Firecloud Manor contained many gardens.
Each garden was enveloped by a formation, within which various Firecloud Beasts were reared.
After the laborer finished his introduction, he led the two to the garden that housed the Firecloud Crimsonflame Tigers.
Truth be told,
the creature was truly massive, about nine meters long and six meters tall, its fur blazing like flames. Even lying coiled there, it resembled a burning mountain of fire.
The laborer sent a spirit incantation over. As the formation shimmered faintly, the previously coiled Firecloud Crimsonflame Tiger abruptly stood up, shook its enormous head, and let out an ear-splitting roar. Its imposing might was so strong it caused Horse King's mind to tremble slightly. He instinctively took a step back and exclaimed in awe, "This Firecloud Crimsonflame Tiger is truly terrifying."
Ordinary tycoons might own Firecloud mounts, but most were Firecloud Gilded Horses costing several million. There were also quite a few Firecloud Gold-Crystal Wolves, but Firecloud Swiftwind Leopards were not common, and Firecloud Violetflame Lions were even rarer. As for this so-called king of Firecloud Beasts, the Firecloud Crimsonflame Tiger, they were exceedingly few.
In Horse King's memory, he hadn't seen one more than a handful of times. He reckoned that only the wealthiest among wealthy immortals would spend twenty to thirty million to buy a Firecloud Crimsonflame Tiger. After all, those overnight nouveau riche didn't have a steady, massive source of income; they just got lucky and struck it rich. If they bought such a Crimsonflame Tiger, they likely couldn't afford to rear it afterward.
Of course,
while ordinary tycoons might be able to buy but not afford to rear one, for a Great Old Master holding 1.8 billion, he could both buy and rear it.
Horse King looked at Gu Qingfeng and asked, "Great Old Master, what do you think?"
"Looks passable."
Beside them, the laborer watched Horse King seek Gu Qingfeng's opinion, addressing him repeatedly as 'Great Old Master'. The laborer was deeply puzzled inside.
As a laborer at Firecloud Manor, he had seen all sorts of people over the years—noble young masters from immortal families, overnight nouveau riche, and various powerful Great Old Masters. But he had never seen a Great Old Master who was actually a mortal without any cultivation.
This left him utterly unable to comprehend.
However, he didn't dare ask too much and continued, "If the two of you have purchasing intent, you can pay a certain amount of immortal stones for a trial ride."
"Skip the trial ride. This master has no interest in riding this thing. I only like riding grand carriages. Do you have any grand carriages pulled by Firecloud Crimsonflame Tigers here?"
"Of course. If equipped with a grand carriage, the price varies depending on the carriage. Would you like this humble one to take you, Great Old Master, to see the carriages?"
"No need to look. Just fit this master with the most expensive grand carriage."
The laborer seemed unable to believe it, asking in surprise, "The most expensive?"
"That's right, the most expensive."
"Then...
then the spirit beast?"
"Naturally, the Firecloud Crimsonflame Tiger with the purest bloodline, and an adult one at that. This master doesn't want cubs."
The laborer craned his neck, somewhat uncertain as he asked, "Great Old Master, do you truly have purchasing intent?"
"Nonsense. If this master had no intent to buy, why would I come here?"
Gu Qingfeng said, "Go and bring this master a Firecloud Crimsonflame Tiger, fit it with the most expensive grand carriage, then let this master take a trial ride. If satisfied, I'll buy it on the spot."
"Very well, Great Old Master. Fitting the carriage will take some time. This humble one will first take you to a garden to rest for a moment."
"Let's go."
Gu Qingfeng and the other followed the laborer to a garden to rest. Spotting two Firecloud Gilded Horses pulling a grand carriage whooshing past, Gu Qingfeng added, "Is one Firecloud Crimsonflame Tiger a bit too few? Then make it three for this master. Three isn't many either. Raising one is raising, raising three is also raising. Since we're raising them anyway, might as well make it an auspicious number. Let's just get eighteen." Upon hearing this,
Horse King was so startled he froze in place.
In the Great Desolate, owning a single immortal bird or spirit beast mount was a symbol of status. Owning a spirit beast-drawn grand carriage symbolized an even more exalted status.
Because a grand carriage was often equipped with not just one spirit beast, but possibly two, three, or even more. This meant that just rearing these spirit beasts each year required a massive sum of immortal stones. Moreover, after buying a spirit beast carriage, one naturally needed to hire a coachman. Supporting a coachman was another expense in immortal stones.
Therefore,
even if some family's young master or tycoon wanted to flaunt their noble status, they would at most get a grand carriage pulled by two or three Firecloud Beasts, and even then, usually Firecloud Gilded Horses. That was already quite good. One had to know a single Firecloud Gilded Horse cost three to four million; three would be nearly ten million.
Grand carriages pulled by two or three Firecloud Swiftwind Leopards or Firecloud Gold-Crystal Wolves weren't unheard of, but they were rare. Those pulled by two or three Firecloud Violetflame Lions were even fewer.
As for grand carriages pulled by two or three Firecloud Crimsonflame Tigers, aside from the aristocratic nobility of cave heavens and blessed lands, probably no one could afford to rear them. After all, a single Firecloud Crimsonflame Tiger cost ten to twenty million; a purebred one went for thirty million. Three would be nearly a hundred million. Rearing a single purebred Firecloud Crimsonflame Tiger averaged five to six hundred thousand per year; three would cost over a million.
Who could afford that?
And now, what was Gu Qingfeng saying? He wanted a grand carriage equipped with eighteen Firecloud Crimsonflame Tigers, and purebred ones at that.
Horse King had cultivated for nearly a thousand years. He had never seen a grand carriage equipped with eighteen Firecloud Crimsonflame Tigers. Not only had he never seen one, he hadn't even heard of such a thing.
Not only had he not heard of it, even the laborer beside him, who had worked at Firecloud Manor for a long time, had never heard of a grand carriage equipped with eighteen purebred Firecloud Crimsonflame Tigers.
Forget a carriage with eighteen Firecloud Crimsonflame Tigers; in his hundreds of years working at Firecloud Manor, the most Crimsonflame Tigers he had seen on a single carriage was five, and even those weren't of the purest bloodline.
He truly couldn't imagine what gave this fellow before him—devoid of cultivation, devoid of destiny, devoid of bearing, merely a mortal—the audacity to speak of a grand carriage equipped with eighteen Firecloud Crimsonflame Tigers.
He stared at Gu Qingfeng for a long time, took a deep breath as if coming to his senses, and said, "Great Old Master, are you perhaps joking with this humble one?
If so, this joke is not at all amusing."
Perhaps feeling Gu Qingfeng was toying with him, the laborer grew rather angry, his tone becoming much more serious. "If you have genuine intent to purchase, this humble one will continue to serve you. If you have no intent to purchase, my apologies, but this humble one must attend to other customers."
"What?
Afraid this master can't afford it?"
"Can you afford it?"
"It's just eighteen purebred Firecloud Crimsonflame Tigers, a matter of a few hundred million immortal stones."
Gu Qingfeng said with a smile, "Little brother, this master is a tycoon, a genuine tycoon. Not just eighteen, even twenty-eight, this master can afford."
"'Just a few hundred million immortal stones'? What grand talk!"
The laborer grew angrier as he spoke. Just as he was about to reprimand him, a voice came: "How presumptuous! How can you be so rude to a customer?"