Lin Jin cast a sideways glance at the guy.
He mused, ‘Grassy Continent natives sure are tall. Look at his build. His arm is even thicker than my thigh. If he existed in the modern world, he’d be called a meathead, no doubt.’
As they weren’t that obsessed about manners, the native stared at Lin Jin with a hint of suspicion in his eyes. “What are you doing here in the middle of the night?”
His tone sounded harsh.
Lin Jin frowned, seemingly annoyed by the native. He ignored the man and asked Lieutenant Guo instead, “What’s this Grassy brute here for?”
Since the guy was being rude to him, Lin Jin decided to respond with even more prejudice.
Knowing that ‘Grassy brute’ was no compliment, the native was about to lash out in anger. Fortunately, Lieutenant Guo intervened by replying quickly in his stead, “Appraiser Lin, he’s an expert hunter hired by the Grassy Continent caravan. His name is Rubba!”
Lin Jin paused.
“His name is what?”
“Rubba!”
What the hell?
Lin Jin almost snorted a laugh. This man had quite a creative name. Were his parents just a couple of country bumpkins as well? Rubba, Rub-A-Dub-Dub, why didn’t they just name him Lucy instead?
Although he didn’t laugh out loud, Lin Jin couldn’t hide the cheeky grin on his face.
Rubba frowned and asked, “What are you smiling for?”
“Nothing!” Lin Jin gave a light cough. He didn’t have much time left. These two men had to be chased away soon or the great white ape wouldn’t be able to hold out much longer.
“Lieutenant Guo, this man is suspicious. To appear in this uninhabited forest in the middle of the night clearly shows that he’s up to something. He might even know where the great white ape is.” Admittedly, this Rubba had a pretty sharp intuition for a country bumpkin. He managed to figure it all out on the first try.
Lieutenant Guo was just as curious as to what Lin Jin was doing here.
Steadying himself, Lin Jin explained, “As an official Rank 2 beast appraiser, it’s not all that strange for me to come out here in the wild to hone my beast taming and appraisal skills.”
Lieutenant Guo silently agreed to his excuse.
It was indeed common for Beast Appraisers to go out into the wild to familiarize themselves with wild beasts.
After he explained it to Rubba, the latter didn’t know what to say so he blurted out, “Then, why didn’t he come during the daytime?”
“Why is my schedule any of your business?” Lin Jin retorted impolitely.
Although his response was curt, the reasoning still stood. Did it matter whether he showed up during the day or night?
Just then, Rubba noticed the white ape close by and was stunned.
After performing Transformation, while the great white ape was now the size of an average monkey the white fur on its body remained.
Suspicion sparked in Rubba’s eyes and he stepped forward, intending to confirm it.
“Stop right there!” Lin Jin held up a hand to stop him. “I just tamed this monkey and it’s not completely domesticated yet. Be careful or it might hurt you.”
At this, Rubba let out a burst of savage laughter. “I can crush a tiny monkey like this with one hand. But why does this monkey have white fur as well?”
Rubba obviously found it strange, but that was all. He wasn’t imaginative enough to assume this was the same giant ape that escaped.
Their sizes were different after all.
His approaching Lin Jin was genuinely out of curiosity.
People from unsophisticated places such as the Grassy Continent had never heard of demonic arts. Even if they did, they wouldn’t be able to imagine how it was used.
Upon hearing Rubba’s answer, Lin Jin smirked. “Why does it have white fur, you ask? You’ll have to ask this monkey’s parents that question.”
Lieutenant Guo sensed Lin Jin’s open hostility toward the native and assumed he might just be discriminating against the man. Hence, he quickly interrupted to soothe the atmosphere, asking Lin Jin if he had seen a large white ape around.
Lin Jin deliberately pointed to the white ape. “Are you talking about this one?”
Rubba flared up in anger again.
Lieutenant Guo: “…”
He wanted to leave now. If this carried on, the two might just break out into a fight.
