What does it mean when a pet evolves incorrectly?

Chapter 89 Ye Zhen: I Will Win

Day eleven of sweeping the school team, Thursday.

This is an elegantly decorated coffee shop. Soft sunlight shines through the floor-to-ceiling windows onto the light wood tabletops, and the air is filled with the aroma of roasted coffee beans and the low murmur of conversation.

The four members of the Dawn Squad sat around a booth by the window.

Zhang Xiaoxiao took out a clearly printed notice from her bag and gently placed it in the center of the table.

"Take a look at this. This is the only large-scale joint mission our team can currently take on. It should be perfect for us."

Lin Chen and the other two turned their attention to the paper.

The eye-catching title reads: "Notice Regarding Organizing On-Campus Students to Participate in the Northern Wasteland Starfall Collection Competition."

Below is a line of smaller print: Joint Cleanup Operation and Practical Course (Credit Qualification Available).

Zhou Ming eagerly moved closer, and Lin Chen and Su Qingyuan also began to read carefully.

Zhang Xiaoxiao explained in unison, her voice clear: "Around this time every year, a periodic star shower occurs over the Northern Wasteland, bringing down a large number of special meteorites, which the association names 'Wasteland Star Crystals.' These meteorites quickly decompose and break apart, turning into countless fragments that scatter across the wasteland."

"The barren star crystal contains a special energy substance that causes continuous damage to the surrounding environment, leading to desertification and energy depletion."

"However, the Beastmaster Association has a way to process these star crystals, extracting the harmful energy from them and turning them into useful strategic resources. Therefore, every year the association joins forces with major academies in the Northern Territory to organize students to enter the wasteland and collect starfall, which is also a unique way for students to hone their skills."

Zhang Xiaoxiao's gaze swept over the three of them. "What do you think? Should we accept or not?"

"Accept! We must accept!"

Zhou Ming was the first to raise both hands in approval, his face full of excitement: "Our team has been established for a week, and all we've been doing are incredibly boring missions."

"Collecting meteorites in the wasteland sounds very interesting."

Lin Chen did not immediately respond; his gaze swept quickly across the notification form.

When I saw the small print note about "Bare Star Crystal Byproducts", a thought stirred within me.

The note mentions that in areas where barren star crystals fall densely, due to energy impacts and the penetration of special substances, there is a high probability that some special minerals or crystalline resources will be generated or induced.

"Crystallized resources—" Lin Chen murmured to himself.

The Holy Radiance Crystal Core required for the evolution of the Squirrel is a level three light-attribute crystal resource.

Is it possible that he could find the Holy Radiance Crystal Core in the wasteland, thus saving the 350 credits required to acquire this resource?

The progress in earning credits has not been as smooth as initially imagined.

There are no large-scale competitions like the freshman competition, and high-credit assignments are rare and often taken by upperclassmen as soon as they appear. Under these circumstances, the credit acquisition speed is very slow.

Moreover, even if you don't find the Holy Light Core in the wasteland, you can still exchange the credits earned by completing collection tasks for the Holy Light Core, and the Squirrel can still evolve.

Thinking of this, Lin Chen glanced at the evolution experience points required for the Pinepe to evolve—(410/500).

The speed at which experience points are gained is faster than credits. The system will issue daily tasks related to training or battles from time to time. More than a week has passed, and the Pinepe is only ninety points away from filling the evolution bar.

"Okay." Lin Chen nodded.

After the three nodded in agreement, Su Qingyuan also expressed her consent.

"Great! Passed unanimously!"

Zhang Xiaoxiao clapped her hands and carefully put away the notification slip: "Then I'll go and formally submit the team application now."

She thought for a moment and then arranged, "Today is Thursday. We'll set off directly after class tomorrow afternoon and head to the assembly point on the outskirts of the wasteland."

"As for the mission time, let's schedule it from Friday night to Sunday night. That's enough time for us to explore and collect resources. We can still make it back to class on Monday, how about that?"

"no problem!"

"Can."

"Um."

The following afternoon, after finishing their last class, the four of them gathered at the school gate and boarded a large flying mount they had reserved in advance—the Cloud-Winged Giant Roc.

