Chapter 141

Chapter 141

Bai Xiaoyu was stunned by Little Golden Tiger's series of strange moves. If Bai Qing hadn't looked at him, he wouldn't have realized what was happening.

However, there was nothing he could do now that things had developed to this point. Bai Qing had indeed never appeared before Little Golden Tiger, and for certain reasons, Bai Xiaoyu had barely mentioned Bai Qing and the others.

It wasn't surprising that Little Golden Tiger didn't recognize Bai Qing. What he didn't expect was the little guy's fierce attack on Bai Qing.

Looking at Little Golden Tiger, who was being held by the back of his neck and was still trying to scratch Bai Qing's face, Bai Xiaoyu told Little Golden Tiger, "Little guy, come back. He really is our father."

Hearing this, Little Golden Tiger paused, turned back, and growled, "That old man is actually still alive?"

Then came a loud yelp from Little Golden Tiger, as it was obvious that Bai Qing had finally lost his temper and hit him.

Bai Qing's face turned from pale to dark as he spanked Little Golden Tiger's bottom.

Little Golden Tiger screamed while being hit, "Old man, how dare you hit me, the great emperor! Let go of me, let's have a one-on-one fight."

Bai Qing hit even harder.

Unable to escape, Little Golden Tiger turned to Bai Xiaoyu for help, "Brother, save me. You sneak up on this old man from behind. We brothers fight together and take him down!"

Bai Xiaoyu sighed, showing that he couldn't intervene, "I can't get involved in this."

It wasn't that he didn't want to help Little Golden Tiger, but Bai Qing was their father, after all. If not for Little Golden Tiger's sudden and quick actions, Bai Xiaoyu wouldn't have let him act first.

Even if they fought together, Bai Xiaoyu and Little Golden Tiger wouldn't stand a chance against Bai Qing. At most, the little guy would feel some pain, but no serious injuries. This spanking was a necessary lesson for Little Golden Tiger.

Fortunately, Bai Qing didn't use too much force. After being let go, Little Golden Tiger ran back behind Bai Xiaoyu and occasionally let out an angry growl at Bai Qing.

Seeing that the little guy clearly wasn't convinced, the veins on Bai Qing's forehead pulsed. However, since there was something important to discuss, Bai Qing suppressed the urge to hit the defiant child again and turned to Bai Xiaoyu, "Get ready. Either let my people pick up 101 for naming, or you bring him back."

Bai Xiaoyu replied, "That's not my decision to make. You need to ask the little guy."

Little Golden Tiger bared his teeth and said, "I won't go; I'll stay here. I don't want you to give me a name. Brother will give me one."

Bai Qing was even more infuriated seeing that both brothers were stubborn. "I'm your father. What I say is final..."

Bai Qing's voice suddenly cut off as a woman's voice replaced it, "What did you promise me?"

Stiffening, Bai Qing turned to see Feng Shuang'er had appeared online behind him, a laser gun pressed against his lower back. Bai Qing stammered, "It's just about giving a name. It's not that 101 has to stay on Imperial Star. This is what the Elder Council requested."

Feng Shuang'er pulled the trigger. "Is that so?"

Bai Qing's face changed, and he whispered, "For the sake of the children, show me some respect."

Feng Shuang'er smiled, "You should know that if it weren't for the children, I would have already killed you."

Bai Qing said, "It's truly the Elder Council..."

Feeling the gun almost poking into his waist, he quickly added, "I'll have the elders come online to name him."

He then contacted his assistant to notify and arrange for the elders to come online.

Feng Shuang'er turned her attention to the two tiger cubs who were almost the same size and equally startled.

Despite being the same age, one was fully grown, while the other had just hatched.

Feng Shuang'er glanced at Bai Qing again, suppressing the urge to fire, and waved at the two tiger cubs.

The brown-gold cub nodded slightly, then shook its head, while the golden cub tilted its fluffy little head and looked at her curiously, making no move to come over.

Feng Shuang'er froze for a moment, then said, "Xiao Yu, if he gives you trouble again, come find me. I have to log off now."

Before logging off, she looked at the little golden tiger and said, "Little one, I am your mother."

The little golden tiger’s jaw dropped. He had a mother besides this old man?

Seeing the little golden tiger’s expression, Feng Shuang'er was at a loss for words.

