Zheng Dong was startled.
Damn, was the salary that high?
It made sense, though. Any pet beast with high potential would cost six figures, which was a drop in the bucket for major companies specializing in pet beast cultivation.
However, Zheng Dong wasn't exactly short on money these days.
He was just a bit puzzled as to why this uncle was willing to offer such a high salary for his part-time services.
Before Zheng Dong could even agree, Professor Xue Yin glared at the other man with displeasure.
"Ren Fei, I asked you to help, not poach. Should I send some people over to your company for a visit and an inspection?"
"No, no, no, Professor Xue, I was wrong. It's just that a plant-type pet beast we're cultivating recently needs its evolution path refined, and we'd like student Zheng Dong's help," the sleazy uncle, Ren Fei, quickly said.
Although Zheng Dong's Qin Emperor inheritance of infinite evolution wasn't public, many major companies that cultivated young pet beasts had obtained the news through various channels.
Professor Xue Yin ignored Ren Fei and turned back to Zheng Dong.
"Zheng Dong, take us to see the little turtles. Don't pay them any mind for now. It's not worth delaying your studies for this little bit of money. When you open your own pet beast cultivation company in the future, it'll be much better than working for them!"
Her words reminded Zheng Dong.
With his beast-taming talent for infinite evolution, making money wasn't slow.
However, the prerequisite was not to attract unwanted attention.
Frankly, his current strength was insufficient. Possessing infinite evolution was already enough to incite jealousy. Going out and starting a company to steal others' livelihoods would be akin to seeking his own demise.
After receiving them, Zheng Dong led them to the Shanghai Beast Cultivation Department and contacted Dean Pan.
Upon hearing it was Professor Xue Yin, Dean Pan immediately put down his work and rushed over.
As they chatted, they arrived at the experimental base for raising the little turtles.
The area wasn't very large, but it was sufficient for raising dozens of little turtles.
Then, under Professor Xue Yin's guidance, Du Chuan, Ren Fei, and the others began examining the various indicators of these little turtles.
They were quite good, with better data than other turtle-type pet beasts.
One of the little turtles had even awakened a skill and reached the third level of Awakening in its growth stage.
This surprised everyone.
If these little turtles had hatched normally and awakened so quickly, it would have been understandable.
However, these little turtles had been hatched with accelerated incubation by Dean Pan and others using their talents. Logically, their awakening time should have been much later than normally hatched turtle-type pet beasts.
This indicated that this little turtle had immense growth potential.
Immediately, several experts wanted to raise this little turtle.
Dean Pan naturally disagreed.
But ultimately, only Zheng Dong and Professor Xue Yin could make the final decision.
"Professor Xue Yin, I think these little turtles are doing quite well at Shanghai University. Why don't we keep them here at Shanghai University? That way, I can visit them anytime."
"That's not a problem. The Cultivation Bureau can support Shanghai University in establishing a dedicated turtle-type pet beast cultivation base. However, once these little turtles awaken, the contract slots will be allocated by the Cultivation Bureau," Professor Xue Yin said.
Dean Pan quickly nodded.
He wouldn't dare to object to this.
As for Zheng Dong, he was indifferent.
He already had a water-type pet beast and didn't plan to contract another.
Next, Zheng Dong didn't participate in the work of experts like Du Chuan and Ren Fei. Instead, he chatted with Professor Xue Yin privately.
He asked Professor Xue Yin to examine his body again to see if there were any issues.
The matter of the Heavy Load Black Tortoise made him pay more attention to the Azure Dragon bloodline power within him.
"Don't worry too much, kid. Your body is fine for now. If the Dragon Vine Grass can fully absorb and integrate the Azure Dragon bloodline, you should live longer than other half-bloods," Professor Xue Yin said.
Zheng Dong nodded.
This meant he still needed to quickly increase the growth level of the Dragon Vine Grass to resolve the Azure Dragon bloodline within him.
