Start With Contracting Sprites

After evolving into Reverie Butterfly, the little rascal's level of perception increased exponentially. It didn't sense any malicious intent from the grandpa standing in front of it.

But those eyes were so fixed that it reminded Reverie Butterfly of a creature called Reverie Affection.

It was too scary~!

It quickly hid behind Su Hao.

Su Hao was also speechless.

The grandpa in front of him was obviously a researcher. Both his messy hair and exposed scalp when the wind blew showed his identity.

He was probably a Sprite Cultivator who had rushed over upon hearing the news.

An expert among Sprite Cultivators.

But Su Hao declined.

It was impossible to do research.

He was still young, and he still had to protect his hair.

Besides, why would he do research when he could cheat with his own abilities?

The old man stomped his feet anxiously. "Aiya! Little Boy, why are you so stubborn? You're clearly very talented as a Sprite Cultivator. Forget it, this is a set of information on Silkworm Baby's evolution research. I hope it can be of help to you."

As he spoke, he stuffed a thumb drive into Su Hao's hand.

Then, he said, "With the appearance of new forms, the number of research papers on Silkworm Baby's evolution will increase drastically in a short time. Little Boy, you have to quickly upload your paper."

"Also, think more about it. You will have no future in Sprite Commandeering. Your future must belong to being a Sprite Cultivator. I'll wait for your call!"

The grandpa was too enthusiastic. Su Hao had no choice but to leave behind the article which he had already uploaded. Then, he escaped with Reverie Butterfly and Little Fire Crow.

...

At the stairway of the neighborhood, the old man looked at Su Hao's disappearing figure and was stunned.

"Eh? The paper has already been uploaded?"

"What kind of paper is this?!"

The grandpa got anxious again!

He couldn't chase after Su Hao for an answer, nor could he get the review editor to send him a copy.

This was a rule.

He wasn't interested in credits or contributions.

And he didn't lack the evolutionary thesis.

However, even after researching for such a long time, he had still always gotten the directions wrong.

Right now, it was as though a mystery was right in front of him, but he couldn't reveal it.

It could only be found on the Union platform after the verification was done.

The grandpa was unhappy!

"How long would the verification of the thesis take?"

"Half a day? One day? No, that's not right…"

That was when he himself uploaded the thesis. Ordinary people would need around five to nine days to upload the thesis.

He thought about it, took out his cell phone and made a call.

"Hello, Xiao Ji?"

"Quickly take a look. Did you upload Silkworm Baby's evolution thesis this morning, or did you upload it yesterday…"

"What are you looking at? Hurry up and pass that paper over!"

...

At the Dragon Nation branch building of the Union of Sprite Trainers.

Ji Xingwen, the chief editor in charge of sprite evolution research papers, put down his phone with a dull look.

"Master Chen specially called just for this?"

"Could it be that one of Master Chen's students was the one who uploaded the paper?"

"No, Master Chen isn't that kind of person."

Chief Editor Ji was puzzled.

He could only enter the backstage area and start searching for it.

Throughout the entire Dragon Nation, a lot of research papers were uploaded every day. The number of theses waiting to be reviewed was similarly innumerable in the field of sprite evolution.

Usually, all of these didn't need approval from Chief Editor Ji.

Only those papers uploaded by high-level Sprite Cultivators, or those which his editor found difficult to make the decision, would be handed over to him.

Chief Editor Ji found the article that Master Chen had mentioned in no time.

"Regarding Silkworm Baby's third evolution pathway…"

"Is this about the new evolved form I heard yesterday?"

"The author is only level 2?"

"And he actually used so many uncertain words…"

However…

Chief Editor Ji took a closer look.

He looked at it again and again.

"I see."

"I see!"

"What a genius idea!"

Although the evolution requirements for Silkworm Baby's new form were just guesses in this article.

Views such as "Mist Flower can increase mental strength", "Emerald Bamboo is more compatible with Silkworm Baby" were all cited with corresponding documents.

Chief Editor Ji pondered as he read.

After a long while, he slapped his head and said, "I forgot that Master Chen wanted me to verify this article quickly!"

...

At the Association of Sprite Trainers, Su Hao was handed his Sprite Trainer certificate.

Middle-level Sprite Trainer!

