Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios
The Sprite Cultivation Research Department was one of the four major departments of the Union.
It was also divided into many independent sub-departments. The review department was one of the important sub-departments and was in charge of reviewing the papers submitted by the Sprite Cultivators.
Of course, the responsibility of reviewing ordinary papers was given to the Association of Sprite Cultivators from various countries. Only a small number of important papers published by high-level Sprite Cultivators were allowed to be uploaded to the headquarters building in the City of Glow.
At this moment…
It was late at night in the City of Glow, but there were still several expert Sprite Cultivators on duty in the review department. Usually, they didn’t need to personally review the research papers, unless…
Ding-dong!
A notification suddenly popped up on the computer in front of the Sprite Cultivators. There was a research paper that was uploaded for review, and it was a paper with very high priority. They needed to deal with it as soon as possible.
“Let me see…”
A particularly sleepy Sprite Cultivator opened the dedicated computer in the department. Suddenly, his eyes widened, and his sleepiness dissipated.
“What? The Fallen Evolution research paper is out so early?!”
The reviewer controlled his mouse and opened it, only to see a red frame appear on the screen.
[Warning! Your authority is insufficient to read this paper.]
[Warning! Your authority is insufficient…]
[Warning!…]
The Sprite Cultivator: “???”
I’m the reviewer! How can I not be qualified! (╯‵□′)╯(┻━┻!
But…
He was indeed not qualified to read such a heavyweight research paper. Even if he was qualified, he still knew deep down that he didn’t have the ability to judge such a paper…
“I have to inform the masters in charge of the evaluation process.” He glanced at the time. “Well, it’s currently midnight and I can’t disturb the masters. I can only wait for tomorrow.”
It was normal for him to think like this. The other reviewers would have also done the same.
After all, who would dare to disturb their superiors in the middle of the night…
Bang!
The entire office door was violently pushed open and slammed into the wall. A disheveled man with messy hair strode over and waved at a reviewer who was in his seat. “Get up quickly, I want to see that research paper immediately! Oh right, remember to close the door when you go out.”
The reviewer was chased out with a confused look.
Very soon…
His cell phone rang.
It was a call from another colleague.
Then, all of the reviewers’ respective superiors, the few masters with the highest authority in the review department, were now present!
They were using the special computer in the department to read the research paper!
…
There were a total of six Masters with the highest authority in the review department.
Among them, there was a fixed master from Dragon Nation, Golden Eagle Federation, and White Bear Nation.
It was the same for the six review window positions.
The rule here was that five out of the six masters had to vote yes before the research paper could be passed.
At the moment, however…
The few masters weren’t even concerned with reviewing the research paper. They just couldn’t wait to know what the theoretical support of Fallen Evolution was.
“So that’s how it is…”
“I see…”
Even a Master Sprite Cultivator had to spend a lot of effort reading this paper. They kept thinking and occasionally stopped to look for other information. It looked as if they weren’t reviewing the paper but instead learning some advanced theory.
It took a few hours for the masters to roughly understand the whole paper. The progress was neither fast nor slow.
“Fallen Evolution involves many changes. Logically speaking, it’s far inferior to the Giganticization Evolution in terms of generalization, but…”
The core of the entire Giganticization Evolution was pretty simple. It was to let the sprite’s size increase by several times or even more than ten times. Through this, the sprite could achieve the goal of increasing its strength and energy and break through its limit.
The theory of the Fallen Evolution was much more complicated. When the masters finished reading the first chapter and felt that they had a clear understanding of Fallen Evolution, the second chapter quickly left them dazed again. To their knowledge, the research paper’s theory even applied to sprites that couldn’t go through the Fallen Evolution.
It was a theory that was familiar but also different!
“Originally, the number of sprites that can be compatible with the Fallen Evolution theory is far less than the Giganticization theory, but… this theory is just too detailed! It completely covers all aspects. Any special situation that I can think of is mentioned in the paper. Unbelievable, unbelievable!”
“It’s completely comparable to the Giganticization theory that has been continuously perfected for more than ten years. It’s even more complete and comprehensive!
“There are 72 common examples of the advanced ritual alone that can be used on a variety of sprites. In terms of generalization, it’s already no weaker than the Giganticization Evolution.”
A certain Master Sprite Cultivator from the Golden Eagle Federation exclaimed, “Moreover, the development potential of a sprite that has gone through Fallen Evolution is also much higher. There isn’t as obvious a flaw either. This theory, this theory…”
“Why isn’t this genius Sprite Cultivator from our Golden Eagle Federation!”
A certain Sprite Cultivator was both amazed and regretful. He immediately stopped thinking and continued to read the research paper in detail.
