Chapter 163

Chapter 163

"What's wrong? Not feeling well?" Lancelot followed Lorant as he turned left and right down the corridor until they reached a secluded spot.

Seeing Lorant’s listless appearance, he couldn’t help but ask.

Away from the social gathering, the surroundings were filled with dense foliage that blocked all views, and two candy rabbits that had somehow wandered into this remote area, curious about their new environment.

Lorant finally let out a sigh of relief.

He sat down on a chair in the small white circular pavilion, tilting his head back to look at Lancelot. Seeing the concern in the knight’s furrowed brows, he couldn’t help but smile: "No, don’t worry. I’m not that fragile."

The weather had become increasingly hot lately, and Lancelot’s level of care for Lorant had reached its peak.

In previous years, many people would die during such extreme temperatures. Although Lorant carried gemstone jewelry that could maintain a stable temperature around him, Lancelot still couldn’t put his mind at ease.

Lorant always felt that in Lancelot’s eyes, he seemed so fragile that he might faint at any moment.

Lancelot sat down next to Lorant, their arms touching.

"Then what is it? Don’t you like such occasions?" Lancelot tilted his head, asking cautiously.

The knight had long noticed that Lorant wasn’t fond of crowded social events.

Whether it was the opening ceremony or the few days the Animal Pet Shop had been open to the public, Lorant hadn’t shown much enthusiasm.

If not for necessity, the guy would have preferred to stay far away.

Lorant turned his face to look at the white-haired knight.

Those bright blue eyes were as clear as fine jade, reflecting his own image completely.

His heart skipped a beat.

Lorant forced himself to look away: "Yes, a bit. It’s just, um, not very familiar."

"You know, I haven’t experienced as many parties as you have, so, um, I’m not used to it..."

Lorant stammered, his ears turning bright red. He felt his speech becoming jumbled.

Turning to look into the distance, Lorant tried to hide his nervousness.

Lancelot straightened up slightly, towering half a head taller than Lorant. The knight smiled slyly behind the youth, his gaze fixed on Lorant’s reddening ear tips.

"Oh? Is that so?" The knight drawled lazily.

"Lorant, are you..."

The knight narrowed his eyes, watching the top of the person in front of him, who seemed uneasy. Just as he took a deep breath to speak, he was interrupted.

"Brother? What are you two doing here!" Silem’s cheerful voice suddenly rang out: "Can I bring some candy back?"

Lorant and Lancelot jumped apart as if electrocuted, both feeling a slight sense of guilt.

"Sure, sure!" Lorant sighed in relief and irritation as he got up to shoo his younger brother: "All you think about is eating! Come on, let’s go see what you want."

Silem chuckled and followed his brother, the tall youth turning his head to exchange a glance with the white-haired knight standing there.

Then they both looked away and continued walking.

Lancelot felt strangely that Silem seemed to be intentionally interrupting them...

Thanks to the various sweet-flavored candies, the opening ceremony of the Candy Rabbit Ranch was a great success.

People were very interested in this new type of pet from the Animal Pet Shop, and many of those who attended brought a few candy rabbits home.

The rich and sweet taste of these snacks quickly won everyone over.

By evening, after finishing the last orange-flavored dessert, the guests began to leave.

Emma and Nia stayed behind to arrange the upcoming tasks, while Lorant’s family returned to the Animal Pet Shop via the teleportation array after the guests had left.

Without the noisy candy rabbits in the backyard of the Animal Pet Shop, Lorant found it a bit hard to adjust.

He set up a recliner under the cotton tree and lay there leisurely, gazing at the treetop, lost in thought.

Lancelot quietly sat beside him, and neither of them mentioned what had happened earlier.

Seeing Lorant holding a leaf-paper book, lost in his thoughts, and seemingly uninterested in chatting, Lancelot closed his eyes and lay back on the recliner to meditate.

Since coming to the Animal Pet Shop, the talented knight, proficient in both magic and martial arts, had gradually changed his training habits.

Mages typically needed a very quiet place for meditation. If disturbed during this process, not only would the effects of meditation be greatly reduced, but it could also lead to more serious consequences, such as errors in the flow of mental energy, causing certain parts of the body to come into contact with active mental energy, resulting in temporary physical mutations.

Some of the books Lorant liked to read, taken from the Beast Tower, recorded strange incidents involving mages in the past.

One mage, while meditating, was suddenly attacked by someone. Although he managed to kill the attacker despite the backlash of boiling mental energy, he had to live with two large horns on his forehead for the next three years.

It was said that those horns were over a meter long, and the unfortunate mage later invented a spell to locally strengthen his body so that his neck could support such weight without breaking easily.

To avoid such situations, most mages would lock their doors tightly at night to ensure they wouldn’t be disturbed by trivial matters before beginning their meditation.

Lancelot used to do the same.

He was a person with highly sensitive and active mental energy, very attuned to changes in his environment and surroundings.

So in Cavendish's castle, there was a meditation room specifically for his use.

It was lined with thick soundproofing materials that blocked out all external noise.

Only in that room could Lancelot meditate efficiently.

