Chapter 187: Chapter 169: Golden Crowned Red Feather Chicken
Chicken Hair attempted to use the Skill, Light Absorption, but in the end, it only managed a rudimentary form of it, not a complete execution.
From a skill training perspective, the attempt was an undeniable failure. Because of this, a look of terror filled Chicken Hair’s eyes.
It expected to once again suffer the brutal torment of that Demon, Xiaoliu, but Li Qian’s reaction was somewhat unexpected.
Li Qian simply smiled warmly. "That’s all for today’s training. You did a great job!"
The praise left Chicken Hair a bit stunned and bewildered.
This time, Li Qian wasn’t hiding malice behind a smile or softening it up for a later blow; it was genuine, honest praise.
After praising it, he let Chicken Hair go.
Chicken Hair didn’t quite believe him at first. But after taking a few steps and seeing that Li Qian made no move to stop it, it couldn’t contain its glee. In the end, it took off, bolting away as fast as its legs could carry it.
Li Qian couldn’t help but shake his head at the sight.
’What an interesting chicken.’
’A bit too smart for its own good. It doesn’t even realize what a rare opportunity this is.’
After letting Chicken Hair leave, Li Qian went directly to Gao Yaxin’s research building—the one known as the Blue Building.
"Sister Yaxin, I need a stalk of Fire Cloud Grass." Upon seeing Gao Yaxin, Li Qian got straight to the point with his request.
A stalk of Fire Cloud Grass wasn’t worth much, but Li Qian didn’t have one on him and would have had to go out and buy it.
He didn’t have time for that right now.
Besides, at the end of the day, he was helping Gao Yaxin’s base with its Pet Beast research. Providing some resources was the least they could do.
"You’re going to evolve Chicken Hair into a Golden Crowned Red Feather Chicken." Hearing Li Qian’s request, Gao Yaxin immediately understood his purpose.
"Mhm." Li Qian nodded, not denying it.
"Alright." Gao Yaxin didn’t say anything more and simply agreed.
Having received her reply, Li Qian said no more and strode out of the Blue Building.
After Li Qian had left, Wen Wan and Lu Xiaoli emerged from within the Blue Building.
Lu Xiaoli frowned as she watched Li Qian walk away. "Yaxin, don’t you think you’re getting desperate and just grabbing at straws?"
She continued without pausing, "I don’t deny that Li Qian is a talented Breeder, but even a genius can’t be right all the time."
"And you saw how he treated Chicken Hair. Does that look like what a Breeder does? And then there’s Wu You..."
Hearing her partner’s words, Gao Yaxin’s expression soured as she pursed her lips. "Xiaoli, every Breeder has their own methods."
"Besides, strictly speaking, Chicken Hair wasn’t harmed. He was just trying to make it learn the Skill as quickly as possible. As for Wu You, don’t make wild guesses about things that haven’t even happened. Wu You himself hasn’t said a word."
Gao Yaxin defended Li Qian’s behavior. Though she had indeed been surprised when she saw it on the monitor just now, she had quickly come to understand.
She had seen such intimidation-based training methods before. Strictly speaking, Li Qian’s treatment of Chicken Hair hadn’t crossed the line.
"I agree. Li Qian’s methods might be a bit extreme, but it’s not a huge problem," Wen Wan added in his defense.
"Of course, that’s a minor issue. But there’s something else that makes me think he’s unreliable," Lu Xiaoli continued. "He only skimmed the research materials—he probably didn’t even finish reading them. We all know just how much material Yaxin gave him."
"Getting through that much information in two days would be incredibly difficult, even for a genius."
Lu Xiaoli continued her logical analysis. "Alright, let’s assume he did manage to get through all the material. He barely gave it any thought or analysis before proposing a new direction—one that’s completely different from what we were doing before."
"The most ridiculous part is that his proposed direction runs completely counter to the mainstream research in our field."
Lu Xiaoli concluded her argument. "So, you tell me: should I trust his word, or should I trust the most mainstream, authoritative research direction in the field today?"
Her argument was logical and clearly articulated, leaving both Gao Yaxin and Wen Wan speechless.
"He wouldn’t have any reason to deceive us, would he?" Wen Wan’s conviction began to waver.
"No reason? Don’t forget, once he figures out the evolution methods for the Cyan-Scaled Flood Dragon and the Frostfire Salamander, his demand for high-Potential Koi Carp is going to be astronomical." Seeing the grim expressions on Gao Yaxin and Wen Wan’s faces, Lu Xiaoli softened her tone. "Even if he isn’t deliberately trying to mislead us, this kind of subjective, baseless conclusion could still lead us down a dead end."
"Don’t forget, we don’t have much time to waste. The Changfeng Cultivation Base is about to be demoted in star rating." She added as a final reminder, "I suggest we just compile our existing results, publish them, and then use our family connections to see if we can influence the Breeder Association..."
"Wouldn’t that be... cheating?" Wen Wan asked, her voice filled with disbelief.
Lu Xiaoli shook her head nonchalantly. "It’s not like we’d be the only ones. Look at the young masters and ladies from the great Beast Taming Families. Their Cultivation Bases have nothing to show for themselves, yet their star ratings are as solid as a mountain, with no risk of demotion whatsoever."
Gao Yaxin fell into deep thought at her words.
With their status, pulling something like that off wouldn’t be difficult.
The only hang-up was the blow to their pride.
Back when they started, the three of them had been so ambitious and proud, brimming with confidence that they would make a name for themselves.
But to think they’d end up having to ask their families for help just to weather the storm... it was truly ironic.
Gao Yaxin neither agreed nor refused, her inner conflict obvious.
...
「The next day.」
Just as he had the day before, Li Qian brought Chicken Hair over again.
The sight of Li Qian scared Chicken Hair out of its wits. It instinctively tried to flee, but with Xiaoliu there, any attempt was futile.
Effortlessly, Li Qian brought Chicken Hair back to the clearing they had used for training the day before.
Looking at the terrified Chicken Hair, Li Qian chuckled, his smile just as warm as the day before. "Eat this. If you fail to evolve, then tonight, I’m having fried chicken."
"B-BAWK BAWK..." Hearing his words, Chicken Hair was so frightened it nearly leaped into the air.
It didn’t dare hesitate for a moment, immediately pecking up and swallowing the stalk of Fire Cloud Grass Li Qian held out.
As the Fire Cloud Grass went down, a faint Light of Evolution soon began to emanate from Chicken Hair’s body.
This was exactly what Li Qian had expected. The evolution from a Red Feather Chicken to a Golden Crowned Red Feather Chicken was, by nature, a very small evolutionary leap.
Even after evolving, its Potential wouldn’t break through to the Elite Level. For that reason, its evolution naturally wouldn’t produce a particularly intense Light of Evolution.
A moment later, the evolution was complete. Looking at the newly evolved Golden Crowned Red Feather Chicken, Li Qian couldn’t help but shake his head. ’This Golden Crowned Red Feather Chicken doesn’t look that different from a Red Feather Chicken. Except for the comb... it’s a bit ridiculous. It’s more than doubled in size.’
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