Chapter 33: The Bully Sect

"As expected of a body cultivator, to still be able to move after taking a round of fire—you gave me a fright."

Lin Jing shook the water droplets off the muzzle of his gun. Ignoring the expression on his fellow sect disciples' faces—which looked as if they had seen a ghost—he looked toward the Pine-Needle Rat, who was returning in high spirits.

"Squeak!!!" This is way more satisfying than the inner sect assessment!!!

"You... mother—!" The Snow Plains cultivator's lips trembled slightly, but no sound came out. His shattered body made it difficult for him to move, and his consciousness began to blur. He couldn't fathom what was going on with this beast-taming cultivator.

Bang.

As the Snow Plains cultivator collapsed from his critical injuries, the scholar in green, the female alchemist, and the young swordsman all turned their gazes toward Lin Jing and the Pine-Needle Rat.

"Third Layer of Qi Condensation? Seventh Layer of Qi Condensation?"

They had all gauged Lin Jing and the Pine-Needle Rat's cultivation bases. The Pine-Needle Rat's cultivation was barely passable, but Lin Jing's was simply too low.

Yet, it was precisely this low cultivation base that had directly crushed this foreign body cultivator. It was truly absurd.

"Is that a mechanical construct?!" the scholar in green asked. "Wait, are you a beast tamer or a mechanist?"

"Does it matter?" Lin Jing lowered his bamboo mechanical gun.

Staring at the mechanical construct in Lin Jing's hand, the other three felt a sense of wariness. Mechanists were always like this: their own cultivation might not be high, but their strength... was entirely in their mechanical constructs!

These geniuses from other sects were already wary, but the disciples of the Beast Taming Sect themselves were even more bewildered.

Looking at the composed Lin Jing, even the few from the Demon Hunting Hall had slight changes in their expressions. Wait... could it be that this Lin Jing intended to use this thing to compete with them for the inner sect assessment?

What a joke...

"Junior Brother, this..." Senior Brother Zi Ran said, "We don't have any grudges, right? I assume?"

"Senior Brother, what are you saying? Of course not," Lin Jing replied. "I prepared this to deal with Foundation Establishment demonic beasts during the assessment."

As he spoke, he aimed the bamboo mechanical gun at the scholar in green, the female alchemist, and the young swordsman. "The three of you, I've helped you eliminate the Snow Plains cultivator. I'll be the one to use this Golden Bodhi Tree. That's not too much to ask, right?"

"I presume you must be the true prodigy of the Beast Taming Sect, chosen by the grotto-heaven," the scholar in green said, brushing the dust off his clothes. "Impressive. I never expected the Beast Taming Sect to produce a genius mechanist."

"However, the use of mechanical constructs requires a massive amount of energy, and the durability of low-level constructs isn't very high. After such an intense barrage just now, your mechanical construct... I'm afraid it doesn't have much energy left, does it? And the mechanical structure can't be far from breaking down."

Lin Jing reached out, swapped in a new bamboo magazine, and pulled the trigger directly at the scholar in green.

"You and that bald guy have been the most talkative since the start." As he finished speaking, streams of water arrows sprayed out once more, causing the scholar in green's expression to shift. He had seen the miserable state of the Snow Plains body cultivator and dared not try to tank the attack from this mechanical construct head-on.

"Lip-Gun Tongue-Sword!" He opened his mouth slightly, and the Qi within his mouth transformed into a sky full of spears and swords, flying out rapidly to intercept the water arrows in mid-air. Having learned from the Snow Plains cultivator's mistake, he didn't let the water arrows get close enough to explode; he intercepted them halfway.

Rumble!!!

The mechanical bamboo gun's attack did have significant drawbacks, and the scholar in green, having reacted in time, successfully blocked it. However, after Lin Jing emptied a magazine, the scholar in green, who had been continuously casting Lip-Gun Tongue-Sword, felt his mouth go dry.

He quickly took out a Spirit-Replenishing Pill, but just as he was about to swallow it, he discovered a red leaf pressed against his neck, leaving a trail of blood.

The scholar in green looked toward the Pine-Needle Rat on Lin Jing's shoulder.

He saw it staring intently at his storage bag.

Two against one.

"I concede," the scholar in green said, taking a deep breath. "Thank you for showing mercy. I am Xu Zhi of the Wen Domain's Holy Luck City."

"Beast Taming Sect's Tang Seng," Lin Jing said, removing the bamboo magazine and swapping in a new one.

This made Xu Zhi's eyelids twitch.

You guy, did you know you'd be entering a grotto-heaven today? You're so well-prepared!

Lin Jing's gaze shifted to the female alchemist and the young swordsman.

Although Xu Zhi was unhappy, he walked toward the Silver Bodhi Tree, intending to quit while he was ahead.

As a man of letters, he wasn't skilled at combat anyway!

"Rude fellow. A beast-taming cultivator—even if you get the Golden Bodhi, you won't be able to comprehend anything good. What a waste."

But who would have thought, Lin Jing's Pine-Needle Rat took a step ahead and jumped under the Silver Bodhi Tree.

