Chapter 42: Squirrel Jumps to Tiandu

"I’m rooting for you, the first Pine-Leaf Monster King of our sect! Does Junior Brother want to go find Elder Mo now?"

"If you’re going, we can go together. I also happen to have something to ask Elder Mo for help with."

"Good." There’s no time like the present. Lin Jing intended to ask Elder Mo if he could possess a beast-taming space magic treasure now.

The Pine-Leaf Rat perked up. Whether it became a monster king or not didn't matter; it wanted the space magic treasure quickly.

"Let’s go. On the way to Lotus Peak, I’ll introduce you to the inner peak scenery."

"Are we going on foot? Senior Brother, when can we ride the immortal cranes? Do we have to wait until we’re true disciples?" Lin Jing asked an extra question.

"Are those things you can just ride? It costs spirit stones! As long as you give spirit stones, even miscellaneous disciples can ride them. If you don't give spirit stones, even true disciples can’t think about it. That clan is under the protection of the Sect Master’s wife!"

Lin Jing actually already knew this. He was just testing whether Senior Brother Ouyang had spent this unjust money. If he could hitch a ride on a flying crane, he definitely wouldn't want to walk himself.

Both were quite frugal and chose to walk to Lotus Peak to find Elder Mo. However, as cultivators, even without auxiliary spells like the Wind-Walking Technique, they were swift and moved incredibly fast.

On the suspension bridge between the clouds, while hurrying on their way, Senior Brother Ouyang introduced the inner peak scenery to Lin Jing.

"That is the Nine Dragon Waterfall." Senior Brother Ouyang pointed into the distance. The galloping waterfall roared like thunder, set against the emerald walls and cinnabar rocks, like nine white dragons descending from the sky one after another. The scenery was quite spectacular.

"A strange place of the Nine Dragon Peak. The Nine Dragon Peak has a special Dragon-Blood Carp. As long as it can climb over the Nine Dragon Waterfall by its own strength during the Qi Refining stage, it can succeed in Foundation Establishment and transform into a fish-dragon."

"Actually, the reason I’m going to find Elder Mo this time is related to the new pet I want to contract after Foundation Establishment..."

"See that rising purple mist? That is the Purple Cloud Spring."

"Senior Brother, what is the use of this hot spring?" Lin Jing hadn't seen it recorded separately in books.

"Many female disciples love to bathe here on weekdays. Don't go over there if you have nothing to do; it’s easy to get killed."

"That is the Hundred-Step Cloud Ladder..."

"We’re almost at Lotus Peak. This is the ancestor of your Pine-Leaf Rat."

Passing by the Plowing Cloud Peak, the Pine-Leaf Rat looked at Ouyang Hao. You thick-browed, big-eyed guy, why are you scolding squirrels?

Lin Jing looked over. On a not-so-high peak, there was a strange rock that looked exactly like a Pine-Leaf Rat, dragging its tail, as if it wanted to cross the ten-thousand-foot chasm and leap onto one of the main peaks of the Beast Taming Sect that towered into the clouds, Tiandu Mountain.

"He didn't scold you," Lin Jing said. "That is indeed your ancestor."

Pine-Leaf Rat: ???

"Doesn't the Beast Taming Sect teach you spirit beast history classes? Besides, this is your racial history." He looked at the Pine-Leaf Rat.

"It wouldn't be taught that comprehensively..." On the side, Senior Brother Ouyang said.

Lin Jing spoke, informing the Pine-Leaf Rat: "A long time ago, the Pine-Leaf Rat race was not a member of the Beast Taming Sect, but just an ordinary race. The probability of opening spiritual intelligence was very low."

"Because the living environment was harsh and there were many natural enemies, in order to find a way out for the race, a Pine-Leaf Rat secretly climbed up the Beast Taming Sect, wanting to seek the Dao and protect the race."

"It met an immortal on Tiandu Peak. The immortal set a test for it: as long as it could leap from the Plowing Cloud Peak where it was to Tiandu Peak, he would teach it spells."

"Your ancestor began its day-after-day efforts, wanting to leap onto the peak and seek the immortal’s guidance."

"However, it is said that until the end, it didn't succeed, and finally turned into a rock, maintaining a jumping posture, forever remaining there."

