Jiang Xing quickly pushed the system task to the back of his mind.
He wasn't a Beast Tamer. If he forced himself to teach others battle techniques just because of a system task—playing at raising a Beast Tamer—it would, to some extent, be misleading others.
At most, this kind of side task counted as a diversion. If he could get rewards for free, that would naturally be great; if not, it didn't really matter.
Jiang Xing was a researcher. His focus naturally had to remain on research.
'Right… the system mistook the Golden-Patterned Koi for a Magikarp because it truly has the potential to transform into a dragon.'
'And it mistook Li Lingyin for Red… because she has outstanding Beast Tamer talent?'
'Senior really did have a good daughter.'
When it came to credibility, the system was still reliable.
Jiang Xing felt happy for his senior. Soon, after the two finished discussing matters, they returned to the area beside the research institute. Li Shun briefly explained the results of their discussion to his daughter.
The first time Li Lingyin saw a photo of the Rainbow Dragon Hatchling, she had already fallen in love with it.
Now, hearing that she could personally nurture a Golden-Patterned Koi, she was overjoyed and respectfully bowed to Jiang Xing.
"Teacher Jiang, please guide me!"
"No need to be so formal. You can follow your father first and pick a Golden-Patterned Koi… remember, it must have a Brave personality."
Although Jiang Xing had not yet completed testing and could not confirm whether the [Brave personality] was a condition for the Golden-Patterned Koi's evolution, it was clear that Golden-Patterned Koi with a Brave personality had a higher probability of evolving, and were also more 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 faintly glowing eyes.
"Teacher Jiang… what about mine?"
"…Senior Sister, this is the first draft of my thesis. Please take a look."
Su Muli had long wanted to raise a Rainbow Dragon Hatchling as well. After taking the draft, she flipped through the sections on Golden-Patterned Koi nurturing methods, nodding repeatedly.
When she finished reading the entire paper, she raised her eyes and said in surprise: "Jiang Xing, this paper of yours… can it prove the Personality Hypothesis?"
Jiang Xing nodded. "For now, it's only a hypothesis. The results aren't confirmed yet."
Su Muli inhaled lightly. Dr. Ail's Personality Hypothesis was one of the important hypotheses in Pet Beast studies. If proven, it could even help perfect the entire discipline!
She had originally thought Jiang Xing was only researching the Golden-Patterned Koi's evolution form, but she hadn't expected such a major academic achievement to be hidden behind it.
If Jiang Xing successfully proved it, there was a strong chance he could obtain the title of researcher because of this.
No wonder the country valued him so highly, even directly building him a research institute…
Su Muli felt a surge of emotions, which ultimately condensed into a single sentence of encouragement: "Keep it up."
With a true expert in Pet Beast studies right beside him, Jiang Xing didn't miss the opportunity. He brought up the problems he had encountered over the past few days. After receiving guidance from Dr. Xu, everything suddenly became clear to him.
Su Muli also raised a few questions of her own—although she was a top researcher, in front of Dr. Xu, she was still a student.
Jiang Xing was far behind Su Muli. Even just listening to the exchange between her and Dr. Xu gave him a sudden sense of enlightenment.
'Having the system doesn't mean I can just comfortably rely on cheats.'
'The system only gives directions for research topics, at most adding a few hints… if I want to turn tasks into reality, I must have sufficient knowledge myself.'
By the time Li Shun returned with his daughter, the lesson finally came to an end.
Although Jiang Xing still felt somewhat unsatisfied, considering that Dr. Xu was a guest and not there to teach, he paused his learning and moved on to lunch.
The food for Jiang Xing and the others had been ordered in advance from a restaurant and delivered remotely by flying Pet Beasts.
In addition, Jiang Xing had everyone release their Pet Beasts and gave each of them a portion of energy cubes.
Su Muli's Storm Sea Lizard had previously tasted Dragon cubes and already knew how delicious they were. Now, after trying the upgraded Water Dragon cubes, its eyes lit up as it devoured them eagerly.
The other Pet Beasts followed suit. After one bite, their appetites exploded, and they began devouring the food voraciously.
Dr. Xu and the others praised Jiang Xing's craftsmanship but didn't pay much attention to the cubes themselves—
After all, the truly astonishing aspect of energy cubes wasn't the affinity boost they provided to Pet Beasts, but the Berry Blender's almost unreasonable material refining and processing technology.
One unit of materials could produce ten units—or even more—of high-quality food.
In terms of taste and effect alone, some top breeders could also make similar or even higher-quality food.
So, without knowing the production process, people wouldn't pay too much attention to energy cubes. They would simply treat them as a proprietary breeding formula.
At this moment, everyone was having a picnic outside the research institute.
Humans and Pet Beasts enjoyed the food together—peaceful, harmonious, and full of warmth.
In the shadow of the trees, a pink-blue fluffy creature watched this scene quietly, its eyes wide, drool unconsciously dripping down.
Those delicious energy cubes had already silently conquered this legendary Qilin—
It wasn't that it had never eaten good food before, but the flavors of these cubes were simply too rich. They changed every day, and the taste kept improving, making it impossible to stop.
It couldn't get tired of them. Not at all.
Just thinking about the taste made the Auspicious Cloud Qilin hungry again.
Normally, it could use its psychic power to become invisible, preventing people from detecting it, and sneakily steal food.
But right now, the Pet Beasts nearby were very strong—especially a few that were familiar with its aura. If it got too close, its illusion might be seen through.
So it could only stay far away, watching them eat greedily, its mouth watering.
"Ah-li…" (I want to eat too…)
The Auspicious Cloud Qilin's gaze gradually drifted toward Jiang Xing.
For some reason—whether intentional or not—there was a plate of pink cubes placed right beside him.
They hadn't been given to any Pet Beast, just sitting there alone.
The scent drifting over from afar was incredibly enticing—far better than any cube the Auspicious Cloud Qilin had ever eaten.
But it didn't dare approach…
Earlier, it had used up all the shed fluff it had saved, so it had eaten free meals for quite some time…
Although it planned to make up for it later, if it got caught directly, it would be too embarrassing for a Qilin…
Its parents would laugh at it.
But it really wanted to eat.
At that moment, the Storm Sea Lizard squeezed next to Jiang Xing, shamelessly trying to eat the cubes on the plate.
The Auspicious Cloud Qilin's heart tightened.
That huge thing—wouldn't it swallow everything in one bite?
That was a new flavor it hadn't even tried yet!
That absolutely couldn't happen!
Fortunately, Su Muli pushed it away and stopped its attempt.
But then—the Rainbow Dragon Hatchling also set its sights on the plate of unclaimed cubes and launched an attack!
Jiang Xing used the move "Overeating Causes Indigestion", successfully repelling the Rainbow Dragon Hatchling and defending the energy cubes.
Watching that plate of cubes—like fresh meat dropped into a group of sharks, coveted by countless gazes—the Auspicious Cloud Qilin's emotions rose and fell dramatically as it stared at it intensely.
No, I must protect it. It must safely end up in my stomach!
Invisibility activated. Psychic power surged!
You can't see me, you can't see me, you can't see me…
The pink-blue cotton ball crept step by step to the plate, then—chomp!—swallowed all the pink cubes in one bite.
In the next instant, its soul seemed to be purified.
Yes—this was exactly the taste it had imagined. So delicious!!
…Wait, why did everything suddenly go quiet?
The pink-blue cotton ball slowly raised its head—and met a circle of astonished eyes.
The innocent little girl cried out, "Ah! The Auspicious Cloud Qilin!"
The pink-blue cotton ball flopped onto the ground with a thud, peacefully closing its eyes.
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