Who Agrees, Who Objects?

Wasn't this student Mi Xiaoyu being taught by a teacher named Wang Ze? Where on earth had this miracle worker Teacher Luo Yu from an extracurricular tutoring class popped up from? The school leaders were utterly bewildered. Who was that again? Why did the name sound so familiar? Naturally, no one immediately thought of the fifteen-year-old Luo Yu—that age didn't seem remotely connected to being a teacher. "Luo Yu from the Luo Yu Research Institute?" Director Yu Lei probed. He remembered the names of everyone on Jingyue Island, and there was only one person named Luo Yu. "Mhm." Mi Xiaoyu nodded repeatedly, a smile spreading across her chubby cheeks. In reality, the swelling was from being stung by Honey-Water Bees; Luo Yu had discovered that stings intended for Five Senses Enhancement yielded the best results on the face, offering the most noticeable improvement to vision and hearing. Everyone fell silent. "Since when did Luo Yu become a teacher!" Director Yu Lei asked, lost in confusion. Wasn't Luo Yu supposed to be working on breeding medical inkfish? How did he end up running an extracurricular tutoring class! "Are you saying your Coiling Wind Worm became this formidable entirely because of Scholar Luo Yu's tutoring?" a vice principal asked, questioning her very grasp on reality. She had spent half her life working in education, and honestly speaking, this defied common sense. Shouldn't standard training dictate feeding a pet beast until it evolved before even considering combat? What kind of training had a worm leaping straight up to tear into a zombie beast? What extracurricular tutoring class took such a wild approach? Was it even legit?! "All right..." Yu Lei had already sensed something was off, but with the exam underway, it wasn't the right time for an interrogation. He said, "Let's continue observing the others first... By the way, how many students are in this tutoring class of yours?" "Counting me, three..." Mi Xiaoyu murmured. "The other two are actually much stronger than I am..." *There are even more experts?* The school leaders exchanged glances. Among this batch of freshmen, several came from wealthy families. Their parents were elites in the major fleets who had drained their savings to buy their children Upper Common Species. No matter how troublesome the zombie sea beasts were, crossing one species rank was relatively simple, though leaping across two was far harder. Yet the performances of those students contracted to Upper Common Species were not the most dazzling. The teachers and students present knew that their success relied purely on species superiority. Three students, however, achieved the exact same overpowering results using lower-tier pet beasts—an achievement that shone far brighter from a training perspective. Mi Xiaoyu was one... Then came Zhuang Feng, contracted to a Wave Dog... It was the first time the faculty and students had ever seen a Wave Dog neglect its teeth to train its claws instead. Was this creature a dog or a cat? Yet judging by both the process and the result, this Wave Dog performed brilliantly. Not only did it effortlessly match the zombie frog's movements, but the moment the frog attacked, it severed the creature's tongue with a swift, clean swipe of its paw. A torrent of water flashed across its claws like a blue sword light. Water Cleave: Decapitation! The zombie frog's head went flying along with it. Many students contracted to Wave Dogs parted their mouths in shock, wondering if they had trained their beasts along the wrong path entirely. Could claws truly be better than teeth? Then came Bing Liang with his Cold Mist Lizard, showing off pure technique! An icy fog froze beneath the lizard's feet, forming skate-like runners. It actually began ice skating across the arena! Even on such an unstable surface, the large lizard displayed terrifying agility, kiting the Licker in wide circles. While several students were capable of killing a zombie frog, very few could toy with a zombie beast the way he did. "Why does this extracurricular tutoring class feel like it teaches better than the school's elite faculty?" Director Yu Lei's words struck like a thunderclap, leaving the school leaders drenched in cold sweat. Indeed, they wanted to know too! Why was that?! *** That very day, Luo Yu was summoned before Director Yu Lei. "Yes, I'm the one who did it. I simply appraised their pet beasts' talents. That Wave Dog had a secondary mutation in its claws, the Cold Mist Lizard has a talent for speed, and the Coiling Wind Worm possesses an Ice-element talent." Luo Yu's battle coat fluttered lightly in the breeze. "My eyesight hasn't failed me yet..." Yu Lei took a heavy drag from his cigarette. "This isn't something achieved merely by pointing out training directions or developing latent talents. Under normal circumstances, how could a Coiling Wind Worm slam its body against the ground and vault several meters into the air? What is it, a jumping spider?" "A Level 6 Wave Dog is still only Level 6. Condensing a high-pressure torrent with that kind of flow rate demands immense physical strength and defense, yet its body bore the strain with ease... That can't be explained away solely by well-developed claws." "As for the Cold Mist Lizard, the balance it displayed while skating on ice cannot be mastered overnight. It requires sharp eyesight, muscular power, and a nervous system extraordinarily sensitive to the environment!" "Physical power, physical defense, and their five senses... Across those three attributes, those three pet beasts acted as if they had transformed into entirely different species!" Yu Lei analyzed. *A true expert.* Sure enough, reaching the rank of director meant he really had something under his belt. Luo Yu remarked with admiration, "They did indeed undergo specialized training targeting those three attributes..." "What specialized training?" Yu Lei pressed immediately. "Can this training method be popularized?" If it could be extended to every student, the caliber of this graduating class would reach unimaginable heights. Growth in strength snowballed; by building a rock-solid foundation early on, their advantages would only compound. "Well..." Luo Yu showed a look of reluctance. "In truth, this training method is still only in the experimental stage. It's tied to a new Honey-Water Bee research project I'm conducting. How about this, Director? It's getting late today. I will deliver a comprehensive report on this research at tomorrow's research report meeting." "I'll bring along all the training data then." Yu Lei froze. *A new... research project?!