Elder, I Want to Learn the Mechanism Art

"They're out!"

As the Beast Taming Sect disciples returned safely, Elder Black Bear, dressed in a Daoist robe, let out a holler.

"They're all still alive! No people dead, no beasts dead, and not a single arm or leg missing," he continued.

"I told you that lad Lin Jing could do it!"

"It's good that everyone's back." Elder Yu and Elder Mo sighed in relief, then smiled.

Regardless of whether they had gained anything, returning safely from this Grotto Heaven venture was valuable experience in itself!

"Why... don't any of you show signs of fighting?" Among the elders, Elder Li swept his gaze over them and asked, "Which Grotto Heaven did you enter?"

"Did you give up on competing for the opportunities?"

Every disciple was far too clean. Even a trip to the dining hall might leave a splash of soup on their clothes, yet they had visited a Grotto Heaven and looked as though nothing had happened.

Elder Li could not help suspecting that his sect's disciples had merely gone through the motions.

He turned to Lin Jing, the central figure in this Grotto Heaven incident.

Faced with Elder Li's questions, Lin Jing took a deep breath, still somewhat dazed. His mind remained full of the workings of Myriad Transformations. They truly had been engraved in his memory.

"Ahem." Without the Golden Bodhi Tree's enhancement, Lin Jing felt that his brain had slowed considerably, and he was not quite used to it yet.

"Elder Li, we entered the Bodhi Grotto-Heaven, and we did not give up on competing for the opportunities," he answered.

"The Bodhi Grotto-Heaven? The one with three Bodhi Trees?" Elder Li paused in surprise. "Did you secure any?"

"We did. With my senior brothers' assistance and the support of the Mechanism Art Elder Yu taught me, I fulfilled my task, successfully drove back the other sects' geniuses in Bodhi Heaven, and claimed two Bodhi Trees for ourselves." Lin Jing began apportioning the credit.

The Pineleaf Squirrel heard something amiss and raised its brows. Where was its credit?

"We don't deserve that praise," Senior Brother Ziran hurriedly said from behind him. "How could we have helped? Junior Brother Lin Jing stood alone against all the contenders and intimidated them with his Mechanism Art. At most, we added flowers to the brocade."

"That's right." The other disciples did not dare claim credit either.

At those words, the elders' expressions turned peculiar.

The Mechanism Art?

They looked at Elder Yu, who scratched his head.

Had Lin Jing's mastery of the Mechanism Art already reached the point where he could suppress other sects' geniuses?

"It seems you didn't encounter those old monsters' personal disciples or descendants. Otherwise, how could that Mechanism Art have been any use... Still, does this mean our Beast Taming Sect relied on the Mechanism Art to win some fine opportunities from the other sects' geniuses inside the Grotto Heaven?" Elder Yu's face lit up.

"Your Mechanism Art has finally come into its own. It's found someone who can truly use it." Elder Black Bear sighed with feeling and patted Elder Yu's shoulder.

"It's our Beast Taming Sect that's coming into its own! Are you saying my Mechanism Art is no good? Go back to Elder Mo's side." Elder Yu shot back.

"I'm only asking because I care about Lin Jing. I wouldn't bother with the other disciples," the Black Bear Monster said, curling his lip.

Listening to their bickering from the side, Elder Li had not expected Lin Jing to really have a few tricks up his sleeve. Elder Yu's private tutoring had not gone to waste.

Even the four Demon Hunting Hall disciples he had brought along seemed thoroughly convinced of Lin Jing's abilities.

"As I said before, none of you need to take the Inner Gate Examination. Effective immediately, all of you are promoted to Inner Gate disciples!" he told them.

"Thank you, Elder!" Apart from Lin Jing and the Pineleaf Squirrel, all the people and beasts were exceedingly excited.

Lin Jing and the Pineleaf Squirrel, however, regretted losing a chance to exchange examination points for resources...

The Demon Beasts in the Great Wilderness had escaped with their lives. Now that was what it meant to possess tremendous fortune.

"We can discuss the details later. The elders of the various Inner Peak divisions are here as well. Since you've been promoted to the Inner Gate, you may choose your own peak and return with its presiding elder," Elder Mo said.

Yet after he finished speaking, none of the disciples moved.

"Hmm?" Elder Yu looked at these Outer Gate Disciples and said, "Just approach the elder of whichever peak you wish to choose. Don't tell me you don't know which elder oversees which peak!"

