Beast Taming: the More the Better

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?