In the den of the Thunder-striped Silver Moon Tiger, the cries of newborn cubs echoed.
The mother tiger, exhausted from giving birth, lay sprawled on the grass, fast asleep.
The tiger king looked at his offspring with eyes full of affection.
Sensing his wife's fatigue, the tiger king nudged her gently, as if telling her to rest well.
He then left the den to hunt and bring back food to nourish his mate.
As he left, the tiger king instinctively felt a sense of caution, as if he sensed something amiss. He looked around and sniffed the air carefully.
Finding nothing unusual, he finally left at ease.
Just as he stepped out, a sneaky figure slipped into the cave.
The tired mother tiger remained in deep sleep, unaware of the intruder.
The cubs frolicked and called out, seemingly competing to see who could be the loudest.
The mother tiger, too exhausted to care, just wanted to sleep.
Lin Jichen looked at the 'harvest' in the cave and couldn't help but grin.
The mother tiger had given birth to five cubs!
This was fantastic; it was worth the days he spent roughing it in the forest.
Since returning from the Sword Pavilion, he had gone nowhere but the Beast Forest.
Although the seven-day limit for the Heavenly Grade Secret Technique had ended, he wasn't in a hurry to leave.
Besides searching for other pets in the Beast Forest, he had been waiting for the tiger king's mate to give birth.
After waiting for two days, his patience was finally rewarded.
Lin Jichen quietly approached, using Conceal and Shadow and his Mountain River Step boots, just like when he had stealthily approached the Thunder Dragon's corpse in the Thunder Marsh.
Even Li Xinghun couldn't detect him, let alone this exhausted, sleeping mother tiger.
Lin Jichen swiftly captured each cub, placing them into a beast cage and then into his space.
After securing all five cubs, he left a piece of Kai Ming Beast meat as compensation, then quickly slipped out of the cave. He didn't bother flying back; instead, he took out a teleportation talisman, tore it apart, and vanished.
When the tiger king returned, he found his wife still sleeping soundly, but his five cubs were nowhere to be seen, only a piece of meat left behind.
Lin Jichen finally returned to Fengqu City.
Upon his return, players quickly recognized him, causing a commotion.
This guy had finally shown up again.
A few days ago, the system had stopped reporting his location, and everyone knew that Lin Jichen had made it through and fully mastered the Heavenly Grade Secret Technique.
It was now widely acknowledged that Lin Jichen had learned the Heavenly Grade Secret Technique.
The crowd looked at Lin Jichen with mixed emotions—envy, jealousy, and malice.
Facing the crowd's stares, Lin Jichen showed no fear. His deep eyes scanned the area, as if he didn't know what fear was.
He then walked into the city with a confident stride.
Over at the Blood Fiend Guild, Kuang Xiaoyan immediately reported to Li Fengwen, who was leveling up in the wild.
"Guild Master, Lin Jichen has appeared again! He's in Fengqu City."
"Oh? Does he look any different?"
"Not really, still as arrogant as ever."
"Seems like he hasn't learned his lesson. Give him another hard one."
"Guild Master, it might be difficult now; he's under police protection."
"Then wait. I don't believe the police can protect him forever."
Meanwhile, in Fengqu City.
"Back already? That escape must have been tough," Jiang Luoyu teased, standing in front of Lin Jichen with a smile.
Lin Jichen scratched his head awkwardly. "Don't mention it. Good thing I run fast."
Jiang Luoyu covered her mouth and laughed softly. "Who told you to be so eye-catching? I don't even have Earth Grade equipment, and you already have Heavenly Grade. Of course, everyone would chase you."
"I was just lucky. Oh, by the way, here's a spear for you."
Lin Jichen remembered and handed the Extreme Demon Spear to Jiang Luoyu.
Su Wanling, standing nearby, immediately took it, drooling over the equipment.
"If I had known, I would have chosen to be a spear cultivator. Such good equipment, what a waste~"
Jiang Luoyu fulfilled her promise and transferred fifty thousand Spirit Stones and five million in cash.
"Now that you're safe, be careful. Some people might still covet your other equipment," Jiang Luoyu reminded.
"I will," Lin Jichen nodded in agreement.
"Got time now? Want to run a Secret Realm together?"
"Uh, how about tomorrow? I still need to go back to the sect to turn in a task, and I'm planning to open a new shop in the city," Lin Jichen said.
"A new shop? What kind?"
"A pet shop," Lin Jichen said sheepishly.
Jiang Luoyu was taken aback and pretended to be displeased, jokingly saying, "Are you planning to compete with me?"
"No, no, with so many players in Tale of Immortal, how could my little shop compete?" Lin Jichen shook his head repeatedly.
"Just kidding. Why so nervous? I also run a weapon shop and a pawnshop. If anything, I'm the one competing with you."
Jiang Luoyu found Lin Jichen's occasional naivety quite endearing.
It seemed that ever since their last argument and reconciliation, he had been extra considerate, as if afraid of making her angry again.
"By the way, are you planning to open a small pet shop? There don't seem to be many pet resources available right now. Opening a big shop might be too wasteful," Jiang Luoyu asked curiously.
Lin Jichen kept it a secret and smiled. "You'll see when it opens."
"Alright, but don't leave us ordinary players too far behind."
After joking, Jiang Luoyu chatted with Lin Jichen for a bit before heading off to level up with Su Wanling.
Lin Jichen found an inn, took a bath, and cleaned up before heading to a large, unopened shop in the city.
This was one of Lin Jichen's properties. Whenever he had enough Spirit Stones, he would buy these prime locations.
Lin Jichen knew that in the future, these shops would bring him endless Spirit Stones.
No matter how much he invested now, it would be worth it.
Sneaking into the shop, he began setting it up. Soon, everything was ready.
[Shop: Free Pet Shop]
After setting it up, the interior automatically transformed into a pet shop, with many pet incubators neatly arranged.
Lin Jichen placed all the pets he had captured, filling the incubators.
There were over four hundred pets, almost filling the shop.
But Lin Jichen knew this wasn't enough. This number of pets was just a drop in the ocean for millions of players.
To get more pets, he needed a steady supply.
And he couldn't go to the Beast Forest to steal pets every day.
The best solution was to find a long-term supplier.
Elder Tianyuan was his best candidate.