Lin Chen slept very deeply, which was not in line with his character.
He was a cautious person, even when drinking with leaders, he would only drink until he was slightly tipsy, no matter who pressured him, he wouldn't continue drinking.
But last night, he was truly exhausted.
"It seems this talent can't be used casually..." Lin Chen kept this in mind.
When he got up, he still felt very weak, but Lin Chen was still thinking about Xiaobai. He turned around and saw Xiaobai still sleeping soundly, only in a different position.
Lin Chen didn't think much of it, but when he got up to look outside to judge the time, he discovered the rows of wooden stakes standing.
The entire yard was already well enclosed and very beautiful.
Lin Chen walked over to take a closer look and was stunned and a bit helpless.
The height of these stakes was uniform, and the yard's debris had been cleaned up, neatly arranged in unison.
Lin Chen understood that Xiaobai really had OCD.
He didn't want to laugh, he just felt heartache.
He could imagine, during the night when he was asleep, this little calf must have been going back and forth, measuring carefully, just to satisfy its OCD.
This process was surely both physically and mentally exhausting.
....
Inside the house, Lin Chen didn't wake Xiaobai immediately. He ate some meals himself, and when organizing the spirit grass, Lin Chen found eight pounds missing.
He was somewhat taken aback because the female salesperson told him Xiaobai would only eat 5 pounds of grass.
Lin Chen wasn't blaming it, but he wanted to carefully record Xiaobai's changes.
After about three hours, Xiaobai finally woke up.
Initially groggy, upon seeing Lin Chen, it became energized, glancing outside but not daring to speak...
Lin Chen could tell it wanted to take credit.
A newly intelligent spirit beast was really like a child.
Lin Chen was already planning to praise it, so he said, "The yard you made is very beautiful, I couldn't have made it this beautiful. Did you learn it yourself?"
"Moo~~~~"
Xiaobai mooed, telling Lin Chen that it had seen workers drive stakes when it was in the shop.
Lin Chen praised its love for learning again, then said, "Let me see your changes."
Xiaobai obediently stepped forward and stretched out its little head.
Lin Chen inspected it quickly and then asked, "Xiaobai, you seem to have actually turned whiter."
Xiaobai was happy, looking up and down.
To be precise, it was not turning white, but turning blue-greenish.
Its skin color had shifted a tiny bit.
As for the horns, they had shrunk a bit, but it was hard to notice.
Lin Chen asked Xiaobai, and got the same answer. Finally, Lin Chen used a ruler to record the length and width of the horns.
Then he finally put his hand on Xiaobai's head.
[Plowhorn Beast]
[Low-level Mortal Beast]
[13 months]
[Level: 1]
[Skill: Iron Horn Impact (Entry-Level)]
After forming a contract, Lin Chen was able to see the level and skills.
Lin Chen was a bit nervous because he anticipated how Xiaobai's bloodline would change.
[Dominant Bloodline: Plowhorn Beast (Ordinary) 40.44%, Burning Mountain Bull 10.88%, Earth-Sounding Ox 9.77%]
[Hidden Bloodline: 10.12%]
[Polluted Bloodline: 28.79%]
Lin Chen flipped through his notebook, though his memory was good, he still liked taking notes.
"Plowhorn Beast bloodline decreased by 4%, Burning Mountain Bull and Earth-Sounding Ox each increased by 2%, hidden bloodline increased by 2%, and polluted bloodline decreased by 2%."
Lin Chen was somewhat confused.
Wasn't it supposed to be a 40% conversion rate?
After pondering for a minute, Lin Chen made a bold hypothesis:
Evolutionary dynamic balance.
The hidden bloodline is the key to evolution, representing a higher-level bloodline. When the proportion of hidden bloodline changes, it also drives the dominant bloodline to change along, enhancing the higher-level spirit beast bloodline power proportion.
As for the polluted bloodline, it is not useless. Each 1% purification of bloodline power reduces the polluted bloodline by 1%.
It represents the upper limit. When the polluted bloodline is gone, it is probably impossible to purify the hidden bloodline.
However, polluted bloodline can also be contributed.
Although not proven, Lin Chen felt this guess was close to reality.
