New concept of the mysterious way to ascend to immortality

Chapter 298 Do you [Cat House] refuse animal performances?

Seeing that the young lady didn't respond, Yuan Zhu stopped his probing and steered the conversation back to the main topic, asking, "So, are the goods I brought this time up to standard? Can our transaction continue?"

“We can continue.” As she spoke, she picked out four kinds of mushrooms that had been corrupted by the aura of nightmares from the wooden box. “Remember, these five kinds of mushrooms meet my standards. I buy them in large quantities and on a long-term basis, but the price will not be too high. It can only be calculated at the lowest standard of ‘basic extraordinary materials’.”

Then, she pointed to the colorful, oddly shaped mushrooms that hadn't passed inspection and said, "Also, I see that some of your fungi contain medicinal properties. If you can remove the 'negative contamination' inside and retain only their pure medicinal properties, I can also select some with health-preserving, blood-activating, and bone-strengthening properties to add and make medicinal wine. The purchase price for these 'medicinal materials' will be a little higher."

Yuan Zhu's business acumen kicked in instantly, and he countered, "Since the price of medicinal herbs is higher than that of Nightmare Mushrooms, why don't we happily engage in a 'medicinal herb trade'?"

A-Miao gave Zhu Zi a playful glare and pointed to her head: "Are you stupid? Didn't you see the sign of my shop before you came in? [Cat House] is a bar, not a pharmacy. I buy medicinal herbs based on the amount of alcohol I'm brewing. It's precisely because the 'Nightmare Fungus' you provided wasn't good enough that I had to come up with some gimmicks, using slogans like 'health-preserving and longevity-enhancing, yin-nourishing and yang-strengthening' to increase its appeal and trick customers into spending more money. Why would I buy medicinal herbs to feed you?"

Yuan Zhu looked helpless: "You're a middleman, do you have any suitable buyers to recommend to me for purchasing these medicinal herbs at high prices?"

Ah Miao glanced at the colorful, contaminated fungi and shook her head: "These medicinal herbs of unknown origin are highly contaminated and have strange characteristics, making them very troublesome to handle. Even if a buyer is willing to purchase them, you can only make a meager living by selling in large quantities. I would suggest that you go to the place of origin of these 'contaminated materials' and find a suitable treatment method."

Within the extraordinary community, there's a consensus: polluted materials like these from the [Feathered World], if sold to non-[Insect-type] users, are not only highly polluted but also niche and obscure junk, only good for being sold at a bargain price.

Conversely, if you take this batch of goods to the [Feathered World] to find an alchemist, the medicinal materials will not only be of the right type, but the methods for 'processing, preparation, and refining' have already been summarized ([Alchemy]).

Once refined into 'pills', not only will a large amount of contamination be eliminated, but more hidden medicinal effects will also be activated. Even among non-insect cultivators, they will be highly sought-after cultivation resources.

Lu Rang's path of sword cultivation progressed so quickly and smoothly because of the high-quality, cost-effective cultivation resources such as 'blood eggplant, Buddha eggplant, and insect pills' supplied cheaply by 'Happy Home'.

Faced with the discounted sale of 'Cicada City Herbs', which are also quite troublesome to process, Ah Miao prefers to use the original ingredients and have the natives in the place of origin process the herbs into mature pills or magic potions.

It seems I still have to pass the heavy responsibility to Sister Kid! She's my handpicked 'alchemist'.

A-Miao closed the lid, and seeing that Yuan Zhu didn't make any new moves, she couldn't help but ask in confusion, "The deal you mentioned isn't just these four Nightmare Fungi, is it?"

Yuan Zhu shook his head: "How could that be? I was afraid of making a wasted trip with all the goods, so I picked one item from each for you to inspect. I'll send over the raw materials that meet the requirements later."

In fact, he simply wanted to visit the "Cat House" more often, see the girls, and build a relationship with them.

Ah Miao nodded, then lazily leaned back in her seat, slumping down completely without any regard for her image, and waved weakly, "Alright, you can go now. Deliver the goods as soon as possible, and remember to close the door behind you."

Yuan Zhu tilted his head: "So heartless? We've been through life and death together, we're practically friends, can't we chat a little longer?"

"Ha! You have ill intentions towards me, your motives are impure, why should I chat with you? I've seen plenty of people like you. Superficial, Nave, lustful... Although I am indeed very beautiful, naturally gorgeous and good at using my looks, I have to say, I'm not a green tea bitch, I don't like keeping backup options, and I won't keep you hanging on. I speak my mind directly, without beating around the bush, so that everyone doesn't waste time and energy guessing and getting it wrong."

