Life-Bound Treasure

The Beast Taming Sect's future Holy Son, and the medicine-testing attendant serving under him.

The White Rat Spirit froze for a moment upon hearing this.

It gave the matter some thought.

Although it had been terrified at the start of both medicine tests, neither seemed to have had any harmful effect on it.

It was only frightened because this great demon kept acting so mysterious.

Judging by the results, during the first test, it had transformed into a Bone Dragon and frightened the great demon instead.

During the second test, it had spat out invisible black flames and frightened the great demon again.

The White Rat Spirit thought about those two abilities. They were incredibly powerful. If becoming a medicine-testing attendant meant it could master abilities like those, that seemed like a worthwhile deal!

The White Rat Spirit was just about to agree, feeling that this really was a rare opportunity, when its heart suddenly gave a heavy thump.

The Black Chili Pepper had not been spicy when it entered its mouth, merely disgusting. But several seconds later, an immense delayed kick instantly flooded the little white rat's entire body. It felt as though ghostfire were burning it, the heat seasoning even its soul.

Spiciness was pain. That agony made the little white rat convulse on the spot, its eyes bloodshot. Dark red droplets rapidly gathered in its eyes, impossible to tell whether they were blood or tears.

"Hiss, hiss!!!" It desperately cried for water, water. Its steps began to stagger, each one unbearably heavy, as though an invisible weight were dragging at its body. The heat even made its outline blur.

Seeing this, Elder Black Bear took a small step back. "I told you, boy. There's no way your stuff could have no side effects at all on whoever eats it. See? You've made your medicine-testing attendant cry from the heat."

Unable to bear watching the little white rat die of spiciness, the Pineleaf Squirrel pulled a Mechanism Water Gun from its backpack.

"Yours has too few water-pressure settings. Who knows how powerful it is?" Lin Jing stopped it and brought out a more finely crafted Mechanism Bamboo Turtle.

The Mechanism Bamboo Turtle crawled over in jerky increments, spraying a gentle stream of water meant for irrigating spirit plants from its cannon barrel. As the water washed over the little white rat, it hurriedly opened its mouth.

Only after a long while did the little white rat recover. It stared blankly at the Black Bear Monster, indicating that this opportunity was too great, and it might not be able to handle it.

It wanted to go home.

"No ambition!" The Black Bear Monster blew out a gust of black wind, sending the little white rat away. "Go back and think it over properly. Next time, I'll give you another chance to choose."

After sending the little white rat off, the Black Bear Monster patted Lin Jing's shoulder. "Forget about the chili pepper. Wait until I find you some beastfire suited for alchemy."

With that, it turned and left.

Lin Jing looked at the Pineleaf Squirrel. "When will that Immortal Eye of yours come with a built-in appraisal ability?"

The Pineleaf Squirrel silently took out the Red Leaf, intending to practice the Leaf-Controlling Art first so it could found a lineage of its own.

"All right." With ghostfire alchemy forbidden, Lin Jing planned to try refining pills with ordinary fire first. Although the success rate would be low, at worst he would waste a few sets of basic materials.

But since the Pineleaf Squirrel said it wanted to practice the Flying Leaf Technique, Lin Jing had no choice but to accompany it first.

Myriad Transformations was equally important. To strengthen the core power behind the Pineleaf Squirrel's leaf control-its mind!-Lin Jing immediately transformed into one of its species' natural predators and unleashed his oppressive aura upon it!

A gigantic weasel, ten meters tall!

Also known as the Yellow Immortal, or Yellow Pelt!

An enormous yellow Daoist robe billowed behind him, blanketing the sky with imposing majesty.

"Aah!!!" As the transformation finished, the Pineleaf Squirrel visibly froze. Then it heard a piercing, grating shriek, almost like ultrasound. The cry sharply assaulted its brain, leaving it unable to think or react for a moment.

Its mind turned muddled, and the fear of these predators preserved in its bloodline from countless years ago spread through its heart.

Overwhelming fear threw the Pineleaf Squirrel's mind into turmoil. Its fur stood on end, and it instinctively reached into its Storage Bag... pulled out a Mechanism Bamboo Gun, and aimed it at Lin Jing.

