Dragon Breed Horse.
Liszt was by no means unfamiliar with it.
Because his biological father, Earl William Lee of Coral Island, currently served as the Court Equerry at the court, tending to the Sapphire Duke's beloved steeds, one of which was a divine horse mixed with the bloodline of a dragon.
This world had dragons.
Not the divine dragons of the East, nor the evil dragons of the West, but an unparalleled essence of heaven and earth. These dragons essentially had no gender differentiation and would not mate to produce offspring. However, just as they could produce gemstones and metals, they could also infect other species with the dragon bloodline.
Some enthusiasts, based on rarity, had classified dragons, elves, and magical beasts.
The most precious, of course, were dragons, a symbol of a country.
The next most precious were Dragon Elves, a sign of power for the great nobility.
The next most precious were Greater Elves, a sign of power for the medium nobility.
Then the precious ones were Dragon Breed Magic Beasts, magical beasts mixed with the dragon bloodline.
Then the precious ones were Little Minor Elves, a sign of power for the petty nobility.
Continuing precious were Dragon Breed Beasts, ordinary animals mixed with the dragon bloodline.
The last precious ones were Elf Bugs, representing the foundation of the productive capacity.
Actually, there was another type of elf, equally as precious as dragons—the Elf King, the legendary evolutionary endpoint of Dragon Elves. Its body, the cordyceps, was boundlessly large. A single tree could breed an entire forest, and numerous magical beasts, elves, and even dragons would live on its body of the cordyceps.
However, most people treated the Elf King as a legend.
An Elf Bug might evolve into a Little Minor Elf with one success among dozens; a Little Minor Elf might evolve into a Greater Elf with one success among hundreds; a Greater Elf might evolve into a Dragon Elf with one success among hundreds; as for a Dragon Elf evolving into an Elf King, that had never been heard of.
In his boredom, Liszt had done calculations on the probabilities.
He assumed the probability of an Elf Bug evolving upwards was 1/50, for a Little Minor Elf it was 1/100, for a Greater Elf it was 1/500, and for a Dragon Elf it was 1/1,000. Therefore, 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, nearly zero, no wonder no one had ever seen an Elf King.
Looking at the Smoke Serpent Script before him.
Liszt felt his heart igniting with excitement once again. A Dragon Breed Horse was theoretically even more precious than an Elf Bug. Perhaps in terms of prowess, a Dragon Breed Horse might not be able to defeat any magical beast, as it had no magic. But as a rare specimen of the dragon bloodline, its price would not be low.
In this world, anything related to dragons was highly sought after.
Moreover, the bloodline of dragons would enhance the capabilities of the species. A nag mixed with the dragon bloodline instantly became a steed of exceptional quality.
A Dragon Breed Horse was undoubtedly an excellent breed of warhorse.
Why did the Sapphire Duke treasure his Dragon Breed Horse so much, and even the Earl of Coral Island competed for the chance to look after it? It was because that Dragon Breed Horse was none other than the Blue Blood Treasure Horse, the standard mount for the elite Blueblood Knight Order which boasted a history of two hundred and forty years.
The Blueblood Knight Order fought battles far and wide for the Sapphire Family, earning great military merits, thanks in no small part to their Blue Blood Treasure Horses.
Of course, the Sapphire Duke would ride a Blue Blood Treasure Horse, to draw the Knight Order closer to him, demonstrating solidarity with his knights.
"A Dragon Breed Horse, eh? If I had a Dragon Breed Horse and bred them, could I not also establish a Knight Order as elite as the Blueblood Knight Order?"
The thought alone was very exciting.
However, in Fresh Flower Town, only Liszt, Marcus, and Goltai had Dou Qi. Even if he were given a whole group of Dragon Breed Horses, there would be no shadow of a Knight Order.
The journey is significant and the path is long.
A moment later, he came back to his senses, the smoke serpent script before his eyes had disappeared. Looking at Douson, who had returned to his nest to sleep, he suddenly felt that the Knight Order was too far away, but living a life where he could ride dragon breed horses, lead magical beast dogs, and go hunting everywhere was still easily attainable.
"Tomorrow, Marcus will return to Coral City, and he also needs to go to Falcon Town, so he'll be back in about three days. Then, I will be able to cultivate with the Dou Qi Manuscript and complete the task." Liszt stood up and left the entertainment room.
...
Marcus once again left Fresh Flower Town.
Liszt wouldn't just wait around in the castle. Once he had fully recovered, he couldn't sit still. First thing in the morning, he arrived at Fresh Flower Farm, where the tulip bugs on the black tulips were nearly finished with assimilation.
"It should take about two more hours." After checking on the tulip bugs, Liszt mounted his horse and headed straight for Peanut Hamlet, where his peanut bugs were still breeding.
Karl Ironhammer was standing guard there: "My lord!"
"How are my peanut bugs doing?"
"They're still sleeping. Old George brings people to water it with lots of manure every day, the peanut cordyceps are growing very well."
"Strictly protect the peanut bugs, I don't want anything to happen to them."
"Rest assured, my lord!"
Leaving Peanut Hamlet and returning to Fresh Flower Farm, after waiting half an hour, the tulip bugs successfully completed assimilation. Retrieving the tulip bugs, Liszt could feel their joy and a new breath on them, which was the aura of the black tulips, indicating that the tulip bugs could now affect the black tulips.
From birth, Tulip Castle had arranged for all elf bugs to assimilate as many compatible varieties as possible to increase their strength.
Liszt's own tulip bug had already assimilated all the varieties of tulips planted by the Tulip Family.
"Having assimilated the black tulip, why do I feel that the tulip bug is a bit 'agitated'? Could it be thinking about evolving?" A bold thought crossed his mind.
He quickly dismissed it.
The tulip bug he obtained was one of the weaker ones among the Tulip Family's tulip bugs, so the likelihood of it evolving was extremely low.
A new variety of magic potion was not enough to make it evolve.
Having retrieved the tulip bug, he handed it over to Butler Carter for care—the cordyceps had been planted, and elf bugs, even without eating or drinking, would not die; they were easy to take care of.
Liszt soon joined Goltai and went to the dairy farm.
"We have a lot of alfalfa seeds, and I plan to start here by gradually removing the two-leaf clovers and planting alfalfa. Once we scale up, we will be able to plant alfalfa cordyceps, the cows will also adapt to the new forage, and we can concentrate on leading the horses here for feeding."
Cordyceps must be surrounded by the same variety of plants; otherwise, they cannot absorb nutrients and will wither.
The cultivation of alfalfa cordyceps was easy to solve, and Liszt had nothing to add: "Let's implement Teacher Goltai's plan, but how have you decided to arrange the millet bugs and thorn bugs?"
"For the millet bugs, I plan to first clear a piece of wasteland and plant millet to see if it can survive. As for the thorn bugs, we can only try to make it work in the thorn forest of Thorn Ridge. Liszt, I don't think thorn bugs are very useful."
Thorns are a small, spiky shrub.
They are often used for fences. Many nobles like to plant a circle of thorns around their estates as a green hedge. Liszt also felt that thorn bugs weren't very useful; at most, they could cultivate a spiked hedge for the castle to protect the estate from small animals—As for magical beasts, a single wind blade from a Wind Blade Wolf could chop down a large swath of thorns.
The fire dragon horse leisurely ate the two-leaf clovers.
Liszt, looking at the few skinny cows not far away, said, "Regardless, elf bugs are a vital productive force, and we must find the right place for them to grow."