Book 5: Chapter 102: Reunion of Old Friends

Vol 5 Chapter 102: Reunion of Old Friends

News from the Beast Master Sect stirred up half of the Tianyuan Realm. Upon receiving the information, people immediately began heading towards Qingzhou. Given the vast distance and absence of spatial teleportation arrays between regions, the journey could potentially take years.

Fortunately, the ruler of the Misty Forests had joined the Demon Court. During this critical period, cultivators traversing the Misty Forests would at least be spared from attacks by high-level demonic beasts.

"Che'er, don't listen to His Majesty the Ancient Emperor," said Wang Xiao of the Tianyuan Wang Family, Lin Jing's former classmate. "There's nothing you can't challenge. You possess the Inborn Immortal Physique and need fear no one."

"Even if you lose, so what? Victory and defeat are common matters for immortals."

"I'll accompany you this time."

Wang Xiao sighed deeply. "It's been so many years since I last saw that Lin Jing. This will be a good opportunity to reunite with this old classmate."

"Mmm." Wang Che stood before his father and nodded. Although he suspected his master knew some intelligence about Lin Jing that his father didn't, he still wanted to challenge this supreme talent who had shone in his father's generation.

"Father, are you going to Qingzhou too?" Wang Che hesitated. "Weren't you planning to go into secluded cultivation?"

.......

"I heard Lin Jing himself will preside over the competition for spots to the Origin Realm. It seems he finally has some free time."

At the border of the Ancient Kingdom, an elder and a robust man walked through the mountains. Gao Sheng asked, "Master, shall we go take a look?"

"You haven't cultivated the Beast Taming Art. What business do you have going there?" The First Ancient Emperor glanced at Gao Sheng.

"Because junior sister sent word that she plans to participate. She wants to see the Origin Realm."

"What?" The First Ancient Emperor froze. "Xun'er? Why would she go?"

Gao Sheng shrugged. "She said there are too few talented cultivators in the Tianyuan homeland. After all these years of accumulation, forget about overthrowing the Second Ancient Emperor—even defeating Gu Xinghe and Gu Youran would be quite difficult. She wants to see if she can contract some powerful spirits from the Origin Realm to bring back. The Human Control Technique is essentially a variant of the Beast Taming Art, isn't it?"

"Nonsense!" The First Ancient Emperor's nose twitched. "The Origin Realm is far too dangerous! Lin Jing has offended countless people there. I heard there's even a meteorite that gained sentience—can you imagine such a thing becoming conscious?"

"Then you go talk to her." Gao Sheng muttered, well aware that the First Ancient Emperor could no longer control Yu Xun'er. That little girl had become quite rebellious.

Elsewhere.

Lin Jing hadn't returned to the Beast Master Sect for a long time. Currently, the sect master was still Xu Xiaoyao, who had reached the Void Mystical Stage—the only Void Mystical cultivator in the sect apart from Xu Qingyao.

The old man's advancement to the Void Mystical Stage owed much to the Demon Court's substantial assistance. Besides the sect master, most of the Beast Master Sect's elders, with access to superior cultivation resources, had progressed from the Golden Core stage to successively reach the Nascent Soul and Nascent Soul Transformation stages. For the sect's original group of veterans, even if their talents weren't worth further investment, the Beast Master Sect never abandoned them, giving them every opportunity to advance further—at least in terms of resources, they were never shortchanged.

However, most of the sect's early-generation elders understood their own potential and limitations. Even with the sect's preferential resource allocation, many chose to forego personal advancement to nurture the new generation instead—those with descendants focused on raising them, while those without sought promising seedlings to take as disciples.

Thus, among the Beast Master Sect's new-generation disciples after relocating to Qingzhou, the average cultivation level was remarkably high. The standard for inner sect disciples had long been raised to the Foundation Establishment stage, while the standard for true disciples had been elevated to the Golden Core stage.

