Seeing Luo Yu walk in dragging the evolved form of the Drowned Chicken, several institute directors cursed inwardly: *How is it this kid again?*
Director Yu Lei shoved past the crowd, strode forward, and snatched the Water Terror Chicken straight from Luo Yu's hands.
"Cluck, cluck, clack..." The Water Terror Chicken thrashed with all its might, its scaly claws kicking frantically.
"There are some differences, but not many... Are you saying this didn't evolve by accident, but that you evolved it on purpose?" Director Yu Lei didn't care who discovered the method; he cared only about results!
Luo Yu nodded. "It's confirmed. Whether a Drowned Chicken—or any other bird-type mutated beast—can evolve through the Ancient Evolution Stone seems to depend on Rock Element Affinity. In other words, it comes down to their Rock-attribute talent."
"So that really is it!" Researcher Yu Zhifeng frowned. "Yet you just said that several of the ones you raised have evolved?! Drowned Chickens are Water-system creatures. Theoretically speaking... a Drowned Chicken with a Rock-attribute talent ought to be one in ten thousand. How did you pull that off?"
"Could it be... you found a way to develop a Rock-attribute talent in a Drowned Chicken?"
That was the only possible explanation!
Everyone turned to Luo Yu. In truth, no matter what technique Luo Yu had mastered, none of them would be surprised. After all, both of Luo Yu's parents were graduates of Canglan Ocean University, whereas among the researchers present... not a single one had gotten into Canglan Ocean University!
Looking across the entirety of Jingyue Island, there were barely ten Beast Masters who had ever attended Canglan Ocean University.
From Luo Yu's performance alone, it was clear that Scholar Luo Shui and his wife had possessed real substance!
*Sigh! Luo Shui and his wife were just too stubborn!* Chen Zhuo thought to himself. Luo Shui and his wife had always wanted to achieve some monumental breakthrough to prove themselves, truly weighed down by the halo of their academic pedigree. For instance, they were constantly trying to pioneer an evolution pathway to a Monarch Species. But how could that ever be easy? They had sunk massive amounts of money into it without seeing any return.
Even though Chen Zhuo also flew the grand banner of researching "longevity," he was far more pragmatic. The first things he developed were skincare products packed with biological extracts—like "anti-aging face masks" and "anti-wrinkle creams."
Who was to say an "anti-aging face mask" wasn't a humble step toward unlocking "longevity"?
Making money was nothing to be ashamed of.
"I do have a method to develop Rock-attribute talent," Luo Yu said, offering no further detail. After all, that was his own proprietary secret.
"However..." He looked toward the Water Terror Chicken and asked the director, "Did you notice anything?"
"Yes, I noticed. It looks very similar to the earlier evolved specimen, but they shouldn't belong to the same species." The director set the Water Terror Chicken down.
"Indeed. It is much weaker. I also tested it next door with a Bloodline Stone, and it's still a Lower-tier Species," Luo Yu said.
"The main reason is that developing elemental affinity through acquired means has its limits... I deduce that the strength of the Rock-attribute talent is likely the deciding factor for the post-evolution species rank."
Luo Yu shared his conclusion, feeling it was almost certainly on the mark.
Several researchers sank into thought, mulling over Luo Yu's deduction. If that were truly the case, raising a high-ranking evolved specimen would be far from easy... After all, Rock-attribute talents were exceedingly rare.
Luo Yu felt the same way. Evolving through the Ancient Evolution Stone demanded far too much in terms of Rock-attribute talent!
A Lower Common Species like the Drowned Chicken was already at the absolute bottom of the species hierarchy, yet even with an advanced Rock-attribute talent, it had only managed to reach Mid-tier Species.
The higher the species rank, the harder it was to advance. If they switched to a Mid Common Species bird, even if it possessed an advanced Rock-attribute talent, wouldn't reaching High-Rank Species still be an uphill battle?
After "painstakingly" formulating turtle honey, all he had accomplished was making a Drowned Chicken's physical mutation slightly stronger upon evolving, without raising its species rank by a single fraction. Luo Yu felt quite helpless.
It seemed that although the Ancient Evolution Stone was an extraordinary evolutionary relic, its effects had clear limits. At best, it could only help Common Species undergo evolution; counting on it to produce a Monarch Species was probably unrealistic.
Unless there was a bird with a top-tier Rock-attribute talent—perhaps that might allow it to reach Monarch Species through the stone. But a top-tier talent belonged to the same tier as "Walking Volcano." Where would one ever find that?
*Could hundreds of inkfish with advanced Rock-attribute talents be synthesized into a Water Demon Beast with a top-tier Rock-attribute talent?* Luo Yu was still turning the breeding project over in his mind.
Director Yu Lei cut through the group's contemplation, saying, "Regardless, let's head over and take a look first."
...
In the other cavern, chaos reigned among fluttering feathers and squawking birds.
Luo Yu hadn't bothered to corral these newly evolved weaklings. They were all Level 1 Lower-tier Species and couldn't stir up any trouble anyway. Besides, July was guarding the entrance.
When the others entered and saw the several Water Terror Chickens, they couldn't help falling into silent contemplation.
