Su Muli's reaction was exactly how Beast Tamers—especially Water-type Beast Tamers—were feeling at that moment.
This year's Friendship Evolution Conference had been an enormous success, producing many shocking research results. The discovery of an entirely new attribute, in particular, had sent shockwaves across the world.
That very day, countries and regions all over the globe reposted recordings of the Friendship Evolution Conference.
Jiang Xing's name also began spreading to other regions.
However...
Once the Beast Tamers of China gradually calmed down from the shock of the new attribute, they suddenly realized something.
"Where's my Abyssal Water Phoenix Fledgling?! And my Mysticfeather Peacock?!"
"Out of Ugly Waterfowl's three evolution forms, Jiang Xing only revealed Clouddown Bird? Did the other two evolutions get eaten or something?!"
"No, wait, the Evolution Conference is already over? What happened to revealing all the information?"
"You bastard!!"
If the Abyssal Water Phoenix Fledgling had just been an ordinary Pet Beast, it would have been one thing.
People would simply assume Jiang Xing was too busy. After unveiling such heavyweight research results, maybe he had accidentally left them out and would publish the information later.
But the Pet Beast Compendium entry for the Abyssal Water Phoenix Fledgling had already been unlocked, and together with the videos many visitors recorded during the conference—
People already knew this was an ultra-premium Pet Beast capable of becoming the ace of a Water-type team!
Countless Water-type Beast Tamers had already decided to raise an Abyssal Water Phoenix Fledgling to strengthen their Water-type lineups...
Only to discover at a time like this—
That Jiang Xing had never revealed the evolution requirements.
They had no idea how to raise an Abyssal Water Phoenix Fledgling.
How was this any different from reaching the climax of a story, only for the screen to suddenly flash: To Be Continued?
The Water-type Beast Tamers completely lost it. They all flooded Jiang Xing's social media accounts, demanding updates and begging him to hurry up and release the evolution method. Every last one of them turned into raging monkeys.
At that point, the Fire-type Beast Tamers were the ones grinning smugly.
Not only were they loudly supporting Jiang Xing and hoping he could withstand the pressure instead of casually revealing the evolution method—
They also rushed to the social media accounts of China's official authorities and the Beast Tamer Association, strongly recommending that the Abyssal Water Phoenix Fledgling and its evolution forms be classified as "Forbidden Beasts," banning them from all competitions.
Their true intentions could not have been more obvious.
This immediately triggered a counterattack from the Water-type Beast Tamers. The two sides erupted into all-out warfare across social media platforms, to the point that they were practically one step away from arranging real-life fights.
Well, the only reason no offline fights happened...
Was because the Fire-type Beast Tamers refused.
Did they seriously think Fire-type Beast Tamers were masochists who enjoyed fighting against unfavorable attribute matchups?
And the dispute between both sides was itself proof of the Abyssal Water Phoenix Fledgling's influence—
Because Beast Tamers could not casually replace their Pet Beasts due to the existence of Beast Contracts, and contracts themselves had a limit, most Beast Tamers would usually specialize in a single attribute as they grew stronger.
Among all the attributes, excluding the Bug type—which practically nobody cared about—
Metal, Wood, Water, Fire, and Earth were the five most popular and influential attributes.
More than eighty percent of Beast Tamers built their teams around those five attributes.
Under such circumstances, the birth of the Abyssal Water Phoenix Fledgling would undoubtedly disrupt the existing battle balance, pushing the already tilted scales between Water and Fire Beast Tamers even further out of balance.
And naturally, it would also affect the other attributes to some extent.
Just from theoretical analysis alone, its impact on competitive battles already far surpassed that of the Rainbow Dragon Hatchling.
After all, the Rainbow Dragon Hatchling was relatively universal. Even if you couldn't beat it, you could still add one to your own team and treat it as filling out your lineup.
The Abyssal Water Phoenix Fledgling, however, was different—it was exclusive to Water-Phoenix Beast Tamers.
If Beast Tamers of other attributes contracted one and summoned it, it would instead disrupt their own team composition.
Under those circumstances, the war of insults between Water and Fire Beast Tamers, with the other Beast Tamers gleefully fanning the flames from the sidelines, was actually a miniature reflection of the overall situation.
