On that day, Lin Jing sent a message to Xu Zhizhi, calling over this Dragon Palace adviser.
"You have finally returned." Xu Zhizhi said, "You missed a class!"
"It’s fine," Lin Jing said, for the gains from this journey were far more precious than a class or two at the academy.
The matters of the Wild Territory aren’t so easily transmitted to the Ancient Domain, so Xu Zhizhi only thought Lin Jing went home for a while, unaware that Lin Jing had become the Saint Heir of the Beast Taming Sect, gathering numerous resources, and naturally also unaware of Lin Jing’s true motive for going out—to help the Ice Soul Gu establish its foundation.
After his travels, Lin Jing’s strength was no longer what it was; prior to the Ice Soul Gu establishing its foundation, he could only be considered unmatched below the Golden Core, while now he could even contend with ordinary Golden Cores.
"There hasn’t been anything happening these few months, right?" Lin Jing asked, lest he went out only for Dragon Palace to disband, following in the footsteps of the Beast Taming Sect.
"No, since you ascended the Heaven’s Chosen ranking, many people have joined Dragon Palace, and no one dares to trouble Dragon Palace," Xu Zhizhi shook his fan, smiling, "The new students will enroll soon, and I plan to make a big move then!"
"Excellent." Lin Jing continued, "Brother Xu, help me with something, I need a large quantity of high-grade vegetation, third-tier or above, brimming with life energy. You relay to the people in Dragon Palace, by then, they can use high-grade vegetation to exchange for Dragon Ascending Pills with me."
"Additionally, I need a fire-attribute cultivation technique, and an ice-attribute cultivation technique, they must be of sufficient innate talent, at least cultivable to the Nascent Soul Stage, and I’ll also exchange Dragon Ascending Pills for them."
"As for the exchange rate, it will depend on the quality of the Spirit Plant and the quality of the cultivation technique at that time." Lin Jing, along with the dragon carp and the pine leaf mouse, secluded themselves for three years, using synthesized mutant Spirit Plants to create Dragon Ascending Pills, which were now Lin Jing’s hard currency for exchanging resources.
Upon hearing this, Xu Zhizhi fell into contemplation, hesitating for a moment before saying, "The Spirit Plants will definitely not be a problem, but as for cultivation techniques... techniques that can cultivate to the Nascent Soul Stage are already considered important inheritances of some sects, the students probably don’t have the qualifications to produce them for transactions."
Lin Jing nodded, indeed, cultivation techniques reaching the Nascent Soul Stage are quite commendable, even the Cyan Emperor’s Longevity Technique taught to the pine leaf mouse by the divine pine, when cultivated to the perfect realm, only corresponds to the Nascent Soul Stage.
This doesn’t mean the Cyan Emperor’s Longevity Technique’s potential only reached this point, but it’s specifically a cultivation technique for plant spirits, not demon beasts, and the divine pine had already improved it for the pine leaf mouse’s cultivation.
After improvement, the cultivation races were broadened, naturally lowering the technique’s upper limit significantly.
"Give it a try, some sects have deep foundations and besides their own techniques, they might have preserved many others," Lin Jing smiled and said, "I believe some people would want to ’make use of waste,’ after all, a Nascent Soul-level technique is very difficult to create a Nascent Soul, but a dragon pet with a king-level bloodline has a high probability of becoming a Demon King."
Soon after, Xu Zhizhi left, replacing Lin Jing to issue "sect tasks."
After Xu Zhizhi left, Lin Jing had the dragon carp begin the work of refining Dragon Ascending Pills, while the pine leaf mouse hurriedly provided the special ingredients for refining the pills.
Regarding the dragon carp, for the next two years, Lin Jing had no training plans for it, it was purely Refining Pills!
Only if it produces abundant pills, can the pine leaf mouse obtain a plentiful supply of Spirit Plants, allowing the Cyan Emperor’s Longevity Technique to reach great perfection.
Only when the Cyan Emperor’s Longevity Technique reaches great perfection can Lin Jing be more assured in taking the top spot on the Heaven’s Chosen ranking, acquiring enough Hidden Dragon fortune, and helping the dragon carp perfectly transform into a dragon.
To have the dragon carp catch up to the Ice Soul Gu with the bloodline of the emperor rank, with the divine pine’s inheritance in the pine leaf mouse, transforming the dragon carp with vast Hidden Dragon fortune is an indispensable link.
Therefore, the work the dragon carp is doing now is entirely for itself, after Lin Jing analyzed it clearly, the dragon carp could only immerse itself in hard labor.