Above true disciples was another category called Sequence Disciples, requiring attainment of the Dragon Carp stage. Only by becoming Sequence Disciples could one compete for the position of Holy Son.

Currently, the Beast Master Sect had twenty-seven Sequence Disciples who had reached the Dragon Carp stage, with seven of them achieving Nascent Soul Transformation cultivation.

These seven Nascent Soul Transformation prodigies could be considered the strongest new-generation force in the Beast Master Sect. Among them, Senior Brother Ouyang Hao—whom Lin Jing knew—was one. The other six were complete newcomers.

However, these six weren't entirely unrelated to Lin Jing either.

As Lin Jing approached the Beast Master Sect, the Pine Leaf Mouse, Dragon Carp, and Ice Soul Gu all emerged, enthusiastically recommending their own proteges.

Lin Jing released his divine consciousness and saw a woman with a divine physique diligently cultivating in an emerald forest near the Beast Master Sect's mountain gate, a small squirrel perched on her shoulder.

"Squeak squeak!" The Pine Leaf Mouse introduced her—this was Fang Baihua, bearer of the Inborn Four Seasons Divine Physique, a prodigy from the Flower Valley, an ally of the Beast Master Sect. Worried her talent might be wasted, the Flower Valley Master had sent her to the Beast Master Sect for training.

The Pine Leaf Mouse's connection with Fang Baihua traced back to when its incarnation remained in the Tianyuan Realm to synthesize Transformation Grass for the Demon Court. To cultivate more Transformation Grass, the incarnation needed many wood-attribute demonic beasts and wood-aligned physiques to serve as gardeners. At that time, the Pine Leaf Mouse discovered Fang Baihua at the Beast Master Sect and recruited her as labor. Among all the gardeners, this Four Seasons Divine Physique bearer performed the best, providing significant assistance to the Pine Leaf Mouse's incarnation, which in turn bestowed many benefits upon her, laying a solid foundation for Fang Baihua to become one of the Beast Master Sect's rare Nascent Soul Transformation prodigies.

Most importantly, what the Pine Leaf Mouse admired about her was that her initial contracted beast was also one of its own kind—a Pine Leaf Mouse—rather than some Dragon Carp, Ice Gu, or butterfly.

These were details Lin Jing only learned after returning to the Tianyuan Realm, when the Pine Leaf Mouse and its incarnation "merged and assimilated."

"Blub!"

After the Pine Leaf Mouse finished its introduction, the Dragon Carp began presenting its own alchemy apprentice—a young man with the Inborn Thunder-Fire Dual Divine Physique. This youth was a descendant of a cultivation family under the Demon Court's jurisdiction, named Qin Lei. Because the power of his Inborn Thunder-Fire Divine Physique was too domineering and no mighty figure could help suppress it, he was unlikely to survive past ten years of age. Thus, his cultivation family had no choice but to seek the Demon Court's assistance, after which the Dragon Carp's incarnation took a liking to him.

With proper guidance, the Inborn Thunder-Fire Divine Physique had the potential to inherit its "Thunder Refinement Method" and share the burden of refining Transformation Pills. After all, alchemists who met the Thunder Refinement Method's inheritance requirements were exceedingly rare.

One could say that after Lin Jing and the others left for the Origin Realm, the Dragon Carp's incarnation quickly found itself some laborers to exploit.

"Ai."

"Blub~"

The Pine Leaf Mouse and Dragon Carp recommended these two youngsters to Lin Jing—they had worked hard and deserved to be taken to the Origin Realm for further training.

"Rest assured, there are few Beast Master Sect disciples who've reached the Nascent Soul Transformation stage. These two will definitely be included. But I understand what you mean—although they've reached the required cultivation level, their actual combat strength seems mediocre. They'd undoubtedly face tremendous pressure in the Origin Realm and need to enhance their capabilities, just like Gu Qianqiu."

