There was only one Auspicious Cloud Qilin, yet there were three researchers.
Thus, after a round of rather unscrupulous adult negotiation, Dr. Xu successfully came out on top, becoming the first observer of the Auspicious Cloud Qilin—
Not only was Dr. Xu their teacher, he was also a Beast Taming Doctor. He had many research projects on hand and a large research institute to manage. Though he said he would stay at Jiang Xing's place for a few days, in reality, he would only remain for a day or two at most before returning to his busy work.
Out of consideration for their teacher, Jiang Xing and Su Muli voluntarily gave up the opportunity to him.
Su Muli ranked second, for a similar reason.
As for Jiang Xing…
He had already conquered the Auspicious Cloud Qilin's stomach—did he still need to worry about such things?
Once the elders left, he would have plenty of time to interact with the little Qilin. At that point, let alone observation records—even sleeping together wouldn't be a problem.
Mm, the Auspicious Cloud Qilin was not only fluffy, its fur was as soft as cotton, like a walking cloud. Hugging it would definitely feel incredibly comfortable.
Just imagining it made Jiang Xing unable to stop himself from letting out a goofy grin.
The Beast Taming world was simply too wonderful.
...
While Dr. Xu was doing his best to approach the recently carb-overloaded, lazily sunbathing Auspicious Cloud Qilin, preparing to use every trick in his arsenal to win it over—Jiang Xing, meanwhile, began handling proper business.
He brought Li Lingyin to the lakeside and had the Rainbow Dragon Hatchling enter the water.
Although it had already transformed into a dragon, the Rainbow Dragon Hatchling still retained its experience from when it was a fish king. In addition, the Golden-Patterned Koi in the lake mostly came from Li Shun's fish pond and were accustomed to obeying its commands…
Very quickly, all the Golden-Patterned Koi gathered together. Golden scales shimmered across the lake surface, forming rippling waves—it was an extremely spectacular sight.
Taking advantage of the moment, Jiang Xing led Li Lingyin in feeding them energy cubes while simultaneously using marker tags to assign numbers to each Golden-Patterned Koi, recording data such as personality and condition corresponding to each number.
This was the first task—and also the most repetitive and labor-intensive one.
Every day thereafter, this process would have to be repeated in full in order to completely record the growth process of each individual Golden-Patterned Koi.
If Jiang Xing had to do it alone, it would take nearly half a day.
With an assistant, however, things became much easier.
Li Lingyin learned quickly and worked diligently. Her efficiency was quite good, greatly accelerating the process.
In addition, since Su Muli had nothing to do, she came over to help as well. In less than two hours, they had finished feeding and recording data for all the Golden-Patterned Koi.
...
With the first task completed, the next step was training moves such as Leap, Dragon Ritual Dance, and Outrage, helping the Golden-Patterned Koi digest food and improve their Power Level.
Because the Technical Machine was also an absurdly overpowered piece of Pokémon technology, equipping it to a Golden-Patterned Koi allowed it to learn the corresponding move (at minimum proficiency) within just one hour…
This kind of black-tech item was difficult for Jiang Xing to explain in front of his teacher and senior.
So he decided to keep it hidden for now and use it secretly at night once they had left.
Thus, Jiang Xing temporarily paused the training plan, letting Li Lingyin rest for a while and planning to train the koi in leaping during the afternoon.
However, he had clearly underestimated a child's energy.
After gaining free time, not only did Li Lingyin not rest, she instead latched onto Su Muli and issued a challenge to duel—
A Novice Beast Tamer who had just contracted her first Pet Beast, and whose Golden-Patterned Koi was only at the Awakening Level, actually dared to challenge a King-Class Beast Tamer.
As expected—she also had a brave personality.
Su Muli, however, understood very well the mindset of a newly contracted Novice Beast Tamer.
Facing Li Lingyin's challenge, she gladly accepted—and then proceeded to give the child a thorough beating.
Mm, although Su Muli herself was not a full-time Beast Tamer, and the Pet Beast she used was also a recently contracted Golden-Patterned Koi, meaning the gap between beasts was not particularly large—
She was, after all, the champion of the China Youth Cup. Clearly, she was not merely a theory-focused researcher. Her combat experience and command ability were far beyond what Li Lingyin could match.
Without much effort, she defeated Li Lingyin head-on.
This battle seemed to have piqued Su Muli's interest.
She sent the defeated, water-soaked Li Lingyin back to the research institute to bathe. After returning, she found Jiang Xing.
"Jiang Xing, your Rainbow Dragon Hatchling hasn't truly fought since evolving, right? Come, fight me. Same rules as before—if the Beast Tamer falls into the water or the Pet Beast loses combat capability, it counts as defeat."
"Senior…"
"Don't be afraid. Even if you don't intend to become a Beast Tamer, you won't be able to completely avoid combat… You can't possibly never enter a Secret Realm, can you?"
Su Muli directly blocked off Jiang Xing's retreat, leaving him unable to refuse—
She was right.
In this world, the popularity of Beast Tamers, the prevalence of Beast Taming competitions, and the near real-combat rules of those competitions…
All stemmed from the influence of Secret Realms.
As the origin of Pet Beasts and mysterious spaces containing relics of otherworldly civilizations, these Secret Realms were still continuously descending even now.
By exploring them, Beast Tamers could discover new Pet Beasts, new items, and all kinds of valuable resources.
Thus, Secret Realms had become the focal point of attention for Beast Tamers and nations alike—the objects of competition.
Exploring Secret Realms, competing for resources, even dividing up the realms themselves—this had already become the fundamental logic of the Beast Taming world. Even researchers could not completely avoid it.
If Jiang Xing chose not to explore any Secret Realms, many of the newest resources produced by them would simply slip past him.
Even if the state ultimately acquired a Secret Realm, and he could apply for research access… there would already be many researchers and even doctors lining up ahead of him—putting him at a clear disadvantage.
This was also why Su Muli, despite being a researcher, worked part-time as a Beast Tamer and personally explored Secret Realms.
In fact, even Dr. Xu's Beast Taming strength was extremely formidable—he possessed over ten Secret Realms of various sizes, none of which were obtained through application, but all seized through real combat.
When dealing with cultured people, one could speak of reason.
But if the other party was too barbaric—then one could also speak in terms of physical force.
'Although I could build a good relationship with the Auspicious Cloud Qilin and become its personal chef, so that if I encountered danger, it would definitely not stand by and do nothing—giving me a safety guarantee…'
'Practicing combat occasionally wouldn't hurt.'
'Even if I don't become a Beast Tamer or participate in competitions, I could still become a powerful Beast Taming Doctor like my teacher.'
Jiang Xing finally relented and nodded.
"Alright! But Senior Sister, I've only just contracted a Pet Beast and have never learned combat before—I'm very weak, so go easy on me…"
"Don't worry," Su Muli said confidently.
Seeing this, Jiang Xing felt reassured.
After all, it was just a friendly match with no real danger—he would treat it as physical exercise.
He returned to the research institute, removed the Macho Brace, changed into protective gear suitable for movement, and came out onto the lake surface outside—
Earlier, when Li Lingyin issued her challenge, Su Muli had already commanded her Pet Beast to create a massive ice field covered with snow as the battle arena.
Now, Jiang Xing stood atop the snowy surface, while the Rainbow Dragon Hatchling hovered beside him, its eyes filled with fighting spirit.
"Battle—start!"
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