Viral Across the Web, Rainbow Dragon Cub!

"Honey, another batch of Golden-Veined Koi has arrived at the entrance. Go receive it."

Li Shun listened to his wife's mildly complaining voice over the phone.

"What do you even need so many Brave-natured Golden-Veined Koi for? They aren't popular. Even if someone occasionally wants to buy them, the ones bred at the farm are enough. Do you really need this many?"

"One of my juniors is researching the evolution of Golden-Veined Koi... If he succeeds and proves they have Dragon Attribute potential, the price of these Golden-Veined Koi will go through the roof."

Li Shun explained.

His wife was also an outstanding graduate of the Pet Beast Breeding program and possessed considerable professional knowledge. She could not help but complain.

"Carp Leaping Over the Dragon Gate? That's just a legend. Even if he's Dr. Xu's student, he might not succeed, right?"

"I believe he can do it," Li Shun said. "Besides, Brave-natured Golden-Veined Koi are cheap to begin with. Even if he fails, we won't lose much."

"Fine, I'll listen to you."

His wife had merely grumbled a little. Seeing Li Shun's insistence, she stopped trying to persuade him.

After putting down his phone, even the confident Li Shun could not help feeling uncertain.

Like most Bug Type Pet Beasts, Golden-Veined Koi had a low upper limit. Yet that also meant they could easily grow to that limit and fulfill the requirements for evolution.

Unlike certain Overlord races, whose potential was high but required long periods of cultivation and vast resources.

More than a month had already passed, yet there had not been the slightest word from Jiang Xing.

Could he have failed?

After all, the topic of koi transforming into dragons truly was difficult. Failure was perfectly normal...

Lost in thought, Li Shun arrived at the entrance of the breeding farm, brought the newly arrived truckload of Golden-Veined Koi inside, and released them into the fishpond.

Then, he noticed that all the anglers beside the fishpond had gathered together, crying out in amazement.

Ever since the Fish King had been taken away by Jiang Xing, there had not been a scene like this again.

Curious, Li Shun walked over.

"What are you all doing?"

"The boss is here?"

"Hey, do you know you've struck it rich?"

"Boss Li, congratulations! You're about to make a fortune."

"Boss Li, congratulations on getting rich! Give us a red packet so we can share in the good luck!"

The anglers immediately began heckling when they saw Li Shun approaching, their faces full of envy and excitement.

Hearing them and recalling the Golden-Veined Koi he had just released into the pond, Li Shun's heart began pounding. His mouth went dry.

"What are you talking about?"

Seeing his reaction, the anglers burst into laughter. They stopped keeping him in suspense and held up their phones.

"Boss, look at the video. That Golden-Veined Koi King that was taken away a while ago leaped through the gate and transformed into a dragon at Yuzhong Waterfall!"

"That size, that temperament, the way all those fish surrounded it... I knew it was that one at a glance!"

"Sigh, I always thought it was no ordinary fish. If I'd known, I would've contracted it back then. Then I'd be the one with a Dragon Attribute Pet Beast now..."

Li Shun was shaken to the core. He snatched the phone from an angler's hand and watched the video.

Filmed from a tourist's perspective, the video fully recorded the Golden-Veined Koi school's entire journey, from the beginning of their challenge to their final evolution.

When Li Shun saw that distinctive Fish King and the young man and woman on the shore, delight surged through his heart.

Jiang really had succeeded!

He really had not misjudged him!

As expected of his junior, as expected of their teacher's student!!

The video came from the country's largest public social platform. Back on the platform's homepage, [Golden-Veined Koi Leaps Through the Gate and Transforms into a Dragon] had become the number one trending topic!

That was only natural. Golden-Veined Koi were common Ornamental Pet Beasts, and many people kept them at home.

Now that they had revealed an entirely new True Dragon evolution with limitless potential, they naturally attracted enormous attention.

What was more, Su Muli had appeared in the video.

She was Xia Kingdom's youngest Heavenly King Rank Beast Tamer and exceptionally beautiful. She was already immensely popular, comparable to a top celebrity online.

Once Carp Leaping Over the Dragon Gate became associated with her, its popularity instantly exploded.

Many people assumed this was her latest research and marveled that Xia Kingdom's foremost Water Type researcher could always develop such incredible things...

Even the verified accounts of the Xia Kingdom government and the Beast Taming Association tagged Su Muli's social account.

They hoped she would complete her paper as soon as possible and record this new True Dragon Pet Beast in the Beast Taming Compendium.

Only Li Shun knew that this was not Senior Sister Su's research topic, but Jiang Xing's.

Sure enough, faced with questions from every side, Su Muli promptly sold out her junior—

"Carp Leaping Over the Dragon Gate is not my research topic. It is Jiang Xing's final paper."

"He is also Dr. Xu's student. He is a second-year student who independently completed the concept and validation for this topic, successfully researching a new Pet Beast form. He is an exceptionally talented scholar, and I believe he can become a very outstanding researcher in the future."

