The next day, Wang Mu did not go out.
He found a large flowerpot for the Green Wood Sprite to temporarily stay in, while he himself went shopping.
As for his parents, they were not at home, having gone to arrange matters for the cultivation institute.
This was an area where he had asked for their help.
With a cultivator as his background, there were no issues securing a plot of land in the West City area.
Wang Mu completed the procedures online.
The real trouble lay in the follow-up.
The support provided by the Cultivation Academy was only 150 points, and Wang Mu was carefully considering what to buy.
First, there was a package worth 100 points, which involved deep processing for the cultivation institute.
It mainly included the installation of an energy shield, a spirit gathering array, a weather simulator, a temperature regulator, and an incubation room.
What Wang Mu called "renovation" was essentially modifying the living quarters and the sales area of the cultivation institute.
There was also a basic cultivator package available for 20 points, which included a complete set of experimental equipment and the offspring of one type of spirit beast.
Naturally, Wang Mu chose Greenleaf Butterfly Worm eggs, ten in total, all of Commander-level.
This left him with only 30 points freely available.
Wang Mu was very tempted by the magic spirit crystals.
These were imprints of a spirit beast master of at least Tier 5 or higher, containing their understanding of a particular spell, which could be used for spirit beasts to learn.
However, they were expensive.
The intermediate skill crystals Wang Mu was interested in cost 10 points each.
Wang Mu knew his advantage lay in skill cultivation, so he decisively chose skills, although other things like spirit beast strengthening potion formulas and special evolution routes were also very attractive.
"Then I'll get one Mental Scan skill, one Leaf Storm skill, and with the remaining 10 points, I'll buy an Excellent-grade plant-type spirit beast, the Serpent Vine."
Those with more financial resources would often choose to spend their 150 points on buying two or three Elite-grade spirit beasts for breeding, or directly use all the points to purchase one Commander-grade spirit beast.
Unfortunately, Wang Mu's family was quite ordinary.
They lacked the channels and funds needed to establish the cultivation institute from scratch, so he had no choice but to opt for the package.
Actually, the package was quite a good deal; if you calculated its value, it far exceeded that of one or two Commander-grade spirit beasts.
In fact, among all items available for point exchange, only the packages were officially recommended by the academy.
After finalizing his selections, Wang Mu opened another webpage.
This was the Divine Land Myriad Things Network, where almost anything could be bought, as long as you had enough money.
After binding several bank cards, Wang Mu began shopping.
First, he bought Morning Dew Grass, which could accumulate spirit energy and was a favorite food of insect-type spirit beasts.
Then, Green Jade Bamboo, a preferred food for Greenleaf Butterflies that could also speed up their growth.
Cultivating from level 0 would be too slow, so he bought level 2 bamboo plants.
A single reproductive parent plant cost 300,000 yuan.
Herbaceous plants grow quickly, and with the aid of nutrient solutions, they could soon form a small bamboo forest.
Next were Red Leaf Mulberry Trees, plants with a slight fire attribute.
Higher levels of the tree had stronger fire attributes, unsuitable for Greenleaf Worms.
Level 0 trees were sufficient, costing 10,000 yuan each.
He needed thirty trees.
Then there were Blue Leaf Mist Flowers, relatively rare plants that could strengthen the spirit attribute of spirit beasts.
The male and female plants were separate.
An uncastrated pair cost 200,000 yuan.
He needed at least three pairs to ensure the successful growth of at least one.
There were also common spirit fruit trees.
Wang Mu purchased adult fruit trees for this purpose.
They were not expensive, but without special cultivation, they would only yield ordinary fruits.
After being made into nutrients, these fruits could at most feed ordinary spirit beast cubs, having no special effects.
Wang Mu compared prices across several stores and found a reliable long-term supplier of spirit fruits.
Ordinary quality fruits were sufficient for now; he would occasionally purchase some excellent-quality fruits.
For high-quality spirit fruits, he planned to cultivate them himself later.
The cheapest Elite-grade spirit fruit cost 1,000 yuan each, and even then, there was no guarantee of successful purchase.
After buying a pile of various supplies, Wang Mu felt a bit melancholic.
Since childhood, he had received various scholarships and earned some side income.
Together with the initial funding provided by his parents, he had just over 10 million yuan.
Now, only 4 million yuan remained.
It sounded like a lot, but in Wang Mu's mind, it was barely enough to get through the startup phase.
He was especially grateful for the academy's support; otherwise, he would not even have had the capital to start.
Wang Mu looked at the Green Wood Sprite.
It preferred tranquility and was unlikely to develop a combat inclination.
At this moment, Wang Mu did not disturb it but returned to his room and opened a wooden box.
Inside were three pupae: one silvery-white, one greenish-yellow, and one green.
How could Wang Mu, who had aspired to be a cultivator since childhood, not have practiced?
In the past, due to limited resources, he could only experiment with ordinary Greenleaf Worms.
His highest achievement had been cultivating an Excellent-grade Mind Butterfly.
At that time, Wang Mu used his talent to share psychic spells and mental strengthening spells with the Greenleaf Worms.
Out of hundreds of Greenleaf Butterflies, only one successfully retained a psychic ability after evolution.
After advancing once more, it became a Mind Butterfly.
This accomplishment convinced Wang Mu's parents that their child was truly talented, which motivated them to save up for years.
That Mind Butterfly sold for 150,000 yuan.
Ordinary spirit beasts typically peaked at a value of 100,000 yuan, while Excellent-grade spirit beasts started from that point.
The Mind Butterfly, being of the psychic type, would have been worth over 500,000 yuan if not for its short lifespan of only twenty years.
Afterward, Wang Mu steadily cultivated one or two Mind Butterflies each year, gradually building up a substantial private fund.
