What does it mean when a pet evolves incorrectly?

Chapter 149: The Finalists are Here! Evolution on the Island!

After Lin Chen defeated Zhao Yang, related searches quickly climbed to the top of social media rankings, sparking heated discussions.

"Your elite-level pet and my elite-level pet seem to be different."

"I suspect that the Flame Spine Tyrannosaurus is actually a Lord-level creature, but Lin Chen deliberately told others that it was an Elite-level creature."

"Urgent! I'm in a real hurry! How can I evolve Flameclaw into Flamespine Tyrannosaurus?"

"I've been beating my Flameclaw Beast for a whole day and night, but it still won't reveal the secret of its evolution."

"A freshman advancing to the finals of the university league—this isn't just breaking history, it's rewriting history!"

Following Lin Chen's exciting match, the subsequent games were equally thrilling.

The most attention-grabbing story is the feud between Yun Chufei and Wei Qing.

In an elimination tournament where lord-level pets were plentiful, the two were very lucky, as neither of them had a lord-level pet and their strength difference was minimal.

For both of them, this was the best option.

Moreover, this is a matter of personal grudges.

When the two stood at opposite ends of the field, the air seemed to be filled with the smell of gunpowder.

Wei Qing was clearly driven by a do-or-die mentality of revenge, and he was in peak condition, giving orders at the top of his lungs. His pets seemed to be infected by his enthusiasm and performed exceptionally well, forcing Yun Chufei to go all out.

This battle, which did not involve any lord-level pets, instead presented the audience with an extremely intense visual feast due to its pure tactical gameplay and the clash of wills.

The two sides fought back and forth until the very end, but Yun Chufei's three-tailed flame fox was still the better fighter. In the tense situation, she seized a small flaw in Wei Qing's pet beast and secured the victory in one fell swoop.

After the match ended, Yun Chufei recalled her pet beast, turned around and looked at Wei Qing, who was kneeling on the ground, looking dejected. Her expression was indifferent, and she only left behind the words she had said before: "I told you long ago, if you're bad, practice more."

Wei Qing trembled, his lips moved, but in the end he didn't say a word, he just silently accepted the fact of defeat.

Thus, Lin Chen, Yun Chufei, and Ye Xuan advanced to the finals, breaking the record that no three contestants had ever entered the finals at the same time since the founding of Qiming Beast Taming Academy.

When the news reached the school, the college forum instantly went wild, with countless exclamation marks and celebratory emojis flooding the screen.

In the subsequent match, He Zhang encountered Li Hengyu, the biggest favorite in this tournament.

The match was almost a one-sided, crushing victory.

Li Hengyu did not send out any lord-level pets that were said to have evolved at the same time; he forced He Zhang into a desperate situation with just two pets.

He Zhang tried his best, even using his trump card that he had kept hidden for a long time, but he couldn't even force Li Hengyu to reveal his true strength, and left the scene in disappointment.

Everyone knew perfectly well that Li Hengyu's strongest fighting force was still hidden.

Late at night, the much-anticipated list of the top eight finalists for the university league was finally released.

In the central arena of the Binhai City Sports Center, eight spotlights shone down, illuminating eight figures standing side by side.

Apart from Lin Chen, Yun Chufei, and Ye Xuan, the other five are all ace seeds from their respective academies.

The commentator introduced each participant one by one: Yan Du Royal Beast Taming Academy has two participants, one is Li Hengyu, and the other is also quite strong. There are also two participants from Royal Tian Shu Beast Taming Academy, one from Nan Hua Beast Taming Academy, and three from Qi Ming Beast Taming Academy, which together form the finalists.

Among the eight finalists, only Lin Chen and Yun Chufei do not possess a Lord-level pet, and Li Hengyu's strongest pet has not yet been revealed and it is unknown whether it has evolved.

When the match-up list for the first group in the upper bracket slowly scrolled out on the big screen, the discussion in the audience froze instantly, followed by a deafening roar of exclamations.

Lin Chen vs. Li Hengyu. The moment Lin Chen saw his opponent's name, he looked up, his gaze passing over the bustling crowd, and met Li Hengyu's gaze as he turned his head to look at him from the other side.

Their gazes met silently in the air, as if an invisible current was surging between them.

After a brief eye contact, the two nodded to each other almost simultaneously.

Li Hengyu withdrew his gaze, his mind filled with turbulent thoughts.

