Ah Long’s current state took Li Qian by surprise. Through Qizai’s translation, he more or less understood why it was acting this way.
It turned out that after seeing Xiaoliu evolve, it had also gotten the idea to evolve into a Frostfire Salamander, which was why it had grown so agitated.
This put Li Qian in a difficult position. For him, guiding its evolution into a Frostfire Salamander wasn’t difficult at all.
But Ah Long was originally on track to evolve into a Cyan-Scaled Flood Dragon, and its training was already nearing completion. If they rashly changed its evolutionary path now, all the previous training would have been for nothing.
Of course, those weren’t the primary concerns. The main reason was... Ah Long wasn’t his Pet Beast.
It was Liu Changfeng’s prospective Pet Beast. Whether or not its evolutionary path could be changed was ultimately Liu Changfeng’s decision.
With this in mind, he didn’t hesitate to dial a number. Once the call connected, Li Qian wasted no ti and told Liu Changfeng about Ah Long’s wishes.
"This path can lead to it evolving into a Frostfire Salamander, but the risks are very high. There’s a fifty percent chance it might fail. If it does, Ah Long will likely lose the ability to evolve forever."
Li Qian didn’t hide a thing, laying out the risks for Liu Changfeng plainly.
On the other end of the line, Liu Changfeng was stunned into a long silence.
’How long has it been? Li Qian has already figured out another evolutionary path for a Koi Carp, and its evolutionary form is the Frostfire Salamander—a creature with even greater Potential than the Cyan-Scaled Flood Dragon.’
After a mont of stunned shock, Liu Changfeng finally collected himself and fell silent, deep in thought.
According to Li Qian, if they continued with the current training regin, Ah Long was guaranteed to evolve into a Cyan-Scaled Flood Dragon in half a month at most.
But if they changed its evolutionary path now, they would have to face a fifty-percent failure rate—even if a successful evolution promised greater Potential.
After thinking for a mont, he replied, "I can’t make a decision right now. I’ll make another trip to Lingshui City tomorrow. Let’s talk after I’ve seen Ah Long."
Li Qian nodded. "That’s a good idea."
True to his word.
「The next day.」
Around noon, Liu Changfeng arrived at the Jiaoyang Cultivation Base.
Unaware of the situation, Zhou Chubin and the two others thought another competitor had arrived and grew tense for a mont.
They relaxed considerably after learning Liu Changfeng’s identity.
Inside the Cultivation Base.
Li Qian greeted Liu Changfeng.
He asked, "So, what’s your decision on Ah Long’s evolution?"
"I’m going to see him."
Liu Changfeng still didn’t give him an answer. He strode off, heading for the Central Pond.
Li Qian didn’t follow him.
All he needed was a final decision.
He had no interest in the deliberation process itself.
"Ah Long is determined to evolve into a Frostfire Salamander," Liu Changfeng said, returning to Building One about fifteen minutes later with his answer. "I will respect its choice."
Li Qian nodded. "Alright. I can arrange for the evolution tomorrow."
Liu Changfeng’s choice didn’t surprise Li Qian.
In Li Qian’s eyes, Liu Changfeng had always been the epito of decisiveness and ambition. He was the type of person who would never pass up a chance to advance, no matter the risk.
Liu Changfeng nodded. "Then I won’t be leaving today."
After speaking, he suddenly seed to rember sothing and added, "Oh, right. Is it alright if I take Ah Long with today?"
Li Qian smiled and offered him Ah Long’s Beast Taming Ball. "No problem. Here you go."
"That won’t be necessary." Liu Changfeng waved his hand, not taking the Beast Taming Ball Li Qian offered.
This puzzled Li Qian.
"I’ve already signed a Soul Contract with Ah Long," Liu Changfeng explained calmly, as if he were discussing so trivial matter that didn’t concern him in the slightest.
Hearing this, Li Qian froze for an instant.
He then shot Liu Changfeng a look of utter disbelief.
"You... You actually... ugh!" Li Qian was at a loss for words, finally just letting out a helpless sigh.
Honestly, he had never imagined Liu Changfeng would form a contract with Ah Long at this critical juncture.
After all, when he’d learned there was only a fifty percent chance of a successful evolution, he had imdiately dismissed any thought of contracting Xiaoliu beforehand.
