Chapter 81: Flying Leaf Spatial Art!

A fellow clan prodigy, my foot!

How could a blade of grass that hasn't even awakened its intelligence be a prodigy!

Lin Jing felt that Senior Divine Pine was truly acting strange.

He seemed extremely eager to turn Lin Jing into a "Demonic Cultivator."

It was as if, having fallen into the water himself, he wanted to drag others down with him.

The Demonic Pine spoke in a tone of exasperation: "I’ve already agreed to help you, yet you don't know how to seize the opportunity."

"Dilly-dallying like this—once the hundred-year protection period passes, you won't even be able to form your Core. My first experience as a guardian will be a disgrace."

Lin Jing took a deep breath and, after careful consideration, said: "Very well."

"Since you have said so, Senior, please, lend us your aid!"

"It doesn't matter if a fellow clan prodigy of yours dies, just don't let anything happen to the Pine-Leaf Rat!"

"That’s more like it." The pinecone that the Demonic Pine had transformed into cracked open in satisfaction.

Lin Jing had convinced himself.

A mature fifth-tier spatial spirit herb was indeed incredibly rare and had astonishing effects, but who knew how long they would have to wait to actually use it.

It was better to use it right now!

Letting the Pine-Leaf Rat gain stronger combat power early on was also a valid strategy.

If it really managed to beat that Divine Body during the assessment, it would become famous.

The Hidden Dragon Mark might immediately enter its next stage!

A higher-level Hidden Dragon Mark would allow them to cultivate spells faster, making their strength grow stronger in the short term!

With greater strength, they could better seize other opportunities if they encountered them.

By then, their strength would snowball, growing larger and larger.

Conversely, if they hoarded a pile of resources only to fall midway, it would just benefit others—a situation very common in the cultivation world.

The greatest regret in cultivation is dying and leaving one's resources to one's enemies.

If the worst-case result was merely losing a spirit herb they had picked up for free, it didn't seem particularly bad.

"Many thanks, Senior." Seeing that Divine Pine was willing to help, Lin Jing expressed his gratitude.

"Sigh, if I weren't unfamiliar with your human demonic arts, I would have long since had you, a Longevity Body, switch to cultivating 'Life-Burning' or 'Lifespan-Sacrificing' demonic arts. The cultivation speed would definitely be faster than the Beast-Taming Art!" the Demonic Pine said with regret.

"The Beast-Taming Art is quite good," Lin Jing coughed dryly.

"It’s not bad. Although it’s a technique cultivated by menial servants who raise horses in the Immortal Palace, it at least has some connection to the Immortal Palace and is much stronger than the native techniques of the Tianyuan Continent," the Demonic Pine affirmed.

Without further ado, Lin Jing summoned the Pine-Leaf Rat.

Upon hearing that it could eat the Void-Escaping Grass right now, it immediately showed a look of reluctance.

After all, it had taken care of this grass for a long time and had developed feelings for it.

"Squeak..." It had intended to wait until it was fully grown to let the Void-Escaping Grass propagate a bunch of offspring, hoard a pile of them, and then eat them all together. Eating it now would mean cutting off its descendants.

"You certainly have a beautiful dream! My cultivation in the Green Emperor Longevity Technique is far deeper than yours, and even I cannot manipulate the Void-Escaping Grass to propagate. Don't even think about it, you little squirrel." Divine Pine cut off the Pine-Leaf Rat's delusions.

Hearing this, the Pine-Leaf Rat sighed. Might as well eat it then...

It crawled back into the Hanging Gourd, pulled out the Void-Escaping Grass, which resembled a white bean sprout, and held it in its hand. Returning to the outside, it looked at Lin Jing and the pinecone with its emerald eyes, asking how to eat it.

The pinecone transformed from Divine Pine scanned the Void-Escaping Grass and the Pine-Leaf Rat with its spiritual sense and said: "First, take out one hundred grains of golden spirit rice. Eat ten grains first, then leave the remaining ninety to the side."

Pine-Leaf Rat: ???

"Squeak!!!" The Pine-Leaf Rat was startled. Eating ten grains of golden spirit rice—wouldn't that be fatal? It was afraid that when the time came, it would be so hungry that it would even want to eat the pinecone in front of it!

"Use the Green Emperor Longevity Technique to suppress and balance the golden spirit rice and the Void-Escaping Grass. When full, eat the rice; when hungry, digest the grass. When full, eat the rice; when hungry, digest the grass again. Repeat the cycle!"

"Just do as I say. If any accidents occur, I will intervene."

What Divine Pine said was relatively easy to understand, and the Pine-Leaf Rat understood it too. It just had to wait to be rescued. It couldn't help but look lifeless.

"Any other questions? Not enough spirit rice? Synthesize it now!" Seeing the Pine-Leaf Rat hesitate, Divine Pine urged.

"That shouldn't be it. The biggest problem now is that asking it to take out so much golden rice at once makes it reluctant," Lin Jing said, understanding the Pine-Leaf Rat better than Divine Pine as its beast tamer.