But things were different now. After a brief rest in the pavilion, Lancelot discovered that his meditation efficiency was highest when he was near Lorant.

Since then, the knight would sit beside Lorant every evening while he cooled off and read novels, and begin his meditation.

Lorant gradually got used to this, even finding Lancelot quite easy to accommodate, not at all picky about his environment and able to enter a meditative state quickly no matter where he was.

This was entirely unlike the mages described in books, who were incredibly particular about their surroundings.

He never considered that perhaps this man was actually more discerning than anyone else.

Lorant pulled a small ghost off his shoulder and laid it on his arm.

One mustn't let the shoulders or head get cold; it would hurt later!

He also gently removed another ghost that had perched on Lancelot's head like a hat and placed it on the knight's thigh.

Seeing that the closed-eyed knight remained undisturbed, Lorant began his work.

The entire backyard was now so quiet that it brought a pleasant mood.

In the distance, the faint sound of the wind carried the whispers of Ruth and Martha inside the house, and the laughter of Silem and Mo'er playing with the orphanage children and the Ruyi Bingyan Dog puppies nearby was scattered by the breeze.

Lorant enjoyed this atmosphere. He stroked the baby that had curled up on his stomach without him noticing, then lowered his hand to rub Maomao's warm head beside the chair. Only after Maomao nudged his palm did he start to seriously simulate.

Lorant had never truly stopped simulating breeding routes. Whenever he had time, he would try in his mind.

From the last "Raging Stuffed Bear," Lorant felt he had caught a glimpse of some inspiration.

He could sense the mysterious feeling during simulation, as if walking down the right path would guide him on how to proceed, how to take the shortest shortcut.

However, much to his regret, after the Raging Stuffed Bear, he never had that feeling again.

If breeding pets were compared to a vast wilderness with countless paths,

some paths were narrow trails, others were wide brick roads, and still others were asphalt highways.

These paths represented correct breeding routes.

Yet, despite continuous simulation, Lorant had yet to see any of these paths, merely wandering aimlessly in the wilderness.

That feeling of having inspiration within reach seemed fleeting.

But Lorant wasn't in a hurry. He was patient. It took him over a decade to deduce the breeding routes of previous pets under limited information, and now with more information available for simulation, creating new pets was just a matter of time.

It would happen sooner or later.

While continuously simulating in his mind, he looked up at the cotton tree above, which had grown lush and bore tiny green buds.

Hmm, in a few days, these cottons will fully bloom. Then I'll keep this one in the yard, preventing it from producing seeds, letting it grow here until it can no longer flower.

Speaking of which, should I plant a few in the orphanage too? Teach the children how to make cotton fabric or other textile skills; it might be good for those who are older.

Of course, if they can read and do math, that would be even better. There are plenty of positions for them at the Animal Pet Shop.

I wonder if the three craftsmen have taken seriously my request to improve their looms.

If there were efficient looms that didn't require crystals, could I start the first industrial revolution in this world?

Enclosure? That seems unnecessary; there is a lot of idle land in this world, so much that it hurts to see.

And the yard seems a bit cramped now. Without mentioning anything else, I need to arrange a suitable residence for Martha's family, and our current house isn't quite suitable either.

Always receiving guests in the living room was indeed an oversight.

I should renovate the Animal Pet Shop again, this time completely re-planning the entire town.

Speaking of which, although I have the baby, it would be great if I could fully control the situation at the Animal Pet Shop.

Not much, just ensuring that others can't act recklessly within the town limits.

Ideally, mages wouldn't be able to cast spells, and knights couldn't use their battle auras. When everyone is on equal footing, with the pets watching over, I would be much safer, wouldn't I?

Lorant's thoughts wandered freely.

He began to seriously consider what rules he should set for the Animal Pet Shop if he were to establish them.

One by one, he clearly listed them in his mind.

Just then, the compendium suddenly floated out without any warning.

Lorant opened his eyes in surprise. His mental simulation was still ongoing; why did this thing react on its own?

Looking at the directory, Lorant couldn't help but let out a small exclamation.

"Oh! My God!" He quickly covered his mouth and cautiously turned to look at Lancelot, relieved that his voice hadn't disturbed him.

Lorant turned his gaze back to the directory. At the very bottom of the list, a line of characters that had never been lit before was flickering on and off.

S-grade!

An S-grade pet!

Lorant forced himself to calm down and hurriedly tapped the flickering entry to check.

Before the pet is bred, the compendium can display some content, though not in detail—just like a brief summary.

It will inform Lorant how to proceed with breeding.

When Lorant tapped it, two prominent words appeared: "Codex."

This was the species of his first S-rank pet.

"You have just comprehended a rule. Please write it down before you forget, to ensure the Codex's incubation."

That was the only description for an S-rank pet.

After a moment of stunned silence, Lorant quickly got up and walked into the house.

The compendium said he had comprehended a rule, but Lorant truly had no idea what rule he had grasped.

He only understood that it might be one of the random thoughts that had just flashed through his mind, which by sheer luck happened to be a 'rule.'