Besides Elders Yu, Mo, and Li, several Golden Core elders were present, all drawn here by the Grotto Heaven.

They were the pillars of the Beast Taming Sect and the elders overseeing its various beast peaks, each with unique skills of their own.

"You choose first." Elder Yu looked at Ziran, the Outer Gate Disciple he knew best, who often ran errands and posted missions for him.

Ziran hesitated, then said with tears in his eyes and voice, "Elder Yu, I actually don't want to enter the Inner Gate. I want to stay in the Outer Gate and attend to you."

"Huh?" Elder Yu froze.

He Yiming swallowed and asked honestly, "Elder Yu, have you considered establishing a peak of your own to teach your Mechanism Art?"

"I want to learn it."

Even the four Demon Hunting Hall disciples gazed at Elder Yu with burning eyes.

Everyone knew that Lin Jing had obtained his Mechanism Art inheritance through the Rising Dragon Festival event, and that this Mechanism Art... came from Elder Yu!

They had already witnessed the power of the Mechanism Art inside the Grotto Heaven. It was impossible not to covet it.

The Mechanism Art doesn't conflict with beast taming at all. Mechanism Constructs can also be regarded as a kind of magical treasure, fundamentally no different from equipping a pet beast with weapons or armor, they thought.

In their eyes, the Pineleaf Squirrel wielding a machine gun had been far too formidable. If possible, they wanted one too.

Elder Yu froze again.

Elder Li was equally dumbfounded as he looked at the four Demon Hunting Hall disciples. Wait, just what did you experience inside the Grotto Heaven? Didn't I recommend Cloudgate Peak's Disciplinary Hall to you earlier?

"You all want to learn the Mechanism Art???" Elder Yu finally understood why they had been looking at him so strangely. But the crux of the matter was that Lin Jing's Mechanism Constructs were absurdly powerful not because the Mechanism Art was formidable, but because he used all manner of bizarre materials derived from a Treasure Beast's divine ability.

Mechanists of the same level would find it difficult to imitate him. Even if they reproduced the constructs by other means, their firepower could not possibly be as fierce. Even if their firepower matched his, they would inevitably consume more resources than Lin Jing and his squirrel did, making them poor value for the cost.

"Since these disciples want to learn the Mechanism Art, why not teach them, Elder Yu? Haven't you always wanted to find disciples to inherit your Mechanism Art?" an elder spoke up at that moment.

She had snowy hair and a peaceful expression. She paid no attention to where the other disciples would go, focusing entirely on Lin Jing and the Pineleaf Squirrel.

"I am the presiding elder of Cinnabar Glow Peak. Child, your Pineleaf Squirrel is a wood-aspected beast, skilled at accelerating the maturation of medicinal plants. Would you be interested in coming to my Cinnabar Glow Peak to study alchemy? It would certainly make an excellent alchemy assistant for you."

"Why go to Cinnabar Glow Peak? If your pet beast is a Pineleaf Squirrel, you should come to my Verdant Crest Peak!" a burly man wearing a straw hat declared. "Come to my Verdant Crest Peak, and we'll assign you a cave abode with high-grade spirit fields. It's much better suited to bringing out the Pineleaf Squirrel's innate racial talents!"

"All-natural spirit vegetables and spirit fruits are far more nutritious than pills."

Chosen by the Grotto Heaven and successful in securing its opportunities, Lin Jing and the Pineleaf Squirrel instantly became the prized morsels the Inner Peak elders competed over.

Every peak's elder wanted to take Lin Jing back and nurture him. Besides the elders of Cinnabar Glow and Verdant Crest, the other peaks' elders were also thinking of suitable pitches.

The elder of Nine Dragons Peak racked his brains. Surely he could not claim that this Pineleaf Squirrel had the potential to evolve into a Dragonblood Squirrel and was therefore suited to Nine Dragons Peak? Wouldn't that be utter nonsense?

After thinking it over and over, he concluded that perhaps only offering Lin Jing the finest dragonblood Demon Beast cub on the entire peak would give him a chance of poaching him.

Lin Jing, however, already had his heart set on a choice.

But before he could choose, a voice suddenly rang out from beyond the sect.

"Cao Ziwei of the Hidden Dragon Academy has come to pay a visit."