Chapter 0570: Research on Druid Magic (Third Update, 10,000 Coins Reward for 1/2 Celebration)
This chapter is a special release from "Little Ruizi's Kitchen" for reaching ten thousand rewards.
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"Special Category Magic?"
Liszt looked at the rewards for the mission, as well as the referenced Sun Scripture books, and fell into contemplation, "Previously, I found some books in the Sun Scripture resembling 'XXX Transforming into XX Bear X', and based on my deduction, this should be 'Druid Transforming into XX Bear X'."
The Druid was a profession recorded in the leftover notes of Curtis Truth, ranked alongside Magicians, Liches, Alchemists, and others.
Liszt wasn't quite clear on what the Druid profession actually entailed.
But now, the reward for the mission seemed to be related to the Druid profession, and this profession was almost like the Caster among the Children of the Sun—similar to a Magician among humans.
"What does the Smoke Mission mean, having me read all the Sun Scriptures and then, like an archaeologist, verify each Sun Script word's meaning?"
He frowned deeply.
Back when there were no books to read, even the tedious and dull "Philip, Scion of the Sun's Diary" was flipped through over and over, teaching the proficient reading and writing of Sun Script.
However, as his affairs gradually grew busier and the books piled up, he had lost interest in those dry and daunting Sun Scripture books. Not to mention, burying his head into them like an old scholar to verify each Sun Script word's meaning was a daunting task.
"But if I don't complete it, it seems I can't skip this task at all."
In the past, when he faced tasks he didn't want to complete, he could get the rewards in advance, thereby changing the task. But this task's reward was directly linked to its content, making it unskipable.
A real headache.
Liszt of today couldn't settle down to conduct scholarly research. He not only had to develop his territory but also needed to practice diligently, engage in noble associations, and prepare for the annual Pioneer Mandate. Even if he made time for the task, with his level of concentration, it was doubtful he'd get to the bottom of it anytime soon.
This task might just end up being stalled for several years.
"No, maybe I'm fixated on the wrong thing." He looked at the body of the Boot Beak Giant Stork and suddenly had a flash of inspiration, "I am not a scholar, but my territory has scholars, Chris is a scholar… No, Chris is not yet fully trustworthy, I should give it to Ake, Ake is also a scholar!"
Perhaps in terms of knowledge, the Sea Sprite Ake was no match for Chris.
But when it came to intelligence, memory strength, and agility of thought, Ake was absolutely superior, and most importantly, Liszt trusted her and was willing to share the secrets of the Child of the Sun with Ake.
"That's it, I'll assign the task to Ake!"
...
The puzzle was solved.
His mood suddenly brightened.
In the afternoon, he arrived at Giant Algae Docks—opting not to go directly to Black Horse Port to prevent leaks, since the Purple Sand Crocodile's body was on board.
"Please summon Grand Magician Lady Chris," Liszt instructed as he disembarked, knowing it was difficult to discern which materials needed to be cut intact without a magician.
After Chris hurried over on horseback, the work of cutting up the Magical Beast Meat officially began.
With great surprise at the sight of the huge shark and bird, Chris asked, "Viscount, what are these two Magical Beasts...?"
"This crocodile is the only Intermediate Magical Beast on Coral Island, the Purple Sand Crocodile, and this bird is an Advanced Magical Beast, the Boot Beak Giant Stork. I happened to see the Boot Beak Giant Stork hunting the Purple Sand Crocodile and took the opportunity to hunt the Boot Beak Giant Stork, and then pulled them both back. See how they should be dissected and divided."
"Advanced Magical Beast?"
Liszt responded indifferently, "Clearly it is."
It was just the hunting of an Advanced Magical Beast; nothing worth mentioning.
Chris's mouth fell open in shock, "Incredible, Viscount, you actually hunted an Advanced Magical Beast. I've never seen one before, only had a few encounters with materials from such beasts... I need to carefully sense its body before I can guide the butchering process, which will take some time."
