Zhong Yi had successfully cultivated this Red-Faced Hibiscus. As long as it remained healthy, the Guardian Beast Shop could now produce nearly a liter of Digestive Fluid every week.
By a conservative estimate, it could sell for over 400,000 Federation Coins!
The profits from raising Production-type Guardian Beasts that could yield high-quality materials were far greater than just selling Mortal Beasts.
Zhong Yi decided to change the business direction of his Guardian Beast Shop, "Evolution." He would no longer resell Mortal Beasts, but instead pivot to a more high-end approach.
The Red-Faced Hibiscus's two buds, each larger than Zhong Yi's fist, had quietly blossomed, releasing a rich, sweet fragrance.
The Insect-Catching Hibiscus was a type of Guardian Beast that used its fragrance and the nectar secreted by its pistils to attract and trap insects.
The Red-Faced Hibiscus inherited the fragrance of its predecessor, but its scent carried a faint, musky odor, somewhat reminiscent of a snake's nest on a rainy day.
Fortunately, the hibiscus's floral scent was so rich that the underlying musky odor was barely noticeable.
The Red-Faced Hibiscus's flowers were a deep, vibrant magenta. If the dark-red patterns on its ink-green leaves resembled winding Spiritual Snakes,
then the furrows formed by the overlapping folds of its petals were like their flickering tongues.
Just as Zhong Yi was about to put the Red-Faced Hibiscus into his Storage Pouch, it gently swayed its stem, brushing its two newly opened blossoms against his palm.
The sight astonished Zhong Yi!
Even upon reaching the Extraordinary Level with Silver Quality, plant-type Guardian Beasts rarely developed much intelligence.
Yet this Red-Faced Hibiscus, still at the Mortal Beast Level and of Bronze Quality, was already showing affection toward Zhong Yi.
And Zhong Yi hadn't even formed a Contract with it.
As Zhong Yi was puzzling over this, a flash of inspiration struck him!
'The Red-Faced Hibiscus had evolved using the Flowing Soul Soil. Its current behavior was most likely related to it.'
Zhong Yi found a glass bottle in the storeroom and tentatively commanded the uncontracted Red-Faced Hibiscus to dispense its Digestive Fluid.
As if it understood his command, the Red-Faced Hibiscus gathered its petals. It then carefully channeled the Digestive Fluid along the folds, pouring it into the narrow-mouthed glass bottle without spilling a single drop.
This made Zhong Yi marvel inwardly.
After interacting with the Red-Faced Hibiscus for another ten minutes or so, Zhong Yi concluded that a Guardian Beast enhanced with Flowing Soul Soil, unlike one enhanced with a Soul Taming Seed, wouldn't automatically become one of his own Guardian Beasts.
However, it would still obey his commands.
This discovery was undoubtedly good news for Zhong Yi.
From now on, whenever Zhong Yi wanted to collect the plant's Digestive Fluid, he only needed to give it a command.
Otherwise, extracting the Digestive Fluid from a disobedient Red-Faced Hibiscus would have been a considerable hassle, even with Zhong Chenghuai's help. Moreover, the process could have easily damaged the hibiscus's flowers.
After all this time, Hong Ji had finally finished organizing and assimilating the materials she had absorbed.
Translucent red scales began to materialize on Hong Ji's body, instantly forming a suit of red battle armor.
It made Hong Ji look like a female general charging across a battlefield.
Hong Ji looked down at her new attire, clearly unsatisfied.
Immediately, the red scales from the Luminous Flame Scorpion began to peel off her body, piece by piece.
The half-centimeter-thick plates of armor grew thinner and smaller.
In the end, the scales, now no bigger than sesame seeds, intricately wove themselves together, forming a long gown on Hong Ji's body with the texture of silk.
The gown wasn't overly ornate or revealing, but it perfectly accentuated the lines of Hong Ji's waist and figure.
As the saying goes, "clothes make the woman." Having traded her white robes for the red gown, Hong Ji's beauty increased by at least ten percent.
Suddenly, Hong Ji leaned forward, and a nearly two-meter-long scorpion tail materialized behind her.
This black-and-red-striped scorpion tail wasn't identical to that of the Luminous Flame Scorpion; it was eighty percent similar at most.
Evidently, Hong Ji had used the absorbed materials to reconfigure the scorpion's tail.
Seemingly unsatisfied with the motion of deploying the tail, Hong Ji practiced it a few more times.
With each attempt, the motion grew smoother.
'Tomorrow, after I go with Zhong Ling to the Beastmaster Association to complete the Soul Awakening Ceremony and awaken my Soul Base, it'll be time to take Hong Ji into a Secret Realm to level her up.'
The world Zhong Yi had transmigrated into was like a game. A Guardian Beast's Quality was generally improved through Spiritual Liquids concocted by Creators.
Meanwhile, Level was increased by killing monsters in Secret Realms. When these monsters died, a portion of their energy would transfer to their slayer.
In addition to hunting monsters in Secret Realms, some elite monsters also dropped special Energy Cores.
Guardian Beasts could directly absorb these Energy Cores to increase their Level.
A saying was always circulating in this world: "What truly holds back a Guardian Beast Master's progress isn't a Guardian Beast's Tier, but its Quality."
After all, if an Extraordinary Level Guardian Beast's Quality failed to reach the Silver Tier, it wouldn't even be qualified to advance to the Fantasy Tier.
After leaving the storeroom, Zhong Yi went to the main hall for a simple meal with Zhong Chenghuai and Zhong Ling.
Young Zhong Ling was a good cook, and her contracted Substitute Puppet Big Bell's Talent was also specced into culinary arts.
The dishes they prepared together were on par with those from a professional chef.
After dinner, Zhong Ling wanted to keep talking with Zhong Yi, but Zhong Chenghuai urged him to go back to his room and rest.
For one, Zhong Yi had just been bitten by a Ghost Shadow Thorn Spider. Even though he was awake now, his body was still weak and needed plenty of rest.
For another, one needed to be full of energy to undergo Soul Awakening at the Beastmaster Association.
The Soul Awakening Ceremony was arguably the greatest life-changing opportunity a person could have!
Broadly speaking, the outcome of Soul Awakening merely determined a Guardian Beast Master's Talent.
But from a harsher perspective, the ceremony strictly stratified Guardian Beast Masters into different classes.
A Guardian Beast Master's potential could be measured in two ways.
The first was whether they awakened a Lifebound Guardian Beast.
The second was whether the Guardian Beast Master themselves had awakened a Beastmaster Talent. For a Guardian Beast Master, both were equally important.
Those who awakened both a Lifebound Guardian Beast and a Beastmaster Talent were considered one-in-ten-thousand geniuses.
Of course, even among geniuses, there were stronger and weaker individuals. The difference lay in the potential of the Lifebound Guardian Beast and the development of the master's own Beastmaster Talent.
Only a tiny fraction of people awakened both a Lifebound Guardian Beast and a Beastmaster Talent. For the Guardian Beast Masters who awakened only one of the two,
a Lifebound Guardian Beast was generally considered more valuable than a Beastmaster Talent!