https://novelcool.info/chapter/Chapter-70-Skyglide-Hawk-and-Dimensional-Rift/12958170/
https://novelcool.info/chapter/Chapter-72-Soul-Bond-Ah-Long-s-Evolution/12958175/
Chapter 71: Ah Long's Choice, the Clay Doll
Chapter 71: Ah Long's Choice, the Clay Doll
Chu Xiran's reminder had given Li Qian a heads-up on many important matters, and he was grateful for her help. As she was about to leave, she added, "To put it bluntly, choosing the Beast Mastery University is like choosing to manage the Dimensional Rift that the university oversees. So, you need to treat this matter with seriousness and caution. Although I know some things, I don't know as much as the three Admissions Officers. You can take this opportunity to ask them about it. Whether they will honestly disclose everything, I'm not sure. I've heard that the Dimensional Rift is a secret kept from high school students... Anyway, you can try asking them."
"I understand, thank you, Teacher Chu Xiran!" Li Qian nodded, expressing his sincere gratitude.
After her final reminder.
After giving her final reminder, Chu Xiran left the Breeding Facility. She had said what needed to be said and given the necessary reminders; staying any longer would serve no purpose.
As Li Qian watched Chu Xiran leave, he fell into deep thought. Why would the three Admissions Officers tacitly choose to remain silent about something as important as the Dimensional Rift? Was there some hidden reason, or had he not met the conditions to be informed, or was it... a secret from high school students? Perhaps all of the above. He could always ask during their next communication.
There was still some time before his high school graduation, so there was no need to rush.
The next day, as usual, Grandpa An Tianyou arrived at the Breeding Facility with his Sun Devourer Tiger.
This tiger seemed to have developed a fondness for using its Intimidation Skill to oppress the carp during training.
At the end of each training session, it would display a reluctant expression, as if it were truly enjoying the pleasure of dominating its opponent.
Strangely, Grandpa An seemed to be enjoying the process just as much as the tiger, showing no signs of fatigue.
Witnessing this, Li Qian couldn't help but wonder if Grandpa An was a combat-type Beastmaster whose talents were overshadowed by his business acumen.
Unlike other days, after the training session, Grandpa An didn't leave immediately. He seemed to have something important to discuss with Li Qian.
Without hesitation, Li Qian followed Grandpa An's gesture and got into his car, which took them to the northern outskirts of Lingwater City.
The car sped along, and Grandpa An's patience was evident as he didn't ask any questions during the ride.
It wasn't until the car stopped in front of a desolate, weed-infested abandoned building that Li Qian turned to Grandpa An with a questioning look.
Grandpa An pointed to a large area within their line of sight and said, "This place used to be called Nova Pet Paradise."
"At its peak, it was one of the must-visit attractions in Lingwater City. Unfortunately, the owner of the attraction developed a gambling habit and squandered a lot of money, leading to financial difficulties and operational crises."
"I once considered taking it over, but the ownership of the land is quite complicated, and considering the potential risks, I abandoned the idea."
"Perhaps other buyers had similar concerns, so this land ended up becoming a white elephant, ultimately left untouched."
Hearing Grandpa An's explanation, Li Qian smiled and continued the conversation, "So, why are we here...?"
Grandpa An didn't immediately reveal the purpose of their visit but pointed to a distant, tall structure resembling a landslide.
Seeing Li Qian's thoughtful expression, Grandpa An continued, "Over there used to be a water slide, and the entire drop from the highest point to the lowest was a staggering eighty meters."
At this point, Li Qian fully understood Grandpa An's intention.
The next moment, as Li Qian had guessed, Grandpa An revealed the true purpose of their visit, "I plan to take over the water slide in the northeast corner. I'll publicly announce that I'm repairing it, but in reality, I intend to modify it. By adding another twenty meters or so, the drop will reach a hundred meters. At that point, we can create an artificial waterfall to meet the evolution requirements of the Green-Scaled Beast."
