Beast Taming Starts with Ground Mushrooms

Chapter 14: Breakthrough Progress in the Development of Wild Mushrooms

The wheels of the car speeding by crushed the thick concrete curb, just as they crushed the rings of time, leaving barely perceptible traces.

On the taxi back to Tiannan Beast Taming University, Jiang Xiaoran rested her head on the windowsill, looking at the street scene rushing past outside, feeling melancholy.

The ground mushroom she contracted three years ago remains a wound whenever she mentions it.

Jiang Xiaoran, who was in the car, was still struggling to let go of her thoughts when a series of urgent message notifications abruptly interrupted her.

She instinctively picked up her phone to check; it was a message from her father, Jiang Baoguo. She opened the message and a series of words came into view.

[Xiao Ran, Dad's words came true! Guess what Dad saw?]

[A ground mushroom, a ground mushroom that knows sword-wielding pet skills...]

[Lin Yi, that Lin Yi, his ground mushroom... that doesn't seem very scientific...]

[Xiao Ran, Dad isn't a Beast Tamer, so I don't understand these things, but Dad knows that the Ground Mushroom seems to still have hope.]

……

Seeing the message from her father, Jiang Xiaoran felt a warmth in her heart, mistakenly thinking that her father was comforting her again.

She opened the typing box and quickly typed a line: Dad, I'm fine. Your daughter is one of the best among spirit plant-type beast tamers. It's just a contract slot, so what if it's wasted...

During a break while Jiang Xiaoran was typing.

Suddenly, a video was sent to Jiang Zhengguo.

It's easy to see from the angle of the video that it's surveillance footage from her family's weapons shop.

The surveillance footage showed a handsome boy who caught Jiang Xiaoran's attention.

Why did Dad send me a picture of a handsome young man?

Jiang Xiaoran instinctively opened the video, temporarily setting aside the message that had not yet been sent.

The first sound was a series of piercing noises.

Immediately afterwards, the incredibly handsome guy in the video seemed to pull out something that looked extremely realistic... and then Jiang Xiaoran was startled.

She shuddered instantly, her beautiful eyes narrowed sharply, and she brought the phone even closer.

The little mushroom cub struggled to wield its small sword, unleashing a beam of sky-blue light over half a meter long…

Even through the screen, Jiang Xiaoran, a beast tamer, knew that it was a sword light manifested by the extraordinary evolutionary power of the evolved beast pet, much like a beast pet skill.

No…that’s a pet skill!

The azure sword light, the extraordinary sword power shaped like a leaf...

"This is... the Sword Spirit Grass's native skill, the [Grass Sword Technique]?"

Jiang Xiaoran was stunned.

How could the Blade & Soul Grass's native skill appear on a Ground Mushroom?

Is this...scientific?

She suddenly realized something; the video didn't seem to be computer-generated, and she had just been holding and playing with that miniature version of the Hanxuan sword.

"Master, turn around, turn around quickly!"

When Jiang Xiaoran ran into her own weapons shop, she was already panting heavily. A few strands of her hair stuck to her full and delicate forehead with sweat, and her fair swan neck was covered with a thin layer of glistening moisture.

"Dad, where's that free-range mushroom?"

Looking at the empty shop, Jiang Xiaoran breathed heavily.

Jiang Baoguo: "He was taken away by that guy named Lin Yi."

"Dad, why didn't you keep him? Do you know what that means?" Jiang Xiaoran asked urgently, "Which way did he go?"

Jiang Baoguo wanted to say that he had tried to keep her, but couldn't, but seeing his daughter's anxious face, he immediately pointed to the way Jiang Xiaoran had come from: "She went in the direction you came from, didn't you see her?"

Jiang Xiaoran turned around at the sound and rushed out the door, chasing after the 'human-beast infestation' street.

She didn't see that handsome and charismatic figure again until she caught up with the main road.

The girl, her heart pounding with excitement, stood in the sea of ​​people, her beautiful eyes scanning every passerby, a hint of disappointment gradually creeping into them.

However, this disappointment was suddenly replaced by something else.

"Lin Yi, yes, his name is Lin Yi. The freshman who made a contract with the ground mushroom a few days ago is also named Lin Yi."

In other words, the other party is 99% likely a beast tamer from Tiannan Beast Taming University, and is in the same department as me.

Knowing the other party's identity makes things much easier.

"Go back to school."

Jiang Xiaoran immediately hailed a taxi and sped towards Tiannan Beast Taming University.

Her first thought was that Professor Liu and Senior Tang's research had made groundbreaking progress, truly finding the feasibility of cross-species education.

That's right, the first thing Jiang Xiaoran thought of was Tang Xinyi and her mentor, not the freshman who had made a contract with the ground mushroom.

After all, she was more convinced that this was something that Elder Liu and his team had cracked, and that the guy named Lin Yi was just an experimental subject in this research project.

If I go directly to Senior Tang Xinyi, the whole truth will come out.

Although Tang Xinyi is currently an intern teacher at Tiannan Beast Taming University, she was a senior when Jiang Xiaoran was a freshman, so she habitually prefers to call her "senior sister".

