Chapter 42: Squirrel Jumps to Tiandu (Thanks to Nuanyang1314 for the Golden Alliance!)

“Keep an eye on them, the first Pine Leaf Demon King of our Sect! Junior Brother, do you want to go find Elder Mo now?”

“If you’re going, we can go together. I also have something I need Elder Mo’s help with.”

“Alright.” There’s no time like the present, Lin Jing decided to ask Elder Mo if he could now possess a Pet Beast Space Magic Treasure.

The Pine Leaf Squirrel’s spirits lifted upon hearing this. Demon King or not, it didn’t matter; it just wanted the Space Magic Treasure to arrive quickly.

“Then let’s go. On the way to Lotus Peak, I’ll introduce you to the Inner Peak scenery.”

“Are we walking? Senior Brother, when can we ride Immortal Cranes? Do we have to wait until we’re True Disciples?” Lin Jing added.

“Is that something you can just ride? It costs Spirit Stones! As long as you pay Spirit Stones, Utility Disciples can ride them. If you don’t pay Spirit Stones, even True Disciples can’t. That clan is protected by the Sect Master’s Wife!”

Lin Jing actually already knew this; he was just testing if Senior Brother Ouyang had spent that unnecessary money. If he could hitch a ride on a flying crane, he certainly wouldn’t want to walk.

Both of them were quite frugal and chose to walk to Lotus Peak to find Elder Mo. However, as Cultivators, even without auxiliary Spells like Wind Walking, they moved with great speed, as if flying.

On the suspended rope bridge amidst the clouds and mist, Senior Brother Ouyang introduced Lin Jing to the Inner Peak scenery while they traveled.

“That’s the Nine Dragon Waterfall.” Senior Brother Ouyang pointed into the distance. The rushing, roaring waterfall sounded like thunder, set against the emerald cliffs and vermilion rocks, resembling nine white Dragons descending from the sky one after another, a truly magnificent sight.

“It’s a marvel of Nine Dragon Peak. Nine Dragon Peak has a special kind of Dragon Blood Dragon Carp. As long as a Dragon Carp in the Qi Condensation Stage can cross the Nine Dragon Waterfall by its own power, it can successfully achieve Foundation Establishment and transform into a Fish Dragon.”

“Actually, my reason for going to Elder Mo this time is related to the new Pet Beast I want to Contract after my Foundation Establishment…”

…”Do you see that rising purple mist? That’s the Purple Cloud Spring.”

“Senior Brother, what is this hot spring used for?” Lin Jing hadn’t seen it individually recorded in any books.

“Many female Disciples like to bathe here on weekdays. Don’t go there if you have nothing to do; it’s easy for trouble to arise.”

…”That’s the Hundred Steps Cloud Ladder…”

…”We’re almost at Lotus Peak. This is your Pine Leaf Squirrel’s ancestor.”

Passing by Gengyun Peak, the Pine Leaf Squirrel looked at Ouyang Hao, thinking, ‘You with the thick eyebrows and big eyes, why are you still scolding Squirrels?’

Lin Jing looked over. On a not-so-tall peak, there was a strange rock that closely resembled a Pine Leaf Squirrel, with its tail trailing, as if trying to cross a chasm of ten thousand feet and leap onto Tiandu Mountain, one of the Beast Taming Sect’s towering main peaks.

“He wasn’t scolding you,” Lin Jing said. “That is indeed your Old Ancestor.”

Pine Leaf Squirrel:???

“Doesn’t the Beast Taming Sect teach you Spirit Beast history? Moreover, this is your species’ history.” He looked at the Pine Leaf Squirrel.

“Well, they don’t teach it that comprehensively…” Senior Brother Ouyang said from the side.

Lin Jing spoke, informing the Pine Leaf Squirrel: “A long time ago, the Pine Leaf Squirrel clan was not yet a member of the Beast Taming Sect; it was just an ordinary species, with a very low chance of awakening sentience.”

“Because of the harsh living environment and numerous natural enemies, in order to find a way out for its clan, a Pine Leaf Squirrel secretly climbed onto the Beast Taming Sect, hoping to seek the Dao from an Immortal and protect its clan.”

“It met an Immortal on Tiandu Peak. The Immortal set a test for it: as long as it could leap from Gengyun Peak, where it was, to Tiandu Peak, it would be taught Spells.”

“Your clan’s ancestor began its daily efforts, trying to leap to the high peak and seek guidance from the Immortal.”

“However, it is said that in the end, it never succeeded and eventually turned into a stone, maintaining its leaping posture, forever remaining there.”

