Chapter 162: The Choice

That same day, Lin Jing sent a message to Xu Zhizhi and called this Dragon Palace strategist over.

“You’re finally back,” Xu Zhizhi said. “You missed a class!”

“It’s fine,” Lin Jing said. The harvest from this trip was more precious than a class or two at the academy.

Events in the Desolate Domain didn’t reach the Ancient Domain easily. Xu Zhizhi only thought Lin Jing had returned to his hometown and didn’t know Lin Jing had become the Saint Child of the Beast Control Sect, acquired many resources, and certainly didn’t know Lin Jing’s true purpose for going out—to help the Ice Soul Gu reach Foundation Establishment.

After a trip out, Lin Jing’s strength was no longer what it used to be. Before the Ice Soul Gu reached Foundation Establishment, he, along with the Pine Leaf Squirrel, could only be considered to have few rivals below the Golden Core. Now, he could even contend with ordinary Golden Cores.

“Nothing happened these past few months, right?” Lin Jing asked. It wouldn’t do if the Dragon Palace had disbanded while he was away,

following in the footsteps of the Beast Control Sect.

“No. After you ascended the heavenly pride ranking, many people joined the Dragon Palace, and no one dared to trouble us,” Xu Zhizhi said, waving his fan with a smile. “Soon it will be the enrollment of new students. I plan to do something big then!”

“Good,” Lin Jing continued. “Brother Xu, do something for me. I need a large amount of Advanced vegetation, at least Grade 3 or higher, containing dense vitality. Tell the members of the Dragon Palace that they can exchange Advanced vegetation with me for Rising Dragon Pills.”

“In addition, I need a Fire-attribute Cultivation Technique and an Ice-attribute Cultivation Technique. They must be techniques that can be cultivated to at least the Nascent Soul Stage by someone with sufficient talent. I will also use Rising Dragon Pills for the exchange.”

“As for the exchange ratio, we’ll decide then based on the quality of the Spiritual Plants and the techniques.” During the three years Lin Jing had spent in secluded cultivation with the Dragon Carp and Pine Leaf Squirrel, the Rising Dragon Pills created by synthesizing mutated Spiritual Plants had become Lin Jing’s hard currency for exchanging resources.

Hearing this, Xu Zhizhi fell into deep thought. After a moment of hesitation, he said, “Spiritual Plants are certainly no problem, but as for the techniques… techniques that can be cultivated to the Nascent Soul Stage are already considered important legacies for some Sects. These students probably don’t have the authority to trade them.”

Lin Jing nodded. A technique that could be cultivated to the Nascent Soul Stage was indeed quite good. Even the Azure Emperor Longevity Art taught to the Pine Leaf Squirrel by the Divine Pine only reached the Nascent Soul Stage at the Perfection Realm.

This wasn’t to say the potential of the Azure Emperor Longevity Art ended there, but rather that it was a technique specifically for Spiritual Plants and Spirit Monsters, not for Yao Beasts. The Divine Pine had already modified the Azure Emperor Longevity Art to allow the Pine Leaf Squirrel to Cultivate it.

After the modification, the range of species that could Cultivate it was broadened, so the upper limit of the technique naturally became much lower.

“Just give it a try. Some Sects have deep foundations and, besides their own techniques, they also have many other techniques in their collections,” Lin Jing said with a smile. “I believe some people will want to ‘recycle waste.’ After all, a Nascent Soul-level technique,”

“is hard-pressed to create a Nascent Soul, but a Dragon pet with a King-level Bloodline has a high probability of becoming a Yao King.”

Shortly after, Xu Zhizhi left to post the ‘Sect Missions’ on Lin Jing’s behalf.

After Xu Zhizhi left, Lin Jing had the Dragon Carp start refining Rising Dragon Pills, while the Pine Leaf Squirrel hurried to provide the special Materials for refining them.

For the Dragon Carp, Lin Jing had no cultivation arrangements for the next two years; it was just pure Alchemy!

Only if it produced many pills could the Pine Leaf Squirrel obtain many Spiritual Plants to bring the Azure Emperor Longevity Art to Major Achievement.

Only when the Azure Emperor Longevity Art reached Major Achievement would Lin Jing have a greater certainty of taking first place on the heavenly pride ranking and obtaining enough Potential Dragon Luck to help the Dragon Carp perfectly transform into a Dragon.

To allow the Dragon Carp to catch up with the imperial-level bloodline Ice Soul Gu and the Pine Leaf Squirrel who had the Divine Pine’s Legacy, transforming into a Dragon with a massive amount of Potential Dragon Luck was an indispensable step.

