Ground Penguin Evolves, Blade Rock Penguin!

As Luo Yu conducted the experiment, the several researchers were even more nervous than he was. Judging by Luo Yu's previous experimental findings, as long as a subject was a dinosaur descendant and possessed rock-element talent, it could evolve through the Ancient Evolution Stone. Ground Penguin, Heart of Rock, Ancient Evolution Stone—all criteria had been met. And indeed, evolution took place! Bathed in dark-red ancient light, the Ground Penguin's genetic bloodline seemed to restructure itself. *Boom!* The next instant, amid drifting motes of light, a large penguin nearly a meter tall appeared before them! It visibly retained the shape of a penguin. It looked like a chubby penguin clad in jet-black rock armor, the plate covered in fine fissures that shimmered with faint, dark-red light through the cracks! A diamond-shaped black stone was embedded in its forehead, creating a striking contrast between its soft white belly and the grim black armor. Its signature red scarf-like down had transformed into dark, mane-like rock. Upon closer inspection, it really resembled a little penguin wearing dinosaur-shaped armor. Its expression was frantic, and it launched an instinctive stress attack! *Crack!* The ground nearby suddenly split open, and immediately after, a sword of rock erupted from the earth! It was clearly a new ability awakened upon evolving! "The new ability Earth Sword... drawing rock power from underground to forge a stone blade and attack?" "Roar!" Researcher Bai Dong's pet beast, a White Croc, lunged into action and restrained the panicked penguin before it could hurt anyone. Not that it could actually harm anyone at level 1 anyway. The rock blade jutting out of the earth was like a turnip stuck in the dirt, completely devoid of threat. The group scrutinized the evolved Ground Penguin, and Luo Yu looked over as well, activating the Eye of Data. [Species]: Blade Rock Penguin [Attributes]: Earth, Rock [Species Rank]: Mid Common Species [Life Level]: Level 1 [Species Abilities]: Burrow, Earth Sword [Individual Talent]: Thick Hide (Common talent; possesses greater resistance to strikes than ordinary individuals.) "Judging by its appearance, it must have gained a new attribute, right?" Researcher Yu Zhifeng said. "Mm, it's likely rock-system," Researcher Lin Hai said. "Because the earth and rock attributes are so close, its evolutionary outcome looks significantly better than the Drowned Chicken's. It's far more suited to evolving with the Ancient Evolution Stone than a water-attribute Drowned Chicken!" "It could also be thanks to the Heart of Rock triggering a different evolutionary reaction." Chen Mo looked at the Heart of Rock that had dropped to the ground during the transformation. It hadn't suffered any damage during the process. In other words, it could be reused as an auxiliary evolution stone to help other mutated avian beasts evolve. They had truly purchased something wonderful on Qianyan Island. Keeping this Heart of Rock on Jingyue Island allowed it to unleash far more value than leaving it on Qianyan Island! The researchers almost wished they could turn into pirates and plunder Qianyan Island's rock-element ore veins. "Yeah, we'll need to figure out ways to purchase more Hearts of Rock from Qianyan Island later," Luo Yu said. "One evolution doesn't prove everything. Let's test another." He fetched another Ground Penguin—this time, the chick with the Dragon Blood talent. He fitted it with the Heart of Rock as well and had it approach the Ancient Evolution Stone. "Wuji—!" The next moment, the same dark-red ancient light enveloped the little penguin. Another successful evolution! Even though its talent was Dragon Blood instead of Thick Hide, the evolved form showed no significant difference from the previous penguin. Luo Yu nodded repeatedly. Sure enough, bird + Heart of Rock + Ancient Evolution Stone formed a stable evolutionary route! In contrast, an ancient dragon bloodline was not a decisive factor, which Luo Yu had already tested on the Drowned Chicken. By now, the two miraculous effects of the Ancient Grotto were clear: 1. Being born here granted a chance to obtain an ancient dragon bloodline, strengthening one's constitution. Even if a beast wasn't born here, staying long enough would subtly temper and enhance its physical body over time. 2. Mutated avian beasts with rock-element talent could achieve atavistic evolution when paired with the Ancient Evolution Stone formed here! Smiles surfaced on the researchers' faces. Although a Mid Species was nothing extraordinary, it was tied to dinosaurs after all. Any beast evolved here was bound to become a signature pet beast of Jingyue Island! A third major dragon species following the water dragons and giant dragons! "When do you plan to let your Ground Penguin evolve?" Researcher Chen Mo asked. Luo Yu glanced at July, who was fast asleep inside the Beast Taming Space, and replied, "I'll prepare a bit more." Even the director hadn't rushed to test his Gale Eagle's evolution here. When one's own pet beast was involved, it was only natural to wait until research was more mature! Luo Yu's standard for July was that after evolving, it had to reach at least Upper Common Species. To achieve that, he would probably need to stack its rock-system affinity without limit. The Heart of Rock alone wasn't enough. Rock honey... or rather, rock honey enhanced by Bee Empress. Then rock sheep milk—ideally the most thoroughly settled, concentrated milk produced by Fermentation Master. On top of that, he would have to test the enhancement of rock-system retainers... Only by maxing out every factor could Luo Yu comfortably let July evolve without compromising its future potential. With so many buffs stacked on it, July had better pull its weight. It would be best if it could evolve straight into a Sovereign Species! For now, having verified that Ground Penguins could evolve, Luo Yu had