* He sank into contemplation. *Where did another new research project come from?!* Wasn't the Luo Yu Research Institute supposed to be focusing on breeding inkfish this past month? Besides, with the medical inkfish breeding, Yu Lei could chalk it up to Luo Yu taking over the groundwork left behind by Scholar Luo Shui and his wife to finish the final step. But the Honey-Water Bees... had the Luoshui Research Institute ever studied Honey-Water Bees before? He couldn't recall! *** The next day brought the September research report meeting. The directors of the various research institutes gathered once more. Every one of them walked with unsteady steps, thermos flasks clutched in hand; evidently, researching the ancient stone caverns had taken a heavy toll on them all. Once everyone was seated, Director Yu Lei didn't even light a cigarette, immediately prompting Luo Yu, "All right, hurry up and report your findings!" Seeing Director Yu Lei's impatience, Chen Zhuo and the other researchers mused to themselves that the director was remarkably invested in the medical inkfish breeding project... He hadn't even spared a glance for the others before jumping straight to Luo Yu's progress... "Very well. I will now present the Luo Yu Research Institute's report on the Honey-Water Bee..." The moment Luo Yu finished speaking, Crossbreeding Granny Bai Dong started. "The Honey-Water Bee?" She wondered if Luo Yu had slipped up and said Honey-Water Bee instead of inkfish. "It is indeed the Honey-Water Bee," Director Yu Lei affirmed. This was precisely what he wanted to hear. Inkfish breeding was already on track; right now, this Honey-Water Bee training method interested him far more! "The Honey-Water Bee is a new mutated beast currently under study at my institute..." Luo Yu continued. "Our research revealed that certain individuals among the Honey-Water Bees have undergone mutations. The effects of these mutations are substantial enough to rewrite the landscape of Jingyue Island's education sector." Aside from the director, the other institute heads were left dumbfounded. What did he mean, the Luo Yu Research Institute was researching an entirely new mutated beast? What about the fish! Had he abandoned them? Besides, hadn't he just spearheaded a revolution in Jingyue Island's medical sector? How had he dragged education into this now?! "These mutated individuals possess venom in their stingers that enhances certain attributes of other organisms—such as strength, defense, sight, and hearing." "Consequently, it occurred to me that we could exploit this trait to strengthen both Beast Masters and pet beasts. I have named this the 'Sting Training Method.'" "Are you saying that by having Honey-Water Bees sting Beast Masters and pet beasts with their venom, both will grow stronger?" Chen Zhuo asked. "Could such a thing be real? Is it effective? What about side effects?!" As a researcher focusing on the enhancement links between humans and mutated beasts, Chen Zhuo was exceptionally sensitive to any mutated beast abilities that produced positive effects on the human body. Luo Yu replied, "It works, and the results are outstanding." "Beyond testing it personally, I took on three students, all of whom are freshmen at the Beast Taming school this year." "I trained them using this method for less than half a month..." "And just yesterday, all three delivered remarkable performances during the freshman assessment. The director witnessed it in person." Every pair of eyes shifted toward Director Yu Lei. Director Yu Lei nodded. "Indeed... From what I gathered, those three students previously ranked around the middle of the pack among the five hundred-plus freshmen." "Yet during yesterday's assessment, their pet beasts—whether the lower-tier Coiling Wind Worm and Wave Dog or the mid-tier Cold Mist Lizard—demonstrated overwhelming dominance when fighting Lickers." "Every single one possessed the capability to swiftly defeat a Licker of the same level!" "Their performance was second only to the few freshmen contracted to Upper-tier Species." "Most importantly... it took only half a month?" Director Yu Lei confirmed the timeline with Luo Yu once more. Less than half a month... That was simply astounding! "Wait, hold on?!" Virus researcher Shen Mo paused in shock. "A Wave Dog or Cold Mist Lizard defeating a same-level Licker is reasonable enough, but a Coiling Wind Worm defeated a same-level zombie beast?" Was this a joke? Luo Yu smiled faintly. "That is why I say the Sting Training Method works. Of course, that Coiling Wind Worm won primarily because of its exceptional innate talent... It possesses an additional elemental talent..." "In short, I believe that through the Sting Training Method, it takes roughly half a month to elevate a student from passing to exceptional. Naturally, there is a cost and side effects: the process is excruciatingly painful, one or two sessions show little effect so it requires long-term commitment, and the stung areas remain swollen for a period..." "However, unlike inkfish ink, the venom of these Honey-Water Bees retains its potency for several hours after extraction, though its efficacy weakens. Therefore, we might be able to combine it with other materials to concoct a 'strengthening potion,' which could yield even better results while alleviating the pain." He could not pursue that avenue himself, largely because he lacked expertise in that field. "Of course, popularizing this training method presents certain difficulties at the moment. Because the Luo Yu Research Institute currently has very few Honey-Water Bee specimens, I have not yet begun breeding experiments. That is why I am attending this meeting: to apply to the director for an additional grant of research funding..." "To expand our Honey-Water Bee farm and breeding base...!" Luo Yu looked around at the assembly. Even though he had learned from Yuwan that the island was short on funds, this matter concerned the very future of the island. Who would agree, and who would object?