After thanking Professor Xue Yin, Zheng Dong continued to ask,
"Professor Xue Yin, are there any ways to obtain Mimicry Crystal Stones, or chips that can awaken top-tier intelligence?"
Professor Xue Yin seemed a bit surprised, not expecting Zheng Dong to ask her this question.
"Mimicry Crystal Stones? You can forget about them for now!" Professor Xue Yin said.
Zheng Dong frowned.
He felt that Mimicry Crystal Stones were even harder to obtain than legendary resources.
Unwilling to give up, he continued,
"Professor Xue Yin, what exactly are Mimicry Crystal Stones? They seem so mysterious."
Professor Xue Yin was silent for a moment before answering Zheng Dong.
Instead, she called Zheng Dong into a separate laboratory, took out another relic bead, and brought Zheng Dong into the relic space before speaking seriously.
"You're quite curious. With your talent, you'll eventually find out about this. I'll tell you in advance, but some things, if spoken, can cause panic, so you need to keep it a secret."
Zheng Dong nodded.
"You can imagine the universe we live in as a piece of paper, but this paper isn't spread out flat. Instead, it's crumpled into a ball.
This means that there will be areas where spaces overlap. These areas are called异空间秘境 (Yì Kōngjiān Mìjìng - dimensional secret realms).
But the complexity is far beyond a single piece of paper; it's like a book of unknown thickness, all crumpled together!" Professor Xue Yin continued.
Zheng Dong was shocked.
A piece of paper representing a universe, what would a book represent?
What kind of power could crumple them together?
It could probably instantly kill even gods!
Zheng Dong had never heard of dimensional secret realms before.
However, he quickly deduced that if Professor Xue Yin's explanation was correct, then dimensional secret realms were places where multiple spaces overlapped. They were both exits from Blue Star to other worlds and entrances for other worlds to enter Blue Star.
They were extremely dangerous places.
Therefore, Zheng Dong asked,
"In that case, isn't Blue Star at risk of invasion?"
Seeing Zheng Dong's surprised expression, Professor Xue Yin wasn't surprised.
Anyone hearing this for the first time would be astonished and think it was all a fantasy.
However, Zheng Dong quickly regained his composure, which exceeded Professor Xue Yin's expectations.
She nodded slightly and said with a grave expression,
"Yes, indeed, many powerful beings from other worlds have entered Blue Star through dimensional secret realms, and Mimicry Crystal Stones are brought by them.
Moreover, the area of dimensional secret realms is constantly expanding, and as it does, the spatial barriers will become weaker, and more powerful beings from other worlds will invade Blue Star.
Have you heard of the beast-taming talent 'Time Control'?"
This surprised Zheng Dong.
No wonder Mimicry Crystal Stones were so hard to obtain.
It turned out they weren't resources from Blue Star.
As for Time Control, it was a formidable beast-taming talent. It was said to be able to accelerate, decelerate, or even stop time within a certain range, as well as deduce the past and future.
In the history of Yanhuang, only one beast master possessed this talent, the Empress's husband, Bai Zhiyuan.
There was very little public information about Bai Zhiyuan. Like most people, Zheng Dong only knew that he had assisted the Empress in establishing the Shenwu Empire.
Therefore, Zheng Dong nodded and looked at Professor Xue Yin with confusion, not understanding why she suddenly asked such a question.
"The time beast master Bai Zhiyuan once prophesied that all worlds were originally one, and they would eventually return to being one.
Simply put, during the doom of the gods, when the heavens and earth shatter and myths revive, the heavens and earth will unify!
Of course, this is just his prophecy or speculation.
However, dimensional secret realms are indeed expanding, and their numbers are increasing. Many countries have experienced dimensional secret realms, and our future living environment will likely become increasingly difficult," Professor Xue Yin said somewhat pessimistically.
Zheng Dong hadn't expected Blue Star's situation to be so dire. No wonder it wasn't publicized; it would undoubtedly cause panic, and no one would foolishly work just to buy a house.