"No problem, I'll have someone take care of the Wind Blade Wolf and the Thunderfang Boar first." Low-Level Magical Beast meat was still meat, and Liszt wasn't fussy.
Once cured, it would last a very long time.
Furthermore, the Little Fire Dragon needed Magical Beast Meat to supplement its diet. It seemed like today's haul was a good one, though it wouldn't last many days if they actually started eating it. The meat from these Magical Beasts was butchered on the ship, not transported ashore; it was cut into chunks before being sent to the kitchen for curing and other treatments.
Of course, a portion of the important materials would have to be handed over to Chris's Mage Tower for processing into materials for Magic Equipment.
Liszt would carefully organize his Gemstone Space to make room for the remaining Advanced Magical Beast meat.
Clearly, aside from sending some to his family for a taste, he planned to enjoy most of it by himself — since he hunted the beasts alone, his subordinates naturally wouldn't expect a share; at most, he would let them taste a bit.
Consultant Goltai arrived quickly.
Upon seeing the giant Boot Beak Giant Stork, he began to lavish Liszt with obsequious praise. After listening for a while and hearing nothing new, Liszt cut him off, "How are the planting of the Human Skull Tree and the Hemp Rope Vine coming along?"
"With the enhancement from Cordyceps, a large number of Human Skull Tree seedlings have been born, and I believe the plantation in Green Tea Town will soon thrive. However, the germination rate for the Hemp Rope Vine is quite low, with over three-quarter of the seeds you brought back failing to sprout."
"Such a low germination rate?" Liszt frowned, "I'll collect more seeds as soon as possible and bring them back. Make sure to organize our most capable serfs to tend to them meticulously, treating them as they would Magic Potions, understand?"
"As you wish, my lord!"
"By the way, how are the flamingos on Seagull Island doing?"
"Those gluttonous creatures, the flamingos, have quickly adapted to life on Seagull Island. They're quite docile as long as they have Green Caterpillars. It's only occasionally that a flamingo sneaks over from the Red River Mouth Mangrove Forest, but Captain Marcus and his men have been capturing them and sending them back to Seagull Island."
"Pay attention to exploring flamingo breeding methods."
"Yes, my lord."
...
Finally, after spending the entire afternoon and evening, they managed to dissect both the Advanced Magical Beast Boot Beak Giant Stork and the Intermediate Magical Beast Purple Sand Crocodile under Chris's guidance.
The beak, claws, wings, feathers, eyeballs, and crop of the Boot Beak Giant Stork were all important materials for Magic Power and Spellcasting. Likewise, the scales, teeth, claws, and skin of the Purple Sand Crocodile were also vital materials for Magic Power and Spellcasting — with the materials suited for crafting Magic Equipment and the Spellcasting materials suitable for arranging Magic Arrays.
These materials were transported to the Mage Tower and were specially processed using magic by Chris and other magicians, then stored in the tower's warehouse, waiting to be used.
The rest was basically all edible.
Selling it for money was out of the question, as Liszt had adopted a policy of only acquiring, never selling, when it came to Magic Potions and Magical Beasts. After careful consideration, he set aside nearly five hundred pounds of Boot Beak Giant Stork meat to send to Tulip Castle via his Retainer Knights for the Earl and his family to taste — much more generous than the five pounds of Six-Headed King Serpent meat he'd sent before.
His status now was different from before; sending too little meat would simply be embarrassing.
However, compared to the two to three tons of remaining meat, five hundred pounds didn't seem too much, especially since he had the meat of the Purple Sand Crocodile entirely to himself.
Along with the Boot Beak Giant Stork meat, there would also be a letter.
Liszt planned to concoct a tale of an epic sea battle with the Boot Beak Giant Stork, modestly boasting about how he slaughtered the Advanced Magical Beast, effortlessly cutting it down, and feasting on its meat.
And that very evening.
At the docks of Giant Algae Town, Liszt invited Chris, Paris, Marcus, Goltai, and others to gather around a bonfire to taste the first dish made from Boot Beak Giant Stork meat.