The phrase "naming the Cultivation Technique" took on an entirely different meaning when Zhang Yunpeng heard it.
An unnamed Cultivation Technique was akin to unnamed Dao Principles.
A new, original Cultivation Technique would leave its mark in the worldly Hall of the Great Dao.
If the level of innovation was great enough—not just a minor modification or a re-skinning of someone else's technique—naming it could trigger a natural phenomenon.
The more dramatic the phenomenon, the more profound the innovation.
If it were a path completely untrodden by any Pet Beast, the resulting Dao Radiance phenomenon would be beyond even Teacher Zhang's imagination.
Gu Ming didn't know that naming a Cultivation Technique was equivalent to establishing the origin of that specific Great Dao.
Teacher Zhang had originally intended to perfect the Cultivation Technique using his daughter's Snake Pet, but Cyan Treasure had already saved him several years—no, perhaps even decades—of work.
What reason did he have to refuse Gu Ming?
"The name of the technique... Let me think." Teacher Zhang fell into a moment of contemplation.
Under his guidance, the Little Cyan Snake had completed its first Circulation. It now possessed a true sense of the Dao, which meant the Cultivation Technique could be named right then and there.
If this was truly successful, Cyan Treasure would be the founding master of this Cultivation Technique.
Teacher Zhang was, of course, the creator of the technique, but a Pet Beast Cultivation Technique was, after all, meant to be practiced by a Pet Beast.
The title of "founding master," the very source of the technique, could only be attributed to a Pet Beast.
It was a shame. The baby Snake Pet he'd bought hadn't even succeeded in its training, yet the experiment was now complete, all thanks to his student's Pet Beast.
"Since Cyan Treasure was the one to finally complete it, let's call it the Green Treasure Breathing Technique," Teacher Zhang said, looking up.
"Huh?"
Gu Ming looked up at him, and Cyan Treasure did the same in perfect sync.
'Can you really name a Cultivation Technique so casually?'
Gu Ming thought to himself and glanced at the system again.
It was still listed as unnamed.
'Maybe I just have to wait. The system updates are always a bit delayed.'
"Once your Cyan Treasure formally reaches the Entry Level, I'll bring over a Visualization Scroll and record the technique. From that point on, Cyan Treasure will be the founding master of this Cultivation Technique.
"Any Pet Beast that wishes to learn this technique in the future will have to visualize Cyan Treasure as it cultivates."
Having said this, Teacher Zhang had come to terms with it completely. He no longer obsessed over whose image would serve as the founder in the Cultivation Visualization Image.
Without Cyan Treasure, there was no telling how long developing this technique would have taken. Some people could research their entire lives and still fail to develop a technique that formed a complete, self-sustaining loop.
Just then, the system's log updated.
[Teacher Zhang was amazed to complete the final loop of the Cultivation Technique on Cyan Treasure, naming it the Green Treasure Breathing Technique.]
[Green Treasure Breathing Technique Skill Level:
Entry Level: 2/3000]
Once the Cultivation Technique had a name, it was as if it had carved out a place for itself within the world's Great Dao.
Cyan Treasure's entire body trembled faintly as it felt itself leaving a shallow footprint in the Domain of the Great Dao.
This mystical sensation lasted for several seconds. It wasn't just Cyan Treasure who felt it; both Gu Ming and Teacher Zhang sensed a burst of the Great Dao's radiance.
The overflowing Dao Radiance quickly filled the entire room, then burst through the doors and windows to illuminate the world outside.
At almost the exact same moment, the Beastmasters throughout the residential complex who were on their lunch breaks sensed the fluctuation of the Great Dao. They awoke with a start, leaping from their beds and rushing to their windows to see the light of the Great Dao.
From just outside the Gu Family's apartment, the startled voices of two people could be heard.
"Honey! That's the original Dao Radiance of a new Cultivation Technique!"
"Whose Pet Beast has such incredible Perception that it's actually creating its own Cultivation Technique...?"
"Wait a second, why is the light coming from our place?"
Mr. Gu and Mrs. Gu's voices reached the doorway before they did.
By the time the couple appeared at the entrance, several other Beastmaster parents from up and down the building had already crowded into the hallway.
Behind them were students and their Pet Beasts, all hastily making their way downstairs.