achieved his interim objective and let out a sigh of relief. The only catch was that the Blade Rock Penguin's new ability, Earth Sword, still seemed quite limited, suited only to terrestrial terrain... Of course, that was an Earth Sword cast by an ordinary Ground Penguin. This ability was essentially a dual Earth-and-Rock technique. If July—with its top-tier Earth and Fire talents—were to cast it, the effect might be far stronger... Then again, July was far more likely to evolve into a completely different, powerful form and awaken superior abilities. After all, the lower and mid species evolved from Drowned Chickens based on the strength of their rock talent already displayed differences in appearance and abilities. The same likely applied to Ground Penguins. Afterward, the researchers eagerly took the Heart of Rock and tested evolutions on various other mutated birds: Drowned Chickens, White-Cut Ducks, Long-Feathered Gulls, Gurgle Pigeons... *** The researchers experimented until late into the night. Their ultimate conclusion was that the earth-attribute little penguin still had the best compatibility with the Ancient Evolution Stone, as it actually gained a new attribute. When the other mutated birds became Mid Species, they merely received massive boosts to their physical strength. Unfortunately, there were no rock-attribute mutated birds in Alliance Waters. Otherwise, they would likely harmonize even better with the evolution stone than Ground Penguins. Seeing that no new breakthroughs were emerging, Luo Yu didn't linger in the Ancient Grotto. By now, the fifteen purchased rock sheep had likely been settled into the new pasture opened outside the institute; the director had started construction the moment he received Luo Yu's call. In their new environment, the rock sheep were struggling to adapt. Luo Yu's solution was simple: Injections! Failing to acclimate was simply an inability to adapt to a new environment. And why couldn't they adapt? Their bodies were too weak! Their immunity was too poor! Pet beasts raised by formidable Beast Masters traveled far and wide and rarely fell ill. One key reason was that their life levels were high enough and their vitality was exuberant; robust physical constitutions allowed them to adapt to any unfamiliar surroundings. In contrast, commercial farms rarely raised mass-bred pet beasts to high levels. They were raised to be sold for profit, and training them required investing more money, which wasn't cost-effective. Therefore, whether at Lin Li's bee farm or the rock sheep farm on Qianyan Island, most mutated beasts stayed at levels 1 or 2. Only an exceptional few were given resources to produce premium honey or milk as high-end goods. "Immune stress, circadian disruption, unfamiliarity with the new feed and water, huh..." Luo Yu looked at them. Easy enough! A Vitality Boost sting to strengthen vitality and promote growth! A Spirit Boost sting to enhance mental state and resist discomfort! An Endurance Boost sting to eliminate physical and mental fatigue! Three stings in, and every ailment would be cured. "Baaah! (Help!)" "Baaah! (So good!)" When Luo Yu invited the enhanced bees into the pasture, the flock suffered an ordeal—except for that masochist sheep that was in absolute bliss, earning the deep respect of the other rock sheep. Yet after that searing pain came revitalized vigor. "We need someone to milk them." Luo Yu stared at the flock, lost in thought. Yuwan was in charge of feeding the inkfish, and Lin Li took care of feeding the Honey-Water Bees. That left Chen Bo with the lightest workload, so it might as well be him... As a breeder, he should quickly get used to the daily milking routine... Having just given birth, the ten ewes certainly couldn't be bred again anytime soon. The five rams, however, couldn't be allowed to sit idle. Since one was a Crossbreeding Model, he could try crossing it with local sheep breeds. Still, the rock sheep had only just arrived on Jingyue Island; rushing into crossbreeding right away would be overly hasty. Luo Yu needed to put on a show of researching them for a few days first. Yes, better to keep stinging them for a while and let them settle into their new environment... "I'll leave it to you, Empress." *Bzz, bzz, bzz...* *** Over the next two days. Rock sheep milk and rock turtle honey were blended together into a honey-milk drink that became July's daily beverage. Nourished by various rare resources, its mastery over magma power advanced by leaps and bounds as it trained and refined its ultimate skill to showcase at the Jingyue Festival. Thanks to the Heart of Rock, research at the Ancient Grotto also progressed at lightning speed. Unfortunately, they had yet to successfully evolve an Upper Species... However, Luo Yu predicted that stacking an innate rock talent, a Heart of Rock, rock sheep milk, and rock turtle honey would likely enable an evolution into an Upper Species. Cultivating such an individual simply required time. Off the coast of Jingyue Island! Waves roared. Across the violent sea, a figure swam with wild speed through the water. A nearby patrol fleet noticed the anomaly and swiftly moved in to investigate. Then they discovered... it was actually a little girl in a swimsuit swimming through the ocean. She possessed the ear fins and tail fin of a blue dolphin, but she also had two legs, meaning she wasn't a mermaid. The sailors stared dumbfounded at the young girl swimming in the ocean, who looked under ten years old, unable to fathom the sight. Pet beast merging! That was an ability belonging to High-rank Beast Masters! A High-rank Beast Master under ten years old? "Is that Jingyue Island ahead? I'm Archaeologist An Yao, invited here by your Director Yu Lei." The girl soon stopped beside one of the ships, flicked her short blue hair, and called up to the sailors on deck. "Oh, I was cursed by a time-attribute mutated beast, which is why I turned into this. I'm actually an adult."