The giant roc spread its wings, carrying the four of them towards the northern horizon of the academy.

The so-called northern wilderness is not a desolate wasteland.

Located in the northern part of Qiming City, it is a vast and relatively flat area where Gobi Desert and sparse grassland intertwine. Further north lies the towering shadow that stretches across the sky and isolates countless dangers—the Wall of Eternal Night.

The wasteland is close to areas of human activity, so the danger is relatively controllable. As long as they do not venture into the marked danger zones or encounter extreme weather, novice beast tamers traveling in teams can be completely safe by being careful.

After flying for about two hours, the monotonous green below was gradually replaced by ochre and grayish-brown, and the terrain became more open.

In the distance, a simple multi-functional building came into view. Many flying mounts were parked on the open space next to the building, and many students in uniforms from various colleges were busy going in and out.

That was the forward base and registration point set up on the edge of the wasteland for this "Starfall Collection Competition".

Among the students coming and going, there were not only freshmen with youthful faces and curious expressions, but also senior students who were familiar with the place and had calm expressions.

The giant roc with cloud-like wings slowly descended.

The four jumped off the back of the giant roc, which let out a long cry and flapped its wings to return to the academy.

Stepping into the somewhat noisy building, Zhou Ming looked around and saw many students with badges from other colleges: "There are quite a lot of people."

"After all, it's a joint competition, so students from nearby colleges will come."

Zhang Xiaoxiao, familiar with the area, led them to the exclusive registration channel of Qiming Beast Taming Academy, explaining while they queued: "This competition is spearheaded by the Qiming City Beast Tamer Association, in conjunction with almost all the beast taming academies in our Northern Territory."

"According to the rules, you can earn 10 credits for each small barren star crystal you collect."

"Those older students can venture into more dangerous areas, so the barren crystal stars they collect are larger and more valuable."

"However," she paused slightly, then added, "although it's called a competition, there's no leaderboard and no strict end date. The competition has been going on for almost two weeks since the Starfall ended, and it will continue until autumn, when there are no more barren crystal stars on the wasteland."

"This is a long-term, open-ended task. Students can participate freely according to their own time, come and go as they please, and submit their findings at any time."

Lin Chen understood.

Zhou Ming looked regretful: "Damn it, there's no leaderboard."

Lin Chen asked in confusion, "You still care about the rankings?"

Zhou Ming turned his head and sighed repeatedly: "Brother Chen, I'm so sorry for you. This means you'll miss the chance to dominate the top spot again and show off by a wide margin."

Lin Chen was speechless for a moment.

What a joke, is he really that shallow?

Registration was quickly completed. The four of them registered their personal identities in turn and received a special star crystal collection bag, a simple wasteland topographic map marked with explored and unexplored areas, and an emergency distress signal device.

After completing the formalities, the four were about to leave the registration hall when they ran into two acquaintances.

"Wow, what a coincidence!"

Yun Chuxiu's eyes lit up, and she waved to greet them first, "I was wondering why you guys ran off as soon as get out of class was over, so you're here to participate in this competition too."

Ye Zhen's gaze lingered on Lin Chen's face for a moment, her expression complex, but she nodded slightly in acknowledgment.

After a brief greeting, Lin Chen and his three companions left.

Ye Zhen watched Lin Chen walk away into the distance, her lips pursed, but she didn't say anything.

Yun nudged him with his elbow and teased in a voice only the two of them could hear, "Zhenzhen, what are your thoughts right now? How about you have a competition with him to see who has collected more Desolate Crystal Stars?"

Ye Zhen glanced at Yun Chuxiu and said indifferently, "Boring."

Yun Chuxiu chuckled and said, "You really don't have the slightest thought of competing with him?"

Ye Zhen remained silent.

A moment later, he said, "If I encounter him in the wild, I will challenge him."

At this point, his gaze deepened, and he spoke slowly and deliberately: "A real-world, unregulated, and unrestricted combat exercise in the wild."

"I will win."

Upon hearing this, Yun Chu sighed.