After a while, she logged off. She really had to leave since she wasn't Bai Qing's queen and had no right to attend the royal family meeting.

Feng Shuang'er sneered. She didn’t even have the right to name her own child.

As soon as Feng Shuang'er logged off, Bai Qing felt like he could act again.

Looking at the two cubs, he said, "Follow me. We'll decide on your names today."

The two ghosts who had seen everything vanished the moment the father and cubs disappeared.

It wasn’t that the cubs had scratched them to death. They had endured the cubs pawing at their faces because Bai Qing didn’t tell them to stop. They couldn’t take it anymore.

Having reached their current positions, they had never suffered such humiliation and were almost driven mad. But with the emperor present, they couldn’t fight back or log off. They endured full pain sensitivity, and the humiliation forced them into ghost mode.

Elder Han touched his face, which had returned to normal, his eyes dark. "What is His Majesty thinking, allowing that cub to humiliate us?"

Elder Chen’s eyes flickered. "Could it be that His Majesty has discovered something? Back then, he hadn’t fully taken control of the Royal Nursery, but even with all our preparations and escape routes, we were suddenly knocked out. It’s been over twenty years. He should have figured it out by now."

Elder Han shook his head. "The cleanup our people did was quite thorough, and our clan’s backing helped. Besides, if he really knew, why would he still keep us around? He even relies on us more than before. If you were in his position, could you do that?"

After some discussion, the topic returned to Bai Xiaoyu. Seeing another perfect opportunity to approach Bai Xiaoyu slip away, both wore grim expressions.

After all, upon waking again, in just over a month, they had visibly aged. That infuriating little golden tiger had called them old chrysanthemums. In fact, a month ago, their faces had no wrinkles.

Normally, people in the star system would begin to age slowly after reaching a certain age. They had reached that stage, with another thirty to forty years left. Over twenty years had passed, and after suffering a severe setback, they had only a few years remaining.

They really couldn’t afford to wait.

So they needed to seize every opportunity to try extracting Bai Xiaoyu’s spiritual power or consciousness again.

For now, they would have to consider other methods.

At that moment, Bai Xiaoyu, having entered the royal virtual meeting room, received a system notification that he could switch to human form.

Surprised, he quickly switched back. The little golden tiger followed behind, hopping along, and looked a bit disappointed when Bai Xiaoyu switched back.

Bai Xiaoyu led the little golden tiger through a large door and saw a magnificent meeting room with six people already seated. The elder at the front had a youthful face with white hair. Looking at the others, Bai Xiaoyu recognized none of them. The last person was asleep on the table, not lifting their head, but this person gave Bai Xiaoyu a faint sense of familiarity.

Seeing Bai Qing enter, everyone rose. "Your Majesty."

Except for the last one, who was still asleep.

Bai Qing nodded, his gaze briefly passing over the last person before moving on. "I’ve called you here to discuss the naming of 101, as you already know."

The elder stood up, looking at the little golden tiger, his eyes lighting up. "After consulting various dictionaries and ancient texts, we propose the name Ao Tian, Bai Ao Tian. What do you think, Your Majesty?"

Bai Qing looked at Bai Xiaoyu and the little golden tiger. "What do you think?"

Little Golden Tiger yelled, "I don't want the name you all picked, I want Brother to pick it."

Bai Xiaoyu froze when he heard the name, Bai Aotian?

Bai Xiaoyu: "..."

The white-haired elder spoke again, "There are others, Bai Ritian, Bai Liangchen, how about these?"

Bai Xiaoyu: "..."

He cleared his throat and looked down at the little golden tiger scratching his leg, "Little guy, what do you think?"

The little golden tiger shook his head vigorously and began climbing up Bai Xiaoyu, eventually perching on his shoulder, yelling at everyone, "I don't want the name you all picked, I want Brother to pick it."

The elders were hesitant, "The names of royal children are given by their elders, how can a peer pick it for him?"

The little golden tiger immediately jumped off Bai Xiaoyu onto the table and started rolling around throwing a tantrum, "I want it, I want it, I want it."

The commotion woke the last sleeping elder. He looked up and saw the little golden tiger acting like a rascal with no manners, and found it rather amusing. Following the little tiger's gaze, he saw Bai Xiaoyu and nodded slightly in response, recognizing him from their previous meeting in the star network.

