Although Dr. Xu was a mentor specializing in Water-type Pet Beast research, he rarely appeared at the university.
Most of the time, he stayed in his own research institute—
It was an institute built in the suburbs. The main building itself wasn't large, occupying about 10,000 square meters, but the surrounding "backyard area" was extremely exaggerated.
A full five hills, two forests, and a vast lake as wide as the sea all belonged to the institute's territory.
They formed the Pet Beast Ecological Protection Zone established by Dr. Xu, specifically used to raise the Pet Beasts he had researched or taken in, along with their populations. It possessed an extremely rich ecological environment.
And this was only the tip of the iceberg of the institute!
He also controlled more than ten secret realm spaces of varying sizes, each with different ecological environments, like miniature worlds.
These secret realms, together with the protection zone, formed the complete Xu Hai Research Institute.
'This is the strength of a Pet Beast research doctor.'
On his way to the institute, Jiang Xing saw those extraordinary Pet Beasts lounging by the roadside, basking lazily in the sun. He was so envious that drool nearly slipped from the corner of his mouth.
You had to know—just to conduct his research, he was still freeloading off the school's free fish ponds and experimental equipment.
Even worse, due to insufficient space and lack of funding, the ninety Golden-Patterned Koi evolution forms he had previously raised had all been sent off to a senior's breeding farm after recording their research data, where they were put up for sale.
So, after the timeline shift, only ten unevolved Golden-Patterned Koi remained in the fish pond.
If Jiang Xing had such a large backyard, there would have been no need to send them away—he could have kept them all himself.
'I want to claim land too. I want a massive villa too!'
The voice in Jiang Xing's mind was the shared desire of all Pet Beast researchers.
After envying the strength of a Pet Beast research doctor, Jiang Xing entered the institute and met Dr. Xu in the study.
He had already sent a message in advance, explaining his purpose.
Dr. Xu didn't ask much. He took the draft of the thesis and began reading it directly.
After some time, he set the thesis down, glanced appreciatively at the Rainbow Dragon Hatchling floating in midair, and nodded in satisfaction.
"Combining ancient myths from our country with Pet Beasts that have only emerged in the past few centuries—this kind of bold and innovative approach is highly inspiring."
"The experimental design is also commendable. Not only does it align with Pet Beast evolution theory, but more importantly, it allows people to see your thinking, rather than just following textbook formulas."
"Very good."
"Although the thesis isn't finished yet, it already counts as completing your assignment. Later, I'll apply to the university for a Special Scholarship for you. This is the reward you deserve."
"Thank you, teacher!"
The scholarships at Yuzhong University were divided into multiple tiers.
Last year, the scholarship he received was fourth-tier: 200,000 in cash, along with an additional 500,000 in research funding that could be applied for.
The Special Scholarship, however, came with a cash reward of up to 2 million, and the available research funding increased to 5 million—practically a windfall from heaven!
With this funding, when Jiang Xing develops the second batch of Rainbow Dragon Hatchlings, he could go all out—select higher-quality and more suitable resources, and, combined with the Berry Blender, greatly accelerate the research progress!
This wave was a massive profit!
Jiang Xing was overjoyed and couldn't help asking, "Teacher, can I apply for the research funding in advance?"
"To improve your thesis data?" Dr. Xu nodded. "No problem. Though, it's a bit little. With your current achievements, you can apply for more funding."
"Little?" Jiang Xing was stunned. Two million in cash plus five million in funding—and that was considered little?
"Of course." Dr. Xu reopened the thesis and began listing things out.
"To research the evolution conditions of the Rainbow Dragon Hatchling, you require a Dragon-type move. That's a very reasonable requirement… and the data for Dragon-type moves is generally valued at ten million."
"With just that one item, you can already apply for ten million in funding, or obtain a complete set of Dragon-type move data."
Jiang Xing's eyes widened, and he blurted out instinctively: "But I already borrowed the data for the Dragon Ritual Dance move from Senior Su…"
Dr. Xu asked, "Then during your research, did you use a Dragon-type move?"
Jiang Xing nodded. "I did."
