Rewards

Outer Sect, Mechanism Workshop.

Elder Yu stood inside, looking at the spirit bamboo still scattered across the floor, and sighed.

"Elder Yu, something terrible has happened!" An Immortal Crane flew over.

"What is it? Why are you so flustered?" Elder Yu frowned at the approaching Heavenly Feather Crane.

"The Bamboo Mechanical Dragon you made has been smashed!" the Heavenly Feather Crane reported.

"It was Outer Gate Disciple Lin Jing and his Pineleaf Squirrel."

After the Heavenly Feather Crane finished, Elder Yu snorted. "Is that worth getting flustered over?"

"It means that under my guidance, the Outer Gate Disciples are becoming more and more outstanding!"

"There's another bamboo dragon over there. Take it over, then summon Lin Jing and his companion here. I'll reward them personally!" Elder Yu pointed at the spare Bamboo Mechanical Dragon in the corner.

"Huh?" The Immortal Crane froze, feeling that something was off.

Elder Yu had always treasured the Mechanical Beasts he made. Now that one of his Mechanical Beasts had been smashed by an Outer Gate Disciple who was at a lower cultivation level, how could he remain so breezily unconcerned?

Something was fishy-definitely fishy. With a suspicious look, the Heavenly Feather Crane carried away the new bamboo dragon.

Meanwhile, Elder Yu inwardly rejoiced. Fortunately, Elder Mo had given him a heads-up, allowing him to learn in advance how extraordinary this Longevity Body was. Otherwise, he certainly would not have stayed calm upon hearing that the bamboo dragon he made had been blown apart.

Now, although one bamboo dragon had been wrecked, at least he had been mentally prepared. Moreover, he had even made use of this!

Since he knew the Longevity Body and the Mutant Pineleaf Squirrel had a chance of defeating the bamboo dragon, he could use the final reward to steer the Longevity Body toward learning his Mechanical Beast Art!

Within the Beast Taming Sect, aside from the Longevity Body, who had so much time on his hands he hardly knew what to do with it, probably nobody else... would be willing to learn the Mechanical Beast Art he had painstakingly developed!

Now that he had found a promising seedling, he felt he could sound out Lin Jing's attitude toward Mechanism Art!

In the central plaza, after Lin Jing completed the challenge and even wrecked the Bamboo Mechanical Dragon, the disciples stared at him in astonishment.

"No wonder Elder Yu was willing to give him special treatment. This guy... definitely didn't enter the sect through the normal channels. He must be a genius some elder found among the common folk! Most likely, he has a special cultivation physique!" Senior Brother Ziran, who had once worked at the Mission Hall, tightened his grip on the novel in his hand, finally understanding what was going on.

"Now I remember. When I was tending the Harvest Pavilion, they seemed to have bought some spirit plant seeds." Senior Sister Caixin, one of the outer sect's top three disciples, also remembered Lin Jing. Yet she found it hard to imagine that the junior brother who had been so strapped for cash he could not even afford the droppings of a Foundation Establishment Realm Spirit Beast was actually this formidable.

Of course, the most speechless of all was the outer sect's current number one. Recalling the praise others had heaped on him earlier, a shy flush crossed his dark face. He thought that the Beast Taming Sect truly deserved its place among the Great Wilderness Region's top sects. Even the outer sect harbored crouching tigers and hidden dragons. The Beast Arena... perhaps this fellow did not even think it worth visiting.

Having burst into the sight of the Outer Gate Disciples, Lin Jing now clearly possessed the strength of the "new outer sect number one" in everyone's eyes.

Not only was his Pineleaf Squirrel highly accomplished in the Flying Leaf Technique, but the Beast Tamer himself, still at the second layer of Qi Refining... was actually proficient in the Object-Controlling Art as well. Truly impressive.

"Say, with flying leaves that fast and powerful, could someone at the second layer of Qi Refining really use the Object-Controlling Art to change their attack paths so smoothly without weakening the Flying Leaf Technique? Even my Phoenix-Tailed Chicken doesn't lay eggs as smoothly as they work together!"

"Does that count as a 'combination spell'?"

Returning after gathering the Red Leaves, the Pineleaf Squirrel heard everyone's astonished discussion and desperately wanted to say that it had been controlling the Red Flying Leaves itself all along!