"There's one more thing, very important. The ownership of the water slide area is very clear, so there won't be any issues whether we lease or purchase it."
Li Qian nodded in satisfaction. This was indeed a good idea.
Although the Hundred Foot Waterfall in the Misty Mountain Scenic Area was an ideal evolution site, it didn't belong to him, and it was inconvenient to have to rely on others for each evolution.
Having a completely controlled evolution site would be the best option.
And so, he wholeheartedly agreed with Grandpa An's decision.
"Grandpa An, if we can get that water slide, it would indeed be a very suitable evolution ground for us." Li Qian nodded.
Grandpa An waved his hand, "No need to be polite, with the relationship between us, helping you is helping our An family."
...
After confirming the plan to transform the water slide with Grandpa An, Li Qian returned to the breeding base.
Arriving at the central pond, he watched Ah Long swimming in the water, occasionally leaping out of the water. Li Qian frowned and took out his phone, dialing a number.
Ah Long's condition was somewhat unexpected for Li Qian, and through Qi Zai's translation, he roughly understood the reason for Ah Long's state.
Apparently, after seeing Xiao Liu's evolution, Ah Long also wanted to evolve into a Frostfire Salamander, which caused its restlessness.
This put Li Qian in a difficult situation. Evolving into a Frostfire Salamander was not a challenge for him.
But Ah Long was originally aiming to evolve into a Green Scaled Dragon, and the training was already nearing its end. Changing the evolution route abruptly would render all the previous training futile.
Of course, these weren't the main reasons. The primary reason was... Ah Long was not his companion beast.
Ah Long was Liu Changfeng's reserve companion beast, and whether or not to change the evolution route was up to Liu Changfeng's decision.
Without hesitation, Li Qian dialed a number and conveyed Ah Long's wishes to Liu Changfeng after the call connected.
"This route can indeed evolve into a Frostfire Salamander, but it's also very risky. There's a fifty percent chance of failure, and if it fails, Ah Long may forever lose the chance to evolve."
Li Qian didn't hide anything and honestly informed Liu Changfeng about the risks.
On the other end of the call, Liu Changfeng was shocked for a long time.
In such a short time, Li Qian had already researched another evolution route for the carp, and the evolved form was the Frostfire Salamander, which had even higher potential than the Green Scaled Dragon.
After being shocked for a moment, Liu Changfeng finally reacted and fell silent in deep thought.
According to Li Qian, if they continued training in the current way, Ah Long would be able to evolve into a Green Scaled Dragon in at most half a month.
But if they changed the evolution route at this time, they would have to face a fifty percent failure rate. Although the potential would be higher if the evolution succeeded.
After thinking for a while, Liu Changfeng replied, "I can't make a decision now. I'll come to Lingwater City again tomorrow. Let's talk after I see Ah Long."
Li Qian nodded and responded, "That's good too!"
He kept his word.
The next day.
Around noon.
Liu Changfeng arrived at the Sunray Breeding Facility.
Unaware of the situation, Zhou Chubin and the other two thought that another competitor had arrived, and they were tense for a while.
After learning Liu Changfeng's identity, they felt more at ease.
Inside the facility.
Li Qian received Liu Changfeng.
He asked, "What do you think about Ah Long's evolution?"
"I'll go take a look."
Liu Changfeng still didn't give a reply. He quickly left and headed towards the central pond.
Li Qian didn't follow.
He wanted a result.
As for the process of negotiation, he didn't want to know and wasn't interested.
"Ah Long wants to evolve into a Frostfire Salamander, and his will is quite firm." Liu Changfeng replied in a calm tone, as if he was talking about a trivial matter unrelated to him.
Upon hearing this, Li Qian was momentarily stunned.
He shot an incredulous glance at Liu Changfeng.
"You... I don't even know what to say. Oh well!" Li Qian could only sigh helplessly.
To be honest, he never expected that Liu Changfeng would actually contract Ah Long at this moment.