Contracting a Pet Beast before its evolution ant the Beast Master could enjoy the evolutionary feedback if it succeeded. But if it failed, leaving the Koi Carp unable to ever evolve, it ant wasting a valuable Contract Position.
Of course, if one was willing to spend an exorbitant amount on soul-nourishing dicines, the backlash from breaking the contract could be minimized. In that case, the Contract Position could be reused.
But that was a price ordinary Beast Masters simply couldn’t afford.
Soul-nourishing dicines were always astronomically expensive and incredibly rare; whenever they did appear on the market, they were instantly snapped up in a frenzy.
Aside from the top-tier Second Generation Beast Tars who could weather the backlash of breaking a contract unscathed, practically no one could ever reclaim a wasted Contract Position. This ant that almost no one dared to contract a Koi Carp before it evolved.
After all, a failed evolution ant that for the next twenty-so years, a priceless Contract Position would be occupied by a useless Koi Carp—one that could likely never evolve again.
And yet, Liu Changfeng had done it. He seed completely at ease, showing no signs of pressure at all.
Li Qian didn’t know if Liu Changfeng had faith in himself, in Ah Long, or perhaps, in Li Qian.
"Why would you contract Ah Long now?" Even though he understood Liu Changfeng’s reasoning, Li Qian couldn’t help but shake his head. "What if the evolution fails?"
"I have faith in Ah Long. It will definitely evolve successfully."
Liu Changfeng said unconcernedly, "Besides, my Beast Taming Talent is Soul Bond."
"At the critical mont, I can lend Ah Long my strength. I want to take this important step together with him."
"Alright." Since Liu Changfeng put it that way, Li Qian could only nod in resignation.
Besides, he knew of the Soul Bond Talent. At a critical mont, it could indeed help a Pet Beast pull through a crisis.
It was equivalent to the master and beast sharing the ntal pressure.
Given Liu Changfeng’s willpower, there was no doubt he could truly help Ah Long.
"Then you two should get well-prepared today."
The two chatted for a few more minutes. After Li Qian gave his final instructions, Liu Changfeng left the Cultivation Base with Ah Long.
「That night.」
Inside the Cultivation Base.
Han Yuqing and Li Chengyang subjected Li Qian to a joint interrogation.
His mother, Han Yuqing, was the first to speak. "Son, what’s the story with Beast Taming University? Have you given it any more thought?"
Li Qian replied casually while eating, "I’m still thinking about it. There’s no rush. I know what I’m doing with this, I’ll take it seriously."
Li Chengyang suddenly grew nostalgic, his voice tinged with emotion. "Your mother and I both have limited talent and never attended a Beast Taming University. We can’t give you much advice on that front, but we both believe you have the ability to make the best choice for yourself."
Li Qian felt a little embarrassed hearing this, but he still thanked them sincerely. "Thank you, Mom, Dad."
His father, Li Chengyang, chuckled. "As long as you don’t hold it against us for not being very capable or able to help you much, that’s all that matters."
Li Qian laughed along with him. "Of course not."
He spoke, his tone firm. "You two will always be my greatest source of support."
"Besides, I’m sure your Talent isn’t as limited as you think. You were held back by our family’s financial situation before. Now that things are better, you can definitely achieve sothing too. So it’s not just who needs to keep trying—you two can’t give up, either."
"We have to move forward together as a family."
Speaking of which, Li Qian took the opportunity to ask, "By the way, Dad, do you have a second Pet Beast in mind?"
"Don’t worry, we’re not short on money now. You can be bold about it. I’ll definitely find a way to get it for you."
Hearing this, Li Chengyang scratched his head, looking a little embarrassed. "I actually do have a good one in mind... it’s just... it’s a little expensive."
Li Qian pressed on, unconcerned. "What Pet Beast?"
Li Chengyang’s lips trembled, his weathered face flushing red as he finally mumbled two words: "Clay Doll."
As a father, having to rely on his son’s help to get a Contracted Pet Beast... it was admittedly a bit embarrassing.
Li Qian didn’t overthink it, though. He recalled what his teacher had taught in his Pet Beast knowledge class and nodded in satisfaction. "A Clay Doll, with its dual Curse and Earth Elent attributes, is an excellent choice. Its Evolutionary Form, the Rock Puppet, is formidable in both ranged and close combat. Plus, it has a lot of crowd-control Skills. Used properly, it can be enough to decide the outco of a battle."
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