…
When the “Fallen Evolution research paper” was uploaded and displayed as “awaiting review”, many Sprite Cultivators with authorization had already known about this in advance.
In the Dragon Nation, at a top research institute in Yunhua City.
Master Chen Ping, who was known as the “pioneer of evolution”, was currently conducting an experiment. His research that had been going on for a few months was already nearing the end. The whole team, including Master Chen Ping, was tired but also excited.
Suddenly…
Beep beep…
The light at the laboratory door flickered and slowly pulled open. A young man in a white coat ran in, panting. He shouted from afar, “M-Master…”
He supported his knees with his hands and kept panting heavily. His sweat-drenched hair stuck tightly to his forehead.
Seeing this…
Master Chen Ping frowned slightly.
The team was already approaching the end of the experiment. Thus, he had already instructed that he would not be disturbed until the experiment was over.
But why was this student so impatient?
“Speak…” Master Chen said expressionlessly.
The young man in the white coat, who had taken two breaths, immediately said, “Teacher, the Fallen Evolution research paper… has already been uploaded!”
“What?”
“So soon!”
This completely exceeded Master Chen’s expectations. He stood on the spot and thought for two seconds. Then, he called over an expert-level Sprite Cultivator who was second only to him in the laboratory in terms of status. “The key parts of our experiment have been completed. I’ll leave the rest to you. I have some things to do so I’ll have to leave first.”
Master Chen Ping patted his assistant’s shoulder and walked towards the laboratory door in three steps.
Leaving behind the confused Sprite Cultivator.
Wait!
Don’t think I didn’t hear it. The Fallen Evolution research paper is out!
I really want to see it too, Boss!
…
There were many others who also acted like Master Chen Ping. Some were notified by wristbands, while others discovered the news by logging into the intranet themselves. There were also some who had long instructed people to ‘wait and report’ the moment there was any news.
The news uploaded by the Fallen Evolution research paper quickly spread to the higher-ups of the Sprite Cultivator World.
But…
What made many Master Sprite Cultivators and expert-level Sprite Cultivators go crazy was that even after one day, two days, two and a half days… The entire Fallen Evolution research paper still had the status of being ‘ under review ‘.
Why is it still being reviewed? Can’t you release it earlier!?
Why is the review department taking so long?!
An impatient and hot-tempered Master Sprite Cultivator immediately made a call to ask, but only received a weak answer from the other end of the phone saying, “Several masters are currently in seclusion for the review.”
The door to the office of the review department was closed, and even food was not allowed to enter. But how could you blame anyone for rushing? Everyone was very desperate!
It wasn’t until the third day after the paper was uploaded that the thesis on Fallen Evolution was officially published.
Many masters and Sprite Cultivators who had been waiting in front of their computers immediately logged into their accounts, opened the website, and bought the research paper.
“Ding-Dong! Union contribution points 2400 (20% discount) have been deducted.”
The right to read such a heavyweight thesis naturally came with a fee, and the cost was quite expensive.
But…
Compared to expert-level Sprite Cultivators who were “tight on funds”, the Masters were much richer and didn’t mind the cost at all. Even Sprite Cultivators who didn’t study evolution would buy the thesis directly out of curiosity.
Very soon…
“What the f*ck”, “So good”, “God”, “I learned more from this paper than from my ten years of education”, and other exclamations came from the mouths of the Sprite Cultivators.
In many high-end Sprite Cultivator group chats, discussions regarding the Fallen Evolution theory were ceaseless.
Many Sprite Cultivators who didn’t buy any research papers were surprised to find that they couldn’t join the discussion at all. To them, listening to the discussion felt like listening to a book.
There was even a Sprite Cultivator who said frankly, “For high-level Sprite Cultivators who engage in the path of evolution, if their financial situation allows it, I strongly recommend purchasing this Fallen Evolution Theory. As long as you can fully understand it, the benefits are bound to be substantial… Of course, for high-level Sprite Cultivators, this Fallen Evolution Theory may be relatively profound, and those with insufficient authority can’t buy the whole book. They can only buy the edited version.”
…
While the Sprite Cultivators were busy researching and being shocked by the Fallen Evolution theory, many Sprite Trainers were also paying attention to the research paper.
On the forum of the intranet, at this moment, a Sprite Trainer issued a request.
[Requesting for purchase of the ritual plan for Fallen Evolution, consultation fee can be discussed.]
Comment 2: “OP, give up. That person doesn’t need experimental sprites anymore. He should be busy doing experiments and writing papers right now. Before the theory is officially released, that person doesn’t have the time, and the other masters also won’t understand this ritual, so… there’s no chance. Give up.”
