The evolution of the two Rainbow Dragon Hatchlings completely ignited the atmosphere in the arena.
The entire audience rose to their feet, faces flushed with excitement as they shouted the girls' names at the top of their lungs, as though they themselves had participated in the battle.
After an intense fight, Li Lingyin and her Lake Light Dragon gained a slight edge and secured the final victory—
Although winning despite an attribute disadvantage made for a great story, in actual combat, the disadvantage of unfavorable attributes was still enormous.
Especially since the Lake Light Dragon was a triple-attribute Pet Beast with Water, Light, and Dragon attributes. Every one of those attributes possessed resistance against Fire. It had an eightfold resistance to Fire and a twofold resistance to Light, with only the Dragon attribute counting as a weakness.
When the Flame Light Dragon fought against it, it could only use pure Dragon-type moves. The moment it used Fire Dragon or Light Dragon moves, they would be resisted, greatly reducing their power.
The Lake Light Dragon, on the other hand, was different. Although the Dragon attribute neutralized its Water weakness, it did not grant any corresponding resistance.
As a result, the Lake Light Dragon could freely use composite Water- and Dragon-type techniques, greatly increasing its ability to respond to various situations.
The two girls were the same age, and there was little difference between their talent and command abilities.
In the end, the deciding factor was that tiny bit of attribute advantage.
After the battle ended, Jian Guoguo silently left the stage, leaving the arena to Li Lingyin.
Following the ceremony procedure, Li Lingyin lifted the championship trophy together with her Pet Beast amid the cheers of countless spectators. After completing the award ceremony, she hurried away from the arena and ran toward the competitors' lounge—
She had noticed the disappointment and dejection in Jian Guoguo's eyes when she left the stage.
Although she was happy to have won, she valued this friend who had embarked on the path of becoming a Beast Tamer alongside her far more than the trophy itself.
She wanted to tell Jian Guoguo that for the sake of this battle, she and her partners had gone through countless training sessions during this period and had already exhausted every last bit of their strength... She was truly satisfied with this fight.
However, before Li Lingyin could even reach the lounge, she spotted Jian Guoguo in the corridor.
Jian Guoguo's eyes were red. It looked like she had already cried for a while.
Yet she had regained her composure. Looking at the approaching Li Lingyin, she spoke seriously.
"Let's battle again next time."
Li Lingyin swallowed the words she had wanted to say and instead revealed a bright smile.
"Mm!"
...
After the Little Xuanwu Cup concluded, discussions about the two Light Dragons quickly shot to the top of the trending charts!
Several months had already passed since Jiang Xing first revealed the Rainbow Dragon Hatchling. During that time, more and more Beast Tamers had raised and contracted Rainbow Dragon Hatchlings, gradually forming a sizable community.
Many Beast Tamers had not yet raised or contracted a Rainbow Dragon Hatchling themselves, but they continued to follow developments surrounding the species, planning to acquire one when given the opportunity.
These Beast Tamers might not flood Jiang Xing's social media account demanding updates, but they were just as eager to see the Rainbow Dragon Hatchling's evolution paper!
Now, the birth of these two Rainbow Dragons had completely detonated their expectations.
The Beast Tamers were both delighted and curious—
Were these Fire and Water Light Dragons Jiang Xing's latest research results?
Were they the only evolution forms of the Rainbow Dragon Hatchling?
If Water Stones and Fire Stones could evolve them into these forms, what about other Secret Realm Stones? Could they produce entirely new forms as well?
Damn it, why hadn't the Pet Beast Compendium been released yet? Even a preview announcement would have been nice!
No one believed that these were evolution forms independently discovered by two little girls.
It was no secret that Li Lingyin had once served as Jiang Xing's assistant. During the Shanghai Evolution Conference, she had even helped manage Jiang Xing's exhibition booth. Plenty of people knew about that.
If it had been someone else, maybe they simply couldn't wait and had tried evolving one on their own.
