Chapter 38: Elder, I Want to Learn Mechanics

"They’re out!"

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

"They’re all alive! No one died, no beast died, and not a single arm or leg is missing," he continued.

"I told you, this kid Lin Jing could do it!"

"It’s good that you’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, as long as they returned safely, 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 a stain on their clothes, but going to a grotto-heaven was like nothing had happened.

Elder Li couldn't help but suspect that his sect’s disciples 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. His mind was still full of the operation method of "Thousand Changes, Ten Thousand Phantoms," 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 the three Bodhi Trees?" Elder Li was stunned. "Did you grab them?"

"We did. With the assistance of the fellow 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.

Hearing this, the Pine-Leaf Rat felt something was wrong and raised an eyebrow. What about its credit?

"I dare not take the credit." Behind him, Senior Brother Ziran hurriedly said, "How could we have helped? It was Junior Brother Lin Jing who fought the crowd alone, using mechanical arts to deter the others. We were at most just adding flowers to the brocade."

"Yes," the other disciples also didn't dare to claim credit.

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 mechanical art attainments already reached the level of suppressing geniuses from other sects?

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

"It seems your mechanical arts have also improved, finding its true user." Elder Black Bear 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 even care about the other disciples," the Black Bear Monster pouted.

Elder Li listened to their bickering on the side. He hadn't expected this Lin Jing to really have some tricks up his sleeve; Elder Yu’s private tutoring hadn't been in vain.

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

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

"Thank you, Elder!" Except for Lin Jing and the Pine-Leaf Rat, the others and their beasts were very excited.

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

The monsters in the Great Desolation had escaped with their lives; that was the true great fortune.

"We’ll talk about the specifics later. Now that the elders of the inner peaks are also here, since you few have been promoted to the inner sect, you can choose your own peaks and go back with the peak-master elders," 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 the corresponding elder. Don't tell me you don't know which elder is in charge of which peak!"

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

They were the pillars of the Beast Taming Sect and the elders in charge of the major beast peaks, each possessing unique skills.

"You choose first." Elder Yu looked at his most familiar outer sect disciple, Ziran, who often helped him run errands to issue tasks.

Ziran 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 said honestly, "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 of the Monster Hunting Hall looked 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 a lie.

"Mechanical arts don't conflict with beast taming at all. Mechanical constructs can also be seen as a type of magic treasure; there’s no essential difference from carrying weapons or armor for pets," everyone thought.

The Pine-Leaf 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 Monster 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 looked at him with such strange eyes. But the key was that the mechanical constructs of that kid Lin Jing 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.

Mechanists of the same level found it hard to imitate. Even if they replicated it by other means, the firepower couldn't be that fierce. Even if the firepower were just as fierce, the resource consumption would inevitably be higher than Lin Jing’s, making it not cost-effective.

"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 up.

She was white-haired and peaceful, not caring about the destination of the other disciples, her focus entirely on Lin Jing and the Pine-Leaf Rat.

"I am the peak-master elder of the Alchemy Cloud Peak. Child, your Pine-Leaf Rat is a wood-attribute beast, skilled in ripening various medicines. Are you interested in coming to my Alchemy Cloud Peak to learn alchemy? It will definitely be a great alchemy assistant for you."

"What Alchemy Cloud Peak? A pet that is a Pine-Leaf Rat should come to my Verdant Peak!" A burly man wearing a straw hat spoke up. "Come to my Verdant Peak, and I’ll assign you a cave dwelling with high-grade spirit fields, which is more suitable for unleashing the racial talent of the Pine-Leaf Rat!"

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

Lin Jing and the Pine-Leaf Rat, who had been chosen by the grotto-heaven and successfully seized the opportunity, instantly became the hot commodities competed for by the inner peak elders.

The elders of each peak wanted to take Lin Jing back to cultivate him. Besides the elders of Alchemy Cloud and Verdant, 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-Leaf Rat had the potential to evolve into a Dragon-Blood Squirrel and was suitable for the Nine Dragon Peak, right? Isn't that nonsense?

After thinking and thinking, perhaps only by giving Lin Jing the best Dragon-Blood monster cub of the entire peak would there be hope of poaching Lin Jing.

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 =====