Another two rounds of chess ended.
Nangong Yue had already led Lin Jichen and Niu Naitang excitedly to the Spirit Beast Garden to pick out pets.
Meanwhile, Elder Tianyuan sat in his chair, staring at the disastrous black pieces on the chessboard, on the verge of tears.
How... how did he lose? And to a little girl, no less. And so miserably...
Five rounds, not a single win.
Even though he had Fengqu City's top chess master help him in the last three rounds, it was to no avail; he was still utterly defeated.
At this moment, the chess master walked out, his face full of shame. "Immortal Tianyuan, I am truly sorry. It seems my skills are inferior."
Elder Tianyuan was baffled. "Chen Sheng, how could you lose? You are the top chess master in Fengqu City. Who in Mu Xian Province could match you?"
Chen Sheng smiled bitterly. "To my shame, I believe this little girl is no ordinary person. She must be a disciple of the Chess Sect."
Elder Tianyuan was taken aback, finally recalling the clothes Niu Naitang was wearing. He was filled with regret. "Of course! Those are the Chess Sect's robes. She really is a disciple of the Chess Sect! How did I not think of that?"
Chen Sheng sighed. "If it were an ordinary disciple of the Chess Sect, I could have easily won. But this little girl today, I must say, her chess skills are the best I've ever seen in my life."
Elder Tianyuan was filled with regret. If he had known, he would never have agreed to more matches.
At least losing the agency wasn't so bad, but he also had to give away two pets.
"Ah, that brat Lin Jichen, he clearly came prepared! I won't let him get away with this!"
Elder Tianyuan was extremely annoyed, fearing that Lin Jichen might pick some rare pets in the Spirit Beast Garden. He quickly instructed Nangong Wu to escort Chen Sheng back, while he himself hurried into the Spirit Beast Garden to keep an eye on them.
In the end, Lin Jichen came out holding two Golden Core Realm pet cubs, grinning from ear to ear.
The Silver Moon Tiger was already a pet that could be raised to the Golden Core Realm, so naturally, he chose two pets that could also grow to the Golden Core Realm.
One was a Black Water Armored Turtle, and the other a Mist Wind Eagle, both capable of reaching the Golden Core Realm.
Niu Naitang was holding a small golden mink in her arms, but this one only had the strength of the Foundation Establishment Realm, quite ordinary.
This pet was an extra reward Elder Tianyuan had promised Niu Naitang if she won.
Nangong Yue originally wanted to pick a Golden Core Realm pet for Niu Naitang, but Elder Tianyuan was adamant.
He had already bled enough today; there was no way he would give away another Golden Core Realm pet for free.
He made the excuse that he never said he would give a Golden Core Realm pet, so he ended up giving the most ordinary small golden mink.
Even so, Niu Naitang and Lin Jichen were very satisfied.
They had secured the agency for the Spirit Beast Garden and earned two Golden Core Realm pets, a great deal indeed.
Before leaving, Niu Naitang looked at Elder Tianyuan and said, "Grandpa, if you want to play chess again, you can always find Tang Tang."
Elder Tianyuan: "...."
Elder Tianyuan saw them out of the Spirit Beast Garden, then disappeared with a stern face.
He feared that if he stayed with these two little foxes any longer, he might not be able to resist the urge to hit them.
Nangong Yue escorted the two down the mountain, happy as if she had won herself.
"Junior brother, you'd better not come to Spirit Beast Mountain for the next few days. My grandpa is still angry, and if you come, he might find some excuse to take it out on you, haha."
Lin Jichen laughed and agreed, knowing he wouldn't set foot on Spirit Beast Mountain anytime soon.
"I'll arrange the agency for the Spirit Beast Garden for you. I'll send it over tomorrow," Nangong Yue instructed.
"Thank you, senior sister," Lin Jichen said happily, thinking his pet shop could finally open.
Nangong Yue chided, "Do we need to be so formal with each other?"
Lin Jichen nodded awkwardly. "You're right, I won't be polite then, senior sister."
"Alright, you go ahead. I'll come to Fengqu City to find you tomorrow."
"Got it," Lin Jichen agreed, then left the Sword Sect with Niu Naitang.
Niu Naitang also had to return to her sect.
Her master initially didn't agree to let her come, but Niu Naitang insisted on helping her brother, so she was granted half a day off. Now she had to go back.
"Tang Tang, do you want this eagle or the turtle? Pick one as a pet, or you can choose the tiger," Lin Jichen said, presenting the three Golden Core Realm potential pets for Niu Naitang to choose from.
"Brother Lin, Tang Tang is fine with just the little golden mink," Niu Naitang said, knowing these three pets were very valuable and could be sold for a lot of money, so she didn't want to take them.
Lin Jichen laughed. "Silly girl, you won these; they should all be yours."
"No, they're Brother Lin's. Tang Tang was just helping Brother Lin, I don't want them."
"Then pick one, just one. If you don't, I won't dare ask for your help again," Lin Jichen said.
Only then did Niu Naitang reluctantly agree, choosing the little tiger.
Children have no resistance to little tigers.
With that, Niu Naitang happily teleported back to her sect with a Silver Moon Tiger as her pet.
Lin Jichen returned to his sect first, finding Grand Elder Tianque to help forge the Slaughter Gem he had found.
Elder Tianque had a good impression of him, and Lin Jichen had long had a cooperative relationship with Tianque's forging department.
This small favor, Elder Tianque readily agreed to, taking Lin Jichen's Dark Night Sword and the gem, telling him to come back in two days.
Lin Jichen thanked him profusely and left the Sword Sect, returning to Fengqu City to place the Black Water Armored Turtle in the pet shop as a treasure.
He left the Mist Wind Eagle for the auction house as the final auction item.
The eagle was clearly more marketable than the turtle; flying pets were always in high demand.
As for the Silver Moon Tiger, Lin Jichen decided to keep it for himself, giving one to Ren Lan, one to Jiang Luoyu, and saving one for Gu Qiuxue in the future.
Elder Tianyuan took one, and Tang Tang took one, leaving none left.
Back in Fengqu City, Lin Jichen waited for Nangong Yue to bring the pets the next day so he could open the pet shop.
In the meantime, he started advertising his Free Pet Shop on the global channel, still anonymously.
Players seeing the pet shop ad weren't too surprised, as there were many player-run shops now, including pet shops.
However, most pet shops were quite dismal, with pets only at the Qi Refining Realm or at most the Foundation Establishment Realm, and very few in number.
So the ad didn't cause a stir like last time, not even a ripple.
But Lin Jichen wasn't worried. Once the shop opened, word of mouth among players would naturally spread.
After sorting everything out, Lin Jichen accepted Jiang Luoyu's invitation to go to Corpse King Valley to farm equipment again.
He gave the Silver Moon Tiger to Jiang Luoyu, who happily accepted the pet.
Su Wanling, seeing this, was envious and wanted one too, but Lin Jichen shrugged, indicating he had no more.
Su Wanling had to give up in disappointment. If she knew Lin Jichen still had two Silver Moon Tigers but just didn't want to give her one, who knows how she would feel.
Lin Jichen always said she was his girlfriend publicly, at least Wang Jinghao firmly believed it.