Celestial Beast Taming

"Right now, I’m in urgent need of a young man around my age and height."

"Your Greenfield Tavern must keep some slaves for itself, right?"

Hearing this, the tall, thin man snatched the cash Zhong Yi had pushed in front of him, counted it, and then spoke.

"Of course. But the slaves we keep for ourselves at the Greenfield Tavern are all top-quality goods. Some have even successfully awakened a Lifebound Guardian Beast."

"Even if the potential of their Lifebound Guardian Beasts isn’t high, they can do much more than ordinary slaves, so naturally, they’re more expensive."

"There’s one more thing I should mention. Since you’re willing to buy one of the slaves we keep for ourselves, you should know that all of them have the Greenfield Tavern’s mark carved onto their faces."

"We add a special substance to make the mark more conspicuous. Unless you carve off their entire left cheek, that mark is never coming off."

"If the slave you buy ever gets lost and someone brings him back to the Greenfield Tavern, I won’t be giving him back to you."

Zhong Yi just shrugged nonchalantly at his words.

"I pay the money, you show me the goods. Everything else is none of your business."

"You’ll get what’s owed to you!"

"If I find a suitable slave, I’ll give you an extra twenty thousand Federation Coins. So don’t hold anything back."

Hearing that Zhong Yi was prepared to give him another twenty thousand Federation Coins, the tall, thin man pulled the dagger embedded in the elmwood bar, stood up, and said,

"Take a look at what kind of place Zhuanyun Lane is! Even if Greenfield Tavern doesn’t have the absolute best slave channels in the lane, our stock is always full."

"Otherwise, we wouldn’t have so many repeat customers who choose to trust the Greenfield Tavern."

"You’re paying, and you think I’d hold back? That’s just turning my back on money, isn’t it?"

"You’re buying a man your own age for... entertainment, right? In this batch of male slaves we’ve kept, a few were trained to be bar shills. They’re pretty handsome!"

The tall, thin man’s words made the expression on Zhong Yi’s face twist, and the corner of his mouth twitched a few times.

’Bah! You’re the one who buys men for entertainment!’

The reason Zhong Yi said he was looking for a slave of similar age and height was because those were the traits of his target.

He never thought the tall, thin man in front of him would misunderstand so completely!

’Even if some pervert did want entertainment, seeing a black mark covering half of their left cheek would probably kill the mood entirely.’

All the slaves for sale at the Greenfield Tavern today had already been sent off for a major client to pick from, which was a pleasant surprise for Zhong Yi.

This was because his target wasn’t among the slaves for public sale, but one of the people the Greenfield Tavern kept for itself.

If the slaves for sale were still around, it would have been rather awkward for Zhong Yi to directly ask to buy one of the slaves the Greenfield Tavern kept.

Beyond the drinking area in the front, the Greenfield Underground Tavern also contained an underground casino filled with all sorts of games.

There were also places for relaxation through special substances or carnal pleasure—it had vice, gambling, and drugs all in one!

In Zhong Yi’s previous life, a place like this would have been raided hundreds of times over.

But in this perilous world of Guardian Beast Masters where strength reigns supreme, no one in the Lower City District would bother with a place like this.

Establishments like this were part of the very ecosystem that made up the Lower City District.

Zhong Yi followed the man through a winding series of turns into a small room. The black crystal spider on his sleeve never moved.

This further confirmed to Zhong Yi that the purpose of these black spiders, created by that Mythical Tier Bizarre, was to monitor and investigate.

That Mythical Tier Bizarre was most likely searching for something within Starlight City.

"Hey, kid. You’ll have to wait here for a bit."

"The Greenfield Tavern doesn’t support idlers. Those slaves are all at their posts, working. It’ll take me some time to gather them."

"If you don’t mind the trouble, I can also take you to see them one by one."

Zhong Yi replied immediately.

