This particular sprite was covered in black feathers all over, yet there was a sprig of vibrant flaming red feathers on its forehead.
With its wings folded close, it perched quietly on a railing.
This was a Little Fire Crow.
A Fire-Element Sprite, and a rare one at that!
"This Little Fire Crow is also a sprite being sold by the Sprite Care House?"
"Yes," replied Zhao Liangcai. "This Little Fire Crow was brought in by the Sprite Care House over a year ago. It was originally supposed to be the treasure of our shop so that we could raise the renown of the An City Sprite Care House.
"Except that…" While shaking his head, he went on. "This Little Fire Crow is hard to get along with. You should know this too—if a sprite has a resistant mindset, it's impossible to contract it.
"This Little Fire Crow isn't as easy to fool as most sprites. There were quite a lot of customers who took an interest in it in the past, but because they were unable to contract it, they could only give up.
"Precisely also because the An City store had brought in this Little Fire Crow yet was unable to sell it, our Sprite Care House had cash flow issues for quite a long period of time."
Su Hao thought for a moment before he asked, "What's the retail price of this Little Fire Crow to the public?"
Zhao Liangcai replied, "We bought the Little Fire Crow for 1.8 million yuan. The earliest retail price to the public was 3 million."
"But… quite a few customers who were interested in it failed to contract it in succession, causing us to have to lower the price so that we could attract more people to attempt contracting the Little Fire Crow. But no matter who it was, it seemed like no one could gain the approval of this Little Fire Crow.
"From 3 million, we lowered it to 2 million, then 1 million. By this point, this Little Fire Crow is only being sold for 300,000 yuan."
"Huh?" Su Hao didn't understand. "At just 300,000 yuan, even if you can get someone to contract it, you're going to suffer a huge loss."
"We have no other choice. There's a regulation in the Sprite Care House that only sprites in the infancy stage can be sold here. But this Little Fire Crow has already entered the growth stage a short while ago. If we still can't sell it, we can only send it back to the cultivation base."
During their conversation, Su Hao noticed a customer in the Sprite Care House walking toward that Little Fire Crow.
Zhao Liangcai pointed in their direction with his lips, a look of "there's going to be a good show soon" on his face.
"Is this sprite really being sold for only 300,000 yuan?"
A young man wearing a suit asked for confirmation again.
"Yes, sir, we're selling it for only 300,000 yuan. This sprite doesn't have any hidden ailments either. It's just that it has a relatively stronger personality, so it's very difficult to contract it. That's why it's still here."
"Alright, I'm buying it."
"Sir, you'd better give it a try first. It'll only work if you can contract it."
The staff member brought out a blood collection device and jade powder. After extracting a drop of blood, the staff member dripped it onto the flaming red jade powder.
The young man in the suit picked up the box containing the jade powder. "I'll do it myself."
He approached it slowly, a professional smile hanging on the corners of his lips.
When Little Fire Crow heard the commotion, it glanced at him before turning away again.
It stared at the wall in deep thought.
The young man's smile froze slightly. He thought for a moment before delivering the box of jade powder right in front of Little Fire Crow.
Flap, flap!
Little Fire Crow flapped its wings, intending to fly away.
"Hey, don't go!"
The young man reached out to grab it. The staff member at the side couldn't stop him in time.
Suddenly…
"Squawk!"
Little Fire Crow opened its mouth and spat out sparks of fire.
The young man got a fright, and hurriedly withdrew his arm that was stretched out. Nevertheless, a few sparks landed on the opening of his sleeve and his palm.
It was only then that the staff member was finally in time to say, "Please do not grab the sprites in any way."
The young man held his palm in pain and snapped angrily, "How are you people in the Sprite Care House managing your sprites?!"
The staff member glared at him, totally fearless.
"Contracting sprites is something that both parties have to mutually agree to. If you can't achieve that, then please exit to your left."
The young man in the suit received a tongue-lashing.
It was only then that he remembered that the Sprite Care House was not part of the service industry. There was no such policy as 'the customer is always right' here.
