Chapter 189: Ending Seclusion

During his ten years of secluded cultivation, although Lin Jing had vanished from public view, rumors about him continued to circulate.

Previously, to help the Dragon Carp transform into a dragon, Lin Jing had exhausted all of his Potential Dragon Luck. However, after ten years of subsequent accumulation,

Lin Jing’s power of Luck had become quite abundant once again.

This power of Luck no longer had anything to do with the Fire Dragon. It had already obtained a Rare Beast Divine Power and an Imperial-grade Bloodline, so Potential Dragon Luck no longer offered it much improvement. Lin Jing prepared to use it for his own cultivation of techniques.

First was the Beast Transformation Treasure.

It allowed a contracted Pet Beast to transform into various types of weapons and equipment.

The higher the compatibility between the Pet Beast and the equipment type, the greater the power that could be unleashed.

Foundation Establishment Stage Disciples of the Beast Taming Sect rarely bought various Magic Treasures. Firstly, because all their resources went into nurturing their Pet Beasts, leaving them short on funds. Secondly, because of the existence of this secret art, the Pet Beast was the Magic Treasure.

Lin Jing had been eyeing this secret art for a long time. Now, he didn’t lack offensive magic treasures—he lacked convenient defensive Magic Treasures!

As a possessor of the Longevity Physique, besides having invincible defensive power himself, he also needed a top-tier defensive Magic Treasure to augment his defense.

Therefore, Lin Jing planned to learn this secret art and then turn one of his Pet Beasts into ‘Armor Shen’ to take damage for him during battle.

As for the candidate for this Pet Beast, Lin Jing already had an ideal target in mind.

It had to be the Dragon Clan, who possessed the strongest physical strength!

Even though he hadn’t started cultivating it yet, Lin Jing felt that if the Fire Scale Dragon with its Dragon Emperor Bloodline transformed into armor, even if its defensive power couldn’t match a High Grade Magic Treasure, it should still crush ordinary Medium Grade Magic Treasures.

Furthermore, this armor would also be battle armor. Clad in Flame Dragon Armor, Lin Jing could use the Fire Control Technique to manipulate its fused exotic fire, making his attack his defense!

In this state, if he further fused the power of the Ice Soul Gu, Lin Jing wouldn’t have to worry about suffering the backlash of frost power himself.

Thinking about how he would soon be clad in Flame Dragon Armor, Lin Jing took out the Beast Transformation Treasure secret art and threw himself into cultivation.

Several days later, by converting Luck into Comprehension Ability, Lin Jing quickly mastered the Beast Transformation Treasure. These three great secret arts of the Beast Taming Sect were much easier to Cultivate than the Heavenly Demon Body.

The reason they were easy to Cultivate was also because the three Legacy secret arts and the Beast Taming Art were interconnected and bound to each other. Seeing that his three Pet Beasts were still consolidating their Realms and hadn’t woken up, Lin Jing simply continued to Cultivate the Heavenly Demon Body.

However, another half month passed. After consuming ten percent of the Luck he had stored over the past ten years, the Heavenly Demon Body still showed no sign of even reaching the entry level. It was difficult to comprehend, and he gained nothing.

“No wonder only two people in the Demon Subduing Division have successfully cultivated it in thousands of years. This is probably the most difficult secret art I’ve ever cultivated since I started my journey as an Immortal. If only I could borrow the Golden Bodhi Tree again. Compared to the Golden Bodhi Tree, this Comprehension Ability boost from Luck conversion is still too weak.”

Lin Jing opened his eyes. Although he hadn’t gained much, during this time, the three Pet Beasts had finally consolidated their cultivation. With their foundations, the power increase brought by breaking through multiple Realms consecutively was terrifying. They had also spent some effort to master this power.

“In ten years, if they hadn’t been acting as my Protectors, they probably could have all reached Core Formation by now.” Lin Jing felt that the Prodigies from the Heavenly Pride Battle ten years ago should have all reached Core Formation by now. He wondered if his current state

could defeat them after their Core Formation.

The Ice Soul Gu was the first to wake up. Its unique natural talent made it very easy for it to control its own power.

The Pine Leaf Squirrel was the second to open its eyes. Possessing the Chang Sheng Gong at Major Achievement, its level of power control was also extremely high.

Although the Fire Scale Dragon had accumulated decent control through years of Alchemy, because it was the last to break through to Foundation Establishment, the power it needed to adapt to was more massive than that of the Ice Soul Gu and the Pine Leaf Squirrel. It was the last to stabilize its Realm.

“How do you all feel?” Lin Jing asked, and the three Pet Beasts’ hearts immediately became restless.

