Chapter 20: Dragon-Beast Fight

Mechanical Art.

Among the hundred arts of cultivation, there are also differences in difficulty. For example, beast taming is relatively easy to get started with.

Even if other cultivators don't practice the Beast Taming Technique and cannot form blood contracts with spirit beasts, they have other means, such as pills, magic treasures, and poison arts to control demon beasts.

Besides the Beast Taming Sect, it is also very common for cultivators from other sects to keep one or two pets or mounts.

As for Mechanical Art, Lin Jing didn't know much, but he heard that Elder Yu had been obsessed with Mechanical Art for many years but had never been able to manufacture a mechanical beast with combat power comparable to his own contracted pet beast.

"Elder Yu intends to pass on his Mechanical Art. He can be considered to have deep love for it, but within the Beast Taming Sect, I'm afraid no one is willing to learn Mechanical Art." Lin Jing crossed his arms and continued to look at the mission announcement. Rationally speaking, a mechanical beast without intelligence is far inferior to a pet beast with its own ideas.

The upgrading of a mechanical beast relies entirely on the mechanic themselves. For some complex mechanical beasts, the mechanic must invest huge energy to control them during battle, and if the mechanical beast is damaged, it is more difficult to repair. But pet beasts... not only can they cultivate themselves, but they can also fight on their own. Even if they are injured, there are healing pills and herbs that can be used, while mechanical beasts cannot eat healing pills.

Mechanical beasts might have their own advantages, but it should have nothing to do with most Beast Taming Sect disciples, because the Beast Taming Sect itself does not have high-level cultivation methods suitable for practicing Mechanical Art.

Lin Jing is currently learning "Alchemy," in the stage of rote memorization of thousands of alchemy materials, and has not yet practiced it. He has no energy to spare to learn Mechanical Art for the time being.

Therefore, this reward is not particularly attractive to Lin Jing.

Although from a longer-term perspective, there is no harm in a Longevity Body learning a little more.

"A Qi Refining Level 7 bamboo dragon should be manageable."

He withdrew from the crowd. Cultivation is cultivation, and combat power is combat power. Just like being at Qi Refining Level 7, most types of cultivators may not be the opponents of sword cultivators. And with the two elements of mechanical and dragon stacked together, it shouldn't be weak.

However, rare beasts are more powerful. Although the Glazed Immortal Pupils cannot allow the Pine-Needle Mouse to fight across a major stage, within the Qi Refining stage, it gives it unimaginable suppression power. For example, the spirit bean bombs synthesized by the Immortal Pupils have quite impressive power, which even startled the Black Bear Monster. The power is enough to severely injure a late-stage Qi Refining cultivator.

"It's a pity that the rewards are not cumulative. Once you reach the final tier, you cannot claim the rewards of the previous tiers."

Actually, the sixth-tier reward, "Dragon Blood Pill," is also not bad.

A Grade 2 pill refined from the blood of a flood dragon, taking it can strengthen the beast's bloodline, with a tiny probability of causing it to develop a dragon vein!

Of course, in terms of value, even excluding the Mechanical Art insights, the "Mechanical Soul Core" alone would definitely exceed the Dragon Blood Pill. But Lin Jing felt that if he obtained the "Mechanical Soul Core" and then sold it to buy a storage ring, Elder Yu's beard would definitely be twisted in anger.

"There are three days left until the Dragon Ascension Festival." After Lin Jing returned to the courtyard from borrowing books, he glanced at the Pine-Needle Mouse sitting cross-legged and cultivating under the bare tree.

And... the red flying leaves and spirit bean bombs piled up in the box behind it!

Ever since discovering the power of the red flying leaves, the Pine-Needle Mouse no longer hoards spirit stones.

Its cultivation is a single-minded line.

Early in the morning, it goes to dizzily ripen spirit rice and spirit beans.

Then, it sits on the side, using spirit stones and Spirit-Replenishing Pills to replenish consumption.

Immediately after, it synthesizes golden spirit rice and lies in the pile of rice, eating the golden spirit rice with a look of determination.

With the help of the perfect digestion state, it converts the nutrients brought by eating ordinary spirit rice to enhance spiritual power.

After eating and drinking its fill, it synthesizes red flying leaves and spirit bean bombs, hoarding them.

