Immortal through Beast Taming

Autumn hunt.

It's one of the few activities besides regular classes at the academy.

Every autumn hunt usually takes place three to four years after new students enter the academy.

And now, the new autumn hunt of Hidden Dragon Academy is approaching.

Many talents who decided to participate in the autumn hunt have started purchasing pills and magic treasures.

During the autumn hunt, there are no restrictions, and participants can use any power they can control.

Pills… magic treasures… puppets… traps… pet beasts are also included.

However, since the autumn hunt is merely a stage for gaining fame without rankings or valuable rewards, students won't bring in something like a Nascent Soul Demon King from their distinguished background or sect that they cannot control to assist themselves.

Even if they perform brilliantly in the autumn hunt, the academy's teachers are not blind, and the world is not foolish; one can easily tell that this power doesn't belong to you.

In that case, it would not create prestige but instead lead to ridicule. Any talented person allowed into the academy has some lineage, so such opportunistic techniques are naturally looked down upon.

Of course, if it's normal Beast Taming, carrying a mount is still recognized, as Beast Taming is among the many arts of cultivation.

And this time, the Dragon Palace has decided that everyone will bring their pet beasts to participate in the autumn hunt.

"With the autumn hunt approaching, hasn't Lin Jing come out of seclusion yet? Is he at Foundation Establishment?" Xu Zhizhi, the acting head of the Dragon Palace, came to Lin Jing's cave residence and found that the mountain protection barrier was still activated, sighing.

Although given Lin Jing's current fame, it doesn't matter whether he joins the autumn hunt or not, this time the autumn hunt is the Dragon Palace's first collective outing, and it would lose some significance without Lin Jing, the leader, participating.

This is the fifth time this month Xu Zhizhi has passed by Lin Jing's cave residence...

Just as Xu Zhizhi was about to leave again, suddenly, with a "buzz," the array barrier enveloping the entire mountain dissipated, and Xu Zhizhi was stunned, his expression suddenly changing.

Divine Sense spread inside the mountain, and Xu Zhizhi felt as if he was being watched by a great terror, his heart stopped beating, cold sweat drenching both sides of his face; fortunately, this state didn't last long, as a silhouette slowly flew out from the mountain, and he recovered.

It was Lin Jing.

In addition to Lin Jing, there was the Song Ye Mouse on his shoulder.

"Brother Lin, you…" Xu Zhizhi saw Lin Jing, taking a deep breath. In his perception, Lin Jing was still at the Qi Cultivation Stage fluctuations, so during this period, Lin Jing wasn't in seclusion for Foundation Establishment.

He looked at the slightly changed appearance of Song Ye Mouse, shocked internally, quite certain that the terrifying aura just now emanated from this mouse.

This mouse... broke through!

After breaking through, just its aura gave him, a cultivator of the same level, a deadly sense of oppression, as if prey being watched by a hunter.

The bloodline strength of this mouse… how much has it improved?!

Xu Zhizhi couldn't judge it, so he didn't bother to speculate; after all, Lin Jing had practiced the Hidden Dragon Secret Technique, whatever increase in strength they had would ultimately reveal itself.

"You've finally come out, still not at Foundation Establishment…" Although Lin Jing's pet beast seemed to have broken through, Xu Zhizhi, as a traditional cultivator, was more concerned with Lin Jing's own cultivation.

"Almost there." Lin Jing replied with a smile, Xu Zhizhi probably hadn't noticed that he had reached the eleventh level of Qi Cultivation, or else he wouldn't have said that.

Compared to Foundation Establishment, adding levels within the Qi Cultivation Stage is much more interesting.

If it weren't for the limitation on the number of contracts, Lin Jing really wanted to contract tens of thousands of pet beasts, allowing them to amplify him to "ninety thousand layers of Qi Cultivation," just to see what that realm would look like.

"Then for this year's autumn hunt…?"