A-Miao suddenly sat up straight, looked at Yuan Zhu, and loudly announced in her pleasant voice: "I have absolutely no interest in romance! I just want to have some fun and experience something new and exciting. The only thing we have in common is that we both like to look at legs. I also like to admire young and beautiful girls, but I just admire them purely and don't have any lustful thoughts. You are different; you have strong evil thoughts and will fall into depravity sooner or later."

"..."

Yuan Zhu was filled with grievances. How could you be like this, Miao Miao?

Snake: "Wow! Wow, she's so unique, I love her! I also love looking at legs~er!"

Yuan Zhu: "Am I really that worthless?"

"Actually, it's alright. If I really encountered a villain full of evil intentions, I would have taken action to eliminate them long ago and nip them in the bud. To exaggerate a bit, it's to help you contain the problem in time so that you can better 'hold the seal' and maintain the purity of the [Holy Light]. You are actually quite interesting. As for the [Wolf King], I'm quite curious about your future life trajectory. It seems like you have nothing to do with the [Wolf] at all."

Hearing Ah Miao mention "Wolf King" filled me with a strange sense of shame. What a low-class, uncouth title.

So he quickly retorted, "And what's with your 'witch' thing? Is it accurate?"

Ah Miao, who had been smiling and teasing, suddenly looked pained and ashamed, just like Yuan Zhu: "What a load of rubbish! Get lost! I'm not in the mood to talk to you anymore."

"Wait a minute, I have two more things to discuss with you! It's not about trying to build a relationship with you, it's serious business."

"oh?!"

Ah Miao made a curious sound, then slumped into an even more comfortable position, displaying her graceful figure without any hesitation.

After noticing that Yuan Zhu's gaze was off, she reached into the back of her low-waisted shorts, pulled out a large-caliber silver pistol with many ornate carvings, and pointed it at his head: "Adjust your gaze."

"Sorry, couldn't help myself."

"It's alright, I forgive you. Now, what are the other two things?"

Yuan Zhu: "You just said you like to have fun, right? I wonder if your [Cat House] accepts animal performances?" A Miao looked puzzled, but it was clear that she didn't seem very interested: "Animal performances? Circus? Acrobatics? What kind of animals? It doesn't sound very appealing."

Yuan Zhu, with a confident expression, slowly revealed the answer: "Goblin boxing!"

A-Miao's already uninterested face instantly fell. She hurriedly waved her hand, looking annoyed, and said, "Get out, get out! It's such a downer. You dare bring a goblin into the Cat House? Believe me, I'll break both your legs! Don't you think about the smell and appearance of goblins... If they appear in the Cat House, how many customers will have an appetite for drinking? It's too unlucky! Is this the kind of fun you're talking about?"

Yuan Zhu was annoyed: "Focus on the key point! Boxing, goblin boxing, goblin fighting... Do you really have no interest at all in the no-holds-barred goblin fighting tournament? Runing's underground boxing ring has always been a popular event, and many places hold it regularly with a large audience."

"But those are well-trained human fighters and martial artists. They fight spectacularly and can make money by betting on boxing matches, so naturally they have an audience. What's so interesting about goblins boxing? They're skinny as rakes. I really can't think of anything that would appeal to them."

Ah Miao's face was full of confusion. She couldn't understand the way Earthlings thought.

Yuan Zhu thought for a moment. Based on his previous description, it didn't seem very appealing, so he explained seriously: "Wait, I wasn't clear enough. It's about 'Earth Spirit Warriors' who have undergone the [Power Path] modification, and who have mastered complete fighting techniques, such as 'Red Hong Kong Boxing,' and possess a certain amount of fighting experience. They can even throw matches, going back and forth with fast-paced attacks, not defending, pursuing flashy visual effects, even more exciting than real 'underground fighting.' They can even have pre-written scripts, making it a 'stage fighting drama' full of passion and bloodshed. Is such a competition worthwhile?"

As A-Miao listened, she sat up straight, a thoughtful expression on her face.

"How much of the performance aspect is in an exhibition match? Is there any bloodshed involved?"

Yuan Zhu rested his chin on his hand, pondering for a moment: "In my plan, the performance only accounts for less than 3%. The fighting will be real, of course, but we'll avoid vital points, maintaining the same force without diminishing it, and ensuring bloodshed to increase realism. Actually, setting up a script is just to make the competition more exciting, thrilling, and captivating... and the goblins will then put on a show with their lives. But training such a 'fighting actor' is not cheap, so we can't have real fighting; they'd be worn out after one or two matches, and we wouldn't be able to recoup the investment. That's why we need to add performance elements, so we can reuse them multiple times..."

A-Miao nodded to show she understood: "If you put it that way, if you clean the goblins, spray them with perfume, and make them wear masks to cover up their ugliness, so they're not so disgusting... as long as the fight is intense and exciting, it does have a certain gimmick. But there's still a fatal problem!"