As for the battle with the Heaven’s Chosen, Lin Jing didn’t plan to have the dragon carp appear, although it had already broken through to the peak of Qi Cultivation, as long as it didn’t transform into a dragon, there was still a gap with those true Heaven’s Chosen. Follow current ɴᴏᴠᴇʟs on novᴇlfire.net
Thus, the main force for Lin Jing in the battle with the Heaven’s Chosen was still the pine leaf mouse.
Even in times of necessity, if relying solely on the pine leaf mouse isn’t enough to defeat the opponent, he might need to reveal the Ice Soul Gu!
Though exposing the Ice Soul Gu would make his situation even more precarious, looking at it from another angle, the reputation of the Ice Soul Gu as one of the ten legendary gus could also bring Lin Jing greater fame.
Besides helping the dragon carp transform into a dragon, Lin Jing needed a lot of Hidden Dragon fortune for many other things. As someone with a Longevity Body, cultivating various magics was inherently slow, very much needing Hidden Dragon fortune to enhance comprehension.
Especially with the Celestial Demon Body cultivation technique Lin Jing had just acquired, the cultivation difficulty was extremely high, Lin Jing predicted it would probably require an immense amount of fortune to advance in cultivation, securing the top spot on the Heaven’s Chosen ranking was inevitable.
Therefore, if absolutely necessary, he could accept the consequences of revealing the Ice Soul Gu.
Of course, the reason Lin Jing was not overly worried was that he planned to continue his seclusion in Hidden Dragon City after the battles with the Heaven’s Chosen, secluding for dozens of years, using up the permitted duration of the cave dwelling before considering leaving, definitely not going out.
As long as he stayed hidden within Hidden Dragon Academy, his safety could be greatly assured.
"Besides the enhancement of the Cyan Emperor’s Longevity Technique for the pine leaf mouse, next is the cultivation of more mosquito beasts."
Lin Jing took out the Ten Thousand Beasts Circle given by the Ten Thousand Beasts Sect; now, with two Ten Thousand Beasts Circles, he could nurture and control more mosquito beasts.
These mosquito beasts, besides being food for the dragon carp, will also be vital sacrificial energy sources for the mosquito-powered mecha.
In the coming time, Lin Jing also planned to perfect the mosquito-powered mechanism constructs he had conceived, enriching his combat strategies.
Although directly controlling the mosquito swarms was strong, ultimately their power was too scattered; further concentrating their strength could make his combat style overwhelmingly robust.
"However... these are all external forces."
"The most crucial is... my own cultivation."
"Currently, at the peak of Qi Cultivation Stage twelve."
"Just one step away from reaching Qi Cultivation Stage thirteen, comparable to the strongest Heaven’s Chosen with Ancient Emperor bloodline in the Ancient Country."
"But this step feels somewhat difficult."
"Having reached this peak state, without Immortal-grade resources, I can’t advance further in the Qi Cultivation Stage."
"My current cultivation has no effect."
"Wanting feedback from pet beasts, the opportunity is gone; as a Beast Master, with my own cultivation at Qi Cultivation, and the pine leaf mouse and Ice Soul Gu reaching the Early-Stage Foundation Establishment, now it’s already the limit. Before I establish a foundation, the contract limits both, making it hard for them to further break through to mid-Foundation Establishment. Although the Beast Taming Technique allows the cultivator’s realm to receive breakthrough feedback from pet beasts, it requires both sides to have a narrow gap in realms both at the time of contract and afterward..."
"Should I wait for another opportunity to pursue Qi Cultivation Stage thirteen or establish my foundation directly?"
"If I establish a foundation directly, I can learn the True Inheritor Secret Technique of the Beast Taming Sect, significantly boosting my strength, with a high probability for the pine leaf mouse and Ice Soul Gu to breakthrough to mid or even late Foundation Establishment, greatly reducing the pressure to take the first spot on the Heaven’s Chosen ranking, possibly without any incidents, it would be effortless."
"However, if I remain at the Qi Cultivation stage, although strength would be restricted, there is also a huge benefit."
"Even if afterward there’s no way to achieve Qi Cultivation Stage thirteen, taking the top spot on the Heaven’s Chosen ranking with Qi Cultivation realm tremendously boosts reputation, favoring the acquisition of fortune and renown!"
Lin Jing fell into contemplation, whether to challenge various Heaven’s Chosen at the Qi Cultivation Stage or directly establish a foundation and treat them like babies in battle?