Jiang Xing: Ha, Took the Bait!

Jiang Xing quickly put the system mission out of his mind.

He was not a Beast Tamer. If he insisted on teaching others battle techniques and playing at raising Beast Tamers just because of a system mission... that would be misleading people.

At most, this kind of side mission was a diversion. It would be great to get rewards for free, but it did not matter if he could not.

Jiang Xing was a researcher, so naturally, his focus had to be on research.

"Right, the system mistook the Golden-Veined Koi for a Magikarp because it really does have the potential to transform into a dragon."

"And it mistook Li Lingyin for Red because she possesses considerable Beast Tamer Talent?"

"My senior really raised a good daughter."

There was still nothing to criticize about System Bro's reputation.

Jiang Xing was happy for his senior. Before long, after the two finished discussing matters and returned beside the research institute, Li Shun briefly explained their conclusions to his daughter.

The first time Li Lingyin saw a photo of the Rainbow Dragon Cub, she had fallen in love with it.

Now that she heard she could personally raise a Golden-Veined Koi, she was overjoyed and happily bowed to Jiang Xing.

"Teacher Jiang, please guide me!"

"No need to be so formal. You can go with your father and pick out a Golden-Veined Koi first... Remember, it must have a Brave nature."

Although Jiang Xing had not finished testing yet and was unsure whether a [Brave Nature] was one of the Golden-Veined Koi's evolution requirements.

It was clear that Brave Golden-Veined Koi had a higher chance of evolving and were also better suited for Beast Tamer battles.

The little girl nodded excitedly and happily left with her father.

When Jiang Xing turned around, he saw a pair of dark, quiet eyes.

"Teacher Jiang, what about mine?"

"...Senior, this is the first draft of my paper. Please review it."

Su Muli had long wanted to raise a Rainbow Dragon Cub as well. She took the first draft, looked over the methods for raising Golden-Veined Koi, and nodded repeatedly.

After reading the entire paper, she could not help raising her beautiful eyes and asking in surprise.

"Jiang Xing, can this paper of yours prove the [Personality Conjecture]?"

Jiang Xing nodded. "It's only a conjecture for now. The results are still uncertain."

Su Muli drew a quiet breath. Dr. Al's [Personality Conjecture] was one of the important conjectures in Pet Beast Studies. If it could be proven, it might even refine the entire framework of Pet Beast Studies!

She had thought Jiang Xing was merely researching the evolved form of the Golden-Veined Koi. She had not expected such a significant academic achievement to be hidden behind it.

If Jiang Xing successfully completed the proof, he would be very likely to obtain a Researcher Title through it as well.

No wonder the country valued him so highly that it directly built him a research institute...

Su Muli was filled with emotion, which eventually condensed into a single word of encouragement. "Keep it up."

With a true giant of Pet Beast Studies right beside him, Jiang Xing did not miss the opportunity. He brought up the problems he had encountered over the past few days, and after receiving Dr. Xu's guidance, he felt completely enlightened.

Su Muli also took the chance to raise several questions. Although she was a top-tier researcher, before Dr. Xu, she was still a student.

There was an enormous gap between Jiang Xing and Su Muli. Even just listening to her discussions with Dr. Xu gave him a sudden sense of enlightenment.

"Having the system doesn't mean I can just comfortably cheat my way through everything."

"The system only gives me research directions, at most with a few small hints... If I want to turn missions into reality, I need a sufficient foundation of knowledge."

Only when Li Shun returned with his daughter did the lesson come to an end.

Although Jiang Xing still wanted more, considering that Dr. Xu was here as a guest rather than to teach, he paused the lesson and began lunch.

Jiang Xing and the others had ordered takeout from a restaurant in advance, delivered from afar by Flying Pet Beasts.

In addition, Jiang Xing had everyone release their Pet Beasts and gave each of them a serving of Energy Cubes.

