Beast Taming: My System is Bugged

Chapter 317 - 306: Full-time Conversion

That evening.

Working together, Gu Ming and Lu You easily perfected the relay portion of the new Cultivation Technique.

This was mainly because Mouse Treasure already had experience, which also allowed them to skip the dangerous process of carving a Memorization Array into its Sea of Consciousness.

Gu Ming had also drastically simplified the new Cultivation Technique’s Sub-array, so Mouse Treasure carved it successfully after just a brief attempt.

Yuan Ge had the Night Demon Cat cast Nightfall.

The small white cat’s fur stood on end as it let out a piercing shriek.

Everyone then saw a vast patch of dark clouds materialize in the sky above the training ground, and the ambient light dimmed.

As they watched the dark clouds of Nightfall rapidly blanket the entire training ground, everyone looked up toward Yuan Ge.

’This is a Combat Technique at the Perfection Level, a fully realized Daoist Skill.’

Standing beneath the dark clouds, they felt a formless darkness quietly envelop their hearts.

The quality of the Nightfall could be judged simply by observing the dark clouds.

Once the dark clouds completely shrouded the sky above the training ground, they rapidly lost their color, transforming into a hazy, pitch-black expanse where countless illusory stars twinkled.

Everyone looked up, feeling as if the distance between the ground and sky had been stretched to infinity, making their own existence seem utterly insignificant.

Meanwhile, the small white cat within the Nightfall had long been cloaked in the color of night. Its figure vanished completely, and even its aura disappeared without a trace.

The Red Carp King took it all in. This time, however, it wasn’t responsible for memorizing the technique; that task fell to another Pet Beast.

The Sunflower Seed-eating Hamster stepped forward, its bright eyes fixed on the spot where the Night Demon Cat had vanished. The Memorization Array in its mind was already running at full power, recording the entire process of the cat’s Cultivating Technique.

Lu You had also extended her Divine Sense into the Night Demon Cat’s body to observe the Cultivation Technique’s operation. She then sent half of her Divine Sense into her own Pet Beast’s Sea of Consciousness, helping Mouse Treasure memorize the fluctuations of Nightfall’s Daoist Skill.

Mouse Treasure rested its small paws on the Red Carp King’s head.

The two cultivated in tandem. Mana flowed between their bodies, passing through their point of contact and into the other’s meridians to complete one Great Cycle of Relay Cultivation.

The Red Carp King opened its mouth, projecting a silent sonar pulse toward the Pet Beast that Team Leader Da Fei had released.

It was now midnight, an hour past their scheduled quitting time.

Team Leader Da Fei’s Divine Sense was also focused on his own Pet Beast. After a moment of Perception, a satisfied look appeared on his face.

"Excellent, excellent. You’ve created the Cultivation Technique on the second day. Let’s keep up the momentum tomorrow. How about we aim for thirty percent transmission efficacy?"

A smile spread across Team Leader Da Fei’s face; he was satisfied beyond his expectations.

Originally, he had only set a high benchmark to make Gu Ming push himself hard in his research.

’Newcomers need to face a setback, to be taken down a peg and learn the limits of their own abilities.’

But in the end, the benchmark Da Fei had set still failed to stop Gu Ming, allowing him to complete the task right on the line.

Hearing this, Gu Ming shook his head.

"I’m sorry, Team Leader Da Fei, but the rest of the work will be a slow grind. It’s not just that Mouse Treasure needs to increase its Skill Level; the Red Carp King also has to constantly practice Relay Cultivation with it.

"That means we’ll need to increase the resources invested in these two Pet Beasts. We have to keep them in peak condition at all times to raise the technique’s Skill Level. Otherwise, achieving thirty percent transmission efficacy will be impossible."

As Gu Ming spoke, Lu You instinctively glanced at him.

Others might have found his reasoning perfectly sound; after all, developing Cultivation Techniques was an expensive endeavor where failure was common.

Lu You, however, heard an ulterior meaning.

’Is Gu Ming funneling the company’s R&D resources to Mouse Treasure?’

Lu You was desperately short on money, and her academic stress had only intensified after coming to one of the nation’s top private universities.

The question of how to close the gap between her and her peers had left her anxious for two days.