After all, when he learned that there was only a 50% chance of evolution success, he immediately dismissed the idea of contracting Xiao Liu in advance.
Contracting in advance, and then enjoying the evolution feedback after a successful evolution, was indeed tempting. But if it failed, causing the carp to never be able to evolve again, would be equivalent to wasting a contract slot.
Of course, if one was willing to spend a huge cost to purchase soul-nourishing medicines, the backlash from breaking the contract could be minimized. In this case, it would be possible to reuse the contract slot.
However, the cost was too high for ordinary beastmasters.
Soul-nourishing medicines were always sky-high in price and in short supply. Whenever they appeared, they would be snatched up.
Aside from those who could withstand the backlash of contract breaking without harm, basically no one could reuse a discarded contract slot. This meant that no one dared to contract a carp before evolution.
After all, if the evolution failed, it would mean that for the next twenty years, a precious contract slot would be occupied by a useless carp, one that would most likely never evolve again.
But Liu Changfeng did this, and he seemed relaxed and carefree, without a hint of pressure.
Li Qian couldn't tell if he had confidence in himself, Ah Long, or Liu Changfeng.
"Why did you contract Ah Long at this time?" Li Qian asked, shaking his head slightly, even though he already understood Liu Changfeng's thoughts. "What if the evolution fails?"
"I have faith in Ah Long. It will definitely evolve successfully," Liu Changfeng said nonchalantly. "Moreover, my beastmaster talent is Soul Bond."
"At a critical moment, I can give Ah Long strength. I want to face this important step together with it."
"Alright then," Li Qian said, nodding helplessly as Liu Changfeng spoke with such confidence.
Li Qian was also aware of the Soul Bond talent, which could indeed help pets overcome challenges at crucial moments.
It was like having a pet and its owner share the pressure on a spiritual level.
With Liu Changfeng's willpower, he could indeed assist Ah Long.
"Then you should prepare well today."
After a few more exchanges, Li Qian finally gave his instructions, and Liu Changfeng left the breeding facility with Ah Long.
That night, inside the breeding facility, Han Yuying and Li Chengyang "interrogated" Li Qian.
Mother Han Yuying spoke first, "Son, how are you considering the Beast Mastery University?"
Li Qian replied while eating, "I'm still thinking about it. There's no rush. I have a good grasp of the situation and will take it seriously."
Li Chengyang suddenly reminisced about the past, and his voice turned somewhat sentimental, "Both of us have limited talents and never attended Beast Mastery University. In this regard, we can't offer you much advice. But we believe that you have the ability to make the most suitable choice for yourself."
Li Qian felt a bit embarrassed but sincerely thanked them, "Thank you, Dad, Mom."
Father Li Chengyang chuckled, "It's good that you don't blame us for not being able to help you much."
Li Qian also smiled, "How could I?"
"You two will always be my strongest support," he added.
"And I believe your talents are not limited to this. It was just that our family circumstances held us back in the past. Now that our financial situation has improved, I'm sure you'll also make progress. So, not only me but you as well, shouldn't give up."
"Our family should progress together."
At this point, Li Qian took the opportunity to ask, "By the way, Dad, what about your second pet?"
"Our family isn't short on money now. You can be bold and I'll find a way to help you buy it," Li Chengyang assured him.
Hearing this, Li Chengyang scratched his head awkwardly, "I do have a good target in mind, but it's a bit expensive."
Li Qian eagerly asked, "What pet is it?"
Li Chengyang hesitated, his face turning red as he spoke, "Clay Doll."
As a father, contracting a pet with the help of his son was indeed a bit embarrassing.
But Li Qian didn't think too much about it. He recalled what his teacher had told him in the pet knowledge class and nodded in satisfaction, "A pet with both Curse and Earth attributes is a great choice. Its evolutionary form, the Rock Puppet, is powerful in both long-range and close combat. Plus, with many control skills, it can influence the outcome of a battle."
(End of Chapter)
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