"Don’t move!"
Just as Su Zhi was about to touch Yu Bao, Luo Sen bellowed and kicked him away.
"If he collapsed from an injury, touching him so recklessly might just make it worse!"
Su Zhi froze. Luo Sen’s reminder was enough to make him calm down slightly.
But his anxiety and worry hadn’t lessened in the slightest; on the contrary, they were multiplying by the second.
"What in the world is wrong with Yu Bao? Is he okay?"
"I’m not sure of the specific cause."
Luo Sen said with robotic calm, though his furrowed brow betrayed that he was not nearly as composed as he seemed. "Try recalling him to the Beast Taming Space."
Su Zhi tried for a moment, then shook his head. "I can’t... It’s no use."
"That shouldn’t be possible..."
Luo Sen murmured, his fingers flying across the keyboard in a relentless stream of clicks.
’There are no issues. All steps were correct, the entire process was normal, and the post-evolution energy fluctuations are within a reasonable range. Dammit, where did something go wrong...’
Just then, Qiu Yulian stepped forward and crouched beside Yu Bao. Covering her left eye with her left hand, the pupil of her right eye instantly turned a pale pink and began to emit a soft glow.
Beast Taming Talent: Eye of True Sight.
Ability: Consume a certain amount of energy to "analyze" a Pet Beast and fully grasp its physical condition and various parameters.
After observing Yu Bao with her right eye for a moment, Qiu Yulian removed her hand and looked at Su Zhi.
"First, try not to worry. Yu Bao’s physical condition is excellent; he isn’t injured. He’s just fallen into a state similar to dreaming."
Su Zhi let out a sigh of relief at her words, then asked curiously, "Dreaming?"
"’Similar to dreaming,’"
Qiu Yulian emphasized. "Dreams mean far more to a Pet Beast than they do to us. I have no idea what Yu Bao is facing right now. But..."
"I just discovered something. Are there trace amounts of Gold Element Energy flowing inside Yu Bao?"
"Alliance Leader Qiu’s findings are consistent with my own."
Luo Sen stared at the last set of data on his screen. His eyebrow shot up as he looked at Su Zhi. "Did you have your Pet Beast absorb Gold Element resources? And it actually worked?"
Su Zhi frowned slightly. "No, I haven’t. But Yu Bao has seemed interested in Gold Element resources recently. I just thought it was a personal preference and didn’t think much of it..."
As he said this, Su Zhi suddenly paused and looked up. "Does absorbing the Burning Sand Forging count?"
Luo Sen cut him off. "Do you have that Burning Sand Forging with you?"
"I do!"
Su Zhi quickly pulled the Burning Sand Forging from his backpack, only to stop short.
Since Yu Bao was smart enough to handle things himself, Su Zhi had always let him absorb the energy and put the item away on his own. He’d never actually taken a close look at the Burning Sand Forging.
On the cube’s surface, the red and yellow striations had all grown dim—a sign that the Earth Element and Fire Element Energy had been absorbed.
What surprised Su Zhi was that the other white striations, which symbolized the Gold Attribute, had also dimmed considerably!
"Exactly. The Gold Element Energy within the Burning Sand Forging was absorbed." Luo Sen’s expression was one of vindication.
"But..." Qiu Yulian blinked. "Many Yu Dian Dogs absorb energy from the Burning Sand Forging, but its Gold Element Energy is extremely stable. I’ve never heard of one accidentally absorbing it."
"It wasn’t an accident. In fact, you can’t accidentally absorb it. Most Pet Beasts only resonate with resources of specific Attributes."
Luo Sen’s fingers flew across the keyboard. "The only explanation is that it’s an innate tendency, just like its previously dormant Fire Element Energy, only less pronounced. But now, through exposure to Gold Element resources, its Gold Element Energy has finally awakened."
Su Zhi asked, "Is that a good thing or a bad thing?"
"Of course it’s a good thing! No—you kid are a one-in-a-million lucky bastard!"
Luo Sen grinned, and in his excitement, the red light panel on his eyepatch flickered on and off.
