Lin Jin was sure a change happened within Shu Xiaolou. The shift in the color of her robes was merely a reflection of that change that occurred deep inside her. Lin Jin had no idea what it was that changed, but he didn’t ask about it either.
“Where is this place?” Lin Jin looked around. They were clearly in the wilderness. Everything within a hundred feet radius around them was carbonized by the flames and the landscape was barely recognizable. However, they could still see mountains and forests in the distance.
“We are about thirty miles away from Heavenly Spiral City but I have no idea specifically where. After being engulfed by a crimson light back at the academy, you disappeared right after. I knew someone must have transported you away through a spell. I found this in Peach Blossom House.” Shu Xiaolou produced a small tin.
The hideous-looking tin was only the size of their palms. Its lid was popped open and its interior was stained red with blood.
Lin Jin understood what Shu Xiaolou meant by this.
This item didn’t belong to Peach Blossom House but no one knew when it appeared in there. During the ambush, Lin Jin was probably transported here by whatever was inside the tin, and the barrier was probably its work as well.
If Lin Jin hadn’t opened the Visitation Hall’s door, he might have already lost his life in the barrier.
Now, it seemed like the barrier was cast by the Blood Demon Twins and what used to be inside this tin was definitely blood. Yet, there was no way for the Blood Demon Twins to have planted this item inside Peach Blossom House.
They couldn’t have entered the academy grounds without being detected.
This was Heavenly Spiral Academy they were talking about. Aside from the beautiful scenery and serene atmosphere, the institution was covered with defensive formations and filled with experts. Outsiders, especially villainous experts, couldn’t possibly have entered the place unnoticed.
There must have been a spy!
Lin Jin soon arrived at this conclusion. This was not mere speculation, as he had his reasons for holding this suspicion. As mentioned earlier, outsiders couldn’t possibly have entered the place without being stopped. Apart from that, he recalled Chu Gou stating that there were demonic appraisers here in Heavenly Spiral City so there must be some hiding inside the academy too.
Looks like they had already worked on how to kill him and they were pretty clever about it too. There had been no premonition before their attacks, and if Lin Jin did not possess his trump card, he would have been burning in hell right now.
Subsequently, Lin Jin and Shu Xiaolou found blood-stained skulls lying around, ultimately forming some sort of formation. This further confirmed Lin Jin’s suspicion that this case of attempted murder was premeditated.
Looks like the culprit was adamant about killing him.
This obviously made Lin Jin tense up. No doubt, it had been a revenge attempt by the Demonic Appraisal Association and since they didn’t succeed this time, they would be coming for him again. If they failed the next time, they would still come for the third time.
Lin Jin started thinking he had overestimated himself.
Those close calls reminded Lin Jin that he wasn’t powerful enough yet. Far from it. He could foresee the Demonic Appraisal Association’s subsequent revenge attempts getting increasingly intense and challenging.
Lin Jin had already planned to contract another pet beast. Since he coincidentally obtained this blood ghost, why not go ahead with the plan now?
Blood ghosts were outstanding creatures. From what Lin Jin learned in the museum, they naturally had high ranks as well as supernatural skills that were enough to make Lin Jin green from envy, especially from what he read on the list.
Hence, choosing to contract a blood ghost as his second pet beast brought no disadvantages, only merits. Until this point, the blood ghost was the most valuable pet beast Lin Jin had stumbled upon.
Even Goldy with his Golden Crow bloodline couldn’t compare to it in terms of practicality and enhancing the strength of the blood contract owner.
The only problem left was the blood contract method for a second pet beast.
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Not many people in this world knew how to perform it for a second pet beast. This wasn’t surprising given how a majority of people still clung to the belief that one person could form only one pact with one beast.
What’s more, all the available methods known to beast appraisers had their own caveats. Either the failure rate was incredibly high, or adverse side effects were guaranteed.
The perfect contract method simply did not exist.
However, that only applied to regular beast appraisers. Lin Jin had the Museum of Deadly Beasts. Previously when he was recording rare beasts in the Beast Appraisal Pavilion, he had triggered another reward.
This reward was a second pet beast contract method.
This one was flawless. In other words, it was the perfect contract method.
With a contract method and beast ready, there was no need to wait anymore. They happened to be outside the academy too. If they were still in there, Lin Jin would have to worry about stirring up a commotion and startling everyone. Here in the wilderness, there was nothing for Lin Jin to worry about.
“Shu Xiaolou, watch my back for a while!” Since they were well-acquainted with each other, Lin Jin understood Shu Xiaolou’s temperament. She preferred interacting with others in a straightforward manner. So, Lin Jin just told her what he needed.
Having said that, he took a deep breath. Pricking his finger with a needle, he silently began the perfect contract process. A drop of blood oozed out from his fingertip, followed by steam, and then ember. The blood was burning.
Shu Xiaolou noticed this irregular occurrence. After taking a closer look, she asked, “Lin Jin, you plan to form a contract with another beast?”
Given her mastery of beast appraising, it didn’t take much for her to tell this much. What’s more, Shu Xiaolou herself had her own method to form a contract with a second pet beast.
Of course, the method she knew was flawed too. Still, in this world, the fact that one was able to come up with such a method was itself quite remarkable. Such knowledge was so valuable that countless people would kill just to learn it.
Seeing Lin Jin about to form a second contract, Shu Xiaolou assumed he would ask for her contract method. She was confident about this, as she had already made it clear to Lin Jin that she had her own method for it.
To her surprise, Lin Jin’s request never came.
Shu Xiaolou wore a puzzled expression.
‘Does he have a second contract method too?’ Shu Xiaolou pondered this possibility.
And now, that seemed like the case.
‘Makes sense too. Since Lin Jin is so capable, his mentor must be even more amazing. It wouldn’t be weird that he got this second contract method from Curator,’ Shu Xiaolou figured it all out.
Although they had only known each other only for a few days, Shu Xiaolou and Lin Jin’s temperaments were quite compatible with each other.
In the beginning, both put on appearances out of respect for each other. Whenever they conversed, they would always address each other using the ‘Appraiser’ honorific. Two days later, both of them started to realize how they weren’t that pedantic, so the superficial honorifics were dropped pretty quickly after that.
Especially Shu Xiaolou. She spent most of her life in the Beast Appraisal Pavilion and knew only the pavilion masters of each generation. For example, she had known Zhong Zifeng for many years but every time they met, the old man would always address her as his ‘Senior’. He’d never let up even a little, so it was a stark contrast from her interaction with Lin Jin.
Zhong Zifeng would never dare to call her by name but Lin Jin did. Real friends should be able to feel at ease in each others’ company, and that was how Shu Xiaolou felt whenever she was with Lin Jin. He could chat with her too, alleviating her loneliness, so to Shu Xiaolou, Lin Jin was her friend.
Contracting a second beast was serious business so the process usually required the presence of a guardian. Shu Xiaolou stood aside and kept up her guard, all the while observing Lin Jin’s actions.
Right now, Lin Jin dropped his burning blood onto the blood ghost.