In this way, the red flying leaves and spirit bean bombs are becoming more and more numerous.

Spirit stones and other resources are becoming fewer and fewer.

But the Pine-Needle Mouse doesn't care.

After all, no matter how many spirit stones there are, they cannot help it in battle, but red leaves can.

The Pine-Needle Mouse wants to seize the opportunity of the Dragon Ascension Festival to earn more resources and win big with small stakes.

Holding onto this fighting spirit, it hasn't been long, and the new resources sent by the sect this month, as well as mission resources and Spirit-Replenishing Pills, have been used up by more than half by the Pine-Needle Mouse.

Unlike Lin Jing, with so many resources piled up, the Pine-Needle Mouse's cultivation effect is gratifying. While synthesizing a pile of trump cards, its own realm has also begun to approach Qi Refining Level 5.

Lin Jing hasn't earned a single spirit stone; at most, he ate a little remaining spirit rice and fried some tree-leaf fried rice himself.

If there is any difference between Beast Taming Sect disciples and cultivators from other sects in raising spirit beasts, it must be that most Beast Taming Sect disciples give the best resources to their pet beasts, while cultivators from other sects at most give their pets and mounts some leftover resources.

Lin Jing returned quietly, not disturbing the Pine-Needle Mouse, and sat on the side reading a book.

Until half a day later, the Pine-Needle Mouse stopped cultivating and asked Lin Jing about the rewards of the "Dragon-Beast Fight"...

Upon learning that the best rewards were Mechanical Art and mechanical materials, it immediately felt the sky had fallen.

"Zhi! Zhizhi! Zhizhizhi!"

"Calm down, Mechanical Art is not bad either. You don't necessarily have to manufacture mechanical beasts after learning it."

"Have you heard of a 'machine gun'?"

"Using that thing to fire spirit bean bombs will definitely consume less energy than your flying leaf technique."

Under Lin Jing's comfort, time passed bit by bit.

In the blink of an eye.

It was the day of the Dragon Ascension Festival.

The Dragon-Beast Fight activity starts at noon on the day of the Dragon Ascension Festival.

In the courtyard, Lin Jing is in a cyan long gown, the standard outer sect disciple attire, with the Pine-Needle Mouse, which has already reached "Qi Refining Level 5" and has a tangled look on its face, squatting on his shoulder.

It looks at the slightly bulging cloth pockets on both sides of Lin Jing's robe; inside are all its belongings.

Thinking that the upcoming battle might make most of these belongings disappear, the Pine-Needle Mouse has an urge not to go.

"Zhi..."

Lin Jing doesn't care what it thinks. After three days, he comes to the Central Plaza again.

There are more people here. Before the time, the crowd and pet beasts have already surrounded the plaza.

A large number of outer sect disciples in the same attire, of different ages, the young ones are only ten years old, and the old ones look like uncles, not knowing if they are old or just look old.

And in the center of the plaza, a lifelike bamboo dragon is floating in mid-air with the help of a small wind-walking formation.

Lin Jing looks over. This bamboo dragon is several feet long, and every bamboo scale shines with emerald brilliance. The dragon head part is very exquisite, with two dragon eyes carefully carved from bamboo pieces looking sharp; the dragon horns are made of tough bamboo joints, upright and sharp, adding a bit of majesty.

The dragon mouth is slightly open, revealing the complex mechanical structure inside, vaguely visible are exquisite bamboo wheels and gears woven from thin bamboo threads, and... a white dragon pearl.

"I feel that the mechanical dragon manufactured by Elder Yu this time... is more attentive than the mechanical dragons of previous years," a disciple whispered, looking at the bamboo dragon's body.

It is covered with well-arranged bamboo pieces, all of which seem to have been finely polished. On the dragon spine, rows of bamboo joints are closely connected, forming smooth curves, like the spine of a real dragon, making the whole mechanical structure look very smooth.

"Yes, this feeling doesn't look like a Qi Refining beast at all, it feels like a Foundation Establishment beast, forcibly castrated to the Qi Refining stage," a disciple speculated maliciously.

"Should be thinking too much, it's a festival, just for fun, Elder Yu has nothing to do to spend that effort to make things difficult for us." ===== CHAPTER 21 =====