After the title conferment ceremony ended, the buzz not only failed to die down—it grew even hotter.
Yet the hottest topic wasn't the title of "Miracle Researcher."
Instead, it was the newly unveiled Contest!
It even overshadowed the booming Light Dragon family, surpassed countless top tacticians' analyses of multi-attribute Light Dragons, and became the most talked-about subject in the country.
After all, even in a world where everyone could theoretically contract Pet Beasts, Beast Tamers were still a minority.
Family background, education, personality—many people were limited by various circumstances and never became Beast Tamers. Some had even tried and ultimately failed.
These people formed the foundation of the Beast Taming world. They were the true majority.
But not being a Beast Tamer didn't mean they disliked Pet Beasts.
On the contrary, many of them had once dreamed of becoming Beast Tamers themselves. That was why they watched competitions and attended academic exhibitions.
Besides, just because they lacked the resources to train Pet Beasts extensively or participate in battles didn't mean they didn't own any.
In modern society, Pet Beasts had long become integrated into every walk of life.
Delivery workers partnered with Pet Beasts such as Great Wing Birds and Swift Hounds. Construction workers had Logging Raccoons and Homestead Raccoons. Office workers had Coffee Cats and Coo Doves...
These Pet Beasts not only provided practical assistance, but also served as companions and emotional support.
Such people neither had the time nor the heart to send their untrained Pet Beasts into brutal battles where every clash was physical and serious injuries were commonplace.
But beauty contests were different.
Wasn't it just a chance to show off how "beautiful" their Pet Beasts were?
There was no danger involved anyway. Even if they didn't win anything, it didn't matter.
Life had kept them busy for so long that many hadn't properly relaxed or played with their Pet Beasts in ages.
This was the perfect excuse to take a couple of days off, treat it like attending a convention or a large festival, and proudly show off their companions.
It was precisely this mentality that caused the concept of the Contest to explode across the internet almost immediately after it was introduced.
Countless people flooded the comment section of Jiang Xing's social media account, eagerly waiting for him to release the official Contest rules—or at least announce an approximate date so they would have something to look forward to.
Meanwhile, Pet Beast scholars and Beast Tamers were equally surprised by the Contest's popularity, but none of them tried to dampen the excitement.
Instead, they started doing reading-comprehension analysis in the comments, explaining to the public that "Professor Jiang is holding the Contest in order to explore more possibilities of Beauty."
The explanation left people enlightened.
So Jiang Xing had such profound intentions all along.
As expected of a big shot.
When Jiang Xing was secretly browsing the comments while drinking water, he nearly choked and sprayed it everywhere after reading those interpretations.
'The scholars are interpreting the classics on my behalf?'
The main reason Jiang Xing proposed the Contest was to farm rewards from the system and open a main-story loot box.
After all, organizing a nationwide Contest was countless times more troublesome than hosting an academic conference.
If it weren't for the system mission, even if Jiang Xing found the idea somewhat interesting, he would never have gone out of his way to organize such a massive event.
It was simply too much work.
He had obtained the Azure Dragon Secret Realm half a month ago, yet still hadn't found time to explore the deepest-layer ruins from another world.
Rather than spending time organizing a tournament, wouldn't it be better to explore a few more Secret Realms or launch several more research projects?
But now, after reading the researchers' interpretations, Jiang Xing suddenly had a flash of inspiration.
It actually sounded pretty interesting.
He really was planning to explore more possibilities for Contest Appeal.
He also intended to research several more Contest-oriented Pet Beasts.
To that end, he had already asked the Giant Magnet Entity to search through the Pet Beast Compendium and identify several potential targets.
...
[Name: Clown Cat]
[Attribute: Dark]
[Talents: Prankster / Frighten]
[Species Tier: High Extraordinary Tier]
[Species Moves: Thief, Pursuit, Revenge...]
[Description: A feline Pet Beast. Its clown-like appearance is an outward reflection of its wicked heart. It enjoys causing trouble and destruction. It's not a bold cat—it's a cowardly cat.]