"You had Yu Bao practice a ton of skills related to Desert Pet Beasts. Even though they were pure Earth Element Skills, many of them are also commonly used by dual Earth- and Gold-Element Pet Beasts! If Yu Bao already had the potential to awaken a Gold Attribute, learning those Skills would have spurred its dominant expression..."
"My hypothesis was right! A Beast Tamer’s training methods and choice of Skill System absolutely influence the expression of a Pet Beast’s Evolutionary Type!"
"Those old fossils at the Boya Alliance are a bunch of damn fools! Ahahahaha!"
Luo Sen covered his face and began to laugh maniacally, completely oblivious to the other two people in the room.
"So, what should I do now?"
Su Zhi looked at the unconscious Yu Bao, his heart no lighter than before.
"There’s actually nothing you can do... If my hypothesis holds, your Pet Beast is most likely in a dream state, confronting a personification of its own Gold Element Energy."
Luo Sen, recovering from his fanatical outburst, said gravely, "Pet Beasts aren’t born with the complete acceptance of their own powers; otherwise, they wouldn’t need to evolve.
"This is especially true for Gold Element Energy. It’s relatively foreign to most Yu Dian Dogs and not as compatible as the Earth or Fire Elements.
"Your Pet Beast has fallen unconscious most likely because its awakened Gold Element Energy doesn’t yet accept the Pet Beast itself."
"Then..."
Su Zhi suddenly had a thought. "What if Yu Bao ultimately fails to gain the Gold Element’s acceptance?"
Luo Sen grinned, revealing two rows of crimson teeth. "I have no idea."
Su Zhi: "..."
Qiu Yulian suddenly turned to Su Zhi. "It’s not entirely hopeless. Su Zhi, you know about Pet Synchronization, don’t you?"
"I do."
Su Zhi nodded. "It’s when you focus your concentration to achieve a state of high mental synchronicity with your Pet Beast, allowing you to reach a near-perfect union in battle!"
"Exactly. Pet Synchronization is essentially a special Mental Skill that uses the Beast Taming Space as a conduit. Try to enter that synchronized state now. You might just be able to perceive Yu Bao again!"
"I’ll try!" Su Zhi closed his eyes, leaned over, and placed a hand on Yu Bao’s forehead.
Qiu Yulian then looked at Hua Shangyue behind her. "Use Clearing Dream on Su Zhi. Control the dosage."
"Mmhmm."
Hua Shangyue gingerly brought her sleeve close to Su Zhi and flicked out a single grain of pollen.
The instant the pollen touched Su Zhi, his perpetually tense body suddenly went slack, and his expression grew serene.
Clearing Dream, a High Level Commander Skill of the Wood and Mental Elements, was originally a Control Skill used to drag enemies into a dreamscape. But when released in small amounts, it also had the effect of soothing and ordering one’s Spirit.
Su Zhi swayed and began to fall.
The pink-robed beauty, already prepared, gently caught the young man. She then knelt on the floor, letting him rest his head on her lap.
"You shameless old thing," Luo Sen shot her a deadpan glance.
Qiu Yulian gave a bewitching smile and stuck out her tongue like a young girl. "Alliance Leader Luo, if you have time to call me names, wouldn’t it be better spent getting down to business?"
"I know, I know. Stop nagging."
As Luo Sen typed on the keyboard, he didn’t forget to mutter, "Willing to use even Clearing Dream... Are you planning on making him your boy toy?"
"That would be difficult. The boy probably has his heart set on someone already~ Besides, I’m already in the prime of my youth. It wouldn’t be appropriate to go after a little kid~"
"I know you’re two hundred and eighty. No need to keep repeating it."
While they traded barbs, Luo Sen’s hands never stopped moving, and he quickly finished the data entry.
Immediately after, a pale green bar of energy slowly materialized from Su Zhi’s hand, stretched out, and finally connected to Yu Bao’s forehead.
"Alright, it’s done."
