Jia Ma Empire, Stone Desert City.
"Are these Magical Beast Magic Cores? Why did Young Master Xiao Lin give Qing Lin these things?"
The girl in green lowered her head to examine the three Tier 2 Magic Cores of different colors in her hands, a trace of puzzlement appearing on her delicate, adorable oval face.
Although this was her first time seeing Magic Cores, for some reason, she felt an inexplicable attraction to them.
They were the Magic Cores of three Tier 2 Magical Beasts: a Venom-Spitting Snake, a Rock-Armored Snake, and a Gale-Winged Snake.
They radiated purple, brown, and green crystalline light respectively, reflecting brilliant colors in Qing Lin's eyes and making her feel a little nervous despite herself.
Beside her stood a young man in green robes, a smile at his lips, his handsome features seemingly blessed by heaven.
He was one of Xiao Lin's Heavenly Dao Avatars.
Several years ago, Xiao Lin had formed an avatar here and, relying on his familiarity with Xiao Ding and Xiao Li, "asked" the brothers to give him this little maid with her lonely, miserable background.
He would visit Qing Lin occasionally, using Heavenly Dao energy to cleanse the meridians of her frail body and regulate the somewhat chaotic energy caused by her mixed blood.
Over time, the two had grown extremely close. Qing Lin was no longer timid or fearful before Xiao Lin, becoming more and more like an obedient little girl from next door.
"Do you remember the ability you first awakened before?"
Xiao Lin smiled and rubbed her head. A strand of gentle energy quietly seeped from his fingertips, calming the blood and energy stirred up by her nervousness.
"Yes, Qing Lin remembers."
She nodded lightly, stroking the small green snake in her arms, whose entire body was cool to the touch. Certainty flashed in her large, limpid eyes.
Half a year earlier, she had strangely encountered an attack from a Tier 2 Magical Beast, a Jade Phosphorous Serpent, during an outing.
Although Xiao Lin's gentle nourishment of her meridians had allowed Qing Lin to condense a qi cyclone and become a Dou Zhe early, she had been timid since childhood and was certainly no match for a Tier 2 Magical Beast at the time.
Just as the Jade Phosphorous Serpent flew straight at her face, about to bare its sharp fangs and bite, Qing Lin felt her mind fall into a daze.
Amid a shrill, piercing scream, her pale green eyes, clear and translucent as green jade, seemed to erupt with an intense, eerie light that instantly enveloped the Jade Phosphorous Serpent before her.
After an unknown stretch of hazy confusion, Qing Lin found herself waking in Xiao Lin's arms.
The Jade Phosphorous Serpent from before was no longer savage or vicious. Instead, it had become exceptionally docile-the very same little green snake she now held.
Taking the wind attribute Magic Core from Qing Lin's hand, Xiao Lin held it and gently sensed it. He vaguely felt his hand become slightly lighter, as though even the speed of his punches could increase a little.
"Can Qing Lin tell which snake Magical Beasts the Magic Cores in your hands came from?"
Tossing the crystal worth several hundred gold coins in his hand, Xiao Lin paid it little mind. Instead, he looked at Little Qing Lin's earnest expression beside him and smiled faintly.
"What a beautiful crystal core... This Magical Beast's scales must have been a deep, dusky purple when it was alive."
"As for this one, it must have been really big-a huge python. Qing Lin doesn't know why, but it definitely feels that way!"
After sniffing the Venom-Spitting Snake's Magic Core, Qing Lin turned to look at the Rock-Armored Snake's remains. Her brows furrowed beneath her fair forehead in a rare show of concentration, her bright, large eyes blinking as though she were thinking.
Without disturbing Qing Lin, Xiao Lin toyed with the Gale-Winged Snake's Magic Core. His gaze shifted, and he tentatively began pouring a little Dou Qi into it.
As the energy flowed in, several faint wisps of breeze began to appear around the crystal.
It also began emitting trembling fluctuations, flickering with pale green light as energy spun rapidly around Xiao Lin.
"No wonder they can enhance weapons. They really are useful."
His eyes widening slightly, Xiao Lin felt how incredibly light his arm had become and could not help voicing his admiration.
"Ah!"
The sudden change in Dou Qi on Xiao Lin's side seemed to startle Qing Lin, who had been concentrating on sensing the cores. She cried out involuntarily and accidentally landed on her bottom.
Xiao Lin paused briefly at the sight, then laughed and reached out to help the timid Qing Lin up.