Bai Xiaoyu also noticed Bai Yin, whom he had met before in the star network, and gave a slight nod in return.

After enjoying the spectacle, Bai Yin slowly spoke up, "I don't recall any strict rule that royal children's names must be given by their elders. It's just your habit. If this cub insists on his brother picking the name, then let his brother do it."

Bai Qing glanced at Bai Yin, "What do you all think?"

The elders, looking at the lively little golden tiger, grew to like him even more. They were royal elders and of the purest Golden Tiger bloodline. Among Bai Qing's 193 children, only one pure golden tiger had been born, and they had great expectations for him.

If the cub didn't like their choice, forcing it wouldn't work.

The elders nodded in unison and looked at Bai Xiaoyu.

Bai Xiaoyu also had no experience in naming, but looking at the little golden tiger who was looking at him expectantly, he thought back to when they were still in the womb together, even though they were just two yolks. Later, they were cultivated together.

Even though the little golden tiger was still young, he was Bai Xiaoyu's twin brother.

The little golden tiger yelled, "Brother, pick a badass name."

Bai Xiaoyu paused for a moment before suggesting, "What about taking one character from my name and another from 'universe' (宙)? How does Bai Xiaozhou sound to you?"

The little golden tiger was very satisfied upon hearing it. Together, their names sounded incredibly badass.

The elders weren't impressed, finding it far inferior to the names they had suggested. But Bai Qing and Bai Yin thought it was better than the names the elders had suggested. They didn't know why, it was just their intuition.

Bai Xiaoyu, remembering he had other matters to attend to, turned to Bai Qing and the elders, "Since the little one's name is decided, we'll log off for now..."

Bai Qing: "Not so fast. This is the first meeting, and the elders haven't given the meeting gift yet."

It’s true that the first meeting with elders involves a gift. He could wait a bit longer; it wouldn't take much time.

However, some of the elders couldn't resist anymore seeing the little golden tiger rolling on the table. One elder transformed into a huge golden tiger and stretched out a paw to scratch the little tiger. The little golden tiger bit down on the paw, and soon the two tigers, big and small, were rolling around together.

Gradually, the other golden tigers couldn't resist either, and even the white-haired elder transformed into an elderly golden tiger with slightly white fur and joined in.

Bai Xiaoyu could only wait as this group of golden-furred big cats of various ages played. Eventually, Bai Qing’s light cough reminded the delighted big tigers to gradually calm down.

They stretched out their paws, and soon, several exquisitely crafted, lifelike, fist-sized small planets emerged from their paw pads, pushing them toward the little golden tiger. The little golden tiger curiously pawed at the rolling planets, his movements no different from playing with a ball of yarn.

White Qing walked over to the last elder who, at some point, had turned into a large golden tiger and was sleeping soundly. He kicked it.

The large golden tiger lifted its eyelids and shot a small planet out from under its paw, using it like a marble to shoot towards the little golden tiger. The small planet knocked into the row of small planets that the little golden tiger had lined up, sending them flying in all directions.

The little golden tiger hurriedly ran around, yelping as it searched for the scattered planets.

Xiaoyu found it quite interesting that they were giving the same toy, but these stellar toys were really well-made. He had seen many planets before, but these small planets looked like miniature holograms of real ones. Some areas had rain, snow, clouds, and fog, while others were dry and scorching hot with a clear sky...

Just then, the large golden tiger that was Bai Yin also shot one towards Xiaoyu. Xiaoyu instinctively caught it, planning to give it to the little golden tiger, but the large golden tiger spoke, "This is your welcoming gift. The royal elders give a welcoming gift to every royal family member. We didn’t give you one before, so consider this a late gift."

Xiaoyu held the delicate, fist-sized planet toy. Though he was past the age for toys, he still appreciated the gift.

Xiaoyu played with it briefly, "Thank you. Since every royal gets one, can Bai Ji, the little one who was previously 192nd in line and is now 193rd, get one too? He just hatched recently."

The large golden tiger nodded, "Of course."

It threw another small planet towards Xiaoyu, which he caught.

Bai Yin didn’t stop there; he turned to the other large golden tigers and said, "There are two more that need gifts."

The other golden tigers glanced at the two small planets in Xiaoyu’s hands and then roared at Bai Yin.

For other royal family members, they had just given some random items since they had already given gifts a long time ago.

