CHAPTER 30: CHAPTER 29: BUYING A FLOWERPOT

With the help of the Big-mouth Flower, Li Xing collected the spirit plants again and finally succeeded in refining two furnaces of Small Returning Pills.

At the moment the pills formed, two bolts of tribulation lightning struck down on the elixirs that glistened like jade, and Li Xing almost burst into tears.

They were Heaven Rank elixirs that could trigger a lightning tribulation; she was probably the second Dan Cultivator in the family to refine Heaven Rank elixirs after Ancestor Zhan.

Just past noon, Li Xing packed up her things and returned to the city, heading straight to the commercial street. Unlike Little Fatty, the Big-mouth Flower couldn’t go into the Dantian, and if she wanted to carry it openly by her side, Li Xing needed to buy a flower pot.

Star Beasts of the Qianyuan Continent were mortal enemies to humans and couldn’t be tamed as spirit pets, but a small portion of spirit plants, due to possessing some special abilities, could have a supportive role in battles and be kept by humans.

However, spirit plants were not very intelligent, and even Elemental Spirits with Wood Element Spirits couldn’t communicate and control them with 100% efficiency.

To more precisely play the combat role of spirit plants, and to avoid them randomly attacking and accidentally harming others, Battle Pet Spirit Plants had to be planted in specially made pots.

These pots are hemispherical and float above the ground, allowing the owner to control the movement and attack of the spirit plant using the pot. The pot also has a protective shield that rises in non-combat situations to prevent the Battle Pet Spirit Plant from hurting people.

Li Xing didn’t care much about this; what she loved most was that the pots had a life-sustaining system, similar to the Spirit Beast Bag, allowing plants planted in them to be stored in the Space Cabinet.

The first time Li Xing went to the commercial street, she saw a mercenary flaunting his Battle Pet Spirit Plant, the Measuring Heaven Ruler.

As it passed by Li Xing, the Measuring Heaven Ruler, for some unknown reason, lifted its thorn-covered branch and struck down fiercely. The branch was blocked by the protective shield, making a loud "thud."

Everyone else was shocked, but Li Xing thought it was super cool and felt envious. She also wanted an impressive spirit plant to flaunt wherever she went! Now her dream had come true; she also had a Battle Pet Spirit Plant.

Walking familiarly into Boss Guan’s shop, Li Xing greeted him politely.

Lao Guan: "Yo, my dear niece is here! What do you want to buy today?"

Anna wasn’t in good health, so whenever Li Xing had free time, she would help her purchase daily necessities. She often visited Boss Guan’s shop, so the two were already familiar with each other.

"Uncle Guan, I want to buy a flower pot."

"Ah, buying a flower pot, are you planning to catch a Battle Pet Spirit Plant?" Li Xing didn’t have a Wood Element Spirit, so capturing a Battle Pet Spirit Plant might be difficult. "Do you want Uncle Guan to help?"

Lao Guan was an Elemental Spirit with a Wood Element Spirit, but his spirit was only of the fifth rank and more suited to being a merchant than a low-level Healing Master.

But even a rickety boat has three thousand nails; even the lowest-level Wood Element Spirit is better at communicating with spirit plants than other Elemental Spirits. Having one in the team during a Battle Pet Spirit Plant capture significantly increases the success rate.

Lao Guan often received such employment or invitation offers, but he was used to a peaceful life and didn’t want to take risks, so he always declined. However, if Li Xing wanted it, he would be willing to help, after all, she was his dear niece.

Li Xing shook her head and declined Boss Guan’s kindness: "No need, I already caught one! Look—"

A huge purple head suddenly popped out of Li Xing’s backpack and gave Boss Guan a wide smile. A slug-like flower stamen drooped at its mouth corner, with mucous dripping on the floor.

The Big-mouth Flower initially wanted to showcase its overly-friendly smile with its sixty-four teeth to make its owner proud, but little did it expect that its appearance was far from cute and only exuded an unexpected horror.

"Ah, damn—!"

With a horrified yell, Boss Guan swiftly opened the Space Cabinet, took out a medium-sized flower pot, and placed the Big-mouth Flower inside.

Once the crisis was averted, Boss Guan felt his legs go weak. For a moment, he seemed to have seen the Bridge of Sighs, with his great-grandmother waving from the other side.

