Chapter 9: Blood Orchid Potion
Chapter 9: Blood Orchid Potion
Rumble, rumble, rumble...
The sound of a car engine grew louder as it approached, and in the blink of an eye, it pulled up in front of the entrance to the Pet Beast Marketplace. A little chubby guy hurriedly emerged from the car.
A few minutes later, from a distance, he spotted Li Qian standing in front of a potion shop. An Paozi, impatient as ever, blurted out, "Where's Teacher Zhu Bingqing?"
As he spoke, he scanned the area, seemingly searching for the enchanting figure that had been on his mind.
Unfortunately, there were only a few people around, and they were all middle-aged men—stall owners and shopkeepers. Not even a trace of the enchanting figure he sought, let alone a female cat, could be seen.
Li Qian couldn't help but chuckle at the sight. Fortunately, he had messaged An Paozi after Teacher Zhu Bingqing left; otherwise, seeing An Paozi's pig-like behavior, she would have likely scolded him.
Walking over, Li Qian patted An Paozi's shoulder and said with a hint of annoyance, "What are you looking at? The person has already left."
Li Qian's words deflated An Paozi like a punctured balloon. He rolled his eyes and said dejectedly, "Then why did you call me over here?"
With a smile, Li Qian pointed to a Pet Potion Shop not far away, the very one he and Teacher Zhu Bingqing had just visited, "That shop, go in and buy me a potion called the Blood Orchid Potion."
An Paozi's entire demeanor was that of a wilted flower. He sighed, "Why don't you go buy it yourself?"
Li Qian explained, "Just now, Teacher Zhu Bingqing thoroughly introduced the potion in the shop, clearly pointing out its drawbacks. If I go in to buy it now, they'll definitely find it odd and might refuse to sell it."
An Paozi glanced at the potion shop in the distance and then said nonchalantly, "Then let's just buy it online."
"Don't be like that," Li Qian sighed helplessly. "They're having a promotion, and it's a few thousand cheaper than online." Truly, he thought to himself, 'The well-fed know not the hunger of the starving.'
A few thousand dollars was a mere pittance to him, and it seemed like it wasn't even worth his attention.
But he was right; with An Paozi's family background, a few thousand dollars was indeed insignificant. It's true that money can buy a lot of freedom.
An Paozi pointed at the shop's entrance in the distance and then put his hands in his pockets, striking a pose as if to say, "I'm not moving an inch." He suggested, "You lured me here just for this? No way!"
Li Qian had no choice but to try his persuasion skills again. "When I took the photo, Teacher Zhu Bingqing hadn't left yet. But when you arrived, she left. What does that tell you?"
An Paozi glanced at Li Qian and asked, "What does that tell me?"
Li Qian patiently explained, "It tells you that those without fate are destined to miss each other. But since we're already here, do me a favor and buy the potion."
"I still feel like you're trying to trick me," An Paozi glanced at Li Qian and muttered reluctantly.
About five minutes later, An Paozi emerged from the potion shop with a pale pink potion in hand.
"Here, this is the potion you wanted," he said, passing the potion to Li Qian with a listless expression.
It was clear from his demeanor that he hadn't fully recovered from Teacher Zhu Bingqing's departure.
Taking the potion, Li Qian casually asked, "How much did it cost?"
"Twelve thousand," An Paozi replied, a bit more lively now.
Li Qian's eyebrows rose at this, and he gave a thumbs-up. "Awesome, you got me a discount of eight thousand!"
He clearly remembered the original price was 70% off, so the discounted price should have been twelve thousand eight hundred. But An Paozi had managed to get an eight-thousand-dollar discount.
An Paozi's eyes lit up, and he proposed, "Then treat me to dinner tonight. That's not too much to ask, right?"
Li Qian nodded and then asked, "Aren't you going to meditate?"
An Paozi gazed into the distance, and his voice trailed off as he spoke, "After seeing Teacher Zhu Bingqing's photo, how can I possibly focus on meditation now?"
Li Qian was at a loss for words, "Umm..."
...
That evening, at a restaurant not far from Li Qian's home.
The two sat facing each other, and An Paozi took a sip of his drink before asking, "Hey, buddy, are you really researching the evolution method of a Dominant Potential Companion Beast?"
Seeing the skepticism on An Paozi's face, Li Qian sighed and said, "What's that look for? Do you think I'm trying to fool you?"
After a pause, he added, "Just wait and see. If luck is on our side, we might have results before graduation."
The disbelief in An Paozi's eyes didn't lessen, "What results? You don't mean a graduation thesis, do you?"
Li Qian rolled his eyes and said disdainfully, "With your grades, we don't need to write a thesis for high school graduation."
He pouted and reminded him, "Do you still remember the Dominant Potential Companion Beast I promised you?"
An Paozi picked up his chopsticks and mumbled, "Alright, I'll believe you for now. Consider it a keepsake."
...
After dinner, they returned home.
In his room, Li Qian checked the Golden Finger.
[Current Task Progress: 98%]
After closing the task panel, he took out the Blood Orchid Potion and examined it carefully, then fell into deep thought.
A hint of unshakable doubt lingered in his eyes.
"This Blood Orchid Potion, according to Teacher Zhu Bingqing, is usually used to stimulate the bloodline of Western Dragons. But why does the system have feedback about it?" he muttered to himself, a faint hint of speculation forming in his mind, "Isn't Qinglin Jiao a pure Eastern Dragon?"
"What's going on here?"
"What's the remaining 2% about? Could it be that the required potion isn't just one type?" Unable to figure it out, he put away the Blood Orchid Potion and continued working on the materials sent by Gao Yaxin.
As he looked through the materials, he couldn't help but think of another matter, "Sigh, this one vial of Blood Orchid Potion cost 120,000, and I wonder if the remaining money will be enough to complete the research?"
The next day, Monday.
Class time.
The morning class was Combat Class, and the afternoon class was Pet Beast Knowledge Class.
The Combat Class teacher was Hu Minghua, and the Pet Beast Knowledge Class teacher was Lu Xinmin—one a muscular man with a stubbly beard, and the other an old man with half-white hair. With graduation approaching, most students were in a rush to awaken their powers, so only a few were paying attention in class.
Neither Teacher Hu Minghua nor Teacher Lu Xinmin seemed to mind.
At this crucial moment, the most important thing for the students was indeed rushing to awaken their powers.
Moreover, with only three months left, whether it was the Combat Class or the Pet Beast Knowledge Class, students who were good at learning didn't need this extra time, and those who weren't good at it wouldn't benefit much from this time either.
Li Qian was different; he had already awakened his Beastmaster Space and was just waiting for the school to assign a pet beast before graduation.
So he was still taking these two classes seriously.
This also improved Teacher Hu Minghua's and Teacher Lu Xinmin's impression of him.
After school, Li Qian didn't waste any time. He went to the living room, used a blank Beast Ball to capture Ah Fu, grabbed two hunger-relieving bread, and then rode his bicycle straight out the door.
Following the navigation instructions, it took about half an hour to reach his destination.
"It's just ahead." Listening to the sound of rushing water nearby, a faint hint of joy appeared on Li Qian's face.
Having found the place, the next step was training—nonstop training to hone the skills of Ah Fu and Qizi.
Qizi was the name Li Qian gave to the carp he bought from the hairy-chinned man's stall.
(End of Chapter)
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