Jiang Xing seemed to have spent quite a while observing them, but in reality, it only took around a minute.
Most of that time had actually been spent recalling information from the Pet Beast Compendium. The time he truly used for thinking was only a few seconds.
That kind of reaction speed had honestly been trained into him by the system.
Other things might require a bit of thought, but when it came to a "shiny Cubone," he instantly understood the situation.
Yet in Dr. Amru's eyes, it was utterly astonishing—
He had known Jiang Xing might be able to guess the answer, but he never expected him to figure it out so quickly.
Just a few glances, and he had already grasped the key point!
As expected of a pioneer of an entirely new field—this kind of scientific intuition was truly astounding.
"Correct."
Dr. Amru spoke with admiration in his voice.
"Sekhems are an exceptionally loyal species of Pet Beast. In fact, while still alive, they already fuse their souls together with their mates, becoming inseparable from one another."
"Once their partner dies, their own heart dies as well."
"It's both awe-inspiring… and deeply tragic."
As Dr. Amru spoke, he raised a hand and gently stroked the massive male lion beside him.
These gigantic beasts draped in bone ornaments, cold and ominous in appearance, instead lowered themselves to the ground like oversized cats, meekly bowing their heads while rumbling softly in their throats.
They displayed a gentleness completely at odds with their fearsome appearance.
Looking at the lion, Dr. Amru's eyes softened slightly as he continued.
"In your paper, Conjectures and Proofs of Friendship, you used the move Return to prove that emotional energy known as 'Friendship' also exists between Pet Beasts themselves."
"And through the bond between the living and the dead, you even managed to call the dead back from the underworld."
"You showed me that life and death are not opposites. Emotional power is the bond that connects them."
"That made me think—"
"If the sincere emotions between Pet Beasts themselves could become the power to recall the dead… or the strength that allows the living to move forward once more?"
"And among all Pet Beasts, Sekhems embody that concept better than any other."
"So I collected the corpses of deceased Sekhems and turned the lingering emotions wrapped around their bones into special items, linking them to the emotional connection of their surviving mates."
"And then… a miracle occurred."
Dr. Amru spoke a few words to the lions.
The male lion slowly rose to its feet, shook out its body, and released a deafening roar.
"ROAR!!"
Countless birds in the forest were startled into flight. Ripples exploded across the distant lake, while the dragon flock and bird flock all turned to look over.
Yellow sand began drifting out from the male lion's mane, while the bone ornaments hanging from its body clattered noisily against one another.
The sand lifted the beast skull resting atop its head—
And beside the lion, it gradually formed into the shape of a female lion made entirely of golden sand.
She nestled herself against him affectionately, rubbing her face against his cheek.
"The deceased Sekhem did not truly revive. But through the power of emotion, its lingering will condensed into a spirit and appeared upon its living mate!"
"The two became one and evolved into an entirely new Pet Beast: the Bone-Soul Lion!"
"And depending on gender, they display completely different powers—"
As Dr. Amru spoke, he turned toward the female lion nearby.
The lioness let out a low growl and shook her body as well. Purple-black energy symbolic of death emerged across her form, taking shape as the majestic outline of a male lion that enveloped and protected her within it.
Fragments of stone floated into the air and attached themselves to the phantom lion's body like armor, sculpting out its silhouette.
It displayed a completely different form from the male lion beside it.
Looking at these Pet Beasts, Dr. Amru became even more excited.
"Within them, life and death have achieved perfect fusion!"
"In the field of necromancy, this is a revolutionary discovery!!"
"This is my research result!"
Watching Dr. Amru's passionate speech, Jiang Xing could not help but raise his hands and applaud, his own expression filled with excitement and admiration.
This was incredible!
The award ceremony had ended barely a month ago, yet Dr. Amru had already completely digested what he learned and produced such a heavyweight breakthrough in the necromancy and artifact fields he specialized in!
Those two lions alone were enough to prove that the combination of the power of death and emotional power could become a force that drives Pet Beast evolution—and that living Pet Beasts could wield the power of death, even evolving directly into undead-type Pet Beasts.
