Choosing a Pet Beast

His constitution, like an ordinary mortal's, had no elemental affinity.

Once Lin Jing learned this, he turned to Elder Mo and said, "Then, Elder Mo, I'll choose the Pineleaf Squirrel."

"Oh?" Elder Mo said. "Are you sure?"

Lin Jing nodded. "I'm sure."

His reasoning was simple. With his longevity body, running around fighting and killing was completely unsuitable for him in the early stages. Raising a wood-element pet beast that could farm and cultivate spiritual plants, hunkering down in the sect to farm, and slowly improving his strength might be a better choice.

Besides, although his longevity body had no elemental affinity, wood techniques mostly concerned vitality and life force. A wood-element spirit beast was clearly a better fit for him.

As for a pet beast skilled in combat, it wouldn't be too late to find one within the sect once his cultivation was higher and he had become an inner disciple.

"Elder Mo, is there something wrong with this Pineleaf Squirrel?" Lin Jing asked uneasily.

"Hmm..." Elder Mo said. "The sect raises many spirit beasts. After they're born, the sect teaches them their mission, helps awaken their intelligence, and gives them Spirit Stones every month for cultivation."

"Those available for disciples to choose are generally spirit beasts that, within a year of birth, have reached the third level of Qi Refining through the sect's resources and developed enough intelligence to understand human speech."

"After all, if they still can't reach the third level of Qi Refining or understand human speech with that much support, it means they're simply unsuited to cultivation. Forget helping human disciples-we'd be lucky if they didn't hold them back."

"But this one... had only reached the second level of Qi Refining when the previous batch of disciples chose their pet beasts, so it didn't meet the standard."

"Normally, it would then be released into the pine forest and would no longer be offered to disciples as a pet beast."

"But after investigating, the elder overseeing the training of basic spirit beasts discovered that there were special reasons why this Pineleaf Squirrel had only reached the second level of Qi Refining."

"What reasons?" Lin Jing was taken aback.

After a moment's hesitation, Elder Mo said, "This Pineleaf Squirrel has a rather peculiar habit. It actually hoarded the resources the sect gave it like precious treasures, hiding them well away without using a single stone. Through sheer innate talent alone, it recently cultivated to the third level of Qi Refining."

"I don't understand what it's thinking. Will Spirit Stones multiply if it hoards them?"

"..."

"Maybe it gives it a sense of security," Lin Jing said.

"Considering that its talent actually isn't bad-in fact, it could be called a once-in-a-decade talent-that elder hasn't removed its place yet and has given it a second chance to enter the outer sect."

"In any case, I'll take you to see it first. If it isn't suitable, we can look at other pet beasts. And if you can win it over, its talent will be a great help to your cultivation," Elder Mo said.

"Understood..." After hearing him out, Lin Jing decided to take a look first.

Pine Forest Peak.

Two immortal cranes landed.

A short while later, Elder Mo and Lin Jing arrived outside a pine forest.

"Pine Forest Peak is where the Pineleaf Squirrels live."

In the pine forest, Lin Jing saw many squirrels. To him, Pineleaf Squirrels were simply squirrels that had gained spiritual powers. In general appearance, they were little different from ordinary squirrels, with soft, lustrous fur decorated with fine, pale-yellow stripes. They were quite adorable.

Their distinguishing feature was their emerald-green eyes, whose dreamlike hue resembled forest leaves intertwined with morning light.

"Squeak..."

Pineleaf Squirrels leaped past one after another. Those that had only just awakened their intelligence, or had yet to do so, clearly couldn't speak like Elder Black Bear or the immortal cranes from earlier.

"Most of the Pineleaf Squirrels living in this forest now have talent and potential that fall short of the requirements for a contract."

After they arrived, Elder Mo walked ahead, and Lin Jing followed.

"Except for the unusual one I mentioned."

Under Elder Mo's guidance, Lin Jing soon met that Pineleaf Squirrel.

He stood on the ground.

The Pineleaf Squirrel sat meditating in a pine tree, its eyes closed.

Only when they approached did it open its eyes.

"Squeak?"

Their gazes met.