"I don’t have that much time to waste here. There’s a Guardian Beast Vehicle waiting for me at the entrance to Zhuanyun Lane."

A place like the Greenfield Tavern that sold slaves was chaotic, but it still had to maintain some semblance of a reputation.

Still, Zhong Yi couldn’t let his guard down. After all, it was entirely possible for someone to disappear from Zhuanyun Lane without a trace.

Zhong Yi wasn’t afraid of someone trying to make a move on him; he was, after all, wearing four pieces of Instant Jade around his neck.

But unless it was a last resort, Zhong Yi didn’t want to waste a single one.

Besides, activating an Instant Jade here would certainly attract the attention of that Mythical Tier Bizarre, and his identity as a Celestial Destiny Seeker would be exposed.

’After all, if he wasn’t a Celestial Destiny Seeker, why would he be wearing something like Instant Jade?’

If the tall, thin man was plotting something, he would definitely go to the lane entrance to see if the Guardian Beast Vehicle he mentioned was actually there.

A Guardian Beast Vehicle from the Central District was more than enough to intimidate a small-time character like him.

Zhong Yi thought to himself, ’I really need a reliable personal guard when I go out.’

’A reliable personal guard could save me a lot of trouble.’

Before long, the tall, thin man led Zhong Yi to see over ten slaves who were about his age.

Without exception, every one of them had a pitch-black Slave Mark tattooed on their left cheek.

Some had clearly only just become slaves; their newly applied Slave Marks were still red and swollen.

None of them was the target Zhong Yi was looking for.

Every time the tall, thin man announced in front of the slaves that Zhong Yi was there to choose one,

the eyes of these slaves, kept by the Greenfield Tavern, would light up with a look of hopeful pleading.

They were obviously desperate to be taken away from this place, even if they didn’t know whether they would just be falling into another pit of fire.

"Hey! Kid, we at the Greenfield Tavern keep plenty of slaves for ourselves."

"But in total, there are only about thirty who are your age and height, and I’ve almost shown you all of them."

"If you’re not satisfied with any of them after seeing them all, I’m not refunding that ten thousand Federation Coins."

Just as the tall, thin man finished speaking, Zhong Yi heard shouting and quarreling from up ahead.

Hearing this, the man frowned, strode forward, and shouted sharply,

"What’s all this noise?"

"Has it been a while since you’ve felt the whip? Are you missing the taste of the Cowhide Whip?!"

Following behind the man, Zhong Yi saw six or seven slaves with the Greenfield Tavern’s Slave Mark on their faces, ganging up on another slave.

The slave being beaten was thin, curled up on the ground with his hands clasped tightly over his head.

In his hands, he clutched half a piece of dry ration covered in filth.

The slaves were clearly terrified of the tall, thin man. When he mentioned the Cowhide Whip, a few of them began to tremble involuntarily.

It seemed the Cowhide Whip had left a lasting impression on them!

"Brother She, we really don’t want to work with him. He’s covered in these scary-looking purple-black marks."

"Yeah, Brother She! The kid never says a word all day, like he’s mute. What if he has some contagious disease and infects all of us? That would be a loss for you, too."

"Brother She, we’ve finished all our work, didn’t slack off one bit. We’re only hitting him because he doesn’t know the rules. Who just snatches food the moment it’s served?"

Hearing this, the tall, thin man frowned and glanced at the slave curled up on the ground but didn’t say much.

The tall, thin man knew exactly what the situation was with the slave on the ground.

Because he was the one who had decided to keep this person!

When he was first kept at the Greenfield Tavern, he was only nine years old.

The tall, thin man had originally planned to wait until the boy turned thirteen to take him for the Soul Awakening Ceremony.

When he first kept him, he couldn’t even bring himself to apply the Slave Mark.

This boy was a potential confidant the tall, thin man planned to cultivate. After all, he had never seen such a face on any male—a face more beautiful than any girl’s.

With that face alone, he could do great things for the Greenfield Tavern!