The next morning, the sun was bright and the calls of birds and Qingmian worms outside rose and fell in succession.
Shiyu slept until he naturally woke up, then got up groggily, completed his mechanical morning routine, and lay back on the bed.
"Right, I need to go out for a bit later." He muttered to himself.
At this point, his condition had recovered sufficiently. He checked the skill codex, and the eight-hour cooldown had reset, indicating that he could use the codex's teaching skills again.
Today, he planned to try teaching the Hardening skill. However, an unranked skill required eight hours to recover, so a low-rank skill would definitely consume more.
Therefore, he decided to go out and buy some nutritional supplements to use after teaching the skill.
Whether summoning, recalling, or using the Beastmaster talent to enhance a pet, or allowing the pet to grow in the Beastmaster space, the Beastmaster would incur some consumption.
Thus, not only do pets have various nutritional supplements and medicines, but there are also many supplements for Beastmasters available on the market.
Shiyu had just become a Beastmaster and knew little about this, but he was certain he could buy them, as these medicines were almost everywhere.
The cooldown time for the skill codex, which he studied yesterday, should be calculated based on normal rest.
If he consumed supplements or meditated to rest, the time would accelerate. This was not a fixed cooldown time but was related to his current state.
When the skill codex determined that his body had recovered sufficiently, he could proceed with the next round of teaching.
In fact, this made things much better. In the future, he could carry a water cup, steep some枸杞 (goji berries) from another world, and keep a box of tonics in his pocket, and he might be able to handle teaching mid- and high-rank skills.
Moreover, after becoming a Beastmaster, his constitution would become stronger, and the difficulty of teaching skills would likely only be a problem now.
In short... he needed to control the degree. Shiyu didn't want to end up in a wheelchair pushed by an iron-eating beast for a Beastmaster competition in the future.
"Eleven, you continue to sleep inside. I'll let you out after I buy what I need."
After notifying the little iron-eating beast through mental感应 (induction), Shiyu resisted the temptation to go back to sleep and chose to go out.
"Right, I forgot to greet you."
After leaving the room and entering the yard, Shiyu suddenly remembered something and looked at the persimmon tree.
On the branch of the persimmon tree on the left, the birdcage hung, and the Qingmian worm was already awake.
It was quite laid-back... calmly eating leaves inside. Somehow, there were a bunch of persimmon leaves inside, some of which were half-eaten.
Shiyu thought this was probably because the Qingmian worm had used its silk to bring them over.
After reaching a proficient level with its silk, it was easy for it to do this.
At this moment, the Qingmian worm ignored Shiyu and just mindlessly chewed on the leaves, gazing at the sky.
Why was a worm like it kept in a birdcage?
But from another perspective, it could be seen as keeping the birds outside the cage... greatly enhancing safety.
"Speaking of which, this Qingmian worm is a bit strange..." Shiyu muttered to himself before leaving.
Other Qingmian worms ran to nutrient-rich plants, pursuing growth and evolution, but this one had no such ambition and came to eat the leaves of the persimmon tree, living a carefree life.
No wonder this Qingmian worm was malnourished.
If he hadn't used the skill codex to teach it silk, it probably wouldn't have been able to undergo its second molt until the end of its life.
"I'll pick a few types of ordinary plants on the way back to improve its diet..."
He couldn't afford the spirit plants and rare fruits in the breeding base that promote the growth of Qingmian worms, but there were plenty of ordinary plants by the roadside.
As his future supplier of silk, it couldn't die from malnutrition too quickly...
Hang in there, Qingmian worm. Once it reaches level ten, it has a chance to form a cocoon and evolve.
At that time, it will spin silk to wrap itself in a cocoon. The higher the silk skill proficiency, the higher the probability of successful evolution, and the individual differences will be greater.
So, as long as this Qingmian worm stays in Shiyu's birdcage, it has a chance to change its fate...
...
"It's changed a lot compared to my memories."
After leaving, Shiyu walked through the streets of Pingcheng, once again marveling at the changes here. The most evident changes, besides the high-rise buildings, were the pedestrians on the streets.