Comment 5: “Fallen Evolution is so cool. I also want this advancement. Does anyone know how long before the thesis will be published? I’ll be waiting. Sob, sob, sob.”
Comment 18: “As a dedicated Sprite Cultivator that has just finished writing his graduation thesis, I can tell you clearly that even if I write a simple evolutionary attribute analysis thesis, it will take me months. Even with the support of a team behind me, it will be difficult to publish a large-scale thesis like Fallen Evolution without a year or two… Don’t ask me how I know, my instructor is a Master Sprite Cultivator.”
Comment 18 received many upvotes.
But…
At the 200th comment, a verified person named “Master Chen Ping’s Assistant” sent a message.
“Recruiting sprites with the following conditions to experiment with Fallen Evolution. Those who are interested, contact XXX-XX… By the way, the Fallen Evolution research paper has already been published, and the success rate of our Master Chen’s ritual has always been very high, so those who are interested, make the best use of your time and don’t miss it…”
Advanced evolution wasn’t like some second-stage evolution in the past where many suitable sprites could be found in a short period of time and experiments could be easily carried out.
Of course…
Apart from the contribution points spent when buying the research paper, no matter who it was, they also had to pay Su Hao a certain amount of “patent fees” for every Fallen Evolution ritual… In fact, the Union didn’t have any restrictions on such patent fees and promoted the purchasing of official content. Even papers about simple improved unique skills were rarely leaked and pirated, let alone a heavyweight research paper like the Fallen Evolution Theory.
The masters didn’t lack this bit of money, nor would they embarrass themselves by acquiring the paper through illegal means.
Very soon…
The purchase fees and patent fees were continuously being transferred to Su Hao’s card. Currently still being fast asleep, Su Hao had already achieved his small goal of earning passive income.
“Right now, my Union contribution points are more than enough to buy the remaining materials for Butterfly and the others to advance… But one will always need more money. Who knows what materials I’ll need for the fourth and fifth stage advancement in the future!”
For the sake of those poor children who yearned for the Fallen Evolution but couldn’t get their way, Su Hao could only reluctantly accept a few more business deals.
The life of a Sprite Cultivator was so simple and unpretentious, and profitable.
…
Time passed day by day.
On the tenth day since the Fallen Evolution research paper was approved, Master Chen Ping had become the first to complete a successful Fallen Evolution ritual other than Su Hao.
Soon, the advanced rituals hosted by the other masters were completed one after another.
Of course, there were also failures in many Fallen Evolution rituals.
But with a very perfect Fallen Evolution theory, even if the ritual failed, it would only waste materials and not damage the foundation of the sprite.
As time passed, this advanced theory became more and more shocking in the entire Sprite Cultivation Realm.
Completion level, generalization, advanced potential, etc…
Such a large-scale research paper had not appeared for many years.
Its influence was much greater than the original “spiritual force consolidation” research paper. After all, it was possible to let the Union create a few more or even dozens more Heavenly King-level research papers in a short period of time. It was a research paper that could increase the strength of the entire Union by a small amount!
It was especially shocking since the author of this research paper wasn’t a Sprite Cultivator or master. He was just… a young man in his twenties!
It had been less than two years since the same man had obtained the Sprite Cultivator license!
Many Sprite Cultivators were shocked when they found out about this.
Then, they flipped through the past results of this young Sprite Cultivator and found out about Silkworm Baby’s third pathway, Water Spirit Foal’s bloodline evolution, Light Ball’s third pathway, Prayer Mantis’s evolution, spiritual force solidification, and so on. Seeing this, they realized that the youth had already obtained many outstanding research results prior to publishing his research paper.
Then, they flipped through the past results of this young Sprite Cultivator and found out about Silkworm Baby’s third pathway, Water Spirit Foal’s bloodline evolution, Light Ball’s third pathway, Prayer Mantis’s evolution, spiritual force solidification, and so on. Seeing this, they realized that this youth had already obtained many outstanding research results prior to publishing the paper.
“The final result of the Fallen Evolution research paper is out! The system tabulated the countless knowledge points of the whole paper, and taking into account the evaluation done by AI, the final score was determined to be 160,086!”
A staff member from the Sprite Cultivator Research Department paused for a moment and said, “The number of research papers published by Sprite Cultivator Su Hao has reached the required threshold, and his influence and contributions are huge. According to the advancement rules of a Sprite Cultivator, he is already… a real Master Sprite Cultivator!”
At only twenty years old, Su Hao became a Master Sprite Cultivator.
He was the youngest master in the Union!