Beast Taming: My System is Bugged

Chapter 365 - 352: The Grand Direction of Cultivation

"Everyone, please be quiet. I am your counselor, Luo Rui."

"Since you all made it here, I assume you didn’t come just to slack off and do nothing. So, I’ll cut to the chase."

Luo Rui paced back and forth on the stage and held up two fingers. "By next month, I want to see every student’s Pet Beast reach the Two-star Realm.

"If you can’t reach Two-star, mastering a Master Level Breathing Technique is also acceptable.

"If you can’t meet either of these two conditions, then I’m sorry, but you will have to leave our class.

"Our class has no need for mediocre students who can’t keep up with the cutting edge."

After he finished speaking, the students whose Pet Beasts had yet to reach Two-star all showed looks of anxiety.

It had been hard enough for them to get into this university, but due to improper early-stage nurturing or a lack of resources, their Pet Beasts were still some distance away from a Two-star Evolution.

Trying to rush to Two-star in a month wasn’t entirely impossible, but it would require external help.

For example, by taking out loans to obtain excess resources and force an Evolution.

Gu Ming observed impassively. Out of the 59 students in the class, about 11 of them had Pet Beasts still at the One-star level.

However, judging by their auras, they were basically all at One-star Peak, just a hair’s breadth away from Two-star. Perhaps they were missing an opportunity, or perhaps they just needed more resources piled on.

Gu Ming wasn’t worried about this, however.

His two Pet Beasts had already reached Two-star. Although the newcomer, Ah Ji, was only One-star, it was in the Foundation Establishment stage. Barring any accidents, it would most likely complete its Two-star Evolution in a month.

This was all thanks to "Elder Yao" from the company.

If not for Elder Yao’s treatment and conditioning, Ah Ji’s original physical constitution would never have been able to keep up with the Cultivation intensity of a top university.

It wasn’t surprising that Teacher Luo was so harsh and pragmatic.

As the nation’s top private university, Wenquxing University was jointly controlled by multiple factions, all of which were nationally renowned top-tier companies. Their standards for talent were naturally extremely high.

Since it was a private institution, counselors naturally had KPIs hanging over their heads: student Cultivation progress and annual results were all part of their performance evaluation.

If Gu Ming and the others just lazed around in their dorms playing games all day or got distracted by other things instead of striving for improvement, they would quickly be left in the dust.

But Gu Ming knew he would never do that.

While he was lost in thought, Teacher Luo continued, "Next, let’s talk about our class’s main Cultivation focus for this year.

"First up is the Breathing Technique! Breathing Techniques have become a national trend, and the pioneer of Low-star Breathing Techniques is right here in our class."

When Teacher Luo said this, he didn’t mention the pioneer’s name.

But the well-informed students already knew who he was talking about and turned their heads in unison toward Gu Ming.

Gu Ming glanced around and found that nearly fifty people were looking at him.

’Looks like everyone is highly sensitive to new information. They’ve all got their own sources.’

Under everyone’s gaze, Gu Ming stood up and said, neither servile nor overbearing:

"It was just a stroke of luck.

"If any of you have new insights into Breathing Techniques, I welcome you to discuss them with me at any time so we can advance the field together."

Applause immediately broke out in the classroom, and Teacher Luo, on the stage, also praised him:

"Excellent! This is exactly the kind of open, generous research-oriented attitude we need."

Meanwhile, the students who hadn’t yet received this information looked on in astonishment, turning to size up this classmate whose name they didn’t even know.

Many of them had been first in their grade in high school; some had even ranked in the top three of their province.

They had studied with relentless, back-breaking diligence, focusing solely on their books, shutting out all external distractions.

They had walked the path of the college entrance exams, crossing a single-plank bridge against an army of thousands, enduring countless hardships just to get into Zhou Capital Wenquxing University.

To outsiders, they had already reached the pinnacle of their lives, far ahead of hundreds of millions of people.

But now, having entered this Cultivation Technique Class, they discovered there was such a deeply hidden master among them.

From the very start of the semester, this person was their classmate, bearing the title of "Pioneer of a New Cultivation Technique System."

In an instant, the shocking realization that there were always people better than them sent tremors through their hearts.

