Chapter 60: Chapter 58: Frostfire Salamander
Following Li Qian’s instructions, Zhou Weiping dropped him off directly at the entrance to the Jiaoyang Cultivation Base. Then, he ordered Mad Dragon No. 3 to return directly to the Public Security Bureau.
Inside Mad Dragon No. 3, he thought for a moment, then took out his phone and asked a colleague at the bureau to find Liu Changfeng’s number.
Once he had Liu Changfeng’s phone number, he didn’t hesitate to dial it.
The call connected quickly. Zhou Weiping smiled and said, "Captain Liu, hello. This is Zhou Weiping from the Lingshui City Public Security Bureau."
"Security Officer Zhou, hello," came Liu Changfeng’s hearty voice from the other end of the line.
"We’re all on the same side here," Zhou Weiping said in a half-joking tone, hearing Liu Changfeng’s formal reply. "About Li Qian and that Cyan-Scaled Flood Dragon... why didn’t you give me a heads-up last time?"
"That Cyan-Scaled Flood Dragon’s name is Qizai. You’ve seen it before," Liu Changfeng said, feigning confusion. "You were so calm last time, I figured you already knew all about it."
"Er... I thought it was wild..." Even though he knew Liu Changfeng was deliberately teasing him, Zhou Weiping didn’t know how to respond. He could only sigh in resignation. "I guess it’s my own fault!"
His tone was filled with emotion as he continued, "I never would’ve imagined that a high school student who hasn’t even graduated could figure out the evolutionary path of a Cyan-Scaled Flood Dragon!"
"My own assumptions got the better of me!"
"It’s not too late to find out now," Liu Changfeng consoled him. "Besides, Li Qian is from your Lingshui City. You have the home-field advantage. That’s something we at the Yunlan City Public Security Bureau can’t possibly compete with."
"But your Yunlan City is a Tier One City. Even if you can’t get a Cyan-Scaled Flood Dragon, you have other Pet Beasts with Dominator Level Potential to choose from."
"And even if you had no other options, you could just evolve your Fire Mastiffs and Wolf Vultures another stage to reach Dominator Level Potential," Zhou Weiping said, half-compliment, half-complaint. "It’s not like us, stuck in a Tier Three Small City like Lingshui City where resources are limited. Making any sort of progress is next to impossible."
"Brother Zhou, we’re all on the same team..." Liu Changfeng couldn’t help but shake his head with a wry smile. "The Fire Mastiffs and Wolf Vultures might be able to evolve again, but you know full well what that costs."
"Even if we use contribution points to exchange for it, we’re talking ten, twenty years before we could even hope to achieve it."
He paused, then continued, "Besides, even if the Fire Mastiffs and Wolf Vultures completed their third evolution, their Potential probably still couldn’t compare to the Cyan-Scaled Flood Dragon’s."
Finally, he added hopefully, "And since Li Qian was able to figure out the evolution from Koi Carp to Cyan-Scaled Flood Dragon, who’s to say he won’t discover an evolutionary path beyond it in the future?"
Hearing this, Zhou Weiping was still a bit skeptical. "Is that really possible?"
Deep down, he still harbored the thought that ’Li Qian just got lucky—a complete fluke.’
"I have faith in Li Qian." Unlike Zhou Weiping, Liu Changfeng was quite certain.
"Forget it. That’s all too far in the future." Zhou Weiping shook his head and brought the conversation back to the present. "I’d better focus on how to find a Koi Carp with high Potential."
Indeed, before he got out of the car, Li Qian had told Zhou Weiping the condition for breeding—the same one he gave Liu Changfeng: find at least one Koi Carp with high Potential.
"Hahaha..." Hearing that, Liu Changfeng remembered his own troubles and couldn’t help but laugh. "You’d better take that seriously. I spent quite a bit of time on that back then."
He knew all too well that while Koi Carp were easy to find, ones with high Potential were a different story.
...
That afternoon, a group of people arrived at the Jiaoyang Cultivation Base.
This was just as Li Qian had expected.
He had exposed the Cyan-Scaled Flood Dragon in public, and Zhou Weiping now knew that he had personally bred Qizai. With all that information out there, the Lingshui City Breeder Association would have to be incredibly slow not to react.
"Li Qian, hello. I’m the chairman of our Lingshui City Breeder Association, Zhao Qingquan." The one who spoke was the group’s leader, a balding man of about fifty.