But the instant his palm touched Qing Lin, Xiao Lin suddenly sensed something amiss. Even if the fluctuations he had produced had frightened her, surely her body should not be shaking this badly?
Before Xiao Lin could lift her into his arms, a sudden change occurred!
As Qing Lin's body trembled slightly, three tiny green dots abruptly appeared beside her jade-green pupils!
Like three tiny flower buds, those green dots suddenly blazed with eerie light, then transformed into three exceedingly small green flowers!
As those strange green flowers appeared, a powerful beam of eerie light abruptly shot out from them, striking the brown Magic Core directly!
"Hiss... Hiss!"
A chilling sound rang out, and Xiao Lin's gaze sharpened slightly.
The Magic Core before him suddenly erupted with brown light, then transformed into an enormous phantom that rushed into the courtyard. A great snake as thick as a human head slowly took shape, filling the little courtyard in an instant!
"This is..."
Watching the earthen-brown Magical Beast flick its tongue incessantly in his courtyard, Xiao Lin froze briefly, then raised an eyebrow as a faint smile curled his lips.
"The energy and remnant soul left in the Magic Core were summoned?"
Before Xiao Lin could examine it further, a scarlet gleam flashed through the snake Magical Beast's slit pupils. As though sensing a threat, it opened its bloody maw and revealed its savage nature, then lunged toward Xiao Lin!
"It seems to have only thirty to fifty percent of the original's strength..."
Murmuring softly, Xiao Lin remained utterly unruffled, seeing through the creature's true nature at a glance.
Just as the Rock-Armored Snake's phantom was about to pounce, Xiao Lin lightly extended a finger and touched the Magical Beast's forehead.
An invisible ripple flowed out, and the phantom froze instantly. Its enormous body collapsed like a small mountain, then dissolved into motes of light and vanished without a trace.
"It seems to retain some of its intelligence, too. Not bad."
At the same time, the brown Magic Core before Qing Lin seemed to have been drained of all its power, instantly becoming dull and lifeless.
Yet before Xiao Lin could continue observing, the other Magic Core beside it, a dusky purple one, began to shine as well!
Unlike the Rock-Armored Snake's Magic Core, however, this venom-filled crystal did not summon the snake's remnant soul as before. Instead, because Qing Lin's condition was unstable, its energy boiled up and it exploded without warning!
Bang!
The Magic Core disintegrated, and a great cloud of purple mist carrying a suffocating, fetid stench immediately began spreading around Qing Lin!
Surprised by the sight, Xiao Lin reached out, caught Qing Lin by the back of her collar, and pulled her out, leaving that area behind in the blink of an eye.
After glancing at Qing Lin, who seemed somewhat dazed but apparently unaffected by the poisonous gas, Xiao Lin finally relaxed. An unusual gleam began to rise in his eyes.
His original intention in bringing out these snake Magic Cores had been to let Qing Lin familiarize herself with her already awakened Triple Jade-Green Snake Flower Pupils, laying a foundation for controlling snake Magical Beasts later. He had never expected to make a new discovery!
"The abilities of the Triple Jade-Green Snake Flower Pupils still need exploring..."
"Mm... W-what happened to me?"
"Just now..."
Qing Lin opened her eyes, feeling her body go weak and her head grow somewhat heavy. As her awareness gradually returned, she could not help asking Xiao Lin.
"Did I do something wrong?"
Looking at the great cloud of purple mist in the courtyard not far away, Qing Lin could not help feeling afraid. She gazed at Xiao Lin with watery eyes.
"It's all right. Qing Lin is very impressive." Xiao Lin smiled and shook his head.
"If this venomous snake were still alive, it would be a perfect match for Xiao Yi Xian."
"Hm? Who's Xiao Yi Xian? How come Qing Lin has never heard of her?"
Looking timidly at Xiao Lin and seeing that he was not annoyed by the strange incident she had caused, Qing Lin's alarm quickly faded.
Then she stuck out her tongue and tilted her little head, as though a tiny question mark hung above it.
Raising a hand to press down that invisible question mark, Xiao Lin casually rubbed her little head and said softly:
"You'll meet her. With this ability of yours, she'll definitely like you when she sees you."
"Oh, I see. That's wonderful!"
Watching Qing Lin stand up and bounce with delight, Xiao Lin smiled and shook his head, but something seemed to come to mind.
Eye techniques.
The world has countless strange and wondrous eyes, but there is only one that is truly the strongest...
At that thought, something seemed to stir faintly within Xiao Lin's bright, pitch-black eyes.
A strange light flickered in those eyes, and his original two pupils slowly became four!
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