Chapter 18

Liszt was no stranger to dragon-bred horses.

His father, Leewilliam Tulip, was the royal groom in court. His responsibility was to take care of Archduke Sapphire’s beloved horse, which had the bloodline of dragons.

There were dragons in this world.

They were unlike the dragons of the east or those of the west; they were the most splendid essence of nature. Such dragons had no genders and could not have offspring. However, just like they could produce gems and metals, they could influence other creatures and give them dragon blood.

The knowledgeable people classified dragons, elves, and monsters according to how precious they were.

The most precious ones were naturally dragons. They were the symbols of countries.

Right below them were dragon elves. They represented the power of grand nobles.

Then were the big elves. They stood for the power of mid-level nobles.

After that came dragon-bred monsters that carried dragon blood.

Following them were little elves that were the foundation of small nobles.

Less precious than them were dragon-bred animals. They were common beasts with the blood of dragons.

At the bottom of the tier was the elvish insect. They meant basic productivity.

There was actually another kind of elf that was as precious as dragons—the elf king. In legends, it was the final form of the dragon elves’ evolution. Its wormgrass was so huge that a forest could live on it. Monsters, elves, and even dragons could live on the wormgrass.

However, most people considered the elf king only a tale.

Of every dozen elvish insects, one might evolve into a little elf. One of a hundred little elves might turn into a big elf. Hundreds of big elves might have only one that could grow into a dragon elf. Nobody had ever heard of a dragon elf that evolved into an elf king.

Liszt calculated the odds when he had nothing better to do.

Assuming that the odds of evolution for the elvish insects, the little elves, the big elves, and the dragon elves were 1/50, 1/100, 1/500 and 1/1,000, then the odds for an elvish insect to grow into an elf king was 1/2,500,000,000.

It was almost zero. No wonder nobody had ever seen an elf king.

Looking at the Ophidian words, Liszt was passionate again. A dragon-bred horse was theoretically even more important than an elvish insect. Maybe it could not beat any monster, but it was definitely valuable with its rare dragon blood.

Everything associated with dragons was popular in this world.

Also, the dragon blood could improve the quality of a creature. A subpar horse could immediately turn into the best horse with dragon blood.

The dragon-bred horses were the best options for warhorses.

Why did Archduke Sapphire cherish his dragon-bred horse so much? Because it provided blood for the Blue Blood Horses of the Blue Blood Knights, the best group of knights with a history of more than 240 years.

The Blue Blood Knights couldn’t have made so many contributions to the Sapphires without their horses.

Naturally, Archduke Sapphire needed to maintain the continuity of the Blue Blood Horses to attract knights.

A dragon-bred horse… If I breed it, will I be able to establish an order of knights that is as good as the Blue Blood Knights?

He was excited just thinking about it.

However, Liszt, Marcus, and Goltai were the only people with combat aura in Flower Town. Even if he were given a lot of dragon-bred horses, there would be no knights for him to command.

There was still a long way to go.

A moment later, he was back to himself. He looked at Dudderson, which had returned to its nest to sleep. Suddenly, he felt that although a knight order was too far away, it was rather easy to go hunting with a dragon-bred horse and a monster dog.

Marcus will go to Coral City and Falcon Town tomorrow and return in three days. By then, I’ll be able to practice the techniques and accomplish the mission. Liszt rose and left the entertainment room.

…

Marcus left Flower Town again.

Liszt would rather not idle in the castle. He had rested enough during his recovery. He went to the Flower Farm early in the morning. On the flower of the black tulip, the insect had almost finished assimilation.

It will probably take another two hours. After checking the tulip insect, Liszt rode to Peanuton, where his peanut insect was growing.

Carl Hammer was on duty. He greeted, “My lord!”

“How is my peanut insect?”

“It’s still sleeping. Old George fertilizes it with a lot of manure every day. It’s growing quickly.”

“Keep your eyes sharp. I don’t want anything to happen to it.”

“Rest assured, my lord!”

He returned to the Flower Farm from Peanuton. After half an hour, the tulip insect finished assimilation. Liszt could sense the joy of the insect, as well as the additional air of life, as he took it back. It meant that the tulip insect could already influence black tulips.

Since they were born, all the elvish insects of Tulip Castle were arranged to assimilate as many varieties of tulip as possible to increase their strength.

The tulip insect Liszt owned had already assimilated all the tulips that the family had before.

Why do I feel that the insect is excited after assimilating the black tulip? It’s not going to evolve, is it? A bold idea popped up in his head.

Very soon, he vetoed the idea himself.

The tulip insect he was given was a weak one among its peers. The odds of evolution were very low.

A new magic medicine was not enough to make it evolve.

He took the tulip insect and gave it to Carter. Now that the wormgrass had been planted, the tulip would never starve.

Liszt soon came to the Cow Farm with Goltai.

“There are plenty of clover seeds. I intend to eradicate the grasses in this place and replace them with clovers. Then, the clover insect can plant the wormgrass here. The cows will be adapted to the new food. The horses can be grazed here, too.”

A wormgrass had to be surrounded by the same plants, or it would wither due to the lack of nutrition.

It was easy to plant the wormgrass. Liszt had nothing to add. He said, “Your plan is fine with me, Mr. Goltai. What about the millet insect and the thorn insect?”

“I’m thinking to reclaim a desolate land and see if millet can be grown there. As for the thorn insect, we can only work on the thorns on Thorn Hill. Liszt, I don’t see the value of the thorn insect.”

Thorns, as spiky bushes, were usually used as fences. Many nobles liked to surround their manors with thorns as a form of defense.

Liszt, too, found no use in the thorn insect other than providing a batch of fences for his castle and guarding it from little animals. As for monsters, they could overcome the thorns easily.

Fire Dragon ate grass, at ease.

Looking at the skinny cows not far away, Liszt said, “In any case, the elvish insects are the most important for productivity. We must plant them in appropriate places.”