Chapter 148: Chapter 119: Racial Degeneration? Cultivation of Forest Wolf and Elf Wolf!_4
Species optimization?
Su Ping slightly narrowed his eyes.
He had come across this term before while studying the educational materials from the Breeder Association.
However, this was essentially not closely related to the work of Beast Tamers and Breeders; it was a change that occurred over a long period.
I wonder how many years ago—perhaps a few hundred or even thousands—today’s Forest Wolves were not so numerous! Instead, there was a Pet Beast called the Wood Wolf. It was a very basic Wood Element Wolf Pet, possessing only the Racial Potential of an ordinary peak species, making it a considerably Low-level Pet Beast. And the Forest Wolf was actually an Evolutionary Body of the Wood Wolf! Of course, this also seemed somewhat discernible from their names. So, the Forest Wolf was the species optimization after the initial Evolution of the Wood Wolf. After the Wood Wolf evolved into the Forest Wolf, the progeny born from Forest Wolves were new Forest Wolves.
Of course, in ancient times, such probabilities might have been lower because a generation of evolved Forest Wolves had a greater chance of producing Wood Wolves with relatively better aptitude. Only when the evolutionary bloodline was more concentrated was there a chance for the direct birth of Forest Wolf offspring. Therefore, even in modern society, offspring produced by Forest Wolves occasionally show atavism, reverting from Forest Wolves to Wood Wolves. This is the most compelling evidence supporting this deduction.
The Forest Wolf, as a further Evolutionary Body of the Forest Wolf, with its relatively simple and unadorned Evolution and its widespread appeal—it’s possible similar situations might occur in the future. This could lead to Forest Wolves breeding among themselves to produce new Forest Wolves, causing the original Forest Wolves to become increasingly scarce. This is called species optimization. It’s a likely occurrence with the passage of time.
However, this suddenly gave Su Ping some ideas.
Those inherently powerful Pet Beasts, Pet Beasts with a high race limit, like the so-called Life Ancient Tree—could it be that long ago, they too were other Low-Level Pets that evolved and then underwent lengthy species optimization to become what they are now? So, could it be that some initial atavistic, degenerated forms of powerful races have actually disappeared over the long expanse of time? The history recorded in the civilization of Beast Tamers, even for the oldest Dragon Nation, doesn’t reach tens of thousands of years. Yet, the time that Living Beings have existed on Blue Star is an unimaginably vast number. It could easily be in the hundreds of millions of years.
If...
Thinking this, Su Ping blinked, his interest genuinely piqued.
If there were a way to cause powerful Pet Beasts to degenerate to their basic race, and from that foundation, either allow them to breed anew or explore other research angles to unearth different evolutionary branches... wouldn’t this mean one could develop even more, perhaps unprecedented, species of Pet Beasts and entirely new Evolutionary Bodies?
The answer to this is almost certainly affirmative. Some ancient Pet Beasts, in their Evolution over countless eons, were influenced by the environment, underwent subtle and gradual Evolution, or experienced survival of the fittest. However, Evolution driven by the environment can only be said to be best suited for survival in that specific environment, not necessarily the strongest or most laden with potential!
Take the Forest Wolf as an example. After a Forest Wolf evolves into a Forest Wolf, it naturally still has a chance to evolve into the Wanmu Wolf. However, it has absolutely no chance of transforming into an Elf Wolf of the same level, because their race limit is the same: Commander-Level Peak.
So, for the Elf Wolf, whose Evolution focuses mainly on the Life Series and partial Elementalization—even though its direct combat strength might be less than the Forest Wolf’s, can one say its potential and utility are lower?
No! In fact, because of its Life Series healing abilities, the Elf Wolf could be even more useful. However, compared to the Forest Wolf, the Elf Wolf has a higher difficulty in Evolution. Furthermore, its primary abilities lie in life-healing, making its survival and overall combat effectiveness in the wild inferior to the Forest Wolf. Therefore, it is not adapted to the survival environment of Pet Beasts in the wild.
