Li Qian froze, his steps halting in their tracks. He stared at the mission panel before him in disbelief.
'What's going on?'
'Weren't those resources I listed just random guesses to make myself feel better?'
'Did it really complete so dramatically?'
'The Wind Element resource needed for the Koi Carp to evolve into a Cyan-Scaled Flood Dragon was really either the Wind Chime Fruit or the Golden Wind and Jade Dew?'
He stood there, stunned. It was impossible to say how long he remained like that before he finally snapped out of it.
'The Koi Carp's evolution mission... is it really complete just like that?'
'Completed so inexplicably!'
Yes, at this moment, besides shock and ecstasy, the main emotion Li Qian felt was utter bewilderment.
He had thought he'd be stuck at ninety-nine percent for ages. He never expected it to be finished after just a few hours!
All he could say was that some things were simply destined to be.
Thinking of this, he couldn't help but feel a surge of gratitude toward Tun Tun.
'This friend I randomly added, this group I randomly joined... they really came in clutch this time.'
Beyond that, Li Qian was also very curious.
The Wind Chime Fruit and Golden Wind and Jade Dew sounded simple enough—just two names. But discovering that they were beneficial to a Koi Carp's evolution must have required countless experiments.
'How did Tun Tun know?'
'Could she be some hidden master?'
He couldn't figure it out, so he decided to stop overthinking it and simply committed the favor to memory.
Now, he had another question to consider.
'Why is the completion progress 105%?'
'Why not 100%?'
It wasn't so much thinking as it was confirming—confirming a certain suspicion he had.
The Koi Carp's evolutionary path wasn't limited to just the Cyan-Scaled Flood Dragon.
There were likely two fixed evolutionary paths.
One path was to use Dragon Bone Powder, and either Wind Chime Fruit or Golden Wind and Jade Dew, to evolve into a Cyan-Scaled Flood Dragon. The other was to use the Blood Orchid Potion, plus some unknown potion, to evolve into an unknown Pet Beast.
Only this scenario could explain why the mission completion was 105%.
And only this scenario could explain why the Koi Carp's evolution required both Dragon Bone Powder and the Blood Orchid Potion.
Because the research on the evolutionary path from Koi Carp to Cyan-Scaled Flood Dragon was complete, but the other evolutionary path was not.
Just as he was deep in thought, a new mission notification flashed before him.
[Research Mission: Koi Carp's Method of Evolution. Current Progress: 105%. Submit Mission?]
Seeing this message, Li Qian thought for a moment, then shook his head and silently chanted, 'No!'
'There's no hurry to submit the mission now.'
'I should try and see if I can figure out the Koi Carp's second evolutionary path.'
'Most importantly, neither Qizai nor Ah Fu has met the requirements for evolution yet.'
'So there's no rush.'
'If Qizai and Ah Fu do meet the requirements, and I still haven't figured out the second evolutionary path by then, it won't be too late to submit the mission.'
Having made up his mind, Li Qian wasted no more time.
He got on his bicycle and rode straight home.
The night passed uneventfully.
The next day, Li Qian went to school as usual.
His morning class was Meditation.
Because graduation was approaching, and most of the students in the class had not yet awakened, everyone took the morning class with extra seriousness.
Li Qian even saw looks of anxiety on some students' faces.
Clearly, they were starting to worry.
If they didn't awaken before graduation, their future prospects would be grim.
No one wanted to face that situation.
Although Li Qian had already awakened, it had only been three days. He still needed to use Meditation to solidify his Spiritual Power, so he also completed the morning class meticulously.
During the two-hour lunch break, Li Qian didn't rest in the meditation room.
He was summoned to a small office by the grade's academic dean, Director Huang.
In the small office, Li Qian also saw a young man dressed in a black uniform.
The black uniform was quite familiar to him, as he often saw it on TV.
It was the uniform of the Public Security Bureau.
'What are people from the Public Security Bureau doing at the school?'
'And it looks like they're here specifically for me?'
Li Qian couldn't recall doing anything that violated public security laws.
"Hello, Student Li Qian. My name is Zhou Weiping, from the Public Security Bureau," the young man introduced himself.
Li Qian glanced at his uniform. "I can see that."
