Chapter 567 - 546: The Latest Research Hotspot, the Dragon Transformation Pool?

Inside the belly of the Cloud Shuttle, soft artificial light simulated the changes from dawn to dusk.

This trip to the border was on a Royal Family-exclusive Pet Beast, not a civilian model Flying Humpback Whale.

Those who could ride this whale were either High Tier Beastmasters on rotation at the border or researchers on special missions.

In the past, Gu Ming had always enjoyed the scenery from the open-air back of a Humpback Whale; he had never been inside one of these giant transport Pet Beasts.

Now, breathing the moist air inside the whale and feeling the waves of Spiritual Qi flowing through the Pet Beast, he knew a massive Spirit Gathering Array had been installed within.

Although it was a transport-type Pet Beast, its interior had long been integrated with Arrays, effectively turning it into a giant war-type Pet Beast.

Gu Ming sat in a tea pavilion in the public area, watching the roiling sea of clouds to his right from a wooden chair. It was a real-time projection of the outside scenery, created by a sophisticated imaging Array.

Cyan Treasure lay on his lap, its body emitting a faint, warm glow and vibrating slightly as it constantly practiced its Cultivation through breathing.

Ah Kun floated nearby in a water bubble, cruising slowly. Each swish of its tail stirred invisible ripples, leaving behind tiny specks of light.

Ah Ji remained curled up in Gu Ming’s shadow, cultivating with its eyes closed. Besides Lu You and Teacher Tang, almost no one noticed Ah Ji’s presence.

At the moment, Gu Ming was still scrolling through various news from other regions.

The round-faced, bespectacled Lu You sat beside him, gently holding down her perpetually defiant Pet Beast, Mouse Treasure, and whispered coaxingly,

"Don’t get mad at Cyan Treasure. You can’t beat it."

Mouse Treasure turned its head away, puffing out its cheeks in a huff.

It was true. Cyan Treasure had successfully evolved to Four-star, and Mouse Treasure certainly hadn’t slacked off these past few months either.

However, was the potential limit of an ordinary species so easily broken?

Although Mouse Treasure had already polished its Three-star Cultivation to Perfection and had felt that solid bottleneck several times, it still couldn’t find a clear opportunity or direction for a breakthrough.

It could clearly feel that the inherent path within its bloodline had seemingly reached its end.

From now on, it either had to forge a new path for itself or... absorb the bloodline essence of a high-potential species, fuse with it, and use the more powerful bloodline Power to transform itself.

This was undoubtedly a viable path.

It was certainly an option.

However, seeing Cyan Treasure’s success, it was also eager to learn from its experience.

Cyan Treasure, however, just scratched its head in confusion.

Its success was inextricably linked to its master’s efforts.

But if you were to ask how it had succeeded...

...well, it was a complicated story.

Even it couldn’t advise Mouse Treasure on its future Evolution in just a few words.

Lu You saw all this but didn’t ask Gu Ming for advice. After all, she was naturally shy and also wanted to try and succeed on her own. She couldn’t just rely on Gu Ming for everything. Besides, Teacher Tang had already given clear guidance on the Sunflower Seed-eating Hamster’s evolution path: choose a Sub-dragon Bloodline with high compatibility and pursue a mutation-based evolution.

This was pretty much the path with the highest success rate for a Sunflower Seed-eating Hamster to defy its fate. Lu You had recently been gathering information on this topic, preparing to invest a large sum of money into Mouse Treasure’s mutation-based evolution.

Just then, unhurried footsteps echoed from the side stairs of the second-floor open-air tea pavilion as someone ascended.

"Oh? This little hamster actually shows faint signs of transforming into a dragon. Truly remarkable."

As soon as the person spoke, they caught the attention of Gu Ming and Lu You.

The few Pet Beasts in the tea pavilion also stopped their Cultivation and turned to look.

The newcomer was an old man dressed in a simple, elegant white robe. His face was kind, yet it couldn’t hide a withered look. His figure was slightly stooped, but his voice was full of vigor.