In a small place like An City, he was already considered an extraordinary expert.

In the whole of An City First High, there were only two high-level Sprite Trainers and two mid-level Sprite Trainers among the teachers.

"If I want to start a business, my status as a mid-level Sprite Trainer and an entry-level Sprite Cultivator would be a good start."

Unfortunately, Su Hao neither possessed the expertise to start a business.

Nor did he want to.

"Anyway, it's not hard to earn money by uploading some improved unique skills and theses."

Apart from Su Hao's own Sprite Trainer certificate, he was also handed the identification of Reverie Butterfly and Little Fire Crow.

When he was collecting Reverie Butterfly's ID card, he encountered a little trouble.

The staff member couldn't decide whether the little rascal had evolved from Silkworm Baby to Reverie Butterfly.

Luckily,

The Reverie Butterfly evolved on a wood-element field, so it had a corresponding record. After going through some procedures for a short while, the little rascal finally got its identity card as it wished.

"Gurgle ~ Gurgle, gurgle ~ ~ ~"

It bit onto its ID card and started dancing happily as its big eyes curved into crescents.

Little Fire Crow tilted its head and immediately made two calls after it.

After collecting his documents, Su Hao had breakfast along the way before he slowly returned to his neighborhood.

When he went downstairs, the old man was already gone.

"I wonder when will my article pass the verification?"

When he got home, Su Hao turned on the computer.

Since he had some spare time, he planned to write a few more papers on Silkworm Baby's evolution conjecture.

Step by step, and finally, with the example of Silkworm Baby's evolution, he managed to deduce the evolution conditions required for Reverie Butterfly.

The reward for discovering a new evolved form!

Quite a fee!

Just as he was about to start typing, he suddenly remembered the thumb drive given to him by that grandpa.

After thinking about it, he inserted it into the computer.

"It's actually this detailed?"

It contained analysis and experiment data on Silkworm Baby's evolution into Rolling Pupae and Six-Winged Flying Silkworm.

There were also guesses about the third unknown form.

Although the latter was wrong.

The content wasn't worthless.

To any high-level Sprite Cultivator, this was information that they yearned for even in their dreams.

It was useful to even Su Hao.

The prompt message that stated an increase in his Intelligence Points proved it.

"With this document, I think I can finish writing the full thesis at an earlier date."

"Wait, who's that grandpa?"

Su Hao sank into deep thought.

Giving out this document without a care, seems, probably, perhaps… was not something a high-level Sprite Cultivator would do, right?

Master?

Master Chen Ping!

Su Hao finally remembered who that slovenly old man was.

After publishing enough research papers and gaining a certain amount of contribution points, a high-level Sprite Cultivator could be evaluated by the Association of Sprite Cultivators to become Masters.

As for Master Chen Ping, he had made too many contributions to sprite research.

It could be said that he was the number one in the field of sprite evolution in Dragon Nation .

"This master seemed to have mentioned… his willingness to take me in as his student?"

Su Hao had to admit that he was a little tempted.

In terms of status, a Sprite Cultivator was comparable to a Heavenly King-level Sprite Trainer.

Becoming Master Chen's student meant that the first half of his Sprite Cultivation path would be smooth-sailing.

However…

He wasn't patient in doing research.

Neither was he prepared to be bald.

"I choose the path of Sprite Trainers."

Su Hao wanted to explore the New World.

He wanted to know more secrets.

He also had to admit that having a powerful sprite by his side made him feel more secure.

He wouldn't give up the path of a Sprite Cultivator either.

He had to grab both.

——

Author's Note: Regarding the name of the final evolved form, I initially intended to call it "Butterfly Fairy", but I noticed that quite a lot of readers aren't used to the naming method, "XX Animals → Animals XX"…I actually quite like it myself, there are also a lot of similar types of names like this in Catching Demons.

So, what should it be called? It could still be changed later on, I just needed to get an opinion.

Author's Note: Theoretically speaking, sprites have no gender. It can be understood that they can be both male and female. It can also be understood that a certain type of sprite may be female, or a certain type of sprite may be male. It's up to you to understand.

The scientific explanation was that during the evolution process, sprites were influenced by humans, so some of them became anthropomorphic, but they are still not human. They can only act cute, don't think too much into it.