The cost of Dragon Cubes was not high, yet their actual nutritional value was exceptionally rich.
When Jiang Xing was raising the Golden-Patterned Koi, in order to avoid overnutrition, he fed it at most four Dragon Cubes a day. Over the course of more than a month, it had only consumed a little over a hundred cubes.
Even counting the Dragon Cubes fed to the Storm Sea Lizard, there were still more than seventy Dragon Cubes left in the box, with a total value of over four hundred thousand!
To have them all looted clean by a cube thief like this—even though Jiang Xing had just received a two-million special scholarship and seventy million in research funding—still made his heart ache!
"We have to find out who stole our cubes!"
The Rainbow Dragon Hatchling also wiped away its tears and cried out fiercely.
"Muu!" (That's right, we absolutely have to find the thief!)
These were its dearly treasured cubes. Jiang Xing only allowed it to eat four a day… yet that thief had not left even a single one behind and had eaten them all. Too hateful!
If it found the thief, it would definitely let them see what the wrath of a rainbow dragon looked like!
A few minutes later, the one human and one dragon stared at the surveillance footage on the computer screen and fell silent.
On the laboratory security footage, it had clearly recorded that after Jiang Xing left, a strange Pet Beast revealed itself—
It was a pale-blue, horned qilin. Around its neck, tail, hooves, and other parts of its body grew pink fluff like clumps of cotton, and there were also some white auspicious-cloud markings on its body, making it look like an oversized plush toy.
It appeared out of thin air inside the laboratory, sneakily opened the cube box, sniffed at it, then swept all the Dragon Cubes clean. After that, it plucked off a tiny tuft of its own fluff and stuffed it into the box...
Seeing its fluffy and adorable appearance, Jiang Xing's heart stirred. He immediately took out his phone and looked it up in the Pet Beast encyclopedia.
[Name: Auspicious Cloud Qilin]
[Attributes: Wind, Psychic]
[Talent: Affinity — Possesses an affinity that transcends forms of life. It can very easily win the favor of all living beings, reduce an enemy's desire to attack, and weaken the power of the enemy's moves.]
[Species Tier: Unknown (Low Mythical Tier and above)]
[Species Moves: Unknown (Unable to detect)]
[Description: A legendary qilin Pet Beast, mysterious and unfathomable, especially gluttonous. Legend says it is a symbol of auspicious fortune and can bring good luck to the Beast Tamer who encounters it.]
That was right. This mysterious Pet Beast that had stolen the Dragon Cubes was actually a legendary Pet Beast!
These legendary Pet Beasts were not only extraordinarily rare, but most of them also possessed earth-shaking power. In the past, people had even once regarded them as gods, and so they were also called—
Divine Beasts!
Jiang Xing's eyelids twitched.
These mysterious and rare Divine Beasts would be treated with the finest food and drink even at United Nations headquarters...
Yet it had run over to the home of a poor guy like him and stolen the Rainbow Dragon Hatchling's baby meal. That was a little rude, no matter how you looked at it, wasn't it?
And its talent seemed able to take effect even through the recording.
Looking at its adorable appearance, Jiang Xing simply could not get angry. Even the Rainbow Dragon Hatchling beside him, which had been yelling about beating and killing the thief, gradually lost its anger and fell silent.
Actually, when it thought about it carefully, it had already been getting tired of these cubes anyway. Having a tiny bit stolen was no big deal. Jiang Xing would make more regardless... and with how gluttonous this Pet Beast was, if it wandered outside all the time, it probably never got its fill, right...?
The Rainbow Dragon Hatchling remembered the days when it had secretly stolen feed at the breeding farm, and for a moment, compassion welled up in its heart.
Feeling its emotions, Jiang Xing was amazed once again.
So this was the talent of a legendary Psychic-type Pet Beast?!
How terrifying!
Speaking of which, when Jiang Xing looked up the Auspicious Cloud Qilin in the Pet Beast encyclopedia, he discovered that the source of its entry was listed as Dr. Xu.