"Although it didn't pass the test, the immortal of the Beast Taming Sect, because of its firm heart to seek the Dao, took the Pine-Leaf Rat race back to the Beast Taming Sect and improved the bloodline level of the Pine-Leaf Rat race, which also laid the foundation for... the Pine-Leaf Rat becoming one of the five basic spirit beasts of the Beast Taming Sect."

Lin Jing also saw these from books. He estimated that this so-called immortal was just some ancestor of the Beast Taming Sect, definitely not a real immortal. However, in the eyes of the Pine-Leaf Rat at that time, it was no different from an immortal.

After hearing the racial origin, the Pine-Leaf Rat was stunned.

"Junior Brother, you really know a lot." Senior Brother Ouyang said. "You didn't read less when you were an outer sect disciple."

"Yes, I am a person who likes to read and understand more things," Lin Jing said. "If you have read ten thousand books, you won't be afraid to travel the world."

"Haha, that’s right. But there is one more point you definitely don't know." Senior Brother Ouyang laughed.

"What?"

"The immortal on Tiandu Peak is actually not a human, but one of the guardian gods of the Beast Taming Sect, and is still here today!"

"I told you before, from the second sect master onwards, the Beast Taming Sect abandoned the previous way of enslaving pets, and the disciples chose to get along with their pets as equals."

"And that second sect master also liked to make friends widely. That immortal was his close friend during his lifetime."

"When the second sect master passed away, the sect master signed a contract with it... of course, not a beast-taming contract, agreeing to let this guardian god protect the Beast Taming Sect for ten thousand years and take action when the Beast Taming Sect encounters a crisis."

"And in return, Tiandu Peak, one of the three peaks with the richest spiritual energy in the Beast Taming Sect, was given to it as a place for cultivation."

"In our Beast Taming Sect, there are several Nascent Souls. Among them, only the current sect master, the fifth sect master, is in the Nascent Soul stage. The remaining Nascent Soul ancestors are actually the pets of the third and fourth sect masters. Compared to human beast-taming cultivators, those monster kings have longer lifespans because their races are special."

"And the one on Tiandu Peak is the only one who hasn't signed a beast-taming contract with the Nascent Soul cultivators of our Beast Taming Sect and stayed in the Beast Taming Sect. Not only that, because our Beast Taming Sect hasn't encountered any particularly special crises, it has never taken action and has been living in seclusion on Tiandu Peak for cultivation. If the sect master hadn't told me these things, even true disciples or some elders might not know."

"So that’s it." Lin Jing nodded.

This is what is called a guest elder.

Speaking of which, this Beast Taming Sect is really a monster den.

Above the Nascent Soul stage, almost all are monster kings!

It’s scary. I really have to go to the Hidden Dragon Academy. Wait, if only the sect master is a Nascent Soul, doesn't that mean the one guarding me will be a monster king?!

"Senior Brother Ouyang, you also know a lot." He praised him commercially, temporarily ignoring the fact that the Beast Taming Sect was also like a Demon Sect.

"Not at all. What I actually want to say is not this. I only remembered it when passing by here. The sect master seems to have told me that this sect guardian god once made a promise to the Pine-Leaf Rat race."

"Hmm?"

"The Pine-Leaf Rat race, if there are latecomers, can inherit the will of that Pine-Leaf Rat ancestor to jump to Tiandu Peak. If they succeed in leaping from Plowing Cloud Peak to Tiandu Peak, the promise is still valid, and it will teach them the Dao and spells."

"However, so many years have passed, and quite a few Pine-Leaf Rats in the Foundation Establishment stage have appeared in the sect. They have used all kinds of means, but none have been able to leap onto Tiandu Peak. There is a strong pressure in the sky there, preventing normal jumping."

"Over time, no one cared about this promise anymore because it was a bit unrealistic. The sect master guessed that this guardian god might have just said it casually and didn't want to truly teach the Dao. After all, the test is too difficult."

"Of course, you can try when you have time. What if you succeed? It is said that the difficulty of this leap is related to one’s own cultivation. If the cultivation is low, the difficulty is low; if the cultivation is high, the difficulty is high. Regardless of the cultivation, one can try."

Just as Senior Brother Ouyang finished speaking, he saw Lin Jing’s Pine-Leaf Rat take out a large red leaf and fly from Plowing Cloud Peak to Tiandu Peak using the Flying Leaf Technique.

Seeing this, Senior Brother Ouyang was stunned and said, "How can your Pine-Leaf Rat fly on a leaf!" ===== CHAPTER 43 =====