Yuan Zhu: "What?"

"Can a goblin's intelligence and physique really support the 'spectacular performance' you're talking about? Although many brainless 'saints' are calling for goblins to be classified as 'intelligent races,' to be honest, goblins are far less intelligent than ogres. While 'super-intelligent individuals' frequently emerge from the goblin population, the intelligence of the vast majority doesn't support them systematically learning sophisticated martial arts techniques and performing according to a pre-set script. Furthermore, can their physical strength withstand 'power enhancement'? Or can your finances support it? It all seems like a losing proposition."

Miaomiao, who loves to have fun, was indeed amused after hearing about the "Extraordinary Goblin Bloodbath Tournament" and was very interested in learning more about it.

However, after a simple analysis, she discovered numerous flaws in the plan. There's a reason why intelligent beings discriminate against goblins, consistently viewing them as pests or an animalistic group. Just as chimpanzees and monkeys, no matter how similar their behavior is to humans, are not Homo sapiens.

According to Yuan Zhu's plan, the cost of training such a 'superhuman fighting warrior,' teaching them martial arts techniques, enabling them to apply them flexibly, and even having them compete according to a script... is simply too high. It's impossible to recoup the investment.

However, all of this is predicated on the absence of a [data-driven soul program (artificial idiocy) + brain-dead CPU]. While the [Great Wilderness Immortal Scripture] is somewhat lacking, it is still outstanding in the realm of 'low-end folk antics'.

As long as there are enough samples practicing boxing every day, the [Immortal Scripture] can collect a large amount of data and quickly optimize a [Fighting Program] suitable for all goblins.

As for the script? An exhibition match, and acting skills? Snake Snake used the simulation calculations of the [Immortal Scripture] to write the script and input it into the [Brain Eggplant]. The goblins, without any acting training, would be possessed, completely immersed, passionately and frantically gushing blood and acting...

The only cost is the enhancement materials for the [Power Path]. But with [Nie Yin] and [Frog Factory], everything is at cost price.

Moreover, the mass production of 'Earth Spirit Warriors' is an essential step for the [Immortal Scripture] to collect sample data and decipher the [Frog System].

Whether or not he makes a profit, he'll mass-produce 'Earth Spirits'. Now he can even arrange for them to perform, potentially recouping his investment and even making a profit. Why not?

Yuan Zhu: "We can still cover the costs. Didn't I tell you that I partnered with a senior from [Rain Academy] to open a [Frog Factory] in the suburbs?"

Ah Miao looked at her with disdain: "Wow! You're not burning [Holy Light] anymore, have you switched to being a frog farmer?"

"Investment! Cultivation also requires expenses, and I need to make money too. The Extraordinary Fighting Goblin is one of the ways out for my [Frog Factory]. Simply selling 'experimental frogs and basic body tempering fluid raw materials' only earns me hard-earned money; cultivating fighting goblins, even fighting goblin stars, finding famous stores to cooperate with, holding exhibition matches, and gradually forming a competition system are the only ways to make big money."

A-Miao nodded: "If you can really raise the goblins you mentioned, it would indeed be quite a gimmick. However, my [Cat House] takes a high-end approach and does not accept bloody and dirty animal performances."

Seeing Yuan Zhu's face growing increasingly dark, she quickly added, "Don't be so hasty. You have no tact whatsoever. My space is limited, and I can't accept goblins fighting to the death, but Cat Street has more than one shop. On the contrary, there are many gun gyms, martial arts gyms, fighting arenas... I can recommend the owner to you so you can cooperate and try to hold a few 'goblin exhibition matches.' If the response is good, people will naturally come to you to cooperate."

"Honestly, if you can really train goblin fighters who look strong and powerful, and whose martial arts moves are decent and who fight with skill, then this can really work. If every match is bloody, with bruises and broken bones, and preferably a few broken ribs or fingers, so that it's clearly visible, then this competition can really sell tickets."

Yuan Zhu smiled with satisfaction: "Then I'll leave it to you, Miaomiao. Give me a week, and I'll send the first batch of goblins for interviews."

Ah Miao: "What's the other thing? Tell me, let me have a laugh."

Candle: "It's related to personal cultivation. Do you remember when you gave me a knee strike at the Star Bank?"

"Wait, was I hitting someone? I just couldn't stand your terrible and inefficient use of the [Breathing Technique], so I was just helping you to straighten out your breathing method."

Yuan Zhu: "Yes, I also want to thank you for helping me optimize the [Holy Light Breathing Technique]. Now, I plan to try cultivating it, so I specifically asked you, an expert, if it's possible for a Holy Light cultivator like me to achieve the physical strength of your Knight-type ability users by simulating the [Holy Light Breathing Technique]?"

(End of this chapter)