Zuo Wentang went on to arrange for Qu Wenji and Tilly’s accomodation. As a man of significant experience, he knew that Maple City was far too dangerous to return to, and to do so would be downright inappropriate. Still, they couldn’t go too far either.
Fortunately, Zuo Wentang had secretly been purchasing real estate over the years in a number of villages near the city’s borders. His operation was done so discreetly that no one other than Zuo Wentang knew of it.
As they were pressed for time, Zuo Wentang made haste as dragging this on would draw suspicion.
Meanwhile, Lin Jin wasn’t as troubled as Zuo Wentang.
But he didn’t return to Maple City immediately either.
Earlier, he gained a sense of enlightenment and thoughts had since been overflowing like a natural spring that he couldn’t seem to stop.
Hence, he simply went up the mountain he created and found a spot at the peak to sit down as he meditated. From his arm, a mini Xiao Huo leaped down and hopped around.
Lin Jin knew that Xiao Huo was overjoyed for overcoming a lethal situation but what Lin Jin was about to do next would probably reduce Xiao Huo’s pleasant mood into nothingness.
“Xiao Huo, I’m planning to use my psyche to explore that Nine-Heaven Realm again,” Lin Jin said. Even he couldn’t be sure if his decision was a correct one.
Lin Jin was just as hesitant.
However, he had yet to fully understand the incident just now, and he still had many questions so Lin Jin wanted to return to that place. Perhaps only then could he get some real answers.
Sure enough, Xiao Huo grew visibly anxious upon hearing his decision, and this was illustrated by the constant overflow of frost and flames.
Lin Jin knew that Xiao Huo was just worried for his safety.
After all, it was quite dangerous to explore that place with one’s mind, and Xiao Huo knew better than anyone else just how terrifying that place could be.
However, once Lin Jin had set his mind on something, he would see it through. Otherwise, it would feel like something was stuck in his throat. The uncertainty would bug him constantly until he finished the job.
Lin Jin was only sitting on this mountain because of the edict amulet, which triggered the Nine-Heaven realm in the first place.
For a spell that could form a mountain at the wave of one’s hand, even if it wasn’t exactly enormous, it was undoubtedly supernatural. Lin Jin himself felt it was too ‘greedy’ as well.
It was no wonder he suffered the backlash from nature and triggered the Nine-Heaven Realm. Indeed, such powers should only be wielded by ancient immortals.
It was also for this reason that Lin Jin felt the need to investigate further. Or else, he wouldn’t have the courage to use these edict amulets anymore.
Xiao Huo obviously couldn’t persuade Lin Jin to change his mind. After a thought, he closed his eyes and immersed himself into his psyche.
Lin Jin had figured out a plan for entering the Nine-Heaven Realm. Before leaving the place just now, Lin Jin used Carrier Cloud to leave a small portion of the clouds from the Nine-Heaven Realm in the Museum of Deadly Beasts.
Something like this couldn’t be stored just anywhere. Just like sulfuric acid, not everything could contain it and it had to be placed in special containers that could support its constitution.
The aura of the Nine-Heaven Realm was the same. If it permeated into a physical body, forget Lin Jin, even a much stronger beast or monster would surely die.
Fortunately, the Museum of Deadly Beast was able to contain such an aura, and this aura would serve as a mental bridge, allowing Lin Jin to peek into that mysterious land, the Nine-Heaven Realm once more.
The name ‘Nine-Heaven Realm’ was a name Lin Jin came up on his own.
Back then, he was awed by the nine layers of skies stretching so far up that it inspired him to come up with this name.
Right now, Lin Jin was using that aura he ‘stole’ from the Nine-Heaven Realm to help with his understanding of the place. Just like an attempt to fish in troubled waters, it all depended on luck, and suddenly, Lin Jin caught something. He opened his eyes.
What Lin Jin opened was his spiritual eye.
What he was seeing now was what his spiritual eye could also see.
Sure enough, he was back in the mysterious realm.
Lin Jin looked up at the nine-layered skies and instantly felt that boundless pressure again. However, unlike before, Lin Jin had ‘snuck in’ on his own this time without rousing any attention on himself. Hence, the situation this time was so much better than it was before.
Still, this was all the more reason for Lin Jin to be careful. If his attention slipped even the slightest, he might get into an ‘accident’. The possible consequence of that ‘accident’ was something he didn’t want to experience.
Of course, Lin Jin wouldn’t just explore aimlessly in a situation like this. He only wanted to borrow this aura to improve his psyche.
The last time he was here, Lin Jin realized how this place was incredibly effective in improving one’s psyche. The human psyche was shapeless, and while there were cultivation methods to strengthen one’s psyche going back to ancient times, those methods had lost their effectiveness. Most formulas had also been lost in time, leaving only legends behind.
This place was like a blacksmith’s workshop for a person’s psyche. One’s psyche would improve by virtue of being here as if it was being hammered and tempered.
A stronger psyche had many benefits. It would increase one’s resistance from an enemy spell attack, and the caster’s own magic would also become more potent with a stronger mind.