But since Bai Yin had taken the lead and given a small planet, and the recipients were the little golden tiger’s brother and another sibling who might become an Elder Council member in the future, the large golden tigers looked at each other and rolled more than ten gray, dim planets from their paws.

Each of the five large golden tigers had a pile of such small planet toys in front of them. Bai Yin said to Xiaoyu, "Time for a blind box draw. Go ahead, pick two from each pile. They probably won’t be great, but anything that slips out of their hands still has some value. Besides those few planets, good luck."

Xiaoyu was confused; weren’t these just toys? But he still walked over to the large golden tigers, politely greeted them, and reached into the pile in front of one of the large golden tigers to pick two planets.

After thanking them, he moved to the next one and continued drawing.

The royal tigers had been annoyed by Xiaoyu in the past, thinking he had disgraced the royal family, but now, seeing him acting so well-behaved, they felt a bit of regret. Maybe they should have thrown in some better ones earlier.

Xiaoyu drew ten planets, plus the two from Bai Yin, making it a total of twelve. Apart from two that had visible colors, the rest were covered in a foggy gray.

Bai Yin walked over, his golden fur shimmering, and nudged the pile of small planet toys. He looked at the other large golden tigers, "Open the gifts."

The large golden tigers were also curious about what Xiaoyu had drawn. They all gathered around, including Bai Qing, who was somewhat interested and came over too.

So Xiaoyu found himself surrounded by six large golden tigers, and of course, the little golden tiger rushed over and climbed onto his shoulder.

The large golden tigers pressed some buttons on their optical computers.

Bai Yin said, "Go ahead, touch the planets."

Xiaoyu reached out and touched the planets but felt no reaction.

The tigers looked a bit disappointed, thinking Xiaoyu’s luck wasn’t very good.

The next one, gray.

The next one, still gray.

After three consecutive gray ones, the tigers’ gazes on Xiaoyu became strange, with a hint of sympathy.

Bai Yin: "Why don't you go wash your hands?"

Bai Xiaoyu: "No need, I've already drawn them. The outcome is set. Washing my hands won't make a difference."

The next nine in a row were also gray and hazy. During this time, several of the big golden tigers kept checking their optical brains, repeatedly confirming if there was a shielding issue, only to find there wasn’t.

The tenth one… still gray and hazy.

The tigers looked at the automatically opening, colorful little planets that hadn’t been taken, glowing softly, while Bai Xiaoyu, aside from Bai Yin’s two, had a collection of entirely gray planets.

They all looked at Bai Xiaoyu’s hands at the same time. What a supreme black hand! He had drawn all ten worthless planets without fail.

Finally, one tiger couldn’t stand it and pushed the pile of little planets toward him, saying, "Here, swap two if you'd like."

The other tigers also pushed their piles forward, indicating it was okay to swap.

Bai Xiaoyu shook his head, "No need. I think this series of planets looks quite nice."

Despite repeated requests, Bai Xiaoyu still insisted, and the tigers looked at him with strange expressions for a long time.

In the end, Bai Qing stated that he would quickly send the optical brains for the two little ones, and then the group began to say their goodbyes.

The big golden tigers were very reluctant to part with the little golden tiger, saying farewell for quite a while. After the big golden tigers left, the little golden tiger used a small cart to push his little planets and shoved the cart in front of Bai Qing, howling, "Old man, you didn’t even give me a planet?"

Bai Qing, seeing the little golden tiger baring his teeth while asking for a gift, held back and turned away, saying, "No. If you want something from me, you’ll have to use a different method."

As Bai Qing walked away, the little golden tiger furiously waved his paws at him, "You tightwad! Don’t disgrace our glorious golden tigers!"

Bai Qing slipped but resisted the urge to turn back and smack the tiger, choosing to log off instead.

Bai Xiaoyu was also about to log off, examining these little planets. After logging off, he could store them in his online storage space.

At that moment, his optical brain flickered, and when he opened it, Lou Hao was contacting him.

Lou Hao: "Boss, our Fire Seed has already lit up the hundredth planet. Now we have twenty herb supply chains as well. However, due to manpower issues, the herb supply chains are being set up too slowly. The important thing is that the types of herbs supplied by the chains aren’t stable or comprehensive enough. Continuing to expand like this, we still won’t be able to provide more potions consistently and stably."

