Chapter 113

Suddenly the center of attention, the guardian spirit became a little shy and floated away to prepare the essential energy drinks for everyone.

Xie Qingwei watched her hurriedly floating off and smiled before continuing, “Xiao Ye’s full name is Ye Ruoqi. She’s a good friend I grew up with.”

“Uuuuu!” The guardian spirit, standing by the tea counter, made a sound as if to correct her.

“Alright, bestie! Xiao Ye is the best and closest friend I grew up with,” Xie Qingwei said seriously.

Hearing it said so straightforwardly, the guardian spirit seemed a bit embarrassed, lowering its head to continue filling the energy drinks.

“We were born in the same hospital, lived in the same neighborhood, went to the same kindergarten and elementary school. We saw each other every day from birth and were hardly ever apart.”

Xie Qingwei’s voice paused, and a hint of nostalgia appeared in her eyes.

“But Xiao Ye’s parents… they prefer her younger brother. They didn’t really care much for their daughter.”

“So Xiao Ye always preferred coming to play with me. Back then, she told me we would always be best friends, even when we grew up and got old, we’d always be together.”

At this point, the guardian spirit’s slender ear behind its head turned a little red, and it made a weak sound: “Mmm…”.

That was something we said back in kindergarten, right? Why is it being brought up again now…

“Until middle school, when we had an accident caused by a supernatural creature. Not far from our neighborhood, a filthy spider appeared in the river.”

Mu Huiyue’s heart tightened instinctively. The filthy spider, an advanced combat species of the dark and insect systems, was a very dangerous supernatural creature.

They build webs and nests in dark, damp places, dragging nearby prey into their nests to cocoon them, providing nutrients for the eggs that will soon hatch.

Filthy spiders are dark creatures, especially drawn to humans with strong emotions as a source of nutrition. They usually hide in their nests but become very irritable and aggressive during their ovulation period, indiscriminately capturing all prey.

“That day, I was actually arguing with Xiao Ye. I can’t even remember what it was about, probably just the usual awkwardness between teenage girls. I didn’t go home with her after school but walked home alone instead.”

“As I passed the river, I was bound by the filthy spider into its nest.”

“Xiao Ye came to my house looking for me but didn’t find me. She thought I was still on the way and walked back along the route to see if she could ‘coincidentally’ find me on my way home.”

“She couldn’t find me, but she saw my brother messing around with someone and decided to drag him home.”

“When they got to the river, Xiao Ye found the traces of the filthy spider. She and my brother were both dragged into the spider’s nest, where they saw me, cocooned.”

“After finding me, Xiao Ye immediately tore open the unformed cocoon and saved me.”

At this point, Xie Qingwei couldn’t help but smile. “It’s hard to imagine now, right? Back then, I was just a fragile little child who could only cry and whine. Xiao Ye was much braver.”

Her voice paused for a moment as she instinctively reached into the pocket of her lab coat, hoping for a cigarette, but instead, she only pulled out a lollipop.

Xiao Ye’s supervision of her quitting smoking and health habits had, as always, left no blind spots.

“Xiao Ye got me out of the spider’s nest and told me to go find an adult to call for help. I ran all the way back to the neighborhood, and after that, my memories get pretty blurry. It was like everything was chaotic—my parents were saying something, and then it jumped to the riverbank, where the bureau’s enforcers and the beastmasters from the police station arrived…”

Xie Qingwei stopped and unwrapped the lollipop, popping it into her mouth.

Mu Huiyue sensed Xiao Ye’s fate in her gaze.

“They were rescuing people… Xiao Ye’s parents were also on the scene. They saved Xiao Ye’s brother first, but when they found Xiao Ye, she had already lost her breath in the cocoon.”

“I may not have the right to say this, but—”

“Mmm…” The guardian spirit, which had flown over without anyone noticing, interrupted Xie Qingwei’s words. Its wings, shaped like human arms, stretched out behind it and gave the beastmaster a gentle embrace.

“Don’t say things like you don’t have the right. Even if the same scene were to happen again, I would still do everything in my power to save you first, Xie Xiaowei.”

Xie Qingwei seemed to smile, but her eyes were moist. She reached back and touched the guardian spirit’s cold body.

“After the accident, I took a year off from school. I just couldn’t accept Xiao Ye’s death. I even found myself fantasizing about why the person who died in the cocoon wasn’t me.”

“Until I turned sixteen, I awakened as a beastmaster and saw the spirit behind me.”

“She has always been by my side.”

“Mmm~” The guardian spirit’s eyes curved into a smile.

We promised to always be together, and I won’t break that promise.

“After that, the memories became lighter. Xiao Ye couldn’t stand seeing me in such a depressed state. She didn’t want the person she had worked so hard to save to end up like that. Under her supervision, I successfully finished high school and participated in the professional assessment, all the way up to now.”

“Xiao Ye was the reason I got into the study of dark attribute supernatural creatures.”

Xie Qingwei also smiled with her eyes curving. “I will live my life well from here on out, so Xiao Ye can see what kind of person the girl she saved has become… This is the ‘contract’ between us.”

“I absolutely, absolutely don’t want to lose her again. This [Symbiosis] skill is not just Xiao Ye’s wish; it’s more of my obsession…”

Xie Qingwei looked at her guardian spirit. “Sorry, I shouldn’t have asked if you want to evolve. Without the connection of [Symbiosis], the one who will break first will be me… Sigh, I guess it’s because I’ve pulled too many all-nighters lately, my brain isn’t working properly.”

The guardian spirit’s wing-shaped black mist gently patted the beastmaster’s shoulder.

