Chapter 787: A Year Later
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
The new Maple City had a brand new look. As Jade Dragon Kingdom was promoted to premium country status, all of the cities in the country had undergone a revamp. Maple City was now comparable to the royal capital and much more well-known elsewhere.
For no other reason than the place being Lin Jin’s hometown.
Ever since Lin Jin returned one year ago, prominent figures had frequently come to visit. Among them included royalty from other countries where each person was capable of great influence.
Yet, these people had all been respectful when they visited as if they were meeting with a deity.
Even emperors of premium countries came to visit as well. But no matter who they were, they all had to stop their carriages in front of this seemingly ordinary mansion and gain the approval of the mansion’s owner before entering.
Although with Lin Jin’s current strength, he could go anywhere he pleased, he still preferred staying in Maple City because this was where it all began.
The Lin Mansion had finished reconstruction and was situated in the center of Maple City. Yet, the place was quiet despite being surrounded by bustling streets. The courtyard had lush trees, tiny streams, and seemed to be blessed with eternal spring. But this was because Lin Jin had used quite a few immortal spells on his home. It was a whole other realm in here and despite the tiny looking mansion, it could actually fit ten Maple Cities in here.
And Lin Jin could make it even bigger but that wasn’t necessary. He couldn’t be bothered with going through all the work. He just wanted to live peacefully and comfortably.
Shang’er, White Ape, and the other beasts all cultivated in this hidden realm of his, and they all had a mountain each to call their own. Everyone lived freely.
Over the past year, under Lin Jin’s guidance, the beasts have improved tremendously. Others may not be aware but Lin Jin knew that Shang’er and White Ape had already reached immortal beast standard. Shang’er, in particular, could be considered the strongest in the half immortal rank.
While they may have started out with strength comparable to Xiao Huo’s, Rank 8 Xiao Huo could now overwhelm them all easily.
In the past year, Lin Jin let Xiao Huo out most of the time so he could move freely inside the realm. Lin Jin felt sorry for constantly keeping him inside his body after all.
Many things had happened in the last year.
The Beast Appraiser Academy in Jade Dragon Kingdom was officially established, and in just one year, its reputation came so close to Heavenly Spiral Academy’s that beast appraisers of various countries now see it as the second sacred ground for beast appraisers.
The place even exceeded Heavenly Spiral Academy in rank.
Lin Jin’s students, namely Zhao Ying, Lu Xiaoyun, and Jia Qian, had now become official appraisers. And just like Lin Jin, they simply advanced to Rank 2 in one go.
They were now competent enough to work without guidance.
Lin Jin still entered the Visitation Hall every week, but mostly just to chat with the visitors and sometimes give them guidance. He decided to continue keeping Curator’s identity a secret as the identity itself was very useful to him. Curator had helped him a lot in the past so there might come a day where it would be useful again.
Time flies when days become too peaceful. It went by like flowing water that one didn’t even realize it until it had passed.
If Tianzun hadn’t come to pay a visit, Lin Jin would probably still be enjoying his days.
As if the world was already peaceful now and nothing could threaten him.
“Young friend, your days seem to be very laid back,” Tianzun said when he visited Lin Jin in his realm and drank the tea Lin Jin prepared.
“It’s been so long, Tianzun.” Lin Jin laughed. Ever since they parted ways in the extraterritorial land, Lin Jin hadn’t seen him, and it’s been a year now. He heard that Tianzun had begun traveling around the mainland and ventured around leisurely.
Hence, Lin Jin felt he was much too inferior compared to Tianzun when it came to spending his days in leisure. Compared to the traveling old man, Lin Jin was just a recluse.
Lin Jin then asked Tianzun about his experiences over the year and the latter enthusiastically talked about them. Whenever he mentioned something interesting, they would laugh heartily together.
Somewhere inside the realm, Little Five asked Shang’er out of confusion, “Sister, who came to visit today? Why is Master Lin so happy?”
“It’s an old fart,” White Ape interrupted. He had learned Transfiguration but still had white hair even in human form. He had a strong build and rarely spoke. In the event that he did, it would be shocking sentences that left deep impressions.
“What old fart? That’s the founder of immortal cultivation, a half saint whose status was higher than the late immortal emperor, Tianzun.” Shang’er was much more studious than Little Five and White Ape so she was much more eloquent in speaking. She began lecturing the both of them on Tianzun.
Little Five and White Ape rarely obeyed anyone but they behaved themselves in front of Shang’er.
They had heard a bit about Tianzun before and knew he was an incredible person.
“Stronger than the immortal emperor? How strong is that? Is he stronger than our Master Lin?” White Ape looked unconvinced because, in his opinion, no one was stronger than Lin Jin.
And he wasn’t alone in this because everyone else thought the same.