Su Muli's Storm Sea Lizard had tasted Dragon Lychee Cubes before and knew their flavor. Now that it tried the upgraded Water Dragon Cube, its eyes shone even brighter as it gobbled it down with delighted howls.

When the other Pet Beasts saw this, they each took a bite as well. Their appetites immediately surged, and they began wolfing the food down.

Seeing this, Dr. Xu and the others praised Jiang Xing's skill, but they did not pay much attention to the cubes themselves—

After all, the truly extraordinary part of Energy Cubes was not the boost to a Pet Beast's affection, but the Berry Blender's unreasonable ingredient purification and processing technology.

One unit of ingredients could produce ten units, or even more, of excellent food.

In terms of effects and flavor alone, some top-tier breeders could make similar food, or even food of higher quality.

Therefore, before people knew the production process of Energy Cubes, they would not pay them much attention and would only regard them as an exclusive breeding recipe.

At that moment, everyone was having a picnic outside the research institute.

Humans and Pet Beasts enjoyed the food together, peaceful and harmonious.

Within the shadows of the forest, a pink-and-blue fluffy ball opened its eyes and secretly watched the scene. Before it knew it, drool began to drip down.

Those delicious Energy Cubes had silently conquered this Legendary Qilin—

It was not as though it had never eaten delicious food, but the flavors of these cubes were simply too varied. They changed every day, and their taste kept improving, making it impossible for a beast to stop eating.

It never got tired of them. It simply never got tired of them!

At the thought of those cubes, the Lucky Cloud Qilin grew hungry again.

Using its psychic power to turn invisible, it could keep people from noticing its form and steal food to its heart's content.

But the Pet Beasts around the group were very strong, especially since several of them were familiar with its aura. If it came too close, they might see through its illusion.

So it could only hide in the distance, watching them feast greedily while it drooled with envy.

"Arii..." I want some too...

The Lucky Cloud Qilin's gaze drifted toward Jiang Xing.

It did not know whether he had done it on purpose, but a plate of pink cubes sat beside him.

He had not given them to any Pet Beast. They simply sat there all alone.

The scent drifting over from afar was incredibly fragrant, better than any cube the Lucky Cloud Qilin had ever eaten.

But it did not dare approach... It had used up all the shed fluff it had saved over time, so it had been eating free meals for quite a while now...

Although it planned to make up for it later, being caught face-to-face would be far too embarrassing for a Qilin...

Its father and mother would laugh at it.

But it wanted to eat them so badly.

Just then, the Storm Sea Lizard squeezed up beside Jiang Xing, shamelessly trying to eat the cubes on the plate.

The Lucky Cloud Qilin's heart leaped into its throat.

It was so huge. Wouldn't it finish them in one bite?

Those were cubes with a new flavor. It had not tried them yet!

Anything but that!

Fortunately, Su Muli pushed it away and stopped its evil deed.

Oh no, the Rainbow Dragon Cub had also noticed that ownerless plate of cubes and launched an attack!

Jiang Xing used the Indigestion from Overeating move, successfully driving back the Rainbow Dragon Cub and defending the Energy Cubes.

Seeing that plate of Energy Cubes, like fresh meat dropped into a school of sharks and coveted by countless gazes, the Lucky Cloud Qilin's emotions rose and fell wildly as it stared at them without blinking.

No, I have to protect them and let them stay safely in my stomach!

Its invisibility move activated, and psychic power erupted!

You can't see me, you can't see me, you can't see me...

The pink-and-blue cotton ball shuffled toward the plate step by step, then swallowed all the pink cubes in a single bite.

The next moment, it felt as though even its soul had been purified.

That's right, this was exactly the flavor I imagined. It's so delicious!!

Eh, why has everyone gone quiet?

The pink-and-blue cotton ball slowly raised its head and met pair after pair of astonished eyes.

The innocent little girl cried out, "Ah, Lucky Cloud Qilin!"

With a plop, the pink-and-blue cotton ball fell to the ground and peacefully closed its eyes.