Bai Xiaoyu was aware of this issue, as it was one of the drawbacks of the herb supply chains. Not only are the herbs collected by the public unstable in variety, but they are also greatly affected by the weather and seasons. This results in some herbs being overabundant while others are in short supply.

Thus, the herb base was needed to provide a steady and stable supply of various herbs.

However, the growth of herbs at the base required time and couldn’t be solved overnight. Their base researched and developed planting methods for herbs in batches, planting them in succession. It would take at least one to two years for the herbs to fully mature.

This has led to a shortage of herbs. The Fire Seed’s supply to a hundred planets has reached its limit for now.

Bai Xiaoyu frowned. "I’ll talk to you after I log off."

Lou Hao: "No need, I’m not at the breeding facility. I’ll find you on the star network. Send me your coordinates."

Within seconds, Lou Hao appeared in front of Bai Xiaoyu.

Bai Xiaoyu was looking at the situation of the various herb supply chains of the Fire Seed, turning two little planets in his palm.

Lou Hao glanced at the little golden tiger’s cart full of such planets, some colorful and some gray and hazy, assuming they were just ordinary toy planets.

Recently a bit anxious, he casually took one of the planets from Bai Xiaoyu’s hand, squeezed it, then glanced at his palm, and his eyes couldn’t move away.

Lou Hao looked at it several times, even tapping on something inside repeatedly, standing there as if in a trance.

Bai Xiaoyu looked at Lou Hao, about to speak, but noticing his state, pushed him. "Lou Hao?"

After being nudged a few times, Lou Hao finally came to, his face filled with excitement as he looked at the small planet in his hand. "Boss, you've already solved the herb problem, right? Why didn’t you mention it earlier? Were you planning to give me a surprise? What a huge surprise!"

Bai Xiaoyu looked at the small planet in his hand, totally baffled. "What do you mean? What surprise? I thought this was just a toy planet from the StarNet?"

Lou Hao had an expression that said 'you must be joking.' "Boss, this is a private small planet's stellar dynamic sphere. The main brain scans the entire planet to generate this. When you use your mental energy to enter, it feels like you're there in person. Take a look; there are vast fields of herbs inside. Not just the ones from our base that’s under construction, but seedlings, mature herbs, all stages are there."

Bai Xiaoyu went in for a look and saw lush herbs under the blue sky and white clouds. Unlike the seedlings on his side, this was a herb base that had been established for at least ten years. He looked at these herbs, confirming the types and quantities, realizing that it could solve their current problems. They could continue to supply potions to other planets without any issues now.

When Bai Xiaoyu came out, he was still a bit stunned. Meanwhile, Lou Hao had already started reaching for the little golden tiger’s small spheres. "This is a famous mining star across the entire star system, exclusively owned by the royal family. This one is a livestock star, also royal family exclusive. This planet too, and this one... six planets in total, five high-end mining stars, and one high-quality livestock star."

Lou Hao was completely astonished, even as the little golden tiger kept scratching him, he remained unresponsive. Mining stars are among the most lucrative planets in the entire star system, especially high-end ones, which are incredibly valuable. Livestock stars are also valuable, though they don’t compare to mining stars. However, this livestock star is different; the animals here are high-energy species, used for energy and physical growth for beastmen, and for the growth of beastmen cubs.

Lou Hao asked, "Boss, did you guys rob the royal family?"

Bai Xiaoyu replied, "No, I received these when I took the little golden tiger to the royal elders’ court for a naming ceremony. The big golden tigers there... well, the elders, gave these small planets to the little one as a welcome gift. The other planets were just extra gifts for me and the little guy. Perhaps these two in my hand were specifically given to us."

Lou Hao looked at the little golden tiger, who was curled up into a ball. From any angle, it looked like a golden ingot.

His eyes immediately turned into ingot shapes too, and he reached out, trying to touch the little golden tiger. "Little golden tiger, I didn’t expect you to be a fortune-bringing tiger."

He had misjudged the little golden tiger before, thinking it was a cub obsessed with an emperor dream, always picking fights and causing trouble. But now... he really wanted to touch it.

The little golden tiger swatted away Lou Hao's claw-like hand, stood up on its hind legs, furry tiger paws on its hips, and let out a proud roar with its chest puffed out.

Of course.