Book 2: Chapter 30: The Flow of Time

Vol 2 Chapter 30: The Flow of Time Lin Jing nodded. The chilling spiritual energy from the marriage certificate was indeed potent. Had he not reached the tenth stage of Qi Refinement and possessed an ice-attribute physique, merely touching the item would have caused him harm. He carefully stored the marriage certificate in his storage bag. While the item wasn’t highly useful, it did contain spiritual energy. If he simply discarded it, this lesson would yield no gains at all. After storing the marriage certificate, Lin Jing turned to the Pine Leaf Mouse. Although it had talent, its treasure-hunting technique was still at a beginner’s level. It had only located one of the three spiritually infused ancient treasures that Mr. Cao had placed in the area. The other two remained undiscovered. However, realizing that the highest-quality ancient treasure was merely an ominous marriage certificate, Lin Jing no longer held high expectations for the other two items. “Mr. Cao, I recall you once said that anyone who achieves an extreme breakthrough in the Dragon-Phoenix Cavern Heaven would gain sixty years of access to an academy cave dwelling. Both the Pine Leaf Mouse and I broke through to extremes within the cavern. Does that mean we receive 120 years of access, or two cave dwellings for sixty years each?” Lin Jing asked, remembering a crucial matter as he addressed Mr. Cao. Hearing this, Mr. Cao chuckled. “You’re a sly one, always looking for a win-win. By logic, you and this squirrel spirit should be considered a single entity…” Lin Jing feigned a pained expression. “Sir, my sect is in decline, and my family is impoverished…” “The cave dwelling on the adjacent mountain peak is currently unoccupied. I’ll grant you access to it as well,” Mr. Cao said with a wave of his hand. “Use it wisely.” Lin Jing immediately bowed. “Thank you, Mr. Cao.” In the blink of an eye, a few days passed. Whether the other two spiritually infused treasures had been found by others or the Pine Leaf Mouse’s treasure-hunting skill failed to locate them, Lin Jing ended the course with the ancient marriage certificate as his sole harvest. Over these days, Lin Jing had also worked hard to cultivate the treasure-hunting technique. Unfortunately, his talent in this area was lacking. After several days of effort, he could only find three or five pieces of junk. The gap between him and the Pine Leaf Mouse’s innate ability was vast, leading Lin Jing to ultimately give up on mastering the technique. However, his greatest gain was undoubtedly the additional cave dwelling. After considering it, Lin Jing decided not to rent it out. Instead, he planned to transform it into a spiritual field, expanding its cultivation area to grow medicinal ingredients for pill refining and for the Pine Leaf Mouse to use. As for his current cave dwelling, he decided to remodel it into a pill refinement chamber, which he would share with the Flame Dragon Carp. By dividing their activities into separate spaces, they could avoid competing for spiritual energy, allowing for greater efficiency. “The Hidden Dragon Arts have finally reached minor mastery…” Returning to his cave dwelling, Lin Jing glanced at the back of his hand, where a golden infant dragon had fully formed. This symbolized his ability to freely access all levels of the academy’s Scripture Pavilion, enabling him to learn and explore much more knowledge. “Next, I’ll need to face the challenge of Foundation Establishment.” “However, I have plenty of time. Staying in the Qi Refinement stage for three or five more years won’t affect me in the slightest.” “A skyscraper is built from the ground up. I should use this time advantage to learn as much as possible and prepare for a more perfect Foundation Establishment.” Lin Jing’s gaze was firm. He pushed aside his impatience and calmed his heart as much as possible. Excessive impatience was incompatible with his Longevity Body, which would be detrimental to his cultivation. Time flowed on. In the blink of an eye, three years passed. During these three years, Lin Jing remained reclusive. Besides continuing to sell Mechanical Bamboo Rifles to various cities in the Ancient Domain, he dedicated himself to refining pills and attending a few academy courses. Meanwhile, his peers had all advanced to the Foundation Establishment stage. Xu Zhizhi, Gao Sheng, Chen Lingxi, and Wang Xiao had all achieved breakthroughs, leaving Lin Jing as the only one still lingering in the Qi Refinement stage. Many were puzzled as to why this genius, who had also reached the tenth stage of Qi Refinement, had yet to advance. During this time, Wang Xiao repeatedly challenged Lin Jing, only to be turned away by the Flame Dragon Carp. Eventually, before Wang Xiao’s own Foundation Establishment, he gave up on his attempts entirely. As for Gao Sheng, he invited Lin Jing to join him on some case investigations after noticing that even the Flame Dragon Carp was preparing for Foundation Establishment. Inside the cave dwelling, surrounded by Danxia mists and soaring dragon flames, the Flame Dragon Carp opened its eyes. From the Hundred Beast Cauldron, a fiery pine leaf floated out, followed by the carp spitting out a red pill. Sёarᴄh the NovelFire.net* website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. “It’s finally a success,” Lin Jing murmured. Few people knew that over the past eight years, the Flame Dragon Carp had devoted much of its time