But Li Lingyin?
Jiang Xing had definitely given her private tutoring behind the scenes!
In the blink of an eye, the number of comments beneath Jiang Xing's social media posts exploded, all asking about the Rainbow Dragon Hatchling.
This time, Jiang Xing did not keep them waiting for long.
As competitions across various regions began, Beast Tamers who had contracted Rainbow Dragon Hatchlings started completing evolutions during their matches!
Azure Light Dragon, Thunder Light Dragon, Rainbow Light Dragon!!
The appearance of three more brand-new forms completely set public opinion ablaze!
The Pet Beast Compendium contained more than a million species of Pet Beasts, yet only a handful possessed more than four or five evolution paths.
It was impossible not to think of the "Everchanging Choco Chick" unveiled at the Shanghai Evolution Conference a few months earlier.
It was the first Pet Beast in the Beast Taming World to possess more than ten evolution routes.
It had proven that Pet Beasts possessed limitless potential and that certain species could contain multiple possibilities.
And now the Rainbow Dragon Hatchling was that kind of Pet Beast as well!?
That was simply outrageous!
After all, the Everchanging Choco Chick was a resource-type Pet Beast with little combat ability. Even changing its attributes merely changed the flavor of the chocolate eggs it produced.
The Rainbow Dragon Hatchling was different.
It was a true combat Pet Beast!
Different attribute-based evolution paths would grant it endless possibilities. The impact it would have on competitions, combat, and the entire Beast Taming field would be absolutely terrifying!
Just as the hype continued to surge higher and higher, Jiang Xing finally made his appearance.
...
Yuzhong City, Battle Arena.
Waiting at the edge of the battlefield, Jiang Xing suddenly heard a dragon's roar.
Jiang Xing looked up and saw a Lake Light Dragon flying into the arena from above. Standing on its back was a young woman dressed in white. She leapt down from a height of several dozen meters and landed lightly on the ground.
"Senior Sister!" Jiang Xing had long since grown accustomed to the superhuman physiques of this world. He waved in greeting and asked curiously, "Where's the Storm Sea Lizard? Isn't it usually your ride?"
"It's filming a movie." Su Muli's temperament remained as cool and detached as ever. "Godzilla vs. Kong Ape. I'll take you to watch it when it premieres."
"..."
He hadn't expected even Senior Sister to start telling deadpan jokes.
Jiang Xing laughed helplessly, quickly putting the matter aside as he turned toward the cameraman.
"Let's begin."
The feed went live, and a streaming room appeared on the online platform. The viewer count immediately began climbing.
As people entered the stream, they were greeted by the sight of the red-hot rising scholar Jiang Xing standing inside a battle arena, smiling as he spoke.
"...Welcome to Jiang Xing's Pet Beast Classroom."
"Today, I will introduce an entirely new Pet Beast family—"
"Welcome, the Light Dragon Family!"
As his voice rang out, the camera tilted toward the sky.
Seven True Dragons of different colors appeared in perfect formation, streaking across the heavens like a rainbow!
Accompanied by soaring dragon roars that echoed through the sky, the magnificent scene left the audience exhilarated.
They had already seen various Light Dragons before, but always separately. Nothing compared to the impact of seeing them appear together in such a formation!
Moreover, among the neatly arranged dragons were two completely new Light Dragons, instantly arousing the audience's curiosity.
Jiang Xing began explaining.
"The Rainbow Dragon Hatchling evolves from the Golden-Patterned Koi after leaping through the Dragon Gate... During that process, they lose the power of Water and gain the power of Light."
"I originally believed this was proof of their transformation into dragons. Little did I know that the true reason was possibility."
"Light can be influenced by countless factors, refracting into different colors—"
"And dragon hatchlings are the same!"
"They possess endless possibilities within their bodies. The rainbow light surrounding them is easily influenced by external factors, causing changes that allow them to display different forms!"