Su Ping believed that the examples of the Forest Wolf and the Elf Wolf were definitely not unique. In those distant Ancient Times, throughout the long history of Pet Beast development, there were undoubtedly many similar weak Pet Beasts that completed their Evolution under the natural laws of survival of the fittest.
It remains the eternal maxim and truth of the Breeder world:
The weaker the Pet Beast, the more infinite its potential. The lower the tier of the Pet Beast, the more diverse its Evolution!
There are no truly useless Pet Beasts, only Breeders who have yet to unearth their potential.
So, if one wants to take this as a subject and study these possibly existent degenerated ancient species—brand new, ancient Pet Beast basic juveniles unrecorded in history—then degeneration is, paradoxically, what needs to be researched. But how can a Pet Beast’s degeneration be achieved? Especially for those incredibly powerful Pet Beasts of Advanced Level Racial Potential. Thinking about it, this research direction seems quite extravagant, doesn’t it?
Someone like me, not rushing to think about Evolution, but instead pondering troublesome degeneration—I’m probably the first, huh?
Su Ping couldn’t help but smile wryly.
However, at this moment, he had clearly forgotten that there was another person in the office.
Dong Muyun looked at the youngster before her with a peculiar expression.
Has this brat already forgotten there’s another person here? He’s been staring at the first page of that document for nearly half a Xiaoshi now. What on earth is he thinking about? And now he’s making such an unsightly smile. Don’t tell me my good intentions backfired?
Undoubtedly, from ancient times to the present, the methods by which powerful, long-standing Families maintained their continuity—just like in the world Su Ping had transmigrated from—were all the same: investment, recruitment, and marriage alliances.
And Su Ping was undoubtedly a talent most worthy of investment and recruitment.
Thus, Dong Muyun coughed lightly.
Only then did Su Ping look at her.
"What are you thinking about? Have you had some other insight?"
"Um..."
It had to be said, now that the investment was formalized, Dong Muyun was essentially an ally. Su Ping indeed felt considerably more at ease around her and didn’t conceal anything, sharing his recent thoughts with her in full. Her background was considerable; perhaps she had some understanding in this area. Or perhaps she knew some Secret Technique for degeneration unknown to others.
Unfortunately, Su Ping was clearly overthinking. In this world, Breeders who studied Evolution were a dime a dozen. But those who researched degeneration were exceedingly rare. Even if there were some, it was very difficult to produce any results.
So, Dong Muyun listened to Su Ping’s far-fetched ideas. He had extrapolated so much from just the four words ’species optimization’ and the relationship between the Forest Wolf and Elf Wolf species. He had even proposed such a bold direction—one that sounded utterly preposterous at first, but upon careful consideration, actually seemed remarkably plausible. For a moment, Dong Muyun herself became somewhat bewildered.
Is this the thought process of a Genius Breeder? The Low-level form of a Pet Beast with Advanced Level Racial Potential before species optimization. After degeneration, explore and develop new unknown Evolutionary Bodies from other directions? Is this something that a Beast Tamer like you, merely Elite Level and a recent adult graduate, should be contemplating?
However, she had to admit, in this regard, Dong Muyun was thoroughly impressed.
Then she became flustered and could only stammer, "Uh... I... I really don’t know..."
She couldn’t deny Su Ping’s ideas, yet she was also unable to provide any advice or help.
So Dong Muyun, who had originally wanted to further close the distance with this brat, could only choose to change the subject very awkwardly, "Anyway, I’ll go check out what’s happening in the Lingxi River!"
Su Ping also came back to his senses.
The matter of species optimization, as well as Evolution and degeneration, was naturally just a topic and direction worthy of research. However, for the current Su Ping, the difficulty was still too great.
Thinking this, and since it concerned his own territory, Su Ping didn’t remain idle. He nodded and said, "I’ll go with you to take a look!"
Su Ping also wanted to see what exactly was causing harm in the area near his territory.