Beast Tamer Ascension

Vol 3 Chapter 83: The Longevity Treasure Turtle

"Better not."

After some thought, Lin Jing decided not to hastily insert the black iron fragment into the Soul Core to activate the Longevity Treasure Turtle's intelligence.

Right now, he hadn’t yet reached the Core Formation Stage and had no available contract slots. Activating it now would be pointless…

Moreover, this Longevity Treasure Turtle was built entirely based on the blueprints given by Fairy Mo. Lin Jing still didn’t fully understand the true nature of the black iron fragment, so creating an autonomous sentient entity and keeping it by his side felt too risky. Caution was necessary. He decided to study more Mechanized Arts before making any decisions.

There were forces in Qingzhou that specialized in Mechanized Arts. While they might not compare to Shenji Manor, they weren’t far behind. Given his current status as the Holy Son of the Demon Court, he could easily make contact with them and even pursue advanced studies—something that would help in upgrading the Treasure Turtle in the future.

"For now, apart from lacking intelligence and Spatial Concealment Abilities, it already possesses all other capabilities of a Longevity Treasure Turtle. This should be enough for now."

Lin Jing summoned his Spell Spirit Origin: Mushroom, and gently placed it onto the palm-sized turtle before him.

The Longevity Treasure Turtle looked plain and ordinary. Its earth-brown shell made it resemble a common land tortoise, simple and unremarkable.

After applying a long-lasting illusion spell on it, Lin Jing issued its first command.

"Alright. Go on a journey."

He wasn’t worried about losing the Longevity Treasure Turtle or it failing to return. Since he had refined its Soul Core, he could sense its presence within a certain range.

And even if it traveled beyond that range to search for treasures, Lin Jing had placed a Wood Clone Seed—condensed by the Pine Leaf Mouse—inside the turtle. Through this, he could always track it down.

Since he wasn’t rushing to contract it, Lin Jing decided to observe its abilities first.

As long as there were no glitches, that was enough.

"Command received... initiating startup..."

"Preparing for treasure-seeking expedition..."

This was the recorded formation voice within the Mechanized Turtle, a pre-set mechanical voice designed to make the mechanized beast seem more lifelike.

If Lin Jing found it annoying, he could erase it. But he had left it in for fun, following the blueprints’ design. However, since the recorded voice library was quite complicated, he had no idea what all the preset messages were.

"Go on, then."

Lin Jing nodded.

The Mechanized Bamboo Turtle turned around and started moving.

"Setting off now! Wishing my master eternal life! Please, live long enough to see me return…"

Lin Jing: ???

…

There was nothing wrong with this blessing, but why did it sound more like a curse?!

Never mind, as long as there are no glitches, it’s fine. At least it left successfully to begin its treasure hunt.

A Moment Later…

The Longevity Treasure Turtle infiltrated Gu Qianqiu’s Cave Dwelling.

It blankly stared at the Longevity Body, unsure how to absorb this life-extending treasure into itself.

"…Why do I feel like I’m being watched?"

At the same time, Gu Qianqiu, who was in the middle of cultivation, suddenly opened his eyes.

He saw nothing—yet he couldn't shake the eerie feeling that someone’s eyes were locked onto him...

"Sh*t. I knew there would be a glitch."

Inside his cave, Lin Jing sensed the Longevity Treasure Turtle’s actions and rubbed his forehead.

Because he had refined the Soul Core, this little guy didn’t recognize Gu Qianqiu as a longevity resource—instead, it saw Lin Jing as its master.

But in the end...

It still ended up fixating on Gu Qianqiu.