Even with Ruan Jing’s help in successfully landing a temporary job at the Cultivation Method Company, and with a full year’s worth of Pet Beast cultivation funds provided in advance by the university, the financial pressure would mount the moment she contracted a second Pet Beast.

This was the pressure she felt from one of the great burdens of the modern age: the cost of raising Pet Beasts.

And that didn’t even factor in medical expenses.

With the university semester starting, battles would be unavoidable. A serious injury would mean another huge medical bill.

So for Gu Ming to divert a portion of the internal R&D resources to Mouse Treasure was, in a way, helping Lu You save money.

Team Leader Da Fei nodded and said, "Alright. In that case, report the Cultivation Technique’s development progress on a weekly basis.

"Lu You’s team, will you have the energy and time to support daily, non-stop Relay Cultivation?"

He turned to look at Lu You.

Overwhelmed with gratitude, Lu You could only nod rapidly.

Team Leader Da Fei wasn’t thinking about Lu You siphoning off funds. His only concern was whether the Cultivation Technique could be developed on schedule. As long as the research and development progressed steadily, the company would have a new flagship product to sell, and he could meet the KPIs set by the higher-ups.

As for the resources consumed during development, that was all just investment. It was perfectly normal for them to be allocated to whoever needed them.

"This time next week, I want to see thirty percent transmission efficacy."

After Team Leader Da Fei finished speaking, another team leader, Lan Ze, stepped forward and whispered a few words in his ear.

Da Fei immediately looked at Gu Ming and asked them both directly about their career plans.

"Gu Ming, Lu You, given the demands of this Cultivation Technique’s development, I can make an executive decision right now to convert you to full-time employees ahead of schedule.

"Starting tomorrow, you’ll enjoy the benefits of full-time employees.

"However, this means you won’t be able to work your other temporary jobs. You’ll have to come into the company during the day and in the evenings.

"Only the late night hours will be your own. What do you think?"

Luo Cheng, an Array Beastmaster on the team, listened with a look of pure envy.

When he was an intern, he never received such good treatment. He’d had to give it his absolute all just to stay on the team.

To achieve his goal, he had even gone into considerable debt to contract a New Pet Beast, form a Daoist Skill matrix with his pets, and perfect his Imitation Array ability.

And yet, Gu Ming had made the leap from intern to full-time employee in less than two days just by designing a Cultivation Technique. The comparison was infuriating.

[Elder Da Fei has appeared again. After hearing the Sect Steward’s report, he has decided to raise the status Level of you and your severely socially anxious classmate, promoting you from Official Disciples to Inner Sect Disciples.]

[Your choice is...]

Gu Ming only took a few seconds to think. He was tempted, and asked, "I still have to go to school."

"It won’t affect your studies. Go to school during school hours and come to the company on weekends. We’ll schedule time for you to train your Pet Beasts. Plus, if your university club assigns you any missions, the company can approve your leave," said Team Leader Da Fei.

The company needed its top-scoring prodigy to grow; it was impossible that they would just squeeze him dry right now.

Besides, the Ruan Family had already locked in Gu Ming’s university club affiliation—he could only join a club under the Ruan Family’s control.

As it was a matter of family policy, he had to show his support.

Gu Ming listened and thought.

’The system didn’t explain what would happen to the extra mission Elder Ruan gave me.’

’The situation is obvious, then.’

’First, I have to look at these things separately. My status within the Sect is one track.

’The corruption investigation and the additional mission from Elder Ruan are another, separate track. The rewards for those are from Elder Ruan himself, not part of the Sect’s reward system.

’In other words, I can still continue with those temporary jobs.

’I don’t necessarily have to be there in person for all of them.

’I can guide the high school seniors remotely through video chat.

’Or I could have them come directly to the company and tutor them during my free time.

’In short, if I squeeze my schedule a bit, there’s always a way.

’After all, it’s an extra mission, and completing it means Spirit Stone rewards. No matter what, I’ve already accepted it. Even if the system wants to cancel it, it’ll have to give me a proper explanation.’

Seeing Gu Ming nod, Team Leader Da Fei didn’t even bother looking at Lu You behind him. He immediately produced two contracts imbued with binding power and told them to take them home to review.