Beast Tamer Ascension

Vol 4 Chapter 37: Let It All Burn

As the Spell Spirit Origin Fungus jumped out, everything around vanished—the Buddha Lord of the Solar Temple disappeared, the shattered remains of the Thunder Dragon Ancestor vanished too, leaving only Lin Jing sitting cross-legged on the ground, his body emanating a black-red flame-shaped spiritual energy.

“Goo.....”

The Spell Spirit Origin Fungus helped Lin Jing recall—it was Lin Jing who had asked it earlier to find a chance to create an illusion to assist with learning the Heavenly Demon Physique, not it causing trouble!

It simply thought that while Lin Jing was cultivating undisturbed beneath the volcano, that was a good opportunity...

Besides, Lin Jing had also taken the Mutated Bodhi Leaf. Using both methods together, the success rate might’ve even been higher.

Most importantly, it had just combined Lin Jing’s recent experiences to design a script that, in its opinion, was logically sound... and it actually worked.

However, the Spell Spirit Origin Fungus didn’t expect it to work too well—Lin Jing comprehended too quickly, leaving it no time to stop him from burning his lifespan...

Looking now at Lin Jing, who had already broken through to the “Perfected Nascent Soul Stage,” it figured he must’ve burned a fair bit of his lifespan.

The Illusion Fungus glanced cautiously at Lin Jing, only to see him not focused on that issue at all, but instead looking toward the elder Thunder Dragon flying over, drawn by the disturbance.

“You’re not dead, Senior? That’s good then.”

Thunder Dragon Ancestor: ???

“Huh?” The Thunder Dragon Ancestor was stunned—why would it be dead?

“Your Highness... the Holy Son, you…” It looked at Lin Jing, whose cultivation had reached the Nascent Soul Stage, full of disbelief. “Heavenly Demon Physique?” It thought of something and cried out.

In truth, it didn’t even know if Lin Jing had the Heavenly Demon Physique.

But either way, there weren’t any enemies around right now, so why was the Holy Son burning his lifespan?!

“It’s a long story...”

Lin Jing’s gaze turned distant. Though things had gone a bit off-track, at least he’d successfully comprehended the Heavenly Demon Physique.

He reached out with his senses and found that his plant clone was totally fine and still negotiating with the Buddhist Sect.

So it really was all an illusion. That mushroom... it really had some skill—it even managed to fool him.

“It’s fine, I don’t blame you. In fact, I have to thank you. If it was just the Mutated Bodhi Leaf, I might not have succeeded.” Lin Jing looked at the little mushroom.

“Goo!” The mushroom flew back into his body. As long as it wasn’t being blamed, that was great—it even deserved a thanks!

“Your Highness, what exactly happened?” The Thunder Dragon Ancestor was still confused.

“During the process of cultivating the Heavenly Demon Physique, I accidentally burned some lifespan and raised my cultivation to the Perfected Nascent Soul Stage.”

“As for how long I can maintain it... about a year. So it didn’t take too much lifespan—not the end of the world.”

At the time, Lin Jing had intended to burn 99% of his lifespan to raise his cultivation temporarily to the Dao-Seeking Stage and escape the space blockade from the Buddha Lord and the others.

So during the process of raising his cultivation, he had also been continuously reducing the duration of the boost to keep things balanced.

In the end, when his cultivation reached Perfected Nascent Soul and the duration shrank to one year, the Spell Spirit Origin intervened just in time to stop him, preventing him from going too far and burning even more life.

Otherwise, he might’ve ended up at the Dao-Seeking Stage with only a few hours to live.

So, compared to his own lifespan as a Longevity Physique, the lifespan lost this time wasn’t too big a deal.

Still, it was a loss. Losing a hundred years of lifespan for nothing—Lin Jing still felt the sting. He hadn’t even lived a hundred years yet.

Once the Heavenly Demon Physique activated, it couldn’t be undone. And for the next year, he’d have to maintain this state. He couldn’t even cultivate during that time.

Lin Jing’s heart bled.

“So that’s how it is.” The Thunder Dragon Ancestor said, “As long as you're okay, that’s good.”

Lin Jing nodded, but he didn’t want this new level to go to waste, nor his burned lifespan. He needed to find a way to make the most of his current Nascent Soul Stage cultivation—otherwise, it’d be a total loss.

But this cultivation level wasn’t exactly great either—just Perfected Nascent Soul...

Now that he had the identity of the Holy Son of the Demon Court, with Void Mystical guardians, Nascent Soul was barely different from Core Formation.

“I guess the Fortune Gold List is my only shot.” Lin Jing looked toward the top ten of the list and said, “With my previous cultivation, even with the Dragon Carp assisting me, it wouldn’t have been easy to break into the top ten. But now that I’m at Perfected Nascent Soul, with the Dragon Carp’s help, I might actually have a shot.”

“If I make it, I can enjoy the fortune bonus of the top ten. They say the difference between top ten and the rest is like heaven and earth.”

“If ten years from now I’m heading to the Origin Realm, I won’t be able to enjoy the Tianyuan Realm’s Golden Era benefits anymore. So burning some lifespan now to enjoy more benefits—it might be a good choice.”

“I could even keep burning more lifespan, push my level to the Nascent Soul Transformation Stage, and take the top spots from the Ancient Imperial princes and princesses. That way, I could enjoy the peak bonuses of the Golden Era—even for just ten years, the benefits could be massive.”

“After all, I’d only be losing a bit more lifespan.”

“Besides that...” Lin Jing closed his eyes and sent his divine sense inward, discovering a phantom infant covering his golden core! It looked like a mini version of himself!

Cultivation achieved through special physiques rarely forms a true Nascent Soul—so what he had now was just a phantom infant. Even so, it still possessed Nascent Soul power, just a bit more fragile than a real one.

“Now that I’ve mastered Nascent Soul power, one of the key abilities—aside from body possession and spiritual manifestations—is crafting external incarnations using Nascent Soul energy. Even if my cultivation is temporary, maybe I can still craft one early. If so, over the next ten years, I might be able to develop its techniques and spells to a decent level.”

Soon, Lin Jing decided to embrace the mess, let it all burn. He even considered continuing to burn lifespan to ascend to Nascent Soul Transformation and challenge the princes and princesses of the Ancient Clan for the top ranks.

But before doing that, he had to talk it over with the Demon Emperor. After all, if he knocked the Ancient Clan heirs off their spots and they lost their minds over it, things could get ugly.

And there was one more thing—he didn’t even know the exact strength of the Ancient Clan princes. They were the most famous prodigies of the continent. Unless he reached the Void Mystical Stage, even Nascent Soul Transformation might not be enough to beat them. But the price for that stage was one he couldn’t accept.

So before making his move, he had to understand his enemy’s strength and be sure that Nascent Soul Transformation would be enough to win.

Right now, what he needed most was to find the weakest among the top ten and test his own strength...

“The weakest right now is Senior Sister... that won’t work.” Lin Jing shook his head.

At the same time.

Lin Jing’s clone was still waiting for the Buddhist Sect to finish their discussions, but news of the clone’s appearance had attracted some unexpected visitors.

A young monk nervously arrived at the courtyard where Lin Jing’s clone was staying and said, “Your Highness, there’s someone outside the Bodhi Temple who wishes to see you...”

“Not seeing anyone.” Lin Jing’s clone didn’t even open his eyes.

“He says his name is Gao Sheng, from the Demon-Slaying Bureau of the Ancient Kingdom, and claims to be your friend and classmate.”