"Let's see if the skill has changed." Lin Chen was most looking forward to this.
Going out into the yard, Lin Chen had already steadied a wooden stake, not too big or small, around ten centimeters.
Seeing this, Xiaobai activated Iron Horn Impact.
Moo~~
Xiaobai charged forward abruptly, this time with much faster speed. When the horn hit the stake, a crisp sound rang out.
Lin Chen walked over, picked it up, and was startled.
The fracture surface was much smoother than before. Yesterday it was like four cuts, today it was like two—strength had doubled.
Lin Chen was very satisfied, and he clearly knew that the stake could hardly continue as a test tool because the hardness was too low to measure actual data.
Once the test was complete, Lin Chen had lunch while Xiaobai ate spirit grass. Lin Chen observed secretly, finding Xiaobai indeed ate a lot more.
Lin Chen gave it three pounds of grass and found after finishing, Xiaobai swallowed again.
Clearly not full, but it was obedient, seemingly afraid Lin Chen would think it was a glutton, so it didn't cry out.
"If you're not full, you should say so."
Lin Chen got up and brought it another two pounds of grass; the young ox was growing, so the stomach must not suffer.
Xiaobai only ate half, once full Lin Chen brought up planting a piece of land to grow some spirit grass.
Upon hearing it was for it to eat, Xiaobai was immediately full of enthusiasm.
Lin Chen set up a bed for Xiaobai in the room, then called it inside.
"Do you like it?" Lin Chen pointed at the bed.
Xiaobai nodded in satisfaction. Although the bed wasn't large, the fact it was right next to Lin Chen's bed made it feel warm.
"Rest a bit, we're planning to head out."
"Moo~~~"
Xiaobai waved a hoof, indicating to Lin Chen that the land hadn't been plowed completely.
"We'll plow when we return, today we're going to the Beast Tamer Guild to register." Lin Chen explained.
"Moo~~"
Xiaobai shouted and then hurried towards the water tank.
"...."
Lin Chen wiped his brow but patiently waited.
Xiaobai seemed to fear delaying Lin Chen's outing, so it washed up quickly this time.
Leaving the house, they headed towards the town center.
The Beast Tamer Guild wasn't some sort of Guild Alliance; it was an office established by the Cangling Ancient Country, located in both large and small places across the nation.
Anyone who became a Beastmaster could register there. Besides taking missions, it also related to schooling.
On Blue Star, there were no elementary, middle, or high schools, only three years of literacy education starting at age ten. To systematically study spirit beast theoretical knowledge over the previous eighteen years, one had to be self-taught.
Only after contracting a beast would schooling begin.
However, most academies here had high tuition fees, at least 100,000 per year, which the average person couldn't afford.
As a central street, people came and went, many accompanied by a spirit beast, dogs, or cats; Lin Chen was most intrigued by the second-generation rich who appeared out of nowhere, riding a Divine Crane, causing a small stir.
Lin Chen wondered if, in the future, he might also travel riding Xiaobai.
Riding a bull… not really cool, but should be quite imposing.
Imagining this scene, Lin Chen had some anticipation.
As the native land of spirit foxes, there were mostly spirit foxes.
Passing a shop, Lin Chen went in, intending to buy some seeds.
"Hello, do you have Blood Spirit Grass seeds?" Lin Chen's goal was clear.
"????"
Originally looking around, Xiaobai turned its head immediately, full of question marks.
The grass it ate was called Inferior Spirit Grass, not Blood Spirit Grass.
Earlier hearing it was its food to be planted, so it plowed the land beautifully.
Hadn't it agreed to plant its food?
"Ahem~~"
Lin Chen didn't even blink as he spoke:
"Xiaobai, I just thought that Blood Spirit Grass is more expensive than Inferior Spirit Grass, when we sell Blood Spirit Grass, we can trade for more Inferior Spirit Grass."
Xiaobai's first time squinting in thought...
Was it really thought of just now?
Niu Niu pondered a bit, and soon figured it out.
Blood Spirit Grass is also a spirit grass, seemingly makes sense.
Furthermore, Lin Chen's plan seemed more optimal...
More reasonable!