At that moment, a few unruly strands of Elder Mo's hair fluttered in the breeze, lending him a touch of unrestrained elegance and an immortal's bearing.

"I've already spoken to Elder Jiang. This is a new disciple of the sect, and he'd like to choose you as his first pet beast. What do you think?" he asked the Pineleaf Squirrel, his hands clasped behind his back.

"Squeak..." The Pineleaf Squirrel hesitated for a moment, then looked at Lin Jing and let out a babyish squeak.

Its emerald-green eyes studied Lin Jing.

Beside him, Elder Mo said, "You need to introduce yourself. Spirit beasts generally decide whether to follow a disciple based on that disciple's circumstances."

"In the Beast Taming Sect, choosing a pet beast has always been a mutual choice. If you want to take one with you, you also need its approval."

"This process is also a test for the disciple. Whether you can earn a pet beast's approval through your own abilities is very important for disciples of the Beast Taming Sect."

"Only when cultivator and pet beast both approve of each other can they achieve twice the results with half the effort in cultivation."

"I see." Lin Jing nodded.

So, promise it a pie in the sky?

But he was an honest, straightforward man.

"My name is Lin Jing. I have a special constitution, so my cultivation is somewhat slow. If you become my pet beast, we may both need to work harder."

Looking at the Pineleaf Squirrel, Lin Jing gave it fair warning. Since he wanted its help with his cultivation, he didn't conceal the shortcomings of his constitution.

After all, the longevity body was known for its extremely slow cultivation speed.

He believed sincerity would be enough to move it.

However...

"Squeak!!!" The Pineleaf Squirrel was startled.

Slow cultivation-wouldn't that mean using up all the Spirit Stones it had spent so long hoarding?

It took a small step back.

Seeing this, Lin Jing fell silent.

Sure enough, sincere feelings have never been enough to make anyone stay.

Beside him, an almost imperceptible smile appeared at the corner of Elder Mo's mouth.

Oddball pet beasts like this often had peculiar personalities and unusual ways of thinking. Winning them over wasn't easy.

But Lin Jing wasn't an ordinary person either.

Faced with a fellow whose willpower was so firm that it could resist using Spirit Stones as though it had kicked a drug addiction, he thought for a moment, then said:

"A Storage Bag."

Since sincerity didn't work, Lin Jing decided to cater to its tastes.

Lin Jing said, "Once you become my pet beast, I'll save up Spirit Stones and give you a Storage Bag with an independent space that can hold countless things."

"When we've made progress in our cultivation, I could even give you ten Storage Rings with even bigger spaces."

"Don't you like hoarding resources? Once you have more things, will you still have room for them here?"

For a little squirrel that loved hoarding, the greatest agony had to be insufficient inventory space. Lin Jing was certain of it.

The Pineleaf Squirrel: !!??

"Squeak!?"

Sure enough, the Pineleaf Squirrel's eyes lit up the next instant, immediately drawn in by Lin Jing's pie-in-the-sky promise.

This fellow with the longevity body is rather quick-witted. Elder Mo was taken aback.

A peculiar fondness for hoarding things, a Storage Bag... Compared with the people here, Lin Jing, who had been a veteran hoarder in games in his previous life, understood much better what this little hoarder needed.

This Pineleaf Squirrel doesn't look very bright, though.

But its intelligence has only just awakened, after all.

Beside him, Elder Mo shook his head at the sight. Storage Bags were expensive.

Whatever the case, this Pineleaf Squirrel had taken the bait.

Then.

One, two, three... Under the two men's silent gazes, the Pineleaf Squirrel tossed dozens of low-grade Spirit Stones out of the tree hollow before finally crawling back out itself.

"Squeak, squeak, squeak!"

Looking at Lin Jing, the Pineleaf Squirrel squeaked excitedly, as though it had settled on him and intended to bring all its worldly possessions to join him, embarking on a new life of cultivation together.

Lin Jing smiled too.

"So we can buy a Storage Bag as soon as possible, I'll look after these Spirit Stones for you first. We'll plan carefully and put them to good use."

The Pineleaf Squirrel froze, then looked into Lin Jing's sincere eyes and nodded without quite understanding.

It was full of anticipation for the future.