"I have high hopes for you two-our sect's first Pineleaf Squirrel demon king! Junior Brother, are you going to see Elder Mo now?"
"If you are, we can go together. I happen to need Elder Mo's help with something too."
"Sure." No day was better than today. Lin Jing planned to ask Elder Mo whether he could have a Beast-Taming Space treasure now.
The Pineleaf Squirrel perked up at that. Demon king or not, it didn't care-just hurry up and bring on the Spatial Treasure.
"Let's go, then. I can show you the sights of the Inner Peak on the way to Lotus Peak."
"We're walking? Senior Brother, when can we ride the immortal cranes? Do we have to become True Disciples?" Lin Jing slipped in another question.
"You think you can just ride them whenever you please? You need Spirit Stones! Pay up, and even Servant Disciples can ride them. Without payment, even True Disciples can forget it. The Sect Master's Wife has that clan under her protection!"
Lin Jing already knew that, actually. He was merely testing whether Senior Brother Ouyang was willing to waste that money. If he could hitch a crane ride, he certainly didn't want to walk.
Both were rather frugal, so they chose to walk to Lotus Peak to find Elder Mo. As cultivators, however, they moved swiftly, their strides flying along even without support spells like the Wind-Walking Technique.
As they hurried across a suspension bridge amid the clouds and mist, Senior Brother Ouyang introduced the sights of the Inner Peak to Lin Jing.
"That's Nine Dragons Waterfall." Senior Brother Ouyang pointed into the distance. The waterfall thundered and roared against green cliffs and crimson rock, like nine white dragons descending from the heavens one after another. The sight was magnificent.
"It's a remarkable spot on Nine Dragons Peak. There's a special kind of Dragonblood Carp there. If one can surmount Nine Dragons Waterfall under its own power during the Qi Refining stage, it can successfully achieve Foundation Establishment and transform into a Fish Dragon."
"Actually, my visit to Elder Mo this time has to do with the new pet beast I want to contract after reaching Foundation Establishment..."
"See that rising purple mist? That's Purple Cloud Spring."
"Senior Brother, what's that hot spring used for?" Lin Jing hadn't seen a separate entry about it in the books.
"Lots of female disciples like bathing there. Don't wander over without a reason. It could cost you your life."
"That's the Hundred-Step Cloud Ladder..."
"We're almost at Lotus Peak. That's your Pineleaf Squirrel's ancestor."
As they passed Cloud-Tilling Peak, the Pineleaf Squirrel looked at Ouyang Hao. You look so upright with those thick brows and big eyes-why are you insulting a squirrel?
Lin Jing looked over. On a low peak stood a peculiar rock that looked very much like a Pineleaf Squirrel. Its tail trailed behind it, and it seemed poised to leap across an immense chasm onto Heavenly Capital Mountain, one of the Beast Taming Sect's main peaks, which towered into the clouds.
"He wasn't insulting you," Lin Jing said. "That really is your ancestor."
Pineleaf Squirrel: ???
"Doesn't the Beast Taming Sect teach you spirit beasts history? And this is your own species' history, no less." He looked at the Pineleaf Squirrel.
"Well, they don't cover everything quite that thoroughly..." Senior Brother Ouyang said beside him.
Lin Jing explained to the Pineleaf Squirrel, "Long ago, the Pineleaf Squirrel clan wasn't part of the Beast Taming Sect. They were merely an ordinary species, with a very low chance of awakening intelligence."
"Their habitat was harsh, and they had many natural predators. To find a way forward for its clan, a Pineleaf Squirrel secretly climbed up to the Beast Taming Sect, hoping to seek immortals and the Dao so it could shelter its kin."
"It met an immortal on Heavenly Capital Peak, who set it a trial. If it could leap from Cloud-Tilling Peak, where it stood, onto Heavenly Capital Peak, the immortal would teach it spells."
"Your ancestor began striving day after day, hoping to leap onto that lofty peak and receive the immortal's guidance."
"But apparently, it never succeeded, even at the very end. It eventually turned into a rock, forever remaining there in a leaping pose."
"Although it failed the trial, the immortal of the Beast Taming Sect was moved by its unwavering resolve to seek the Dao. The immortal brought the Pineleaf Squirrel clan into the sect and raised the grade of their bloodline, laying the foundation for them to later... become one of the Beast Taming Sect's Five Basic Spirit Beasts."
