"Jinfeng, do you know anything?" Upon arriving at the small bay, Comrade Lao Sun wasted no time. He summoned Jinfeng, explained why he was there, and immediately asked.
Jinfeng looked at its Beast Master and shook its head, baffled.
Li Qian had borrowed it and Golden Rain for a while, but he hadn’t revealed any of the key details to it.
"Ah Hai, how about you?" Seeing Jinfeng’s reaction, Comrade Lao Sun turned his gaze to Ah Hai.
Ah Hai thought for a moment, then revealed everything it knew without holding back.
As Comrade Lao Sun analyzed the information Ah Hai revealed, his eyes grew brighter and brighter.
Ah Hai had revealed a great deal, giving him a flood of inspiration.
He prepared to test them out one by one.
Three days later, he had tried every single difference and point of divergence from Ah Hai’s information.
Unfortunately, he had nothing to show for it.
Finally, left with no other choice, he had to turn his attention to Golden Rain.
He was certain. ’Golden Rain must know something.’
"Ruirui, summon Golden Rain for me. I have something to ask it." Comrade Lao Sun found Sun Ruirui and made his request.
Sun Ruirui gave him a suspicious look upon hearing this.
Despite her suspicion, she didn’t refuse. She summoned Golden Rain as Comrade Lao Sun had asked.
The moment Golden Rain appeared, before it was even clear what was happening, Comrade Lao Sun impatiently asked, "Golden Rain, tell me in detail. How did Li Qian help you and Jinfeng evolve?"
"WHIMPER..." After hearing his words, Golden Rain froze for a second before letting out the unique cry of a Tidal Sea Spirit.
Ah Hai, who was nearby, began to translate. "Golden Rain says it already promised Li Qian it would keep its lips sealed about this. It also says that a Pet Beast can’t go back on its word."
Seeing this, Sun Ruirui finally understood Comrade Lao Sun’s true intentions.
She asked in astonishment, "Third Uncle, you’re not trying to copy the evolution method Brother Qian figured out, are you?"
"As a Breeder, you should know better than anyone that asking about an evolution method someone else developed is a huge taboo."
Hearing this, Comrade Lao Sun nearly jumped out of his skin. "What do you mean, *his* evolution method? I’ve been researching the evolution from Golden Pearl Bud to Tidal Sea Spirit for years! Every detail, every plan, every single step is a culmination of my life’s work and intellect!"
Seeing Comrade Lao Sun’s explosive reaction, Sun Ruirui’s voice lost some of its edge. "But Brother Qian already traded the evolution method for the Cyan-Scaled Flood Dragon to you in exchange for this one."
"The evolution from Golden Pearl Bud to Tidal Sea Spirit is indeed the result of your life’s work and intellect, but perfecting the final step... that wasn’t you."
Seeing Sun Ruirui still defending Li Qian, even daring to argue with him—her own third uncle—Comrade Lao Sun’s heart couldn’t help but feel a pang of bleakness.
"I know. It was a minor display of his cleverness, that’s all. To me, it’s nothing—something I could have figured out with a little thought."
When his niece still shot him a doubtful look, Comrade Lao Sun began to pull rank. "And besides, who do you think I am? I’m a professor at the Zhonghai Beast Taming University Cultivation College and a Master-level Breeder! How could I possibly copy someone’s work!"
"I think so, too," the young woman said, seizing the opportunity. "In that case, I’ll just recall Golden Rain. You can take your time and research it yourself."
As she spoke, a Summoning Array was already lighting up before her.
Then, before the words had even left her mouth, she had already recalled Golden Rain.
"I..." Comrade Lao Sun’s mouth twitched as he watched the scene unfold.
Connecting the dots—Li Qian specifically briefing Golden Rain, his own niece’s reaction right now—Comrade Lao Sun concluded that Golden Rain had to know some key information.
But knowing and getting that knowledge were two different things, especially when he couldn’t get past his niece’s determined efforts to run interference.
’Getting that information now seems highly unlikely.’
After his niece had left, he could no longer hold back a helpless sigh. "So soon, and she’s already taking an outsider’s side. Sigh!"
How could he not guess what the little girl was thinking? But ultimately, he knew he didn’t have a leg to stand on in this matter, so he didn’t try to argue.
...
Meanwhile, back at the Sky Realm Cultivation Base, Li Qian began to take stock of what he had gained this time.
All in all, his gains had been substantial.
It wasn’t just that he had helped the young Miss Sun Ruirui solve her Apocalypse Seer: Ocean Calamity problem.
More importantly, under those sink-or-swim conditions, he had managed to uncover evolutionary information that went beyond the scope of the original task.
This was a great revelation to him.
He used to think that if a Pet Beast had only one possible Evolutionary Form, then the completion rate for the task would max out at one hundred percent.
Now, it seemed that wasn’t the case.
Even for the exact same Evolutionary Form, there could be more than one way to achieve the evolution.
A one-hundred-percent completion rate might just mean that one had found a single path.
And it was very likely that there was more than one path to a successful evolution.
After summarizing what he’d learned from helping the young Miss Sun Ruirui with her Apocalypse Seer: Ocean Calamity problem, Li Qian wasted no more time and returned to his research on the Red Feather Chicken’s evolution method.
Compared to the evolution from Golden Pearl Bud to Tidal Sea Spirit, this research was far more difficult.
Of course, the most important thing was that Li Qian had no intention of using Achievement Points to brute-force a solution.
This task wasn’t urgent anyway. There was no need to rush; he could just research at his own pace.
While he researched, he didn’t let his collaboration with the Zhonghai City Transmission Center fall by the wayside.
The ten Gray Bean Doves with good Potential that Shi Gui Fang had prepared for him had arrived long ago.
As for the Xunfeng Bamboo, it was already piled high in his Space Necklace.
Li Qian remained tight-lipped, not revealing that he had already mastered the evolution methods for the Extreme Fierce Sky Escape Eagle and the Tidal Sea Spirit.
To this day, the only people who knew were Li Sukuai and the Sun uncle-and-niece duo.
And so, the days slipped by, and soon, the start of the school year was just around the corner.
On the morning of August 25th, Li Qian went to find Shi Gui Fang. "Boss, thank you for taking care of me all this time. School is about to start, so I have to be leaving."
As he said the words, Li Qian felt a bit of regret in his heart.
His time at the Sky Realm Cultivation Base, far from all distractions and able to research with a clear mind, had been incredibly fruitful.
Besides, he had genuinely enjoyed his time here.
"Before I go, I have a surprise for you. Remember? I mentioned it last time."
"A surprise? A Pet Beast?" Shi Gui Fang said, a little baffled as she watched him take out a Beast Taming Ball.
Li Qian chuckled. Instead of revealing what kind of Pet Beast it was, he just smiled and prompted, "Open it and see for yourself. Then you’ll know."
Despite her confusion, Shi Gui Fang didn’t hesitate. She reached out and took the Beast Taming Ball from Li Qian’s hand...