Chapter 96: Chapter 79: Ready
After sorting out the chain of events, Li Qian finally understood why Elder Tie had said that by entering Shazhou Beast Taming University, he would gain access to something countless times better.
Compared to an Unstable Rift, wasn’t a Dimensional Rift countless times better?
He also understood why Chu Xiran and the others had been so tight-lipped.
It was because this Unstable Rift was the private property of the families behind her, Zhu Bingqing, and Niu Fenjin.
To prevent others from getting a chance to meddle, staying completely silent was a perfectly normal move.
At this point, the situation was actually quite clear, but Li Qian’s brow hadn’t completely smoothed out.
He still didn’t know why the Mechanical Desecration Association was targeting this Unstable Rift.
’Is there something special about this Unstable Rift?’
’Or are they planning to use this Unstable Rift for something?’
If their target was merely the Unstable Rift itself, Li Qian wasn’t too worried.
He was afraid it would affect Lingshui City.
At this thought, he became even more eager to train.
With Elder Tie around, his own safety should be guaranteed.
But if he wanted to take the initiative and do something, he had to build up a deeper foundation of his own.
Elder Tie’s status was clear. It was already a great boon that he was protecting him. Li Qian couldn’t possibly ask him to follow orders and strike wherever he pointed. He knew he didn’t have that kind of clout.
Ultimately, he still needed his own foundation and strength.
「Three days passed in a flash.」
For these three days, Lingshui City was strangely quiet and peaceful. Absolutely nothing had happened.
It wasn’t that peace was a bad thing... but it was eerie. This wasn’t the Mechanical Desecration Association’s style.
Li Qian noticed this strangeness, but he didn’t say anything to warn anyone.
It was the same principle as before. Neither the Public Security Bureau nor Teacher Chu Xiran and her group were fools. If he could sense something was off, it was impossible that they hadn’t noticed it too.
There was no need for him to make a redundant move.
Li Qian was very clear about what was most important for him at this stage.
So, on the night three days later, at around ten o’clock, he went out with Fatty An, Elder An, and his father, Li Chengyang.
They arrived at the abandoned "New Star Pet Beast Paradise."
The abandoned park now looked quite different from when he had first seen it.
Although most of the area was still in a state of disrepair, the section near the northeast corner had been cleaned up. It had clearly undergone some renovations, and a surrounding wall had even been added.
The group got out of the car and approached on foot. Before they even got close, they heard the SPLASHING sound of rushing water.
"Is it already finished?" Although the evidence was right before his eyes, Li Qian still asked.
Elder An chuckled, saying proudly, "When it comes to Beast Taming or cultivation, this old man doesn’t rank. But when it comes to business, I do have a bit of expertise."
"In fact, the progress here has far exceeded my expectations. If it weren’t for the need for testing, it could have been handed over this afternoon."
Li Qian’s interest was piqued.
The old man continued, "The biggest challenge with an artificial waterfall is the water. Originally, we were planning to just use recycled water..."
So-called "recycled water" was, to put it bluntly, the same pool of water being used over and over again.
This kind of stagnant water naturally couldn’t compare to fresh, flowing water from a source.
Li Qian listened patiently as the old man continued without pause. "But three days ago, during an inspection, we accidentally discovered an irrigation canal near this water slide. It leads directly to the Lingshui River not far from here."
"So we just abandoned the recycled water plan and drew water directly from the canal. The only question is whether the artificial waterfall created by this volume of water will be enough for evolution."
Li Qian didn’t answer directly. Instead, he began to walk around the hundred-meter-tall water slide.
Watching the water rush down the slide, he nodded slightly. "It should be fine. As for whether it’ll work for sure, I’ll test it out tomorrow morning."
Besides that, he also planned to conduct other experiments here tomorrow.
He was going to set up a Frostfire Array here as well.
Since Niu Fenjin was seriously injured and still lying in the hospital, Li Qian had to set this one up himself.
Of course, this had been part of his plan all along.
If he set up a Frostfire Array here, he would have two locations capable of evolving Frostfire Salamanders.
This would not only allow him to arrange evolutions more flexibly but also significantly increase his stealth.
He planned to place this second Frostfire Array behind the water slide.
The water slide was a hundred meters tall. With its four chutes combined, it was seven or eight meters wide, making it perfect for concealing the Light of Evolution from a Frostfire Salamander.
Evolving them here would offer better concealment than at the Cultivation Base.
Li Qian knew that the Mechanical Desecration Association would absolutely not just give up and go quiet.
They were definitely brewing up some kind of plot.
To avoid getting caught in the crossfire, and to be able to lend a hand at a critical moment, Li Qian had prepared a large quantity of Evolution Materials—enough to support more than ten evolutions.
With his preparations complete, he drove alone to the water slide the next morning.
The water slide had been enclosed by a wall made of concrete and brick.
An opening had been made near the main road outside, where a guard post was built. Elder An had stationed trustworthy people there to stand guard.
He had given special instructions for today, so aside from the entrance, no one would come to disturb him within the entire water slide area.
Even Elder Tie had tactfully withdrawn outside this perimeter.
In reality, coming from a Beast Taming University, he understood such taboos better than anyone.
What’s more, Li Qian had only just received his invitation and acceptance letter; he hadn’t even enrolled yet. So, even though Elder Tie was extremely curious, he had no intention of prying, wanting to avoid causing any unnecessary complications.
Li Qian walked up to the water slide and looked at the fully operational artificial waterfall, nodding in satisfaction.
Through the two examples of Qizai and Ah Fu, he now had a certain amount of experience with the evolution method from Koi Carp to Cyan-Scaled Flood Dragon.
Based on this experience, he judged that the artificial waterfall before him should be able to support the evolution.
Of course, compared to climbing the Hundred Feet Waterfall of Cloud Mist Mountain, the difficulty would certainly be much lower. He just didn’t know if this would affect the Koi Carp’s strength and Potential after evolution.
This Potential might not be apparent on the surface, but if the Pet Beast were to become a Limit Breaker in the future, the impact would be enormous.
Some Pet Beasts that evolve by taking shortcuts might not even be able to reach their theoretical Racial Potential Limit.
Since he was already here, Li Qian didn’t hesitate. He immediately summoned Qizai and Xiaoliu, having the two beasts stand guard over the surroundings.
Then he released Tan Tou, Jin Yi, Jin Er, and Jin San, letting them acclimate to the environment in the pool at the bottom of the water slide.
After doing all this, he took out the Energy Stones and the materials for setting up the Frostfire Array. Taking a deep breath, his gaze sharpened, and he began the work of laying out the Array...
