Chapter 38: Elder, I Want to Learn Mechanics

"They're out!"

The Beast Taming Sect disciples returned smoothly, and the Black Bear Elder, wearing a Daoist robe, shouted.

"They're all alive! No people died, no beasts died, and not a single arm or leg is missing," it continued.

"I said it, this kid Lin Jing can do it!"

"It's good that they're all back." Elder Yu and Elder Mo breathed a sigh of relief, then revealed smiles.

This grotto-heaven experience, regardless of whether there were gains or not, as long as they returned safely, it was invaluable experience!

"You... why are there no traces of fighting?" Among the elders, Elder Li scanned them and asked, "Which grotto-heaven did you enter?"

"Did you give up on competing for opportunities?"

Every disciple was too clean. Even going to the cafeteria for a meal might leave some food stains on their clothes, but going to the grotto-heaven looked as if nothing had happened at all.

Elder Li couldn't help but suspect that the disciples of his own sect had just gone through the motions.

He looked at the core figure of this grotto-heaven event, Lin Jing.

Facing Elder Li's inquiry, Lin Jing took a deep breath, still a bit dazed. Now his mind was still full of the operation method of "Thousand Changes and Ten Thousand Illusions," which was indeed engraved in his memory.

"Cough." Without the bonus of the Golden Bodhi Tree, Lin Jing currently felt his brain was a bit dull, and he wasn't quite used to it.

"Reporting to Elder Li, we entered the Bodhi Grotto-Heaven and did not give up on competing for opportunities," he replied.

"Bodhi Grotto-Heaven, the one with three Bodhi trees?" Elder Li was stunned. "Did you grab them or not?"

"We grabbed them. With the assistance of the various senior brothers and the mechanical arts taught by Elder Yu, this disciple did not fail the mission and successfully repelled the geniuses of other sects in the Bodhi Heaven, monopolizing two Bodhi trees," Lin Jing began to divide the credit.

When the Pine-Needle Rat heard this, it felt something was wrong and raised an eyebrow. What about its credit?

"I dare not take credit." Behind him, Senior Brother Zi Ran hurriedly said, "How could we intervene? It was Junior Brother Lin Jing who fought the crowd alone and used mechanical arts to deter others. We were at most just adding flowers to the embroidery."

"Yes." The other disciples didn't dare to claim credit either.

As the words fell, the expressions of the elders became strange.

Mechanical arts?

They looked at Elder Yu, who was scratching his head.

Had Lin Jing's attainments in mechanical arts become so strong that he could suppress the geniuses of other sects?

"It seems you didn't encounter the direct disciples or descendants of those old monsters, otherwise, where would mechanical arts be useful... But that is to say, our Beast Taming Sect, this time relying on mechanical arts, competed for good opportunities from the geniuses of other sects in the grotto-heaven?" Elder Yu was beaming.

"Your mechanical arts have also improved, finding its true user." The Black Bear Elder sighed and patted Elder Yu on the shoulder.

"It's my Beast Taming Sect that has improved! Are you saying my mechanical arts weren't good? Go back to Elder Mo's side quickly." Elder Yu refuted.

"I'm just concerned about Lin Jing. I don't care about the other disciples," the Black Bear Monster pouted.

Elder Li listened to the bickering between the two on the side. He didn't expect this Lin Jing to really have some skills. Elder Yu's private tutoring hadn't been in vain.

Even the four Demon Hunting Hall disciples he brought back seemed to be very convinced by Lin Jing.

"Just as I said before, you don't need to take the inner sect assessment anymore. From this moment on, you are all promoted to inner sect disciples!" he said to the few.

"Many thanks, Elder!" Except for Lin Jing and the Pine-Needle Rat, the others and their beasts were very excited.

Lin Jing and the Pine-Needle Rat, however, regretted losing an opportunity to exchange assessment points for resources...

The demonic beasts in the Great Desolate Domain had saved their lives; this was what it meant to have great luck.

"We'll talk about the specifics later. Now that the elders of the inner peak are also here, since you have been promoted to the inner sect, you can choose your own peaks and then follow the peak-master elders back," Elder Mo said.

However, after the words fell, these disciples didn't move.

