A new log entry appeared at the very bottom of the Record, beneath the existing entries:
[Discovered some of Wolf Smoke Grass's effects on Forest Wolves and its applications. Forest Wolf Record experience +100 points. Fully understanding and uncovering the specific effects and uses of Wolf Smoke Grass will grant additional experience.]
Just as I thought!
Unimaginable delight shone in Su Ping's eyes as he stared fixedly at the Forest Wolf that had finished comprehending the skill.
But soon, his brows furrowed slightly.
As the light faded, the little Forest Wolf appeared before him.
And True Eye revealed the little wolf's condition as quickly as possible:
[Forest Wolf (wild-weakened)] [Current level: ordinary tier seven] [Racial potential: elite tier ten] [Skills: Sunlight Absorption (beginner), Accelerated Growth (beginner), Tree Vine Strangulation (proficient), Self-Healing (beginner), Woodheart (beginner)]
Indeed, judging by True Eye's feedback, the little wolf seemed no different at all. Even the Woodheart skill had already appeared among the little fellow's abilities.
The fragrance of vegetation wafting from its body fully confirmed this.
The weakened condition was no big deal, either.
However, the biggest problem was that, to ensure the experiment would not be affected by other factors, Su Ping had deliberately selected two little wolves of the same tier and level to raise together.
And both little wolves had been ordinary tier eight!
In other words, although Wolf Smoke Grass had further enhanced Woodheart's effects on the Forest Wolf, it had also caused its level to drop.
What principle was behind this?
Su Ping frowned, unable to figure it out for the moment. Only now did he truly understand what it meant to regret not having read enough when the time came to put that knowledge to use.
Still, he hurriedly marked the little wolf and wrote this discovery in his journal for the record.
Then, without wasting any time, Su Ping took out the sickle stored in his Beast Taming Space and continued harvesting the vast patch of Wolf Smoke Grass.
Previously, he had been uncertain, so he had not proceeded directly to more complicated experiments.
But now, it seemed that Wolf Smoke Grass definitely held mysteries far beyond his imagination.
He needed to take things further, extract its essence directly, and begin experiments on living subjects.
However, although he had extraction equipment at home, he still lacked a few things. For one, while his medicinal brewing furnace was adequate for its usual purpose, using it to extract Wolf Smoke Grass would clearly be far too troublesome. The costs in both time and labor were too high.
He also needed some instruments for observation and recording.
At that thought, Su Ping, who had harvested another large swath of Wolf Smoke Grass, felt a headache coming on.
There were plenty of sales channels for materials and resources, both online and in person, but he genuinely had no idea where to buy precision instruments used exclusively by Breeders.
Fortunately, Su Ping was not entirely without connections now.
"Hello, Su Ping? It's rare for you to call me. Have you settled your wager with young Sun?"
There were probably few people in all of Linzhou who knew more about this subject than Vice President Liu.
Hearing Vice President Liu's hearty laughter on the other end, Su Ping kept him in suspense for a moment.
"You'll find out in a couple of days. Elder Liu, I wanted to ask where I can buy instruments for extracting the essence of materials, as well as breeding instruments for observing them. I have some new ideas I'd like to try."
"Haha, I figured as much. Su Ping, do you know what's most important to a Breeder?"
Perhaps because Su Ping had kept him guessing, Vice President Liu did not answer directly either, instead responding with a question.
"What?" Su Ping obligingly asked.
"A laboratory, of course! With your abilities, you could absolutely come to our Breeder Association and apply to rent a private laboratory. Of course, if you want to buy your own equipment, that's fine too. Our Breeder Association sells it."
Having said that, Old Liu went straight to the point.
"We have three kinds of instruments for extracting material essences here at the Breeder Association, each with its own strengths and effects. I'll send you those and the other instruments you need. Once you've made your choices, just place an order."
At this point, Vice President Liu sounded exceptionally generous.
"Once you've placed your order, give me the order number. I'll use my authorization to get you the biggest discount possible."
Su Ping smiled.
"Thank you so much. I'll come visit you when I have time!"
"When? I'll adjust my schedule." Vice President Liu's smiling voice came through, leaving Su Ping momentarily speechless.
He pressed his lips together and was just about to speak when hearty laughter rang out from the other end.
"Hahaha, I'm just teasing you, young fellow. Still, if you have time, you could come by at the end of the month. I'll be teaching a class here at the Breeder Association then. Only Breeders who work with wolf-type pet beasts are eligible to attend.
"I don't know whether it'll be useful or helpful to you, but no matter how gifted a Breeder is, it's best not to spend all their time building carts behind closed doors."
This time, Su Ping's eyes truly lit up.
Although he had the help of the Myriad Spirits Codex, it was like having an advanced mathematical problem and its answer placed directly before him. He knew the answer, and if he encountered exactly the same problem later, he could copy the shape of the gourd and produce the answer again.
But the reasoning behind the solution, drawing connections to related problems, and deducing three things from one had absolutely nothing to do with him.
Only when knowledge was needed did one regret not having read enough. Naturally, he would not miss an opportunity like this.
After hanging up excitedly, Su Ping opened the website address Old Liu had sent him, where only Breeders with internal membership in the Breeder Association were eligible to make purchases.
Yet one look left Su Ping completely stunned.
He seemed to understand why, when he had asked Old Liu about purchasing equipment, Old Liu had immediately suggested going to the Breeder Association and applying to rent a laboratory for his experiments first.
Because the things in front of him were just too damn outrageous:
[High-polymer automated Mechanical Core Compression Extraction Machine: an integrated machine controlled by a mechanical core. Capable of compressing all resource types except elemental resources and extracting their essences according to the user's requirements, condensing them into...]
Su Ping could make little sense of the jumble of descriptions. All he could see was the long string of zeros after a machine that looked like an oversized toilet combined with a washing machine and hooked up to a computer screen.
At that moment, Su Ping sank into deep contemplation.
Old Liu just said he could give me a discount within the limits of his authorization. So how big a discount could that be?
Could he knock three hundred million down to one million? Hmm, ten million would work too!
Clearly, if he were dreaming, Su Ping's idea might have had a chance of coming true.
Unfortunately, this was reality.
Moreover, that was only the purchase price of a single machine. There were also operating expenses and the cost of buying other machines.
At once, Breeder Su, who had just been thinking that having enough money to get by was all he needed, looked at the countless stalks of Wolf Smoke Grass crammed into his tiny Beast Taming Space and roared at the sky:
"I need customers! I need to make money! I need to build my own laboratory!"
Before you continue