It took a "miniature mechanical bamboo gun" out of its own storage bag, set it on the ground, lay down, and fired a shot at the side of the approaching Xu Zhi.

Boom!

The power was undiminished.

Xu Zhi stopped in his tracks.

"Sorry, the Golden Bodhi Tree is mine, and the Silver Bodhi Tree is hers. The two of us didn't intend to share one tree," Lin Jing said.

"Huh?!!!" Xu Zhi was furious. Isn't it your pet beast? You two are splitting up?

"Your Excellency, don't be too greedy!"

"If we were greedy, you'd already be dead, and you wouldn't be keeping your storage bag either. After all, this item has a connection with my pet beast," Lin Jing said. "Opportunities belong to those capable of taking them; I think that's very reasonable. If we couldn't beat you, I would naturally withdraw. Everyone should be reasonable—fair, friendly, and harmonious competition is quite good."

In the Pine-Needle Rat's eyes, a storage bag was far too precious.

However, Lin Jing stopped at the right point with this Xu Zhi. Ninety-nine percent of cultivators from the Wen Domain ended up serving as officials in the imperial court. As a genius of the Wen Domain, this guy definitely had a background; he might even already hold an official post in some city of the Ancient Kingdom. Unlike the foreign Snow Plains cultivator, he didn't want to make an enemy of the Beast Taming Sect just for a storage bag.

"The two of you, are you just going to let him monopolize both Bodhi trees? This guy is even more excessive than that Snow Plains cultivator!" The scholar in green sought help from the female alchemist and the young swordsman, wanting to join forces.

The young swordsman, who had been silent all along, still didn't speak.

"Let's join forces, the three of us," the female alchemist said. "This squirrel isn't cute at all. How is a pet beast also a mechanist?"

The young swordsman... finally drew his sword, which counted as tacitly agreeing to the proposal to join forces; he didn't have the confidence to take down Lin Jing alone.

"Bullying the few with the many—what kind of hero is that?" At this moment, Qin Caixin, a senior sister among the Beast Taming Sect disciples, stood out. "Everyone, don't forget, our Beast Taming Sect still has seven people."

"Fellow Senior Brothers, we entered the grotto-heaven by accident. With our strength, I'm afraid we have no chance at the grotto-heaven's opportunities. Since that's the case, we might as well assist Junior Brother Lin... Tang in battle. We cannot let other sects rely on their numbers to bully our Beast Taming Sect as if we have no one."

"Junior Sister Caixin is right," Senior Brother Zi Ran said, stroking his Fire Sparrow. "We are competitors during the assessment, but outside the sect, we are all Beast Taming Sect disciples. Elder Li also said that if we have no chance at the opportunities, we should fully assist Junior Brother Tang."

"Although we aren't very strong, we are all in the Qi Condensation stage. These three people don't seem to have the terrifying defensive power of that body cultivator; they won't feel good if they take a sneak attack." He Yiming also felt he had no chance at the three Bodhi trees, so he had his Fighting Ape remove the white cloth, revealing a hoe, intending to put a little pressure on the other three.

"Good." The four disciples from the Demon Hunting Hall exchanged glances and were also very sensible, locking onto the other three along with their pet beasts.

Since it was impossible for all the sect's disciples to obtain opportunities, they would fully assist one sect genius to maximize the opportunity.

Lin Jing's performance just now had already convinced these fellow disciples, not to mention that they were just tagging along into the grotto-heaven anyway.

Sure enough, as the Beast Taming Sect disciples stood united, forming a 16-against-3 situation, the other three felt a certain amount of pressure, even though they felt that apart from Lin Jing, the others weren't strong.

"You're not a Beast Taming Sect; you're clearly a Bully Sect." The female alchemist was furious. Sixteen people plus beasts, and they still complained about them bullying the few with the many.

"Many thanks, Senior Brothers," Lin Jing thanked them.

Lin Jing wasn't sure what trump cards the other three geniuses had. Having a larger presence on his side was always beneficial. Grotto-heavens were hard to come by, and opportunities were rare. Lin Jing didn't want to miss out; he wanted to maximize the opportunities for himself and the Pine-Needle Rat as much as his abilities allowed.

As he spoke, under the silent expressions of the scholar in green, the female alchemist, the young swordsman, and the Beast Taming Sect disciples, he took out a mechanical bamboo turtle. "Senior Brothers and Sisters, don't panic. I have one more mechanical beast. Three against three—my side isn't at a disadvantage in numbers. You all just take care of your own safety."

The next moment, the turtle, which was the same color as the mechanical bamboo gun, aimed its cannon at the enemies, making the scholar in green feel a slight ache in his gut. He didn't doubt for a second that this cannon could also fire the same attack as before.

"Damn it, is this a Qi Condensation cultivator from the Beast Taming Sect?" The scholar in green felt as if all his years of studying had been for nothing. This person and this squirrel were completely different from the Beast Taming Sect cultivators in his impression. Whose squirrel carries mechanical constructs?! ===== CHAPTER 34 =====