Gu Ming calmly sat down. On the stage, Teacher Luo kept the pace, gesturing for the class to settle down before continuing to the next major direction for Cultivation.

"The other is Cultivation within the Dantian!"

When Teacher Luo said this, Gu Ming didn’t react at first. But when Teacher Luo mentioned the Great Dao Foundation, and the blessings of the Ancient Dragon brought by the Ancient Dragon Pattern Tripod from a suspected previous civilization...

...Gu Ming felt a slight tremor run through his body and looked up at the teacher on the stage.

Teacher Luo calmly swept his gaze over the students, his eyes finally landing on Gu Ming. He met Gu Ming’s gaze and spoke in a steady tone:

"Perhaps you don’t know this yet, but this is the most cutting-edge Cultivation trend right now. It has yet to become mainstream in the country.

"This is because the results of the Great Dao Foundation are primarily demonstrated by Gu Ming’s Pet Beasts.

"Of course, Lu You’s Pet Beast has also shown related results.

"This will be the second major Cultivation direction we will focus on going forward."

As soon as he finished speaking, Lu You, who was sitting beside Gu Ming, looked up at the stage in shock.

She suddenly realized that the classmates who hadn’t paid her any mind before were now all staring at her in unison, their eyes wide with astonishment.

Being stared at by so many people, her social anxiety flared up. Her mind went blank, and she subconsciously began wringing the corner of her clothes.

Only when everyone’s gazes gradually shifted from her to Gu Ming did her body begin to relax.

Facing everyone’s stares, Gu Ming stood up once more and said openly:

"I’m not particularly talented; I just got lucky and developed the Foundation Establishment Platform. So far, the tests have shown decent results."

A student next to him immediately asked, "Is there a paper on it? We’d like to read it."

"It’s in preparation. I plan to publish it this month."

Gu Ming paused, thinking to himself.

’Originally, I wanted to drag it out for a few more months to ensure my Pet Beasts maintained their advantage in the Two-star Realm.

’After all, a Pet Beast with a Foundation Establishment Platform has a significant advantage when fighting opponents of the Same-star Level. I was hoping to carry that advantage all the way to Three-star.

’But I never expected Teacher Luo and the faculty behind him to be paying so much attention to the national competition.

’They’ve practically studied every one of my—the top scorer’s—Pet Beasts, along with my assistant’s, inside and out.

’They’ve probably written countless analysis reports, and some related papers might already be in their initial drafts. They’re likely communicating with the editorial departments of Three and Four-star Pet Beast journals about publication dates.

’It’s only because they’re missing me, the original source of information, that everyone’s staring at me. They’re waiting for me to publish first so they can follow up and generate a large-scale discussion.’

Teacher Luo nodded from the stage. Perhaps because not many people knew about this next piece of information, he added:

"Cyan Treasure’s Great Dao Foundation is the most mature, and its aura is the most powerful. It has the air of an Ancient Dragon and possesses the potential for further Evolution.

"If it succeeds, it will be the first Little Cyan Snake to Super Evolve to Three-star without any bloodline modification."

"In this regard, I myself am also looking forward to your paper on the Great Dao Foundation and the Dantian. I believe that when it’s finished, it will at least have the quality of a ’Five-Colored Holy Light’.

"If you don’t have any familiar reviewers or editors, I can make some introductions for you.

"As far as I know, many Five-star Level journals are eagerly awaiting your results.

"If the innovation is outstanding enough, a Six-star journal isn’t out of the question either."

Teacher Luo’s words were like a bombshell, stunning many of the students below.

The students from more humble backgrounds lacked a concrete concept of what Five and Six-star journals were, but they understood their significance.

However, the students who had studied in the Capital knew much more clearly just how much weight those journals carried.

For an ordinary person, getting published in a Six-star Pet Beast journal was harder than ascending to the heavens. It usually required joint recommendations from multiple influential figures just to get on a reviewer’s radar.

Yet here was Gu Ming, attracting the attention of editors from Five and Six-star journals before his paper was even written.

This was an incredible windfall, like a pie falling from the sky.

Once it was successfully published, Gu Ming’s Credit Points would surely accumulate at lightning speed. Securing this year’s top scholarship would be a sure thing, much to everyone’s envy.