Immortal through Beast Taming

"King-level bloodlines also have varying ranks."

"For example, those Demon Kings in your Beast Taming Sect, if they produce descendants with inherited bloodlines, they would at most possess ordinary Demon King bloodlines. Their lineage is too inferior; should their descendants encounter prodigies nurtured by major forces, like those with the Divine Body or Talisman Body, they would just be suppressed by them."

"A step higher in king-level bloodlines are the powerful Demon King descendants of formidable races, like the Child of the Dragon and Phoenix!"

"Your Dragon Carp, although not an heir of the Dragon Race Demon King's bloodline, due to its ancestral mutation, its bloodline is astonishing. Coupled with the nurturing of your Longevity Blood and the accumulated destiny from your mastered Hidden Dragon Secret Technique, which is mostly used to cultivate it, with this top-tier dragon nurturing secret technique to enhance potential, its bloodline potential ranks in the second tier of king-level bloodlines!"

"As for the top tier king-level bloodlines, they belong to those ancient remnants that can feast on dragons and phoenixes. Even though their bloodline has thinned over the ages to a king-level, they can still slay dragon and phoenix of the same rank as the Supreme Demon King."

"The Ice Soul Gu crafted by the Gu God Sect is currently in this stage. Additionally, don't underestimate it for only being a king-level bloodline now; that's because it has just been born. Given time, even if you don't cultivate it much, its bloodline will evolve on its own, which is why ordinary individuals cannot tame the ten extraordinary Gus."

"Thus, I say it's the most promising candidate to attain royal-level bloodlines. Hmm… with its foundation at the eleventh layer of Qi Cultivation, once its Foundation Establishment occurs, it might evolve into a Gu Emperor. Even without the ultimate foundation, evolving to royal-level bloodlines is inevitable."

Lin Jing listened and glanced at the Pine Leaf Mouse and Dragon Carp, realizing that the Demon Emperor's bloodline is indeed rare.

He came to understand the formidable strength of the South Mountain Demon Emperor, whose bloodline may only potentially become a Demon Emperor; yet, a truly powerful Demon Emperor has now been slain by Elder Shen Song!

"No more thinking about it, plant trees, refine pills!" He activated the mountain sealing formation that came with his cavern abode, indicating to outsiders that he was entering seclusion and not to disturb him.

With this barrier in place, there's no need to worry about causing the academy's demon beasts to rage while watering the seedlings with Longevity Blood.

...

Meanwhile, as Lin Jing began his seclusion to prepare for alchemy, cultivators from all sides started investigating the reason for the anomalies in Hidden Dragon City.

However, the academy side wanted to prevent outsiders from discovering that a Demon Emperor successfully invaded Hidden Dragon City and almost assassinated a genius from the academy, thus forcing the matter to settle down.

Yet, there were still those who managed to learn the whole story through certain means.

"Brother Lin is incredible." Gao Sheng stood before the closed mountain-protecting barrier, having already learned of the matter from Zhang Hu.

What shocked him most wasn't Lin Jing being pursued to Hidden Dragon City by the Demon Emperor but that Lin Jing had a Guardian at the Divinity Transformation level!

Mind you, even his Divinity Transformation-level grandfather did not wish to act as his Guardian!

Back home, they didn't even arrange a Nascent Soul-level Guardian for him, only dropping a few life-saving treasures and a pile of Spirit Stones to him!

In comparison, Gao Sheng suddenly felt that his treatment couldn't match Lin Jing's!

Though indeed, he was a wastrel and didn't really need a Guardian as no one would target him...

"Faced with such a major event, Brother Lin immediately went into seclusion; I suppose the pressure is immense, even an ordinary body has its advantages." Gao Sheng found that Lin Jing was absent and shook his head, turning away.

To him, Lin Jing was panicking, desperately seeking to enhance his power; only through comparison did he suddenly discover that poor aptitude is also a good thing, at least you don't have to worry about being targeted by others with unique body constitutions like Longevity Body.

Gao Sheng called upon a majestic Dragon Horse, sat atop it lightly, and went in search of Xu Zhizhi; during Lin Jing's seclusion, he needed to take on the responsibility of Dragon Palace's Guardian, ensuring Dragon Palace doesn't fall into chaos.

The Dragon Horse soared, as Gao Sheng analyzed:

"Brother Lin's Guardian slain a Dragon Race Demon Emperor; wouldn't that Dragon Blood be usable to refine many top-grade Dragon Ascending Pills? When Brother Lin exits seclusion, it will be the time of pill distribution. Whether you can advance to Demon King bloodline depends on our performance during this period." He patted the white horse and said, "Let's get to work."