Zhou Weiping gave an awkward laugh. With such an obvious uniform, it seemed his introduction was redundant.
After a chuckle, he got straight to the point. "According to the information I have, you rescued a Sparrow-tailed Fish yesterday and took it to the Pet Beast Hospital."
Hearing this, Li Qian nodded. "Yes."
At the same time, he relaxed a little.
'So they came looking for me because of that.'
'Ten to one, something else happened after I left last night, and the Pet Beast Hospital notified the Public Security Bureau.'
With that in mind, he spoke up and asked, "How is the Sparrow-tailed Fish?"
"It's fine."
Zhou Weiping said, "It's in good condition and has received proper treatment."
After saying that, he glanced at Li Qian and continued, "Can you tell me the details of how you rescued it?"
"This is what happened..."
Over the next few minutes, Li Qian recounted in detail how he had found the Sparrow-tailed Fish the previous afternoon and taken it to the Pet Beast Hospital.
Zhou Weiping listened intently, occasionally jotting notes in a notebook.
'I just don't get why he's also using a voice recorder on the table if he's already taking notes in a notebook.'
After finishing his account, Li Qian said no more.
He looked at Zhou Weiping, his meaning perfectly clear: 'Are there any other questions?'
If not, he needed to hurry back to the meditation room.
Even though he had awakened, time was still tight, and he couldn't afford to waste any.
Zhou Weiping understood Li Qian's unspoken message. He thought for a moment, then asked another question. "You said you were training a Pet Beast at the artificial waterfall near the West Suburb Hydroelectric Power Station. If you don't mind my asking, what kind of Pet Beast were you training?"
Li Qian pursed his lips, showing no intention of answering. "I do mind."
"Er..."
This time, it was Zhou Weiping's turn to be embarrassed.
In truth, it wasn't that Li Qian didn't want to answer, but that he didn't want to be looked at strangely.
'How could he answer that question?'
'That I was training a Koi Carp?'
'Training a Koi Carp? For what?'
'To make it evolve?'
'If I told the whole truth, people would probably think I'd lost my mind.'
"Alright, it's fine if you don't want to answer that."
Zhou Weiping gave a sheepish smile. "I have one more question."
"Did you see the number on the Sparrow-tailed Fish's back?"
Zhou Weiping's words piqued Li Qian's interest.
"I did."
He followed up on the topic, asking, "I'm very curious. Why would a number like that appear on its dorsal fin, and who carved it there?"
Hearing this, Zhou Weiping's brow furrowed involuntarily. After a moment of silence, he spoke slowly, "I see you've already awakened. Even if I don't tell you, you'll find out about this matter after you get into a Beast Taming University, so I might as well just tell you now."
"I wonder, have you ever heard of the 'Black Divine Teachings'?"
Li Qian shook his head.
This was the first time he had ever heard of these "Black Divine Teachings."
"There's a lot of information about the Black Divine Teachings. I can't explain it all in a short time."
Zhou Weiping advised, "For now, you just need to remember that the Black Divine Teachings is a Cult Organization that everyone despises."
"They capture Pet Beasts and conduct all sorts of cruel and inhumane forbidden experiments."
At this, a look of realization dawned on Li Qian's face. "So the Sparrow-tailed Fish was one of their test subjects?"
Recalling the miserable state of the Sparrow-tailed Fish when he first found it last night, Li Qian couldn't help but make the connection.
Zhou Weiping nodded in agreement. "According to the information our Public Security Bureau has gathered, the Sparrow-tailed Fish you rescued yesterday was likely a test subject that escaped from one of the Black Divine Teachings' labs."
"The reason I'm telling you all this is because I want you to understand that although the Black Divine Teachings hides in the shadows like gophers, their power is actually terrifying."
"They are typically dressed in black robes, wear hoods, and cover their faces with ghastly demon masks."
"In the future, if you run into these Cultists, remember not to fight them head-on. You must notify the Public Security Bureau immediately."
Seeing how gravely Zhou Weiping spoke, Li Qian also nodded seriously.
'When my own life and safety are on the line, it's better to be cautious.'
After that, the two chatted briefly for a few more moments.
Before long, Zhou Weiping left the small office.
Li Qian suppressed the turbulent thoughts in his mind, did his best to act as if nothing had happened, and returned to the meditation room.