Perhaps it was because he had just vented his frustrations, Master Gu was visibly more energetic than before.
He also knew how pointless it was to tell Lin Jin all this, but now that he did, at least someone else knew how he felt.
The topic of their conversation moved onto the purpose of Lin Jin’s current trip.
“Brother Lin, you’re heading to Heavenly Spiral too?” Gu Mengzhong was stunned.
Lin Jin nodded. He told him the recent events that transpired in Jade Dragon Kingdom, including what happened to him. Gu Mengzhong then came to a realization.
“That means you’re a Rank 3 beast appraiser now? Moreover, the person who recommended you to this examination at Heavenly Spiral is Appraiser Tan Xun? Wait, this must mean that Appraiser Tan and the others have come to an agreement that you’re worthy of a Rank 4 beast appraiser title! What great news! Wonderful news!” Gu Mengzhong’s face immediately lit up.
This news couldn’t have come at a better timing. He had gotten sick of being gloomy all day long.
Lin Jin could tell that Gu Mengzhong was genuinely happy for him. There wasn’t any hint of false pretense in his reaction.
“Brother Lin, this is your first time heading to Heavenly Spiral so you must be unfamiliar with the direction. Allow me to show you the way,” Gu Mengzhong offered enthusiastically. Lin Jin thought about it and nodded.
At the very least, Gu Mengzhong should be much more reliable than Senior Mo.
Then, Gu Mengzhong noticed the dark jade dragon following behind Lin Jin.
“Is this… a dark jade dragon?” Gu Mengzhong’s eyes lit up. He was a knowledgeable man and a Jade Dragon Kingdom citizen to boot. It came as no surprise that he knew much about their local specialty dragons.
“You have a good eye, Master Gu. Old Mo, greet Master Gu,” Lin Jin turned and said. Senior Mo quickly hurried forward, mimicked a human’s salute, and said, “Greetings, Master Gu!”
Sweat began to form on Gu Mengzhong’s forehead.
A talking jade dragon.
Now that was rare. During Gu Mengzhong’s travels, he had opened his eyes to many new creatures. For instance, he had bumped into a monster.
It was a monster who possessed a refined hyoid bone, so it was capable of human speech.
This jade dragon here was clearly the same.
Upon closer observation, this jade dragon’s aura was quite unusual too so it must have reached Rank 4. In other words, it was quite shocking to see a Rank 4 jade dragon following beside Lin Jin.
“Brother Lin, you remind me of the rich kids of Heavenly Spiral Kingdom,” commented Gu Mengzhong.
Stunned, Lin Jin quickly regained his senses.
“Do rich young men at Heavenly Spiral Kingdom bring their Rank 4 pet beasts everywhere they go?” Lin Jin found it hard to believe. After all, a Rank 4 pet beast was the mainstay of an intermediate country.
In spite of that, Gu Mengzhong nodded in all seriousness. “It’s true. Water runs deeper in a premium country and you have to be extra diligent over there. Give me a moment. Let me freshen up and we’ll set off together.”
Lin Jin nodded, thinking, ‘No matter how awesome those dandies are, they can’t be more awesome than Feng Ziqian, right?’
Moments later, Gu Mengzhong came back out after tidying himself up. He looked refreshed but his stubble remained. Interestingly enough, that stubble added an air of maturity to his look.
Hanging around Gu Mengzhong’s waist was a gourd that contained, not alcohol, but his ink monster.
An ink monster’s rarity exceeded a jade dragon’s. Both were born into Rank 3 but the former had a higher potential of growth. Lin Jin asked to see it only to realize that Gu Mengzhong’s ink monster was showing signs of evolution.
After all, several months had passed since he last helped them form a blood pact. Gu Mengzhong had taken his ink monster everywhere, and they had fought countless battles together. In other words, the more lives it took, the greater its gains.
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“Master Gu, your ink monster is doing great.” As Lin Jin spoke, he turned to Senior Mo and said, “Old Mo, let me borrow some of your dragon’s blood!”
Senior Mo didn’t know what this was about but since it was Lin Jin’s request, forget some, he was willing to offer a full bucket if that was what Lin Jin demanded.
He took a porcelain bowl and Senior Mo used his claws to scratch a wound around his wrist. Thick red blood flowed freely into the vessel.
“Woah there, that’s enough!” Lin Jin immediately stopped him. He only needed a couple of drops but Senior Mo was surprisingly generous.
Though, having more dragon blood was a good thing.
Lin Jin proceeded to pour the ink monster out into the bowl of dragon blood. The ink monster gleefully sucked away the dragon blood at once. A Rank 4 jade dragon’s blood was clearly a rare supplement for this ink monster.
At the same time, Lin Jin took out a pill, crushed it with his fingers, and sprinkled the contents into the bowl.
The crushed pill emitted a relaxing fragrance. Gu Mengzhong watched Lin Jin work his magic silently. He could tell that Lin Jin was helping his ink monster evolve.
As ink monsters were born into Rank 3, their next evolution would be Rank 4. There weren’t many beast appraisers in this world who were capable of promoting a Rank 3 to Rank 4. At the very least, they had to be Rank 3 beast appraisers.
Even among Rank 3 beast appraisers, not all of them were confident that they could pull off such a feat. There might be harsh requirements. For instance, they may be required to conduct extensive preparations that oftentimes lasted forever.
Yet, Lin Jin hadn’t prepared anything. He simply went to work without hesitation and judging by this alone, Appraiser Tan’s recommendation for Lin Jin to obtain a Rank 4 qualification at Heavenly Spiral Kingdom was the correct move.
It was also Gu Mengzhong’s first time witnessing an evolution from Rank 3 to Rank 4 so despite his excitement, he remained quiet in fear of disturbing Lin Jin.
However, what he did next shocked Gu Mengzhong. Lin Jin grabbed the ink monster from the bowl and stuffed it into the gourd before handing it back to Gu Mengzhong.
The latter was dumbstruck.
He didn’t take it.
Lin Jin asked, “Master Gu?”
Gu Mengzhong finally came to and quickly received the gourd.
‘I may overthink things, but how could a Rank 4 evolution be this simple and effortless?’ he wondered.
Perhaps it was just wishful thinking and Lin Jin wasn’t trying to help his ink monster evolve.
And yet, the instant Gu Mengzhong received the gourd, a burning sensation arose from his blood pact connection. This burst of energy that came out of nowhere made Gu Mengzhong straighten up.
“This is…”
Gu Mengzhong was no fool. He could tell this was an improvement after a pet beast’s evolution. Immediately, he invoked a sword spell and his ink monster darted out of its gourd, solidifying into a blade in his hand.
There was a hint of crimson on this blade. As the ink monster’s blood pact owner, how could Gu Mengzhong not know that his ink monster had just entered Rank 4?
“A clean sweep slays all woes!” Gu Mengzhong tossed the long sword up and it flew out before swiftly returning. About a hundred feet away, a flag pole was cut down like a stick of butter by a hot knife.
Gu Mengzhong grew ecstatic.
The ink monster’s strength had increased considerably, and so too had the might of the sword skill he invented. It was at least ten times stronger than before.
How could Gu Mengzhong remain indifferent to this?
After calming down, he was much more surprised by Lin Jin’s skills.
“Evolving a Rank 3 to Rank 4 with little to no effort. Brother Lin, your technique is surely on par with a Rank 4 beast appraiser,” Gu Mengzhong said with great confidence.