Lin Jin quickly invited Tan Xun in.
“Appraiser Lin, have you gotten used to the place yet?” Tan Xun asked in a delighted tone. Lin Jin nodded. Although the guestroom wasn’t as splendid as his own mansion back in Maple City, it was good enough and far better than his tiny old house. Moreover, Lin Jin would only be staying here temporarily, so there was no point in being that picky.
He could tell that Tan Xun had something to say.
“Appraiser Tan, why don’t we have a drink?” Lin Jin asked as he pulled out a bottle of aged liquor from the box. Tan Xun nodded enthusiastically.
Indeed, he had come here for a reason.
In fact, the other Rank 3 beast appraiser, Chu Chenghe wanted to come too. However, as Chu Chenghe wasn’t that familiar with Lin Jin, so he refrained from visiting him. Instead, he entrusted Tan Xun to seek Lin Jin’s guidance on how he managed to restructure the spirit veins of all three Rank 1 hound beasts.
Both Tan Xun and Chu Chenghe had been discussing this matter the entire afternoon.
During the festivities, while Lin Jin was evolving the five pet beasts, nearly all of their attention was on the Rank 2 pet beast, as it was presumably the hardest to promote.
However, to veteran beast appraisers such as Tan Xun and Chu Chenghe, what astonished them the most was the evolution of the three Rank 1 hound beasts.
Their initial conclusion was that all three hound beasts were too average that evolution would be impossible.
What’s more, every other pet beast had issues of its own. They either did not have a dominant element, or their elemental powers would be insufficient, or their spirit veins were so damaged that all hopes of a successful evolution were lost.
Either one of these creatures would give any Rank 2 beast appraiser a hard time, what more to say for a Rank 1 beast appraiser.
Tan Xun and Chu Chenghe would be amazed if there was even a single Rank 1 beast appraiser who managed to notice the hidden condition of the three hound beasts. Requesting them to evolve a beast of such status would be a blatant act of public humiliation because it was impossible that they could pull off such a stunt.
Rank 2 beast appraisers might be able to handle the situation but it would be tough. What’s more, coming up with a solution and ensuring that it was practical enough to work were two different things. Of course, for Rank 3 beast appraisers such as Tan Xun and Chu Chenghe, there was no doubt that they could evolve these creatures. After all, the process itself wasn’t all that difficult.
However, evolution methods varied, and to achieve the quickest and safest evolution in that situation would require the use of the most average method. Hence, drawbacks or defects were inevitable.
And yet, Lin Jin had performed what was commonly regarded as the most difficult method in their community. He had performed the spirit vein restructuring technique.
It was such an advanced technique that only a handful of Rank 1 beast appraisers have ever heard of it before. It was a technique that involved restructuring the spirit veins of a pet beast who suffered from either an inferior attribute or quality. A creature who had no dominant attribute would be incredibly difficult, if not impossible to evolve, and this was where the technique came into the picture. It would dissolve the mixture of elements and leave only a single dominant attribute out of the five elements.
While the solution sounded simple, performing it was tremendously challenging. Even Rank 3 beast appraisers like Tan Xun and Chu Chenghe had tried to master the spirit vein restructuring technique for years but to no avail. While there were a few successful evolutions, they all happened due to pure coincidence. Even then, they had to exhaust a huge amount of time and medicine. In spite of that, the results would always turn out to be lackluster.
But today, Tan Xun was astonished to find that Lin Jin had simultaneously restructured the spirit veins of three inferior Rank 1 pet beasts with just a pat of his hand.
He must have invoked a combination of spells and techniques as he made physical contact with the pet beast.
As an individual infatuated with beast appraising for all his life, was there anything else more desirable than this?
There wasn’t!
Like lechers charmed by beauty and thieves obsessed with riches, Tan Xun and Chu Chenghe were infatuated with the spirit vein restructuring method. Their curiosity was piqued, especially after the evolution of the three hound beasts. To their amazement, their inferior attributes were nowhere to be seen. Although the creatures still couldn’t compare to beasts that were naturally born strong, all three hounds seemed to have undergone metamorphosis compared to their previous stats.
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Achieving this was much harder than evolving two Rank 3 pet beasts at once.
This was the reason why Tan Xun was here.
He was here to seek Lin Jin’s guidance on the technique. At the very least, he had to learn how Lin Jin did it.
At the same time, Chu Chenghe was pacing around anxiously. From time to time, he would sneak a peek into the room.
Inside, after pouring the liquor, Lin Jin and Tan Xun drank to a toast.
The royal capital’s aged liquors were at least ten years old. In fact, some were up to twenty or thirty years old. This bottle, for instance, was aged for twenty years.
The hallmarks of good liquor were its aroma and a bittersweet aftertaste after one swallowed it.
Lin Jin may not be fond of drinking, but he knew this much.
This liquor must have cost a fortune and it indicated that Appraiser Tan had a request.
“Appraiser Lin, it was truly amazing how you managed to evolve five pet beasts today just with a pat of your hand,” Tan Xun complimented as he shifted the subject in this direction.
Lin Jin smiled. “Those were just menial tricks that aren’t worth mentioning,” he said.
“Appraiser Lin, you’re too humble!” Tan Xun immediately replied. “Had I been in your place, I wouldn’t be able to do it. In my opinion, Appraiser Lin might even be a Rank 4 appraiser at this point.”
Lin Jin was stunned.
Had anyone else said this, Lin Jin would have just taken it as a superficial compliment. But Tan Xun was different. He was the type of man who would think before he spoke.
“I can’t help but admit that Appraiser Lin’s skills are tremendously profound so I’m here today to seek your guidance. If it’s not too much trouble, I hope you could give me some insight into your technique,” said Tan Xun, who then lifted his cup and emptied it in one go.
Tan Xun’s attitude was commendable and he showed no signs of arrogance just because he was much more experienced. Such a trait was few and far between, especially when it came to high-ranking beast appraisers.
Lin Jin drank as well. “Please go ahead and ask, Appraiser Tan. I will try and tell you what I know.”
Tan Xun was ecstatic. His first question was on how Lin Jin managed to restructure the spirit veins of the pet beasts with just one pat. It was what concerned him most and the skill he would like to research.
Lin Jin patted a hand on the table and immediately, a silver needle pierced through the wooden surface and got stuck on the floorboard.
Tan Xun’s eyes were as wide as saucers.
“Although it looked like a single pat, I’ve incorporated an array of techniques into it. Now, one of these techniques was to use this needle to perform acupuncture internally,” Lin Jin explained.
Although Tan Xun had witnessed Lin Jin performing internal acupuncture before and was aware of how good he was at it, he didn’t expect Lin Jin to have mastered the technique to such an extent.
Lin Jin carried on, “Using internal acupuncture, I pierced the Spiritual Pivot acupoint to gather fire spirit energy. This energy was merged to form unrefined flames. In spite of what its name suggests, the flames will not harm the pet beast’s internal organs but they’re what I used to reforge the spirit veins. After the refinement process, evolution is thus rendered possible. Though, because I am more accustomed to working with the fire element, I forcefully converted those three hound beasts into possessing the fire attribute.”
Tan Xun was amazed. Lin Jin’s description may have been simple, but the methods he mentioned were complex and extensive. Even the slightest mistake could mess up the whole process.
Another crucial part of the equation was skill. After all, while the technique may be the same, due to differences in physique, the degree of administration needed varied. Some pet beasts only needed minute tweaks, and the slightest mistake might render the whole process a failed project.