Beast Tamer Ascension

Vol 4 Chapter 85: Time for the Hunt

Originally, God Pine didn’t have high hopes for the Blood Bodhi. After all, he was already at the Void Mystical Stage, but the effect of the Blood Bodhi exceeded his expectations.

It could actually make spells train themselves!

That was terrifying.

Of course, God Pine could sense that the speed of automatic training for his spells wasn’t fast—it was significantly slower than if he cultivated actively.

But that wasn’t the point of this tree. Its true value lay in enabling cultivators to keep cultivating even while severely injured—without lifting a finger.

Just imagine—a Core Formation cultivator on the brink of death after repeatedly using Core Formation Divine Abilities, their core shattered and vitality nearly extinguished.

If they wanted to heal, who knows how long it would take—decades, maybe centuries.

And during that time, in order to heal, they would waste countless precious years. Their cultivation would completely stagnate.

Normally, someone seriously injured wouldn’t have the willpower to focus on cultivation. That’s why God Pine hadn’t been impressed at first.

But if the tree could let spells cultivate like they had spiritual intelligence, that changed everything.

“Although the speed is slow, I’m not even actively cultivating right now. If I actively train while using it, wouldn’t that make it even faster?”

“This is a real treasure.”

God Pine’s eyes gleamed as he began cultivating the Heavenly Demon Crossing, a secret technique from his past life.

He found that the technique, which had always been hard to use with his pine tree body, now flowed much more smoothly.

“Screw healing—let’s cultivate first!”

...

A few days later.

God Pine handed over a sapling-sized tree heart to Lin Jing and transmitted a message: “Here’s the material. The Blood Bodhi works great. You guys go make another one yourselves. There are still many immature Bodhi saplings on the mountain—find resources to ripen one yourselves... This one, I’m keeping.”

Holy Son Hall.

Lin Jing caught the tree heart source that descended from the sky and paused slightly.

Looks like the Blood Bodhi really was impressive, or else Senior Mo Pine wouldn’t have kept it for himself.

“Well, can’t complain. Senior Mo Pine still left me this—judging by the energy, it’s at least two-thirds of his origin essence.”

Lin Jing handed the External Incarnation material to the Pine Leaf Mouse, then looked at the now-barren Bodhi Forest with a sigh.

He took out a Sixth-Tier Spirit Spring he had “borrowed” from the Gu God Sect, intending to grow another Blood Bodhi for himself.

...

One month later in the outside world.

Inside the Hourglass of Time.

Beneath a crimson Blood Bodhi tree.

With a crisp crack, accompanied by the sound of Dao, Lin Jing’s main body’s aura broke through from Peak Core Formation to the Nascent Soul Realm like a flood bursting through a dam.

His Core shattered completely.

From within, a tiny infant emerged, sitting cross-legged atop the broken Core, radiating powerful waves of energy.

The Nascent Soul bared its teeth as it opened its eyes.

Its entire body was in agony as though it had been torn apart. The once-resilient meridians were already cracking in multiple places, oozing blood inside the body.

Using the Celestial Surge Fruit to brute-force his breakthrough left Lin Jing’s Nascent Soul with none of the clarity or joy normally expected.

He just felt like he was about to die.

But once the breakthrough was completed, Lin Jing’s strength underwent a massive transformation.

Meanwhile, the Pinewood Lin Jing who was still refining his External Incarnation had yet to stir, still in the early stage of Nascent Soul, but...

Thanks to the lifted realm cap, the Dragon Carp’s cultivation directly shot to Mid Core Formation Stage.

It seemed the Ancestral-tier bloodline gave it a massive boost, drastically increasing its breakthrough speed.

But the Dragon Carp was nothing compared to the Ice Soul Gu.

With the Beast Tamer’s realm cap removed, its advancement was flat-out absurd.

Not long ago, it had just broken into Early Nascent Soul, but as Lin Jing broke through, it shot up to Perfected Nascent Soul Stage.

The combined power of the Eight Rare Gu had been previously limited by Lin Jing’s own cultivation, preventing the Ice Soul Gu from fully digesting them.

