Beast Taming: My System is Bugged

Generally speaking, in Cultivation Immortality, a term like "Foundation Establishment" usually refers to the intermediate Realm between the Qi Cultivation stage and Core Formation.

However, in today’s Beast Taming Realm, the situation was completely reversed.

The Realm corresponding to a One-star Pet Beast was actually Core Formation.

A Two-star Pet Beast corresponded to the Foundation Establishment Realm.

As this thought occurred to him, Gu Ming stroked Cyan Treasure. ’Could it be that a Three-star Pet Beast corresponds to the Qi Refining Realm?’

However, the information in the system ended there.

Gu Ming even proactively raised his hand to ask his homeroom teacher for more details about Pet Beast Evolution, but it failed to refresh the system’s information.

It seemed his homeroom teacher didn’t have much exposure to or understanding of the latest Evolution Methods.

No matter how he interacted in reality, he couldn’t unearth any more information from the future.

But Gu Ming had no intention of stopping his search there.

Since his homeroom teacher didn’t know, he would try asking another teacher.

So, filled with curiosity, Gu Ming found Teacher Zhang during the next break between classes to discuss the preparations for Cyan Treasure’s Evolution in detail.

Teacher Zhang was a little puzzled. He had already discussed the Evolution path with Gu Ming before.

Based on the currently available Evolution Methods, Teacher Zhang believed that Mana Evolution was the best one.

It had low requirements for a Pet Beast’s potential. Even without High-star Potential, as long as enough Mana was accumulated, there was a possibility of Evolution.

A Pet Beast like the Little Cyan Snake, with only Two-star Level potential, was best suited to be raised using the Mana Evolution method.

Moreover, Cyan Treasure’s Speed of Mana Cultivation was quite fast. At this rate, it would probably max out its Mana right after the midterm exams.

Then, he could have an Ice Heart Fox help freeze its Inner Core to allow for further Mana Cultivation.

However, Gu Ming hadn’t sought out Teacher Zhang this time to discuss Mana Evolution.

He wanted to learn about the Foundation Establishment Evolution Method, an Evolution Method from thirty-two years in the future.

Of course, he couldn’t directly mention "Foundation Establishment."

After all, that concept didn’t exist yet; it only appeared in fantasy novels.

Gu Ming had to find a way to guide Teacher Zhang into discussing the latest Evolution Methods.

"Teacher Zhang, do you know what the most cutting-edge Evolution Methods on the market are?"

Teacher Zhang was speechless for a moment. He stared at Gu Ming for a while, only speaking when Gu Ming scratched his head:

"Isn’t your Mana Evolution the newest Evolution Method right now?"

Evolution Methods aren’t Skills, nor are they things like Visualization Images, so they aren’t recorded in the Hall of the Great Dao.

Even if there were a method newer than Gu Ming’s Mana Evolution, if no one published a paper on it, Teacher Zhang would have no way of knowing.

Teacher Zhang crossed his arms, the meaning on his face perfectly clear.

’Is there really an Evolution Method in this world that’s newer and stronger than your Mana Evolution? This is a method that even the Six-star Spirit Beast, Ma Tianba, is studying. It’s definitely not some ordinary Evolution method.’

"What about besides Mana Evolution?" Gu Ming asked, shaking his head.

Teacher Zhang pondered for a few seconds. ’Is Gu Ming looking for new Evolution Methods because he wants to expand his own knowledge on the subject? That makes sense. Gu Ming has a deep understanding of Cultivation Techniques and Evolution. Perhaps he wants to draw inferences from other methods. Right now, besides raising Cyan Treasure, Gu Ming is also studying recent competition questions. Maybe he’s asking about this to prepare for a competition.’

Teacher Zhang said, "Give me some time. I’ll give you an answer tomorrow."

Researching resources took time. He planned to talk to his old university classmates about the latest trends in Evolution and ask around for his student.

