After the award ceremony concluded, its aftereffects continued to ferment.
First was the Howl Hound. As a signature Pet Beast of China, it had always been quite popular to begin with.
With the ceremony, its reputation gained yet another defining trait—"loyalty that can transcend death."
Admittedly, summoning back an Undead Guardian Hound required an enormous price.
No Beast Tamer was willing to pay it.
But that didn't stop people from admiring such a loyal Pet Beast, or from wanting to raise a Howl Hound—whether as their own companion or for their children.
A phrase began circulating online:
[You can always trust a Howl Hound.]
This even attracted Beast Tamers from other regions, who crossed oceans to China just to try and tame one of these loyal dogs.
Aside from the surge in popularity of the Howl Hound, Friendship also quickly became a trending term online.
With multiple doctors endorsing it, and with concrete results like the Undead Guardian Hound and the Crimson Flame Guardian Hound, even laypeople with no research background believed this would become the next major trend in Pet Beast studies—one that would yield countless new breakthroughs.
This atmosphere even spread into the Beast Taming battle scene.
In lower-level competitions, it became common to hear novice Beast Tamers shouting things like:
"Our Friendship can overcome anything! Get up, Puli Squirrel!"
"Feel the power of our bond! Starfire Bird, full-power Flame Assault!"
"Useless! A mere Flame Assault won't break through! With my Friendship with Spiny Sea Lizard, we'll definitely overcome it! Hold on!"
…Right. Just like how Friendship had gone unnoticed before—not because it was hidden too deeply, but because it was too commonplace.
The bond between Beast Tamer and Pet Beast, the harmony between humans and their companions—these had always been the "main theme" of modern Beast Taming.
The reason it spread so quickly owed much to the active promotion by the Beast Taming Association and various regional authorities.
But in the academic world, it was even more explosive—
Because right after the ceremony ended, the founder of the Friendship Theory, rising researcher Jiang Xing, posted a new update on social media:
[My next research topic will be Friendship Evolution.]
[I believe this is a field with boundless potential. Many known Pet Beast forms may already have Friendship as a hidden evolution condition.]
[There may also be many undiscovered Friendship-based evolution forms waiting to be revealed.]
[I believe that the move now renamed as Return, along with other undiscovered Friendship-based moves, will be the key to researching and uncovering these forms!]
To be honest, this post didn't even qualify as a hypothesis—let alone a theory.
At best, it was just… an idea.
After all, there was no evidence, no rigorous reasoning—just "I believe" right from the start…
Who did he think he was, some kind of prophet?
That's not how scientific research works!
If this had come from an ordinary scholar, others wouldn't even bother mocking it—it would simply be a waste of energy.
But this post was made by Jiang Xing, and that changed everything.
At such a young age, he had already completed three research projects.
And all three were top-tier, groundbreaking works.
Moreover, he had achieved them in one go—without experiencing a single failure.
In the field of Pet Beast research, this was practically like reading off the answer sheet. It was simply unbelievable.
What researcher hadn't experienced failure while studying Pet Beasts?
Even the renowned Su Muli, during her rise to becoming a top-tier water-type researcher, had gone through numerous failed projects—some of which even drained her finances completely.
She had only managed to push through by relying on her accumulated funds, recruiting assistants, and running multiple research projects simultaneously.
In the end, her successful projects overshadowed her failures.
But someone like Jiang Xing—his case was unprecedented.
As a result, even though no one had yet coined the term "top-tier vision," those familiar with him all trusted his sharp "research instinct" and his almost uncanny "blessed luck."
On top of that, Jiang Xing himself was the founder of the Friendship Theory. In this field, his authority surpassed everyone else.
Even doctoral-level researchers had to consult him.
As a result, this post—which didn't even qualify as a hypothesis—was taken seriously by a large number of Pet Beast scholars.
For a time, who knew how many research projects sprang up, all centered around [Friendship Moves] and [Friendship Evolution].
…
After posting the update, Jiang Xing revealed a smile.
This time, he didn't hold anything back—he truly shared everything.
As long as other researchers were willing to believe what he said, there was a very high chance they could achieve results in the field of Friendship Evolution.
For Jiang Xing, this was absolutely a good thing.
After all, Friendship Evolution didn't necessarily only occur in the transition from first-stage to second-stage evolution. It could also appear from second-stage to third-stage, or even beyond the third stage.
In recent years, thanks to the efforts of Beast Tamers, the number of known Pet Beast forms had already exceeded a million.
Even if Jiang Xing studied one per day, it would still take him nearly three thousand years to test them all!
Not to mention, aside from the Friendship-related research, he still had the Beauty-related research waiting to be advanced.
Therefore, Jiang Xing only needed to focus on the most critical subject—the Ugly Waterfowl, which likely possessed multiple evolution forms—and that would be enough.
As for whether, after giving out these hints, someone might get ahead of him and complete the Ugly Waterfowl research first…
There was even less to worry about.
The paper Jiang Xing used to prove the Friendship Theory had been completed through the Ugly Waterfowl.
In terms of research and breeding of this Pet Beast, he was already nearly a month ahead of everyone else.
On top of that, he had things like the Learning Device, Energy Cubes, a Friendship Detector, and the affinity talent of the Auspicious Cloud Qilin—items so absurdly overpowered they defied reason. If he could still be beaten to the finish line, he might as well find a block of tofu and smash his head into it.
Moreover, other researchers could figure this much out as well.
Rather than trying to overtake him on a curve, they were more likely to worry that if they collided head-on with Jiang Xing, it might result in project failure, total financial loss, and a wasted opportunity to explore a brand-new field…
'Even if a doctor wants to study Friendship Evolution, they'll have to avoid my edge!'
Sure enough, not long after Jiang Xing posted the update, he received a call from Su Muli.
"Jiang Xing, are you researching the Friendship Evolution of the Ugly Waterfowl?"
"Yes. Are you interested too, Senior?"
"Mm." Su Muli admitted it frankly.
But she had no intention of researching the Ugly Waterfowl.
Better to avoid the junior's sharp edge for now.
"I'm planning to try and see whether the Storm Sea Lizard can develop new forms."
"However, Storm Sea Lizards don't have 'Return' in their species move set, so it needs to be taught."
"You've been researching for quite a while—do you have any insights regarding the Return move?"
The predecessor of Return, "Training Power," was one of the simplest moves—something even novice Beast Tamers could easily max out.
Precisely because of that, very few people had ever studied it in depth.
As a result, no manuals or guides could be found anywhere.
And the newly defined Return move involved the domain of emotions, making it impossible to summarize overnight.
That was why Su Muli came to ask him directly.
"No problem. I'll send you the materials in a bit."
Jiang Xing answered readily. After hanging up, his smile widened even further.
Even Senior Su, a top-tier water-type researcher, had been drawn in by the Friendship Theory and started a new project…
Was this what it felt like to usher in a new era?
He felt like a certain Pirate King, uttering that famous line—
"Go search for it. I've left all my treasure there!"
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