Beast Taming: I'm Really Not a Cultivation Master

Chapter 61: Chapter 59: A Dangerous Evolutionary Path

After entering the Lingshui City Breeder Association’s website database, Li Qian wasted no time and immediately began searching for information on Western Salamander-type Pet Beasts.

Because this type of Pet Beast was quite rare, the website didn’t have much information about them.

Just when Li Qian thought he would once again come up empty-handed, a Pet Beast’s name caught his eye.

Frostfire Salamander!

It was this Pet Beast’s name that triggered a reaction from the mission panel.

The moment his gaze landed on the information about the Frostfire Salamander, the progress for the research mission ”The Koi Carp’s Second Evolutionary Method” suddenly surged by five points.

’The mission progress is at 92%. I just need to invest another 8 Achievement Points, and I can submit it.’ Seeing the change, Li Qian was quite delighted.

He originally thought he might be stuck on this mission for a long time, since he didn’t have many leads.

He never expected that the sudden attack by the Cultists would open up a new path for him.

In the end, the five Inspiration Value points he’d just gained were all thanks to the inspiration he drew from his previous encounter with the Salamander Pet Beast.

Joining the Lingshui City Breeder Association and accessing its website’s internal database had merely accelerated the process.

Otherwise, even with access to the internal database of a Tier Three City’s Breeder Association, searching randomly without a clear direction would have been like looking for a needle in a haystack.

After a moment of thought, Li Qian stopped hesitating. He mentally commanded the mission panel and dumped eight Achievement Points into the task.

As the Achievement Points were consumed, the mission progress bar filled at a visible rate, reaching one hundred percent in the blink of an eye.

’Submit mission!’ Once the progress reached one hundred percent, Li Qian immediately chose to submit.

After submitting the mission, a familiar scene unfolded. A massive stream of information flooded into his mind, which he then digested and absorbed.

Li Qian closed his eyes, quietly processing the influx. An unknown amount of time passed before he opened them again, a complex look in their depths.

He had now completely mastered the evolutionary path from a Koi Carp to a Frostfire Salamander.

And it was precisely because he understood it—knowing all the crucial details—that his expression turned conflicted and hesitant.

If a Koi Carp evolved into a Frostfire Salamander via this path, success was one thing, but failure would bring severe consequences.

This path required using a Blood Orchid Potion as a catalyst to stimulate the Dragon Bloodline within the Koi Carp. Aided by a Frostfire Array, it would then use the impact of Positive and Negative Attribute Energy to break through the Koi Carp’s internal Mystic Gate, pushing it across the threshold of evolution...

This method of evolution was extremely dangerous.

Li Qian frowned as he reviewed the evolutionary information in his mind.

Generally speaking, evolving a Koi Carp into a Frostfire Salamander was much simpler than evolving it into a Cyan-Scaled Flood Dragon.

Of course, this was from the Beast Master’s perspective.

For the Pet Beast, while the steps were simpler and the cost was lower, the danger increased dramatically.

The evolution into a Cyan-Scaled Flood Dragon had aptitude and Potential requirements. If the Pet Beast couldn’t comprehend the Climbing Waterfall Skill, and its Fish Leaping Skill didn’t reach the Breakthrough Level, it could never evolve.

Correspondingly, however, this evolutionary path also had the fewest side effects.

Even if the first attempt failed, the Pet Beast would only need some time to recover before it could try a second, or even a third time...

But the path to becoming a Frostfire Salamander was completely different.

Theoretically, this path had no aptitude requirements.

However, under the violent surge of Energy from the Frostfire Array, failure to evolve would inevitably result in incurable internal injuries.

These internal injuries meant its path forward would be severed, destroying any future hope of evolution.

It could even perish during the process.

You could say that while the path from Koi Carp to Frostfire Salamander was a way to soar to the heavens in a single step, failure meant a direct plunge from heaven into hell.

For such a perilous evolutionary path, the rewards for success were equally terrifying.

Li Qian looked up information on the Frostfire Salamander and was shocked to discover that this Evolutionary Form’s Potential was even higher than the Cyan-Scaled Flood Dragon’s, reaching Tier Nine Dominator!

It was just one step away from the Emperor Level!

Of course, what seemed like a single step could very well be an insurmountable chasm.

And while this evolution didn’t supposedly depend on the Pet Beast’s aptitude, strictly speaking, it was still closely related.

That was because this step depended mainly on the Pet Beast’s willpower.

The stronger its willpower, the longer it could endure, and the higher the probability of a successful evolution.

According to the information in his mind, Li Qian learned that the average success rate for this evolutionary path was around fifty percent.

In other words, a fifty-fifty chance.

A fifty-fifty chance was no different from a gamble.

Li Qian shook his head, pushing the thoughts aside.

He hadn’t even mastered the Frostfire Array yet. Even if he knew the evolutionary method by heart, he couldn’t put it into practice right away.

Of course, he could also choose to hire a Beast Master who specialized in Arrays.

Li Qian planned to study it for a while first. If he learned quickly, he would set up the Array himself. If his progress was slow, he would hire someone to do it.

Now that he had mastered the evolutionary method for the Koi Carp to become a Frostfire Salamander, completing the evolution was just a matter of time. He was in no hurry.

With his plan settled, Li Qian finally turned his attention to his Achievement Points.

’Logically, since I completed the research and submitted the mission, I should have gained at least one Achievement Point.’

But in reality, his Achievement Point balance hadn’t changed in the slightest. He still only had one.

’It seems that missions completed by brute-forcing them with Achievement Points don’t grant any in return.’

A wry smile touched Li Qian’s lips once he understood what had happened. ’I worked so hard to save up nine Achievement Points, and now I’m left with just one. I’m right back where I started.’

’Thinking back, this mission was ultimately completed with an external boost. It’s understandable that my Golden Finger wouldn’t grant any Achievement Points for it.’

Besides the information on the Frostfire Salamander, the backend of the Breeder Association’s website contained a lot of other materials.

Li Qian spent the entire afternoon dedicating all his time and energy to this.

As dusk fell and he was about to eat dinner, he suddenly received a call from Zhou Weiping.

The conversation was just as he had expected... the chief of the Lingshui City Public Security Bureau had agreed to his terms.

In truth, anyone who wasn’t a fool would know what to choose in this situation, so he wasn’t surprised in the least.

This collaboration with the Lingshui City Public Security Bureau might have seemed like a loss for Li Qian, but in reality, he wasn’t losing out at all.

After all, the actual costs of evolution were fixed. Even if he only charged a ten million breeding fee, it was impossible for him to lose money.

Most importantly, he could ensure his parents’ safety, which was more important than anything else. With this protection in place, he could attend Beast Taming University with peace of mind.

Li Qian chatted with Zhou Weiping for a bit longer, asking him to pass along his thanks to the chief of the Public Security Bureau before hanging up.

As for Zhou Weiping’s comment that their chief would come for a personal inspection, Li Qian didn’t pay it much mind.

It was just another case of someone needing to ”see it to believe it.”

When the time came, he would just have Qizai and Ah Fu make an appearance.