Beast Taming: My System is Bugged-Chapter 50 - 49: Mencius’s Mother Moved Three Times

Chapter 50: Chapter 49: Mencius’s Mother Moved Three Times

Ah Kun never dared to dream of eating any of Cyan Treasure’s good things.

It never expected that for the sake of its growth, its master would be willing to share some of the Spirit Medicine that Teacher Zhang had brought back.

Ah Kun’s eyes turned red, and it didn’t know how to repay its master.

It could only refuse repeatedly, but its master firmly insisted it accept.

Cyan Treasure was completely bewildered. It swished its little tail, a wronged look on its face, unable to understand why its Spirit Medicine was being given away.

"These weren’t bought just for you. For instance, some of these aren’t even Spirit Medicines that a Snake Pet can eat."

"Look at this Spirit Medicine, the Dragon Spine Fern. It’s an ingredient for Sub-Dragon or Dragon Race Pet Beasts, meant to increase the strength of their spinal columns..."

Gu Ming casually picked up a dry, withered-looking stalk, and the system immediately displayed a text description of its effects.

[Dragon Spine Fern]

「Recommended Star Level: Two-star」

「Safe Dosage Reference: 100g daily for a Two-star Pet Beast. Half that for a One-star Pet Beast. A maximum of 10g daily for a Zero-star Pet Beast.」

「Oral Efficacy: Strengthens a Sub-Dragon’s spine and alleviates flight fatigue.」

「Additional Use: The star-shaped fuzz on the underside of the leaves contains Molting Hormone, which can accelerate the scale metabolism of Flood Dragon Species and Dragon Race Pet Beasts.」

After identifying the Spirit Medicine, he picked out all the Dragon Spine Ferns.

Cyan Treasure, who knew nothing about Spirit Medicine, slithered over to get a closer look at the Dragon Spine Fern.

Its shape resembled a coiled dragon skeleton, winding and crooked.

The stalk was jagged and ridged like a dragon’s spine, faintly shimmering with a dark golden luster and exuding the subtle aura of a draconic Spirit Medicine.

Gu Ming turned over a leaf. It was long and narrow like a sword, with fine serrations along the edge as sharp as a Dragon’s Fang.

The surface of the leaf was a deep, inky green. As the light refracted off it, fine, dark golden patterns resembling dragon scales slowly emerged, as if each leaf bore the majesty and Power of the Dragon Race.

Cyan Treasure’s eyes were fixed on it, and it started drooling uncontrollably.

Anyone could tell this was a top-tier Spirit Medicine.

It was inexperienced and didn’t know what made a Spirit Medicine good.

But this Dragon Spine Fern didn’t require any expertise to appreciate. To Cyan Treasure, it was the ultimate Spirit Medicine.

The sight of it made Cyan Treasure’s blood boil with primal instinct. Its appetite surged, and it wanted nothing more than to devour it right then and there.

HISS HISS HISS— 𝘧𝑟𝑒𝑒𝘸𝘦𝘣𝑛𝑜𝘷𝑒𝓁.𝘤𝘰𝓂

Cyan Treasure’s tongue flicked in and out rapidly, begging its master to let it try just one stalk.

"Don’t get any ideas. This is a Spirit Medicine for those with a Sub-dragon Bloodline. Its effects are too potent for a Snake Pet to digest."

Gu Ming held down the agitated Cyan Treasure, afraid it would devour all the Spirit Medicine in a single gulp.

Once Cyan Treasure’s restlessness was finally under control, Gu Ming had a moment to examine this Spirit Medicine from the future.

These were all dried or processed Spirit Medicines, so they didn’t have their full original potency. Their advantage, however, was a long shelf life, allowing them to be stored for a very long time.

He held the Dragon Spine Fern up to the light to look at its leaves. The dark green veins transformed into dark golden, scale-like patterns, looking exactly like the scales of the Dragon Race.

No wonder Cyan Treasure had been so worked up.

Based on its appearance alone, he would have believed it if someone told him it was a Spirit Medicine for three- or four-star Pet Beasts.

Gu Ming picked up his phone and scanned the Spirit Medicine, running a product search against popular Spirit Medicines on the market.

After a long AI search, his phone couldn’t find a product name. It matched it with a few similarly shaped but ordinary Spirit Medicines that were completely unrelated to those for the Sub-dragon Race.

