After receiving the Critical Return reward from Lin Xiaoyue, Su Bai arrived at the Spirit Beast Garden the next day.
The moment he stepped inside, a foul odor hit his nose. This place was specifically for raising spirit beasts, so naturally, there was plenty of dung.
“Such a large place… not easy to maintain at all.”
Thankfully, Su Bai wasn’t the only one assigned here. There were over a dozen menial laborer disciples working alongside him. The tasks here were dirty, smelly, and held no benefits, so outer sect disciples typically avoided this place.
Su Bai was the first outer sect disciple in decades to take a position here.
“Why did Senior Brother Su come to the Spirit Beast Garden?”
“Didn’t you hear? He’s over seventy this year. He used to be a menial laborer anyway, probably just used to this sort of work.”
“Maybe he’s just here to enjoy a quiet life.”
The menial laborers whispered among themselves, but when Su Bai walked closer, they immediately put on warm smiles.
“Good morning, Senior Brother Su!”
“Greetings, Senior Brother!”
“Have you eaten yet, Senior Brother?”
Their faces beamed with friendliness, and their voices were full of enthusiasm. As the saying goes, a current supervisor outweighs a county magistrate. Su Bai was now their superior by virtue of his outer sect status, so of course, they had to serve him well.
Su Bai smiled and returned their greetings without any arrogance.
“I’ve just arrived here at the Spirit Beast Garden, and as a gesture, I brought a small gift for everyone.”
Before arriving, Su Bai had exchanged a few talismans for Spirit Stones. Now, he handed one to each person, instantly stunning the entire group.
Many of them were young and still dreamed of cultivation, but lacking resources, they could only progress slowly. With Su Bai giving each of them a Spirit Stone, their cultivation could speed up significantly.
His generosity immediately won them over.
“Senior Brother Su is so generous!”
“I feel bad accepting this!”
“Please have some tea, Senior Brother Su!”
“My friends, I enjoy peace and quiet. How about this—I’ll take care of all the internal duties in the Spirit Beast Garden, and you handle the outer cleaning work. Sound good?”
“Senior Brother Su, the inner tasks are very exhausting. Can you manage it alone?”
Feeding so many demonic beasts was already difficult for all of them together, and now Su Bai wanted to take on the workload alone?
“Don’t worry. I’ve been a menial laborer for years. I’m used to these kinds of chores.”
Su Bai had plans to eat spirit beast eggs and roast bear paws. If these people stayed inside, it might be hard to keep things secret. That’s why he wanted to send them out.
The others were more than happy with the arrangement. The outer jobs mainly involved moving beast dung and carrying feed—physically tiring, but only busy in the early morning and evening. The rest of the day was idle.
Since Su Bai had offered, they gladly agreed.
After sending them off, Su Bai began inspecting the entire Spirit Beast Garden.
Inside were all sorts of strange demonic beasts, broadly categorized into insects, birds, beasts, and aquatic types.
Insects could be eaten as fried pupae, and honey was a great tonic. Birds laid eggs, and beasts offered meat. As for the fish, they were so plentiful that eating a few wouldn’t be noticed.
Su Bai was nearly drooling with joy.
At the moment, he stood outside the crane enclosure. A massive iron cage enclosed a wide area, home to a dozen demonic cranes. These birds were huge, their feathers shimmering with metallic luster, and their scarlet eyes radiated killing intent—quite intimidating.
“Wow, these are actually 7th stage Qi Refining Realm demonic beasts!”
“No wonder the menial laborers here only dare feed them from afar…”
Su Bai chuckled. His wrinkled face was filled with delight, but the drool at the corner of his mouth made that smile look far from kind.
The demonic beast froze. Had humans become this bold? A mere beginner Qi Refining Realm cultivator dared to drool over it?
It was the leader of the group, possessing strength at the 7th stage of the Qi Refining Realm. Crushing Su Bai should’ve been as easy as squashing an ant.
With a sharp screech, the crane king tried to intimidate Su Bai.
The crane king’s eyes widened, full of murderous intent. This human was provoking it!
With a thunderous stomp of its sharp claws, it launched forward, its beak like a spear aiming straight at Su Bai. Today, this human would pay with blood!
The other cranes gathered around, watching excitedly like spectators. For such a weak human, there was no need for them to interfere.
Then, in a flash, Su Bai flicked his finger. A wave of Vermilion Bird Divine Flame burst forth and instantly ignited the crane king’s feathers.
It shrieked in horror. Its eyes filled with panic—this human could control Vermilion Bird Divine Flame?
Both were avian demonic beasts, but the Vermilion Bird was a primeval Divine Beast, countless tiers above. The suppression from bloodline alone overwhelmed the crane king.
The surrounding cranes scattered, trembling. Some even collapsed, unable to stand, their eyes filled with terror.
“Smells amazing…”
Su Bai sniffed deeply. Roasted crane meat cooked with Vermilion Bird Divine Flame was unbelievably fragrant—mouthwatering even before tasting.
He hoisted the enormous roasted crane out of the cage, locked the door behind him, then pulled several jars and bottles from his storage pouch.
Oil, salt, soy sauce, vinegar, cumin, chili powder.
When the cranes saw these spices, they were horrified.
He was going to eat one of their own in front of them?! This human was a monster!
Su Bai casually tore off a crane leg, took a massive bite, and juice dripped from his lips.
As expected of a demonic beast, the meat was dense and infused with spiritual energy. Just one bite made his whole body warm.
At this moment, not only the cranes, but the lions, tigers, leopards, and monkeys in nearby cages were all dumbfounded.
They all had the same thought.
A ruthless man had arrived at the Spirit Beast Garden today!
“My name is Su Bai, the ‘Bai’ that eats for free!”
Su Bai beamed, wiped the grease from his hands onto his clothes, and stood tall.
“From now on, anyone in the Spirit Beast Garden who dares disobey orders—this roasted crane is their fate!”