So the Dragon Carp’s current labor was all for its own sake. After Lin Jing explained it clearly to the Dragon Carp, it could only bury its head in hard work.

As for the Heavenly Pride Battle, Lin Jing didn’t plan to let the Dragon Carp appear. Although it had broken through to the Qi Training Extreme Realm,

as long as it didn’t transform into a Dragon, there would still be a gap between it and those true prodigies.

Therefore, the main force for Lin Jing’s Heavenly Pride Battle was still the Pine Leaf Squirrel.

Even at a critical moment, if the Pine Leaf Squirrel alone couldn’t take down an opponent, he could reveal the Ice Soul Gu!

Although revealing the Ice Soul Gu would make his situation even more precarious, from another perspective, the reputation of the Ice Soul Gu as one of the Ten Unique Gu could also bring Lin Jing more fame.

Besides helping the Dragon Carp transform into a Dragon, there were many other places where Lin Jing needed Potential Dragon Luck. As a Longevity Physique,

his progress in cultivating various Spells was naturally slow, and he greatly needed Potential Dragon Luck to improve his Comprehension Ability.

In particular, the Heavenly Demon Body cultivation method Lin Jing had just obtained was extremely difficult to Cultivate. Lin Jing predicted that he would likely need a massive amount of Luck to deduce and Cultivate it. He was determined to take first place on the heavenly pride ranking.

Therefore, in a situation of necessity, he could accept the downsides brought by revealing the Ice Soul Gu.

Of course, the reason Lin Jing wasn’t overly worried was that he planned to continue secluded cultivation in Hidden Dragon City after the Heavenly Pride Battle. He would stay in seclusion for several decades until the usage period of the Immortal Cave expired, never going out.

As long as he stayed inside the Hidden Dragon Academy, his safety would be greatly guaranteed.

“Besides the Pine Leaf Squirrel’s Azure Emperor Longevity Art being improvable, the next step is to breed more Mosquito Beasts.”

Lin Jing took out the Ten Thousand Beasts Circle presented by the Ten Thousand Beasts Sect. Now, with two Ten Thousand Beasts Circles, he could hatch and control even more Mosquito Beasts.

These Mosquito Beasts, besides being the Dragon Carp’s future food, would also be important sacrificial energy for the Mosquito-Powered Mecha.

In the coming period, Lin Jing also planned to perfect the mosquito-powered mechanical creations he had conceived to enrich his combat trump cards.

Although directly controlling a swarm of mosquitoes was also powerful, the strength was ultimately too dispersed. By further concentrating their power, he could make his combat mode more powerful without any blind spots.

“However… these are all external strengths.”

“The most important thing is—my own cultivation.”

“Currently, Qi Training Stage Twelfth Layer Peak.”

“Just one step away from reaching the Qi Training Stage Thirteenth Layer, comparable to the Ancient Kingdom’s strongest Prodigy with the Ancient Emperor Bloodline.”

“But this step feels somewhat difficult.”

“Having reached this Extreme Realm, unless there are Immortal-grade resources, it’s impossible for me to take a step further in the Qi Training Stage.”

“My current cultivation has no effect at all.”

“There’s no chance to rely on Pet Beast feedback either. As a Beast Master, my own cultivation is at the Qi Training realm, while the Pine Leaf Squirrel and Ice Soul Gu have reached the Foundation Establishment Initial Stage, which is currently the limit. Until I reach Foundation Establishment, they will be restricted by the contract and find it difficult to break through to the Foundation Establishment Middle Stage. Although the Beast Taming Art allows a Cultivator’s Realm to receive feedback from a Pet Beast’s Breakthrough, whether at the time of contracting or after, the requirement is that the gap between the two sides’ Realms cannot be too large—”

“Should I wait for other opportunities and pursue the Qi Training Stage Thirteenth Layer, or directly establish my foundation?”

“If I directly reach Foundation Establishment, I can learn the True Inheritance Secret Arts of the Beast Control Sect, and my strength will certainly increase greatly. The Pine Leaf Squirrel and Ice Soul Gu also have a high probability of breaking through to the Foundation Establishment Middle or even Late Stage during this period. The pressure to take first place on the heavenly pride ranking will be greatly reduced, and if no accidents occur, it can be said to be a piece of cake.”

“But if I remain in the Qi Training realm, although my strength will be limited, there is another huge benefit.”

“Even if I can’t reach the Qi Training Stage Thirteenth Layer later, taking first place on the heavenly pride ranking with a Qi Training cultivation will definitely give a greater boost to my fame, which is beneficial for obtaining reputation and Luck!”

Lin Jing fell into deep thought. Should he challenge the various prodigies while in the Qi Training Stage, or directly reach Foundation Establishment and crush them like babies?