Chapter 115

“Everyone can see that the Thunderclap Fruit enhances the empathic bond of the Beast Tamer contract. With the support of the Beast Tamer’s belief, the timid Glowing Mushroom gained the courage to attack the enemy. Combined with the ‘Nocturnal Glow’ trait, it took the initiative in battle,” Professor Yuan Xin said as he adjusted his glasses and continued to demonstrate the effects of the Thunderclap Fruit.

The contract’s deterrence made the timid Glowing Mushroom become brave, charging toward the enemy with its blinding glow.

It made the irritable Force Pattern Gray Bear more cunning, stopping its charge and faking an attack.

It made the gentle Waterlight Carp go wild, using Water Flow Splitting Wave at a time when it should have used a healing skill.

…

In the experimental videos he presented, most of the cases showed how the contract made the contracted beasts go against their own instincts to unleash skills or traits, launching unexpected attacks that led to victory in battle.

Mu Huiyue couldn’t help but recall the Starfall Festival she went to with Wen Li on her birthday.

The star player from the Starfall Combat Club, that Beast Tamer who contracted the Blazing Ice Saber-tooth Tiger, forcibly made it use the “Courage” trait tactic to develop in the direction of the Frostflame Tiger, only to lose that battle.

That person would probably wish for an extraordinary resource like the Thunderclap Fruit to exist.

But by using the empathic bond from the contract to influence the temperament of the contracted beasts on the battlefield, forcing them to become the way the Beast Tamer wants in order to execute tactics—will this truly lead to their growth and evolution?

“Aside from helping the contracted beasts overcome their weaknesses and fully leverage their inherent traits, the Thunderclap Fruit can also enhance the binding nature of the contract, increasing the Beast Tamer’s deterrence, making it easier for the contracted beasts to submit.”

Professor Yuan Xin switched to another experimental video on the projection screen.

“One could say that the Thunderclap Fruit aids Beast Tamers in awakening a new thunder attribute Beast Taming talent, enabling absolute control over the contracted beasts through the contract, eliminating the possibility of beasts refusing to follow orders.”

“This deterrent effect originating from the contract can also work on wild extraordinary creatures, making it easier to form contracts with them.”

Professor Yuan Xin played several related experimental cases, including a clip from the national competition featuring Yang Lei, the star player from the university team.

His ace contracted beast, the “Shifang Mo Xian” (Ten-direction Mo Xian), was a rebellious and unpredictable extraordinary creature that was almost impossible to cooperate with other beasts, let alone participate in tag-team matches.

However, during the national competition, Yang Lei’s Shifang Mo Xian was the core of the tag-team battle. Its core talent skill not only harmed its teammate but also triggered the opponent’s extraordinary trait that increased attack power after taking damage, ultimately winning that round of the match.

“As everyone knows, the traits and core skills of a contracted beast cannot be changed, and most extraordinary creatures’ potential is determined the moment they are born,” Professor Yuan Xin continued. “Not everyone can contract a beast with perfect innate talent. By enhancing the influence of the contract through the Thunderclap Fruit, restraining the beast’s behavior, and making it overcome its instinctual traits to perform unexpected uses of its abilities, this would be a very efficient breeding method.”

Next, Professor Yuan Xin introduced the current cultivation situation and basic costs of the Thunderclap Fruit.

This extraordinary resource was developed specifically for Beast Tamers. The higher the rank of the Beast Tamer, the less effective it becomes. To achieve the effect of adding a new Beast Taming talent, it can only be used by Beast Tamers at level 5 or below in their Beast Taming space.

Currently, the cultivation of Thunderclap Fruits is not yet mass-producible, but Professor Yuan Xin believes these issues will be overcome with further research.

Once the team from Hongzhou University finished their presentation, murmurs of discussion erupted throughout the venue.

Everyone was evaluating the effectiveness of the Thunderclap Fruit, and the three judges were doing the same.

After final deliberation, the judges gave a score of [21/30].

“Huh? Are you guys blind? Professor Yuan’s groundbreaking and exceptional achievement is not even as good as that little girl’s ‘Inverted Space’?” Yang Lei, the assistant for the presentation, was furious, his veins bulging as if he was about to storm down from the stage and physically confront the judges.

Seeing the score, Professor Yuan Xin’s expression also turned cold. He waved his hand to stop the impulsive Yang Lei from acting out and then looked towards the judge who gave the lowest score of [6/10], Professor Wan Ling.

“May I ask why Professor Wan Ling thinks this project is only worth 6 points?”

“Of course,” Professor Wan Ling replied calmly, her fingers interlocked. “I won’t judge the effectiveness of the Beast Taming methods, as there are various ways to form a contract, and every method that leads to results holds its value.”

“However, I do not believe that a contract that solely strengthens the Beast Tamer’s deterrence is truly an effective breeding method.”

“Having pets overcome their natural weaknesses and better utilize their own traits sounds quite appealing, but how can you ensure that the decisions made by the Beast Tamer, who is in control, are the right ones?”

“Can the orders given by the Beast Tamer, enforced through the contract’s deterrence, truly make the pet perform its traits more ‘effectively’?”

“Especially when your fruit only works on Beast Tamers below level 5, where most of them are still in the process of learning and growing, just like this impulsive little one behind you.”

Professor Wan Ling paused briefly before continuing, “The reason pets develop certain natures is due to multiple factors, and [nature] does not equate to [weakness].”

“Just like how the Nightlight Mushroom is naturally timid, it’s because of its fragile constitution, and it needs to be cautious when facing the enemy’s attacks during battle.”

“The glow of the Firefly Light it releases when it’s scared is to protect itself from danger, not a tactic to feign an attack.”

“If, in your experiment, that Nightlight Mushroom’s glow didn’t fully control the opponent, then its reckless advance under the contract’s influence would lead it to lose the battle.”

