"You’re being far too modest, Auntie," Shi Gui Fang said, the compliments flowing from her as if they cost nothing. "With your strength, perspective, and knowledge, you could bring tremendous progress to our research, even if you aren’t a Breeder."
Just as the elder and younger woman entered the main gate of the Sky Realm Cultivation Base, elsewhere, the Gray Bean Dove, Xiaohui, finally reached its destination after circling above and following Li Qian.
The destination was some distance from the White Castle. It was a flat, open area covered in lush, green Earth Velvet Grass—a place that looked perfect for a picnic.
Li Qian had chosen this spot for the evolution trial for a few simple reasons: it had a good line of sight, it was wide and open, and there were almost no obstructions. More importantly, there were no native Pet Beasts, so he wouldn’t have to worry about being disturbed during the evolution.
Even so, as he began his preparations, Li Qian summoned Qizai and Xiaoliu to stand guard.
With the two of them watching over him, he figured no other Pet Beasts would dare to show up and cause trouble.
Once all that was done, Li Qian finally took the material needed for this evolution from his Space Necklace: Xunfeng Bamboo!
Xunfeng Bamboo was not cheap.
A single stalk cost several million, far more expensive than the Wind Chime Fruit needed for a Koi Carp to evolve into a Cyan-Scaled Flood Dragon.
Even after a successful evolution, a Wind Attribute Pet Beast with Potential that barely scraped into the Dominator Level would only be worth around twenty to thirty million.
For this very reason, if the evolved Extreme Fierce Storm Eagle didn’t possess any spatial traits and couldn’t evolve into an Extreme Fierce Sky Escape Eagle, then its value to Li Qian wasn’t actually that high.
After taking out the Xunfeng Bamboo, Li Qian didn’t immediately hand it to the Gray Bean Dove. Instead, he pointed to the evolution material and briefly explained it.
Qizai stood nearby, translating for Xiaohui with a series of calls and gestures.
Xiaohui’s intelligence was no match for Qizai’s, of course. It listened in a daze, looking lost and confused.
Qizai had to translate several times before Xiaohui finally grasped the gist of Li Qian’s instructions.
Getting impatient, Qizai almost couldn’t stop itself from giving Xiaohui a sharp rap on the head.
Thankfully, at the last moment—perhaps spurred on by Qizai’s frustration—Xiaohui finally understood the general idea.
Once it understood, Xiaohui’s dovish eyes immediately lit up, glinting with obvious excitement and anticipation.
Seeing that Xiaohui understood, Li Qian wasn’t in a rush. He ambled into the center of the clearing, sat down cross-legged, and began to wait patiently.
He was waiting for the "favorable wind" Shi Gui Fang had promised. As soon as it arrived, the evolution trial could begin.
Then, Xiaohui could spread its wings to the wind, soar high into the sky, and truly face its own moment of a Fish Leaping the Dragon Gate.
Sitting cross-legged, Li Qian was both waiting and centering himself.
The wait wasn’t long. About ten minutes later, under the watchful eyes of Qizai and Xiaoliu, Li Qian slowly opened his eyes.
As he opened his eyes, Li Qian saw two figures slowly appear at the distant edge of the clearing, in the direction of the White Castle.
Li Qian was quite familiar with one of the figures. It was none other than the owner of this Cultivation Base, Shi Gui Fang.
The other person was a woman of about fifty. She was past her prime but still possessed a graceful charm. Li Qian could tell at a glance that twenty years ago, this woman would have been a beauty on par with Shi Gui Fang.
On closer inspection, he noticed the middle-aged woman’s features bore a faint resemblance to Shi Gui Fang’s.
’This woman is probably one of Shi Gui Fang’s relatives, an elder of some kind,’ Li Qian guessed.
Although he had pieced some things together, the information was irrelevant to him, so he didn’t ask. He simply rose to his feet and gave Shi Gui Fang a slight nod.