Luo Sen breathed a sigh of relief. He tapped the side of his eyepatch, and the lab’s projection screen immediately lit up.
"The rest is up to them."
...
...
’So dark... so suffocating.’
After plummeting from reality into the dream, Su Zhi felt an intangible "substance" fill his mouth and nose. He couldn’t breathe, couldn’t think. His thoughts were a chaotic mess.
His body also felt as if it were being pulled, moving rapidly in some unknown direction.
WHOOSH!
Then, all at once, the discomfort vanished. Like a drowning man finally breaking the surface, Su Zhi’s mind snapped back into focus with a jolt.
But after breaking free from that "water," Su Zhi realized he wasn’t floating up—he was plummeting down...
THUD!
Su Zhi planted headfirst into the ground. A perfect landing.
’Good thing this is a dream. If this were real, they’d already be planning my funeral...’ Su Zhi mused, rubbing his miraculously intact neck as he surveyed his surroundings.
He was in a plain of breathtaking beauty. The ground was strewn with glittering shards of metal. Not far off were stretches of Flash Gold Jungle and towering mountain ranges, all covered in the same Golden Light...
’Huh? Wait a second, this place looks familiar...’
’Isn’t this the Land of Flash Gold Secret Realm?’
’So where is Yu Bao?’
"Hff... hff..." Amidst his thoughts, Su Zhi suddenly heard a familiar sound coming from beneath him. He looked down.
It turned out he had landed right on top of Yu Bao...
Yu Bao was currently pinned beneath him, his eyes spinning in opposite directions, looking for all the world like he was already dead.
"Yu Bao! Are you okay?"
"Woof woof..." Yu Bao waved his paws, indicating that it wasn’t a big deal. After all, this was the Mental World; getting sat on wouldn’t actually kill him.
’Good, he’s okay.’ Su Zhi breathed a sigh of relief. Remembering the purpose of his visit, he quickly scrambled to his feet. "Yu Bao, how long have you been here? Have you found anything?"
"A-woof..."
Yu Bao shook his head.
He’d been here for a while, but there wasn’t a single thing around. It was utterly dull. He would’ve been happy if even one monster had spawned for him to fight.
Su Zhi frowned. "Could Alliance Leader Luo’s theory be wrong?"
"I don’t make mistakes."
Luo Sen’s voice suddenly sounded in his right ear. Su Zhi subconsciously reached up and discovered a small earpiece that hadn’t been there before.
"I’ve used the lab equipment to establish a temporary Mental Energy transmission channel with you. I’m sharing your vision now. Why don’t you look around and give me some more visual data?"
"Oh! Right!"
With Yu Bao leading the way, Su Zhi climbed to a high vantage point on a mountain and surveyed the area.
Everything as far as the eye could see was covered in Flash Gold. However, compared to the real Land of Flash Gold Secret Realm, the concentration of metal here was relatively sparse.
"That’s it! The Land of Flash Gold is a Secret Realm famous for its high concentration of the Gold Attribute. Yu Bao’s Mental World is a dead ringer for it, which proves my hypothesis is correct!"
Luo Sen’s enunciation was crisp and rapid. "Stay alert. The personified Gold Element Energy must be nearby. You could be attacked at any moment!
"It won’t be fatal, but if you handle it poorly, you could still suffer a Mental Shock. It could even affect the stability of his Evolutionary Type."
"Got it. Yu Bao, stay sharp!"
"Woof!"
The tamer and pet duo both heightened their vigilance, and Yu Bao went so far as to fully activate his Earth Force Field.
But the surroundings remained utterly silent, just like the real Land of Flash Gold, devoid of any Pet Beasts.
’But if it’s right here in the vicinity...’
A thought struck Su Zhi, and his eyes flew open.
BOOM!
The ground suddenly trembled, spiderweb-like cracks splintering across its surface.
Fortunately, Yu Bao reacted in a flash. He leaped up, snagged Su Zhi by the collar, and activated his Sand Manipulation Technique the instant the ground began to split, carrying them both high into the air.
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