"Master is wise!!" For the first time, the Dragon Horse felt that his master was showing intelligence. Though this was all thanks to the intelligence provided by the Demon Extermination Bureau, for Gao Sheng to analyze to this extent with his pig-like brain delighted the Dragon Horse.

...

Without Lin Jing's knowledge, Gao Sheng spent his own money to build Dragon Palace for him.

If any Dragon Palace genius lacked funds to nurture pet beasts, he lent a large amount of interest-free Spirit Stones, providing a storage bag and an IOU note.

"This is Dragon Palace's investment in you!"

"You must perform well in the autumn hunt!"

"The gains obtained can be used to repay the Spirit Stones at that time."

Gao Sheng patted the shoulder of each Dragon Palace genius and then left.

This instantly made newcomers to Dragon Palace feel a different kind of warmth.

During this period.

Beyond Lin Jing's cavern abode, Lin Jing continued to water the seedlings with Longevity Blood day by day.

It didn't take long, and under the nurturing of Longevity Blood, the seedlings began to grow.

Elder Shen Song, with his Cyan Emperor Longevity Skill perfected, naturally wouldn't let Lin Jing wait a year or half to get the pine cones.

Days later, nine golden-green pine cones emerged, and Lin Jing's mood was joyful.

Standing in front of the one-person-tall seedling, cradling the divine fruits, he asked:

"Elder Shen Song, what effect do the pine nuts inside these cones have when eaten?"

"What use do they have? Longevity, vitality, nothing more." Elder Shen Song did not want to elaborate.

"Then we can start attempting alchemy!" Lin Jing nodded. Though Elder Shen Song spoke simply, it was enough; his objective was merely to extend the lifespan and vitality of the Pine Leaf Mouse.

Otherwise, he wouldn't name the pill designed for the Pine Leaf Mouse as Longevity Foundation Establishment Pill.

He plucked the cones one by one, gazing at the seedling bereft of cones, then summoned the Pine Leaf Mouse, mumbling:

"Nine cones, nine chances at refinement; surely one attempt will succeed. This tree is useless now, you can absorb it with Longevity Skill, don't waste it. After all, it's the result of Elder Shen Song's and my hard work."

The Pine Leaf Mouse's eyes were large and bright, eagerly eyeing the small pine tree stripped of cones.

However, the next moment, the seedling was taken away by Elder Shen Song.

"Your Cyan Emperor Longevity Skill is already mastered; this thing isn't nutritious, the nutrition is all in the cones, absorbing it won't do much."

"Squeak!!!" The Pine Leaf Mouse protested.

While it argued with Elder Shen Song, Lin Jing had already entered the cave dwelling, holding a pine cone, eager to test it with the Dragon Carp.

At this moment, the Dragon Carp was resting and gathering strength in the Hundred Beasts Cauldron. Upon Lin Jing's arrival, it suddenly leaped out, its eyes flashing.

Is it starting?

The Dragon Carp had been waiting a long time for this day.

Because Lin Jing had said, once the Longevity Foundation Establishment Pill for the Pine Leaf Mouse was completed, he would begin researching the Dragon Transformation Foundation Establishment Pill for the Dragon Carp, based on the Dragon Ascending Pill and the Longevity Foundation Establishment Pill.

In other words, the Pine Leaf Mouse was just a test subject for the Dragon Carp.

When it established its foundation through the transformation, it would become stronger.

As a proud member of the Dragon Race, the Dragon Carp could not allow itself to be the lowest in strength and status amongst the three pet beasts.

"Materials are ready, let's start."

Lin Jing's eyes burned as he stared at the Hundred Beasts Cauldron, taking a deep breath, then brought out the nine ingredients for the Longevity Foundation Establishment Pill, carefully preparing them one by one.

He waved his arm, and the storage bag pulsed briefly.

First bottle, Longevity Blood.

Second bottle, Foundation Establishment Spirit Liquid.

Third item, 500-year-old Spirit Ginseng.

Fourth item, Parasite Grass.

Fifth item, Pine Leaf Mouse's Life-bound Red Leaf.

Sixth item...

Until the ninth item, Elder Shen Song's Pine Cone!

"Start refining, I'll control the temperature." As Lin Jing spoke, the Hundred Beasts Cauldron was covered in flames, Dragon Flame surged inside, and the Dragon Carp breathed fire, while he first threw the Spirit Ginseng into the cauldron, intending to extract the essence using the most common flame refinement method in alchemy.