It seemed he needed to become stronger as soon as possible!
Otherwise, if the world fell into chaos one day, he wouldn't even be able to buy food, and he wouldn't have the chance to cultivate so peacefully.
Furthermore, as Professor Xue Yin mentioned, this might just be Bai Zhiyuan's prophecy or speculation, not necessarily accurate.
It was important to remember that the Mythological Era was far longer than the combined time of the Totem Era, the Imperial Era, and the modern era.
If all time were considered one day, the Totem Era, the Imperial Era, and the modern era combined would only be equivalent to the last ten minutes or so of that day.
As for the Mythological Era, it occupied the vast majority of that day.
Therefore, to understand what happened during the Mythological Era, one could only rely on speculation and imagination.
"If you want to obtain Mimicry Crystal Stones, become a Grandmaster as soon as possible. Only Grandmasters are eligible to join the Secret Realm Bureau and gain the qualification to guard secret realms," Professor Xue Yin said in the end.
Becoming a Grandmaster was still a long way off for Zheng Dong. He didn't want to wait until then to contract a mechanical pet beast, so he asked somewhat unwillingly,
"Is there no other way?"
"That depends on whether anyone is willing to sell. Yanhuang has two dimensional secret realms, one in Wudu and one in Yandu.
Besides the Secret Realm Bureau, several families in Wudu and Yandu are guarding these two dimensional secret realms. They are all descendants of the Empress and the Yan Emperor.
If you know them, you can ask if they are willing to sell to you!" Professor Xue Yin said with a smile.
Zheng Dong frowned.
This was a bit troublesome.
He didn't know anyone from these families at all.
"How about this, you join our Cultivation Bureau, and I'll help you ask, but there's no guarantee anyone will be willing to sell? And the price will likely be very high.
Also, regarding the chip that awakens top-tier intelligence, the Cultivation Bureau can help you obtain it. Consider it a benefit for joining the Cultivation Bureau," Professor Xue Yin said, smiling at Zheng Dong.
Zheng Dong looked at Professor Xue Yin with some confusion.
Was she talking in circles just to get him to join the Cultivation Bureau?
If it was for the sake of awakening top-tier intelligence and obtaining information about Mimicry Crystal Stones, joining the Cultivation Bureau was not a problem.
However, Zheng Dong was more interested in understanding Professor Xue Yin's purpose for wanting him to join the Cultivation Bureau.
He didn't want to be a tool, constantly helping the Cultivation Bureau simulate and deduce evolution plans for free.
"Professor Xue Yin, but I've already joined the Special Operations Bureau, I also have a part-time position in the Relic Bureau, and I still need to cultivate. I simply don't have the time!" Zheng Dong said helplessly.
"The Cultivation Bureau has several projects that require your assistance. If they are successful, Yanhuang will have a greater hope of resisting large-scale invasions from other worlds!
As for the Special Operations Bureau, I will negotiate on your behalf, and it won't significantly affect your cultivation time.
Moreover, you will receive rewards for completing each project," Professor Xue Yin said.
As long as it wasn't unpaid labor, Zheng Dong was willing to help.
After all, Professor Xue Yin had helped him quite a bit.
Therefore, Zheng Dong didn't stand on ceremony and agreed to Professor Xue Yin's request.
Of course, it was also a part-time position.
The benefits from the Cultivation Bureau, besides providing Zheng Dong with a chip that could awaken top-tier intelligence, also included a monthly allowance of 50 Void Stones and 500,000 Dragon Yuan, as well as the eligibility to apply for a plant-type pet beast with a King-grade racial level.
Zheng Dong wasn't considering contracting other plant-type pet beasts for the time being, so he had Professor Xue Yin exchange them for two transcendent skill inheritance beads suitable for plant-type pet beasts to learn.
As for the research projects Professor Xue Yin mentioned, one of them was located at the Chong Island Cultivation Base in Shanghai.