...
Jiang Xing had initially singled out Clown Cat because, among the countless entries in the Pet Beast Compendium, its name was memorable enough to catch his eye.
However, after reading its entry in the Pet Beast Compendium and several research papers, then digging through additional materials, he discovered that the scholar who wrote Clown Cat's description had mixed in a considerable amount of personal bias...
Who knew? Maybe they'd been scratched by one and were still hissing about it.
In any case, the description wasn't particularly objective.
Although Clown Cat was a Dark-type Pet Beast, it wasn't an "evil and vicious Pet Beast." Its attribute leaned more toward minor mischief and practical jokes.
According to supplementary descriptions provided by other scholars later on, Clown Cats were born with unusual appearances. Their facial markings in particular resembled all sorts of clowns, making them look strange and unpopular.
Yet at the same time, they envied other cats that were cuddled and doted on by humans.
As a result, they constantly caused trouble and pulled pranks. Partly to attract attention from people and Pet Beasts, and partly to get back at those who drove them away.
It was after seeing this information that Jiang Xing decided to make Clown Cat one of his research subjects.
When researching Contest Appeal, negative traits were only one part of the equation.
If a Pet Beast didn't dislike its own "negative trait"—for example, the Ghostface Butterfly, which used its frightening face as camouflage and intimidation—then that "ugliness" was a means of protecting itself. It neither needed nor wanted to change.
Naturally, such cases were difficult to reconcile with Jiang Xing's hypothesis.
What Jiang Xing saw in Clown Cat was dissatisfaction, and that was an important point of reference.
Besides that, he had also selected Dopey Tree Bear, famous for its sluggishness and stupidity, as well as Timid Fire Mouse, known for being weak and cowardly, along with six or seven other Pet Beasts.
These were all Pet Beasts he planned to raise during the next phase of his research in order to expand the possibilities of Contest Appeal.
And once their development reached the appropriate stage, he would naturally begin attempting evolution...
Wasn't the Contest the perfect stage for these Pet Beasts?
Just as it had been for Ugly Waterfowl's evolution.
Jiang Xing wouldn't even need to design anything special. By making use of the Contest stage, he could let these Pet Beasts attempt evolution naturally.
Failure didn't matter. Participation itself was valuable.
But if they succeeded, he could also showcase his research results in the process—a win-win situation.
There was another candidate as well.
Once Inky's Power Level increased sufficiently, the Abyssal Water Phoenix Fledgling would also need to attempt evolution.
When Jiang Xing chose the Azure Dragon environment as the evolution site for the Rainbow Dragon Hatchlings, it was to satisfy the hatchlings' longing for dragons.
The Abyssal Water Phoenix Fledgling was different.
What Inky desired wasn't a phoenix.
At its core, what it longed for was beauty and transformation.
The phoenix merely represented beauty.
Under those circumstances, somehow finding a phoenix and evolving into the Ultimate Phoenix beside it was obviously not the right approach.
By comparison, the Contest—a stage that would attract countless eyes and was destined to shine brilliantly in the future—was unquestionably the most suitable evolution stage for the Abyssal Water Phoenix Fledgling.
Even the Mysticfeather Peacock could try appearing on such a stage and see whether it could undergo another transformation.
Like the Abyssal Water Phoenix Fledgling, it had evolved from Ugly Waterfowl and should likewise possess phoenix-type potential.
'An Ultimate Phoenix born upon the stage should naturally evolve once again upon the stage!'
'The Contest... isn't it essentially a massive evolution ritual tied to Contest Appeal Evolution, one that will involve millions—perhaps even tens of millions—of spectators?'
Jiang Xing suddenly understood.
When he looked at the great scholars in the comment section again, his eyes were filled with admiration.
What a brilliant idea.
I'll borrow it...
Bah, what do you mean borrow?
This is clearly a case of great minds thinking alike!