Holding the Little Demon Beast, Chen Che hurried to the Lotus Platform.

Just as he’d thought.

The egg that had been placed on the Lotus Platform was gone. Even the shell had vanished, and he wondered if this creature had eaten it.

"It’s only been a few days, hasn’t it?"

Chen Che did a quick calculation and immediately felt his anticipation had been for naught.

From the day he opened the safe box until today, it hadn’t even been ten full days.

’Looks like this Demon Beast’s Grade isn’t very high!’

Chen Che thought to himself.

Demon Beasts didn’t have Spiritual Roots; their power came mostly from their bloodline.

Thus, for many Demon Beasts, their potential was locked in at birth. Their strength would peak upon reaching adulthood and then gradually decline with old age.

Of course, nothing was absolute.

Some Demon Beasts could experience atavistic regression or consume Celestial and Earthly Treasures, giving them a chance to break through their limits.

But according to online calculations, an egg hatching within twenty days in a Cave Mansion with over 200 units of Spiritual Qi was most likely a Foundation Establishment Realm Demon Beast.

If it took longer than twenty days, it might even be at the Golden Core Realm.

’A Demon Beast with an upper limit of the Foundation Establishment Realm is a bit of a waste for me...’

Sizing up the "Little Chick" in his hand, Chen Che inwardly shook his head.

After all, the resources needed to raise a Demon Beast far exceeded those for a Cultivator. Even in Yunzhou, few factions were willing to keep Demon Beasts.

Not to mention, at his current Cultivation speed, he expected to reach Foundation Establishment within two years.

And by then, who knew what Realm this Demon Beast would be at? It was doubtful he could even ride it to fly.

As Chen Che contemplated whether to just stew and eat it—not wanting to waste any resources—or toss it into the mountains to fend for itself, he stepped into the Alchemy Chamber. But when he saw the state of the room, the color drained from his face, and he froze on the spot.

The Alchemy Chamber was a complete mess.

The Jade Bottles in the wall niches were shattered, and the Pills inside had vanished without a trace.

’Could an intruder have gotten in?’

He instinctively moved to leave the Cave Mansion.

If an outsider had broken in, this place was no longer safe.

But he glanced at the Alchemy Chamber again, and his retreating footsteps immediately halted.

The Array Disc was intact, with no signs of being attacked by an external force.

The Chixia Tripod was still in its original spot, with no trace of having been moved.

The Books and Secret Manuals in the Alchemy Chamber hadn’t been touched.

The scene before him made him fall into deep thought.

If an outsider had broken into the Cave Mansion, it was impossible that they would ignore the more valuable Pill Books and Pill Furnace to steal only the Pills. Moreover, he would likely have been attacked by the intruder the moment he entered.

He exhaled slowly.

With doubt in his heart, his Divine Sense rapidly swept over the Cave Mansion.

He still found no trace of any intruders.

"So here’s the question! If no one entered the Cave Mansion, why did all the Pills I refined suddenly disappear?

"No outside thief got in, and no inside thief could have gotten out...

"So why did my Pills vanish into thin air?"

A thought struck Chen Che, and his gaze involuntarily fell upon the "Little Chick" he was holding.

’Could it be... its fault?’

...

After tidying up the messy Cave Mansion a bit, Chen Che lowered his head, carefully examining the "Little Chick." It was covered in yellow fluff, making it impossible to tell if it was a chicken or an eagle.

Most avian species look quite similar just after hatching.

Therefore, Chen Che still couldn’t identify what kind of Demon Beast it was from its appearance.

Besides that, this "Little Chick" was also quite fierce.

A single peck from its soft, tender beak left a bloody mark. In the short time he’d been observing it, it had pecked the Profound Ink Turtle’s head until it was bleeding, forcing the turtle to retract its head to safety.

But it didn’t stop there. It hopped onto the Profound Ink Turtle’s back and, like a woodpecker, started pecking at the shell with a "TAP TAP TAP." The Profound Ink Turtle was so scared it didn’t dare to move.

’Could it be hungry?’

