Chapter 339: High-quality milk source

Just like Acheronides, Lister had no intention of exposing Nami for now. Although the true benefits brought by the smoke mission weren't widely known, the parts that had been revealed were already frightening enough.

Continuing to reveal more would push beyond what could be justified by the blessings of knighthood.

He was a cautious person and would remain low-key whenever possible.

For example, right now.

Hiding in the castle's flower garden, he quietly used the blood of a six-headed sea serpent to water twenty bloodfruit potted plants.

When most of the snake blood had been used, four of the bloodfruit potted plants showed a magical reaction, successfully nurturing bloodfruit spirit bugs.

"Another four spirit bugs; this year looks like it's going to be a bumper crop." Lister stopped watering the bloodfruit potted plants that had given birth to spirit bugs with snake blood.

From now on, he only needed to fertilize them diligently to provide sufficient nutrition for the spirit bugs, without wasting any more snake blood.

The snake blood was mainly concentrated on the remaining sixteen bloodfruit potted plants. However, after watering them continuously for two more days, they still showed no reaction.

Even after another day of watering, there was still no response.

"It seems that the bloodfruit that was going to give birth to spirit bugs should have done so; those that couldn't wouldn't, no matter how much more I water them." Lister took measures to cut his losses, decisively saving about a quarter of the remaining snake blood for future use.

In his mind, perhaps in a few years when the bloodfruit spirit bugs began to evolve, this snake blood would come in handy again, helping them transform once more.

However, he suddenly thought—in a few years, he might already be riding a dragon.

Hunting a sea monster or a six-headed sea serpent would be a breeze. Was it worth keeping this snake blood and wasting space in his gem storage?

Thus, he decided to split the snake blood in two: one part to water a single bloodfruit and see if it could nurture a new spirit bug, the other for consumption.

The blood of a mid-level sea monster was a great tonic, significantly enhancing the effects of potions when used as a supplement.

Recently, he had found the most reliable potion-taking scheme, consuming the least amount of potions for the greatest effect. With the addition of mid-level sea monster meat, his battle aura had been steadily increasing, almost breaking through every day.

"Now, compared to when I hunted the six-headed sea serpent, my total battle aura has increased by two-thirds! Could I now take on four Marcuses at once?" Marcus had become his standard unit for measuring strength, roughly referred to as four Marcus power.

This method of calculation wasn't scientific, but there wasn't a better reference point.

On Coral Island, there weren't many elite Earth Knights who fought using potions like him. Earls Juonas and Tric, being veteran potion users, should be stronger than Lister; after all, they were representatives of the old-school potion-using style. Besides them, there were a few knights in the elite squad under the Coral Island Knights who were half-potion users and half-mana users, able to fight Lister to a draw.

Then there were his brother Levis and Brickstone Castle's heir, Brandon Brickstone, who also used potions, but their strength was definitely inferior to Lister's.

Not all elite Earth Knights who used potions could afford the cost of magic potions.

Those who could, like Levis and Brandon, definitely didn't have a scientific method of potion use, nor did they have dragon milk and mid-level sea monster meat for supplementary nutrition.

"I'll find a chance to spar with the elite knights of the Coral Island Knights to test my combat strength."

Under the apple tree, on a rocking chair, Lister canceled the Magic Eye, confirming that the apple tree in front of him had given birth to a spirit bug, right in the flowers of the branch above the apple table.

Lister felt confident that the apple bug's birth was due to his constant influence.

"Magic, matter, spirit... probably the triangular theory that magicians study." He didn't quite understand this and had no intention of figuring it out.

All he needed to know was that he now had seventeen spirit bugs—1 peanut spirit bug, 1 alfalfa spirit bug, 1 tulip spirit bug, 1 millet spirit bug, 1 wheat spirit bug, 1 tomato spirit bug, 1 coconut spirit bug, 1 black nightshade spirit bug, 1 corn grass spirit bug, 3 rubber spirit bugs, 4 bloodfruit spirit bugs, and 1 apple spirit bug.

Starting with four spirit bugs, after a year, I had two small spirits, seventeen spirit bugs, and nine mid-level magical beasts.

He was very satisfied with this harvest—even Tulip Castle, from the time of the viscountcy until now, had only accumulated one large spirit, twelve small spirits, and hundreds of spirit bugs.

For a single town, a year’s time, to achieve such results, what could he possibly be dissatisfied with?

He stretched his wrists and stood up. "Philip, pass me the bow."

"Yes, my Lord."

The squire knight Philip immediately handed over the bow and arrows.

Standing under the apple tree, Liszt began practicing *Multi-Arrow Technique*, for now he was not only a powerful elite great knight but also a skilled sharpshooter.

He understood the principle that "proficiency comes from diligent practice and is lost through neglect."

To boost his strength, he practiced his combat skills and archery every day, making them his instinct.

……

April flew by in a flurry of successful harvests.

The weather grew hotter, and the spring shoots sprouted quickly. By early May, the serfs had replanted 500 acres of corn grass, and the smoke-related task was soon completed.

"Task completed, rewarded with four dragon milk cows."

At the same time, the good news from the dairy farm quickly reached the castle. One of the three cows, Big Yellow, was the first to give birth to a healthy calf, a female that could produce milk.

Liszt circled the calf, inspecting it closely, his excitement growing.

On the third day, Big Black went into labor. She was carrying twins and had a difficult birth, taking half a day to complete the delivery successfully, giving birth to a male and female calf.

Then, the following week, Big Flower, who had shown no signs of labor until then, gave birth to the fourth dragon milk cow, a female calf.

Liszt personally named the four dragon milk cows—three female calves *Little Flower*, *Little Black*, *Little Yellow*, and the male calf *Strong One*. Following the farm’s tradition, the five stages of cow growth—Young, Milk, Small, Large, Old, and Strong, Brawny—corresponded to five different titles, which were very distinctive.

He also instructed the serfs at the dairy farm.

"From now on, the cows at the dairy farm are divided into three levels. The first level is the best, which includes these four calves. You must feed them the best fodder and care for them with the utmost precision. The second level is the original nine cows, which also require careful attention. The lowest level is the newly purchased cows, to be treated ordinarily."

"Yes, Lord. We’ll do our best to follow your instructions." The old steward of the dairy farm was skinny, and his words were terse.

His skill in delivering calves was excellent, having delivered all four by hand.

For this, Liszt rewarded him with four silver coins, one for each successful delivery.

So, for an entire week, he had been feeling very pleased.

As Liszt left the dairy farm, he could already picture the future—herds of dragon milk cows grazing on the lush grasslands. Soon, all the milk in his diet would be replaced by the rich, nutrient-dense dragon milk, fueling his mana growth like never before.