“Appraiser Lin, if you notice any traces of a giant ape, you mustn’t investigate it on your own. You have to report it to the City Lord Manor,” Lieutenant Guo reminded him before they left.
Lin Jin nodded.
Panicking on the inside, he couldn’t wait for them to leave because his silent counting had now reached a hundred and twelve, greatly exceeding the white ape’s previous limits.
The white ape must be suffering terribly right now and might revert back any minute.
Things would get really messy if they were exposed.
Fortunately, the two large eagles rose up into the sky and flew away. The white ape couldn’t hold out any longer and undid the spell, returning back to its usual size.
Lin Jin wiped away the cold sweat that had formed on his forehead.
What a scare.
Having soldiered on through this ordeal, this area should be safe for the time being. Though, there was still a possibility of them returning to search the area.
Lin Jin went over and patted the ape on its head. “Did you see that? I’m taking a huge risk just to help you. Learn the skill well and when you can maintain it for as long as you will it, you’ll finally be safe.”
The intelligent ape nodded.
Shang’er and the others came out of the cave.
As Lin Jin looked at this group of monsters, he thought of something.
Letting Shang’er and the others stay here wasn’t a long-term solution. Although this place was practically uninhabited, it wasn’t the real wilderness. Lin Jin dared not imagine what would happen if someone ever found their tracks.
Despite Lin Jin’s capabilities and the combined power of Shang’er, Little Five, and the white ape, they were far from strong enough to defend themselves against the dangers of the real world. If even an opportunity appeared, they had to choose a safer location.
However, staying at Mount Zoroku wasn’t too problematic for now. They just had to stay out of trouble.
***
At the Friar Association.
Yang Jie waited respectfully outside Ye Yuzhou’s room where the latter had gone into seclusion. A little while later, Ye Yuzhou came out of the room in high spirits.
It had been too long since Ye Yuzhou wore such an expression.
His level of cultivation as well as the rank of his pet beast had remained stagnant for a long time now. Ye Yuzhou had tried many ways to break through this bottleneck.
If either he or his pet beast, the flood dragon, could successfully advance, he would gain immense improvement in strength.
However, the continuous series of failures made Ye Yuzhou disheartened. He began to think that he probably couldn’t break through these limits for the rest of his life, especially his pet beast’s.
His flood dragon, with a water attribute, could control clouds but its potential was surprisingly low. Reaching Rank 4 was already the creature’s limit, according to some veteran beast appraiser.
Ye Yuzhou was no doubt considered one of the top five experts in the Jade Dragon Kingdom.
If his flood dragon could evolve, he would surely become the country’s number one expert. The kingdom itself may even be promoted to the category of a large country so this was quite a huge deal.
All these years, the top experts of the Jade Dragon Kingdom have been racking their brains, trying to find ways to improve themselves. Ye Yuzhou hadn’t dared to be too optimistic about it but now, he had finally found a way.
It was the curator who gave him this path.
If Ye Yuzhou continued down this path, his flood dragon would evolve into Rank 5.
Of course, it wasn’t at all easy for a Rank 4 pet beast to evolve into Rank 5. Even if they had a method, the preparation required time and they had to proceed step by step.
The key was choosing the correct evolution path.
Ye Yuzhou could now affirm that he was on the right path. During his seclusion, he had researched the evaluation report the curator gave him and this evolution method was indeed plausible.
He verified it himself.
However, the process required many priceless materials, including herbs, pills, premium spirit stones, and some treasures.
This came as no surprise to Ye Yuzhou. Promoting a Rank 4 up to Rank 5 was a financially draining feat. In some countries, the kingdom would even empty its pockets just to help facilitate the process.
The situation in the Jade Dragon Kingdom however was a little unique. But if Ye Yuzhou was confident in evolving his pet beast, he should be able to apply for the resources needed.
All in all, the door to his pet beast’s evolution had opened. His next task was to accumulate experience until they reached the breakthrough point.
This process may take several years, or it may take several months.
