Chapter 383 - 353: Enlightenment Potion

Chapter 383: Chapter 353: Enlightenment Potion

Cultivation competitions are different from combat competitions.

To ensure the results are genuinely one’s own, an on-site demonstration is required.

However, live demonstrations raise confidentiality issues, so the competition is designed to be semi-private.

Ten Cultivation Rooms were set up within the venue, each one shielded from outside view.

Contestants must be inspected before entering a Cultivation Room to prevent any cheating.

Once inside, they can conduct their experiments for any type of cultivation project without disturbance or fear of being watched.

The only thing contestants must do is press the button to open their Cultivation Room before the four-hour time limit expires.

They can also open it earlier if they feel their subsequent steps don’t involve sensitive information, or if they simply don’t care about potential leaks.

’Demonstrating the evolution from a Three-tailed Cat to a Four-tailed Cat should be enough to get me into the finals.’ Inside the lotus-shaped Cultivation Room—within the "flower bud," so to speak—Li Qian wasted no time and began the evolution process.

Li Qian wasn’t actually short on the materials needed for the evolution. However, since contestants could get them directly from the organizing committee, he decided to take advantage of the freebies.

"This is so boring. I wonder which Cultivation Room will be the first to open?"

"I told you not to watch the cultivation competition. It’s always the most boring event."

"If one of these Cultivation Rooms doesn’t open soon, I’m going to fall asleep."

...

In the stands, the audience gazed at the bud-like Cultivation Rooms and couldn’t help but start whispering among themselves.

"Don’t worry. Your Brother Qian will definitely pass the preliminaries."

Sun Ruirui and Mo Ziyu were also watching the competition today. The latter spoke, teasing her friend.

Sun Ruirui smiled. "With Brother Qian’s abilities, passing the preliminaries will be no problem at all."

"I’m just curious what he’s going to present..."

Mo Ziyu replied, "We’ll find out soon enough."

Just as the two were talking, the first "flower bud" in the arena opened.

It wasn’t Li Qian’s Cultivation Room.

The "flower bud" opened, revealing a young, bespectacled, and rather scrawny boy.

The boy’s gaze was fixed on the laboratory bench inside his Cultivation Room.

A test tube filled with a pale blue potion rested silently on the bench.

The potion, perhaps because it had just been mixed, still emitted a faint, fluorescent glow.

"This is the Enlightenment Potion. It can enhance a Pet Beast’s comprehension and intelligence."

The scrawny boy pointed at the pale blue potion on the bench. "Ingesting this potion," he announced, "can significantly increase a Pet Beast’s Racial Potential."

Gasps of admiration rippled through the crowd as they listened to the boy’s explanation.

A few special members of the audience stared at the potion on the lab bench with particularly intense, burning gazes.

These particular spectators were mostly corporate scouts, men and women who spent their years frequenting various experimental sites and Cultivation Bases.

Whenever a new breakthrough emerged, they would swarm in like sharks that had smelled blood.

This Freshman Challenge was, in theory, just a low-level competition for new students, so its standards weren’t expected to be particularly high.

Even so, it had attracted numerous corporate scouts.

They were here not just for the combat and cultivation competitions; results were only one part of it. The other was to scout for talent.

If they discovered a freshman with Potential—be it in combat, cultivation, or any other field—they would approach them with an investment offer.

Of course, such investments were never unconditional.

These large corporations invested in high-Potential freshmen for the sake of future returns.

After graduation, the students would either be required to work for these companies for a set number of years or enter into a direct partnership.

The former was the more common arrangement.

Even before enrolling at Shazhou Beast Taming University, Li Qian had received investment offers from Pet Beast Companies in Lingshui City, Yunlan City, and even throughout Jiangnan Province.

However, after listening to Professor Chu Xiran’s advice, Li Qian hadn’t accepted any of them.

Li Qian wasn’t opposed to working with these Pet Beast Companies, but any collaboration had to be mutually beneficial.

At this stage, Li Qian hadn’t encountered any problems in his research that he couldn’t solve on his own.

In the future, as his research progressed and he needed access to higher-level resources, he would consider it.

Back in the arena, the scrawny boy, face beaming with pride, was showcasing the Enlightenment Potion he had just developed.

His presentation piqued the interest of many.

The moment his voice trailed off, an elderly man in cyan robes flashed into view, appearing beside him in just a few steps.

The robed man had barely appeared when some sharp-eyed spectators recognized him.

"That’s... President Magi! He’s the Vice Dean of the Cultivation College at Kansai Beast Taming University, the Vice President of the Kansai City Breeder Association, and the President of the Pharmacist Association."

"With that many titles, the old man must be a real big shot."

"A big shot? Let me put it this way: in the entire Xiping Province, he’s one of the top five experts in the field of Pet Beast Potions."

"If he were to cultivate your Pet Beast, its Racial Potential could jump three or four tiers, easy."

"He’s that incredible!"

...

The explanations from those in the know made Magi’s formidable reputation clear to the rest of the audience.

All eyes turned in unison to the cyan-robed elder.

The elder had graying hair and looked ancient, yet his movements were exceptionally nimble.

He crossed the distance to the scrawny boy in just a few simple steps, as if shrinking the earth with every stride.

"Let me have a look," he said, gesturing toward the pale blue test tube.

The boy understood the elder was there to evaluate his creation. Without the slightest hesitation, he handed over the test tube.

The robed elder took the test tube and then beckoned with his hand.

A moment later, a black siskin flew in from out of nowhere.

The black siskin landed on the elder’s shoulder. He smiled, then tipped the contents of the pale blue test tube downward.

The little bird on his shoulder caught every drop and swallowed it all.

"Is he testing the potion?"

The crowd saw this and instantly understood: President Magi was testing the potion.

Testing a potion on the spot... truly, the skilled are bold.

The test didn’t take long. After about three minutes, President Magi announced his verdict. "Enlightenment Potion. Not bad. It can indeed raise a Pet Beast’s Racial Potential, but its effects are limited. For beasts below Dominator Level, it can raise them by about one minor tier. For those at or above Dominator Level, it has almost no effect."

President Magi’s words left the scrawny boy visibly disappointed, but he quickly pulled himself together.

’Even if it only raises the Racial Potential of Pet Beasts below Dominator Level by one minor tier, it’s still quite valuable.’

’Getting through the preliminaries should be no problem.’