"Then that settles it." Dr. Xu shook his head slightly. This student's thesis ideas were clearly bold and innovative—so why did his thinking get stuck at moments like this?
"Your research requires a Dragon-type move, and the funding you apply for corresponds to the normal value of a Dragon-type move."
"And once you complete the research and publish the results, allowing the university, the association, and numerous Beast Tamers to benefit from it—doesn't that settle everything?"
"As for how you obtained the Dragon-type move during your research, or how you saved on funding—that's your own matter… It's not important, and no one cares."
Jiang Xing's eyes widened.
You could do it like this?
Dr. Xu continued, "Let me give you an example. I possess many Pet Beasts, resources, and move manuals…"
"When I conduct research, does that mean I can't apply for any funding and must pay everything out of my own pocket, only to contribute the results afterward?"
"Should scholars be expected to sacrifice their own wealth and work purely out of passion?"
"If that were the case, how many people would still be willing to become scholars? How would Beast Taming studies develop?"
"Therefore, all of this is part of a compliant process."
"However, if you include high-value resources unrelated to your research topic in your funding application, and use that to fraudulently obtain more funding… that would be embezzlement and you would be held accountable."
After hearing Dr. Xu's explanation and combining it with the memories in his mind, Jiang Xing finally understood—
This was a characteristic of the Beast Taming world.
For the sake of the world's development, and to prevent certain knowledge from being monopolized by individuals or forces,
Most research related to Pet Beasts would ultimately be publicly published and recorded in the Beast Compendium, accessible to anyone to read and learn—at least in terms of knowledge, there was no monopoly.
Those families that monopolized certain Pet Beasts usually did so by controlling a secret realm and a corresponding Pet Beast population, thereby controlling the source of production.
As a result, research related to Pet Beast evolution was essentially "public research," not "private research."
Patent rights did not belong to individuals or groups, but to all Beast Tamers.
Such a system obviously harmed the interests of scholars—after all, painstakingly developed results were directly made public, which wasn't easy to accept.
Therefore, as compensation, scholars in the Beast Taming world held extremely high status. Research funding was fully provided by various countries and was very generous, allowing scholars to easily profit from it.
In addition, academic conferences were frequently held, and various awards were granted to reward top scholars.
'To sum it up, patent rights have been replaced by another form of compensation…'
Jiang Xing suddenly understood. According to his previous thinking—using his own knowledge to offset funding, or even using scholarships to cover funding gaps—
That was basically using his own money to conduct research for others.
After fully understanding this, Jiang Xing no longer struggled with the idea of being a "funding thief," and instead followed Dr. Xu to learn about funding mechanisms—
After all, in the future, he intended to publicly publish the evolution method of the Rainbow Dragon Hatchling!
With such valuable evolution knowledge, shouldn't the price be increased?
Mm, Jiang Xing had completely understood now—Pet Beast research doctors were not saints.
On the contrary, Dr. Xu owned such a vast territory and raised so many Pet Beasts. The daily maintenance alone was an astronomical expense—without finding ways to make money, it simply wouldn't work.
In the end, after the mentor's earnest guidance, Jiang Xing's research funding skyrocketed from the original 5 million to 70 million, even including the cost of purchasing experimental sites.
Looking at the detailed funding breakdowns, each item precisely calculated to the limit, Jiang Xing was stunned.
He finally understood why Senior Su could already own her own research institute before even graduating—
And this was only experimental funding, not including profits from predicting price increases of related resources and Pet Beasts based on thesis content, stockpiling in advance, cooperating with breeding farms, hatcheries, and Beast Taming families, and other money-making methods…
Compared to Beast Tamers next door, who scrimped and saved every day, fought in battles, ventured into dangerous secret realms, hunted potential young beasts—risking their lives—only to spend everything on training their Pet Beasts, a researcher only needed to apply for a project titled "Research on the Evolution Forms of XX Pet Beast" to cultivate Pet Beasts—not only spending nothing, but even earning money in the process.
Jiang Xing finally realized.
Three generations grow rich through research; a lifetime of poverty through Beast Taming.
Brothers, doing research is the right path!
---
I will post some extra Chapters in Patreon, you can check it out. >> patreon.com/TitoVillar
---