’If even the phone’s AI can’t find it, that means this Spirit Medicine hasn’t been discovered yet. Or maybe someone has started cultivating it, but it hasn’t reached the conventional market.’

Looking at the herb, the thought of getting rich off future Spirit Medicines flashed through Gu Ming’s mind.

However, he shook his head and dismissed the idea as soon as it appeared.

’First, my source of Spirit Medicine isn’t stable. I got these through Teacher Zhang this time, but there’s no guarantee I’ll be able to get future Spirit Medicines next time.’

’Even if I can, they might be affected by unknown factors. I could even end up with contaminated ones.’

’Trading for future seeds and planting them myself would be the most stable way to make a profit. And even if I don’t sell them, it would be good to grow them for my own use.’

Gu Ming filed the idea away, deciding to revisit it when the opportunity arose.

He took all the Spirit Medicines out of the cabinet and began sorting them into categories.

For each new type of Spirit Medicine he came across, he noted down the name and effects provided by the system.

The Candle Yin Fruit was another herb for Two-star Pet Beasts. It could awaken the night vision of a Sub-dragon Bloodline Pet Beast, and for a Snake Pet, it would enhance its thermal sensory vision.

There were also the Cloud-Eroding Grass, Jade Orchid, and Purple Cloud Vine that he had seen before. Some were edible for Snake Pets, while others were not. However, with professional preparation to balance their medicinal properties, even the unsuitable ones could be consumed by a Snake Pet.

Just documenting everything took Gu Ming a full ten minutes.

Cyan Treasure watched the entire process, its eyes dazzling with wonder.

While most of the herbs were ordinary and didn’t spark a strong appetite in it...

...there were still quite a few top-tier Spirit Medicines, like the Dragon Spine Fern, that made it crave them intensely.

Eight of them in particular caught Cyan Treasure’s eye.

There were a total of forty different types of medicinal materials. Cyan Treasure couldn’t possibly eat so many kinds of Spirit Medicine, so it was perfectly fine to share some with Ah Kun. It supported its master’s decision.

With that thought, Cyan Treasure swished its little tail and hissed at Ah Kun in the Fish Tank, letting it know that it didn’t mind sharing the Spirit Medicines anymore. But, it added, the ones like the Dragon Spine Fern had to be saved for it. It *really* wanted to eat them.

Cyan Treasure started drooling just thinking about the Dragon Spine Fern.

Ah Kun nodded vigorously. It was in no position to be a picky eater anyway; it would eat whatever its master gave it.

Of course, if it meant keeping Cyan Treasure happy, Ah Kun would feel much more at ease eating the Spirit Medicine its master bestowed.

...

After he finished sorting, Gu Ming realized that as good as these items were, he would need to learn about the Cultivation Element to fully unlock the potential of these Future Medicinal Materials.

He had originally planned to major in the Combat Element, but he had so many good things now that it seemed wasteful to only study Pet Beast combat.

Most of the materials could be consumed orally, but that was also the most wasteful method, squandering much of their potency.

If they were refined by a Pill Pet—removing impurities, extracting the essence, and then imbuing them with special effects using the Pill Pet’s Skills—their final efficacy could be more than doubled.

As he analyzed the situation, Gu Ming realized that majoring in the Cultivation Element was also very appealing. At the very least, he wouldn’t be completely clueless the next time he encountered future Spirit Medicines.

Gu Ming looked at the medicinal materials, lost in thought.

Students who studied both the Combat and Cultivation Elements were not unheard of in the Great Zhou.

However, such students were usually from the elite class. They began learning about Beastmasters and Pet Beasts from a young age and had a very strong foundation.

While the elites also only formed contracts with Pet Beasts as they approached adulthood, their accumulated knowledge was far beyond what an ordinary person could match. The two groups were starting from completely different places.

But as Gu Ming reflected on his own childhood, he was a little surprised.

He’d always assumed that with gambler parents and the constant pressure of debt collectors, his knowledge base would be extremely narrow.

On the contrary, ever since he was a child, he had been on the run from debts with his parents, moving from place to place. They had moved house over a hundred times.

Every time they moved, he had seen more Pet Beasts, witnessed more wondrous sights, and smelled more types of spirit plants than he could possibly remember.

It was just that these life experiences—seemingly useless but actually invaluable—had been tucked away in a corner of his mind, never to be re-examined.

It wasn’t until this moment, as Gu Ming revisited those childhood memories, that he realized the breadth of experience he had accumulated since he was young was far greater than he’d ever imagined.