“Fight, fight, fight!” The Fire Scale Dragon circled and flew continuously, its gaze burning as it looked at the Ice Soul Gu and the Pine Leaf Squirrel.

It was clearly very satisfied with its current strength.

“Squeak.” The Pine Leaf Squirrel’s expression was absent-minded. Just now, it had glanced at the Spiritual Plants it had planted. Because they hadn’t been cared for in ten years, many had withered and died. Its heart ached, but fortunately, the resources it had stored earlier were frozen by the Ice Soul Gu and hadn’t rotted.

It ignored the Fire Scale Dragon and immediately burrowed back into the gourd to see if it could save some of the crops.

The Ice Soul Gu also ignored the big silly fish and began to sense its Sub-Gu.

“I feel it. The two Sub-Gu I released earlier have both reached the Middle Stage of Foundation Establishment. What a pity. If they had also reached the Late Stage of Foundation Establishment and I could take them back, I would be at Foundation Establishment Perfection!”

The Ice Soul Gu murmured, wanting to reach Foundation Establishment Perfection one step ahead of the Pine Leaf Squirrel and the Fire Scale Dragon.

The Late Stage of Foundation Establishment was actually when one obtained the essence of the Foundation Establishment Stage. From Qi Refining to Foundation Establishment, from Early Stage to Middle Stage, and from Middle Stage to Late Stage, the body would undergo three cleansings, significantly increasing True Essence.

As for the transition from the Late Stage of Foundation Establishment to Foundation Establishment Perfection, it was merely a process of making one’s True Essence more substantial through cultivation. Power would not suddenly have a qualitative leap; it was a gradual improvement.

Until one felt that their magic power could no longer be improved, they would reach the so-called Foundation Establishment Peak or Foundation Establishment Perfection. Having reached their limit, they could then attempt to compress their True Essence for Core Formation.

Success meant birthing a Golden Core, obtaining a Golden Core Divine Ability, and becoming a Golden Core powerhouse.

Failure could result in anything from severe injury to the collapse of one’s Dao. Therefore, some Cultivators who lacked confidence or had low talent would choose to use various secret arts to condense a False Core to simulate Golden Core cultivation, giving up on attempting the true Golden Core Stage.

Although False Core Cultivators couldn’t be compared to Golden Core Cultivators, their strength far exceeded the Foundation Establishment Stage, enough to create a gap in status.

But for the Ice Soul Gu, as long as it reached Foundation Establishment Perfection, it could attempt Core Formation at any time without the possibility of failure. Since it was difficult to win decisively against Rare Beasts with Immortal divine power legacies at the same level, the Ice Soul Gu chose to quickly raise its Realm.

“Is that so?” Hearing this, Lin Jing murmured, “Have the Ice Soul Sub-Gu of the twin physique been nurtured to the Middle Stage of Foundation Establishment? That’s the same Realm as me.”

“Let’s go and have a look.” After Lin Jing finished speaking, he took the Ice Soul Gu back into his body. Seeing this, the Fire Scale Dragon’s expression froze. What did this mean? Did none of them want to fight it?

“Roar!!!” After a moment of blankness, it didn’t mind. Its dragon eyes showed a look of realization, understanding that the others simply didn’t dare to accept its challenge.

“Yes, you are the strongest now. If you want to fight, I’ll find someone for you outside.” Lin Jing took out the Zen Staff,

and also took back the Fire Scale Dragon. Then, the Zen Staff shrank and was strung by Lin Jing with a piece of spider silk, hanging around his neck like a pendant.

“Senior Xu, are you leaving already?”

In the Dragon Palace assembly hall, the current speakers of the Dragon Palace, the Jiang Twins, were seeing off Xu Zhizhi. Xu Zhizhi sighed, “There’s still a mess of things to handle over at the city. It’s time to go back. As I said before, as soon as Lin Jing ends his seclusion, notify me immediately.”

The Jiang Twins nodded. Just as they were about to say something more, their expressions suddenly changed as they felt the throbbing of the Sub-Gu within their bodies.

“Xu Zhizhi, long time no see. You really have reached Core Formation. The Early Stage of Golden Core—how impressive.” A figure walked into the Dragon Palace assembly hall from outside. Seeing this familiar figure, Xu Zhizhi took a deep breath and said, “Damn it, you’re finally out of seclusion!”

“Don’t you know to leave more Rising Dragon Pills before you go into seclusion? Do you know how much I’ve been worrying these past few years?!”

“Wait, what? After ten years of seclusion, how are you only at the Middle Stage of Foundation Establishment? With such a terrifying foundation, I thought you were going to charge straight into the Golden Core Stage!”