……

When Jiang Xiaoran rushed back to the Department of Spirit Plant Cultivation and Research at Tiannan Beast Taming University, it was already an hour later. It wasn't that her shop was too far from the university, but rather that Tiannan University was so large that taxis simply couldn't get in.

"Xiao Ran? Where are you rushing off to?"

Downstairs at Tang Xinyi's office building, Jiang Xiaoran ran into her friend Cheng Jiaqi as she went upstairs. The latter seemed a little confused, judging from Xiaoran's expression, she seemed to be in a hurry.

"I'm looking for Senior Tang," Jiang Xiaoran said without turning her head.

Seeing this, Cheng Jiaqi became interested. After thinking for a moment, she followed.

At this moment, Tang Xinyi was sitting in her private office, her slender hand supporting her forehead, looking worried.

With only three months left until the department-wide centralized assessment, her Beast Taming Class 26 has only produced six Level 5 evolved beasts so far, and hasn't been able to raise a single Level 6 evolved beast pet, let alone a Level 6 Beast Tamer.

Even if such grades are submitted three months later and rank in the upper-middle range of the department, it won't be enough. It's not just her face that's being lost, but also the face of her advisor, Liu Bochuan.

Old Liu is the leader of the Spirit Plant Department of Tiannan Beast Taming University and the benchmark for all the instructors in the department. If his prized student is too bad, it would be a disgrace to the school.

Unfortunately, among the beast tamers Tang Xinyi received this time, there were very few with high talent, and there were even two who dragged down the average score, and they had only just signed contracts with their own beast pets.

"I wonder how that Lin Yi is doing."

Tang Xinyi thought of two students who were likely to drag the whole class down, and the image of that handsome young man involuntarily appeared in her mind.

As for the one with dark skin, I don't quite remember what he looked like.

At this moment, Tang Xinyi even regretted agreeing to the contract with Lin Yi for the Ground Mushroom. If any beast pet with a better future could be saved within three months, it would still be possible to do so.

Just as she was getting a headache from this, there was a rapid knocking on the door.

"Enter."

The door was pushed open, and Jiang Xiaoran and Cheng Jiaqi walked in. The three most outstanding beauties in the Department of Spirit Plant Cultivation and Research gathered together, making the office seem more vibrant.

Although Tang Xinyi is already an intern class teacher, she is about the same age as the two of them, and there is no difference in appearance between them.

"Xiao Ran? Jia Qi? What brings you here?"

Tang Xinyi was somewhat surprised to see that it was these two girls who entered, as she did not recall having any appointment with them.

Jiang Xiaoran's full breasts heaved up and down: "Senior, has your cross-species research project on free-range mushrooms with Professor Liu made any new breakthroughs?"

Jiang Xiaoran went straight to the point.

Tang Xinyi frowned slightly. Why was this girl so impulsive? But seeing the seriousness in Jiang Xiaoran's eyes, she pondered for a moment and said, "There has been some progress, that's for sure."

But not many.

The desired results from cross-species research are still a long way off.

However, Tang Xinyi's thoughts were completely different from Jiang Xiaoran's.

Sure enough, Mr. Liu and his team made a breakthrough.

Jiang Xiaoran's emotions immediately stirred, and she asked breathlessly, "Senior, has that freshman named Lin Yi already obtained the latest research breakthrough?"

Tang Xinyi recalled that when Lin Yi came to apply for school subsidies a few days ago, she did give him some research results, but they were all failure cases, but they were the latest data.

"I gave it to him."

Right.

Everything matches up.

Jiang Xiaoran was immediately indignant: "Senior, you promised to tell me as soon as there was any breakthrough in the development of the ground mushroom. Why didn't you tell me?"

"In the entire Tiannan Beast Taming University, I was the only idiot who contracted a Ground Mushroom... Well, now there's another idiot who's contracted one too."

"But you've made progress, so why give it to that idiot first and not to me, the second idiot? There should always be a first-come, first-served principle. I was also a Mushroom contracted at your base."

Tang Xinyi was completely baffled by Jiang Xiaoran's antics. She was utterly bewildered by all the talk of "two idiots" and "three idiots." She replied, "Xiaoran, it's true that this research project has made some new breakthroughs, but it's not exactly a decisive achievement. Giving it to you wouldn't make much difference."

Jiang Xiaoran: ? ? ?

"Isn't this a decisive achievement?"

Jiang Xiaoran retorted, she was genuinely a little angry.

They had agreed that they would inform her of any breakthroughs as soon as possible, which is why she couldn't resist the allure of the Ground Mushroom's adorable appearance and chose to enter into the contract.

Now look what's happened! You've already given it to that idiot, and you're not even planning to tell me? This is just bullying.

"Senior, if successfully teaching a pet skills across species isn't considered a decisive achievement, then tell Xiaoran, what would be considered a decisive achievement?"

Tang Xinyi was startled upon hearing this.

She looked up abruptly, her beautiful eyes filled with astonishment.

"Xiao Ran, what did you say? You successfully trained your pet to use cross-species skills?"

How is that possible?

When did this happen?

Why haven't I received any news about this?