He was the first person to observe and record the Auspicious Cloud Qilin.
So Jiang Xing gave Dr. Xu a call.
After listening to his account, Dr. Xu's voice carried a hint of laughter. "So you ran into it too. Not bad luck."
Jiang Xing was a little puzzled. "You mean...?"
Dr. Xu got straight to the point. "The fluff of the Auspicious Cloud Qilin is a legendary Pet Beast material. People have always been buying it. A small tuft is worth around ten million."
Jiang Xing jerked his head around, his gaze landing on the pink fluff in the box.
A small box of leftover Dragon Cubes, exchanged for a Pet Beast material worth ten million?!
This was practically wealth falling from the heavens!
"The one you ran into should be that little glutton from back then, the one that came out of the secret realm. It likes sneaking around and stealing food everywhere."
"However, in the end, it is still a beast of auspicious fortune. After stealing food, it leaves behind precious energy-containing materials as payment, and those are worth far more than the food itself."
"So encountering it is a good thing—"
"If you can get it to visit a few more times and accumulate enough material... I can introduce you to a craftsman who can turn the material it leaves behind into a precious item."
Jiang Xing understood.
No wonder, in the Pet Beast encyclopedia entry recorded by Dr. Xu, the Auspicious Cloud Qilin was said to symbolize "auspicious fortune" and bring good luck to people.
So it was not mysticism at all, but literal good luck!
Just imagine it: someone cooks a meal at home, and in the blink of an eye, it suddenly turns into a material worth ten million. That was what real outrageous luck looked like—far better than winning the lottery.
'A legendary encounter brought by a Divine Beast, huh.'
Jiang Xing hung up the phone and rubbed his hands together eagerly.
Dr. Xu had said it: the Auspicious Cloud Qilin might come back more than once. How many times would depend on whether the food was delicious enough and whether it had grown tired of it—
Energy cubes were a classic divine tool for Pet Beasts, top-tier stuff that could practically be called Pet Beast X medicine!
There was no way he was not going to go all in and dose it hard enough to pluck it bald!
It was time to give that little glutton a taste of technology and ruthless efficiency.
Jiang Xing was going to prove that the Auspicious Cloud Qilin was not his lucky encounter—
He was the Auspicious Cloud Qilin's lucky encounter!
"Rainbow Dragon Hatchling, I'm going to buy a few oranges. Wait here."
Seeing the conflicted look on the Rainbow Dragon Hatchling's face, Jiang Xing comforted it.
"It's okay. It doesn't count as a thief, just an unexpected guest. The fluff it left behind is already worth more than the Dragon Cubes."
"You don't have to feel bad. Once I buy some materials and come back, I'll make more cubes with a greater variety of flavors... I guarantee they'll taste even better than Dragon Cubes!"
"Muu?!" (Even tastier cubes?!)
Its lost and conflicted mood was swept away in an instant. The Rainbow Dragon Hatchling shot into the air, pressed its head against Jiang Xing's back, shoved him out the door, then lifted its tail and wagged it.
"Muu!!" (Go and come back fast!)
Standing outside the door, Jiang Xing found it a little funny.
Raising a Pet Beast really was as entertaining as raising a child.
That said, the Rainbow Dragon Hatchling was really strong.
Even though after evolving, its Power Level had only risen from Low Extraordinary Level to Mid Extraordinary Level, its overall physical strength had increased enormously, far beyond what its Level alone would suggest.
This was perhaps also a change brought about by Species Tier—
Even at the same Power Level, a high-Species-Tier Pet Beast would display combat strength a notch above that of a low-Species-Tier Pet Beast.
'Base stats, huh...'
Jiang Xing grumbled to himself as he left the school.
In a hard-to-notice corner, a dark pink auspicious cloud blinked.
"Ah-li~~?" (Even tastier cubes?)
---
I will post some extra Chapters in Patreon, you can check it out. >> patreon.com/TitoVillar
---