Chapter 44

Lin Jing already had some understanding of the three great True Transmission secret arts and the ten great core secret arts. Beyond those, the sect also possessed dozens of ordinary beast-taming spells, most of which were created by the third-generation sect master.

The first generation founded the sect, the second reformed it, and the third created the laws; every sect master possessed great talent.

However, he did not plan to cultivate the ten great core secret arts for the time being. As a Longevity Body, his cultivation realm was too low and far behind the pace of his spirit beast; even if he learned them, the strengthening effect on the Pine-Leaf Rat would be limited.

With that energy, it would be better to learn mechanism arts or alchemy, which could instead better strengthen the Pine-Leaf Rat and himself.

As for the three great True Transmission secret arts, these had to be learned. Whether it was the Body Integration secret method or the Beast-Transformation Treasure, both were huge boosts to the cultivator themselves.

Especially the Beast-Transformation Treasure, which reminded Lin Jing of a certain deity.

When Yang Jian released the Howling Celestial Dog, the vocabulary in the books was always "Offer up the Howling Celestial Dog!" The so-called "offering up" usually referred to magic treasures.

Once he learned the Beast-Transformation Treasure in the future, he could also "offer up the Pine-Leaf Rat!"

"Elder Mo, after I return, I will temper my physique, train my soul, and refine my true qi," Lin Jing said.

"You want to learn everything!" Elder Mo said. "But it doesn't matter. You have plenty of time anyway; you'll have to learn them all sooner or later."

"Then you two should have no other business, right? If not, hurry back and cultivate. This old man has things to do as well."

"Elder Mo!" Lin Jing added, "The disciple obtained a seed of a fierce plant and would like to let Elder Black Bear taste its effects later."

After a silence, Elder Mo said, "Has it offended you recently... But it is indeed dangerous for you to test-eat it yourselves. I will have it go find you later."

"It has worked hard for this old man, if not achieved merit. Remember to leave it alive for me."

After visiting Elder Mo, Lin Jing and Senior Brother Ouyang bid each other farewell. One returned to their cave dwelling, while the other left the sect to execute the "Investigate Missing Beast Population" mission they had just accepted.

On the way back to the cave dwelling, Lin Jing and the Pine-Leaf Rat passed the place where the "Squirrel Leaps to Heaven," and the Pine-Leaf Rat remained obsessed with leaping over the clouds.

Things the ancestors didn't accomplish...

If it could complete them, wouldn't it be able to start a new page in the genealogy?

"Relying on your physique to leap is definitely not going to work, unless you ascend to the Demon King bloodline. I told you to practice the Flying Leaf Art before, but you didn't. Regretting it now?"

The Pine-Leaf Rat's red Flying Leaf Art was indeed formidable, but it had always relied on the magic of the red flying leaves.

It controlled the red flying leaves using the power of its mind, which had room for growth. If the Pine-Leaf Rat exercised daily and its mental power improved, it would certainly be able to erupt with greater speed and power when controlling the flying leaves. Leaping across was not impossible.

"Squeak..." The Pine-Leaf Rat took off its cumbersome Daoist robe.

It indicated it would practice as soon as it got back.

"Since there is pressure there, after we go back, I will use 'Thousand Changes and Myriad Illusions' to simulate Demon King intimidation to assist you in training your mental power," Lin Jing smiled.

"But before that, let's go back and ripen the Fire Cloud Chili seeds!"

The concentration of spiritual energy in the inner peaks was indeed incomparable to the outer peaks. Here, both cultivation speed and the growth rate of spiritual plants were much faster than at the foot of the outer sect mountain.

Additionally, what gratified Lin Jing was that Elder Yu did not cut off his meals from the outer sect cafeteria just because he had been promoted to the inner sect. She still had the crane deliver food to him on time every day, greatly reducing the cultivation burden on Lin Jing and the Pine-Leaf Rat.

Time flew by, and the Fire Cloud Chili, a first-tier fierce plant, was successfully ripened by the Pine-Leaf Rat. However, the yield was not high; one chili plant only produced 20 Fire Cloud Chilis.

"If spiritual plants can be so fierce after synthesis, what will happen after this fierce plant is synthesized?" The Black Bear Monster arrived as agreed, bringing along the ninth-level Qi Refining white mouse from last time. When it saw the bright red chilis, its vision went black, and it fainted from fright before it could even eat.