He watched the entire battle between Lin Chen and Zhao Yang, and the Flameridge Tyrannosaurus's amazing performance truly surprised him.

But that's all; the power gained through external means is too weak to be worth mentioning.

Immediately, he lowered his eyes and collected his thoughts.

For him, there has only ever been one goal: the championship.

No matter who it is, he will crush them all.

At that moment, the audience was shaken.

"A showdown between the first and second place winners of the preliminary round."

"Lin Chen is probably in trouble. Although the Flame Spine Tyrannosaurus can defeat the Burning Sky Fire Ape, that's its limit. This time, his opponent is Li Hengyu, the most popular champion who can beat Zhao Yang to a pulp."

"Li Hengyu's pet must have evolved as well."

"That's unfair! Replay!"

"But I feel this plot is very familiar. The list is released - no one is optimistic about Lin Chen's chances in the fierce battle - Lin Chen gives his victory speech."

After the first group of match-up lists was released, the remaining three groups of lists appeared shortly afterward.

In the second group of the upper bracket, the contestants are Yan Du Beast Taming Academy versus Royal Tian Shu Academy.

In the first group of the lower bracket, another student from the Royal Tian Shu Academy faced off against Nan Hua Beast Taming Academy, while the second group became an internal battle between Qi Ming Beast Taming Academy: Ye Xuan vs. Yun Chu Fei.

In the finals, players need to defeat their first-round opponents and then face the winner of the other group in the same half of the bracket. After winning that match, they can compete against players from the other half of the bracket for the final championship.

The announcement of the match-up list has once again caused a stir.

"Civil War at Qiming Beast Taming Academy!"

"Let's see who the real captain is."

"This is good. Yun Chufei has already reached her limit by getting this far, so we might as well help Ye Xuan advance to the top four."

"Judging from this list, I feel like Li Hengyu has won the championship."

On the way back to the hotel, Ye Xuan and Yun Chufei were playfully bickering.

"Xiao Xuan, don't blame me for beating you to tears later." Yun Chufei waved her fist, pretending to be fierce.

Ye Xuan quickly clasped his hands and begged for mercy: "No, no, no, Sister Yun, please spare my life. I know you are the real captain."

Yun Chufei tossed her hair and said irritably, "Don't think I don't know what you're thinking. Being a captain is exhausting, being a vice-captain is better, you can just be a figurehead."

After playfully bickering for a while, the two suddenly turned to look at Lin Chen. After exchanging a glance, Ye Xuan walked to Lin Chen's side and gently patted the latter's shoulder: "Junior, don't put too much pressure on yourself."

Lin Chen looked up to meet Ye Xuan's concerned gaze and smiled slightly: "Actually, it's fine, there's not much pressure."

Ye Xuan smiled and nodded: "That would be best."

After a slight pause, he continued, "Li Hengyu is indeed very strong. He was the champion of the Eastern Freshman Exchange Competition in his freshman year, and he participated in many competitions during his sophomore and junior years, winning every single one of them."

"He seems to be born to be number one; he's number one no matter what he does."

"Last year he didn't participate in the university league due to family arrangements, but this year when he participated, he showed such terrifying dominance and was almost certain to win the championship."

Lin Chen nodded thoughtfully.

Before the start of this year's university league, Li Hengyu was considered the most popular candidate to win the championship, and his performance in recent days has proven that this optimism was not an exaggeration.

After all, being able to compete with Lin Chen for first place in the preliminary rounds and ultimately only falling short by four thousand points is enough to prove his strength.

In his matches against other players, he displayed terrifying dominance, completely overwhelming them and always having the upper hand.

His composed demeanor convinced all the spectators that he was the most likely to become the champion.

Ye Xuan's voice continued, forcibly pulling Lin Chen back to his senses: "Junior, you need to be prepared that his pet beast has already evolved."

"His family will never allow the championship to be taken away by someone else."

Lin Chen nodded solemnly: "Okay, Captain Ye."

After that topic ended, Lin Chen stared at Ye Xuan and suddenly asked a completely unrelated question: "Captain Ye, can I borrow your yacht tomorrow?"

Ye Xuan's expression froze for a moment: "Are you going out to sea?"

Lin Chen nodded: "Yes, I need to go out to sea and return to those islands."

Ye Xuan didn't ask why, but simply reminded him, "It's okay, the lockdown over there has ended, but tomorrow is a rest day."

