Chapter 211 — The Fruits That Rewrite the Landscape

The Imperial Capital University breeding team's presentation continued, explaining their follow-up research ideas, which drew unconscious nods from the crowd and the three judges.

As things stood, the Clear Ying Fruit already had the potential to raise the overall combat strength of Donghuang's beast-taming legions. This breeding achievement was undoubtedly a tremendous success, worthy of follow-up collaborative research by the Third Bureau and even the military.

During the evaluation, all three judges—Ye Hui, Lu Sheng, and Tian Xiu—gave extremely high praise.

"28.5 points."

Several tens of minutes later, after earnest deliberation by the judging panel, the new strain of tree fruit presented by Imperial Capital University received extremely high recognition.

Seeing the score, Professor Fang Lin smiled faintly on the presentation stage, and the four students standing in the arena also flushed with excitement.

"Yeah!!"

Their half year of hard work in the fields had not been in vain.

At last year's breeding convention, only six breeding achievements had scored above 28, only one had exceeded 28.5, and the highest had been just 29. This evaluation was undoubtedly enormous.

"28.5 points, huh?"

"Imperial Capital University has produced another genius breeder. I hadn't heard much about Professor Fang Lin before, but this time I'll certainly remember her. I wonder if we'll ever see the day when beast-taming legions are fully armed with Battle Roar."

"Those students have boundless futures too—they might well be recruited by the military after graduation."

"To open with such a bombshell breeding achievement."

With the Imperial Capital University breeding team's presentation finished, the research teams that followed felt somewhat daunted.

Among these presenting teams, most breeding achievements still lacked reproducibility and popularizability.

For instance, when Zuo Heng developed the Ice Phoenix Moth years ago, it had greatly boosted her fame, but that was as far as it went.

After all, whether ordinary people or elite combatants, few would spend that kind of effort cultivating a Green Silk Bug that had mastered master-class Insect Silk.

Besides, ice-attribute phoenix materials were also extremely expensive.

Even though the Ice Phoenix Moth was a truly impressive breeding achievement, Zuo Heng's score at the breeding convention that year had only just placed seventh.

And that ranking had very little to do with the Ice Phoenix Moth itself.

It was because Zuo Heng had proven that the Green Silk Worm could potentially evolve directly into a sovereign-tier species.

The Ice Phoenix Moth was, after all, the first case—the first instance of a Green Silk Worm reaching sovereign tier on its very first evolution, and it had given other researchers no small number of ideas to pursue.

So a breeding achievement like the one Imperial Capital University had presented—one that could be popularized, that held enormous potential, and that could boost the overall combat power of beast-tamer legions—was an absolute killer for the breeding teams that followed, and it put them under immense pressure.

"Our thanks to Professor Fang Lin's breeding team at Imperial Capital University, and to all of you for your research."

The host, Deng Lin, took the stage and said with feeling, "And our thanks as well to the three judges for their assessments."

At the judges' table, the three judges smiled faintly. They, too, owed their thanks to Imperial Capital University's breeding team.

Who would have thought the first breeding achievement of this year's convention would be quite so meaningful.

Next, the convention entered a brief five-minute recess.

On Imperial Capital University's side, everyone was in a frenzy.

Tang Yun and several other students clustered around Professor Fang Lin, chattering away, beside themselves with excitement.

"Breeders rarely take to the battlefield themselves, but their presence—and that of the medics—can provide tremendous support to the warriors on the front lines. You could say that counts as taking part in the war as well." Fang Lin smiled as she spoke, glancing at Tang Yun.

The meaning was plain: combat and breeding were indeed inseparable, but there was no need to cultivate both. A person's energy was limited, after all, and Tang Yun had no talent for combat-type beasts. Better to follow her mentor obediently and specialize in breeding—she could still strengthen the warriors' fighting power from the rear.

"I understand all that. So, which team is presenting next?" Tang Yun swiftly changed the subject.

"I think it's Ancient Capital University," said a student named Du Yan.

"Ancient Capital University?" Tang Yun blinked.

The same thought that had crossed Shi Jin's mind earlier crossed hers as well. As the only member of Imperial Capital University's combat club present, she knew that the next two schools also had a combat exchange event coming up. Were they really comparing notes on the breeding department ahead of time?

"What's their research achievement?" Tang Yun asked.

Professor Fang Lin: "I believe it's a new evolution of the Green Silk Worm?"

"They don't have a team specializing in Green Silk Worm research, do they?" said a student named Jiang Tong. If he remembered correctly, Ancient Capital University's main breeding research was in the undead-attribute line—so why had they gone off to study the Green Silk Worm?

"Maybe they stumbled onto a new form by accident," Tang Yun said with a laugh, not paying it much mind.

Every year, a few new evolution forms of the Green Silk Worm turned up, gambled out by one breeder or another, but there was nothing novel about that.

Either the required proficiency with silk thread was too high, or the evolution materials were too ungodly. Both factors bore on the Green Silk Worm's potential, and after decades of research going in circles, the natural-evolution Wind Crystal Butterfly was still the most approachable.

Meanwhile, the other presenting teams were all discussing Ancient Capital University as well.

Compared with Imperial Capital University, Ancient Capital University's breeding department had little renown.

Apart from a handful of people, few probably expected much from Ancient Capital University's breeding achievement—after all, in past years, Ancient Capital University's overall score had always ranked outside the top ten.

Soon the recess ended, and the host, Deng Lin, took the stage.

"After our brief recess, let us now welcome the second presenting team."

"From Ancient Capital University, the Green Silk Worm evolution-form breeding research team led by… student Shi Jin of the Archaeology Department. What they will present today is 'A Brand-New Evolution Form of the Green Silk Worm'!"

Swish!

The moment Deng Lin finished speaking, the whole hall went briefly blank.

"Huh?"

"Wait, did I hear that right?"

"I know Ancient Capital University's Archaeology Department is formidable, but isn't this a breeding convention… Why is it an archaeology team leading, and not the breeding department?"

"That's not the real question. The question is, why isn't it led by a professor or someone like that, but by… a student?"

As the host's words landed, the hall erupted in exclamations.

A moment later, some people began to find the name Shi Jin vaguely familiar.

Tang Yun of Imperial Capital University, for one, was first astonished that Ancient Capital University would go to such flashy lengths as to send its archaeology department to a breeding convention—and then the name Shi Jin made her freeze for a moment.

Archaeology Department, Shi Jin…

Was this the Shi Jin that Yin Huan had taken an interest in? The one she had inquired about with her cousin?

Amid the general bewilderment, the great central screen of the hall then displayed the title of Ancient Capital University's presentation—and, alongside it, the full roster of the research team.