“White Ape, you can’t say that. Master Lin always tells us that we have to be humble, that there is always someone stronger than us so we mustn’t be arrogant,” Shang’er lectured. White Ape could only listen obediently.
Just then, Shang’er heard Lin Jin’s summon so she swiftly flew over.
“Master Lin!” Shang’er greeted with a salute.
Lin Jin nodded. “Shang’er, come and greet Tianzun.”
Shang’er dared not disobey and saluted Tianzun as well. Tianzun stroked his beard and laughed. “Young friend, even your disciples are talented. This is truly amazing.”
“You flatter me, Tianzun.” Despite saying that, Lin Jin was actually pleased because it wasn’t every day that Tianzun praised him.
Tianzun actually had a purpose for his visit so Lin Jin would be leaving home for a little while. That was why he summoned Shang’er over to make arrangements.
Upon hearing that Lin Jin was going to leave, Shang’er immediately offered to tag along.
Lin Jin shook his head. “I can’t bring anyone along this time, not even you.”
Seeing how firm Lin Jin was, Shang’er said no more. Judging from Lin Jin’s response, he must be going somewhere unusual or he wouldn’t have said such a thing.
Indeed, Tianzun had sought out Lin Jin for a major mission.
Everything should have been over after they killed Yan Shenjun and captured Patriarch Xue Pao. Lin Jin and Tianzun went their separate ways after that and Tianzun traveled the world while Lin Jin enjoyed peaceful days.
Lin Jin intentionally avoided talking about what would happen next because defeating the immortal devouring beast was really not his goal.
He was a mortal and the immortal devouring beast didn’t attack mortals. During his interrogation of Patriarch Xue Pao, he also gained Hell’s Cage and learned how to activate it so that his immortal friends could use it to venture outside whenever they wanted to. And that wasn’t so bad.
That being said, why must they fight the immortal devouring beast then?
It wasn’t necessary.
Moreover, the museum still hadn’t given Lin Jin an evolution method for Xiao Huo. All this while, Lin Jin had been so reliant on the museum that he was spoiled by it. Now that it suddenly stopped working, Lin Jin felt like a headless fly with no sense of direction or security.
This was also the reason why Lin Jin stopped evolving Xiao Huo.
Without strong foes like Yan Shenjun, the Beast Deity Cult’s leader, and Patriarch Xue Pao, Xiao Huo had become an invincible character, strong enough to support Lin Jin.
One reason was that he could continue living in peace and the other reason was that there was no evolution method. Lin Jin chose to remain at a standstill because it was the most comfortable choice.
However, Tianzun came bearing new information for him.
In the first sky of the Nine-Heaven Realm, where the primitive immortal mountain that housed the Heaven’s Foundation Stone was, there had been irregular occurrences lately. As Tianzun was also skilled in divination, he tried making predictions a few times and received only unfortunate results.
But Tianzun hadn’t made the predictions for himself but for the world.
Upon hearing this, Lin Jin knew it was something serious. Tianzun was hoping that Lin Jin would come along with him to investigate and Lin Jin agreed.
It was better to clarify the situation than be kept in the dark. Also, Tianzun couldn’t seek out anyone else because in this era, including all the immortals, the only person worthy enough to venture the immortal mountain with him was only Lin Jin.
That was why he came looking for Lin Jin out of the blue.
The Nine-Heaven Realm’s last sky was a dangerous place and also the immortal devouring beast’s resting ground. For safety reasons, Lin Jin couldn’t bring anyone else along. If he went without an entourage, he could navigate around easily without having to involve anyone.
After Lin Jin informed Shang’er, he told no one else. He simply went with Tianzun and they flew away on clouds.
Both of them were mere mortals but possessed the phenomenal powers of immortals. It was just too spectacular.
With Tianzun around, Lin Jin didn’t have to worry about how he should enter the Nine-Heaven Realm. Even if Tianzun wasn’t here, Lin Jin had previously hidden a few Divine Cloud Passages here so he could come and go as he pleased.
“Tianzun, if your divination shows misfortune, wouldn’t that mean that a calamity would soon befall the world? But I haven’t seen any signs of tragedy yet. Were you perhaps mistaken?” As Lin Jin and Tianzun were now like old friends, Lin Jin became much more casual in his speech when it was just the two of them. Lin Jin didn’t restrain himself and neither did Tianzun. The latter still put on airs with other people but was more relaxed when interacting with Lin Jin.
“What do you know? I’ve lived ten times more than you have. What’s more, I’m also sort of the founder of divination and I’ve verified it a few times. There’s no mistaking it. I think something huge is going to happen.” Tianzun said the last sentence with a grave look on his face.
Lin Jin stopped joking around after that and asked for more details.. He then learned that Tianzun had a habit of making a prediction every day, and in the recent few months, the results had changed.