"Don't engage in overly intense matches, and make sure to maintain good condition."

"Okay, Captain Ye."

The next morning, a layer of lingering morning mist still floated on the sea, and the golden sunlight sprinkled on the crests of the waves, cut into tiny spots of light by the propellers of the yachts.

The sea breeze, carrying a salty, fishy smell, wafted onto the deck, making Lin Chen's clothes flutter in the wind.

He held an exquisite box in his hands, the silver edging of the lid engraved with the emblem of the Beast Tamer Association. Upon opening it, the contents of the box came into view.

Inside the box, a black object resembling a 3D Rubik's Cube was suspended in the velvet groove.

The object rotates slowly at a constant frequency on all six sides, with tiny blue currents occasionally flashing across its edges. It has a mechanical feel to the touch, and a faint black light seeps out from the Rubik's Cube's patterns, like a condensed night.

Lin Chen lowered his eyes and gently touched the black object with his fingertips—this was the level four resource he had been waiting for, the functional core.

In his understanding, mechanical evolution resources are divided into two types. One type is the one in front of him, which is small in size and is used by swallowing it directly. Its energy will be directly absorbed by the pet.

The other type is much larger and requires surgery to embed it into the animal's flesh and bones, living in symbiosis with the body. This method carries higher risks but also greater potential rewards.

Clearly, the functional core belongs to the former category, and its effect is similar to that of Chrono Digizoid in the Digital World.

The Flame Spine Tyrannosaurus, which was standing to the side watching the sea, noticed the black object in Lin Chen's hand and quickly came over, staring at it intently with its scarlet round eyes.

But when it saw that it was just a cold, lifeless object with no delicious smell or attractive appearance, it turned its head away and instinctively tried to back away.

Seeing this, Lin Chen couldn't help but laugh out loud: "Don't underestimate it. It can make you stronger, allow you to evolve, and give you a completely new form."

The moment the words left his mouth, the Flameback Tyrannosaurus Rex abruptly stopped moving.

Its eyes lit up, and it excitedly bounced twice on the spot. Then it ran back to Lin Chen's side, jumped hard, and opened its mouth full of sharp teeth to swallow the functional core.

Lin Chen quickly raised his hand, moving the suspended functional core a little further away from the Flame Spine Tyrannosaurus's mouth, and patted its head with a smile: "You can't evolve here."

He specifically borrowed the yacht from Ye Xuan to go out to sea, just to find a deserted, open area.

The evolution of the Flameridge Tyrannosaurus Rex will undoubtedly cause a huge commotion; if it were left in the city, it would certainly cause a stir.

The sixth island in the preliminary rounds was the best choice: the organizing committee had already unsealed the area after the preliminary rounds, and there were no contestants, no spectators, and even staff rarely set foot there; it was an absolute no-man's land.

After the yacht had been sailing for about forty minutes, the outline of Island No. 6 finally appeared on the distant horizon.

Lin Chen told the crew to wait on the yacht and not to come along.

He retracted his core, flipped over and jumped onto the back of the Flame Spine Tyrannosaurus, which then took a few steps and stepped onto the beach.

The sand underfoot still carried the warmth of the sun from the previous day, making it feel cozy to step on. The scorched marks left from the preliminary rounds had not yet completely faded.

On the deck of the yacht, two crew members leaned on the railing, watching Lin Chen's departing figure, and couldn't help but start chatting.

"Brother Chen, what do you think he's doing on this deserted island?"

The younger crew member scratched his head, looking puzzled. "The preliminary rounds ended a long time ago. The pets left up there aren't very strong, are they? Training here probably won't be very effective for him, right?"

The older sailor scoffed, pulled a pack of cigarettes from his pocket, lit one, and the smoke drifted away in the sea breeze: "What do you know? Do you think you can guess the ideas of a genius?"

"Haven't you been watching the news lately? This guy is a hot genius beast tamer. No, the media says even 'genius' isn't enough to describe him. They say he's very likely to become a titled beast tamer in the future."

"Tsk tsk, a titled beast tamer, there are only a handful of them in the entire Eastern Empire."

"Tell me, how come his parents are so lucky? I bet they don't even need to work anymore, they can just focus on raising their child."

Just keep going.

The young crew member nodded in deep agreement: "That's true. With such an outstanding child, why bother with work?"

