Personal Disciple

"You make a good point."

Zhang Lingxue thought it over—she really hadn't considered how nighttime conditions would affect the Dark Butterfly. Connecting this to the Dark Butterfly's traits, most of which were tied to the night, a glimmer of delight appeared in her eyes. Bringing Ye Bai here had truly been the right call. He'd only glanced at the materials, and already he'd opened up new lines of thought. This gave Zhang Lingxue plenty of inspiration.

"The information you provided, Ye Bai, is very useful. If we follow your line of reasoning, the environment has a significant impact on the Chameleon Silkworm—that's a major discovery. Coincidentally, I still have one last set of evolution materials, which we can use to verify whether your idea is correct."

Every pet's evolution required different materials, which researchers had to study through hundreds of experiments before they could formulate them. But the Eye of Insight could directly see the required materials, skipping straight to the finish line. Zhang Lingxue perked up even more. She walked into the Chameleon Silkworm colony and selected the one Ye Bai had identified with the Eye of Insight—the one that could evolve into a Dark Butterfly.

"All the Chameleon Silkworms here have been tested for their attributes at great expense. I know each one like the back of my hand. I hatched every single one of them myself. Each has its own name. Even when they evolved into Gray Poison Moths, I didn't abandon them. Through my research, I extracted a useful active substance from the Gray Poison Moth's scale powder, which can be used to treat autoimmune diseases. This research hasn't reached the clinical stage yet, but once it succeeds, the Gray Poison Moth will transform from a feared pet into one that produces life-saving medicine."

Zhang Lingxue spoke from the heart—she was striving for the progress of all humanity. The Chameleon Silkworm in her arms nudged her, seeming deeply attached.

"Little Ten, today I need you to cooperate with the experiment." That was this Chameleon Silkworm's name. "Come on, I'll take you to transform into a new form."

Zhang Lingxue led Ye Bai to her core laboratory. There, Ye Bai saw many high-precision, cutting-edge devices—some that even the school's lab didn't have. "All the equipment here comes from the Imperial Capital Research Institute. Oh, and there's one more thing I need to ask your opinion on." At this, Zhang Lingxue cleared her throat and spoke in a very formal tone: "Ye Bai, would you be willing to become my Personal Disciple?"

Zhang Lingxue extended an olive branch to Ye Bai. She had observed him for a long time—he was low-key yet insightful, a good fit for research. With his Eidetic Memory talent and such keen observation, he was an excellent candidate. Ye Bai was a bit taken aback. Coming on this strong right off the bat? Did she really trust his character that much?

As if reading his surprise, Zhang Lingxue explained, "Ye Bai, I've been watching you since your first year of high school. You're calm, able to handle anything with composure—a good seedling for research. Just from the materials I handed you, you noticed the profound impact of the environment on the Chameleon Silkworm, which shows you're meticulous and can pick apart the details. Plus, you've ranked first every semester, proving you're not dull. You risked being sniped to save Li Weiyang, preserving an important talent for the Yan Country Alliance—that shows your character. And most crucially, your background is clean, and I don't have much of one either. It just so happens I need a Personal Disciple now."

When Zhang Lingxue got to this point, Ye Bai extended his hand. "Teacher, I look forward to your guidance from now on." She smiled—this was a perceptive little one. Their hands touched briefly, then parted. She promptly filled in the Personal Disciple information into the Yan Country Alliance system and had Ye Bai confirm on the spot. Only after seeing the certification succeed did Zhang Lingxue breathe a sigh of relief. In the Yan Country Alliance, Personal Disciples had to be registered and uploaded to the system.

"Don't worry, our information is confidential. When others check your records, it'll only show that you've taken a master—they won't see who it is. These are the operation manuals for the lab equipment. My requirement isn't high—just learn them within three days." She pointed to a pile of manuals stacked like a small mountain, speaking calmly to Ye Bai.

Ye Bai walked over and began flipping through them rapidly. Countless words surged into his mind, arranging themselves quickly. By the time he finished the last one, he had fully mastered the operation of every device. "How is it? Give it a try—three days is fine." Ye Bai shook his head. "Teacher, I don't need three days. I've already learned it." Seeing Zhang Lingxue's astonished expression, Ye Bai smiled—he'd successfully turned the tables.

"Alright, if you're going to talk big, you'd better have the skills to back it up. Go ahead, start up this Grinding and Pulverizing Machine and crush this Dark Iron Ore. I need it ground down to the nanoscale."

"And extract the Dark Iron from within."

Zhang Lingxue pointed at the fist-sized, understatedly luxurious black ore with a subtle sheen.

Dark Iron Ore was a dark-attribute mineral, and the Dark Iron contained within it was a primary material for promoting the evolution of dark-attribute pet beasts.

However, purification was extremely difficult. Dark Iron Ore was very hard, and grinding it down to nano-scale particles required high-precision grinding equipment.

Separating and purifying nano-scale Dark Iron was a problem—the ore and the Dark Iron were mixed together, making purification tricky, and the purity of the Dark Iron directly affected the success rate of pet beast evolution.

But none of this was a problem for Ye Bai. He was already clear on every step of operating the equipment.

He carefully inspected the grinding device, confirmed the safety mechanisms were in order, then swapped in the impact drill bit.

After that, he used the Mechanical Hook to lift the Dark Iron Ore.

The Dark Iron Ore looked only fist-sized, but its density was high, and its weight was by no means light.

This fist-sized chunk of Dark Iron Ore actually weighed fifty jin.

Ye Bai first had to break the Dark Iron Ore into smaller pieces, crushing it for an initial grind.

He carefully observed the size of the ore, then used a white marker to draw circles where he would drill.

Positioning the Dark Iron Ore properly, Ye Bai activated the Crushing and Grinding Device.

The impact drill chattered away at the spots Ye Bai had marked, and the Dark Iron Ore split apart with a crack, breaking into several pieces.

Zhang Lingxue watched from the side as Ye Bai operated the equipment with practiced ease, purifying the Dark Iron Ore like a seasoned veteran, until finally forming a finished product the size of a thumbnail.

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