Beast Taming: the More the Better

Chapter 1274: Chapter 522: Repairing the Jiao Long, Qian Yi’s Path to Second Stage Evolution?

Let Feifei participate in the whole process. Later, when he had time, he would learn through Feifei’s Soul Connection.

Just as Su Ping had said, at this crucial juncture, he simply didn’t have the spare energy or attention to focus on this matter.

Whether it was the so-called Gu King of the Five Poisons Cauldron, the further observation of the Dragon Nourishing Bamboo, or even those three Xiao Longs, none of them could divert Su Ping’s attention in the slightest.

Ever since the breeding of the Dragon-Patterned Bamboo had gotten on the right track, Su Ping’s entire focus had been devoted to Qian Yi’s breeding and evolution, including right now.

Leaving the Heart of Machinery, Su Ping used the Transmission Array to arrive at the Zombie Settlement within the Heart of Soul.

The core of this place was the breeding ground for the Papermen.

At this moment, dozens of Papermen were all in position, their bodies adorned in a multitude of vibrant colors.

The Monarch evolution of a Paperman required Low Level Papermen to undergo compression using Soul Nurturing Water. Their paper bodies and souls had to be entirely compressed and fused together. This marked the critical stage in breeding Papermen, as they would finally develop the same intelligent self-awareness as other Pet Beasts, along with basic communication abilities.

From this point onward, Papermen could be considered complete lifeforms.

During this stage of breeding, using the Five Elements Paper Diagram for compression would result in the creation of the very Papermen standing before him.

Even though he had already seen it many times, Su Ping still felt an indescribable sense of accomplishment whenever he looked at this special Pet Beast that he had completely created himself:

[Five Elements Paper Spirit (Wild)]

[Age: 2 years, 1 month, 3 days]

[Current Realm: Monarch Second Rank]

[Race Limit: Emperor Level 1]

[Racial Skills: Super·Great Revolution Five Elements Body (Beginner), Super·Elemental Heart (Beginner), Paper Spirit Body (Proficient), Paper Folding Explosion (Proficiency)...]

Emperor Level 1!

When compressed using the Five Elements Paper Diagram as a foundation, the evolved Paperman wasn’t an ordinary "Paper Spirit" but had become a Five Elements Paper Spirit.

Evidently, this was a special Evolutionary Body.

At the same time, this breakthrough allowed its Race Limit to reach the Emperor Level.

Moreover, aside from the Great Revolution Five Elements Physique, it had also acquired a genuine skill set related to paper.

This was enough to prove that the potential of Papermen was unquestionable.

However, before Su Ping could finish basking in his self-satisfaction, Yin Luo, who had heard the commotion from the spatial transmission, walked out.

"You’re here!"

Su Ping nodded. "How is Qian Yi doing?"

Yin Luo shook his head. "I still haven’t seen any trend or direction for evolution! Ordinary Paper Body Compression holds little significance for your Little Paperman. Also, I’m leaving in two days, so don’t count on me too much..."

Su Ping shrugged. "Just consider it squeezing out the last bit of your usefulness before you go. Come on, let’s go check on Qian Yi’s condition together."

Just as Master Yin had said, Qian Yi’s situation was quite different.

In fact, during Su Ping’s discussions with Yin Luo recently, their opinions had been relatively unified.

This was because Qian Yi’s evolutionary direction was actually quite obvious.

The evolution of a Pet Beast could be described as both difficult and easy. It was only truly arduous in situations like the initial Paperman, where a strengthening direction couldn’t be found or all paths to enhancement were completely blocked off.

Based on the traits of Papermen, Qian Yi’s soul was complete and formidable, which was where he differed from regular Papermen. However, the similarity lay in the fact that Qian Yi’s paper body was still extremely frail.

Therefore, strengthening him starting from the physical body would suffice.

However, since the foundation of a Paperman was different, trying to use those conventional enhancement resources on Qian Yi would be unreliable.

Most of their attempts during this period had ended in failure.

Therefore, today’s daytime autumn outing was somewhat of a way to alleviate the recent string of failures and simply relax a bit.

Now that he was back here, he ultimately still had to face this problem.

"WAAAH!"

Qian Yi: (˘•ω•˘)

Seeing Su Ping’s arrival, Qian Yi tossed aside the remaining piece of resource and let out a dejected greeting.

Su Ping chuckled. Looking at that dismayed, anime-like drawn face, he finally said, "Don’t be so anxious. How could something like evolution be accomplished overnight? Didn’t it take us a long time the last time, too?"