The questions on the international competition weren’t from high school textbooks. They were all topics that went beyond the curriculum, and some questions might even be directly related to cutting-edge research projects.

Asking more people was never a bad idea.

Just then, a comment finally popped up on Gu Ming’s system:

「Teacher Zhang is a bit speechless. Your fifty-year-old self just has to force your way onto the competition track.」

「Is that a track an old man like you should be on?」

「Faced with your stubbornness, Zhang Yunpeng tried his best to dissuade you to no avail. Helpless, he agreed to your request and went back to learn about the latest Foundation Establishment Evolution Method.」

Seeing this, Gu Ming felt a flicker of joy.

But the system’s commentary, as always, left him not knowing whether to laugh or cry.

「The next day.」

When Gu Ming saw Teacher Zhang again, he noticed the dark circles under his eyes.

’Did he stay up all night?’ Gu Ming was startled. ’Is information on Evolution Methods that hard to find?’

"Teacher, you didn’t rest last night?" Gu Ming asked.

During morning practice, Gu Ming asked quietly from the side, prompting the teacher to pat his own cheeks and pull himself together.

"I was researching until after three in the morning before I slept."

Teacher Zhang waved his hand dismissively. He was a Three-star Beastmaster, so a little less sleep was nothing. With his Spiritual Technique, two hours was enough rest.

He had only seemed weary just now because he’d slept so little.

Speaking of which, last night’s phone calls had been eye-opening.

He wouldn’t have known if he hadn’t asked. Some of his old classmates were employed at the Seven-star Research Institute, working on major projects like soul ascension and research into abandoning the physical body.

Meanwhile, other classmates had ended up on the streets, raising pets and earning just enough to get by, barely able to support their Pet Beasts. Everyone had their own circumstances.

Chatting with them took a lot of effort, but Teacher Zhang also learned a great deal of industry information.

"Right, about what you asked me to look into—I asked a lot of people last night, and it turns out there really are some new Evolution Methods."

Gu Ming listened with rapt attention.

"Currently, there are two new types of Evolution Methods: Induced Combat Breakthrough and Emotional Resonance Breakthrough."

"Both of these Evolution Methods are still in the testing phase. The first one has a good number of case studies, but it doesn’t apply to enough Pet Beasts to be widely promoted."

"The latter doesn’t have many cases and is still being verified."

"To be practical, the Induced Combat Breakthrough is the most likely to succeed. Let me tell you how the induction works..."

In the Beast Taming Realm, Pet Beasts often break through to the next Realm during intense, high-pressure battles.

This kind of breakthrough happens without an Inner Core; it’s an on-the-spot limit break.

After breaking through, they need to be quickly supplemented with nutrients to cultivate an Inner Core.

The induction method, then, involves constantly stimulating and training certain parts of the Pet Beast through battle.

For example, a dragon’s horns, a snake’s fangs, a tiger’s gallbladder, or a bull’s stomach.

Each has its own evolutionary path. During battle, that specific part is relentlessly attacked. After the Pet Beast is injured, the potential of that organ must be pushed to its absolute limit. It must continue fighting while wounded, battling to the very end under immense pressure.

This kind of induced combat breakthrough actually has a bit of a Super Evolution flavor to it.

"Shouldn’t this kind of Evolution Method have existed a long time ago?" Gu Ming murmured.

Teacher Zhang’s hearing was sharp. He shook his head and said:

"Combat breakthroughs have indeed existed for a long time, but those were all unconscious breakthroughs. Artificial induction is a recent development that required a lot of accumulated time and research."

It took sixty years of accumulation for humanity to even reach the threshold of artificial induction; it wasn’t as easy as Gu Ming thought.

Gu Ming nodded while looking at the text that was slowly updating on his system.

「After his preliminary research, Teacher Zhang strongly recommends the already-stable Artificial Induced Combat Breakthrough and the steadily improving Emotional Resonance Breakthrough. He does not recommend you start on the newest Foundation Establishment Evolution Method.」

「Your choice is...」