The research involved a peculiar extraordinary creature called the Dragon Star Urchin.
This was a rather unique extraordinary creature. In its juvenile stage, the Dragon Star Urchin was an animal, but in its adult stage, it transformed into a plant, resembling red coral.
They occasionally produced a type of fruit tree called Dragon Urchin Fruit, which could alter a person's physique and increase the probability of awakening beast-taming talents.
If someone consumed Dragon Urchin Fruit for an extended period, they would basically be able to awaken their beast-taming talent.
This meant that ordinary people who hadn't awakened their beast-taming talents also had a chance to awaken them.
However, Dragon Star Urchins were extremely difficult to cultivate, and the Dragon Urchin Fruit they produced was only enough for a very small number of people.
The Cultivation Bureau wanted to evolve the Dragon Star Urchin to increase the yield of Dragon Urchin Fruit.
Unfortunately, despite years of research, there had been no breakthroughs.
If Zheng Dong could help find an evolution plan and increase the yield of Dragon Urchin Fruit, he would not only receive a reward of 50 million but also an eighth-level resource.
The reward was quite good, but Zheng Dong was more interested in obtaining the qualification to cultivate in the Deep Abyss Relic Space again.
"Professor Xue Yin, if I can succeed, I don't want the bonus or the eighth-level resource. Can you help me apply for more cultivation days in the Deep Abyss Relic?" Zheng Dong said.
"You're thinking quite optimistically, kid. The cultivation slots for the Deep Abyss Relic are fixed for each bureau annually.
For instance, our Cultivation Bureau only has 5 slots, and each slot cannot exceed 30 days of cultivation. These are highly sought after and not easily granted.
If you can simultaneously resolve the research bottlenecks for two projects, then no one should dare to say much. After all, I'm not the only one who makes decisions in the Cultivation Bureau," Professor Xue Yin said with some difficulty.
Zheng Dong nodded. He could try.
If he could cultivate for another 30 days in the Deep Abyss Relic Space, he was confident he could quickly upgrade his beast-taming space to level 4.
At that point, he would be a high-level beast master.
Afterward, he confirmed the time to go to the Chong Island Cultivation Base with Professor Xue Yin and left the relic space together.
By this time, experts like Du Chuan and Ren Fei had also finished their work and reached a consensus, formulating a cultivation plan for these little turtles.
They also planned to visit regularly to observe the growth process of these little turtles.
Dean Pan also expressed that Shanghai University's Beast Cultivation Department would certainly take good care of these little turtles and ensure their rapid growth.
Next, Dean Pan was to host a banquet for Professor Xue Yin and the others on behalf of Shanghai University.
Zheng Dong wasn't interested in this and made an excuse to slip away.
However, the sleazy uncle Ren Fei still found an opportunity to slip a business card to Zheng Dong.
He asked Zheng Dong to consider it and contact him.
Although Zheng Dong wasn't interested, he still took the business card and casually put it in his pocket.
Returning to the villa where he was staying, Zheng Dong resumed his leisurely cultivation life.
As for attending classes, he would occasionally go for assessments.
In the blink of an eye, another week passed, and it was mid-November.
Zheng Dong's beast-taming space was progressing slowly.
However, Xiao Qing's mastery of its skills had improved significantly. Apart from its transcendent skills, all other skills had reached the "Mastered" level with Zheng Dong's assistance.
Moreover, Xiao Qing had also learned to cook, and its culinary skills were quite good.
As a result, Zheng Dong didn't force it to stay in the beast-taming space.
One day, just as Zheng Dong finished eating the braised pork ribs cooked by Xiao Qing, he received a call from Principal Yu.
Principal Yu asked Zheng Dong to go to the Combat Club to accept a challenge from a freshman from Imperial Capital University.
Originally, such matters should have been handled by the students participating in the Combat Club.
Unfortunately, all the freshmen in the Combat Club had been defeated, losing 16 consecutive matches and suffering great humiliation.