The topic of the Little Healing Fairy and Healing Honey ended up having even more staying power than the Rainbow Dragon Hatchling and the Abyssal Water Phoenix Fledgling.
It even spread into other countries and regions.
After all, no Beast Tamer from any nation would object to healing items that were both cheaper and more effective.
They wanted to cooperate with China, introduce Honey Attendant populations into their own countries, and bring the Little Healing Fairy all across the world.
During this process, the Beast Tamer Association once again played its usual "United Nations" role, serving as the bridge for communication between different countries and regions.
Of course, none of that had much to do with Jiang Xing.
His attention had already been drawn toward something else—
Amid the endless praise flooding social media, a small wave of readers had started demanding updates.
"Boss, hasn't the Rainbow Dragon Hatchling evolved yet?"
"Shouldn't it be time to finish the Rainbow Dragon Hatchling research project?"
"It's already been months. My own Rainbow Dragon Hatchling already meets the evolution requirements..."
It had already been three months since Jiang Xing participated in the Shanghai Evolution Conference and officially revealed the Rainbow Dragon Hatchling in the Pet Beast Compendium.
During that time, the earliest group of people who had raised Rainbow Dragon Hatchlings—such as Li Lingyin—had already trained theirs to the Mid Commander Level, fulfilling the evolution requirements.
Yet they still remained stuck right before evolution, not daring to evolve them casually.
The reason was simple—
There were no take-backs when it came to evolution!
The Rainbow Dragon Hatchling was a completely new Pet Beast, and its future evolution chain remained unknown.
No one knew whether its next evolutionary form would retain the Unceasing Heart talent, or gain a completely new talent that might be weaker—or stronger.
Nor did anyone know whether the Rainbow Dragon Hatchling only had a single evolutionary route, or whether it would branch into multiple forms.
Everything was still unknown.
What if they evolved it carelessly, only to lose the Unceasing Heart talent—or even change its attribute entirely?
Then the very next day, Jiang Xing released a paper revealing that the Rainbow Dragon Hatchling actually possessed an even stronger form and talent... yet they could no longer undo the evolution.
Wouldn't that completely shatter their mentality?
There was even a hypothesis within Pet Beast studies somewhat similar to Schrödinger's cat.
That is:
"Before a Pet Beast evolves, its potential remains unknown, existing in a superposition where countless forms are possible. But once evolution is completed and one specific evolutionary form is confirmed, those possibilities collapse. Future evolutions of that Pet Beast will begin following that same form, while the likelihood of other forms appearing drops drastically."
This hypothesis could not actually be proven, yet it was still widely accepted among many Beast Tamers.
Because of this, Beast Tamers who raised newly discovered Pet Beasts according to scholars' published papers usually would not rush to evolve them ahead of the scholars themselves.
They worried about accidental wrong evolutions.
They also worried that their own methods of raising the Pet Beast might not yet be perfected, potentially affecting its future potential.
Rather than gambling blindly, it was safer to honestly follow behind the pioneers and wait to copy the answers.
Once the pioneers fully explored the evolutionary paths and published the corresponding papers—
They could naturally consult the Pet Beast Compendium to decide which form they wanted their Pet Beast to evolve into, and whether they should use an Extension Stone to preserve the Pet Beast's original talent.
The Beast Tamers raising Rainbow Dragon Hatchlings had never dared to evolve them precisely because they were waiting for Jiang Xing to blaze the trail ahead.
And the reason they were now flooding his comments demanding updates was because they saw Jiang Xing publishing new results every single day, busy running around nonstop, yet showing absolutely no intention of advancing the Rainbow Dragon Hatchling project at all—
Sure, the boss was busy, but there was no way a project on the level of the Rainbow Dragon Hatchling didn't even qualify for the queue, right?!
If Jiang Xing kept pushing forward one brand-new research project after another without continuing the Rainbow Dragon Hatchling line—
Wouldn't their Rainbow Dragon Hatchlings end up stuck at the Mid Commander Level forever?
Please don't let that happen!
'It really is time to continue the little dragon's research project.'
As his very first Pet Beast—and also his first research project—
Jiang Xing undoubtedly held extremely special feelings toward the Rainbow Dragon Hatchling.
This was his true eldest son.
Naturally, he refused to let its evolution become some ordinary "growth-type evolution" that happened automatically once it reached the proper level.
In Jiang Xing's eyes, that wasn't true evolution at all. That was merely "growth"—getting fatter, receiving enough nutrition, and changing naturally with age.
Only a transformation like a butterfly emerging from its cocoon—a metamorphosis born from the very essence of life itself—could truly be called evolution!
Even if the Rainbow Dragon Hatchling had already crossed the Dragon Gate and transformed from koi into dragon, making it unlikely to undergo another change of that magnitude...
That still wouldn't stop Jiang Xing from training and striving toward that direction.
'If you dismiss a form as merely transitional and therefore don't bother designing a proper evolution path, don't seriously dig out all its potential, and casually complete the evolution... then the one placing shackles on yourself is you. That's wasting the Pet Beast's potential.'
'Since it's evolution, then every single stage should be pushed to its absolute limit. Every single stage should fully bloom with all its potential!'
'Only by climbing upward step by step like that is it possible to break past the peak of the Demi-God Tier and ascend to godhood!'
'If you can't reach the absolute limit at every stage, then what right do you have to speak of mythology?'
If the Demi-God Tier symbolized the divide between mortals and immortals—a boundary no Beast Tamer or ordinary Pet Beast had ever crossed—
Then Jiang Xing hoped the little dragon would become the first.
Only by reaching that step...
Would it truly have crossed the Dragon Gate.
…
Jiang Xing had already decided to begin the Rainbow Dragon Hatchling evolution project.
However, before designing the actual evolution plan, he wanted to first bring the little dragon to pay a visit to the Azure Dragon.
Originally, he had thought it would be enough for the little dragon alone to meet the Azure Dragon...
But after thinking it through carefully, Jiang Xing felt that he himself also needed to meet that legendary azure divine dragon.
Only by personally experiencing the majesty of the Azure Dragon could he truly understand what a real dragon was, and only then could he design a better evolution path.
After all, merely copying a cat to draw a tiger would never truly capture its spirit.
"Ah-li!" (Leave it to me!)
After hearing Jiang Xing's idea, the little qilin immediately patted its chest and agreed.
It had long ago promised the little dragon that it would bring him to visit Uncle Azure Dragon someday. Jiang Xing had simply been too busy before, so now was the perfect chance to finally fulfill that promise.
Besides, every time it went visiting, it always brought gifts for Uncle Azure Dragon, and Uncle Azure Dragon absolutely adored it.
Thinking of this, the little qilin called out again.
"Ah-li~" (Oh right, Jiang Xing, remember to prepare a gift for Uncle Azure Dragon.)
Bringing a gift when visiting someone was only proper etiquette.
Not to mention, being able to peek into the preferences of a Mythical Pet Beast through the little qilin—if word of that got out, countless Beast Tamers would be green with envy.
Jiang Xing agreed without hesitation and used their mental link to browse through the list the little qilin had sent him.
Jianbing guozi, roujiamo, stinky tofu, spicy pepper soup, soup dumplings...
Jiang Xing frowned.
Wait a second.
These are the gifts?
Mythical Pet Beasts eat this stuff?
So the two of you are actually just food buddies?
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I will post some extra Chapters in Patreon, you can check it out. >> patreon.com/TitoVillar
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