"Wait a moment! At least these two have reached Nascent Soul Transformation. My two are only at the Nascent Soul stage—help them out!" The Ice Soul Gu interjected anxiously. "Have you forgotten? Jiang Qi and Jiang Lin!"

"Those two?"

"Have they come to the Beast Master Sect too?" Lin Jing recalled upon hearing the Ice Soul Gu's mention.

The Jiang Family Twin Physiques!

The two children he had rescued from the demonic sect years ago.

He had even bestowed them with Ice Soul Sub-Gu, though temporarily reclaimed later, ultimately returning them.

After that, Lin Jing had essentially lost track of them.

"Mhmm." The Ice Soul Gu said, "After the Golden Age began, they didn't stay in the Ancient Kingdom for long before leaving for Qingzhou and joining the Beast Master Sect, switching to cultivate the Beast Taming Art. Not just them—their entire family relocated to Qingzhou."

"So that's how it is." Lin Jing sighed, searching for the siblings. This brother-sister pair seemed to be at the Great Perfection stage of Nascent Soul, still a step away from Nascent Soul Transformation.

"Why is their cultivation so low? Ice Soul Gu, why didn't you look after them?"

The Ice Soul Gu rolled its eyes. "Their incarnations remained in the Tianyuan Realm! I've been in the Origin Realm with my incarnation the whole time—how could I look after them?!"

"So their current cultivation level isn't top-tier among the Beast Master Sect's Sequence Disciples. Let me go help them secure a spot to the Origin Realm."

"Go ahead." Lin Jing smiled faintly. Indeed—Fang Baihua could cultivate using the Pine Leaf Mouse's Glazed Immortal Eye synthesized materials; Qin Lei could consume the Dragon Carp's cultivation golden pills; only these twins had to make do with outdated Ice Soul Sub-Gu for cultivation.

With Lin Jing's permission, the Ice Soul Gu "whooshed" away, anxious that its human companions might lose face compared to the Pine Leaf Mouse and Dragon Carp's proteges.

"Ai!" "Blub!"

Seeing this, the Pine Leaf Mouse and Dragon Carp looked at Lin Jing, who sighed helplessly. "If you want to go, go ahead."

After the Pine Leaf Mouse and Dragon Carp returned to the Tianyuan Realm, their incarnations were soon absorbed into their true forms to assimilate and enhance the incarnations' power. They hadn't looked after their incarnation's followers for quite some time.

"Why are they getting so competitive?" Lin Jing shook his head as all three spirit beasts departed. Oh dear—Gu Qianqiu, Fang Baihua, Qin Lei, Jiang Qi, and Jiang Lin made five people already. Now it wouldn't be easy for others to compete for one of the eight spots.

Originally meant to be a fair competition, but unintentionally, so many connections had emerged.

Lin Jing finally turned his attention to the only Nascent Soul Transformation prodigy in the Beast Master Sect who had no particular relation to him.

This young man had golden hair and fox-like whiskers. At the sight, Lin Jing fell silent.

"What is that fellow thinking?"

"After reincarnation, with its cultivation, it should have long been able to re-cultivate to the Dao Inquiry stage. Yet it deliberately remains at Nascent Soul Transformation, playing house with a human."

Under Lin Jing's gaze, the golden-haired youth remained unaware, but an elderly fox's voice emerged from within him.

"Mingren, someone is spying on you."

"Who?!" Zhang Mingren startled.

"Never mind, it's no enemy. Your vigilance is too lacking." The old fox quickly added, its illusory gaze meeting Lin Jing's as it chuckled amiably. "Greetings, Holy Son. You must have heard of me from that old pine tree."

"I know of you. Thanks to your assistance, Senior Divine Pine returned to the Tianyuan Realm. But after reincarnation, why would you come to my Beast Master Sect in the form of a contracted beast?" Lin Jing asked.

This fox was precisely the reincarnation of that demon fox remnant soul from the Meteor Sea that the Divine Pine encountered in the void.