And beside him, there was actually a true Dragon Race Pet Beast!

The Pet Beast had an athletic build with distinct scales and claws. It radiated the dense, pure majesty of the Dragon Race, and its Attribute was surprisingly the profound Earth Element.

An Earth Attribute True Dragon might not be completely unheard of in the top Pet Beast circles of the Capital, but its appearance on this royal-exclusive whale heading to the border was exceptionally unusual.

「Traveling with your teacher, you have a chance encounter with the Third Prince.」

「Your socially anxious classmate subconsciously shrinks behind you, but Mouse Treasure fails to escape the Prince’s notice and is awed by his True Dragon’s aura.」

Seeing the man slowly approach with his majestic Dragon Pet, Gu Ming’s thoughts raced.

He hadn’t wanted to bother with a passerby, but now he had to react quickly.

He quickly took out his phone and his fingers tapped rapidly on the screen a few times.

Meanwhile, the white-robed old man had already strolled over to Lu You’s side. He reached out and gently stroked Mouse Treasure, whose eyes were wide with a mix of curiosity and slight nervousness.

「The atmosphere on-site drops to a freezing point. The air is thick with tension, ready to erupt into battle.」

However, the reality was completely different from what the system saw.

The old man showed no ill intent. He simply touched it, seemingly examining Mouse Treasure’s foundation. He would occasionally tap its forehead, as if using his Divine Sense to listen to the echoes of its Spiritual Fluctuation, and didn’t appear to be rudely probing inside the Pet Beast’s body with his Divine Sense.

"Senior," Gu Ming began, "are you saying... it has the potential to become a dragon based on its own original bloodline?"

"Or are you saying it’s suitable for fusing with a Sub-dragon Bloodline?"

Gu Ming asked from the side.

A deeper smile spread across the old man’s face, and he immediately began discussing the principles of Pet Beast Evolution with Gu Ming, especially concerning the fusion of dragon-type bloodlines.

Mouse Treasure’s master—Lu You—was also naturally pulled into the discussion.

The old man’s Cultivation was extremely high. His speech and mannerisms were all in harmony with the Beast Taming Dao. Listening to his explanations was like attending a high-level course that was both profound and easy to understand.

Finally, Gu Ming saw the man calmly take out the latest issue of an academic journal titled *Peak*.

The cover title of this issue was particularly striking:

*A Study on the Extraction and Preliminary Application of Species Evolution-Promoting Factors from the "Dragon Transformation Pool" Ruins in the Inner World*.

Gu Ming hadn’t read this latest issue yet, but just seeing the cover title sent several flashes of inspiration through his mind.

’No wonder he paid special attention to Mouse Treasure from the very beginning and noticed it was unusual.’

After all, Cyan Treasure, which had already evolved into a young Flood Dragon, exuded an extraordinary aura from head to toe. It was a rare Flood Dragon species in the country, a newly emerged one.

Anyone with a discerning eye would be unable to resist striking up a conversation upon seeing such a Pet Beast.

Yet, the man had uncharacteristically looked at Mouse Treasure first. So this was the reason why.

"Senior, may I borrow this journal to have a look?" Gu Ming asked.

"Hehe, of course you can."

The old man said with a smile, about to hand over the journal.

Just at that moment, clear and steady footsteps once again sounded from the side stairs of the pavilion.

"Gu Ming, Lu You, I have two copies of the *Peak* journal here. You can just take them. No need to borrow from others."

Teacher Tang’s voice arrived before he did.

The next second, he slowly stepped onto the platform.

Behind him, the faint, illusory image of the Profound Celestial Beast Ghost Soul flickered.

An aura befitting a Seven-star Beastmaster—as solid as a mountain and as vast as the sea—silently spread with his steps, enveloping the entire small tea pavilion.

He looked calmly at the white-robed old man, his steady aura subtly tinged with a sense of repulsion, and said,

"Zhou Duyu, these two are my students.

"Don’t you get any of your little ideas. I won’t let my students participate in unstable genetic experiments."