing intent.
In a blink, under everyone’s horrified eyes, the beast reached Mu Lanchu.
It retracted its wings, sniffed around her curiously, blinked, then let out a soft hum and lay down beside her. Its massive head nuzzled against her shoulder affectionately.
Like a giant house cat.
Its thick mane draped over Mu Lanchu’s shoulders.
She was stunned…
A female spirit beast—with a mane?
Just like the lion statues back on Blue Star before she transmigrated—both male and female lions at palace gates had manes…
“Don’t do that, it tickles, haha… Alright, alright, you little rascal.”
Mu Lanchu didn’t seem surprised. She giggled and looked at Xiao Jing.
“Husband! Husband, this spirit beast just told me she’s a female Purple-Winged Griffin. She wants to acknowledge me as her master and form a spiritual contract!”
“Huh? A spiritual contract?”
In this world, there were three kinds of contracts between cultivators and spirit beasts: Blood Contract, Spirit Contract, and Soul Contract.
Spirit Contracts were mutual agreements—where both human and beast accepted each other. They were painless, simple, and allowed for short-range communication through thoughts.
Soul Contracts were rare and involved soul bonding. Once formed, the beast became the cultivator’s life-bound companion. If one died, the other died too.
Among the three, Blood Contracts were the most common.
But Spirit Contracts were superior—ideal for taming battle beasts.
Xiao Jing had learned the basics back when he was in the Ultimate Dao Sect.
Hearing that Chuchu said the griffin wanted to form a Spirit Contract with her surprised him.
Could it be that Chuchu had some hidden physique or potential?
But aside from the Gold Crow Bloodline granted by the system, he hadn’t discovered anything unusual.
Dong Qu, the supervisor of Windborne Workshop, flinched.
He had a vague guess in mind.
He quickly asked the beastmaster, “What’s going on?”
The beastmaster, drenched in sweat and trembling, answered, “About an hour ago, the griffin suddenly started becoming restless. Based on our experience, it must have sensed some kind of aura. It’s been trying to track the source!”
“Then just now, it became uncontrollable. It broke through the cage and courtyard gates and ran straight here!”
“This… can’t be…” Dong Qu sucked in a breath, unwilling to believe it.
But in his heart, he already knew.
The Purple-Winged Griffin was clearly responding to the Fifth Princess’s bloodline aura!
Everyone around was stunned.
Those in the know immediately began discussing it.
“This is the very war beast the Crown Prince had Windborne Workshop acquire!”
“Purple-Winged Griffin, top-tier Earth grade. Sixth rank—equal to a human at the Spirit Harmony Realm.”
“Though it’s Earth grade and not Heaven grade, and not the strongest among war beasts, it’s rare and prized for its stunning appearance. That fur color alone makes it incredibly impressive to display!”
“No wonder it refused to be harnessed. What war beast wants to pull a carriage?”
“I heard the Crown Prince chose this beast because of its attributes—to match the Bi Clan’s bloodline and his flame-type techniques.”
“He wanted the griffin to pull his custom chariot—not just for status, but to enhance his battle power. But the griffin rejected him and resisted all contract attempts.”
“I heard the Crown Prince tried to force a Blood Contract, but the beast’s Realm is higher—it’s at the Spirit Harmony Realm while the Crown Prince is only at Clarity of Mind Realm. So of course it failed.”
“And now, this beast has been drawn by the Fifth Princess’s Gold Bloodline!”
“It wants to form a contract with her—she’s only at the Body Refining Realm!”
“Oh ho! This spirit beast just slapped the Crown Prince in the face!”