He could have earned more, but Wang Mu knew where his priorities lay.
Most of his time was spent studying and improving himself.
Occasionally, he would conduct experiments, attempting to cultivate new species.
Unfortunately, due to a lack of resources and skills, most attempts failed.
Saying "most" implied that there were still a few successes.
The three pupae before him were among those rare achievements.
For the upcoming intermediate cultivator assessment in a few days, Wang Mu had specifically purchased a large number of materials and obtained Fengyan Butterfly eggs from his father to cultivate three different Excellent-grade spirit beasts.
After the Greenleaf Worms hatched, based on the energy intake from their food, they could enter the pupation stage within twenty days.
It would then take three to five days to evolve into Greenleaf Butterflies.
For Wang Mu, simply evolving into Greenleaf Butterflies would be a failure.
After years of experimentation, he had developed several fixed spell combinations that could guarantee 100% retention of one or two spells after evolution.
There would be a special energy field around the Green Wood Sprite, which was extremely beneficial to insects.
Wang Mu placed the wooden box next to the flowerpot.
His mental power was strong, and he keenly sensed the pupae absorbing energy.
He estimated that they would complete their accumulation today and emerge tomorrow morning.
This was characteristic of the Greenleaf Butterfly family.
They would only transform into butterflies early in the morning of the second day; if they missed it, they would die.
Fortunately, in modern society, weather was no longer a problem.
Even if sudden severe weather occurred, specialized instruments could simulate the appropriate conditions.
Wang Mu also specifically checked the weather forecast.
Unless powerful spirit beasts interfered, tomorrow would definitely be sunny.
In this era, the weather forecast could always be trusted.
The government used powerful technology and spirit beasts to ensure stability.
While Wang Mu was busy, Jiang Meiqin specially prepared a delicious meal for an important guest before asking for leave.
The manager was quite curious.
Chef Jiang had hardly ever taken leave over the years.
Knowing that her son was at the Cultivation Academy and that it was graduation season, he quickly understood.
He approved her leave slip and asked, "Your little Mu is graduating soon, right?"
Jiang Meiqin couldn't help but smile.
"He already graduated yesterday.
That's why I'm asking for leave—to go see his cultivation institute.
This child has left everything for us to handle; how could we not be concerned?"
A flash of surprise crossed the manager's face, then he smiled warmly.
He took out a red envelope he had prepared and handed it to Jiang Meiqin.
"I've heard you talk about little Mu since he was born.
Now that he has achieved academic success, you can enjoy happiness too."
"It's not popular to host big graduation banquets nowadays.
This is just a small token from me.
Please accept it for little Mu."
Jiang Meiqin hesitated.
Logically, she should accept it, but she worried that accepting it might place a burden on her son if they ever needed help in the future.
Ultimately, she accepted it.
The Shanhai Banquet Restaurant had strong backing, and the manager was the second-in-command, responsible for handling distinguished guests and having some valuable resource connections.
Since the manager wanted to foster goodwill, it was worth accepting.
Perhaps the restaurant could even help with materials Wang Mu needed later.
Moreover, there was the all-important customer network to consider—even if cultivation institutes usually didn't lack customers.
In an instant, Jiang Meiqin considered many possibilities.
She said, "When I go back, I'll tell him that Uncle Xue gave him a red envelope.
When the cultivation institute opens, I'll call you—you can't stand me up."
Xue Yun stood up and opened the door.
"I can't promise, but as long as no guests show up, I'll definitely be there."
Hearing this, Jiang Meiqin felt much more at ease.
They had been colleagues for decades.
While not close friends, they had never had any conflicts.
She knew that Xue Yun, though smooth-tongued, was upright and reliable—that's why the boss entrusted so many matters to him.
Now that the younger generation was growing up, maintaining such connections would be important.
After returning to West City Park, she told Wang Lingfeng about it.
Wang Lingfeng said, "Several of my teammates also gave red envelopes.
Some couldn't be refused, but they are all trustworthy."
"But you should call Wang Mu quickly and ask him what name he wants for the cultivation institute."
Jiang Meiqin rolled her eyes.
"You could have asked him yourself.
What, are you too embarrassed to call?"
Wang Lingfeng immediately ran off, directing the Pangolin to loosen the soil.
When Wang Mu received the call, he was sitting blankly beside the Green Wood Sprite.
"The name of the cultivation institute?"
"Let's call it Green Wood.
'Green' from the color, and 'Wood' from my name."
Jiang Meiqin had many thoughts about the name, but since it was her son's institute, she agreed directly.
"Alright, I'll tell them.
If you want to change it, make sure you do so before registration."
"Okay, Mom."
After hanging up, Wang Mu continued pondering.
He looked at the Green Wood Sprite and sighed.
"I've thought of a name, but I still feel like I could think of something better."
"What do you think of Green Spirit?"
Rustle, rustle~
The Green Wood Sprite shook its leaves, showing no opinion.
Its consciousness hadn't yet developed; how could it have ideas?
Thus, the name Green Spirit for the Green Wood Sprite was decided.
In fact, Wang Mu had chosen this name with the spirit beast's future in mind.
Plant-type spirit beasts took a long time to develop even weak intelligence.
When that time came, it would instinctively remember its name.
A simple name was best.
Everything that needed to be done was now complete.
Wang Mu had nothing else to do, so he started sharing spells with Green Spirit.
Originally, he intended to skip the Rooting spell, because some spells could only be used by specific races.
He was human, not a tree.
His father's Dark Thistle had possessed the Rooting skill, and even if the sharing level was sufficient, Wang Mu hadn't been able to share it.
However, when checking the sharing list this time, he was somewhat stunned.