They had all sensed the resonance of the Great Dao. It wasn't the fluctuation of a battle, but the radiant glow marking the birth of a new Cultivation Technique's Great Dao.
If a Pet Beast could absorb even a sliver of the Dao Radiance from an original Great Dao, it could slightly increase its Perception.
Of course, this was only a rumor. No one knew if it was actually effective. They only knew how to learn existing techniques, not create their own—that wasn't a Domain accessible to ordinary people.
In any case, the doorway to the Gu Family's apartment was instantly packed with people.
In an age with a growing number of students attending Beastmaster Universities, it wasn't surprising that all the parents in the entire apartment building were Beastmasters themselves.
They peered inside and saw Gu Ming, Teacher Zhang, the Fiery Monkey, and the Little Cyan Snake.
They subconsciously wanted to ignore the Little Cyan Snake, refusing to believe it was the one that had created a new Cultivation Technique.
But the Fiery Monkey showed no signs of Dao Radiance. Instead, it was the Little Cyan Snake—the one everyone looked down on—that was suffused with a dense radiance of the Great Dao.
It was bathed in a pillar of Holy Light descending from high in the heavens, passing straight through the ceiling.
People instinctively backed away toward the hallway walls and gazed up at the sky, where they saw the ethereal image of the Hall of the Great Dao slowly fading away.
The Hall of the Great Dao itself appeared!
This has to be a new Cultivation Technique with a high degree of originality!
The neighbors looked again at the Dao Radiance gleaming on the Little Cyan Snake. It had a halo of alternating green and white light, which confirmed the technique's Level.
"Dual-colored. It's a Two-star Level technique."
"The Gu Family's son is set to make a fortune. To think he created his own technique during his pet's Juvenile Stage."
Aside from the Gu Family, the strongest Beastmaster in the building was a parent on the third floor, a Three-star Beastmaster.
When they learned it was a dual-colored, Two-star technique, the parents grew envious.
Original Cultivation Techniques with minor tweaks and modifications were common, but that level of originality would never attract the attention of the Hall of the Great Dao for induction.
Not just any technique was treated with such gravity by the Celestial Dao.
Over the past sixty years, most Pet Beast Cultivation Techniques had been fully developed. Forging a path that no Pet Beast had ever walked before was exceedingly difficult.
To put it another way, in this age of exhausted inspiration, creating a new Pet Beast technique—one that was inducted by the Hall of the Great Dao and published in a Pet Beast journal—would grant academic bonus points on the college entrance exams.
This was precisely what the parents in the building were thinking, and the envy in their eyes was plain to see.
"A pity it's only a Two-star Level technique..."
But amid their envy, people didn't forget that this involved a Little Cyan Snake.
If this were a Pet Beast with High-star Potential, perhaps this Dual-Colored Technique could be explored and refined for a few more years. It might even lead to a previously undiscovered Three-star Evolution path.
But for a Little Cyan Snake, it was a lost cause.
It was a bottom-tier Pet Beast with an extremely low cultivation cost. Countless predecessors had tried to forge new paths for it, as numerous as the hairs on an ox, and all of them had failed, managing to develop only seventeen evolutionary lines in total.
Still, if one wasn't aiming for a Three-star Evolution, getting academic credit for their child was an excellent outcome.
Mr. Gu and Mrs. Gu stood at the door, dumbfounded. It took them a long while to come to their senses and realize that Cyan Treasure had just caused a huge sensation.
"Son, did Cyan Treasure create its own Cultivation Technique?" Mrs. Gu asked as she walked into the room. Mr. Gu remained at the doorway, blocking the other parents.
"Mom, this is Teacher Zhang's work. It's not what you think," Gu Ming said, shaking his head.
Only after Gu Ming spoke did Mrs. Gu notice there was another person and another Pet Beast in their home.
"Oh, Teacher Zhang, hello! My son must have been a lot of trouble for you. By the way, what exactly is going on...?"
Mrs. Gu walked over enthusiastically and shook Teacher Zhang's hand. She glanced from her son to Cyan Treasure, and the smile on her face grew wider and wider, impossible to contain.
This was Teacher Zhang's first time meeting the parents. He found the couple to be in high spirits and looked quite well. 'They don't seem like the vicious, degenerate gamblers I'd imagined.'