"WAAAH!"

Qian Yi: (•́へ•́╬)

The little fellow’s return to his energetic self also influenced Su Ping’s mood.

Over the past half-month or so, he had slowly compiled a summary of the numerous attempts regarding Qian Yi and his own thoughts during this period.

Clearly, in Su Ping’s eyes, his previous line of thought was absolutely correct.

Qian Yi’s Sword Intent and the like were already maxed out. The same went for his Energy. In the end, the only thing that truly required attention was using this paper body to guide the evolution.

But if conventional enhancements were unachievable, what should be done?

Moreover, he still needed to integrate the Super Rank Hall Skill, Great Revolution Five Elements Body, into Qian Yi’s main body. This part, however, was relatively simple, and Su Ping had some confidence in accomplishing it.

However, what he wanted was far more than just this! Nowadays, even ordinary Five Elements Paper Spirits possessed the Heart of Elements and the Five Elements Paper Body. As his own Contracted Beast, Su Ping naturally wouldn’t mistreat him.

He slowly narrowed his eyes.

Suddenly, a very peculiar idea truly sparked in his mind.

He abruptly turned his head to look at Yin Luo beside him.

"Master Yin, do you know anything about sword casting?"

"Huh?" Yin Luo was taken aback. "Sword casting? You mean the kind of sword casting that uses metal?"

Su Ping nodded, leaving Yin Luo speechless.

However, Su Ping also understood the older man’s reaction. He thought for a moment before saying,

"Let’s put aside the Artifact Pet Beast aspect for now. A while ago, when I obtained that Five Poisons Cauldron, I researched some ancient Artifact Refining methods and genuinely gained some understanding of sword casting.

"It’s actually quite simple. You smelt ordinary metal ores, pour them into a mold, and then begin hammering!

"Through high-temperature tempering, you beat the impurities out of the ore, then smelt it again, and hammer it again. This is the very definition of being thoroughly tempered."

Obviously, Su Ping wasn’t speaking aimlessly at this moment.

Yin Luo also fell into deep thought.

"Are you suggesting that we could temper this Paperman’s body just like ancient sword casting? And thereby guide the completion of its evolution?

"The impurities you mentioned should refer to the Soul Fragments of ordinary Papermen, right? You want to compress the paper bodies of Papermen into Qian Yi’s body, and then hammer out those soul ’impurities’?

"But it’s not like we haven’t tried this before! Previously, we attempted to compress and fold the souls of the Papermen into other Evolutionary Bodies through a different method, leaving only the paper bodies behind.

"However, in that case, without the corresponding soul to control the paper body, it just becomes a pure sheet of paper containing Undead Energy. At most, it can be used as a resource like Soul-Settling Paper; it loses all other utility!"

Su Ping didn’t speak. Instead, he remained deep in thought, perfecting the logic and feasibility of the idea in his mind.

He had a lingering feeling that it shouldn’t be quite that simple.

But where was the key to breaking this deadlock?

Su Ping looked up to see Papermen standing around on either side. Qian Yi hadn’t remained idle; right after greeting him, the little fellow had actually started sparring with one of them.

Fortunately, there was a specialized room within the lab that isolated all Energy. The two little guys had evidently fought each other many times before.

Qian Yi tossed a longsword pieced together from Papermen to the Five Elements Paper Spirit. Without any Energy enhancement, it was purely a sparring of sword moves. For Pet Beasts of this Level, it was completely akin to merely playing around.

Watching the scene unfold before him, Su Ping’s brow slowly furrowed, then gradually relaxed. After thinking for a moment, he frowned once again.

He continued to watch Qian Yi and that Five Elements Paper Spirit messing around, his eyebrows tightly knitted.

It wasn’t until about twenty minutes later that Qian Yi seemed to have played enough. His Swordsmanship moves suddenly became incomparably fierce and extraordinary. Even without the enhancement of Energy, every strike seemed lethal, just like an ancient, deadly Swordsman.

Ultimately, that Sword of Wind struck the throat of the Five Elements Paper Spirit. Though it didn’t cause any damage, both sides stopped their movements simultaneously.

Clearly, the victor had been decided.

Afterward, seeming a bit bored, Qian Yi flung the Sword of Wind away.

In midair, the Sword of Wind slowly transformed. The three Low Level Papermen that had been spliced together appeared over there, going BABBLE BABBLE and looking somewhat dazed and ignorant.

However, at this moment, as he looked at the dismantled Sword of Wind, Su Ping blinked. It was as if a bolt of lightning had suddenly flashed through his mind.