Four-eared Hound

It took several hours to sort through the cards, but the haul was mediocre.

He found more than a dozen discarded spirit cards that might be repairable. They were all one-ring civilian spirit cards, and he would not know how many he could actually restore until he went back and worked on them one by one.

"Boss." Levin had been waiting outside the warehouse the whole time.

"Let's go. We're heading back."

"Aren't we buying the puppies?"

"Of course we are."

There was a stall specializing in dogs on the street near the small inn. Among the various puppies, the most eye-catching were undoubtedly the Four-eared Hound pups.

All four of their ears were adorably floppy.

But that was merely the pups' disguise. Once they reached adulthood, the Four-eared Hounds' might could not be matched by any other spirit hound—of course, that only applied among zero-ring spirit hounds.

"Boss, how much for one of these Four-eared Hound pups?"

"Seventy silver dragons." As he spoke, the boss picked up a pup. "Purebred Four-eared Hound. Both parents are veteran hunting dogs who've bitten a 1-Ring Spirit Beast to death. This is absolutely top-tier bloodline!"

"Boss, you're not an honest man." Duke shook his head disdainfully. "I come around here often. The other stalls sell them for thirty silver dragons. You've doubled the price and then taken it for a winding ride!"

"Young man, don't let them fool you. Those are mongrels, aren't they?"

"Purebred."

"Impossible, impossible. There aren't any Four-eared Hounds under fifty silver dragons. Those priced at fifty or sixty silver dragons all have poor features. I've been setting up here and selling dogs for years. Would I lie to you? If my Four-eared Hounds had poor bloodlines, I couldn't possibly sell them for seventy silver dragons." After finishing, the boss seemed unconcerned whether Duke bought one or not and went to greet another customer.

Duke picked up a Four-eared Hound pup. The little dog bared its teeth, looking ferocious.

"Levin, what do you think of this one?"

"I don't know. I've never raised a spirit hound, but it's very fierce and brave. It should have the temperament of a hunting dog." Levin had raised hunting dogs with his grandfather, but they had all been ordinary hunting dogs. He knew nothing about spirit hounds.

"Let's go. We'll look around at the other stalls."

After comparing prices at three different stalls, Duke arrived at another one. The Four-eared Hound pups there were marked at fifty silver dragons, which matched the usual market price. But looking at the pups, Duke clearly felt that they were not as lively as the ones priced at seventy silver dragons. After visiting several dog stalls in a row, he had the same impression every time.

"Looks like the Four-eared Hound pups priced at seventy silver dragons really are extraordinary. Levin, let's go back. If we're buying one, we'll buy the best." Duke made up his mind. These would be companions that guarded the home in the future, so he could not afford to be careless.

They returned to the first stall.

Duke examined all six Four-eared Hound pups at the stall one by one. All six were male, each spirited and full of fierce puppy energy. Their features truly outshone every other dog on the street.

"Boss, I'll take all six of these Four-eared Hounds. Give me a reasonable price."

"You want all of them? Young man, you know your stuff. Let me calculate... six times seven is forty-two, so that's four gold dragons and twenty silver dragons. How about this? I'll take a huge loss and let you have all six for four gold dragons!"

"By the way, Boss, why are all your Four-eared Hounds male?"

"The females are too expensive. Especially females with good bloodlines—the price is several times higher. Dog owners keep them for breeding themselves, so when we go buy dogs, we rarely purchase them."

"All right."

Four gold dragons were transferred from the Spirit Dragon Card.

The boss put the six Four-eared Hound pups into bags along with their cage and handed them to Duke.

That night at the small inn, Levin barely slept. Every so often, he climbed out of bed to look at the Four-eared Hound pups, covering his mouth as he giggled. He loved the little dogs far too much.

When they took the Black Beetle Car home, he clutched the bag and cage without letting go for even a step, afraid they might be lost or snatched by someone.

Fortunately, every Black Beetle Car had a Great Knight riding along with it. Outsider mercenaries did not dare cause trouble, so the two of them successfully brought the six Four-eared Hound pups back to the rented house.

"Levin, your task is to take good care of them."

"Mm!"

Duke went alone to Little Duke Farm and inspected the progress of the renovations at his new home before returning to the rented house.

After closing the door, he summoned Little Dou, who was hiding on the roof, and cultivated the Universal Blood Refining Method together with him for a while, strengthening his battle qi. Then he threw himself into repairing cards.

Today, he did not immediately begin repairing cards. Instead, he planned to modify the sealing machine.

He had once sold the Continuous Sealing Paste Technology to Old Sam, and Old Sam had then sold it to someone else. However, from applying for a patent to putting it on the market, it would probably take quite some time.

There were no Continuous Sealing Paste Systems being sold on the market yet.

To save some money, Duke decided to make one himself. He would stay at home as much as possible, which happened to let him avoid the chaotic security situation outside.

"Xiao Yi, give me some ideas."

"Certainly, Master. I have already organized a modification plan for the Continuous Sealing Paste System."

With Nine-Ring Xiao Yi's existence, Duke only needed a thought for Xiao Yi to provide a complete and flawless plan, freeing up an enormous amount of his mental energy and time.

During this period, Duke had rented many books from the Spirit Society library: spirit cards, potions, puppets, spirit artifacts, alchemy... As long as the books concerned Spiritual Arcana and were available for rent, he had rented every one of them, then used his eyes to scan them into Xiao Yi's database.

He opened the sealing machine, deftly dismantled its casing, and removed the sealing-paste box inside.

Xiao Yi had given him an all-purpose brain.

Cultivating battle qi also made his hands steadier, more agile, and stronger, greatly easing the awkwardness of "the brain understands, but the hands don't."

After spending three hours, he successfully connected the sealing-paste reservoir to the sealing-paste box with a tube. He then drilled a hole in the sealing machine and threaded the tube through it. Thus, a crude Continuous Sealing Paste System was complete.

"Let's turn it on and give it a try."

After starting the machine, Duke took out two discarded spirit cards that could not be repaired and tried using the sealing machine to coat them.

With a series of clicking sounds, a fine layer of sealing paste sprayed from the nozzle.

It was no different from using a disposable sealing-paste box.

"It works!"

Duke laughed heartily. The sealing paste in one reservoir would probably be enough to last him a year, which meant he would not need to buy another sealing-paste box for an entire year.

Although he only refurbished cards and did not use much sealing paste, he could still save dozens of silver dragons a year.

Most importantly, this kind of hands-on work gave him a powerful sense of accomplishment.

To do good work, one first had to sharpen one's tools. After modifying the Continuous Sealing Paste System, Duke finally began devoting himself wholeheartedly to repairing discarded spirit cards.

It was for the money, and also for cultivation.

Every time he repaired a complex and ever-changing spell model, the Twisting and Winding rings spiraling around and around brought him new insights.

At the same time, the Twisting and Winding energy line in his spirit sea continued to change.

Extending, bending, forming sharp angles.

As the energy line constantly changed, it even showed faint signs of splitting. This represented a deeper understanding of the Arcane Trajectory.

Xiao Yi's progress table also kept watch over his cultivation progress: "Process One: Field Meditation, idle consumption at 38% power. Current spirit sea level: 0-ring Three-star Spiritual Apprentice (Twisting and Winding). Estimated advancement progress: 34.2%. Time budget: 154 days."

No one knew how much time had passed.

Duke stretched lazily. "Phew, I repaired another spirit card. Mm, that's about fifteen silver dragons in hand!"