Mutated skills.
This was something they had covered back in school.
Certain pet beasts, due to resources, growth environments, or even personality traits, would sometimes undergo changes when awakening skills they were originally supposed to learn. Those skills would mutate.
Some mutations became stronger.
Some became weaker.
They couldn't be generalized.
And now, Xiao Qing was clearly one such example.
The moment True Sight landed on Xiao Qing, it immediately fed information back to Su Ping.
[Mutated Forest Wolf (Contracted)]
[Current Rank: Ordinary Rank 4]
[Racial Potential: Commander Rank 3]
[Skills: Sunlight Absorption (Beginner), Poison Vine Entanglement (Beginner), Mutated · Poisoned Wood Heart (Beginner)]
Even though he had mentally prepared himself, Su Ping still sucked in a sharp breath.
Breaking through to Ordinary Rank 4 wasn't a big deal. In fact, Xiao Qing's rank increase was actually one stage less than Little Dot's.
But that wasn't the key issue.
The real shock lay in the leap in racial potential.
Forest Wolves had an Elite-tier racial ceiling.
Even Old Sha—despite his many opportunities and fortuitous encounters—had only broken through to the Commander tier as an individual.
Under True Sight, Old Sha's racial potential itself had never changed. That meant his breakthrough was personal, not racial.
In other words, even if Old Sha had offspring, his advancement wouldn't affect the species.
But Xiao Qing was different.
After consuming the Heart of Wood potion and undergoing an unknown mutation, its racial potential had actually increased.
Even without evolving.
Even without consuming rare resources or special elixirs.
As long as Xiao Qing wasn't excessively lazy, it would one day naturally break through to the Commander tier.
For a moment, Su Ping fell into deep thought.
Was the effect of Heart of Wood really this outrageous?
If that was the case, then when clients eventually came knocking… perhaps his prices could be set just a tiny bit higher?
Of course, Su Ping understood that the potion's effect was only one part of the equation. Xiao Qing's almost heaven-defying talent was the other.
Although Xiao Qing's skill proficiency levels hadn't visibly changed on the panel, through their soul contract, Su Ping could clearly feel it—
Poison Vine Entanglement had become much stronger.
Between each level of skill proficiency, the gap was enormous. That was why beast tamers and pet beasts needed constant training and cultivation.
And when it came to offensive skills, increased power was always the most valuable improvement.
Unfortunately, there wasn't a suitable opponent right now. That was a bit of a shame.
Shaking his head, Su Ping finally focused on Xiao Qing's biggest change.
That rare and precious mutated skill.
[Mutated · Poisoned Wood Heart (Beginner): A special mutated skill that fuses poison-element properties into Heart of Wood.
Enhances the power, effect, and casting speed of poison- and wood-element skills.
Allows the user to absorb plant essence to restore itself.
Additionally, consuming poison-element resources can accelerate rank growth and increase this skill's proficiency.]
Su Ping blinked.
True Sight faded, but he stood there for a long while without reacting.
Although school had taught that some mutated skills became stronger, while others weakened—
There was no doubt that Xiao Qing's Poisoned Wood Heart belonged to the stronger category.
But Su Ping hadn't expected it to be this strong.
Enhancing both wood and poison skills was already incredible.
But it was that last line that truly caught him off guard.
Accelerating rank growth and skill proficiency by consuming poison-element resources?
Previously, Su Ping had already planned to earn money and purchase poison-element resources for Xiao Qing, to fully develop its poison attribute.
But that path carried risks.
Why were poison-element pet beasts so rare?
Because excessive use of poison-element resources often proved fatal to pet beasts.
But now, with this mutated Poisoned Wood Heart…
Didn't that mean Xiao Qing had gained an extra layer of insurance?
At that thought, flames of excitement ignited in Su Ping's eyes.
He scooped up Xiao Qing—still faintly glowing green—and planted a firm kiss on the little wolf's head.
As expected.
Bloodline-mutated pet beasts were vastly more valuable than ordinary ones, and this was exactly why.
No one knew their upper limit.
And at some unpredictable moment, they might give their master an astonishing surprise—
Just like now.
With that realization, Su Ping's longing for the Forest Wolf Codex entry—
the one requiring 50,000 Codex EXP to uncover the poison-element mutation cause—only grew stronger.
All at once, the fatigue from crafting three Heart of Wood potions in a single day seemed to vanish.
He immediately brought Xiao Qing and Little Dot—now restored to normal size and newly equipped with Accelerated Growth—out to the forest outside the manor.
Everything else could wait.
First, he needed to train Xiao Qing in combat and skill usage.
Second, he needed to raise the intimacy of the remaining twenty-plus Forest Wolves until they met the Codex's requirements.
Once that happened, leveling up the Forest Wolf Codex would become much faster.
After all, thanks to Little Dot and Xiao Qing's breakthroughs, the Codex EXP had already reached:
(222 / 500)
They were one big step closer to Forest Wolf Codex Lv. 2!
Looking at the wolf pack lounging lazily under Old Sha's leadership in the golden dusk light, Su Ping's enthusiasm surged.
He faced the wolves and shouted:
"To make Woodheart the number one pet breeding base in the world!
To make me Dragon Country's number one breeding master!
Forest Wolves—attack me with love!"
"Awwooo…"
"Awwooo…"
Only Xiao Qing and Little Dot responded enthusiastically.
The rest—including Old Sha—looked at their young master with the kind of gaze one reserved for someone mentally unsound.
Su Ping laughed loudly, completely unbothered.
He pulled out several barrels of fruit snacks he had prepared earlier from his beast space.
Forest Wolves had automatic feeders for their main meals, but these after-meal treats were clearly a pleasant surprise.
Sure enough, the wolves—masters of switching sides at lightning speed—immediately ran over when they saw the snacks, lining up obediently with flattering expressions, waiting for their share.
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