"How was the harvest?"

On the return trip, the woman who had accompanied him asked with a smile.

Su Ping nodded. "The harvest was quite fruitful!"

It indeed was quite fruitful. This was another surprise brought to him by the Zhang Family Brothers, something Su Ping himself had not anticipated.

There was no shortage of Beast Tamers exploring Secret Realms among the populace, and Su Ping never underestimated their wisdom.

Even without a Space-based Pet Beast, some ancient, inherited Secret Techniques might also detect emerging Secret Realms.

Of course, such instances were becoming increasingly rare in modern times.

But Su Ping didn't care, nor did he feel compelled to report anything to the Mechanics Association out of boredom.

After all, as the saying goes, "Water too pure will have no fish"; figures like Director Shen were just normal occurrences.

The woman could also tell that Su Ping had indeed made a significant gain.

After returning to the academy, he went straight back to his dorm room and, surprisingly, did not come out all night.

He didn't even answer calls from Qin Xiaoxue.

This pattern continued not just for that night, but for the entirety of the next day and night as well.

He seemed to have vanished.

This prompted Qin Xiaoxue to go to the woman directly and ask what had happened to Su Ping.

The woman was somewhat at a loss. How could she know Su Ping would become so engrossed once he delved into research?

However, they soon had no time to concern themselves with Su Ping. Over these two days of observation, using the formula Su Ping had provided, the speed at which Woodhead merged with the Thorny Crown far exceeded her expectations.

Next, they needed to start preparing for the Crown Wolf Emperor's third phase of Evolution!

And what was Su Ping doing at this very moment?

He was indeed researching the items he had brought back and the mechanical drawings he had purchased.

First and foremost was a research notebook from an unknown individual, clearly originating from within a Secret Realm.

It was evident that the contents were profound, so much so that they were indecipherable.

The notebook was incredibly abstruse. For Su Ping, who had failed his language arts college entrance exam, understanding its complex writings was a genuine challenge.

He could only infer the rudimentary meaning of some diagrams.

Moreover, most of the text differed from the modern language of the Dragon Nation, making it a true struggle for Su Ping.

Thus, after a day and two nights, Su Ping had only managed to compare and identify a few specific items.

He concluded that the text seemed to belong to an ancient script of the Dragon Nation from thousands of years ago, predating several dynastic changes.

Nevertheless, the notebook was quite abstruse.

However, the draft given to him by the Zhang Family Brothers, though also in ancient script, was somewhat understandable.

It also contained some intricate details.

Of course, his efforts weren't without findings.

For example, there was something resembling a Bagua array.

At this very moment, Su Ping was examining this object.

In the draft, this device was named the 'Five Elements Array'!

Its effect was quite straightforward.

"Qian Yi!" Su Ping ordered.

Qian Yi nodded and released a burst of fierce fire toward the array, ignited from its sword of fire.

The flames, upon reaching the array, immediately lit up one of its sections.

Then, guided by Qian Yi's Spirit, the other sections slowly lit up one after another.

All the flames vanished, replaced by a substantial Earth Element power.

Fire creates Earth!

However, that wasn't all. After Fire created Earth, another point of Energy lit up: Earth engenders Gold!

Then, Gold produced Water!

It didn't reach the stage of Water nurturing Wood, however.

At this moment, where the flames had just vanished, a small spray of water emerged from the other side of the array.

That's right—flames went in, and water sprayed out.

The cycle of the Five Elements, the conversion of Energy, was demonstrated most vividly on this array.

In other words, could what the Zhang Family Brothers had said be true?

It was quite simple. For instance, a Fire Element Mechanical Pet Beast devoid of Energy could enter the ocean, draw power from the seawater, refine it, and transform it into its own Energy!

If no seawater was available, even being in the sky, it could harness wind power and, through Five Elements conversion, transform it into its own power.

This was very plausible.

The journal and this array indeed contained diagrams for Energy conversion pathways.

Moreover, these pathways were already quite complete, and the Energy loss during conversion was negligible.

However, there was still one issue, just as they had mentioned: the problem of materials.

He didn't have many Papermen at the moment.

Therefore, his research in Magic Capital could only go this far for now.

It wouldn't be too late to properly tinker with these items once he returned to the Heart of Woods.

But Su Ping had a premonition.

This object was highly related to his previous ideas about a Five Elements transformation integrating various Attributes. It might even be crucial to the Super-Rank Skill 'Heart of Elements.'

It could potentially surpass his wildest imagination.

Aside from this device, there were also the mechanical drawings Su Ping had obtained.

However, after glancing at them and gaining a rough understanding, Su Ping felt somewhat helpless.

It wasn't that they were useless, but that they weren't suitable.

Mechanics were simply different.

The assembly of mechanical parts was far more complex. Even the most basic mechanical body might have hundreds of screws and joint components.

Under such circumstances, a Paperman could still attempt assembly. But, setting aside the difficulty, what would the assembled result even look like?

