Three-tailed Spirit Fish, Fire Qilin Fruit, Thousand-Year-Old Willow Wood Heart...

"Could I really have a useless Five-Elements Spiritual Root?"

Yang Qi clicked his tongue.

Information about Spiritual Root aptitude was part of the common cultivation knowledge included with the "Moon-Summoning Qi Refining Art."

Possessing all five elements was, in itself, a rare aptitude.

But the accompanying explanation pointed out that for this type of aptitude, cultivation speed in the early and even middle stages was extremely slow and time-consuming.

If one couldn’t break through realms and extend their lifespan within their limited years, what was the use of such a rare aptitude?

In the end, you’d just turn into a pile of dirt.

For this reason, the "All Five Elements" Spiritual Root was mockingly called a "useless Spiritual Root."

’Hopefully, the system has a different kind of surprise in store...’

Yang Qi comforted himself.

Without rushing to manifest the Thousand-Year-Old Willow Wood Heart, Yang Qi went to the logistics warehouse, requisitioned a large, fresh cut of beef streaked with a bit of blood, put it in a bag, and returned to the back mountain.

He found Caiyun sunbathing and Ta Xue playing.

Yang Qi opened the bag and placed the beef in front of Caiyun.

"The treat I promised you."

"Meow?"

Ta Xue padded over curiously and sniffed at the raw meat. The scent of blood made him wrinkle his little face and take two disgusted steps back.

Caiyun’s eyes, however, lit up. She lowered her head for a thorough sniff before digging in, her sharp teeth easily tearing the beef as she made contented swallowing sounds.

"Meow?"

Seeing his mother eat with such relish, Ta Xue’s big eyes filled with confusion, and he looked up at Yang Qi.

’Is it really that good?’

"You’re still little. Your stomach is too weak, so you can’t eat this."

Yang Qi smiled, bent down to pick up Ta Xue, and ruffled the fur on his head. Then he said to the engrossed Caiyun,

"We’re heading back first. Take your time."

"Hrrr~" Caiyun let out a muffled response from deep in her throat without even lifting her head, continuing to enjoy her delicious feast.

...

Back at the zoo dormitory, Yang Qi put Ta Xue down and let him go play with Xiaojiu.

He then went to his room and manifested the Thousand-Year-Old Willow Wood Heart.

It was the size of his palm, a pale white color like the finest mutton-fat jade.

Yang Qi popped it into his mouth and began to chew. The texture was a bit like eating raw sweet potato, but the taste was completely different. There was no earthiness; instead, an indescribable, sweet, and cool fragrance of grass and wood spread through his mouth.

Once the Willow Wood Heart was down, Yang Qi immediately sat cross-legged and circulated his energy to absorb it.

...

In the afternoon, Yang Qi methodically cleaned two enclosures.

As closing time approached, the phone in his pocket vibrated.

He took it out and saw that Mei Ying had posted an announcement in the "Zoo Family" work group chat.

The content was a zoo-wide notification criticizing Monkey Mountain keeper Liu Fei for his negligence, which led to the temporary disappearance of the Monkey King, "Great Sage," and docking his performance bonus for the month.

Aside from a few leaders giving polite replies, the group chat was completely silent. No one else said a word.

Soon after, however, a new WeChat notification popped up on Yang Qi’s phone. Chen Ze had added him to a small, private group chat.

A quick look at the group revealed it was mostly composed of the zoo’s contract workers.

They were currently in the middle of a heated discussion, roasting Liu Fei and the absurdity of the whole incident, their words tinged with schadenfreude.

Yang Qi had no interest in talking about others behind their backs and didn’t want to get involved in such drama. He just sent a casual reply in the group, made an excuse about being busy, and put his phone away.

...

The next morning, the sun shone brightly.

Yang Qi was inside the Raccoon Hall, patiently conducting behavioral training with a family of them, when his phone suddenly rang.

He picked it up and saw it was a call from the Zoo Director, Huang Zhongmu.

Yang Qi stepped aside to answer.

