Jiang Xing went out to buy fruit and make energy cubes, not just to lure the Auspicious Cloud Qilin.
At the same time, it was also preparation for future research and breeding—
The Dragon Cube, made with Dragon-Scale Lychee as the main ingredient, had been a forced choice back when he lacked funding. At 5,000 per piece, it was far more expensive than ordinary fruits, but compared to other dragon-type resources, it was still quite cheap. The amount of dragon-type energy it contained was simply too limited.
With sufficient funding, Jiang Xing could completely switch to a better option—Water Dragon Fruit—to replace Dragon-Scale Lychee as the primary ingredient for energy cubes.
Secondly, when conducting experiments, a control group was essential.
Jiang Xing couldn't let all the Golden-Patterned Koi consume dragon-type resources. He also had to set aside a batch that would consume non-dragon-type resources and not learn dragon-type moves, to serve as control data during evolution.
That meant yet another new type of energy cube.
Moreover, although Jiang Xing's main focus for now would be completing his thesis, he wouldn't neglect the training of the Rainbow Dragon Hatchling.
When it agreed to the contract, it had wanted to become a true dragon. And the reason it wanted to become a true dragon was to become even stronger!
Simply becoming a Rainbow Dragon Hatchling would clearly not be enough for it to stop there.
It wanted to grow stronger still—to become like that majestic azure dragon it had seen through video while learning the Dragon Ritual Dance—a divine dragon of overwhelming presence, vast enough to blot out the sky.
With his own "child" striving upward like this, Jiang Xing would naturally not refuse.
What's more, once he completed his current thesis, the next stage of the Rainbow Dragon Hatchling would definitely become a brand-new research topic.
At that point, once he applied for funding, Jiang Xing wouldn't even need to spend his own money—the state would pay to acquire resources to raise his Pet Beasts…
So why hold back? Max out the resources and go all in!
Don't be afraid, little dragon—Daddy has plenty of money!
Because of this, Jiang Xing also needed to prepare some energy cubes suitable for the Rainbow Dragon Hatchling's growth.
Only after all that did he finally move on to making energy cubes for luring the Auspicious Cloud Qilin—specifically, cubes that matched its dual wind and psychic attributes.
'That's a lot of things to buy…'
There was a lot to purchase. Jiang Xing's funding hadn't arrived yet, and the money on hand was limited.
Fortunately, aside from Water Dragon Fruit, most fruits weren't particularly expensive.
He didn't need to buy large quantities at once—just two or three of each kind would be enough for testing formulas.
Pushing a cart full of fruit, Jiang Xing returned to the lab and began researching energy cubes—
Although the automatic Berry Blender could only produce ordinary-quality energy cubes—no matter how much you adjusted things, it couldn't produce perfect cubes—that didn't mean you could just randomly pick four fruits, throw them in, and call it a day.
After all, the fruits in the Beast Taming world weren't standardized, artificially uniform berries like in the Pokémon world.
The largest fruits could be as massive as heavy trucks—food for giant beasts.
The smallest fruits could be as tiny as grains of rice, consumed in large handfuls.
How could these two types of resource fruits be put into the Berry Blender for mixing?
There was only one answer.
Standard units.
First, define a standard unit of mass. Then divide the resource fruits into corresponding quantities.
Through this method—precise, rigorous combinations—it became possible to more accurately control the nutritional content contained within the energy cubes.
In addition, the attribute combinations of different resource fruits, the energy ratios of fruits with different qualities…
After detailed research, Jiang Xing realized that this was a field no less complex than Pet Beast Nutrition Science.
By changing the quantity of materials and adjusting fruit combinations—
Although the quality of the energy cubes remained the same, still ordinary—
Their effects improved significantly, and their flavors underwent tremendous changes, rising several levels at least.
Take the Rainbow Dragon Hatchling, the new-generation cube gourmet critic—
At the beginning, when it tasted energy cubes, it could still distinguish differences between them and pick according to its own taste preferences.
As Jiang Xing gradually refined the cube formulas, its comments became fewer and fewer.
In the end, no matter what cube it ate, it would just stuff them into its mouth like crazy, then roar—
"Mm!" (Delicious!!!)
Well, the Rainbow Dragon Hatchling used to be a Golden-Patterned Koi. Even if it had been the king of fish, it was still just the king of a small pond—it hadn't seen much of the world, and had only ever eaten premium fish feed.
Now that every energy cube was a supreme delicacy beyond anything it had ever dreamed of, it naturally ran out of words, leaving only one—
Delicious.
If it were replaced by Senior Su's Storm Sea Lizard—which regularly consumed all kinds of top-tier spirit food—it would probably still be able to give proper reviews.
And so, it was time for the second cube gourmet critic—
The Auspicious Cloud Qilin.
After completing a new type of energy cube, Jiang Xing would always "accidentally" head out to buy more fruit.
When he came back, the cubes would be gone, and a clump of qilin fluff would be left on the table.
From a small tuft… to a medium tuft… to a large tuft…
Until finally, combining them all, Jiang Xing ended up with a massive clump of qilin fluff as big as a car!
He was stunned.
Did the Auspicious Cloud Qilin really have that much fur?
But this was the limit.
In the surveillance footage, the qilin's mane had clearly thinned a lot. After that, who knew whether it had just given up—or was actually about to go bald…
It transformed from a conscientious buyer into a shameless bandit.
Every time it finished stealing the energy cubes, it would slap its butt and bolt—without leaving behind a single hair.
Jiang Xing lamented the decline of moral standards—even auspicious beasts had started eating without paying—while quietly initiating phase two of his plan.
That's right—despite making so many energy cubes before, he had never made psychic + wind composite energy cubes!
For the Auspicious Cloud Qilin, this would definitely be its favorite—and the most suitable top-tier feast for its tastes!
'To conquer a Pet Beast, you must first conquer its stomach!'
'Accept the bombardment of cube technology!'
While baiting the qilin's appetite, Jiang Xing prepared his ultimate lure.
Soon, the opportunity he had been waiting for finally arrived—
On the sixth day after applying for funding, President Zhang of Yuzhong University personally informed him that the project "Dragon-Type Evolution Forms of the Golden-Patterned Koi" had been approved.
The total funding amounted to seventy million.
Twenty million was allocated as cash, deposited directly into Jiang Xing's research account.
The remaining fifty million was provided in material form—
First, large quantities of resource fruits used for Pet Beast breeding, such as Water Dragon Fruit and Dragon-Scale Lychee.
Second, the construction of a private research institute for him near the Qunpu Scenic Area in the suburbs of Yuzhong City, along with the enclosure of a large surrounding area and the construction of a massive artificial lake as an affiliated zone…
That's right.
After nearly a week of waiting—
Jiang Xing, only twenty years old and about to graduate from his sophomore year, had finally obtained a territory of his own!
When he saw the marked area of the research institute on the map, a surge of bold ambition rose within him.
Before long—
The name Jiang Xing Research Institute would resound across the world!
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I will post some extra Chapters in Patreon, you can check it out. >> patreon.com/TitoVillar
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