Chapter 58: Celestial Demon Sect
Dragon Transformation Blood Pool.
With Lin Jing and the mosquito beasts here, no one could contest with the Dragon Palace, and over time, only the people of the Dragon Palace remained, no outsiders.
Soaking in the Demon Emperor's Blood, the Dragon Palace members saw a significant increase in cultivation, with most people just one step away from mid-Stage Foundation Establishment.
Their dragon blood pet beasts benefited even more, with almost all early-stage Foundation Establishment dragon blood pet beasts breaking through to mid-Stage Foundation Establishment.
The most outrageous change was the mosquito swarm; they laid egg after egg in the blood pool. Although it made the Dragon Palace members' scalp tingle with fear, they were reluctant to leave.
By absorbing the nourishment of the dragon blood, within moments, hundreds of mosquito eggs descended. Although not yet hatched, the mosquito swarm's expansion was unstoppable.
"This can't continue." Even Lin Jing felt they could not allow this reproduction to go on.
He could suppress a few hundred mosquito beasts with the Ten Thousand Beasts Circle combined with his Beast Taming Body, but with thousands, he feared an ordinary Ten Thousand Beasts Circle wouldn't suffice.
The Ten Thousand Beasts Circle was merely a low-grade magical treasure; unless its quality reached medium-grade, Lin Jing felt controlling a few hundred mosquito beasts was already the limit!
"Need to quickly feed a batch to the dragon carp..." Lin Jing thought to himself, suddenly lifting his head slightly, only to see the Squirrel Spirit returning with a vine in its mouth.
"Squeak squeak squeak!!!"
The Squirrel Spirit emitted a tense and stimulating cry from afar, making everyone in the Dragon Palace turn their heads in unison, only to be dumbfounded by the sight.
On the vine was a heap of storage bags and many magical treasures that had been refined and couldn't be stored in spatial storage anymore.
"Damn! Too much soaking, seems like the blood got into the brain." Xu Zhizhi exclaimed upon seeing this; wasn't Lin Jing supposed to send the Squirrel Spirit to check out the fierce plants on the eastern mountain peak??
This squirrel... how did it bring back a bunch of storage bags and magical treasures!
The Squirrel Spirit landed, and with a gaze shared with Lin Jing, all became clear, prompting a helpless smile from Lin Jing.
He directly transferred ninety percent of his True Qi to the Squirrel Spirit.
With a solid mana foundation, the Squirrel Spirit's state improved considerably, and it dared to gulp down pills, its gaze ferociously charging back into action!!
"Don't go too far, just drive them back and return." Lin Jing advised, "Our Beast Taming Sect already has a bad reputation, we should leave a good impression on everyone."
Behind them, geniuses who initially chased the Squirrel Spirit aimed to reclaim the resources it snatched once its True Essence was depleted. Yet as they pursued, the Squirrel Spirit returned with renewed vigor, showing no signs of its previous weakness.
"Run!!!"
Seeing the Squirrel Spirit's ferocious gaze, the group of geniuses turned and fled, fearing more of their resources would be seized.
Above the sea of clouds, the academy instructors watching the scene were at a loss for words. Even if word got out, it would be hard for people to believe that the geniuses of various major forces were now being chased across the mountains by a Squirrel Spirit, their expressions filled with dread.
"This autumn hunt… truly broadened my horizons." The Celestial Regret Flower of the Celestial Secret Tower remarked, "It seems the geniuses still studying at the academy are at a loss against this Lin Jing. That Liu-named genius appears to have given up pursuing… one wonders what he sensed on that pine cone."
Cao Zhiwei also felt deeply, but thinking about how Lin Jing had a Grass and Wood Divinity Transformation Venerable secretly guiding him, he felt relieved.
Even supreme geniuses from Divinity Transformation level forces rarely have a Divinity Transformation Venerable personally protecting their path.
"Although judging by his bone age, it seems he's soon going to exceed thirty years old." The Celestial Regret Flower said, "If he achieves Foundation Establishment himself, there's definitely a chance he could rank in the top five of the Hero List."
"If he falls from the list just for being over thirty without entering the top few, it would be a pity."
"Gentlemen, after the autumn hunt, maybe you can have a discussion with Lin Jing. If he can achieve Foundation Establishment before turning thirty, the Celestial Secret Tower wouldn't mind offering him an opportunity, a chance to train in the Secret Technique of the Hidden Dragon and gain fame."
"The Hero List of recent years has been stagnant; it's time for some movement."
Cao Zhiwei immediately said, "Thank you, sir. After the autumn hunt, I will go and have a discussion with Lin Jing."
...…
Soon after, the Squirrel Spirit returned with another pile of resources, leaving the members of the Dragon Palace in awe.
Was the Squirrel Spirit treating the other academy students as beasts of the Cangmang Mountain Range to hunt?
"Brother Lin, this, this, this..."
Xu Zhizhi knew the evolved Squirrel Spirit was formidable, but to this extent, he was truly frightened. After all, his philosophy in office was to keep enemies few and friends many.
However, this wave of action by the Squirrel Spirit almost directly made the Dragon Palace the academy's public enemy, and Xu Zhizhi was fearful.
"It's alright." Lin Jing knew what Xu Zhizhi was worried about. He looked at the extremely pleased Squirrel Spirit and smiled, saying, "A sect with no strength has no diplomacy, the weak will be bullied, but after showing strength, the Dragon Palace's situation can only improve."
"Alright then." Xu Zhizhi thought Lin Jing wasn't without reason.
"And besides, a significant portion of these things will be returned." Lin Jing said, "Those refined treasures are too troublesome to reforge, and some things of personal importance to the cultivators should be returned. Just leave the spirit stones, pills, and talismans."
He looked at a painting that the Squirrel Spirit held with a puzzled expression.
The painting depicted a stunning fairy, without clothes, a possession of some academy student for sure. Lin Jing shook his head, assuming it's something incredibly precious to its owner, deciding to return it.
"Alright." Xu Zhizhi breathed a sigh of relief, it seemed the Palace Master was still considerate and sensible.
"You handle it then. Anyone who wants to redeem their treasures should come to you with some spirit stones."
Xu Zhizhi: ???
"There's a cost? If you want me to get beaten to death, just say so."
Lin Jing smiled without speaking, entrusting the task entirely to Xu Zhizhi, as a way to test Brother Xu's abilities…
After Xu Zhizhi despondently returned to the blood pool, Gao Sheng emerged, finding soaking in the blood pool incredibly dull, not as effective as his own medicinal baths back home.
He sidled up next to Lin Jing, quietly communicating, "Brother Lin, you're incredible. Speaking of which, your pet beast reaching Foundation Establishment also counts as your Foundation Establishment, right? After the autumn hunt, should we consider teaming up to crack some cases?"
Lin Jing, meditating to recover True Qi, threw Gao Sheng an eye-roll; was this guy still interested in solving cases.
"What case?" Lin Jing sighed.
Gao Sheng had helped him so much; if the case was simple and safe…
"Remember what I mentioned before, about the previously destroyed premier Demon Sect of the continent, the Celestial Demon Sect!"
"This cold case is about the Celestial Demon Sect Leader's mysterious identity; there's no trace of him on the Celestial Essence Continent. He's like someone who crossed from a subordinate realm of another Immortal Realm force, not from this continent!"
"If we can find conclusive evidence that he's an Outer Celestial Demon, even my family's Divinity Transformation Venerable could get promoted."
"In the empty domain, there's a Celestial Demon Sect relic!"
"You go take a bath first." Lin Jing was sweating; he had known that investigating with this guy would lead to no good.