Hearing this, Mu Huiyue let out a light breath, feeling the slight heaviness in her heart lift.

Earlier, when she listened to the presentation, she instinctively felt discomfort, but it was Professor Wan Ling who accurately pinpointed the greatest risk of the Thunderstorm Fruit.

Forcing pets to go against their nature through contract deterrence might work a few times with miraculous results, but how can the Beast Tamer be sure that their judgment is always right?

Just like with Fang Xuyang and his Thunderstorm Lion in the national ranking competition, even though the Thunderstorm Lion faithfully executed an unreasonable tactic that went against its own nature, using lightning on itself, the Beast Tamer’s failure to make the correct judgment meant they had to lose.

A contract is a mutual choice between a Beast Tamer and their pet, and it should involve reciprocal feedback and mutual growth.

“I agree with Professor Wan Ling’s opinion,” said Professor Chen Li, an authority in evolutionary biology. “Strengthening the Beast Tamer’s deterrence in the contract too early would actually hinder the pet’s evolutionary potential.”

Professor Chen, who had given the Thunderstorm Fruit a score of 7/10, added.

The only one to give an excellent score of 8/10, President Kang Yao, smiled and said, “However, the effectiveness of the Thunderstorm Fruit is evident. It’s very useful in situations requiring strict discipline, and I believe it still has great potential for development.”

Professor Yuan Xin’s face turned pale with anger. He looked at the three members of the judging panel, controlling his emotions.

“The existence of a contract is to better control the pets, and the Thunderstorm Fruit can effectively enhance the deterrence in the contract, benefiting all Beast Tamers.”

“To claim it will affect evolutionary potential is absurd. A pet’s evolutionary potential is set at birth, and the core innate skills determine the ceiling for evolution. Otherwise, how would we classify the levels of different species?”

Professor Chen Li shook his head at this and closed the project list in his hands.

He looked at Yuan Xin on the podium and said, “Whether or not a contract will affect a pet’s evolutionary potential, you may find the answer in the next presentation.”

Professor Yuan Xin snorted coldly and walked off the podium with his assistant.

The next presentation was the seventh one, showcasing the results from the Dark Element Research Institute of Jingzhou University.

Suddenly under the heavy expectations of Academician Chen Li, Feng Le felt immense pressure. He took several deep breaths, but his heart still pounded like a drum, his teeth chattering, and his hands and feet tingled with nervousness.

“Do you agree with the research results presented by Professor Yuan Xin just now, Feng Le?” Mu Huiyue glanced at him and asked in a low voice.

“Of course not. I’ve personally witnessed what kind of miracles the contract can really bring,” Feng Le replied firmly.

Hearing this, Mu Huiyue smiled and stood up from the audience. “Then let’s go up there and show them what the true contract between a Beast Tamer and their pet should look like.”

Feng Le took one last deep breath, slapped his face to steady himself, and then stood up.

His body stopped trembling, and his eyes were bright, resembling the dedicated researcher in the lab who loved attribute research and never complained about working overtime.

Feng Le walked up to the podium with Mu Huiyue.

As the two young students stood up, whispers of discussion spread once again through the crowd.

“Isn’t the Dark Element Research Institute from Jingzhou University Professor Xie Qingwei’s team?”

“First, the Original Wood Institute, and now Professor Xie is also having students lead the presentation this year?”

“I wonder what the actual results are. Academician Chen Li seems really excited…”

“These two don’t seem like Lin Lin, haven’t heard much about them?”

“Is it okay for students to be responsible for the presentation report…”

“…”

Feng Le paid no attention to the faint discussions below. He projected the pre-prepared PowerPoint slides and other materials onto the giant screen behind the podium, then slightly bowed to the judges and audience.

“Hello, everyone. I am Feng Le, a third-year student from the Attribute Research Department of Jingzhou University, and I will be presenting today’s project report.”

The young man, whose face looked youthful, stood straight. He had never imagined that he could speak without trembling in front of so many people, but at this moment, a strong emotion was supporting him in facing this huge challenge.

“Our project is titled Research on the Evolutionary Driving Force of Dark-Type Extraordinary Creatures.”

Upon hearing Feng Le’s introduction, the audience’s reaction was rather lukewarm.

Dark-type extraordinary creatures are notoriously difficult to evolve to higher ranks. Compared to the evolution research of other attributes, examples of dark-type extraordinary creatures reaching the monarch level are extremely rare.

This topic is one that most dark attribute researchers delve into. Professor Xie Qingwei has been working on this direction for the past two years, but has yet to achieve any significant breakthroughs.

In the audience, some people were quietly discussing the previous presentation, others were texting the person in charge, and some were absentmindedly spinning pens…

Except for the three authorities sitting in the front row of the judges’ panel, it seemed that no one else was paying much attention to this student-led presentation.

Feng Le’s voice remained steady as he continued, “Through experimental verification, this drivability originates from the emotional resonance between the Beast Master and their contracted creature, which is the increased ‘Contract Entropy.'”

“By using the ‘Resonance Crystal’ developed by Professor Xie Qingwei, once the ‘Contract Entropy’ surpasses the individual threshold, a ‘Ritual’ behavior led by the contracted creature occurs, which deepens the emotional resonance.”

“By combining these methods, we have found a way to help extraordinary creatures break through the limitations of their core talent skills and complete their evolution.”

The entire exhibition hall quieted down at this statement.

The murmuring ceased, someone who had been texting pressed a whole row of incorrect keys, and the person spinning their pen dropped it on the carpet. Even the three judges on the panel showed surprised expressions.

Everyone’s gaze focused on the podium.

What did this young presenter just say?

…A method to help contracted extraordinary creatures break through the limitations of their core talent skills and complete evolution?!