Yan Hongchun sighed.
Her heart was set on Gu Ming. If it couldn’t be him, she’d rather wait.
In the adoption group, plenty of students who could afford to raise an Illusory Color Butterfly were waiting for her decision.
Lu You was just Gu Ming’s assistant during the national competition. Although she had helped with designing the Cultivation Technique, Yan Hongchun had watched the recording of that livestream several tis.
She knew that Lu You’s role had been minor.
The true creative frawork had been completed by Gu Ming. Lu You had rely fulfilled an assistant’s duties, handling the later revisions and checks.
In the eyes of others, the fact that Lu You could even keep up with Gu Ming was a sign of exceptional skill.
But she was already the top-ranked student in her third year at this university. The only ones who could catch her eye were the top few students from each school.
A national competition Champion Scholar like Gu Ming was exactly the kind of person she had in mind.
If it were Gu Ming, she would accept him even if he wasn’t the top-ranked student at his university yet.
Even if he already had two Pet Beasts.
She firmly believed that Gu Ming wouldn’t mistreat a high-Potential Pet Beast like the Illusory Color Butterfly.
However, right now, he was looking at it with an "I’m just looking" expression, showing no signs of greed.
Instead, it was Lu You beside him who, under her doubtful gaze, actually held her ground, mustered her courage, and stepped forward to say, "I want to be its partner."
One had to understand that saying those words in front of her required imnse courage and Willpower.
And Lu You actually did it!
Even the student behind them, whose na she’d forgotten, didn’t dare to et her gaze and stared at the floor the entire ti.
The difference was huge.
This ntal pressure was a test not just anyone could pass.
Gu Ming had been able to et her gaze directly from the very beginning, passing her ntal test right away.
Initially, Lu You wouldn’t have passed her test. But seeing her hold her gaze now, Yan Hongchun could feel a very distinct aura of Divine Sense coming from the young woman, like a sudden burst of courage.
That was rather unusual.
Awakening sothing as unique as the Divine Sense Sword Body at the Two-star Level showed that her potential was also out of the ordinary.
Just as Yan Hongchun was about to find a reason to politely refuse her...
The Patterned Ring Worm in her palm gently lifted its head. Its beady little eyes widened and sparkled as they t Lu You’s.
Both of them were adorable creatures. When their eyes t, it was as if sparks flew.
Lu You’s heartfelt desire—’I want to be your partner’—was also transmitted to it through her gaze.
The little Patterned Ring Worm didn’t know what the world was like yet. Living in its small nest, it had only felt the love of its mother.
However, it had also learned from its mother that it would soon be going to live in a new master’s ho.
The Patterned Ring Worm didn’t quite understand why it had to leave its parents to live with a new master.
But things had co to this point, and it couldn’t object. It could only imagine what kind of person its new family mber would be.
It had fantasized that they might be like its own mistress—a capable, beautiful, and dignified powerhouse of a woman with a commanding presence.
It had seen several Beastmasters who ca to the house to look at it: an expressionless woman, an ice-cold man, and soone who looked ferocious but was actually a little gentle.
But none of those people had been as interesting or made such an impact on it as the person before it now.
Watching Lu You tremble with nervousness, seeing how she used all her strength just to say those words...
It felt as if sothing was taking root and sprouting in its heart.
It couldn’t describe the emotion welling up inside it.
Without a doubt, it could feel her sincerity.
Besides, the larva of an Illusory Color Butterfly was a Spiritual Pet Beast to begin with. Its natural Talent alone allowed it to faintly perceive the emotions in people and things.
Who was sincere, and who had an impure heart driven by self-interest—even if it didn’t understand what "self-interest" was, it could still sense who liked it the most.
Among all of them, the one with the most desperate, most ardent desire, the one who was defying imnse pressure to ask to be its partner, was this adorable person before it.
The Patterned Ring Worm wiggled its body slightly, let out a few chirps, and said to its mistress:
"I want to be her partner."
