Il Ji handed his sister a stack of books. "Read through this, flip each page over completely for a single second each. You should finish soon. Let me know when you're done."
Looking towards the Saurians, he added, "Almost done. I have two evolutions to [Iron Rank] left to complete, and then I'll be done for today."
Il Ji once again entered his soul space and checked his second beast star. Both he and Dovewun were at the peak of Copper. He had been meaning to do this since he woke up from his coma, but there had been no time.
He slowly filled the star to the brim with the surrounding mana. It pulsated and grew with every second. Suddenly, it coalesced. Success!!
Il Ji began to watch Dovewun as she followed the process. Meanwhile….
"Research Head, it's urgent! Repeat, Priority 1 Disaster! Stormcloud forming up above. Is one of your [Mystic Saurians] evolving?"
"No… …Emergency teleport all staff and equipment. Whoever it is, we can NOT interfere."
"Understood."
A few moments later, a little caterpillar broke from its shell, blissfully unaware of the commotion it had just caused.
'This is the first time there's never been a storm.' The little one thought to itself.
"Dovewun, you did it." Il Ji placed the little caterpillar upon his finger. "Here you go." He lifted the young butterfly up to the Soul Space. With a short jump, it launched itself slowly in.
"Hey Orio!" He shouted. "I'm finished, do you have a minute?"
….A small breeze ran through the clearing, lifting a few anchovies a bit further than they could normally jump.
No response.
Il Ji looked over towards Laila. She was still reading her books. 'Since when has such a studious child been born?'
Opening his holo, Il Ji looked through his most recent messages. There wasn't that much, but there was a message from the Chrono Federation detailing his new duties as a researcher, as well as outlining his ethical guidelines and responsibilities.
He was surprised to find that the list of ethical guidlines slimmed as he reached the top. For Mythical projects, you could mistreat beasts in whatever fashion you needed.
For Archaic projects, you could pretty much waste resources left and right, and even enslaving humans and feeding them to beasts was allowed- of course, this was dependent on what was termed 'research needs,' and limited primarily to captive villains and rebels, those who had defied the rules of the Chrono Federation in a rather major way.
As for Primordial projects, nothing was off the table.
Il Ji thought to himself. Theoretically, he *could* take the skills, stars, and cultivation of hardened criminals.
But the moment he did, the Chrono Federation would know the full extent of his abilities. And if he reached the top, what could be more worrying?
He decided not to- at least until he could fake his cultivation and hide his skills.
Putting his holo aside, he walked over to the cabin. While he was waiting, he might as well grab the gift that Myria had left for him.
Opening the cabin doors, he strode towards the open barstool. The [Nine Transformations Lotus Seat] was sitting right where they had left it.
A short swipe of spirit later, it had been bound to his [Beast Rider] slot. The profession was different- instead of granting talents that aided in combat, it primarily gave talents that linked both rider and beast together, boosting the flow of energy between them.
As long as they were together, they'd be granted a large boost in power, speed, defense, and even cultivation.
It was these things that fit his plans for the little flower perfectly.
As Il Ji thought about his future, he checked through the list of skills he needed for his newest acquisitions. What he needed most right now was concealment.
The skill he needed was called [Concealed]. It was comprised of four Diamond Rank skills and one Legendary. [Concealed Body], [Concealed Mind], [Concealed Soul], [Concealed Carry], and [Concealed Domain].
The subskills were virtually non-existent. But, thanks to his status, he should be able to find them soon-ish. Unfortunately, he wouldn't be able to combine them for a while- the skill was listed at [Myth]. Luckily for him, though, he only needed two: [Concealed Soul], and [Concealed Mind].