Those two conclusions alone could branch into countless research topics.
As expected of a necromancy doctorate holder!
However…
While Jiang Xing was filled with admiration, he also began to understand why Dr. Amru had such poor public reputation and was often maliciously misunderstood by people who had never even met him—
The field of necromancy itself was an extremely sensitive domain.
Many people viewed it as a power capable of bringing back the dead and longed for it obsessively. Others believed it disrupted the natural cycle of life and death and saw it as a force that could destroy the world, rejecting it completely.
Research related to necromancy was naturally prone to controversy.
And Dr. Amru, perhaps because he had immersed himself in the necromancy field for too long, seemed to have lost some of his reverence toward death…
Or perhaps it was because he had been born in the dark age of the ancient Beast Taming world, where moral standards were weaker and people cared more about results than process.
For example, turning the remains of a beloved Pet Beast into an item to be used by a living Pet Beast…
To modern Beast Tamers—who treated Pet Beasts as companions and emphasized harmony between humans and beasts—that was honestly a little too dark.
On top of that, this kind of research was extremely easy for evil Beast Tamers to exploit—
For ordinary Beast Tamers, when facing a species like the Guardian Lion, the thought process would be: if one dies, help the surviving one evolve in order to save it.
An evil Beast Tamer's thought process would instead be: find a way to kill one so the other can evolve into a stronger Pet Beast.
Once someone actually did such a thing, even if Dr. Amru's intentions had been purely academic and he had never harbored such thoughts himself, he would inevitably be blamed and criticized all the same.
That was simply unavoidable for anyone researching necromancy.
Only people like Jiang Xing—those who had met Dr. Amru in person—could see the genuine love he held for his Pet Beasts hidden deep within his eyes.
'If this research gets published, it'll probably spark another wave of controversy…'
Jiang Xing felt somewhat conflicted. In his opinion, this research achievement was extraordinarily impressive.
If it failed to receive the recognition it deserved because of a handful of evil Beast Tamers, that would truly be regrettable.
While he was still tangled in thought, Jiang Xing noticed the look in Dr. Amru's eyes.
There was love for his Pet Beasts, pride in sharing his achievement, and even a somewhat showy sense of smugness.
But there was one thing absent—
Loneliness.
Yes, Dr. Amru did not possess the loneliness of an unrecognized genius longing for validation.
He was a world-renowned Beast Taming doctorate holder.
No matter how much criticism he faced, it could never erase his accomplishments.
On the path of Pet Beast studies, he had never lacked like-minded peers.
As for the opinions of ordinary people…
Perhaps he had never cared about them in the first place.
'He's a pure scholar. I was the one overthinking things.'
Jiang Xing relaxed inwardly, revealing a smile as he offered his praise without reservation.
"You truly deserve the title of Necromancy Doctorate Holder. To achieve something like this in such a short time… it's incredible!"
"I spent seventy-eight years walking the path of necromancy, yet my vision remained shrouded in fog the entire time. It was you who inspired me and allowed me to finally see clearly."
Dr. Amru shook his head.
Then, he smiled.
"Well then, now that you've seen my research results, are you feeling any pressure?"
"A lot of pressure!"
Jiang Xing nodded immediately.
Speaking of which, the attributes a Pet Beast gained after evolution were often influenced by the evolution conditions themselves.
That was especially true for item-based evolutions.
Since the Guardian Lion had evolved through the emotional bond between life and death…
There was a high chance it had gained the power to wield emotions—
Maybe it even possessed the Emotion attribute.
Should he remind Dr. Amru about it?
Seeing the smug grin and self-satisfied expression on the white-haired old man's face, Jiang Xing ultimately felt that revealing a brand-new attribute under the spotlight of countless spectators would create a far better scene—much more explosive.
Besides, the Friendship Evolution Conference was only a few days away anyway. Dr. Amru would find out soon enough.
Just imagining the scene at the evolution conference was already making the corners of Jiang Xing's mouth curl upward uncontrollably.
No, hold it in. Still can't laugh yet!
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