One in Two Billion

Dragon-Blood Horse.

Liszt was no stranger to the term.

His biological father, the Earl of Coral Island, Leewilliam Tulip, currently held the position of court groom, tasked with feeding the Grand Duke of Sapphire's beloved steed—a divine horse infused with the bloodline of a dragon.

This world possessed dragons.

They were not the divine dragons of the East, nor were they the evil dragons of the West; they were the magnificent, peerless essence of heaven and earth. These dragons were essentially genderless and did not mate to produce offspring. However, just as they could generate gemstones and metals, they could also infect other species, imbuing them with dragon blood.

Curious minds had classified dragons, elves, magic beasts, and the like based on their rarity.

The most precious, naturally, were dragons—the symbol of a nation.

Next in value were Dragon Elves, the power of high nobility.

Following them were Great Elves, the power of middle nobility.

Then came Dragon-Blood Magic Beasts, magic beasts infused with dragon blood.

Next were Little Elves, the power of minor nobility.

Continuing down the list were Dragon-Blood Beasts, ordinary animals infused with dragon blood.

Finally, there were Elf Bugs, the fundamental representatives of productivity.

In truth, there existed another type of elf, as precious as a dragon—the Elf King. Legend held that it was the final evolutionary stage of a Dragon Elf. Its host plant was infinitely vast; a single tree could nurture an entire forest, and countless magic beasts, elves, and even dragons lived upon its host.

However, most people regarded the Elf King as nothing more than a myth.

An Elf Bug might evolve into a Little Elf, perhaps one in several dozen succeeding; a Little Elf might evolve into a Great Elf, perhaps one in a hundred; a Great Elf might evolve into a Dragon Elf, perhaps one in several hundred; as for a Dragon Elf evolving into an Elf King, it had never been heard of to this day.

When bored, Liszt had performed a probability calculation.

He assumed the probability of an Elf Bug evolving was 1/50, a Little Elf 1/100, a Great Elf 1/500, and a Dragon Elf 1/1,000. Thus, the probability of an Elf Bug evolving into an Elf King was 1/2,500,000,000—one in two and a half billion.

A one in two and a half billion chance was nearly zero; no wonder no one had ever seen an Elf King.

Looking at the smoky snake-script before him.

Liszt's heart burned with fervor once more. A Dragon-Blood Horse was, theoretically, a more precious existence than an Elf Bug. Perhaps in terms of raw ability, a Dragon-Blood Horse might not be able to defeat any magic beast, as it lacked magic. But as a rare vessel of dragon blood, its value would never be low.

In this world, anything related to dragons was highly sought after.

Moreover, dragon blood inherently improved a species' aptitude; a pack horse infused with dragon blood could instantly become a steed capable of traveling a thousand miles a day.

A Dragon-Blood Horse was undoubtedly an excellent breed for a warhorse.

Why did the Grand Duke of Sapphire cherish his Dragon-Blood Horse so much that even the Earl of Coral Island fought for the chance to feed it? It was because that horse was a Blue Blood Steed—the standard mount of the Blue Blood Knights, the most elite order in the Sapphire Grand Duchy with a history of two hundred and forty years.

The Blue Blood Knights had fought across the land for the Sapphire family, achieving great military success, and their Blue Blood Steeds had contributed significantly to these victories.

The Grand Duke of Sapphire naturally had to ride a Blue Blood Steed to win over the knights and demonstrate that he stood with them.

A Dragon-Blood Horse... if I had one and could breed it, could I also form a knight order as elite as the Blue Blood Knights?

Just thinking about it was thrilling.

However, in Flower Town, the only ones with battle qi were Liszt, Marcus, and Gortai. Even if he were given a large batch of Dragon-Blood Horses, a knight order would still be a pipe dream.

The road was long and the burden heavy.

A moment later, he regained his composure, and the smoky snake-script vanished. Watching Dousen return to his little den to sleep, he suddenly felt that while a knight order was far off, riding a Dragon-Blood Horse and leading a magic beast dog out for a hunt was a lifestyle that was quite easy to achieve.

"Marcus returns to Coral City tomorrow and then has to go to Falcon Town, so he'll be back in about three days. By then, I can practice the battle qi manual and complete the task." Liszt stood up and left the recreation room.

Marcus left Flower Town once again.

Liszt would not just wait idly in the castle; once his body had recovered, he could no longer sit still. Early in the morning, he arrived at the Flower Farm, where the Tulip Bug was nearly finished assimilating the Black Tulip flowers.

"About two more hours." After checking on the Tulip Bug, Liszt mounted his horse and headed straight for Peanut Hamlet, where his Peanut Bug was still gestating.

Karl Hammer was standing guard there: "My Lord!"

"How is my Peanut Bug?"

"It is still sleeping. Old George brings people to pour plenty of manure water on it every day, and the peanut bug-grass is growing very vigorously."

"Protect the Peanut Bug strictly. I do not want any accidents to happen to it."

"Please rest assured, My Lord!"

Leaving Peanut Hamlet and returning to the Flower Farm, Liszt waited half an hour until the Tulip Bug successfully completed its assimilation. Retrieving the Tulip Bug, Liszt could feel its joy, as well as a trace of a new aura upon it—the aura of the Black Tulip, indicating that the Tulip Bug could now influence the Black Tulip.

Since its birth, Tulip Castle had arranged for all its Elf Bugs to assimilate as many varieties as possible to increase their strength.

Liszt's Tulip Bug had long since assimilated every variety of tulip grown by the Tulip family.

Having assimilated the Black Tulip, why do I feel like the Tulip Bug is a bit 'excited'? Could it be that it wants to evolve? A bold thought crossed his mind.

He quickly dismissed it himself.

The Tulip Bug he had obtained was one of the weaker ones among the family's collection, and the possibility of evolution was extremely low.

A single new variety of magic herb was not enough to trigger its evolution.

He retrieved the Tulip Bug and handed it to the butler, Carter, to feed—the bug-grass had already been planted, so the Elf Bug would not die even if it didn't eat or drink; it was very easy to raise.

Liszt soon met up with Gortai and arrived at the Dairy Farm.

"There are plenty of alfalfa seeds, so I intend to start here, gradually clearing away the original two-leaf clover to plant alfalfa. Once the scale is established, the alfalfa bugs can be planted with their worm grass, and the dairy cows will be able to adapt to the new forage. The horses can also be brought here to be fed in one place."

Worm grass must be surrounded by plants of the same species, otherwise, it cannot absorb nutrients and will wither.

The planting of alfalfa worm grass was easy to resolve, and Liszt had nothing to add: "Proceed according to your plan, Teacher Gortai. However, what have you decided regarding the arrangements for the millet bugs and the thorn bugs?"

"For the millet bugs, my idea is to first reclaim a piece of wasteland and plant millet to see if they can survive. As for the thorn bugs, we can only try to find a way in the thorn forests of Thorn Ridge. Liszt, I feel that the thorn bugs have no real use."

Thorns were a type of small, prickly shrub.

They were usually used to make fences, and many nobles liked to plant a circle of thorns around their manors to serve as hedges. Liszt also felt that the thorn bugs were useless, serving at most to cultivate a batch of prickly hedges for the castle to protect the manor from small animals—as for Magic Beasts, a single wind blade from a Wind Blade Wolf could cut down a large patch of thorns.

The Fire Dragon Horse grazed leisurely on the two-leaf clover.

Liszt looked at the few scrawny dairy cows not far away and said, "Regardless, elf bugs are an important productive force; we must find suitable places for them to be planted."