Seeing this, a thought crossed Chen Che’s mind.

He casually took out a Qi Gathering Pill and placed it in his palm.

Smelling the Pill Fragrance, the "Little Chick" immediately abandoned the Profound Ink Turtle. It flapped its featherless wings and rushed over, swallowing the coin-sized Pill in one gulp. Then, it looked up at him with pleading eyes, opened its beak wide, and let out a series of "CHIRP CHIRP CHIRP."

This scene reminded Chen Che of the baby birds in nature documentaries, crying out to be fed.

"It ate so many of my Pills and it’s still not full?"

Chen Che’s eyelid twitched violently.

He had dozens of bottles of Pills in the Alchemy Room. An ordinary Cultivator would feel bloated and be in agony after consuming just one bottle.

But this little guy was completely fine and even looked like it was starving.

"Looks like my initial assumption was wrong.

"This egg was in the safe box for who knows how many years; it must have absorbed a certain amount of Spiritual Qi. That’s why it hatched in just ten days in the Cave Mansion. Its Grade might be even higher than I thought!

"Golden Core, Nascent Soul? Or even..."

This made Chen Che a little nervous.

Thinking back, in all his years, none of the animals he had ever raised had survived for more than a year. 𝘧𝑟𝑒𝑒𝘸𝘦𝘣𝑛𝑜𝘷𝑒𝓁.𝘤𝘰𝓂

He went back to the Earth Element Star and searched for a while, but it was fruitless. He couldn’t identify the "Little Chick’s" species.

Following recommendations from netizens, he went offline and bought a few bags of expensive bird feed. On the seller’s strong recommendation, he also bought an artificial bird’s nest that was advertised as a habitat for avian Demon Beasts that would help them sleep and provide a sense of security.

But unexpectedly, the little thing was quite picky. It wouldn’t eat the feed at all and even looked at it with disgust. Clearly, the Spiritual Qi in this bird feed wasn’t as abundant as that in the Pills.

In addition, it wasn’t willing to sleep in the nest he had prepared, preferring instead to laze around on the Lotus Platform where it was born.

Obviously, it had taken the Lotus Platform as its nest.

Chen Che searched again for how to raise a Demon Beast, but many people gave different advice.

However, there was one common point.

To ensure a Demon Beast’s healthy growth, you had to feed it items containing Spiritual Qi. This included, but was not limited to, Pills, Demon Beast meat, and Celestial and Earthly Treasures. Research also showed that a large amount of food could shorten a Demon Beast’s juvenile period.

Sure enough, after he stewed the three-pound Profound Ink Turtle, he ate half himself. The "Little Chick" pecked, tore, and swallowed the other half, but its stomach hardly seemed to grow.

"This is a Gold-devouring Giant Beast! The money I earn might not even be enough to feed it!"

Chen Che understood instantly. Recalling the empty pill bottles in the Alchemy Chamber, he couldn’t help but feel a headache coming on.

With the surge of Cultivators in the Market, his shop’s monthly income had risen to around eighty Spirit Stones. But after deducting the thirty percent share he paid out and other store expenses, he was left with at least fifty Spirit Stones.

This was no small sum.

But based on this "Little Chick’s" appetite of dozens of bottles of Pills a day, this amount of money was likely not enough to raise it.

"No wonder on Earth Element Star, not many families can afford to support a Beast Tamer."

"Should I expand the business?"

Chen Che pondered for a moment but decided against it.

Occasionally bringing one or two items over to sell was just a drop in the bucket. Besides, items from the Earth Element Star bore the mark of an era far beyond this one. If the quantity became too large, it would inevitably attract unwanted attention.

Even Jinyun Valley, which had recruited him as a Tributor, might not be able to resist the temptation.

’Suppressing my business? That’s what low-level peddlers do.’

The most straightforward business tactic in Yunzhou was direct Soul Searching. No secret could be kept hidden.

"Everything must proceed step by step!"

Just as Chen Che was thinking this.

「The next day.」

Someone from Jinyun Valley came to summon him to the valley.

"The Valley Master is out of seclusion?"