"Xiao Yang, are you free right now? Come to my office," Huang Zhongmu’s voice sounded calm, but he didn’t say what it was about.

"Okay, Director."

Yang Qi paused the training session, carefully locked the cage door, and headed toward the office building.

Arriving outside the director’s office, Yang Qi knocked and entered.

He found the office was quite crowded.

Besides Huang Zhongmu, Mei Ying, Jiang Kai, and the other zoo leaders, there were three visitors: two women and one man.

The aura of these three was clearly different from the zoo staff.

The leader of the group was a woman sitting in an armchair.

The woman was in her early thirties, with striking, beautiful features, tasteful, exquisite makeup, and a well-tailored, light-gray professional skirt suit.

However, Yang Qi’s gaze was first drawn to a Shiba Inu sitting obediently by the woman’s side.

When the Shiba Inu saw Yang Qi, its dark, glossy eyes stared back, its tail wagging rapidly.

"Dou Dou?"

Yang Qi called out softly.

"WOOF!"

Dou Dou barked excitedly, its tail wagging even more furiously.

’It really is Dou Dou!’

Yang Qi understood instantly, his gaze returning to the elegant woman.

’It seems this is Chen Hao’s neighbor, the "Sister Yang" he rescued from the villa last time.’

"Xiao Yang is here."

Huang Zhongmu spoke up at the right moment to make the introductions. "This is Yang Pan, President Yang of the Xianzi Group. President Yang, this is our zoo’s Yang Qi."

Yang Qi took a step forward and spoke politely, "President Yang, hello—"

"Call me Sister!"

Yang Pan stood up, a wide smile blooming on her face. She actively reached out, not for a polite handshake, but to grasp Yang Qi’s hand tightly with both of hers, her voice filled with clear excitement.

"Xiao Yang... let me call you Xiaoqi instead. Xiaoqi, thank you! After I was discharged from the hospital, Lao Chen told me the full details of that night. If you hadn’t noticed something was wrong and insisted on checking in, I’m afraid I wouldn’t have made it."

"President Yang... Sister Pan."

Yang Qi could feel her sincere gratitude, so it felt wrong to be overly polite. "Please don’t say that. I just happened to be there. If we’re talking about heroes, Dou Dou is the number one hero. If he hadn’t been standing guard and barking nonstop, we never would have realized something was wrong."

"Dou Dou is a good boy."

Yang Pan glanced down at the Shiba Inu staring eagerly at Yang Qi, her eyes gentle. But then she looked back at Yang Qi and said with emotion, "But you were the one who noticed something was amiss, and you were the one who assessed the situation. This is a kindness I’ll never forget."

Yang Qi wanted to offer a few more humble words, but Yang Pan had already regained the composure of a powerful businesswoman.

She let go of his hand, turned to her female secretary, and took a large, neatly folded silk banner—red with yellow characters—from her arms. She then presented it to Yang Qi with both hands, smiling.

"Xiaoqi, it’s just a small token of my appreciation. You absolutely must accept it."

’A silk banner?’

’This is a very traditional way of saying thank you.’

"Thank you, Sister Pan." Yang Qi smiled and accepted it with both hands.

Mei Ying, who was standing to the side, added with a smile, "President Yang also generously opened her purse and donated one million yuan to our zoo, specifically earmarked for improving the daily meals and nutritional supplements for all the animals in the park."

’A million yuan donated to the zoo?’

Yang Qi nodded to himself. ’That’s good too.’

Just as he was thinking this, he saw Yang Pan take a bound contract from her secretary’s briefcase and present it to him, a friendly smile on her face.

"Xiaoqi, I heard you have a smart and spirited black cat, right? As it happens, my company is about to launch a new high-end, natural cat food brand, marketing it as ’Exclusive Nutrition for Intelligent Pets’."

"Everything is ready; we’re just missing a suitable ’spokes-pet.’ I’ve been thinking it over, and I feel that your Xiaojiu is a perfect fit."

"What do you think? Could Xiaojiu help me out and do some promotional photos and commercial videos?"

Holy cow!