Researcher Chen Zhuo asked, "Luo Yu, haven't you had your Ground Penguin try evolving?"
"No..." Luo Yu looked over. Following his gaze, the others looked as well, only to see July... sitting atop a large rock by the cavern entrance, completely absorbed in a book, utterly undisturbed by the surrounding commotion. Beside it rested a fishing rod...
The book in its flippers was none other than *Eighteen Fishing Styles*.
Everyone was speechless.
Luo Yu said, "As I mentioned earlier, Rock-attribute affinity is very likely the key factor governing the magnitude of evolution. After all, it's my initial pet beast. I want to find more ways to elevate its Rock-attribute talent as much as possible before letting it touch the Ancient Evolution Stone to evolve.
"That way, its post-evolution species rank will be higher as well."
After all, rock honey would probably only raise July's Rock-attribute talent to an ordinary grade, which meant it would likely still end up as a Common Species after evolving.
Luo Yu certainly wouldn't settle for such an outcome. Therefore, even though he now had a clear evolution method, he still preferred to wait and see—waiting until he bred a Rock-attribute Water Demon Beast to test whether a Common Species could contract a Monarch Species.
A good meal was worth the wait; hasty hands burnt their mouths. If it was going to evolve, it had to be a perfect evolution to avoid leaving any regrets behind!
"That makes sense," Chen Zhuo mused. "However, methods to enhance Rock-attribute talent..."
They truly were hard to come by.
Granny Crossbreed suddenly spoke up. "Qianyan Island."
"The mainstream pet beasts on Qianyan Island possess dual Water and Rock attributes, and the island produces the greatest abundance of Rock-attribute sea beasts. I once conversed with a scholar over there.
"Compared to Jingyue Island, the Beast Masters of Qianyan Island are undoubtedly far more experienced in developing Rock-attribute abilities and talents.
"Perhaps we could try reaching out to them to see if they possess any methods for enhancing Rock Element Affinity. If they do, we can purchase them or establish a collaboration with Qianyan Island."
Hearing this, Luo Yu nodded. "Sounds viable. My current method of enhancing Rock-attribute talent provides only a modest boost and can't be rolled out on a large scale yet.
"If we can discover other ways to strengthen Rock-attribute talent, that would naturally be ideal. After all, using different approaches concurrently to develop a mutated beast's Rock-attribute talent might produce a one-plus-one-equals-two effect."
Combining the stings of a Honey-Water Bee with the Rock Enhancement talent and the rock honey harvested by the Flower-Plucking Thief might just produce that synergistic one-plus-one-equals-two result!
A single method for developing a Rock-attribute talent might only take it to the common tier.
What if two were stacked together?
If two didn't suffice, what about three or four?
Once enough development methods were applied, perhaps an individual could be built from scratch to rival someone with a natural Rock Element Affinity talent.
Of course, the more probable outcome was that weaker effects would simply be overridden by stronger ones. But one had to test it first before jumping to conclusions; perhaps the enhancement mechanisms of certain methods didn't overlap at all.
When it came to July's future, Luo Yu naturally wanted to pursue every possible method to boost Rock-attribute talent and line them all up for July: rock honey, rock stings, Rock-attribute retainers, secret manuals from islands specializing in Rock-attribute sea beasts... He would try them all.
"I'll reach out to Qianyan Island and see," Director Yu Lei agreed with a nod.
"Luo Yu, speak up. What reward do you want?" The director was in high spirits. Although the road ahead remained arduous, they had at least achieved a major breakthrough!
Luo Yu was a prime contributor!
Luo Yu gave an easy smile. "In truth, I only stumbled onto it by chance. The credit belongs to my seniors. Without the foundation they laid, I could never have discovered this so quickly. I don't need any individual reward."
The institute directors were taken aback. This kid was remarkably sensible.
"Yes, everyone contributed," Director Yu Lei said with a laugh. "The island master has also been closely following the situation at the Ancient Grotto. I will report everything clearly."
"By the way," Luo Yu added, "could we bring in more bird-type mutated beasts here as test subjects?"
"Do you have a new idea?" the director inquired.
Luo Yu replied, "Not quite... It's mainly to nurture my own Ground Penguin... Could we capture a few more wild Ground Penguins from Jingyue Island and bring them here for rearing? I'd like to experiment on other Ground Penguins first to explore the various possibilities of their evolution pathway."
"If that's all, of course there's no problem," Director Yu Lei agreed without hesitation. The others couldn't help casting their gazes toward July, who remained engrossed in its reading.
Following Luo Yu was truly a stroke of immense good fortune for this Ground Penguin.
With a biological scholar working tirelessly to map out its evolution pathway, even though it was merely a Lower Common Species right now, its future prospects... were bound to be boundless!!
"Wuu-ji—!"
Perched on the boulder, July suddenly hopped up, set down the book, raised its fishing rod, and began whipping it around as though practicing some supreme martial art.
Everyone was speechless.
In the end, they still couldn't comprehend why Luo Yu was training a penguin in angling techniques.
"That's part of its training too." Luo Yu looked over. With all the commotion around them, July hadn't been distracted in the slightest. Such single-minded focus... was truly the professional hallmark of an angler!
Chapter 45