As dusk fell, the last rays of the setting sun sank into the distant western horizon, and night slowly descended from the sky.

Night falls swiftly and completely on the northern wastelands.

A cool breeze suddenly arose, and the starlight shone brightly, outlining the blurry and menacing shadows of rocks and low bushes.

Lin Chen and his three companions were standing on a slightly elevated, weathered slope.

As soon as we stepped into the wilderness, night officially fell.

Nighttime is the most dangerous time in the wild.

Experienced beast tamers would keep their pets by their side at all times to pass the long nights, and the four of them were no exception.

"Chirp~"

A clear bird song rang out, and a streak of azure light swept out from beside Su Qingyuan, hovering lightly in mid-air.

Its body is more slender and graceful than that of the Blue-feathered Windbird, with a wingspan of nearly two meters. Its feathers have a lustrous, flowing blue color, and seem to glow under the starlight.

Its tail feathers became extremely long, splitting into several strands, like flowing blue ribbons, swaying gently behind it.

This is the evolved form of the Azure Feathered Windbird, the Windbird.

Race Name: Windbird

[Attributes: Wind, Spirit]

[Race Rank: Mid-Elite]

At some point, Su Qingyuan's Azure Feather Wind Bird evolved into the Wind Feather Bird.

However, this was not a difficult task for the wealthy Su Qingyuan, and besides, this evolutionary form was not exactly a secret.

Zhou Ming's Flame Eagle has not yet evolved, but he has already begun collecting evolution materials and steadily improving the Flame Eagle's strength.

As a support member of the team, Zhang Xiaoxiao's pet is a Spirit Mushroom.

This pet resembles a large dandelion, radiating a soft, pale green light, with its main body being an umbrella-shaped canopy covered in fine white mycelium.

As a mid-level extraordinary wood-type pet, the Spirit Mushroom has low combat power but possesses good healing abilities and support skills, making it the medic in the team.

Lin Chen then summoned the Songsong dog.

"Eee-eee 7"

As soon as the dog appeared, it eagerly jumped into Lin Chen's arms, its delicate voice ringing out.

But it soon noticed that there were several unfamiliar humans beside it, all staring intently at it. Its ears turned red, and it buried its head completely in Lin Chen's arms, remaining motionless.

Lin Chen smiled.

As night fell, the four formed a loose exploration formation and set off into the depths of the dark wasteland.

Beneath my feet was hard, sandy ground, mixed with gravel and dry grass stalks.

The occasional strange cries or rustling sounds of unknown nocturnal creatures in the distance added to the sense of the unknown and oppressive atmosphere of the wilderness.

After walking for about half an hour, apart from a few oddly shaped weathered rocks and a few stubborn thorns, they found nothing. It seemed that the desolate crystal star was not as easy to find as they had imagined.

Just as Zhou Ming was about to suggest taking a break, Su Qingyuan stopped without warning.

She tilted her head slightly, as if listening to something, or perhaps sensing the subtle flow of the night breeze.

Suddenly, she opened her eyes and looked in a northeast direction.

"Follow me," Su Qingyuan said without explanation, then changed direction and walked quickly towards the northeast.

A hint of doubt flashed in Lin Chen's eyes.

Zhou Ming and Zhang Xiaoxiao exchanged a glance, their faces showing not confusion but rather a hint of excitement.

After walking through the pile of rocks for less than ten minutes with Su Qingyuan, and rounding a boulder the size of a vehicle, the scene before them made them all stop.

Above a relatively flat, sandy, and gravelly open space, a fist-sized stone, dark gray in color and covered with fine pores, was quietly suspended.

It floated there without any support, defying common sense, radiating a dazzling white halo.

This was precisely their goal for this trip—the desolate star crystal.

"Found it!" Zhou Ming couldn't help but exclaim in a low voice.

Lin Chen was momentarily lost in thought.

It was found that easily?

Could it be that Su Qingyuan secretly contracted a pet beast like a treasure-hunting rat?

Or does she truly possess a special talent for perceiving resources?

Lin Chen stared intently at Su Qingyuan, his gaze burning.

But in any case, she is someone I can befriend deeply.

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