Spirit Ginseng... Parasite Grass... Life-bound Red Leaf... Lin Jing formed a hand sign, infusing his mind into the flames, meticulously extracting the plant essences, removing impurities and filth.

Until the most difficult task with Elder Shen Song's Pine Cone, they completed it without any unexpected incidents, perfectly refining the essences of all the plant materials and placing them carefully in containers.

Lin Jing wiped the sweat from his forehead; essence refinement was the simplest step in the alchemical process. He used the Hidden Dragon fortune to enhance his alchemy capabilities and increase the potential of the Dragon Carp; if they made mistakes at this stage, there'd be no point in continuing.

"Next is the mixing and ratio adjustment!" Lin Jing looked at the collected plant essences.

This step required mixing the refined plant powders or spiritual liquids according to a set formula. It was an original pill recipe, and Lin Jing, drawing on others' experiences, only had a rough direction. Quickly, he mixed the nine extracts—whether liquid, blood, or powder—forming a fist-sized paste.

The next step was the most crucial; Lin Jing put the paste into the cauldron, beginning the final refinement and fusion process. With appropriate alchemical techniques, he used high heat to allow the materials to fully react and merge into a pill!

"Fire Dragon Spews Pearl!"

Inside the cauldron, the jumping flames were like a divine dragon, completely swallowing various materials; the lifelike flaming dragon head constantly compressed and bit down, it was one of the multiple alchemical techniques from the alchemist books in the library, most suitable for dragon-type beast fire—the Fire Dragon Spews Pearl!

This fire control technique was a composite third-grade alchemical hand method, extremely difficult to operate, combining multiple lower-level fire control techniques. Although complex, it was very versatile and could handle various situations.

Outside.

The Pine Leaf Mouse and Elder Shen Song had disputed for a whole day and night without any result. Accompanied by a "boom," they simultaneously turned to look inside the cave dwelling.

"Hehe." Elder Shen Song chuckled and said, "Seems like the first refining attempt ended in a furnace explosion failure."

Lin Jing and the Dragon Carp emerged from the cave dwelling covered in burns.

"During the process, I found issues with the ratio adjustment. I'll try again afterwards." Lin Jing was distressed by the materials but resigned to the result.

For an original pill being refined for the first time, success was very hard to achieve. Lin Jing wasn't disheartened; there was still a chance.

In the following days, Lin Jing and the Dragon Carp kept experimenting, often accompanied by the "boom" of furnace explosions from the cave dwelling.

Failure, improvement, failure, improvement...

The Pine Leaf Mouse constantly guarded outside the cave dwelling, deeply concerned. After all, Lin Jing and the Dragon Carp were preparing the Foundation Establishment Pill for it. Witnessing their repeated failures and injuries, the Pine Leaf Mouse even considered simply trying to establish its foundation directly!

Given its current base, it could attempt to break through the foundation establishment easily.

However, it understood that Lin Jing sought more than a typical foundation establishment; he wanted it to gain a more perfect lineage through the Foundation Establishment Pill.

They had been striving for this for over three years, now just one step away... abandoning was not an option.

The Pine Leaf Mouse could only hope that Lin Jing and the Dragon Carp would succeed soon, and pray that through the Longevity Foundation Establishment Pill, it could indeed be reborn, and then offer some aid to Lin Jing and the Dragon Carp.

In the blink of an eye, another month passed.

During this period, dragon roars often emanated from the cave dwelling, though they ultimately tended to be followed by furnace explosions. At Elder Shen Song's place, the Pine Leaf Mouse stayed, constantly peddling its various odd spirit plants, hoping to barter some treasures.

However, in these three years, the Pine Leaf Mouse mainly synthesized first-grade mutant plants, which were mostly only useful to those in the Qi Cultivation Stage. Never mind Elder Shen Song, even for themselves, ninety-nine percent of them were useless synthesized items.

"You've hoarded so much garbage, dreaming of trading treasures from me, how naive." Elder Shen Song was not fooled at all, then suddenly sensed a fragrance wafting from the cave dwelling...

"On the seventh attempt, did the pill succeed?"

"Hahahahaha..." Meanwhile, laughter broke out from the cave dwelling, Lin Jing's laugh was both relieving and slightly bittersweet, causing Elder Shen Song to sigh at the young man's talent...

"Elder Shen Song, the pill is successful!"

"Please, Elder, test the medicine!!!"