"Eat it! A world in a flower, a Bodhi in a leaf. Have you forgotten?" Lin Jing said: "Perhaps after digesting the Void-Escaping Grass, you will be able to open up an internal leaf space."

"Squeak!!!!" Hearing this, the Pine-Leaf Rat's pupils, like those of the Long Li recuperating nearby, ignited with flames.

Gritting its teeth, for the sake of an internal leaf space, it took out its entire stock of golden spirit rice and piled it to the side. There were actually more than one hundred grains—over a thousand in total—making the Demonic Pine crack open.

"No, why does this little squirrel have so many of these things? Since you have so many, why were you so reluctant to take out one hundred!" the Demonic Pine didn't understand.

The Pine-Leaf Rat didn't want to explain.

Those with different Daos cannot make plans together.

Then... it grabbed a handful of golden spirit rice and, with a resolute gaze, threw it into its mouth.

The next instant, its emerald pupils turned entirely scarlet, and the rumbling sound from its stomach was like thunder, giving the Long Li nearby a fright.

The Long Li hopped back a few steps, fearing that this squirrel might eat it too.

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"Better tie you up first." After eating the golden spirit rice, the Pine-Leaf Rat immediately ate the Void-Escaping Grass. Subsequently, to prevent it from having any major "man-eating," "fish-eating," or "pinecone-eating" behavior, Divine Pine controlled several tree trunks to fix the Pine-Leaf Rat in place, allowing it only to reach the spirit rice beside it.

Seeing this, Lin Jing closed his eyes. Because he had a bloodline contract with the Pine-Leaf Rat, unlike when the Long Li's bloodline awakened and he couldn't empathize, he could now roughly sense the changes in the Pine-Leaf Rat.

After entering the state of perception, Lin Jing's vision was entirely covered by a silvery-white "waterfall." Mysterious silver substances washed over the Pine-Leaf Rat's body, as if trying to wash it away.

Inside its body, the golden-green true qi acted like a solid barrier, resisting and disintegrating the silver substance while simultaneously absorbing and fusing with it.

Outside, the Pine-Leaf Rat's body seemed to be glowing. Golden-green light flickered alongside silver radiance, carrying a faint, mysterious aura, making it seem as if it had fallen into another world, existing on the boundary between "existence" and "disappearance."

After the Pine-Leaf Rat entered this wondrous state, Lin Jing fell into it as well. Time flew by. Seeing this scene, Divine Pine nearby was slightly surprised.

It "looked" at the only one still awake, the Long Li: "Your beast tamer, and this 'Senior Squirrel' of yours—their talent for perceiving space is extremely high."

"If they have hope of reaching the 'Soul Transformation' realm, this talent should be of great help."

"Bo..." The Long Li rolled over, feeling resistant toward Divine Pine, who had been beating it up for several days.

Time passed bit by bit.

On the seventh day, the mysterious silver substance could no longer pose a burden to the Pine-Leaf Rat's body.

Ten days later, the Pine-Leaf Rat had completely digested the Void-Escaping Grass. Although its cultivation base hadn't changed significantly, its perception of space seemed much stronger.

Maintaining this perception, it subconsciously took out a red leaf and held it in its arms. Two days later, the Pine-Leaf Rat slowly opened its eyes.

"How do you feel?" Lin Jing, who had been accompanying it the whole time, also opened his eyes. Over these ten days, Lin Jing felt he had undergone some changes, but he couldn't specifically say what they were.

He could only look at the Pine-Leaf Rat, as it was the one that had absorbed the resources.

For these ten-plus days, the Pine-Leaf Rat had felt muddled. It had eaten who knew how much spirit rice before it could suppress the power of the Void-Escaping Grass. During this time, it had also felt external forces intervene multiple times—it must have been Divine Pine helping it with the Green Emperor Longevity Technique!

"Squeak..." The Pine-Leaf Rat held the red leaf, slightly dazed. It hadn't felt an internal space open up, and it couldn't help but feel incredibly sad.

"Why are you crying!" Divine Pine said: "How do you feel exactly!"

"Although the Void-Escaping Grass is not a spirit plant that human cultivators can benefit from by consuming directly, you are different. You are a wood-attribute spirit beast, not a human, and you already have some spatial attainments. With the Green Emperor Longevity Technique helping you swallow it, you shouldn't have gained nothing, right?" After being busy for so many days, the Demonic Pine stared seriously at the Pine-Leaf Rat.

Hearing this, the Pine-Leaf Rat hesitated for a moment.

"Squeak..."

It slowly threw out the flying leaf, and the leaf instantly flew into the sky...

The next instant.

Its figure actually disappeared directly, using the red flying leaf as a coordinate, and appeared beside the leaf. It grabbed the leaf and stood tall in the firmament!

"Spatial teleportation technique? No, it's not quite complete; it has flaws. It needs the spatial red leaf as a coordinate!"