At the same time, in these last 4 hours that he toured through the Holy city, Shun Long also learned about the existence of some cultivators who were called Beast Tamers.
Beast tamers could subdue beasts much easier than normal cultivators, and they could even tame those magic beasts much faster than them and even have them follow them into battles, earning the title of beast tamers.
Of course also knew that there were such people in the Night star continent as well, and even in the Desolate East, but they were so few and far between that he never paid any attention to them.
However, in the central region, beast tamers weren't any less important than alchemists or formation masters.
High-level beast tamers were actually treated with the same importance by the powerful families and clans as well as the other forces in the central region, that everyone longed to become a beast tamer as well.
However, although beast tamers enjoyed a high status, it wasn't easy for someone to join their ranks.
Every beast tamer needed to have extensive knowledge of the magic beasts they have to deal with, including the magic beasts' personality traits and how aggressive or docile the beasts were, their natural habitat that they preferred to live, as well as the internal structure of the magic beast and even the prey that they liked to hunt the most, as well as the natural enemies that the magic beasts had.
At the same time, although alchemists also needed to have extensive knowledge of the magic beasts as well, the difference between them and beast tamers was that alchemists also needed to learn the traits of countless medicinal herbs as well as have a powerful spiritual strength that allowed them to mix the ingredients together and concoct their pills.
In comparison, although beast tamers didn't need a powerful spiritual strength, they needed a high combat strength if they wanted to subdue a magic beast.
And yet, although being an alchemist was considered to be a lot harder than being a beast tamer due to the amount of knowledge that the alchemists needed to know, being a beast tamer and having to deal with terrifying and powerful magic beasts was more dangerous in the end, making both professions enjoy an extremely high status throughout the central region.
Thus, it was extremely common for powerful families and clans to vie with each other in order to obtain the favor of powerful alchemists, formation masters and beast tamers alike.
After arriving at the eastern part of the city, Shun Long noticed that even if the inns and the shops weren't as luxurious as the shops that were closer to the center, they didn't seem to have much fewer customers than the top shops.
Finally, an hour later, he stopped in front of the entrance of a medium-sized inn named 'Blue Heaven inn'.
Shun Long knew that he was supposed to meet merchant Ying Gui here today if he wanted to join his caravan and join the Holy sect's mission.
Before entering the inn, Shun Long first took out his sect identifying token and infused his qi inside it, immediately activating the 'Memory recording formation'.
Then, without any delay, he stepped past the inn's entrance and entered the inn.
A fat, middle-aged woman with her hair tied up in a bun approached Shun Long the moment that he entered the inn, and as soon as she spotted his yellow-colored robes which indicated that he was an outer disciple of the Holy sect, she smiled brightly before asking
''Welcome young lord, can I help you?''
Since Shun Long seemed to be an outer disciple of the Holy sect and the woman knew that most disciples of the sect usually enjoyed an extremely high status everywhere within the Holy sect's territory, she didn't think that the young man in front of her had actually chosen her inn to stay and would most likely be here looking for someone.
Indeed, nodding his head at this woman whom he assumed was most likely the innkeeper, Shun Long then asked curiously
''Thank you, is merchant Ying Gui staying here?''
The woman nodded her head with the same smile on her face as her eyes lit up in realization after hearing Shun Long's question, before she pointed towards the depths of the inn and gestured for him to follow after her before she replied
''Of course. Senior Ying Gui is staying in his own courtyard. I was told that if a disciple of the Holy sect really arrived, I should lead you to his courtyard right away. Please follow me.''
Without any delay, the young woman led Shun Long to Ying Gui's courtyard.
A couple of minutes later, Shun Long arrived in front of one of the largest courtyards in the inn, before the innkeeper's voice resounded in the air
''Senior Ying Gui, your guest has arrived.''
The gates of the courtyard opened promptly a few moments later, as Shun Long saw a short, almost obese middle-aged man with a fat nose, big lips, and a greasy forehead, walking towards him with a smile on his face.
With just a glance, Shun Long easily guessed that this was probably the man who had registered the mission, Ying Gui.
His cultivation was at the rank 1 of the Spirit realm, which wasn't impressive for someone of his age, but it was still the norm for a merchant who mostly focused on traveling around instead of fighting or cultivating.
Behind him was a huge middle-aged man, whose height probably exceeded 2.5 meters(8.2ft), dressed in battle armor while a big, silver axe was strapped on his back.
The visual difference between Ying Gui and this man who was following behind him made the gigantic man look even more imposing, deterring anyone who would even think of approaching close to him.
Even though Shun Long had also grown taller in the past 4 years, his height that had reached 1.8m(5.10ft) made him look like a kid in front of this man as well.
However, as Ying Gui approached Shun Long with a smile on his face, the robust middle-aged man frowned when he saw him.