"Eh?" Elder Yu looked at these outer sect disciples and said, "If you want to choose which peak, just go find which elder. Don't tell me you don't know which elder is in charge of which peak!"

Besides Elders Yu, Mo, and Li, there were several other Golden Core elders at the scene, all attracted by the grotto-heaven.

They were the pillars of the Beast Taming Sect and also the elders in charge of the various beast peaks, each with their own unique skills.

"You choose first." Elder Yu looked at the outer sect disciple he was most familiar with, Zi Ran, who often helped him run errands and post tasks.

Zi Ran hesitated for a moment, then said with tears in his eyes, "Elder Yu, this disciple actually doesn't want to enter the inner sect. This disciple wants to stay in the outer sect to serve you."

"Ah?" Elder Yu was stunned.

He Yiming swallowed his saliva and honestly said, "Elder Yu, do you have any thoughts of opening a peak alone to teach your mechanical arts?"

"This disciple wants to learn."

Even the four disciples from the Demon Hunting Hall were looking at Elder Yu with burning eyes.

Everyone knew that Lin Jing had obtained the mechanical art inheritance through the Dragon-Rising Festival activity, and this mechanical art... came from Elder Yu!

In the grotto-heaven, they had already witnessed the power of mechanical arts. To say they weren't envious would be impossible.

"Mechanical arts and beast taming don't conflict at all. Mechanical constructs can also be seen as a kind of magic treasure, and there's no essential difference from carrying weapons and armor for pet beasts," everyone thought.

The Pine-Needle Rat holding a machine gun was too fierce in their eyes. If possible, they wanted one too.

Elder Yu was stunned again.

Elder Li was also bewildered, looking at the four Demon Hunting Hall disciples. No, what exactly did you experience in the grotto-heaven? Didn't I recommend you to the Law Enforcement Hall of the Cloud Gate Peak before?

"You all want to learn mechanical arts???" Elder Yu understood why the few were looking at him with such strange eyes. But the key was, that kid Lin Jing's mechanical constructs were very perverted, not because the mechanical arts were powerful, but because the materials he used originated from the divine abilities of rare beasts, which were strange and bizarre.

It was difficult for mechanists of the same level to imitate them. Even if they were replicated by other means, the firepower couldn't be that fierce. Even if the firepower was just as fierce, the resource consumption would inevitably be higher than Lin Jing's, so the cost-effectiveness wasn't high.

"Since these disciples want to learn mechanical arts, Elder Yu, you should teach them. Haven't you always wanted to find a disciple to inherit your mechanical arts?" At this time, an elder spoke.

She was white-haired and peaceful, not caring about where the other disciples went, focusing entirely on Lin Jing and the Pine-Needle Rat.

"I am the peak-master elder of Danxia Peak. Child, your Pine-Needle Rat is a wood-attribute beast, skilled in ripening various medicines. Are you interested in coming to my Danxia Peak to learn the art of pill refining? It will definitely be a very good pill-refining assistant for you."

"What Danxia Peak? A pet beast that is a Pine-Needle Rat should come to my Cuiwei Peak!" A big man wearing a straw hat spoke. "Come to my Cuiwei Peak, and I'll assign you a cave dwelling with high-grade spirit fields, which is more suitable for unleashing the Pine-Needle Rat's racial talent!"

"Pure natural spirit vegetables and spirit fruits are much more nutritious than pills."

Lin Jing and the Pine-Needle Rat, who had been chosen by the grotto-heaven and successfully grabbed the opportunity, instantly became the hot cakes that the inner peak elders competed for.

The elders of each peak wanted to take Lin Jing back to cultivate. Besides the elders of Danxia and Cuiwei, the elders of other peaks were also thinking of suitable rhetoric.

The elder of the Nine Dragon Peak racked his brains. He couldn't say that this Pine-Needle Rat had the potential to evolve into a Dragon-Blood Pine-Needle Rat and was suitable for the Nine Dragon Peak, right? Isn't that nonsense?

He thought and thought, and perhaps only by giving Lin Jing the best young dragon-blood demonic beast of the entire peak would there be hope of digging Lin Jing away.

However, Lin Jing actually already had a place in mind.

But before he could choose, a voice suddenly entered from outside the sect.

"Hidden Dragon Academy, Cao Ziwei pays a visit." ===== CHAPTER 39 =====