"It's a long story. There were some mishaps during reincarnation—I lost my memories and became an ordinary creature for a time, nearly dying. Fortunately, this lad saved my life. Later, discovering his fate was equally troubled, I decided to help him. Holy Son, rest assured—given my friendship with that pine tree, I would never harm the Beast Master Sect."

"Oh, by the way—might he qualify for the Origin Realm? I've heard about the situation."

Lin Jing nodded. A fox repaying kindness...

"The top eight in the Beast Taming Competition will qualify. You may proceed as you see fit." Including this fox disciple, Lin Jing felt there might not be many spots left for other factions.

..........

Subsequently, Lin Jing met with the senior sister currently managing the Beast Master Sect and finalized the date for the Beast Taming Competition—set for five years later, giving these beast taming prodigies more preparation time.

Five years might seem long to mortals, but to cultivators, it passed in the blink of an eye.

Without a Void Mystical Dao Inquiry cultivator leading the way, for a Nascent Soul Transformation cultivator to travel from the Tianyuan Ancient Kingdom to Qingzhou independently—if any mishaps occurred along the journey—it might take even longer than five years.

During this period, Gu Qianqiu digested the Dao Fruit. Among Lin Jing's three spirit beasts, perhaps only the Mechanized Turtle remained relatively free, exploring secret realms everywhere. The Pine Leaf Mouse, Dragon Carp, and Ice Soul Gu similarly digested their Dao Fruits, though occasionally providing extra guidance to their proteges.

As for Lin Jing himself, he had already begun cultivating the Time Dao, recalling that the Tianyuan Continent happened to have its own Time Dao master—the "Starry Void Turtle." If he encountered any confusion during cultivation, he could conveniently seek guidance from this expert at the Heavenly Secrets Tower.

In the blink of an eye, the Beast Taming Competition drew nearer. More and more cultivators from other regions arrived in Qingzhou, prompting the Beast Master Sect to construct a new city at the mountain's base to accommodate these guests from afar.

"Gao Sheng?"

"Wang Xiao?!"

In this small city, encounters between acquaintances were perfectly normal. Both Gao Sheng and Wang Xiao expressed pleasant surprise upon seeing each other. After graduation, though they hadn't kept in touch, they had both been Dragon Palace members in their youth.

"Could this be...?" Gao Sheng looked at Wang Che beside Wang Xiao, noticing the disguised appearance, and couldn't help but sigh. "You've truly raised an exceptional son. His cultivation is almost catching up to mine."

"Senior Gao." The Inborn Immortal Physique bearer Wang Che greeted.

Although he possessed the Inborn Immortal Physique, he was a disciple of the Second Ancient Emperor, while Gao Sheng was a disciple of the First Ancient Emperor. Regardless of his father's classmate relationship, Gao Sheng naturally qualified as his senior.

"Haha." Wang Xiao, once the Wang Family's prodigy, had grown somewhat portly over the years. "What about that senior?"

"Che'er told me that senior has revived, and you've become his disciple."

Gao Sheng also chuckled. "The old man didn't come with me..."

He had gone to find Yu Xun'er, to dissuade her from following Lin Jing to the Origin Realm.

"Have you just arrived at Beast Master City too? It seems he'll participate in the Beast Taming Competition?" Gao Sheng asked.

"Indeed." Wang Xiao nodded. "The opportunity to visit the Origin Realm is rare—worth even changing cultivation methods. His Majesty the Ancient Emperor approved. Most importantly, having grown up in the Ancient Kingdom, it's good for him to broaden his horizons."

"Quite right." Gao Sheng nodded. "Wang Xiao, I'm going to catch up with Lin Jing now—I haven't seen him since his return. Would you like to join me?"

"Certainly." Wang Xiao glanced at Wang Che. "I'd planned to take him to visit Lin Jing anyway. We may as well go together."

"Fine by me, but why does your son look so combative?" Gao Sheng was taken aback.