"Where, where did this thing come from?"

Seeing Boss Guan’s hair standing on end from shock, Li Xing also felt she had been too reckless. Even the strong heart of a Golden Core Cultivator was startled by the Big-mouth Flower, let alone an ordinary person.

"I caught it while hunting in the Star Beast Forest."

Boss Guan was speechless.

Most people would team up with several experts, making all preparations before attempting to find a Battle Pet Spirit Plant, and even then, it might not be successful for months. But she? She just took a trip to the Star Beast Forest and brought one back, and casually at that! Since when did the forest’s spirit plants become so docile?

"Did you just pack it up in a backpack and bring it back?"

Li Xing nodded: "Yeah, it’s very well-behaved."

The Big-mouth Flower smiled even sweeter, its slug-like tongue licking its lips, creating a curve at the mouth that grew more sinister.

Boss Guan: Come on! (￣﹌￣)@m

"Dear niece, except for a few artificially cultivated varieties, almost all spirit plants of the Qianyuan Continent are nasty. There’s no shortage of moving, man-eating, poisonous, hallucinogenic plants. You got lucky this time, capturing an ugly and slow-reacting one without harming yourself or others. But luck might not always be on your side. In the future, don’t be reckless. If unsure, ask your dad; if he’s unavailable, come to Uncle Guan. Understood?"

Li Xing nodded obediently, agreeing, though her Divine Sense nearly burst from the Big-mouth Flower’s rude remarks, calling out about who’s ugly! You’re slow, your whole family is slow! Li Xing helplessly sealed its words with a master-servant contract, finally bringing peace to her mindsea.

Lao Guan felt it necessary to have a talk with Li Yi. His dear niece might lack some common sense due to her youth, but why wasn’t Li Yi keeping a closer watch?

Li Yi: Wrongly accused, I had no idea she was this daring...

"Dear niece, Battle Pet Spirit Plants need to be registered. What species is this one?"

"Uh... I don’t know."

"Then let me search for it."

Lao Guan took out a tablet, took a full-body photo of the Big-mouth Flower, and initiated a search, resulting in several pages of images. Each one displayed plants with outrageous big mouths, but none identical to the Big-mouth Flower.

No contrast means no harm; seeing all the ugly ones on the screen, Li Xing thought the Big-mouth Flower was rather delicate-looking.

After looking for a while, Lao Guan pointed to a blue-headed, white-bumped spirit plant and said to Li Xing: "I think your Battle Pet Spirit Plant might be a sub-species of the Beast Catching Grass, so let’s register it as that."

The Big-mouth Flower spat, hurling a large glob of mucous that was blocked by the protective shield, clearly disapproving of its classification.

"Dear niece, let me ask you one more time, are you really decided on raising this spirit plant as a Battle Pet?"

Li Xing was about to nod when Lao Guan raised his hand to stop her.

"Hear me out before you decide. Raising a Battle Pet Spirit Plant is not easy. The nutrients and pest control for the plant, the replacement and maintenance of the pot, all add up to considerable expenses. As the spirit plant grows, the costs will exponentially increase. It’s no joke; when I was young, I had to release a Whomping Willow because it grew too large for me to afford.

"In fact, expenses are the least of your worries. An accidental injury caused by the Battle Pet Spirit Plant in a non-combat situation makes the owner entirely responsible, and serious cases could lead to imprisonment."

"If you’re just curious and only want to keep it for a while, Uncle Guan can register it as a pet for sale. Once you’ve had enough fun, I’ll find a buyer for it. How does that sound?"

The Big-mouth Flower was anxious; the man was sowing discord between her and her owner, which was simply intolerable.

From the corner of his eye, Lao Guan caught sight of a root of the Big-mouth Flower pointing at him like a finger, the open-close motion of its mouth exuding an oddly familiar vulgarity—clearly a good dose of foul language!

How could a spirit plant possibly swear!

Lao Guan shook his head, thinking he must have been mistaken.

"Uncle Guan, I really like this Beast Catching Grass; please help me register it as a Battle Pet."

Lao Guan sighed: "Alright. Though I’m not that capable, at least I have a Wood Element Spirit and experience in raising spirit plants. If you have any questions, be sure to ask me."

"Okay—!"