Opposite, Lin Jing said to Elder Black Bear, "When things reach an extreme, they reverse. Spiritual plants turned into fierce plants; according to my analysis, fierce plants will likely turn into spiritual plants."

"Go, Xiao Song, use the Glazed Immortal Pupils." Lin Jing commanded the Pine-Leaf Rat. Looking at the Fire Cloud Chilis all over the ground, it took a deep breath, removed the bamboo leaf eye mask that cooled its eyes, and activated the Glazed Immortal Pupils!

More than half of the fiery red chilis disappeared, and there appeared... a pitch-black chili.

This eerie color made Elder Black Bear look at Lin Jing. Is this what you call a spiritual plant?

It's blacker than me!

Fortunately, it was smart and brought the white mouse from last time!

It shook the white mouse awake and said, "White Mouse Spirit, see that black chili? Eat it. If you survive it, I will give you a great opportunity!"

Although the White Mouse Spirit was afraid, facing the coercion and temptation of a Demon Core stage great demon, it could not decide its own fate and could only crawl toward the black chili, shivering.

"Don't be afraid! It's just a mutant strain of a first-tier fierce plant. You're already at the ninth level of Qi Refining, what are you afraid of! The fire spat out by ordinary chilis is just mortal fire, not even as strong as the fire commoners use to heat their beds! It probably won't be very strong after mutation!" the Black Bear Monster encouraged.

Hearing this, the white mouse gathered its courage, closed its eyes, and ate the incredibly foul-tasting black chili.

The cave dwelling... fell silent.

The Black Bear Monster, Lin Jing, and the Pine-Leaf Rat all stared straight at the white mouse's changes.

The next instant, the white mouse looked at the Black Bear Monster and opened its mouth, giving the Black Bear Monster a fright, thinking it was going to spray it.

Hey! As it turned out, nothing sprayed out!

"Huh? The mutation failed this time!" After a moment of surprise, the Black Bear Monster laughed. It seemed that even rare beast divine abilities had times when they failed.

However, before the Black Bear Monster could laugh for long, its expression suddenly changed. It felt a burning sensation in its soul and quickly performed an internal inspection, only to discover that a cluster of black flames was burning from the inside out of its body.

This flame did not burn the flesh, but ignited on the soul; it was ethereal and void!

"The Nether Ghost Fire of the Netherworld Palace demon cultivators that burns souls!" it exclaimed, hurriedly extinguishing the flames. Its pupils were filled with terror. It was a death-god chili.

"Destroy it! Destroy it! Hurry and destroy it for me!" It hurriedly destroyed the remaining Fire Cloud Chilis and pulled up the chili plants, saying, "Don't mess with this stuff in the future. This is ghost fire, the core spell of the Netherworld Palace. If the Demon Extermination Division mistakenly thinks our Beast-Taming Sect is colluding with the Demon Sect, it won't be good. Our Beast-Taming Sect's reputation in the Demon Extermination Division isn't exactly great to begin with!"

Looking at Elder Black Bear's nervous appearance, Lin Jing and the Pine-Leaf Rat were stunned. Ghost fire?

"Elder Black Bear, can this ghost fire be used to refine elixirs?"

"You want to use ghost fire to refine elixirs? Do you want to feed them to the living or the dead?" Elder Black Bear glared and said, "I beg you, old bear, please don't plant this stuff anymore. Even if we aren't demon cultivators, it's troublesome if people see it, unless you also want to go undercover in the Demon Sect."

"You wanted to use special flames to refine elixirs, right? I'll go find you a beast fire to use first. Be obedient, don't sneakily plant this stuff again." This time it wasn't a fierce plant; it was a demon plant that would get you labeled as a Demon Sect cultivator if used!

Lin Jing and the Pine-Leaf Rat looked obedient. Since it was a dangerous thing, they wouldn't plant it; they absolutely wouldn't plant it.

Elder Black Bear looked at the still-living white mouse and said, "You, not bad. I appoint you as the exclusive medicine-testing boy for the future Saint Son of the Beast-Taming Sect, Lin Jing. That's a big opportunity, right?"