As the two were chatting, after an unknown amount of time, a blinding white light shot into the sky from the center of the island, piercing through the sky and creating a huge hole in the clouds above. Sunlight poured down from the hole, illuminating the center of the island.

The dazzling white light was so bright that it was impossible to open one's eyes. The older members didn't even notice when the cigarette in their hands fell to the ground and burned their hands.

The young crew member stared wide-eyed as the walkie-talkie in his hand clattered onto the deck.

Immediately afterwards, a vast aura spread rapidly in all directions, startling a flock of birds.

As the two were filled with surprise and doubt, ripples suddenly appeared on the calm sea. At first, they were just small ripples, but in a short time, they turned into waves half a meter high. The yacht was rocked from side to side, and the anchor chain made a "creaking" sound.

"Brother, what happened?" The young crew member grabbed the deck railing, his body swaying with the surging waves.

The older crew member looked astonished and shook his head: "I...I don't know either."

The moment the dazzling white light pierced the sky, a deep and muffled dragon roar suddenly rang out, the sound spreading rapidly in all directions as if it were a tangible entity.

boom!

The ground trembled slightly the next moment.

The vibrations grew stronger and stronger until the entire beach was shaking violently, and coconuts crashed to the ground one after another, shattering into pieces with a loud bang.

Suddenly, figures burst out from the island's dense forest. Different species, attributes, and sizes of pets stopped fighting and were no longer battling. They all ran towards the sea with terrified expressions.

Rumble!

In an instant, countless pets mingled together, creating a magnificent and awe-inspiring scene.

Upon seeing this, the two exchanged a glance and looked at each other in bewilderment.

What are they afraid of?

Why did they run away?

"Brother Chen, what do we do now?" The young crew member panicked and didn't know what to do.

The older crew member forced himself to suppress the doubts and uncertainties in his heart. He looked deeply into the center of the island, in the direction Lin Chen had left.

"Could it be that he got into a fight with one of the wild animals on this island?" the older crew member muttered.

The young crew member quickly shook his head: "That's not right, where on this island could there be a pet beast that could cause such a commotion?"

As the two speculated, the commotion in the center of the island grew louder and louder. Countless pets fled to the beach, crowding together, and some even tried to jump into the sea, creating waves.

The waves grew increasingly turbulent.

The ground is still shaking.

The two men stood unsteadily on the yacht. One returned to the cabin, ready to set sail and retreat at any moment, while the other remained on the deck to observe the situation.

I don't know how much time passed, but everything finally returned to calm.

"it's over?"

The young crew member breathed a long sigh of relief and peered ahead.

The island was quiet, the dense forest deep and secluded, as if nothing had happened.

But the animals on the beach did not return to normal after the commotion stopped; they huddled together, shivering.

They trembled even more violently than before, and faint whimpers rose and fell incessantly.

The two stood on the deck, gazing ahead, with a vague sense of foreboding.

When faced with danger, pets become more sensitive to humans.

After a while, a distinct thumping sound suddenly came from the direction of the dense forest, gradually approaching and reaching our ears.

As the footsteps continued to sound, the pets gathered near the beach became even more frightened, trembling uncontrollably.

The two exchanged a glance and suddenly became alert.

What could possibly frighten a group of pets to such an extent that they couldn't even muster the will to resist?

Danger is imminent.

Finally, under the tense gaze of the two, the dense foliage near the beach was pushed aside from the inside out.

Immediately afterwards, an extremely large figure gradually came into view, forcing the two to raise their eyes and stare ahead.

The next moment, they both opened their mouths wide, their faces filled with astonishment.

It was a gigantic beast unlike any I had ever seen before.

A colossal steel beast, seemingly cast from mechanical alloy.

The moment it appeared, it caused all the pets present to tremble and whimper incessantly.

On the shoulder of this steel behemoth, a figure stood against the wind, his black hair swaying, his figure upright, his clothes fluttering in the sea breeze.

A person and their pet walk towards the sea, exuding a sense of oppression.

The young crew member snapped out of his shock, pulled out his phone as fast as he could, raised it, aimed, and snapped a picture.

The older crew member was startled awake by the sound of the camera shutter. Turning around, he looked on in confusion and asked, "What are you doing?"

The young crew member stared intently at the photograph he had taken, muttering to himself, "Brother Chen, I have a very strong feeling that when this behemoth appears in tomorrow's finals, this photo will definitely become the Beastmaster Association's photo of the year."

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