There were still many nutrients in its bloodline left unabsorbed.

Now that Lin Jing had unlocked the seal, the Ice Soul Gu—having consumed seven kinds of Rare Gu essences—was now only a step away from the Nascent Soul Transformation Stage!

Moreover, as it completely digested the Rare Gu essences, its bloodline level also rose to Ancestral-tier, on par with the Dragon Carp.

It might not yet match the Dragon Carp’s Celestial Flame or Rare Beast Bloodline, but Lin Jing believed—

Once the Ice Soul Gu consumed the last two Rare Gu, absorbed the Gu God’s blood, and refined the Immortal Demon Serpent’s origin, it might not quite reach an Emperor-tier bloodline, but it wouldn’t be far off.

Of course, compared to the changes in Lin Jing’s main body, the biggest transformation was in the Mechanical Turtle following his External Incarnation.

“Uhh...?”

Its realm had been stuck at Early Nascent Soul, limited by Lin Jing’s own cultivation and sealed.

But now, the seal shattered—

It immediately leapt to the peak realm a Beast Taming Cultivator could sustain—Early Nascent Soul Transformation Stage!

Just like that, it became the highest-level pet in Lin Jing’s team.

“Huh.” The First Ancient Emperor glanced at the little turtle on the Incarnation’s head. “So your main body broke through to Nascent Soul, huh.”

“Mm. I’ll bring the main body to the Ancient Kingdom in a while... but for now, let this one go stretch its legs.”

The External Incarnation of Lin Jing grinned as he looked at the eager Mechanical Turtle.

“I can finally go travel on my own???” The turtle had waited way too long for this day.

“Yup. But you’ve gotta return before His Majesty the Ancient Emperor fades away to extend his life.”

“And I’ll choose your travel destination too.”

The Mechanical Turtle was bitter, but nodded.

Before, it was too weak for Lin Jing to let it roam freely.

But now, as a Nascent Soul Transformation Stage mechanical beast, it could fully wield quasi-Immortal Artifacts, and its strength gave Lin Jing full confidence to let it go.

Lin Jing’s Incarnation looked at the Fortune Gold List.

Ancient Imperial Prince, Ancient Clan Princess, Daozi of the Spirit Dao Sect, Crown Prince of Poseidon Palace, Young Master Dragon Willow, Holy Son of the Demon Court, Martial Emperor’s Successor Wan Renzong, Senior Sister of Water Moon Immortal Island, Divine Son of the Witch God Hall, and Holy Son of the Snow Plains Totem...

Those were the top ten.

Lin Jing pointed at the last four. “These four haven’t paid their protection fees—Martial Emperor City, Water Moon Immortal Island, Cloud Sea Mountains, Snow Plains.

You can choose any of them to travel to. Your mission: defeat any one of these four.

Not kill—just defeat.”

“Hmm... The Martial Emperor’s Successor dropped a Stone Man Gu, and Water Moon Immortal Island dropped a Yin Spirit Gu. Let’s prioritize those two.”

“Since your essence is a mechanical beast, I’m not sure if you can appear on the Gold List...

By artifact spirit age, you’re an old ghost.

But by mechanical component age, you’re a newborn.

And as a mechanical creation, you don’t even have a set ‘golden cultivation age’... so who knows how the list judges it.”

“Either way, give it a try. Even if you can’t get on the Gold List, treat this as scouting for the Pine Leaf Mouse, Dragon Carp, and Ice Soul Gu.

Once my main body finishes up, I’ll send them out to hunt these Gold List prodigies one by one...”

Beside him, the First Ancient Emperor mourned silently for those geniuses and urged, “Alright, let’s go rescue Gao Sheng!”

The First Ancient Emperor wanted to test the reporting mechanism in the Ancient Kingdom.

He had just gotten Gao Sheng to disguise himself as a rogue cultivator and report a corrupt official using a regulatory artifact from above—

Only to have the local Demon-Slaying Bureau capture him on the spot as a suspected demon cultivator.