The tiger claw was ash-white and was slightly decayed. One would imagine that a tiger claw was soft and fluffy, but this one was surprisingly tough.
In Lin Jin’s opinion, its durability could be comparable to metal, tougher even.
Hints of death aura lingered around the claw. To suppress this death aura, a specialized amulet was deliberately stuck onto the claw, making it a strange sight.
Lin Jin reached over to touch it and the museum immediately responded.
“Zombie tiger, Rank 4!”
“Sacrificed from flesh and blood, converted from auras of death, will not die nor perish!”
“…”
Lin Jin’s brows furrowed when he read the description and saw the image presented by the museum.
This creature was evil.
The tiger was relatively large but nothing stood out in particular. The only fearsome factor about it was the greyish aura of death that surrounded it as if any living spirit would be affected by its corrosion.
Lin Jin found it oddly familiar.
Finally, he remembered. The hand that reached out from the Visitation Hall’s third visitor’s door was similar to this zombie tiger’s.
Not in appearance, but the aura of death.
“Zombie beast… Zombie…” Lin Jin mumbled to himself. He finally had an idea what was behind door number three now.
As Lin Jin pondered while holding onto the zombie tiger’s claw, he hadn’t noticed Zhong Zifeng coming up to the fourth floor.
“Lecturer Lin!” Zhong Zifeng called cheerfully.
Upon hearing his voice, Lin Jin quickly exited the museum and then bowed at Zhong Zifeng. “Mr. Zhong!”
“There’s no need for such courtesy,” Zhong Zifeng responded with a bow.
Then, he noticed Lin Jin holding the tiger’s claw. “Lecturer Lin, are you researching this zombie beast?”
Upon hearing this, Lin Jin mused, ‘Mr. Zhong seems well-informed about this. Let’s try asking him about it.’
With this in mind, Lin Jin nodded and bluffed, “I recently learned about zombie beasts from some books so I thought I’d come and take a look, but there doesn’t seem to be much information about these rare creatures in the Beast Appraisal Pavilion.”
“True, there aren’t many you can find!” Zhong Zifeng nodded. “It’s mainly because zombie beasts are quite rare. Dragons are already considered rare in our world, but if we were to compare them to zombie beasts, dragons outnumber them by a stretch. Part of the reason why is because zombie beasts aren’t born, but are man-made. The process is vicious and difficult, but if success is achieved, these creatures can kill other beasts across different ranks. Everything that crosses its path will be destroyed, so they are a daunting existence if I do say so myself.”
Looks like Zhong Zifeng had once encountered a zombie beast himself.
Lin Jin immediately pressed for more details but Zhong Zifeng waved his hand. “It wasn’t me. Speaking of which, this tiger claw was brought back by Senior Shu from one of her trips. It was also her who told me about zombie beasts. It’s a pity that I’ve never met one before.”
Shu Xiaolou?
Suddenly recalling something, Lin Jin quickly bid farewell and hurried away.
“Shu Xiaolou. That’s right. How did I forget about her?” Lin Jin muttered under his breath.
Lin Jin hadn’t dared to forcefully open the Visitation Hall’s third door to examine the malicious being mainly because of his limited abilities and lack of assistance.
He could wait until the Visitation Hall’s next opening, but the problem was, the strongest visitor he had now was only Zhao Jingyan. After her phoenix achieved Nirvana, it gained explosive strength, putting it above average Rank 5 beasts. Besides Zhao Jingyan, there were Madam Ghost Child, Black Crow, Ye Yuzhou, and also Old Tian, but his pet beast was only a little stronger in comparison.
In Lin Jin’s opinion, no one but Zhao Jingyan among the visitors could help him. Based on his deduction, that thing behind the third door was more powerful than this zombie tiger he found in the Beast Appraisal Pavilion.
Those who wanted to participate in a fight of this scale had to at least possess a Rank 5 beast or something of equivalent strength.
Among the visitors, only Zhao Jingyan fit the bill.
However, Lin Jin didn’t want to wait another week. This was an urgent matter. Although it was only a hunch without actual evidence, Lin Jin still chose to believe in his instincts.
Since he couldn’t wait for Zhao Jingyan, he had no other option.
Shu Xiaolou was his answer.
Unlike the others, she had the Cosmic Ink that allowed her to weave through dimensions. So logically speaking, even if she didn’t have the Visitation Hall’s token, she could still enter through the Cosmic Ink, on the premise that Lin Jin helped her.
He could, for instance, bring her painting inside.
Lin Jin figured it was possible. Shu Xiaolou was undoubtedly stronger than Zhao Jingyan. If she agreed to help him, Lin Jin’s morale would receive a great boost as well.
Moreover, according to Zhong Zifeng, it was Shu Xiaolou who brought the zombie tiger’s claw back to the Beast Appraisal Pavilion. Given her experience, she was the most suitable candidate for this task.
After hurrying back to Peach Blossom House, Lin Jin found Shang’er and asked if Shu Xiaolou has awakened.
Shang’er shook her head.
Unable to contain his anxiety, Lin Jin entered the bedroom to see that Shu Xiaolou was indeed still sound asleep. It had been days since she started sleeping, so why wouldn’t she wake up?
He hadn’t felt it before when things were fine, but now that trouble was lurking around the corner, Lin Jin couldn’t help feeling nervous.
But Lin Jin also knew he couldn’t disturb Shu Xiaolou right now. She had evidently stumbled across a miraculous encounter so disturbing her right now would only bring her harm.
No matter what, he had to wait it out.
Lin Jin started looking for things to do. He taught his private students diligently. So long as they were willing to learn, Lin Jin would impart all of his knowledge to them.
This made private students of other lecturers envious and his students, relieved. After learning under Lin Jin’s guidance, they saw immense improvements. The knowledge and skills they assimilated were also unique that no other lecturers could teach.
Hence, these students took every lesson seriously and their respect for Lin Jin only grew with each passing day.
Them aside, even Lin Jin’s public classes now attracted hordes of people fighting for seats. The corridors would even be filled with people.
Although the other lecturers of the academy didn’t voice their opinions out loud, they shared one common complaint.
Why him?
Rather than underestimating Lin Jin’s abilities, this was purely a competition of knowledge and skill. They were all Rank 4 appraisers with them having more experience. And yet, a newcomer like Lin Jin was able to overwhelm them in terms of knowledge and skill. How could they possibly tolerate something like that?
However, at this point, it wasn’t like they could help it.
They couldn’t possibly stop other students or their own students from attending Lin Jin’s public lectures, right?
They could never do something as shameful as that.
However, they also weren’t out of ideas. At the end of this month, there would be a customary academic debate in which all official lecturers would be participating. They could then use this platform to suppress Lecturer Lin’s ‘arrogance.
Lin Jin had no idea that he had now become a common enemy of the other lecturers. Everyone was holding back so they could put a dent in Lin Jin’s prestige at the debate hall.
Meanwhile, Lin Jin was just waiting for Shu Xiaolou to wake up.
