Chapter 224: Competition Preparations - 1 Chapter 224: Competition Preparations - 1 Leo reached Aurelius Hall to buy Low-3-star beast meat in bulk. Since all his beasts had reached the Low-star stage, their bodily requirements had increased as well. Pseudo-3-star meat merely helped maintain their current power level, while higher-ranked meat would slowly increase their stats over time. Any meat below that level would only fill their stomachs without providing proper nutrition. It was no different from munching on plain bread—bland, tasteless, and empty—enough to make one feel full but offering nothing of value. If a beast regularly consumed such meat, its power would eventually regress to its previous level. And though it wouldn’t require advancement materials again, the bond strength between tamer and beast would weaken, making the beast increasingly disobedient. Low-3-star Beast Meat costs 10000 AC per quintal—a substantial amount for a human, but only a half-day ration for massive 8 to 10 meter beasts like Shyra and Nyxa. Leo gritted his teeth and bought 25 quintals at once, keeping Leon’s beasts in mind as well. He made a mental note to make Leon pay the money back somehow. In an instant, the credits vanished from his account. Balance: 570540 -> 320540 AC. The remaining amount was used to pay for Brok’s ride back and forth. After that, Leo proceeded to buy vegetables, grains, spices, utensils, and several water containers. Once everything was settled, he was left with 310740 AC—a good amount by any standard. When asked if he needed assistance transporting the materials, Leo declined. With a casual wave of his hand, he sent everything into his spiritual space. The surrounding people stared in shock, whispering among themselves at just how much space his spatial artifact must possess. Since Leo wasn’t wearing a visible ring, everyone naturally assumed he owned some kind of hidden artefact. That reminded him of something. "I need 2 Spatial Rings," Leo said. "With different designs. They should look good—not the plain ones." The receptionist raised a brow. "2 designer rings? They’re quite expensive. 150000 AC per piece for standard ones. Rings with good design cost an additional 5000 AC each. Storage space is 2 cubic meters." Leo nodded. That was more than enough to store weapons and basic materials. Balance: 740 AC. Leo didn’t linger even for a moment. He immediately rushed back to the territory. When he landed, he saw Lily and Miho already preparing to head to Aurelius Hall to buy things of their own. Naturally, Brok was once again tasked with going back and forth. The moment the girls departed, Leo climbed deeper into the territory and went to find Leon, who was busy exercising. "How much exercise does he even do..." Leo muttered under his breath. "Leon, take your beasts out," Leo said, summoning his own as well. Using Earth Manipulation, he created a solid, marble-like floor and dumped all the meat onto it. The dense mana in the region—thanks to Fluxsoil—would keep the meat fresh for quite some time, allowing Shyra and the others to eat freely. Niri even made a shed-like area to prevent the sun rays from spoiling the food. To make the food last longer, all the beasts reduced their size to nearly 3 meters using their newly acquired Body Size Adjustment trait. Even so, the ferocity of competition didn’t lessen in the slightest. Especially between Leon’s lion--Singham, and Shyra—both of the same species, yet with polar opposite traits—the rivalry sparked instantly. As for the Scorpion--Grivak and Nyxa, they remained relatively calm, eating at a moderate pace. Niri, on the other hand, once again drifted toward the druid at the centre of the territory—annoying him under the guise of playing, all while munching on berries. This little creature is too mischievous... Leo thought. Even inside his spiritual space, Niri never stayed still. She floated between the islands, disturbing anyone she found. Nyxa had resorted to burying herself deep within the snow of Snowpeak Mountains, which Leo had created in his free time. Shyra wandered endlessly through the forests. As for Howl... he was the most miserable of them all. Due to his enormous size and sheer laziness, Howl remained stationary, effectively becoming an island himself. Yet every now and then, Leo would receive a distress signal. Niri would crawl all over his massive body, poking him with her thick vines. If even that failed to get a reaction, she would shove an extra-thick vine directly into his butt. That usually prompted Howl to seal the entrance shut with Earth Manipulation in pure desperation. All in all, she was the most annoying of the bunch—but she certainly kept life interesting. Leo turned toward Leon and tossed him a Spatial Ring. Just then, Leon’s phone chimed with an incoming invoice. "Now transfer me 200K credits," Leo said flatly. "Huh?" Leon raised his head, a sneer forming on his face. "Why should I do that? I already have a Spatial Ring." "Such a cheap man..." Leo shook his head. "Isn’t there someone you should be rewarding for good performance? And what about the meat? Don’t tell me you plan to freeload here. I’m already being generous by cutting the price. The total meat cost was 300K credits! Combined with the ring in your hand, you should be paying me more than 250K—but your poor ass can’t afford that with the trial points you—" Ting! Balance: 740 AC → 200740 AC. Leon didn’t even bother responding. He silently examined the ring, fingers tracing over its intricate designs, before nodding in approval. It looked good and would look good. Satisfied, Leo nodded back and returned to terraforming the land. It wasn’t until late evening that Lily and Miho finally arrived. They had clearly shopped a lot, though most of it seemed to be clothes, since Leo had already informed them that he’d taken care of vegetables. Brok stared at the surroundings in disbelief once again. "Boss! This place changes every time I come here... and the mana density—" He paused, then spoke what he’d clearly been holding back. "Boss, will you accept me as a territory member? I’ll pay taxes and everything else. The territory I’m currently part of doesn’t have mana this dense, and it slows my beast’s advancement. Not to mention the absurd taxes our leader takes without providing much in return." Then he added quickly, "That way, I could carry you around at a moment’s notice too, since this would become my home." Leo fell into thought. Where Brok was now was the area where Blueleaf had been planted—a Mid-Green-tier treasure that only increased mana density by 20% in the surrounding area. Doesn’t that mean most people are living under such poor conditions?