The reason the entry in the compendium flickered and remained unstable was that if he couldn't write down the rule completely or suddenly forgot his thoughts, this S-rank pet might slip away from him!

Lorant rushed into the nearest exotic beast warehouse, grabbed a leaf of paper, and began scribbling furiously.

After filling two entire pages, Lorant gradually stopped writing.

At that moment, the entry for the S-rank "Codex" in his mind was fully illuminated.

Lorant let out a huge sigh of relief.

Thankfully, he hadn't missed out on this S-rank pet; otherwise, Lorant knew that even with the help of the Dream Weaver, he would likely have several sleepless nights.

When he opened the compendium again, more detailed information appeared under "Codex," listing the materials required to breed this pet.

Lorant couldn't help but whistle when he saw the list.

Even the wealthy and powerful Mr. Lorant felt a chill at such a material list.

A legendary beast's "dragon" bones, heart blood from five level 12 exotic beasts, essence extract from a level 10 spatial exotic beast's crystal core, one hundred skins from level 8 exotic beasts.

Plus countless level 10 and above plant exotic beasts and large quantities of various precious minerals.

Just this list alone could drain a medium-sized organization with centuries of accumulated resources.

Especially the many high-level exotic beast materials, which, even with money, were impossible to obtain due to the lack of channels.

Without going into details, the "dragon" bones alone left Lorant clueless about where to find them.

Such legendary beasts, those above level 15, only appear during major and medium-sized beast waves in the Lopulo Mountains.

Once such a terrifying creature emerges, it is destined to bring rivers of blood.

Millions of professionals are nothing more than ants under their claws.

Relying on numbers to win against such absolute power is just a joke.

Without multiple other legendary-level experts to resist it, a single legendary exotic beast could sweep across the entire continent.

Lorant sincerely hoped he would never encounter such a terrifying creature in his lifetime.

There's no real need to see one, right?

Not familiar!

Lorant felt helpless and, in that moment, acutely realized his predicament. He needed to develop faster to keep up with the compendium.

Just one S-rank pet could leave him penniless again, and if there were multiple, Lorant didn't know how he would manage.

Lorant silently memorized the material list, knowing that most of the items could be obtained with enough money.

For those things that couldn't be measured in gold, Lorant would have to find his own way.

Creating a pet with so many precious and terrifying materials, Lorant was filled with anticipation.

That night, the Blue Star Trading Platform posted two publicly accessible repeatable tasks.

"Acquiring skins from level 8 and above exotic beasts. Skins must be complete and fresh. Points negotiable."

"Long-term acquisition of various exotic beast corpses at the Pokara entrance camp in the Lopulo Mountains, Blue Star Trading Platform base."

These highlighted and pinned acquisition notices were immediately visible upon opening.

Soon, everyone who followed the Blue Star Trading Platform learned about these two tasks.

Their membership cards suddenly glowed red, indicating the appearance of an important task from the Blue Star Trading Platform.

Such tasks require platform certification and cannot be posted by individuals.

Most people curiously went to their nearest trading platform node to confirm what kind of task had appeared.

After all, this was the first important task since the Blue Star Trading Platform opened.

Now, the points on the Blue Star Trading Platform were more valuable than when it first opened.

Initially, people could still exchange points for gold, but gradually, fewer and fewer were willing to sell their points.

Because they discovered that if they saved up the points they would have sold to buy a Dream Weaver and then resell the unverified 'Dream Weaver voucher,' they could make several times more than the original price!

It was much more profitable than selling points.

Such business opportunities quickly made the merchants' eyes turn red, and they all began to push forward with all their might.

However, they were, after all, just merchants. When several major organizations officially moved in, the merchants' advantages instantly diminished by a large margin.

Those major organizations, through continuous platform contributions and the release of external tasks, soon accumulated astonishing points.

To this day, some have even obtained the red crystal cards in their hands.

It must be understood that earning points on the Blue Star Trading Platform is no easy feat. Even if one intentionally releases tasks and has their own people complete them swiftly, there is still a daily task limit for each person.

Moreover, all released tasks and their point values are strictly controlled.

Wanting to release a task like trading a wildflower for two hundred points would first be rejected by the Blue Star Platform.

They would not allow anyone to exploit loopholes.

Furthermore, such point farming behavior, once discovered and confirmed, will result in permanent account suspension from the trading platform, forever barring participation in any of its activities.

Therefore, upon seeing these two unlimited and relatively tempting tasks, many people began to rub their hands in anticipation.

The task involving the eighth-rank exotic beast leather is indeed very challenging, and ordinary people cannot take it on. However, the other task in Pokara is different.

This kind of unlimited opportunity to earn points is something they would not want to miss.

Moreover, after checking the exchangeable point amounts, the adventurers found that, while it is slightly cheaper than selling directly at the mountain pass, it does not exceed ten percent, which is entirely within an acceptable range.

More importantly, even first-rank exotic beasts are included in the acquisition list. This means that even those with lower professional levels have a good chance to earn points.

In an instant, adventurers across the continent were stirred to action, setting out for Pokara, ready to earn a substantial amount of points.