Lin Jing... had merely copied the Object-Controlling Art gestures from miscellaneous books to give himself a little sense of participation. In truth, his sole role throughout had been to carry the Red Flying Leaves and Spirit Beans Bombs that it could not easily carry itself.

"Congratulations, Junior Brother..." Although he was astonished too, Senior Brother Fang Yonghao now had more of a headache than anything else. He had no idea how to explain this to Elder Yu. Even as an inner sect disciple, this was his first time seeing such an absurd junior brother from the outer sect... He felt that even the few disciples with special physiques who had already become True Disciples probably had not been as outrageous as this Junior Brother Lin Jing when they were at the second layer of Qi Refining.

"Senior Brother Fang, we should be able to collect the reward directly now, right?" In the end, Lin Jing had chosen the highest-tier mechanism reward and abandoned the idea of controlling his score. More skills were never a burden. Besides, over the past two days, he had already memorized almost all of the Complete Compendium of Flora kept in the Outer Sect Scripture Pavilion.

As for gaining access to true alchemy and refining pills, as far as he knew, he would have to enter the inner sect first. He and the Pineleaf Squirrel still had some time to get through before then, and they might as well make use of it.

"Probably..." Before Fang Yonghao could finish, a shadow suddenly appeared overhead. An Immortal Crane carrying an enormous Bamboo Mechanical Dragon circled in the sky and called out:

"The Dragon-Vying Beast-Battling Event will continue. Outer Gate Disciple Lin Jing, proceed to the Mechanism Workshop now to collect your event reward."

After it finished speaking, Lin Jing acknowledged the message and left with the Pineleaf Squirrel. Watching his retreating figure, everyone knew he was about to soar into the heavens. Even if Elder Yu's Mechanism Art fell short of the sect's beast-taming arts, what it was being compared against... was the complete beast-taming art taught to True Disciples. The ordinary Beast Taming Art practiced by inner and Outer Gate Disciples was merely a stripped-down foundation. Before they switched to a higher-tier cultivation method, it certainly could not compare to Elder Yu's Mechanism Art.

Whatever else might be said, it was a craft capable of producing Foundation Establishment Realm Mechanical Beasts!

"Competition for True Disciple positions is fierce enough already, and soon another monster will enter the inner sect. I wonder what those beasts in the inner sect will think when they hear about this." Senior Brother Fang shook his head and continued hosting the event.

After receiving the Heavenly Feather Crane's message, Lin Jing quickly made his way to the Mechanism Workshop.

Inside the workshop, Elder Yu's brows and whiskers danced as he saw Lin Jing and the Pineleaf Squirrel arrive. "You little rascal, have you two gotten addicted to tearing bamboo apart? You were ruthless with the bamboo grove, and just as ruthless with the bamboo dragon!"

As he finished, he glanced at the remaining spirit bamboo piled behind him, drawing Lin Jing's gaze toward it and making both Lin Jing and the Pineleaf Squirrel blush with embarrassment.

"Outer Gate Disciple Lin Jing pays his respects to Elder Yu."

"Squeak!"

"Elder, the Bamboo Mechanical Dragon you made was protected by spirit flames. If the Pineleaf Squirrel kept attacking its exterior with flying leaves, it would have been like a mantis trying to stop a chariot. We could only attack through the dragon's mouth... Who knew..."

"Enough, no need to explain. Being able to successfully destroy the internal mechanisms with spells available at the Qi Refining stage is a testament to your strength."

"This Mechanism Soul Core and my Mechanical Beast-Making Insights will be your reward."

With that, Elder Yu took out the grand prize he had already prepared and generously handed it to Lin Jing.

The Mechanism Soul Core was white throughout and shaped like a Luban puzzle lock, while his insights into Mechanism Art had been compiled into a thick book.

"Thank you, Elder Yu." Lin Jing accepted the rewards, only for Elder Yu to continue:

"By the way, I have no use for the extra bamboo you harvested. Spirit bamboo is a fairly basic mechanism material, so take it back with you. Once you've grasped the basics of Mechanism Art, you can use it as material to get some hands-on practice."

"Of course, Mechanism Art is very difficult, so you probably won't be able to get started quickly. Let me think... If you can successfully make a Mechanical Beast that moves, whether it's useful or not, I'll grant you one wish, so long as it isn't unreasonable!"