"Wait, what are you doing?!" Lin Jing was the one startled this time. He hurriedly used their contract to stop the Pineleaf Squirrel, afraid it might fire a few shots at him.

He could not withstand explosions like the Body Cultivators of the Snowfield. A single Spirit Beans would be enough to kill him.

Only after the contract stopped it did some clarity return to the Pineleaf Squirrel's eyes. Speechless, Lin Jing said, "I only showed the aura of the Foundation Establishment Realm, and you were already scared! Your Dao heart isn't firm enough! If I targeted you directly with a demon king's might, wouldn't you freeze up and faint from fright?"

"Squeak, squeak, squeak!!!" The Pineleaf Squirrel removed the magazine, insisting that it had not been frightened. Of every part of its body, its mouth was the most stubborn.

"Anyway, I'm confiscating your weapons for now," Lin Jing said. "Having plenty of firepower on hand won't help you temper your Dao heart when facing something you fear."

"You'll only have succeeded when you can stay calm in the face of great terror without a scrap of iron in your hands."

"Over the next few days, I'll occasionally turn into a monster and appear while you're sleeping or cultivating."

Watching its Storage Bag being taken away, the Pineleaf Squirrel's face fell.

Over the next few days, Lin Jing devoted himself to practicing the Illusion Path, occasionally turning into beast forms such as the Erlang Divine Eagle, the Nine-Tailed Demon Fox, and the Xiangliu Snake Demon, all bearing traits of the Pineleaf Squirrel's natural predators, to frighten it.

As a result, the Pineleaf Squirrel dared not sleep and could not enjoy its food. It spent every day with its heart in its throat. Even when it told itself that everything was fake and there was nothing to fear, it still ended up frightened.

Unlike his previous illusions, which had not targeted it specifically, the forms Lin Jing now assumed were beasts whose terror was etched into the Pineleaf Squirrel's bloodline. He also deliberately concentrated the illusions' oppressive aura on a single point rather than letting it spread. Naturally, the Pineleaf Squirrel found it difficult to remain calm.

Several days of practice actually produced remarkable results. If Lin Jing kept an illusion's aura at the Foundation Establishment Realm, it was no longer enough to disturb the Pineleaf Squirrel's mind. Fortunately, that was far from the limit of Myriad Transformations.

The might of a great demon at the demon core stage... the might of a demon king... the intensity of its training could keep increasing.

Finally, just as the Pineleaf Squirrel's mind was about to collapse, Elder Mo brought good news.

"Come with me to the Treasury Pavilion and collect your Life-Bound Beast-Taming Spatial Treasure!" The elder had successfully secured a Life-Bound Spatial Treasure for Lin Jing before he became a true disciple.

"A life-bound treasure can recognize its master through a drop of blood. Outsiders cannot forcibly seize it, and it has some capacity for growth, allowing its quality to improve slightly as its user's cultivation rises!"

"Besides serving the same purpose as a Storage Bag, a Beast-Taming Space treasure also allows living creatures to enter it, though only beasts contracted to the owner of the life-bound treasure."

"Cultivating inside the Spatial Treasure is far more effective than on the Inner Peak. Its cultivation speed can increase even further!"

As Elder Mo spoke, he brought Lin Jing and the Pineleaf Squirrel to the Treasury Pavilion at the summit. Most of the sect's treasures were kept here. Unlike the spirit artifacts and magic artifacts used by Qi Refining and Foundation Establishment cultivators, treasures of this grade were already equipment for Golden Core cultivators.

Thus, only true disciples who had taken a Golden Core elder as their master had a chance to obtain one within the sect.

The top floor of the Treasury Pavilion.

They landed there, and Elder Mo pointed at the treasures floating above seven glowing pedestals. "The Beast Taming Sect currently has seven Beast-Taming Space treasures left, each with a different shape. Choose whichever style you like, and then I'll teach you how to refine it."

"Thank you, Elder Mo." Lin Jing thanked him, then surveyed them with the Pineleaf Squirrel. Sure enough, the seven Spatial Treasures all looked different rather than following a standard design. They appeared to have been refined using the same method but different materials.

Their forms were, respectively, a cloth bag, a Stone Ring, a jade bangle, a Buddhist staff, a Treasure Pearl, a gourd, and a scroll.