Right now, Lin Jin was alone in the ethereal Nine-Heaven Realm. Most of the time he just sat in silence, and occasionally, he would get dumb impulses and sneak looks at the nine heavens above.
‘There’s a palace in the sky. Perhaps there are people in there?’ A thought popped up in Lin Jin’s mind. What intrigued him more was the beast that roared from above. Just what kind of creature was it and why did it sound so harrowing? Even Lin Jin was scared out of his wits back then.
Was there a beast in the nine heavens?
Lin Jin let his mind wander. Suddenly, he felt a powerful aura pass over his head. Lin Jin quickly scrambled into hiding.
At that moment, a scorching firebird flew across the skies like a brightly burning sun.
Even with his spiritual eye, Lin Jin found the sight piercing. What he saw was a bird covered in flaming feathers and had three tails. Not only was it majestic, but it was also beautiful.
Suddenly, Lin Jin thought of something.
Doesn’t this firebird look like a Golden Crow?
Lin Jin wasn’t making blind guesses. Back when he evaluated Goldy, he knew that Goldy had a trace of a Golden Crow’s blood in him. Hence, Lin Jin had seen the legendary bird, the Golden Crow’s illustration in the museum before.
Of course, Lin Jin thought that it merely belonged to folklore. However, right now, looking at the firebird soaring in the nine skies, Lin Jin couldn’t help but see the semblance.
That was a Golden Crow.
A living, breathing one.
Lin Jin’s heartbeat became erratic as his mind wavered.
Suddenly, the Golden Crow dived into the clouds in the sky, but Lin Jin, with his sharp vision, managed to see a spark fall from the heavens.
A spark?
It wasn’t a spark but a feather.
The feather of a Golden Crow.
As the Golden Crow flew by earlier, for some reason, it shed a feather. Seeing this, a blazing thought immediately formed in Lin Jin’s mind.
He would obtain that feather.
That was definitely a piece of treasure. Maybe not to the inhabitants of this place, but it was definitely so for Lin Jin.
Though, how should he get it? That feather was fluttering in the air so who knew where it would land? At that moment, Lin Jin couldn’t endure it anymore. He knew this was his chance.
That feather came from a real Golden Crow, if he could get it, that would be incredibly helpful for Goldy.
In addition to Xiao Huo, Goldy was like a second pet beast to Lin Jin. Although that rooster was mostly unreliable, during crucial moments, Goldy would always turn the tide of the battle.
Not to mention the fact that Goldy’s bloodline was considered one of the strongest among Lin Jin’s beasts. Now that a chance to obtain a real Golden Crow’s feather presented itself, Lin Jin couldn’t afford to let it slip from his hands.
Shifting his mind, Lin Jin performed a spell, invoking Carrier Cloud with his psyche.
Invoking spells here was considered a huge risk because if Lin Jin wasn’t careful enough, he might get ‘caught’. And when that happens, he might need to go through another terrifying round of deterrence from heaven and earth.
However, Lin Jin now had a trump card up his sleeve.
The last time, he managed to overcome it with the museum’s help. If he was indeed detected, he only had to do it one more time. This demonstrated how important that single feather was to Lin Jin.
Lin Jin did also ponder alternatives. These included catching the Golden Crow alive, or pulling a few more of its feathers, or get a blood sample.
However, those thoughts were just daydreams.
The might from that Golden Crow that just flew over absolutely exceeded every beast and monster Lin Jin had encountered so far.
Even Lin Jin couldn’t say how strong it was. One thing was, however, certain. He knew he was no match for the creature right now.
Since that was the case, he couldn’t afford to act carelessly.
Casting the Carrier Cloud, Lin Jin unleashed the full potential of his psyche. A piece of cloud in the sky condensed into a tiny cloud bird, flapping its wings as it went to bite the feather.
While the skies looked calm from below, strong winds blew in the nine layers above, it was the same even in the lowest layer. Lin Jin was trying his hardest just to maintain the cloud bird form to prevent it from being blown to pieces.
The bird had a pair of spiritual eyes, condensed by Lin Jin, of course. With this, he could use the bird’s eyes to observe its surroundings.
It was also with this that Lin Jin had indirectly entered the nine heavens. Although he was only on the lowest layer, from this distance, he knew that the nine heaves truly lived up to its reputation. The clouds here were massive and each layer seemed like a huge plain. Lin Jin could actually see mountain peaks in the lowest layer of clouds, standing tall and mighty. He could even notice faint tracks of rare beasts.
“Owoo!”
There was a strange cry. Through his spiritual eye, Lin Jin saw a massive emerald dragon with four legs flying over. It was surely a rare creature and this dragon’s aura easily overpowered the old dragon that Lin Jin had met.
The scariest part wasn’t this but the fact that this dragon was being pursued by another ferocious beast. The other beast was much larger in size and shaped like an enormous catfish. It had a hundred-foot-long horn on its head and the creature’s body was probably over three hundred feet long. The next instant, that strange catfish opened its mouth to chomp down on one of the escaping dragon’s four legs, swallowing it whole. Blood splattered everywhere in that gruesome scene.
