Seeing that Tal wanted to discuss something important with Leyvi, Sawi made a polite excuse and quietly left, returning to her workshop.
"Sit down and tell me," Leyvi said, gesturing to the chair across from him.
Tal took a seat and spoke with clear determination. "Master, I'm going to accept the offer."
"The offer to train you as the future successor of the Bureau?" Leyvi asked.
"Yes," Tal replied. "I want to follow in your footsteps and make a name for myself."
"You want to follow my footsteps?" Leyvi teased with a grin. "You want to be known as the Sex Fiend like me? Or do you want to build a harem too?"
Tal smiled wryly. "Master, you know that's not what I mean."
What harem? I can barely handle Tasya alone. She drains me dry every single time. I still don't understand how you manage all of them, Master, he thought to himself.
"Hahaha. I'm just kidding," Leyvi laughed. "If that's what you have decided, then go ahead and do it. I'm sure you've thought about this carefully over the past year."
"Master… everything I have right now was given to me by you," Tal said earnestly. "I was just a mortal without a spirit root, and you changed my entire fate. This talent that I possess… I have known for a long time that it was you who gave it to me."
Leyvi remained silent for a moment, simply pouring himself another cup of coffee. He did not confirm or deny it.
"What you have given me, I have no way to fully repay in this lifetime," Tal continued, his voice steady and sincere. "But no matter what path I take in the future, I will always put the well-being of the Leyan Family first and foremost."
He spoke as if making a lifelong oath.
"Do you think I took you in because I wanted any sort of repayment?" Leyvi asked with a gentle smile.
"Master, I know your personality well," Tal replied earnestly. "You don't want anything from us except to see us doing well in life. But if you were in my position, you would also want to repay your life benefactor, right?"
Leyvi listened to Tal's reasoning and closed his eyes for a moment, genuinely putting himself in Tal's shoes.
A few moments later, he opened his eyes and nodded. "You're right. I would feel indebted for life and would do anything I could to repay the grace they had given me, even if it was only a little."
Leyvi putting himself in Tal's shoes helped him relate, but it also came from his own personal experience. The Talent Bead he had obtained had completely transformed his life in the same way he had transformed Tal's. In the future, if there was any chance, he would like to repay the creator of the Talent Bead as well.
"Then, if Master ever needs any help in the future, please don't hesitate to ask me," Tal said. "I might not be reliable now, but when I control the entire Bureau of Investigation, you can ask me to investigate anything on this continent."
"Hahaha! It seems you have quite a big ambition," Leyvi laughed, then turned more serious.
"But remember this... make sure to stay alive no matter what happens. You're smart. I don't care what strategies or plans you come up with. Just make sure you always leave a way out for yourself. After all, if you really want to repay me, you need to be alive. Even better if you cultivate hard and reach Divinity. That way, you can repay me for eternity."
He chuckled at his own joke at the end.
"Yes, Master! I'll keep that in mind," Tal replied, taking Leyvi's words to heart.
"So, when will you be going?" Leyvi asked.
"Same as you. In two days," Tal replied. "Since Master is heading to the Central Region soon, you can just bring me along and drop me off at Dua City on the way. I've already checked the route with Sister Layla. It only takes a small detour. I have a special recommendation, so it doesn't really matter exactly when I join them."
Leyvi nodded slowly.
Tap, tap, tap.
His finger tapped lightly on the table as if he were considering something. After a moment, his finger stopped.
"Alright. Wait here a bit," Leyvi said.
Tal didn't ask any questions and waited patiently. He wondered what Leyvi had in mind.
Then, Leyvi summoned Stripey through their mental connection.
A few minutes later, the small monkey appeared on the table, deactivating his stealth mode.
"Umm. Why did you summon me now, Boss?" Stripey asked. "Aren't we supposed to depart in two days?"
"Stripey," Leyvi said, looking at his very first spirit beast with a hint of regret in his voice. "You've been with me since the beginning. I don't think I've ever treated you badly. But I feel like I've wasted a lot of your potential all these years."
When Leyvi first obtained the Talent Bead, he had almost no one close to him except Anda. So he had used Stripey to test the functions of the Talent Bead and to help it level up by gaining experience points.
Stealth and Steal. The two talents he had given Stripey were perfect for shady activities.
If Anda had not been in the picture, Leyvi's life might have taken a completely different path. For example, he and Stripey could have gone around stealing from bad cultivators to support his own growth. But because he had Anda by his side, alchemy became the main path for him to obtain cultivation resources.
And once he established a cultivation family, there was no way he could rely on methods like stealing to enrich them. Because of this, Stripey's abilities had always been greatly underutilized.
However, now he saw a path that was perfectly suitable for Stripey. And coincidentally, it aligned with his own sense of justice.
Tal's eyes widened. Leyvi hadn't finished talking yet, but he could already guess what his master intended to do. He couldn't help but feel emotional once again. Even now, his master was still thinking about what was best for him.
"Wasted potential?" Stripey tilted his head curiously.
"Tal is going to join the Bureau of Investigation," Leyvi explained. "In the future, he's going to investigate many cases and catch a lot of bad guys. Stripey, if you stay with me, your incredible talents won't have much chance to shine. But if you go with Tal, you can help him investigate cases and catch millions of bad guys together. Are you interested?"
"Um? Millions of bad guys? There are that many of them, Boss?" Stripey's eyes shone with excitement. He imagined catching a million bad guys and locking them all up in a super big jail.
"Of course! The world is big, after all," Leyvi bluffed with a smile. How could he possibly know the exact number of bad guys out there?
"Um, um! Then Stripey will go!" The small monkey nodded twice enthusiastically.
Leyvi let out a small sigh of relief. He had thought it would be harder to convince Stripey.
"Tal, you heard Stripey," Leyvi said. "From now on, he will be helping you. I'm sure you know how incredible his talents are. Treat him properly like a true partner."
"Yes, Master! I will definitely treat him well!" Tal replied excitedly. He then turned to Stripey with a bright smile.
"Stripey, from now on we will be a team. We're going to catch all the bad guys together!"
Having Stripey to assist him in his line of work was like having an extra powerful queen in a chess game. It opened up so many new possibilities when forming plans.
"Have you discussed everything with Tasya?" Leyvi asked.
Hearing her name, Tal smiled wryly. "Master, Tasya said she would only marry me after I become at least a Grand Inspector. I have a long way to go."
Leyvi didn't say anything and only shook his head inwardly. This girl is still the same. Before, she had wanted Tal to become the best Chess player first if he wanted to marry her. Now she wanted him to become a Grand Inspector of the Bureau of Investigation.
He wasn't sure which goal was harder. In both cases, poor Tal. The bar she set was extremely high. Leyvi believed Tal could achieve it, but it would definitely take a lot of time and effort.
After that, Leyvi dismissed the spiritual imprint he had placed in Stripey's Sea of Consciousness and allowed Tal to implant his own. While Tal was forming the new imprint, Leyvi used a new technique he had recently learned to help strengthen it. Although it didn't turn into a Golden Spiritual Imprint, Tal's version was definitely much stronger and more stable than a normal one.
From now on, Stripey officially became Tal's spirit beast.
With Stripey leaving his team, Leyvi now only had three spirit beasts remaining.
Senior Lapin, Mr. Bison, and Scarlet.
Thinking about spirit beasts suddenly reminded Leyvi of the Taming talent he had been reserving for so long. Now that his son Leylin had finally been born, he could pass that talent on to him.