A Heart Unafraid of Failure

"Ah, junior, you were far too reckless..."

In the reception room, Li Shun felt immense regret. If he had known his junior would be so reckless, he would not have let slip anything about the Fish King—

Well, this was great. A student of the esteemed Dr. Xu had actually contracted a Low-Transcendental koi.

Wouldn't his teacher tear him apart when he found out?

"It's fine, Senior. This was entirely my own decision. My mentor won't blame you."

Jiang Xing smiled and shook his head.

For Beast Tamers, contract slots were extremely important. They determined the structure of their future system and could even shape their entire path as Beast Tamers. Casually contracting a low-level Pet Beast was no different from crippling oneself.

But then again—

Jiang Xing was not a Beast Tamer, nor did he intend to become one.

He was merely a plain and simple researcher. Compared to becoming a Beast Tamer, he wanted even more to become a respected Beast Taming Doctor like Dr. Xu—someone capable of shaking the entire world!

And for a doctor, contract slots were not actually that important.

After all, even if Dr. Xu had not contracted a single Pet Beast and were just an ordinary person, Legendary Beast Tamers would still treat him with immense respect.

Even if Dr. Xu had no contract slots at all, the top-tier Pet Beasts he had raised and even personally brought up—those Water-Type Guardian Deities comparable to Legendary Beast Tamers—would still regard him as their father.

That was true influence—something that transcended combat power!

So, trading one contract slot for a Golden-Veined Koi King that was willing to cooperate, thereby increasing the chances of research success, was absolutely worth it.

What was more...

"Senior, if I successfully evolve the Golden-Veined Koi into a dragon-type Pet Beast, then there won't be any question of 'wasting' a contract slot, right?"

"And when people discover that the Fish King in your breeding farm has transformed into a True Dragon... it'll definitely create a huge buzz and bring you tons of customers!"

Li Shun could not help laughing.

His junior was simply too young. Research was not that simple. Besides, an idea derived from a legend like "Carp Leaping Over the Dragon Gate" could only be called fanciful. There was almost no hope of success...

Yet when Li Shun saw the confident pride in his junior's expression and the vigorous energy surrounding him—

For a moment, he seemed to see someone else.

Su Muli.

Two years ago, Junior Sister Su had possessed this same confidence. She had crushed countless doubts and risen to become the youngest and most outstanding researcher in the Xia Kingdom.

Li Shun blanked out for a moment, then shook his head.

His teacher had been right back then.

This was where the gap between him and his juniors lay.

He thought too much, worried too much, and was always afraid of gains and losses.

That might allow him to become a successful breeder, but it could not make him an outstanding researcher—how could one fear failure and still hope to achieve genuine research results?

Even knowing that the chance of failure was extremely high, one had to go all out and believe that one could succeed—

Without that kind of conviction, how could one possibly gain the favor of the God of Success amid countless failures?

"Then I'll take your good wishes." Li Shun cast aside his stray thoughts and smiled. "If you can make my breeding farm flourish, then whatever water-type Pet Beasts you need in the future, I'll provide them for free!"

Jiang Xing's eyes lit up. "Really, Senior? I won't hold back, then!"

"Really!" Li Shun burst into laughter.

Setting aside the benefits of building a good relationship with a future water-type researcher, if Jiang Xing truly succeeded in evolving the Golden-Veined Koi into a dragon-type Pet Beast, the price of the Golden-Veined Koi in his breeding farm would naturally rise as well, allowing him to make a fortune.

A sharp glint flashed through Li Shun's eyes.

It seemed he could stock up on a batch of Brave Golden-Veined Koi in advance.

After leaving the water-type breeding farm, Jiang Xing's anticipation for the Golden-Veined Koi's evolution grew even stronger.

Once he completed this research, he would be able to save a massive amount of funding on his next project!

Golden-Veined Koi were among the cheapest Ornamental Pet Beasts, selling for only a few thousand apiece on the market.

True Combat Pet Beasts usually started at a hundred thousand, with their prices increasing exponentially according to their future potential.

Pet Beast hatchlings with Overlord potential could cost a billion, and they were perpetually out of stock—those were already strategic resources, monopolized by the state, associations, great clans, and financial conglomerates. They were never sold openly, and only occasionally could one be seen on the black market.

This showed just how high the research costs for top-tier Pet Beasts could be.

Of course, even though his senior had said he would provide them for free, Jiang Xing could not possibly ask him to bring over a pile of Overlord hatchlings... That would be far too shameless.

He planned to cooperate with his senior. Not only could he obtain research funding for free, but his senior could also profit from the research.

A win-win situation was the foundation of long-term development.

"The prerequisite is that the Golden-Veined Koi can truly transform into a dragon."

"System Bro, don't let your father down!"

Jiang Xing turned his attention back to the Golden-Veined Koi.

Originally, he had planned to raise a large number of Golden-Veined Koi first, then select the most talented among them according to their actual conditions and focus on raising them—using the first evolutions to drive the later ones...

Now that he had unexpectedly subdued a Fish King, he could abandon the original plan and move directly into the advanced stage—

He would concentrate his resources on raising the Fish King and attempt to make it leap through the gate and transform into a dragon!

"According to my deductions, Carp Leaping Over the Dragon Gate probably requires four conditions."

"Condition one: level."

"The average strength of Golden-Veined Koi is around [Mid-Awakening], equivalent to the level of a Combat Pet Beast hatchling."

"As for the Fish King, it has already surpassed [Awakening Rank] and entered [Transcendental Rank]. It has reached [Low-Transcendental] and can evolve to the next stage at any time."

After forming a contract, Beast Tamers could observe the detailed condition of their Pet Beasts with even greater accuracy than experimental instruments.

Jiang Xing took a look and could not help sighing. It truly was worthy of being the Fish King.

He had previously raised nearly a hundred fish, spending a great deal of resources and training time before allowing them to grow to the Transcendental Rank.

Yet this Golden-Veined Koi King had reached such a level merely by sneaking feed in a pond. Its talent was truly exceptional!

Unfortunately, its racial rank determined its upper limit.

Unless it completed an evolution or encountered an extremely rare opportunity, it would remain forever stuck at Low-Transcendental and be unable to grow any stronger.

"Condition two: the Water Leap move."

The Golden-Veined Koi King had already mastered four racial moves. Among them, its proficiency in Water Leap and Tackle had reached the proficient level, which was quite impressive.

It had saved Jiang Xing a great deal of training time.

"Condition three: Dragon Attribute energy and Dragon Attribute moves."

Jiang Xing had already received word that Senior Sister Su had sent over the move materials.

Next, he only needed to prepare some Dragon Attribute resource fruits and turn them into Energy Cubes.

"Condition four, perhaps the most important condition—"

"A Fearless Heart that dares to charge at the Dragon Gate."

Jiang Xing raised his hand. A small phantom of the Golden-Veined Koi appeared above his palm, resting inside the Beast Taming Space.

Through the phantom, Jiang Xing seemed to see its steadfast gaze once more—

That gaze was also why Jiang Xing had chosen to contract it.

If it was this one, perhaps it really could transform into a dragon!