Lin Jing had read all this in books too. He reckoned this so-called immortal was some ancestor of the Beast Taming Sect, certainly not a true immortal. But in the eyes of the Pineleaf Squirrel back then, there would have been no difference.
After hearing its species' origins, the Pineleaf Squirrel froze.
"You really know a lot, Junior Brother," Senior Brother Ouyang said. "You must have read plenty in the outer sect."
"Yes, I like reading and learning about all sorts of things," Lin Jing said. "Read ten thousand books, and you can travel the world without fear."
"Haha, true. But there's one thing you definitely don't know." Senior Brother Ouyang smiled.
"What?"
"That immortal on Heavenly Capital Peak actually isn't human, but one of the Beast Taming Sect's guardian deities. And that deity is still here today!"
"I told you before, didn't I? Starting with the Second Sect Master, the Beast Taming Sect abandoned its old practice of enslaving pet beasts. Its disciples all chose to treat their pet beasts as equals."
"The Second Sect Master also loved making friends far and wide. That immortal was a close friend of his during his lifetime."
"When the Second Sect Master was dying, he signed a contract with that deity... not a beast-taming contract, of course. They agreed that this guardian deity would protect the Beast Taming Sect for ten thousand years and lend aid whenever the sect faced a crisis."
"In return, Heavenly Capital Peak, one of the three peaks with the richest spiritual energy in the Beast Taming Sect, was given to the deity as a place to cultivate."
"Our Beast Taming Sect has several Nascent Souls, but among them, only the current Sect Master-the Fifth Sect Master-is a human in the Nascent Soul Realm. The other Nascent Soul ancestors are actually the pet beasts of the Third and Fourth Sect Masters. Compared to human Beast-Taming Cultivators, those demon kings have much longer lifespans thanks to their unusual species."
"The one on Heavenly Capital Peak is the only deity who remains in our sect without ever having signed a beast-taming contract with one of our Nascent Soul Cultivators. What's more, since our sect has never faced any particularly grave crisis, that deity has never taken action, either, and has always cultivated in seclusion on Heavenly Capital Peak. If the Sect Master hadn't told me all this, even True Disciples and some elders might not know about it."
"I see." Lin Jing nodded.
So this was what they called a guest elder, then.
Come to think of it, this Beast Taming Sect really was a demon's den.
Almost everyone at the Nascent Soul Realm and above was a demon king!
Pretty frightening. He really did need to go to Hidden Dragon Academy.
"You know a lot too, Senior Brother Ouyang." He returned the polite praise, temporarily overlooking how the Beast Taming Sect also resembled a demonic sect.
"Not at all. That wasn't actually what I meant to say. Passing this place reminded me that the Sect Master seems to have mentioned a promise this Sect Guardian Deity once made to the Pineleaf Squirrel clan."
"Oh?"
"If any later member of the Pineleaf Squirrel clan could inherit that ancestor's determination to leap onto Heavenly Capital Peak and successfully jump there from Cloud-Tilling Peak, the promise would still stand: the deity would impart the Dao and teach them spells."
"But over all these years, the sect has had quite a few Pineleaf Squirrels in the Foundation Establishment Realm. They tried every means at their disposal, yet none managed to leap onto Heavenly Capital Peak. A powerful pressure fills the sky there, preventing ordinary leaps."
"Over time, no one paid much attention to the promise anymore, because it was rather unrealistic. The Sect Master suspects the guardian deity might simply have said it in passing, without truly intending to impart the Dao. After all, the trial is far too difficult."
"Of course, you can give it a try when you have time. What if you succeed? Apparently, the difficulty of the leap depends on your cultivation. The lower your cultivation, the easier it is; the higher your cultivation, the harder it is. Whatever your cultivation, you can try."
No sooner had Senior Brother Ouyang finished than Lin Jing's Pineleaf Squirrel took a large Red Leaf out of its Storage Bag and flew on it from Cloud-Tilling Peak toward Heavenly Capital Peak.
Senior Brother Ouyang stared, utterly bewildered. "How does your Pineleaf Squirrel know how to fly on a leaf?!"
Before you continue