Beast-taming skills are so unusually profound that not everyone could master them. On the other hand, it was relatively easy to find auras and traces of a beast being tamed, and this was a basic skill everyone was expected to know.
Even Wei Changyong knew a little about it.
He was quite confident that the rooster would show signs of being tamed. The other man must have used such methods, otherwise, that ferocious rooster would have never been taken away. Be it by paper amulets, spirit seals, or beast-taming pills, all these methods leave behind traces. So once they start investigating, they could prove how Lin Jin was a liar.
He was positive about it.
Only, once the inspection results were out, Zhang He’s expression turned pale. He couldn’t find any traces of a paper amulet, spirit seal, or even a beast-taming pill being used.
“This…” Zhang He was instantly flustered. Had he been the only person conducting the inspection, he could have still made false claims. But with so many people doing the same thing, he couldn’t spout any nonsense.
“Were there signs of the bird being tamed?” Lin Jin asked.
Looking sour, Zhang He could only answer honestly, “No.”
“That’s impossible!” Wei Changyong panicked. It was impossible for his flawlessly formulated plan to fail.
Lin Jin couldn’t be bothered to argue with these buffoons.
How could Wei Changyong and his party possibly be aware that Lin Jin had used the Beast Deterrence skill instead? This skill wasn’t in the same category as the other three taming skills, but it was on a much higher level.
With this, Wei Changyong’s schemes were considered wasted.
People who were slightly intelligent wouldn’t believe his accusations. After all, there were tons of chickens that looked the same.
Just then, one of the villagers Wei Changyong had brought along spoke up, “This doesn’t look like the same chicken. This one has glossier feathers and it’s larger in size. Also, the chicken shouldn’t have yellow patterns on his crown like this one. It’s only been a few days. There’s no way it could possibly be the chicken they were looking for.”
The person who spoke up seemed like a steadfast man. In fact, most villagers had the same sort of personality. Wei Changyong had brought them along as witnesses, not accomplices because he was sure that the rooster in Lin Jin’s care belonged to him.
He ended up being ‘stabbed’ in the back by his own people at such a crucial time. Wei Changyong almost fainted from anger as his seemingly flawless plan went down the drain.
The situation needed no more explanations. Everyone could tell what was going on.
“This person just goes around accusing people before clarifying the situation. What a clown.”
“Yeah. No matter how unskilled Lin Jin is, he wouldn’t possibly cheat someone of their pet beast. Also, it’d be impossible to get away with it.”
With a fling of his sleeve, Lin Jin said, “The exams are starting so I have to stop fooling around with you people now.”
“I think you’re the one who’s fooling around,” a voice suddenly called out.
Turning their heads, the crowd saw Wang Ji.
And not just him, there were a few other people standing beside him as well. The group started approaching them in a domineering manner.
“It’s Chief Wang Ji!”
“And Elder Nan.”
“They’re both prominent figures of the association. To think they would show up here together.”
“That woman beside Chief Wang is really pretty. Who is she?”
As voices of discussion surfaced, the crowd parted to make way for the newly-arrived group.
Wang Ji simply walked up to Lin Jin.
He had seen what happened here just now. After realizing Wei Changyong’s plot had backfired, he decided to come over personally.
Anyhow, he didn’t plan on letting Lin Jin take the exams today. Even if he had to use underhanded tricks, he would make sure to see it through. After all, the man had no one backing him up. Meanwhile, on his side, he had several associates who could trample the man flat if they wanted to.
Lin Jin immediately frowned upon seeing Wang Ji as well.
There was also Nan Gongxian in the group and an awfully familiar woman.
“It’s you?”
Lin Jin remembered. This was the woman he had met at the emergency hall several days ago. Back then, he assumed that she was Zhao Ying’s friend so he simply treated her without second guesses. The entire thing turned out to be a massive misunderstanding.
But even if it was a mistake, that woman had reacted too arrogantly.
Now that he looked at her again, this woman must have been some really important figurehead. Otherwise, she wouldn’t be escorted here so respectfully by prominent figures like Wang Ji and Nan Gongxian.
Could she be the inspector sent here by headquarters?
Only an inspector from headquarters had the authority to revoke his qualifications.
“Lin Jin, this is the inspector sent here by headquarters, Appraiser Tan Lin. She has verified the mishap you’ve caused and decided that you, the official beast appraiser at the time, will take full responsibility. After a discussion between Elder Nan, Appraiser Tan, and I, we feel that a person like you is no longer suited to become a beast appraiser. Hence, we’ve decided to nullify your rights to take the beast appraiser exam for life.”
Wang Ji had made the declaration with a straight face. While clarifying Tan Lin’s identity, he also made a mind-blowing announcement.
In simpler terms, Lin Jin was blacklisted and revoked of the right to re-take the exams.
“This is just cruel. Lin Jin’s career is truly over now.”
“Chief Wang and the others must have just come to this conclusion. Look, the victim of that appraisal accident is here too.”
Sure enough, there was a young man glaring furiously at Lin Jin among the crowd. Behind this young man was a wolf beast with its ears pulled back, dispirited, and its scrawny body covered in injuries.
“This is the wolf beast that Lin Jin had claimed to be an above-average creature. It really doesn’t look much like one. To appraise a pet beast inaccurately and had the owner form a blood pact on the spot is considered a mishap.”
“But this punishment is a little too much… They’re banning him completely. That’s destroying his life.”
As the crowd entered another discussion, Wang Ji had that young man step forward and said, “Lin Jin, don’t say that we’re bullying you. This young man here initially had a bright future, but you had him form a blood pact with a flawed pet beast. Even if he were to cancel the bond, it would take him quite some time before he could form a pact with another pet beast again. He was supposed to take the Friar Association’s entrance exam this year. Without a pet beast, how could he take the exam? Once he misses this year, he’d have to wait another year. Based solely on this reason, would you be convinced of our decision to ban you?”
Lin Jin took a glance at the young man, then at his pet beast. After that, ignoring the young man, he walked over and touched the wolf’s head.
As the wolf was deemed a flawed pet beast, it wasn’t well cared for by its owner. It probably wasn’t given anything decent to eat which explains its famished appearance. As for the injuries on its body, it was probably from physical abuse by its owner.
Upon contact, a record instantly came up in the Museum of Deadly Beasts.
The specimen and stone tablet appeared as well.
Lin Jin skimmed through the tablet’s description and his eyes lit up.
Truth be told, there was nothing Lin Jin could comment on the mishap caused by his predecessor. After all, a mistake was a mistake, there was no use in trying to explain himself.
But with the Museum of Deadly Beasts, there might just be a way to patch up this creature’s shortcomings.
After reading through, not only were there such methods, but this wolf beast also wasn’t as worthless as they made it out to be.
“Rank 1 wolf beast. Bound by a blood contract.”
“Shadow wolf. Of both wind and wood attributes. A hidden bloodline from the netherworld!”
“Contains flaws in bones and veins. The eleven restoration methods are…”
“The seven evolution methods are…”
“The three methods to activate the hidden bloodline are…”
As he continued reading, Lin Jin had to admit the wolf was indeed a very unique creature. Out of the rare breeds he had come across the past few days, this wolf was among the highly ranked few.
At that instant, Lin Jin knew what to do.