Of course, the storms raging online originally had no effect on Jiang Xing whatsoever.
He could simply turn off his phone. If he wanted to disappear for a while, then disappear he would. The Beast Tamers had no way to find him personally—
There were even police patrols stationed around the outskirts of the research institute to prevent any accidents from happening to the scholars.
Unfortunately, there happened to be a Water-type King-Class Beast Tamer who not only knew where the research institute was, but could also personally come knocking at the door...
Which made things extremely awkward.
At that moment, Su Muli gritted her teeth and said: "Half a month ago, you said you were going to reveal the evolution method during the conference... and now you forgot?"
"Uh, it wasn't intentional." Jiang Xing scratched his head and explained helplessly. "I originally planned to research that, but then I discovered the new attribute..."
Before Jiang Xing could finish speaking, Su Muli instantly understood.
The frustration of being stood up gradually subsided.
Clearly, the process of Jiang Xing researching the Emotion attribute had not been nearly as simple as what he demonstrated during the conference.
It had consumed all of his energy, to the point that he failed to complete the topic he originally intended to research.
Jiang Xing immediately continued: "Besides, the evolution requirements for the Abyssal Water Phoenix Fledgling are far harsher than those of the Rainbow Dragon Hatchling. Ugly Waterfowl themselves also reproduce with great difficulty, and their population is extremely small. There probably aren't many left in the wild anymore..."
"So even if I reveal the evolution conditions immediately, there probably won't be any new Abyssal Water Phoenix Fledglings appearing anytime soon."
"This is an extremely rare type of Pet Beast."
That also matched Pet Beast studies: Phoenix-type creatures were far rarer than Dragon-types to begin with.
Su Muli was successfully persuaded, but she still felt somewhat unwilling to let it go.
After all, an all-purpose domain-type Pet Beast was simply too enormous a reinforcement for Water-type teams.
She was not only a researcher, but also a Water-type King-Class Beast Tamer who genuinely loved Pet Beast battles.
She truly liked the Abyssal Water Phoenix Fledgling and wanted to raise one herself.
At that moment, after pondering for a while, Jiang Xing suddenly spoke.
"Actually, Senior Sister, it's not impossible for you to raise an Abyssal Water Phoenix Fledgling."
"I'm currently planning to raise a new batch of Ugly Waterfowl to further refine the evolution conditions for the Abyssal Water Phoenix Fledgling and the Mysticfeather Peacock."
"If you're willing, you can stay here and work together with me on the breeding process..."
Su Muli's eyes instantly lit up.
That was right. If Jiang Xing wanted to write his paper, then at the very least, he needed to successfully raise another Abyssal Water Phoenix Fledgling to prove it wasn't just a one-time anomaly, while also refining the evolution requirements.
As long as she stayed here, she would have a chance to contract the Phoenix fledgling she had always dreamed of!
There was no need to even think about the answer to this question.
"What do you need me to do?"
Ugly Waterfowl had a very low Species Tier, so they matured extremely quickly. They could evolve within half a month.
As for her own research project, putting it on hold for a while would not be a problem.
"Just help train their moves." Jiang Xing said, "The most critical factor in the evolution conditions for the Abyssal Water Phoenix Fledgling and the Mysticfeather Peacock should be Beauty."
"So for now, let's temporarily eliminate the influence of Friendship and try Beauty-based evolution instead."
"If the evolution fails, then we'll consider adding new conditions afterward..."
"Oh right, Senior Sister, your latest research results are extremely good. I really like them. We could try seeing whether it's possible to create exclusive 'Beauty-type moves' for them..."
"And the Honey Attendant on my side also needs your help designing Emotion-type moves..."
"Wait, wait, wait?!!"
Su Muli interrupted Jiang Xing with a face full of shock.
"What are you talking about? What Beauty evolution? What Beauty-type moves? Wasn't this supposed to be Friendship?"
"Oh? I guess I forgot to mention it."
Jiang Xing slapped his forehead and laughed in realization.
"Besides Friendship, I also discovered another hidden power that is similar, yet fundamentally completely different."
"I've named it 'Beauty.'"
Su Muli froze.
What the hell is this guy even talking about?
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