"I will participate too." Lin Jing responded, not concerned about how many strong senior students would be in the autumn hunt, glancing at the contemplative Song Ye Mouse on his shoulder; with this little guy, unless a top ten super genius of the Human Hero List comes, otherwise, with Song Ye Mouse's current power, it should be able to handle them.

"Great!" Xu Zhizhi smiled happily: "I'm relieved then."

"Although the resources obtainable in the autumn hunt aren't particularly precious, they are quite decent for us Foundation Establishment cultivators; with you participating, the overall strength of the Dragon Palace group can be stronger, allowing us to acquire more resources."

"No problem." With Lin Jing's precise confirmation, Xu Zhizhi left satisfied.

After Xu Zhizhi left, Lin Jing looked at the Song Ye Mouse on his shoulder and asked, "Shouldn't you be happy about the breakthrough? Why the puzzled look?"

"Squeak…" Song Ye Mouse scratched its head; although it should indeed be happy with such immense power, after evolving, it vaguely sensed a kind of bloodline connection with Elder Shen Song.

This feeling was like seeing a mother.

"The Longevity Foundation Establishment Pill contains Elder Shen Song's bloodline power, it's normal for you to feel that way." Lin Jing explained: "Elder Shen Song is kindly like a parent to us, helping us greatly; when Elder Shen Song is nearing the end of life, you should remember to take care of it in retirement..."

"Squeak!" Song Ye Mouse clenched its fist, its gaze firmly nodding; alright, for the sake of pine cones, although Elder Shen Song didn't give it saplings to consume, it would ignore past grievances and take care of Elder Shen Song in its retirement.

"Scram!" A voice of Elder Shen Song rang from inside the mountain, irritated: "Who will live longer between us is yet undecided; I hope, a hundred years later when I leave, when we meet again, you all still live."

"Longevity Body, Longevity Body, for so long, I've never heard of any Longevity Body who truly lived long."

"We will." Lin Jing laughed, in a good mood. He and Song Ye Mouse returned to the mountain; due to Xu Zhizhi's sudden arrival, they had yet to conduct the most crucial experiment!

During its Qi Cultivation Stage, Song Ye Mouse could only synthesize first-grade spirit plants; it couldn't synthesize second-grade like the blood vine at all.

Now that Song Ye Mouse had finally reached Foundation Establishment, its power greatly increased; could it synthesize second-grade plants?

During three years, Song Ye Mouse synthesized many first-grade plants, but they were mainly useful in the Qi Cultivation Stage, like exploding spirit beans and blue spirit bamboo.

Who knew that purple Dragon Bone Flower and black pepper were already the pinnacle of first-grade synthesis effects, with no resources stronger than these two appearing.

Luckily, Lin Jing discovered a new path, integrating these low-grade synthesis into pill formulas, offering them fresh uses; whether it's Dragon Ascending Pill or Longevity Foundation Establishment Pill, these exclusive formulas of Lin Jing employed unique materials, making them hard for others to replicate.

"If it can synthesize second-grade plants, Song Ye Mouse's power… could further enhance!"

Lin Jing pulled out clusters of blood vine from the floating gourd, all cultivated by Song Ye Mouse over the years.

"Squeak!"

Song Ye Mouse understood Lin Jing's intention, leaping down from his shoulder, gazing confidently at the blood vine spread on the ground.

In the next instant, a clover symbol appeared in its pupils, spinning wildly, Glazed Immortal Pupil beaming with boundless brilliance; under the golden-green light, the blood vine quickly vanished from the ground!

The deep green blood vine soon transformed into a small cluster of blood-colored vines, curling in a corner.

"Successfully done." Lin Jing rejoiced.

Meanwhile.

Through Glazed Immortal Pupil, Song Ye Mouse discerned the effect of the blood vine, quickly conveying it to Lin Jing.

[Containing demonic traits, the blood vine can absorb the blood of demon beasts whose grade does not exceed its own, then coalesce into corresponding Blood Demon Beasts.]

Song Ye Mouse:!

Lin Jing:?

"What blood demon power."