Would it truly provide a significant enhancement to a Paperman's combat capabilities?

Su Ping didn't know. Therefore, his research on regular Papermen had, admittedly, once again reached a bottleneck.

And soon, just after New Year's Day, the selection for the special Beastmaster Troops would officially begin.

If he only showcased the ordinary assembly potential of Papermen, without demonstrating an ability to cope with the various situations that might arise in the Heavenly Tomb, then no matter how much potential they had, it would be difficult to stand out.

Su Ping rubbed his temples in distress.

This is tough!

After a day and two nights of research, he had arrived at such a frustrating conclusion. Su Ping couldn't help but sigh.

Watching the newly risen Sun at the horizon, he finally stepped out of his room.

He picked up his phone and looked at it.

Sure enough, during his day and two nights of research, forgetting to eat and sleep, Miss Qin had left quite a few unanswered calls.

The last one was a message from Miss Qin:

"I'm going into the Linhai Secret Realm with Grandma to proceed with Woodhead's third phase of Evolution. If you're free, send me a message back."

Linhai Secret Realm? Woodhead is starting the third phase already?

Su Ping was surprised but also relieved.

The third phase and the final Evolution of the fourth phase required less than a day of adaptation before continuing. He had to witness Woodhead's Evolution in person.

Otherwise, he didn't know if his Forest Wolf Catalog would unlock the 'Crown Wolf Emperor' branch Catalog, and simultaneously grant him that portion of Catalogue Experience.

Su Ping shook his head, quickly replied to Qin Xiaoxue's message, and then put his phone in his pocket.

His mood slowly relaxed. He pushed the troubling thoughts—that his research had not only failed to provide answers but had added new complications—to the back of his mind.

He decided not to dwell on it anymore.

He stepped out of the villa dormitory, looked at the slowly rising Sun in the sky, and a smile appeared on his face.

There will always be a way! He believed in himself!

As long as his thinking didn't falter, solutions would always outnumber problems!

He had achieved feats ordinary people couldn't imagine. There was no need to keep pushing himself so hard. Relaxing his mind was always the most crucial step.

With this thought, Su Ping breathed in the fresh morning air and walked over to Old Sha.

Since truly arriving at the Magic Capital Academy, he hadn't gone for a proper run or a solitary walk. Now was the perfect time to bring Old Sha along.

However, just as he approached Old Sha, Su Ping's eyebrows rose slightly.

Old Sha was napping, seeming to sleep quite soundly.

But that's impossible.

Wolves are inherently extremely cautious.

Not to mention, Old Sha was already at the Monarch Level; any slight disturbance in the vicinity would trigger his alertness.

And upon Su Ping's arrival, as his young master, Old Sha would typically respond immediately.

But now, Old Sha remained lying down, seemingly in a deep sleep, with no sign of waking.

He even appeared to be having a wonderful dream, a faint smile playing on his lips.

Simultaneously, his breathing had a unique rhythm. This rhythm seemed to involuntarily affect anyone nearby, making them feel joyous and warm.

Old Sha did not live inside a room in the villa.

This wasn't because Su Ping mistreated him. It was purely because Pet Beasts like Forest Wolves preferred a natural environment. They would feel more oppressed and uncomfortable inside an artificially constructed house.

So, he was more comfortable in the villa's grassy courtyard.

Su Ping looked at Old Sha lying on the grass. At that moment, he seemed to realize something.

The morning Sun continued its slow ascent, its early rays aligning with something.

Su Ping blinked.

The golden rays of the winter Sun bathed Su Ping in a warm, golden light.

At this moment, Old Sha, lying before him, seemed to sense the sunlight that had been absent all night.

Then, Su Ping wasn't sure if it was an illusion. He felt that as the great Sun rose in the East, the sunlight shining in the courtyard suddenly dimmed.

It was as if the brilliant high beams of an oncoming car at night, when viewed directly, shifted to a less intense, angled glare from the sides.

The brightness of the light itself didn't seem to have changed, yet for some reason, it no longer appeared as dazzling as before.

On a winter morning, even in Magic Capital, there was a distinct chill in the air. Su Ping looked at the Sun, which now seemed unable to provide warmth, and it didn't appear as piercingly bright.

A cold breeze swept past. Belatedly, he turned and looked to the side.

Old Sha was still lying beside him.

Due to his large frame, even while prone, the tips of his antlers reached Su Ping's waist.

However, as Su Ping finally focused his attention on Old Sha's body, a dazzling golden light converged upon Old Sha. It was as if this light had captured all the essence of the morning and focused it there at that very moment.

He watched as Old Sha became entirely golden under this radiance. Only his Y-shaped antlers had strangely turned a stark, snow white. Su Ping blinked, finally understanding what was happening.

After all these days, Old Sha's Super-Rank Skill was finally about to complete its Skill Fusion!?

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.