"Wood, Thunder, Water, Fire... these are merely the easiest evolution paths to discover."
"I believe many more evolution paths are still waiting to be uncovered!"
Just as they thought!
Hearing Jiang Xing personally confirm it, the audience's hearts began racing.
There were currently twenty-six attributes.
Light Dragons naturally possessed two of them. Excluding those, there were still twenty-four remaining attributes!
Even after removing the four top-tier attributes of Time, Space, Life, and Death, as well as the most basic Neutral Attribute—(Death here referred not to Undead but to the rare superior attribute above Undead)—
There were still nineteen attributes left to explore!
No wonder Jiang Xing called them the "Light Dragon Family"...
A single Pet Beast species had the potential to develop into a vast family of dragons with different attributes!
And a Dragon family at that!
If the stream had enabled live comments, the chat would have exploded by now.
Just as the audience's excitement reached a fever pitch, Jiang Xing abruptly changed the subject.
"However, before we continue exploring the Light Dragon Family, allow me to introduce the patriarch of the Light Dragon race—"
"Appear, strongest Light Dragon who commands the ultimate light through ultimate willpower!"
"Aurora Dragon King!!"
"ROAR!!!"
A flash of summoning light appeared as the little dragon took the field.
The six aurora dragon wings drifting behind it were more dazzling and radiant than those of any other Light Dragon. They emanated the majesty of a king, leaving every viewer captivated.
Immediately afterward, Jiang Xing and Su Muli, who commanded the Lake Light Dragon, began a doubles exhibition match.
Although it was merely an exhibition battle, Su Muli still fought with her full strength as a Beast Tamer.
She summoned the Abyssal Water Phoenix Fledgling and activated the Ink Realm and Rainy Weather.
With both dragon and phoenix present, it was unmistakably the Ink Rain Team in its peak form, causing viewers to cry foul.
Faced with a Senior Sister who was going all out, Jiang Xing also brought out eighty percent of his strength, calling Xiao Xian out to accompany the little dragon in the exhibition match.
You have support, and I have support too.
Perfectly reasonable.
The battle began.
The battle ended.
In reality, doubles battles were extremely complex. Both sides fielded multi-attribute Pet Beasts, supplemented by a wide variety of moves and support effects. Even without Beast Tamers directly participating, the fight was dazzling and difficult to follow.
It was not simply two opponents firing energy attacks at each other in a parking lot before splitting into two separate 1v1s.
Take Xiao Xian, for example.
Its talent, Flower's Protection, was an active talent that could be freely activated and deactivated.
If used perfectly, that talent alone could allow it to intercept every Dragon-type attack aimed at the little dragon, effectively granting complete Dragon immunity while avoiding any additional damage itself.
After all, Xiao Xian did not follow the "sit-up recovery" style. Even with higher HP and defense, its endurance could not compare to the little dragon's, making it impossible to absorb all incoming damage by itself.
Fortunately, Su Muli knew nothing about the Fairy attribute and assumed it was some sort of protection move, putting her at an information disadvantage.
Thus came the first victory.
Su Muli's Abyssal Water Phoenix Fledgling had evolved only recently and had not yet undergone much training. Its Power Level had only just broken through to the Commander Level. It was essentially an environmental support tool with little actual combat power.
Thus came the second victory.
The little dragon had been subjected to Inky's Seduction so often that it had long grown accustomed to the Abyssal Water Phoenix Fledgling's charms. The impact of the negative status effect was greatly reduced, and its talent also granted immunity to Intimidate.
Su Muli's Lake Light Dragon, meanwhile, followed the sit-up recovery style and had no way to resist the little dragon's Dragon Might.
One side grew stronger while the other grew weaker, creating a clear gap in combat effectiveness.
Thus came the third victory.
Jiang Xing had three victories.
Su Muli had none.
Thus came the fourth victory.
In the end, Su Muli failed to let Lord Jiang Xing truly enjoy himself.