“Well… Teacher Xie, if possible, can I give the report at the exchange conference?” Feng Le said, gathering his courage.

At his words, both Mu Huiyue and Xie Qingwei looked at him. For Feng Le, this was no easy task. He had a hard time communicating smoothly in front of strangers, and the fact that he had approached Mu Huiyue to speak to her back then had already taken every ounce of courage he had.

Asking him to give a public speech at the exchange conference, in front of over a thousand people, was like asking him to walk through a sea of flames.

“This is Rabbit, and it’s also my [ritual].” Feng Le made up his mind and continued, “If you don’t want your guardian spirit to evolve, Rabbit and I will become the third group of physical experiments and complete it live at the exchange conference.”

Xie Qingwei paused for a moment, then smiled and pulled Feng Le over, ruffling his hair.

“I understand. Then it will be up to you, Feng Le.”

A week later, the [University Attributes Research Exchange Conference] officially kicked off in the capital, Jingjiang City.

This was an annual event for attribute research, where scholars from all over Dayan gathered in the capital to discuss and exchange the latest academic discoveries.

Each year, the conference selects the top three most influential research outcomes, rewarding them with substantial research funding, as well as various rare resources and secret realm training opportunities provided by the Beastmasters Association.

Since the exchange conference was held in Jingjiang City, the researchers from Jingzhou University didn’t have to endure long travels; they could simply go directly to the venue when the time came.

The conference was held at the International Conference Center in the city’s central district, a grand and imposing landmark building.

Mu Huiyue had passed by that area during the summer break and had remarked on how different the capital was. Its cultural development was far beyond that of other provincial capitals. She never expected that she would experience participating in a research conference here so soon.

In Xie Qingwei’s project team, it was just her and Feng Le, making them one of the most streamlined teams among the many attribute research groups.

The three of them arrived early at the International Conference Center, found their designated exhibition hall, and began preparing in advance.

Mu Huiyue picked up the conference brochure at the entrance of the venue and flipped through it with interest.

This year, thirty research projects were participating in the exchange conference, all of which had passed a preliminary screening and were considered high-level projects. These included research teams from major universities and independent research institutes funded by corporations that had achieved results.

Mu Huiyue recognized a few familiar faces among the participants.

First, there was the project from the Yunzhou University Original Wood Research Institute, where Lin Lin was. Their project for the exchange conference was the special skill Reversed Space, which had appeared during the ranking competition earlier.

Then, there was the team from Xingzhou University, whose research topic focused on [Intelligence Attribute Beast Cultivation Directions and Development Trends], a project developed in collaboration with universities in the Nova region.

Mu Huiyue also spotted the Thunder Attribute Research Team from Hongzhou University. Their project was about [The Impact of Beastmaster Contracts on Beast Potential Development], which seemed somewhat related to their own project, sparking Mu Huiyue’s curiosity.

She wondered how the research team from Hongzhou University would explore the changes brought by [Contracts] for beasts.

While Mu Huiyue casually flipped through the brochure, Feng Le, sitting next to her, was incredibly nervous, muttering the opening lines of his speech over and over.

Professor Xie Qingwei had fully entrusted the research report to the two students this time, with Feng Le as the main speaker and Mu Huiyue responsible for assisting with data presentation and other tasks.

Feng Le had recited the opening lines three times, but each time he made different mistakes, which made him feel a bit desperate.

He glanced at his calm junior. Mu Huiyue seemed completely unfazed.

“Do you have any ways to ease your nerves, Huiyue?” Feng Le asked. “Besides deep breathing, I’ve been doing that since I got up this morning, but it’s not working at all…”

“I get nervous too.” Mu Huiyue smiled, noticing his skeptical gaze, and continued, “At times like this, I distract myself by doing something else, or think about what’s planned for afterward.”

She showed Feng Le her phone, which didn’t display data related to the research project but instead a chart of stock market trends.

Feng Le was stunned. All this time, he had thought that Mu Huiyue had been seriously reviewing data from the research report on her phone, but it turned out she was looking at a financial investment website.

“Well, I’ll give it a try…” Feng Le turned his head, closed his eyes, and tried to think about something other than his speech.

The worn-out rabbit plushie floated over, its fluffy little arms gently patting the Beastmaster’s shoulder, offering encouragement.

Mu Huiyue closed the brochure and casually glanced at the stock chart on her phone, which was linked to industries related to extraordinary skill training.

Once the results from the Dark Attribute Research Institute were released, the news of [a way to change a beast’s core talent through evolution] would spread throughout Dayan and the world, reshaping people’s understanding of core talent skills.

Once the possibility of changing the core talent became a reality, the demand for teaching low-level practical skills that had upper-level abilities would certainly increase significantly.

After all, a stable evolution path for core talent skills essentially meant a stable evolution path for beast companions.

Previously, Mu Huiyue had specifically communicated with Boss Luo of the Yanluo Study, asking her to delay the course arrangements. They decided to wait until after the exchange conference and the related news reports before making further plans.

At the same time, she mobilized some of the funds she had at her disposal and made large investments in stocks related to skill teaching.

After the exchange conference, the stocks of these companies would inevitably skyrocket. She planned to sell them at a high point and make a guaranteed profit.

This was a rare opportunity to seize the moment and release market-positive news, so of course, it couldn’t be wasted.

Thinking about the potential profits, Mu Huiyue couldn’t help but smile. She turned off the screen of her phone and looked up, only to unexpectedly spot a familiar figure.

It was Lin Lin, wearing the uniform of the Original Wood Research Institute.

Upon seeing her, Lin Lin raised an eyebrow in surprise and walked toward her.

“Mu Huiyue?”