"He is currently conducting the final organization and summary of his paper. I believe he will bring us a surprise."

"@Little Star, this is his social account. If you're in a hurry, you can go directly to him and urge him to update."

Since Su Muli had personally clarified the matter, naturally no one questioned it.

Moreover, Jiang Xing was a Water Element Doctor's student, a scholar with truly limitless potential.

No one would question his abilities, because doing so would be questioning the Water Element Doctor's judgment.

In the blink of an eye, everyone's attention shifted away from Su Muli and toward this young student.

Some noticed that he had stood beside Su Muli in the video and thought he was incredibly handsome.

Some lamented that while they were also second-year students still learning about evolution, someone else had already researched a top-tier evolved form.

Others thought Dr. Xu truly had a good eye and was about to cultivate another elite student.

All kinds of discussions sprang up one after another.

Li Shun also figured out the whole story. He returned the phone to the angler, ran all the way back to his office, and called Jiang Xing.

"Junior, congratulations on completing your research on Carp Leaping Over the Dragon Gate!"

"Thank you, Senior." Jiang Xing was not puzzled.

Li Shun was also Senior Sister Su's senior and had connections with many researchers. It was not strange for him to know about the research results.

However, Li Shun's next words made him realize something—

"Thanks to you, the breeding farm's popularity is about to soar. What I said before still stands. If you have any more research topics in the future, I can provide Water Type Pet Beasts for free!"

"...Popularity soaring?"

"Take a look at your social account."

After returning to the laboratory, Jiang Xing had been busy testing Pet Beast data and had not had time to look at his phone.

After hanging up, he opened his social account and immediately widened his eyes—

Originally, his social account only had a few mutual follows. On the platform, he had been a complete nobody with virtually no attention.

Now, however, his follower count had surged from single digits to five figures, and it was still rising!

His direct messages and notifications had exceeded 999. There was no way he could read them all.

He opened the trending topics and scrolled for quite a while before he finally understood what had happened from an outsider's perspective.

Jiang Xing opened his chat with Senior Sister Su and sent a message.

"Senior Sister, you actually sold me out!"

A reply popped up almost immediately.

"Hehe, [sticker: Head-Tilt Sea Lizard]."

Jiang Xing was momentarily helpless when he saw Senior Sister Su playing dumb.

However, this had actually been an error in his judgment—

He had thought that since [Pet Beast Evolution] could serve as a second-year student's final paper, and since researchers released new Pet Beast forms every so often, it was not the most cutting-edge scientific field.

Researchers also frequently announced powerful Pet Beast evolutions with attributes such as Dragon, Phoenix, Light, and Dark. They were not unique.

There was no need to place too much importance on it.

However, he had forgotten one thing.

After the change in the worldline, his mentor was one of the top Beast Taming Doctors in the country—indeed, in the world!

The subjects and projects he came into contact with were naturally all at the forefront of research.

The senior sisters he interacted with were likewise among the very best researchers.

It was only natural for those top researchers, even Pet Beast Doctors, to publish such research. But that did not mean it was natural for a university student like him to do the same—

Just like Su Muli, this was top-tier research potential capable of shocking the entire country!

Furthermore, the status of Dragon Attribute Pet Beasts was not as simple as he had imagined...

"In this world, Pet Beasts of Overlord races are true strategic weapons..."

"Compared to another world, it would be like a second-year university student publishing a top research achievement—independently developing and building a fifth-generation fighter jet, successfully test-flying it in full public view, with a scientific heavyweight backing him up..."

Jiang Xing clicked his tongue softly.

Put that way, it really was outrageous.

Still, there was nothing he could do about it.

Carp Leaping Over the Dragon Gate required a large waterfall as its stage, and places like that were famous tourist attractions.

It was difficult to seal them off completely and prevent information from leaking.

Besides, although Pet Beasts possessed immense strategic value, they were not fighter jets. The paper would inevitably be published in the future, and the result registered in the Beast Taming Compendium as an academic achievement. There was no need to hide it.

After thinking it through, Jiang Xing saw the countless eager voices on the social forum and could not help curling his lips.

He picked up his phone, took a picture of the Baby Dragon, added a description, and tapped send.

"Thank you all for your attention. I was able to achieve these research results thanks to my mentor's guidance and my senior sister's help."

"The paper is still being refined, so let me show everyone this cute little dragon first. I'll share its name and some basic information to satisfy your curiosity."

[Name: Rainbow Dragon Cub]

[Attributes: Light Type, Dragon Attribute]

[Talent: Heart of Exhaustion]

[Racial Rank: Mid-level Commander]

[Racial Skills: Waterfall Climb, Refraction, True Dragon Dance...]

[Description: A True Dragon Type Pet Beast. At the instant a weak koi with a Fearless Heart leaps over the Dragon Gate, its life form undergoes a qualitative transformation. Shedding its fish body, it becomes a young True Dragon capable of controlling rainbow light.]