Four others were with him, the youngest of whom appeared to be in his thirties.
"Chairman Zhao, hello. Please, have a seat." Inside a reception room on the fifth floor of the Cultivation Base’s Building One, Li Qian gestured to the sofa across from him.
After they were seated, the others remained silent. As chairman, Zhao Qingquan spoke again, getting straight to the point. "We’ve heard that you, Li Qian, have figured out the evolutionary path from Koi Carp to Cyan-Scaled Flood Dragon. We were wondering if you’d let us see it with our own eyes."
"Follow me." Seeing how eager they were, Li Qian didn’t play games. He led the group directly to the Celestial Terrace on the roof. Then, through his soul connection, he summoned Qizai, as well as Ah Fu, who was with Qizai in the Central Pond.
A few moments later, two large splashes erupted from the Central Pond as Qizai and Ah Fu burst out of the water one after the other.
"ROOOAR..." They each let out a draconic cry, then activated their Dragon Soaring Skill, arriving on the Celestial Terrace in the blink of an eye.
Li Qian held out his hand, and Qizai and Ah Fu took turns affectionately nuzzling his palm with their heads.
"This... this..." The five visitors from the Lingshui City Breeder Association had thought they were prepared, but seeing this scene still left them shocked and stammering.
"A prodigy, a true prodigy..." someone muttered, full of admiration.
Meanwhile, Zhao Qingquan’s eyes lit up, as if an exciting idea had just occurred to him. "To think that someone so young could possess such extraordinary talent for breeding!"
"You flatter me, Chairman Zhao." Li Qian was a little embarrassed by the praise.
Even though he knew that his current success was mostly due to his own efforts—with just a "tiny" bit of help from his Golden Finger—he still felt a little flustered by such direct praise.
"To be honest, seeing what you’ve accomplished at your age... it makes me feel rather inadequate." The man standing beside Zhao Qingquan, Vice Chairman Jiang Qilong of the Lingshui City Breeder Association, couldn’t help but add with a sigh.
After his sigh, he asked, seemingly at random, "So, which Beast Taming University are you planning on applying to?"
"In fact, with your accomplishments, you could easily get a direct admission to Kyoto Beast Taming University or Zhonghai Beast Taming University..."
"It’s still a bit early for that. I haven’t thought that far ahead," Li Qian replied vaguely. He already had a goal in mind, but he didn’t want to announce it to the world before he was actually admitted.
"Right, with your achievements, you could actually try applying for an Advanced Breeder certification." Understanding Li Qian’s reluctance, Zhao Qingquan immediately changed the subject. "However, Lingshui City is only a Tier Three City, so the highest we can certify you for here is Intermediate Breeder."
"Applying for an Intermediate Breeder certification is more than enough. I’ll have to trouble you with that, Chairman Zhao," Li Qian said with a grateful smile. ’As for Advanced Breeder... I want it, but I’m not in a rush. Once I have the skills, getting certified will be easy.’
"It’s my duty," Zhao Qingquan said in a warm voice.
After that, Li Qian gave the five members of the Lingshui City Breeder Association a brief tour of the Jiaoyang Cultivation Base.
Due to poor management, the Jiaoyang Cultivation Base was actually quite run-down. Upon seeing the state of the facility, the five visitors had a few ideas, but they quickly abandoned them upon learning that Li Qian had just acquired the property.
The five came and went quickly, staying for less than two hours in total—a model of efficiency.
The next day, a Sunday, Li Qian was still at the Cultivation Base. Around three in the afternoon, the people from the Lingshui City Breeder Association returned.
They brought his Intermediate Breeder certificate with them.
After explaining a few things about his rights and responsibilities, they left again without delay.
Li Qian returned to his office, turned on his computer, and logged in to the Lingshui City Breeder Association website. He navigated to the database and started browsing.
"I’m surprised the Lingshui City Breeder Association’s online database has such a large collection..." Li Qian murmured to himself as he browsed the materials within.
Just as dinnertime approached and Li Qian was preparing to stop browsing, a line of text appeared in his mind, instantly revitalizing him.
[Inspiration Value +5. Current task progress: 92%!]
Processing the message in his mind and looking at a picture in the documents before him, Li Qian couldn’t help but mutter to himself, "A Frostfire Salamander!"