Strictly speaking, setting up Sprite Care Houses in each city was even for the sake of giving regular people like them a chance at contracting sprites.
This was a governmental business entity!
The young man in the suit harrumphed and slunk off.
"This Little Fire Crow certainly has a strong personality."
Su Hao's eyes focused on it.
[Sprite: Little Fire Crow]
[Basic Information: Fire-Element, Growth-Stage]
[Introduction: Dance and fly, feathers. Scatter and fall, feathers… This is a Little Fire Crow that's very hung up over feathers.]
[Details: …]
Su Hao looked at the section. All of a sudden, he paused.
The 'Unique Skills Learned' section actually wasn't blank.
It had one unique skill—Feather Substitute.
"Big Brother Zhao, other than being difficult to contract, has this Little Fire Crow displayed any other special behavior?"
Zhao Liangcai wasn't sure either. He got a staff member over and asked him.
The staff member said, "How should I put this? This Little Fire Crow is a bit of a loner. It doesn't play with the other sprites. A lot of times, it just stands there the entire day. There isn't any other weird behavior coming from it, either."
"This Little Fire Crow was birthed naturally, right?"
The one who answered this time was Zhao Liangcai. "Of course, it's a sprite that was birthed naturally. You won't be able to find sprites which are birthed by the previous generation in the Sprite Care House."
"You've taken an interest in this Little Fire Crow, haven't you? Haha, it's no wonder. If you can contract it successfully, I can make the decision to lower the price by 100,000 yuan. Any cheaper and even I, the manager, won't be able to make the decision."
Zhao Liangcai was very clear on Su Hao's family background.
Then, he smiled and said, "But don't you harbor too high hopes either. This Little Fire Crow is extremely aloof. There are a lot of official Sprite Trainers who are also interested in this sprite with a strong personality, but even they didn't manage to move the Little Fire Crow."
Su Hao was indeed interested.
The fact that a previous generation of sprite didn't birth it meant that Little Fire Crow's unique skill wasn't inherited, but gained through its own comprehension.
This was even harder to come by.
Feather Substitute was even a unique skill that was relatively higher-level.
When linking this with the introduction…
Maybe… This particular Little Fire Crow has extraordinary talent in the use of feathers.
And it's even a rare Fire-Element Sprite.
It would be able to learn a lot of long-range unique skills with exceptional destructive power. Its role wouldn't overlap with Silkworm Baby's.
Also, Su Hao had the ability to nurture a second sprite now. With two sprites, whether it was the joint combat practice among the five schools or the college entrance examination, he would possess a huge advantage.
The most important thing was that it was cheap.
It cost only 200,000 yuan!
Well, it seems like I can't take out 200,000 yuan from my pocket at the moment, though.
…
Zhao Liangcai left after Su Hao signed the contract.
Su Hao remained at the Sprite Care House.
He wanted to see whether there would be any customers. He was the only Sprite Cultivator in the Sprite Care House on Monday afternoon. If there were any customers, then that meant income for him.
Su 'I am preparing to adopt my second sprite, so I need to earn money faster' Hao looked forward to it.
Unfortunately, even after waiting till it turned dark, not a single customer came in.
There were a few customers who came in to select sprites, but only one really entered a transaction there. This had nothing to do with him either.
What exactly should I do so that I can fool, no, contract Little Fire Crow?
Su Hao mused over this question.
He didn't make contact with Little Fire Crow carelessly.
First impressions were very important. He wasn't someone who was naturally very easy to get comfortable with, either.
"Silkworm Baby, what do you think?"
"Gurgle! Gurgle!"
Silkworm Baby cast a glance at him. It didn't want to respond.
That was exactly how it had been fooled into leaving with him in a daze back then!
Hur, sh*tty Sprite Trainer!
Su Hao turned Silkworm Baby back to face him. Upon meeting its eyes with his own, he said sincerely and earnestly, "Think about it, if I contract the second sprite, won't you have an underling in the future?
"So, in order to have an underling whom you can order about, shouldn't you think of a solution together with me?"