Clearly, Su Ping's first cultivation target was still Old Sha.
Old Sha was already very old. As time went on and his age increased, the difficulty of evolution would only grow. Since there had just been another breakthrough not long ago, Su Ping truly did not want to delay things any further.
What's more, Su Ping trusted the Myriad Spirit Codex.
The earlier Wood Heart Potion, and later the Link Sharing ability, had already proven just how miraculous the Codex truly was.
This time would naturally be no exception.
And without a doubt, the most critical step in cultivating the Myriad Wood Wolf evolution lay in one point:
The level of Photosynthesishad to match the level of Sunlight Absorption. Only after completing evolution under that condition would total plantification be avoided.
The evolution chart in the Myriad Spirit Codex explained this extremely clearly.
At that stage, as long as the appropriate resources were used, the level of the Photosynthesis skill could be accelerated.
Old Sha's Sunlight Absorption was already at the Perfect level. Therefore, to raise Photosynthesis to Perfect within the window of energy absorption, mere abundant sunlight was not enough—those special resources were absolutely essential.
Smiling Sunflower Seeds, Sunlight Springwater, Lung of Nature, and Sun Crystal.
Su Ping let out a quiet breath.
Smiling Sunflower Seeds were no big deal—just ordinary materials. With his current finances, he could buy them in bulk anytime.
Sunlight Springwater wasn't too bad either. It was only Elite-tier, and as a premium spirit spring resource for plant-type pet beasts, it circulated widely on the market and wasn't hard to obtain.
However, Lung of Nature was no longer something that could be acquired casually.
A Commander-tier resource that assisted breathing and purified impurities within both pet beasts and Beast Tamers—it was an extremely rare and valuable item.
As for Sun Crystal?
A Monarch-tier resource. It was even rumored to be used as a material for certain pet beast evolutions—exceedingly rare.
Su Ping wasn't entirely sure whether Old Sha's evolution absolutely required Sun Crystal.
But Old Sha was one of Su Ping's most important family members. This evolution was fundamentally different from earlier cultivation potions.
The Wood Heart Potion, even if it failed, posed no threat to life.
But this evolution was different.
Before proceeding, everything had to be fully prepared.
Therefore, not only did he need the rare Lung of Nature, even Sun Crystal had to be secured to ensure truly foolproof success.
With that thought, Su Ping exhaled and took out his phone.
Opening the marketplace app, his eyes immediately lit up.
After entering the keyword, two leaf-shaped items actually appeared on the screen.
That was right—Lung of Nature.
However, after taking a closer look, Su Ping's heart sank slightly.
[Lung of Nature: Wood-attribute Commander-tier resource. Can be used by both pet beasts and Beast Tamers. A rare and precious resource. Price: 8,000,000]
It wasn't that he couldn't afford it.
In fact, over the past two days, Su Ping had completed another Wood Heart cultivation, earning over four million after tax.
As long as he cultivated one more Forest Wolf, he could afford it.
The real problem was this—
If a Commander-tier resource like Lung of Nature already cost this much, then what about a Monarch-tier Sun Crystal?
Obviously, it would be well over ten million. The only question was how many tens of millions.
As expected, resources of this level only became more expensive the higher the tier.
Ordinary-tier resources—even rare ones—usually cost only tens of thousands, sometimes just over ten thousand.
Elite-tier resources often jumped more than tenfold.
Once you reached Commander-tier, they were no longer something ordinary people could afford.
And Monarch-tier resources—like the one he needed now—were things that an average Beast Tamer might never be able to gather even in an entire lifetime.
As for Emperor-tier resources?
Those weren't something ordinary people could even come into contact with at all.
Money simply couldn't measure them.
What a headache.
Su Ping rubbed his temples.
What was more infuriating than having a fully researched evolution method—but being unable to act because of missing materials?
Why was it that money was never enough?
And clearly, this wasn't something that money alone could solve anyway.
Because on the marketplace app, although there was an item listing, two gray words stood prominently beside it:
Out of Stock.
So where could he get it?
The first thing Su Ping thought of was next door.
Now that he knew the background and influence of the Yuntian Resort, and that the other party still owed him a favor—although he was a bit puzzled why they hadn't come knocking yet—Su Ping believed that if he raised this condition, the Tianyun Group should be able to handle it.
But he rejected the idea almost immediately.
Tianyun could indeed manage it—but Su Ping absolutely would not give up the matter of the Little Paper Man and that secret realm.
From Qin Xiaoxue's words alone, the value of a secret realm was obvious.
Borrow from Qin Xiaoxue?
She would definitely lend it to him.
But Su Ping didn't want to ask.
Rubbing his head, he wondered—should he take out a loan?
That clearly wasn't reliable either.
Still, regardless of whether he could gather the money, even if he completed all the Forest Wolf cultivation orders he had lined up, he first needed to know where to buy it and how much it cost.
With that thought, the first person who came to mind was naturally Vice Chairman Liu of the Breeders' Association.
On the phone, that familiar, hearty voice rang out:
"Xiao Su, calling me again so soon? Don't tell me you've already finished researching the Myriad Wood Wolf evolution?"
"There's been some progress," Su Ping replied, "but it's not fully complete yet. I'm calling today to ask you about something."
Su Ping's words made Vice Chairman Liu pause slightly. He glanced at the phone in mild confusion.
He had only asked casually—after all, he knew his disciple's level well. Sun Chaoju had spent enormous amounts of time, energy, and money without success. How could such a thing be easy?
And now Su Ping was saying he already had some leads?
For a moment, Old Liu didn't even know how to respond.
"I wanted to ask—do you know where Sun Crystals are sold in Linzhou, or perhaps anywhere in Jianghai Province?"
Su Ping's question snapped Vice Chairman Liu out of his daze.
"Sun Crystal? Why would you need to look elsewhere? The Breeders' Association has those!"
The moment he heard that, Su Ping was overjoyed.
"That's great! Elder Liu, how much does one cost?"
"Cost?"
Vice Chairman Liu paused, then asked strangely:
"Xiao Su, have you… never come to the Breeders' Association before?"
Su Ping felt a bit embarrassed. "I've been pretty busy…"
"Perfect timing, then," Vice Chairman Liu laughed. "Tomorrow's my lecture day. Come to the Breeders' Association then—you'll understand. The Association doesn't charge you for that."
Tomorrow was lecture day?
Su Ping froze for a moment before realizing—since taking over the Wood Heart cultivation work, he had hardly gone out at all. He had almost forgotten how quickly time had passed.
Looking at the date now, it was already the end of the month.
Feeling refreshed, Su Ping ended the call.
After purchasing all the lower-tier materials required for the Myriad Wood Wolf evolution, early the next morning—for the first time—he locked the gate to his home.
Then he boarded the bus and subway once more, setting off toward the Linzhou City Breeders' Association Center.
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