Whether or not they were Beastmasters, keeping a pet seemed to have become a trend in this world.
The closer a place was to a thriving Beastmaster culture, the closer the relationship between humans and their pets.
He saw an uncle riding a four-wheeled vehicle, with a rope-tethered ice dog, resembling a husky, pulling him along.
Wow, truly green travel, natural and pollution-free, but a bit hard on the dog.
Yes, besides dog walkers, there were cat walkers too.
Shiyu saw a girl chasing a gem cat all over the place.
If walking a dog is like riding a horse, then walking a cat is like bullfighting; basically, it's not the person leading the cat, but the cat leading the person.
This uncontrollable situation... was likely because the cat owner was not a Beastmaster, and they had not signed a contract, treating the gem cat as a pet.
The gem cat resembles an Earth ragdoll cat, very beautiful, and has stronger combat capabilities than a Qingmian worm.
Like the Qingmian worm, its evolution method is public, with a high upper limit.
As long as it has a rare "cat eye gem," the gem cat can gain different racial abilities based on the type of gem, completing its evolution.
The rarer the cat eye gem used, the stronger the gem cat becomes.
Basically, a gem cat without a cat eye gem can only be a pet, while a gem cat with a cat eye gem is a high-quality battle pet.
Shiyu didn't linger his gaze. It was an ordinary gem cat, with no signs of evolution, probably in the basic cultivation stage.
After all, the price of cat eye gems is more expensive than the gem cats themselves.
Gems are natural resources, extremely scarce, but cats can reproduce continuously. Over time, the price of cat eye gems has risen, while the price of gem cats has fallen...
At this moment, while feeling the atmosphere of Pingcheng, Shiyu was looking for a pharmacy.
Finally, he arrived at a place called "Bai Cao Tang Pharmacy," which was four kilometers from his home.
The layout here was no different from a pharmacy on Earth. After entering, Shiyu saw various boxed and canned medicines in glass cabinets. If there was any difference, it might be that the pharmacies in this world were for both humans and beasts.
Due to cultural differences, even doctors who specialize in treating humans often have some knowledge of treating animals.
The reason is simple: to make money. It's just a matter of getting one more certification, and the income would at least double.
"Is there anything you need?"
After entering the pharmacy, the young doctor at the front desk asked.
"Do you also buy silk?"
Shiyu immediately noticed a sign inside the pharmacy listing various medicinal materials that the pharmacy would buy, including the silk of the Qingmian worm.
"Yes, but we need silk from Qingmian worms that have been fed specific medicinal plants, and the quality must be high, with the components tested and approved before we can buy it."
"The types of medicinal plants are listed there. You can take a look."
"Okay." Shiyu nodded and took a serious look.
The properties of the silk produced by Qingmian worms vary depending on what they eat. For example, some textile factories require silk with various cold-resistant and heat-insulating properties.
A suit made from cold-resistant silk is very expensive, like the snow mountains outside Ice City, where a cold-resistant exploration suit is essential for ordinary Beastmasters to explore.
The silk that this pharmacy buys for medicinal use, of course, requires the silk to have specific components.
As for the so-called high-quality, it is roughly equivalent to requiring the Qingmian worm's silk proficiency to reach the proficient level. If the silk proficiency reaches the perfect level, the price would be several times higher.
After looking at the purchase price, Shiyu swallowed hard. Considering the inheritance and various subsidies, and the monthly loan payments, he and the iron-eating beast could only last for a year.
If he didn't make a name for himself within a year, such as becoming a professional Beastmaster, he would have to find a job at a breeding base, and the funding chain for raising the iron-eating beast would break.
However, if he could get the Qingmian worm's silk to the perfect quality, even considering the cost of food, a single worm could support the iron-eating beast. If he opened a Qingmian worm breeding farm, he would achieve financial freedom.
He seemed to have found a business opportunity. The bug-catching boy turned out to be himself.
"Are you a Beastmaster? Do you have the intention to sell silk?"
While Shiyu was studying carefully, the young doctor asked casually, bringing him back to reality.
"Not yet, please give me two bottles of that medicine." Shiyu pointed to a section.
Doctor: ???
——
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