to studying pill refinement. It even used its accumulated Hidden Dragon Fortune to simulate and improve pill refinement techniques while cultivating spiritual plants with the Pine Leaf Mouse. Although the carp and the mouse couldn’t yet be called eighth-grade alchemists, they had reached a point where they could occasionally produce eighth-grade pills. However, this wasn’t their smallest gain over the eight years. Their greatest achievement was the creation of entirely new pills by integrating the spiritual plants cultivated by the Pine Leaf Mouse, modifying and innovating pill recipes using fortune simulation and experimentation. Currently, Lin Jing held in his hand a Rising Dragon Pill, refined from dragon-attribute beast fire, Purple Dragonbone Flower, and Dragon Blood as its core ingredients. It was a third-grade pill. “According to pharmacological calculations, this pill should be able to grant any demonic beast a high-purity dragon bloodline, transforming them into a Dragon-Blooded Demonic Beast! If the beast already has dragon blood, this pill can significantly enhance the quality of its bloodline. However, to verify its effects and ensure it’s non-toxic, we’ll need to test it on a white mouse first.” Lin Jing glanced at the exhausted Flame Dragon Carp. He couldn’t possibly have it test the pill. The third-grade pill was extremely potent, and if something went wrong, the consequences could be dire. The current results of the Rising Dragon Pill were still based on theoretical calculations. “Who would’ve thought that even after synthesizing spiritual plants without the need for white mice, pills refined from these plants would still require testing on white mice,” Lin Jing muttered. He stepped out of his cave dwelling, having been cooped up for three months without sunlight to refine this single Rising Dragon Pill. Now that it was finally complete, he couldn’t wait to verify its effects. “Found it!” Lin Jing laughed after a short walk, catching sight of a small green caterpillar nibbling on a leaf. Thanks to prolonged exposure to spiritual energy, this little insect had even reached the first stage of Qi Refinement. “You’ll do. Old Master here will grant you a stroke of fortune,” he said, adopting an elder’s tone. “If you survive, I’ll make you my official pill-testing assistant.” Grabbing the small caterpillar in one hand, Lin Jing stuffed the Rising Dragon Pill into its mouth despite the creature’s terrified gaze. Worried it might struggle to digest the pill, Lin Jing also shoved a second, golden pill into its mouth. The second pill, crafted from golden spiritual rice, resolved the issue of losing rationality after consuming golden rice. Instead, it greatly enhanced digestion. Lin Jing had named it the Devouring Pill. “Chirp—!” After swallowing the Devouring Pill and Rising Dragon Pill, the caterpillar’s eyes rolled back, and it nearly passed out. However, a miraculous transformation soon unfolded. “Roar!!” The once-insignificant caterpillar began to emit an intense dragon’s might. Dragon-shaped shadows swirled around its body as its cultivation skyrocketed: Qi Refinement Stage 2, Stage 3, Stage 4... it continued rising until it reached the ninth stage of Qi Refinement, where it finally stabilized. At the same time, its body glowed with brilliant white light. Under this radiance, the caterpillar’s form expanded, its body sprouting green scales. Although it remained roughly the size of a human forearm and retained its caterpillar-like shape, its aura had become extraordinary, far surpassing other demonic beasts of the same level! “Whew!!” The caterpillar, now with awakened intelligence, cast a panicked yet ferocious gaze at Lin Jing. Without hesitation, it opened its mouth and unleashed a blast of green dragon breath before turning to flee. Boom! The dragon breath struck Lin Jing directly. He didn’t dodge and instead emerged from the smoke, his clothes slightly disheveled but his eyes burning with excitement. “The power of this dragon breath... it’s already stronger than a Spirit Bean Bomb,” Lin Jing said with a chuckle. “And this was just a caterpillar mutation with no prior training. If a powerful demonic beast consumed the pill, the effects would likely be even greater, and their strength wouldn’t fall short of the projections in the Dragon-Phoenix Cavern Heaven.” “However… it probably won’t be effective for the Flame Dragon Carp. Its bloodline strength has already been enhanced too much through the Hidden Dragon Arts.” Still, that didn’t matter. What truly excited Lin Jing was that the Rising Dragon Pill was the precursor to his envisioned Longevity Foundation Pill. The overlapping alchemy techniques involved meant that if he could refine the Rising Dragon Pill, he was likely on the verge of being able to refine his specialized Foundation Pill as well. Afterward, Lin Jing looked at his own hand. The golden fortune dragon on the back of his hand, a product of the Hidden Dragon Arts, hadn’t revived. “It’s been eight years. It seems its revival has been forgotten.” He glanced at the Pine Leaf Mouse, thinking aloud, “In the Beast Taming Sect, they have similar concoctions for enhancing spirit plants into medicinal treasures. I wonder how the market for this would look.” “Let’s first test it within the academy,” he decided. “I’ll let the students see the strength of a Dragon-Blooded Carp cultivated through the Hidden Dragon Arts. Then, I’ll promote the Rising Dragon Pill to them…”