Yan Hongchun froze for a mont, looked down at her little baby, and stroked it.
"Are you sure? Don’t you want and Mother Die to help you consider it?"
As Yan Hongchun spoke, she used her Divine Sense to communicate with the Illusory Color Butterfly beside her, telling it to convince the Insect Baby to reconsider choosing Lu You as its adopter.
In her opinion, this was the worst of all possible choices.
It wasn’t that letting Lu You adopt it was completely out of the question.
But with so many good options, why choose the worst one?
Even if the girl could withstand the pressure and make her request, there were plenty of other Beastmasters with Willpower as firm as her own. That alone wasn’t enough to sway her.
The Patterned Ring Worm couldn’t explain why, either.
Despite its mistress’s and Mother Die’s attempts to dissuade it, it could still feel Lu You’s sincere gaze continuously directed at it.
It was a pure, unadulterated hope.
That hope was weak, easily dismissed by everyone, yet she had still expressed it.
CHIRP—
"If I’m the one choosing a new family mber, I choose the person in front of ."
"Even though you’ve only just t?"
CHIRP!
Mhm! Mhm!
The two communicated rapidly.
The words and emotions, transmitted on a spiritual level, were sensed by Yan Hongchun’s Pet Beast, and then Yan Hongchun experienced them in turn.
Yan Hongchun was stunned for a mont. Lu You’s emotions reminded her of when she had first chosen her own Pet Beast, of her first eting with her own Illusory Color Butterfly larva.
Back then, she also didn’t have enough money and had very few connections.
She had also adopted a Pet Beast during her university years, winning over the larva with her sincerity. That was how she ca to have her Illusory Color Butterfly, and how she beca who she was today.
She never would have imagined that now, having reached the top of her year and about to enter a new school year with a wealth of honors and abilities to aim even higher...
...she would be looking for an adopter to avoid being bogged down by the costs of raising a Pet Beast cub.
And now, Lu You was standing before her as a new-generation adoption candidate.
’So weak, so pitiful, with so many flaws. She seems overly dependent on others, with little opinion of her own.’
’Is an adopter like this really qualified?’
’Is a sincere heart really all it takes?’
She asked herself again and again.
She glanced at her Illusory Color Butterfly, then at the larva, and finally stopped to ask Lu You:
"Can you give it a good life?
"I’m talking about cultivation resources, and your dedication.
"That you’ll never abandon it for its entire life, and that you’ll find new Cultivation Techniques for it in the future that will allow it to display its full abilities."
With almost no hesitation, Lu You trembled and nodded fiercely.
Things had co to this. She had no path of retreat; her only option was to et sincerity with sincerity.
The Patterned Ring Worm in Yan Hongchun’s palm broke into a smile.
It had once again felt the sincerity coming from Lu You.
Even Yan Hongchun’s Pet Beast, the Illusory Color Butterfly, gently twitched its antennae, relaying the Insect Baby’s voice, which translated to:
"Mistress, why not give her a try first?"
Yan Hongchun thought for a long while. Flashes of her own first year in university flickered through her mind, along with the image of Lu You’s timid yet determined expression.
’What a contradictory personality.’
’How can a person be so weak and introverted, yet at the sa ti have the courage to step forward and answer under her ntal pressure?’
"I’ll help develop its Cultivation Technique," Gu Ming said at the right mont, backing Lu You up.
"Fine."
Yan Hongchun said, walking up to Lu You.
"I’ll be checking in on you regularly.
"If you ever raise it improperly or neglect it, I will take it back imdiately. Do you understand?"
Lu You was so happy she began to cry, tears welling up in her eyes.
This was the first ti she had ever stuck to her convictions under soone’s intensely skeptical gaze and finally gotten the answer she wanted.
How could she not be moved?
"Yes! I promise!"
She had already used all her strength, speaking in the loudest voice she could manage.
To others, it was only the volu of a normal person speaking.
But in Lu You’s world, that was the loudest sound she could possibly make.
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