“Although it failed the test, the Beast Taming Sect’s Immortal, moved by its firm Dao-seeking heart, brought the Pine Leaf Squirrel clan back to the Beast Taming Sect and elevated the Bloodline Rank of the Pine Leaf Squirrel clan. This laid the foundation for the Pine Leaf Squirrel to become one of the five basic Spirit Beasts of the Beast Taming Sect in the future…”

Lin Jing had also read all of this in books. He guessed that this so-called Immortal was probably an Old Ancestor of the Beast Taming Sect, certainly not a true Immortal, but in the eyes of the Pine Leaf Squirrel at the time, it was no different from an Immortal.

After hearing the origin of its species, the Pine Leaf Squirrel was stunned.

“Junior Brother, you really know a lot.” Senior Brother Ouyang said, “You must have read a lot of books when you were in the Outer Sect.”

“Yes, I enjoy reading and learning about many things,” Lin Jing said. “Read ten thousand books, and you can travel the world without fear.”

“Haha, yes, but there’s one more thing you definitely don’t know.” Senior Brother Ouyang laughed.

“What?”

“That Immortal on Tiandu Peak is actually not human, but one of the Beast Taming Sect’s guardian deities, and is still here to this day!”

“I told you, didn’t I? Starting from the second Sect Master, the Beast Taming Sect abandoned the previous method of enslaving Pet Beasts. All Disciples chose to live in equality with their Pet Beasts.”

“And the second Sect Master, he also loved making friends. That Immortal was his closest friend during his lifetime.”

“When the second Sect Master passed away, the Sect Master and it formed a Contract… of course, not a Pet Beast Contract, agreeing for this guardian deity to protect the Beast Taming Sect for ten thousand years, and to lend aid when the Beast Taming Sect faced a crisis.”

“In return, Tiandu Peak, one of the three mountain peaks with the densest Spiritual Qi in the Beast Taming Sect, was given to it as a place for Cultivation.”

“Within our Beast Taming Sect, among the several Nascent Souls, only the current Sect Master, the fifth Sect Master, is in the Nascent Soul Stage. The remaining Nascent Soul Old Ancestors are actually the Pet Beasts of the third and fourth generation Sect Masters. Compared to human Beast Cultivators, those Demon Kings have a longer lifespan due to their special Bloodline.”

“And the one on Tiandu Peak is the only one who has never signed a Pet Beast Contract with a Nascent Soul Cultivator of our Beast Taming Sect yet remains within it. Not only that, because our Beast Taming Sect has not yet encountered any particular crisis, it has never taken action, always living in seclusion on Tiandu Peak to Cultivate. If the Sect Master hadn’t told me all this, even True Disciples and some Elders might not know.”

“I see.” Lin Jing nodded.

This is what they call a Guest Elder, then.

Speaking of which, this Beast Taming Sect truly is a den of demons.

Almost all those above the Nascent Soul Stage are Demon Kings!

Quite frightening, he definitely had to go to Hidden Dragon Academy.

“Senior Brother Ouyang, you also know a lot.” He offered a polite compliment, temporarily ignoring the fact that the Beast Taming Sect also resembled a Demonic Sect.

“Not at all, what I wanted to say wasn’t actually this. Passing by here, I just remembered that the Sect Master seemed to have told me that this Sect Guardian had once made a promise to the Pine Leaf Squirrel clan.”

“Oh?”

“If a descendant of the Pine Leaf Squirrel clan can inherit the will of that Pine Leaf Squirrel ancestor who jumped to Tiandu Peak, and successfully leap from Gengyun Peak to Tiandu Peak, the promise will still be valid, and the Dao and Spells will be imparted.”

“However, so many years have passed, and many Foundation Establishment Stage Pine Leaf Squirrels have appeared in the Sect. They used all sorts of methods, but none could leap onto Tiandu Peak. There’s a strong pressure in the sky there that prevents a normal jump.”

“Over time, this promise was no longer paid attention to, as it was somewhat impractical. The Sect Master guessed that this guardian deity might have just said it casually, not truly intending to impart the Dao, as the test was too difficult.”

“Of course, you can try it if you have time. What if you succeed? It’s said that the difficulty of this leap is related to one’s cultivation level: lower cultivation, lower difficulty; higher cultivation, higher difficulty. Anyone can try, regardless of their cultivation.”

As soon as Senior Brother Ouyang finished speaking, Lin Jing’s Pine Leaf Squirrel took out a large red leaf from its Storage Pouch and flew from Gengyun Peak towards Tiandu Peak on the leaf.

Seeing this, Senior Brother Ouyang was utterly bewildered and said, “How can your Pine Leaf Squirrel Flying Leaf!”