As they drew closer, Shi Gui Fang explained succinctly, "Cultivator Li, this is an elder from my clan. She will be assisting you with your evolution research."
Li Qian didn’t say much in response, simply nodding to the middle-aged woman. "Thank you for your help, Elder."
"To conduct evolution research independently at such a young age... your future is limitless," the middle-aged woman said, smiling at Li Qian.
Her tone seemed warm, but Li Qian detected an undercurrent of dismissiveness.
Li Qian didn’t take it to heart. Her reaction was understandable; his age was deceptive. ’Youth and inexperience go hand in hand, or so the saying goes.’
There was no more idle chatter. She briefly introduced herself, giving Li Qian the name "Elder Shi" to call her by, and then the evolution officially began.
Li Qian handed the Xunfeng Bamboo he was holding to the Gray Bean Dove, Xiaohui.
Xiaohui, the Gray Bean Dove, took the Xunfeng Bamboo in its beak. Its gaze grew determined.
This particular Gray Bean Dove had cost Li Qian nearly a million Federation Coins—almost double the price of a normal one.
Of course, there was a reason for the high price.
For instance, this dove’s Spirit Attribute was significantly higher than an ordinary Gray Bean Dove’s, and its constitution was also a cut above.
"Elder Shi." Seeing that Xiaohui had taken the Xunfeng Bamboo, Li Qian turned his head to the middle-aged woman standing nearby.
The middle-aged woman, Elder Shi, already knew what was required of her. With a light wave of her hand, a small, golden-yellow bird with strange markings all over its body suddenly appeared before Li Qian.
The sudden sight made Li Qian jump.
The Golden Bird had appeared so abruptly, moving so fast he could only see a faint afterimage. The sight surprised Li Qian and made him feel a pang of apprehension.
Without a doubt, this Golden Bird was incredibly powerful. Li Qian used his Eye of True Sight, but all he could see was its name—Golden Ancestor Bird—and nothing else.
This meant the Golden Ancestor Bird’s Level had to be at least Commander Level.
And from the looks of it, Commander Level was just a conservative estimate. This Golden Ancestor Bird was very likely an Overlord-level Pet Beast—and it wasn’t impossible that it was even higher.
Li Qian didn’t look away, his gaze remaining fixed on the Golden Ancestor Bird that had just appeared.
The bird wasted no time. It spread its wings and released a pale, cyan-colored wheel of light.
"Wait!" Seeing that Li Qian was making no move to conceal the process from her and her aunt, Shi Gui Fang immediately called a halt.
She looked at Li Qian, then exchanged a glance with her aunt. "Should we... step away?"
Li Qian smiled and shook his head. "There’s no need. Consider this evolution method my way of repaying the Base for its hospitality."
’She gave me access to the database the moment I arrived. Regardless of her ulterior motives, she’s certainly treated me well!’
With that, he gestured for Elder Shi to continue.
In truth, Li Qian’s decision to reveal the evolution method for the Gray Bean Dove into the Extreme Fierce Storm Eagle was partly born of necessity.
The evolution method was simply too easy. It only required one additional material—Xunfeng Bamboo—compared to the normal evolution from a Gray Bean Dove to a Storm Eagle. Even if he kept it secret, he was sure other Breeders would crack it before long.
For all he knew, some other Breeder in some forgotten corner of the world might have already created plenty of Extreme Fierce Storm Eagles.
Furthermore, there was the Golden Ancestor Bird. At the Dominator Level, or even higher, a Pet Beast’s intelligence was not to be underestimated.
With the Golden Ancestor Bird witnessing the entire process, keeping it a secret was impossible anyway.
If the Golden Ancestor Bird knew, then Elder Shi would know too.
Besides, in Li Qian’s opinion, the evolution path from a Gray Bean Dove to an Extreme Fierce Storm Eagle wasn’t all that valuable, so he saw no point in trying to conceal it.
He might as well be open about it.
This way, he could even put Shi Gui Fang and Elder Shi in his debt.