Changes to the Panel, Twenty Research Topics

Linghuan's condition had originally resulted from its tail failing to evolve completely.

Only under the scrutiny of [Purple Spirit Eye Art] did he discover a break in the energy within its tail—the energy at its root remained connected to the body's energy system like the fine threads clinging between pieces of a broken lotus root.

Those threads were very thin, though a closer look revealed quite a few of them. And this was already the result of six days of treatment, supplemented daily with [Spirit Dew].

According to the panel's previous instructions, Linghuan still had seven to nine days of treatment left.

But just now, the [Status] entry on its panel had changed as well.

The treatment method had been updated!

[Status]: Using [Purple Spirit Eye Art] to guide energy can accelerate treatment, allowing medicine to be applied twice a day while promoting connections between the energy in the tail and the main body.

The corners of Lin Yuan's lips rose at the sight.

When he had asked Zhao Liang about energy-channeling [Beast-Taming Arts], he had been wondering whether mastering such techniques would allow them to become "treatment methods" too, incorporated into the updated panels of different pet beasts.

Now it seemed his idea had been correct.

He had begun to suspect as much ever since awakening his talent and seeing the vast increase in information on the panels.

Perhaps their contents depended not solely on his talent, [Eye of All Spirits], but more on what he himself had mastered.

"Linghuan, wait a moment. We can give you another treatment today!"

He hurried to the refrigerator and took out another bottle of medicine.

Then he sat back down and gently spread the liquid over Linghuan's tail.

At the same time, he began putting the final application of [Purple Spirit Eye Art] into practice—using purple qi as a guiding energy to channel the gathering energy in Linghuan's tail...

Fifteen minutes later.

Lin Yuan was panting for breath.

He had also eaten the entire [Spirit-Nourishing Fruit] during the process.

His first complete use of [Purple Spirit Eye Art] had gone smoothly, but it had consumed far more mental power than he had expected.

Had external aids not been usable when executing the full technique, his current reserves of mental power would never have been enough.

Fortunately, Linghuan's treatment had progressed further.

Its level had also risen again, from Transcendent level 5 to Transcendent level 6.

Normally, once pet beasts reached the Transcendent stage, their leveling speed would slow down.

Yet in just this week of treatment, Linghuan had already gained three levels.

It had previously been stuck at Transcendent level 3 for over two years. With the break in its tail's energy being resolved, its level naturally began shooting upward.

The wisp of purple qi he had absorbed today was exhausted too, leaving Lin Yuan temporarily unable to see the current state of the energy in Linghuan's tail.

But Linghuan was bouncing around beside him, even draping the flower garland it had just finished around his neck, chirping away all the while.

Every sound was filled with gratitude.

Lin Yuan sensed its emotions.

What Linghuan wanted to express was probably this—it had greater control over its tail, and its whole body now felt as light as a swallow, ready to take flight!

Soon, however, it noticed Lin Yuan's exhaustion. It immediately stopped bouncing, an apologetic look entering its eyes.

"Linghuan, it's all right." Lin Yuan stood and stretched. "The more I use techniques like this, the faster my mental power will grow."

Hearing this, Linghuan tilted its head, half convinced, then ran off.

"Ying, ying!"

It had gone to make pumpkin porridge—another thing its former mistress had taught it.

Lin Yuan returned to his room.

He put the day's events out of his mind.

Taking out his phone, he opened Red Reading Platform.

Grandma and the Courier Bird showed four unread chapters.

"Are you kidding me? Only four chapters in four days during the new-release period? Does this author even want the book to do well?"

Grumbling, Lin Yuan tapped it open.

Ten minutes later, he finished the latest chapter.

He jabbed the update reminder button ten times.

Then he opened his notes and began updating his schedule...

The next day.

After lunch.

Chen Xuanbai's office.

"Lin Yuan, here are twenty research topics I've prepared for you. You don't need to attend my class this afternoon. You've already mastered that material."

"I've approved your absence. Spend the afternoon here in my office reading these materials. Once class is over, we'll discuss them together." Chen Xuanbai sounded rather tired.

Lin Yuan glanced at the darker circles beneath his eyes, then at the twenty neatly sorted piles of materials, feeling a little puzzled.

Wasn't it supposed to be ten topics?

Still, he did not press the matter. This was good news for him, after all.

"Thank you for all your hard work, sir. I'll read them carefully." Anticipation colored Lin Yuan's voice.

"Good." Seeing the light in Lin Yuan's eyes, Chen Xuanbai felt that staying up so late last night had been worth it.

Lin Yuan watched the exhausted Chen Xuanbai leave the office, then quickly focused on the twenty topics.

"On whether Little Black Cat genes carry survival and world-saving instincts"

"A genetic analysis of plant pet beasts—the survival struggles of the hybrid plant pet beast Pea Shooter"

"Construction Duck or Cement Dog: which offers construction crews the best value?"

"The dreams of Illusion Dream Butterflies—a case-based investigation through social psychology"

"The plight of Courier Birds—can the hierarchy of pet beast discrimination created by the social division of labor be changed?"

Clearly, Chen Xuanbai had his own preferences among the topics.

The materials for the [Little Black Cat] topic were noticeably more extensive, forming a thick stack.

By contrast, the [Courier Bird] topic had the fewest materials.

Lin Yuan worked through them in order, from left to right.

Three hours later.

Lin Yuan finished reading all the materials.

He had to admit that Chen Xuanbai had a distinctive approach to general studies research—he did not choose topics based solely on pet beast evolution.

Instead, he used different angles—social phenomena, actual cases, disaster-related pollution, and so on—as starting points, then focused his research on a particular pet beast population.

This was different from what Lin Yuan had imagined.

He had expected the research competition to focus more on comprehensive analyses of pet beasts themselves.

But he preferred the angles Chen Xuanbai had chosen.

They coincided with the approach he had taken to studying plants and animals in his previous life, while offering even more starting points for consideration.

As a result, he had not skipped a single detail in any case study or reference material across the twenty topics.

They were fascinating to read, too. Many of the references and sources came from local news reports and real cases.

They also gave Lin Yuan another perspective on the existence of pet beasts.

In the end, he narrowed his focus to three topics.

[Little Black Cat], [Illusion Dream Butterfly], and [Courier Bird].

When it came to research, Lin Yuan had one requirement for himself: he would only delve deeper if he already knew something about the subject and had an interest in it.

He had also considered that his time would be rather limited in the days ahead.

Developing the pet food shop, the technique competition, raising his pet beasts—if he added a general studies research competition to the mix, choosing a pet beast he knew relatively well would save considerable time on preliminary research.

[Little Black Cat] was the pre-evolved form of [Shadow Witch Cat].

It was also one of the pet beasts Lin Yuan had studied most during his first year of high school—partly because Chen Xuanbai loved discussing them, and partly because their species displayed the greatest diversity of temperaments.

Even so, he was particularly curious about the phrase "world-saving instincts" in the topic.

He read one of the news reports.

Only then did he understand where the topic had come from.

He also understood why Chen Xuanbai liked Little Black Cats so much, even forming a contract with one.

He looked at the newspaper again.

"The Little Black Cat that fought fires—the savior of Linhua University's Pet Beast Cognition and General Studies Laboratory in the Department of Breeding"