Chapter 79: End of the Beast Tide |
Before the three could react, it snatched the remaining half of the roast chicken and flew up into the air.
Not only that, but it even circled above Lin Jing’s head to flaunt its prize before flying out and settling on a rockery to enjoy its treat to the fullest.
“This…” Lin Jing was speechless.
“Little Sparrow…” Huang Qingling called to the Black Kite.
“Screech…”
The Black Kite responded with a sound, then continued to peck at its food.
“Let it be…”
“If it likes to eat, let it eat,” Elder Yu said, attempting to mediate.
After that, the three stopped paying it any attention, and they began to eat and drink.
At this moment, Elder Yu spoke to Lin Jing,
“Your tasks have been arranged, personally by Elder Bai.”
“For the first three months, you need to produce 150 elixir medicines each month.”
“Moreover, from the elixir medicines produced during the first three months, the minimum requirement is 5 supreme pills and 30 superior elixir medicines per month. ”
“After three months, the least number to hand over each month is 200, with at least 10 being supreme elixirs and no fewer than 50 being superior.”
Of course, you will receive 300 portions of alchemy ingredients every month; these 300 portions should be enough for you.
“The reason for assigning you so much is to hone your skills quickly, so you can advance to a Second-Grade Alchemist as soon as possible.” Having said this, Elder Yu asked, “How does that sound, any concerns?”
“No problem,” Lin Jing replied.
Thereafter, the trio continued until late into the night.
Only then did the feast come to an end.
Lin Jing saw the two out, and after tidying up everything, he began to rest and meditate.
In the following days, Lin Jing’s life seemed to quiet down, and during this time, the Demonic Beasts surge also seemed to vanish, no longer making an appearance.
A few days later, the final outcome of the Demonic Beasts surge was revealed.
As it turned out, the Qingyuan Sword Sect had dispatched two Nascent Soul Elders to investigate the valley filled with demonic energy a month earlier.
Within that valley, they discovered a Secret Realm.
Originally there was a Formation concealing the entrance to the Secret Realm
but there was a breach in the Formation and a large amount of demonic energy was spilling out.
This demonic energy was terrifying; even a faint touch would result in human cultivators being eroded by demonic energy, eventually leading to madness and death.
Even those Nascent Soul Elders didn’t dare to linger too long in the valley filled with demonic energy.
The concentration of demonic energy inside the Secret Realm was so horrendous that even the Magical Treasures they used for exploration were contaminated and rendered unusable.
Facing this situation, they could no longer continue their investigation.
To prevent the Demonic Beasts from continuing to wreak havoc, the two Nascent Soul Elders from the Qingyuan Sword Sect took the opportunity to lure away the Demonic Beasts surrounding the entrance of the Secret Realm and re-sealed the realm.
Because…
This demonic energy was harmful to human cultivators, but for Demonic Beasts, it was akin to a great tonic, even capable of awakening intelligence in them, assisting their cultivation to become demons.
The triggering of the beast surge was a sign of these Demonic Beasts developing intelligence, albeit at a low level, acting mostly on instinct.
It was similar to the Black Kite, Little Sparrow.
But those as clever as Little Sparrow were extremely rare.
After the sealing, Qingyuan Sword Sect conveyed a message.
They claimed the seal would only last ten years, and within those ten years, no one in Fang Market should approach the valley,
Meanwhile, they would find a permanent solution within those ten years.
And with that…
The troublesome beast surge was temporarily resolved.
In a blink, two months passed.
That day, after Lin Jing finished making elixir medicines, he prepared to take his crafted elixir medicines to Yuebaolou.
As he was leaving home, he happened to meet Huang Qingling.
Lin Jing took the lead in greeting and asked:
“Qing Ling, are you going to see Elder Bai?”
Huang Qingling nodded, then turned to ask Lin Jing:
“Yes, Lin Jing, are you also heading to Yuebaolou?”
Over the past month, unable to withstand Huang Qingling’s persistence, Lin Jing made her several delicious meals again.
As a result, the two of them became quite familiar with each other.
Even the Black Kite ‘Little Sparrow,’ which had always been hostile towards Lin Jing, had its animosity towards him lessen significantly under the temptation of Lin Jing’s cooking.
Now, seeing Lin Jing, Little Sparrow always hung its head, not daring to look up.
Huang Qingling also noticed the anomaly and asked:
“What’s wrong with Little Sparrow? These days, why does it seem so well-behaved whenever it sees you?”
“Could it be that you did something to it?”
After speaking, Huang Qingling looked at Lin Jing with a face full of suspicion.
Lin Jing curled his lips, quite speechless about Huang Qingling’s suggestion, and couldn’t help but mutter to himself:
“What’s that supposed to mean? What could I possibly do to a Black Kite?”
“That’s a strange thing to say…”
However, Lin Jing did know the reason for the Black Kite’s behavior.
It was because…
This fellow, often sneaking around at night, would slip into his own kitchen.
Yet, he rarely cooked.
So every time, it would leave with its head drooping.
The Black Kite was extremely fast, usually difficult to detect, and Lin Jing could only notice it thanks to the system alerts.
Lin Jing looked at the Little Sparrow on Huang Qingling’s shoulder and smiled as he said:
“Perhaps this little one is just shy!”
The Black Kite, upon hearing this, suddenly raised its head and glared at Lin
Jing with its small eyes, as if to express its dissatisfaction.
“Chirp…”
It called out to Lin Jing, seemingly to show its displeasure.
Huang Qingling looked at Little Sparrow, her face filled with exasperation.
That didn’t look like a shy creature at all.
And then…
They didn’t continue dwelling on the matter, as the two of them walked together towards Yuebaolou.
Upon arriving at Yuebaolou, Lin Jing first handed over the Elixir Medicine to Elder Yu.
This was the first time, and he didn’t hand over too much, just following the most basic requirements, he submitted five Supreme Elixirs, and for the rest, he also only submitted Elixir Medicines that met the basic requirements.
Afterwards, he left Elder Yu’s place to collect the Alchemy Ingredients needed for the next month.
Lin Jing made his way through Yuebaolou to the backyard.
This backyard was not open to the public. It was bustling with people, all of whom belonged to Yuebaolou, including its managers, Attendants, and even various Offering Priests.
On his way to collect Alchemy Ingredients, he encountered two people.
Lin Jing recognized one of them, who was also an Offering Priest and a Pill Master, seemingly with the surname Wang, but he wasn’t too clear about his exact name.
That person strutted with his head high, as if he didn’t see Lin Jing at all.
The other person, slightly shorter, was someone Lin Jing had never seen before, probably a newcomer.
The slightly shorter Offering Priest saw Lin Jing and quickly stepped forward, bowing and saying:
“Fellow Daoist, may I ask if you are also an Offering Pill Master?”
Lin Jing was taken aback, for he was only a First-Grade Alchemist.
Therefore, these Offering Pill Masters would not interact with him at all.
Even if they happened to encounter each other, most would do as the Wang-surname Cultivator did, passing by with their heads raised, without speaking a word to Lin Jing.
At best, if they crossed paths, they would simply nod at each other, considering that a greeting.
However, Lin Jing was fine with this; he just focused on refining his own pills and usually didn’t interact with others.
Yet here was a person who took the initiative to greet him, which was indeed
quite unusual..