Chapter 31

Gu Mengzhong was internally distressed when he asked this question, terrified of hearing an unfavorable answer. After all, he had heard such outcomes one too many times.

Lin Jin smiled. “Every pet beasts has a taming and blood pact formation method, only…”

Halfway through, he stopped.

Gu Mengzhong immediately tensed up upon hearing a possibility. He asked nervously, “What idea? Say it.”

Lin Jin wanted to say, ‘You can’t have me do this for nothing. Money is still a need, or some form of token should be presented. After all, we’re not related so I can’t provide my services for free.’

However, the anxious Gu Mengzhong didn’t consider this at all. Or rather, he was used to it. It was always other people asking him for favors. Even for beast appraisals, no matter which master he visited, the other party would be willing to serve him free of charge. But Lin Jin was clearly an oddball. ‘Who cares if you’re some calligraphy master? You still have to pay for a beast appraisal’.

Alas, Lin Jin could only give up and say, “The association has its rules that I can’t take up jobs outsides. I can tell you the method of taming and forming a blood pact with this guy, but you have to take a consultation token from the association in the afternoon.”

Lin Jin had said it with a straight face. After all, this was a normal request. However, Gu Mengzhong was stunned, before his aged face gradually turned red, finally understanding.

To be blunt, he wasn’t acquainted with Lin Jin. Having the younger man catch his escaping pet beast for him and give him a free evaluation was more than enough. If he goes on to ask about taming and contract methods, it was truly too much.

Although Gu Mengzhong was anxious and impatient to find out, he was still a man of status. After some thought, he said, “I have something to take care of today. I’ll definitely head to the Beast Appraisal Association tomorrow to get your consultation token. I hope Appraiser Lin will be able to show me your guidance by then.”

Lin Jin mused, ‘Why is this man so dumb? Asking you to get a consultation token was just a figure of speech. If you give me a few hundred bucks, I’d do it for you now.’

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However, he couldn’t say that so Lin Jin only nodded.

“This ink monster..” Lin Jin patted the solidified lump on the ink blob that looked like a head then placed the creature on the table.

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The ink monster didn’t run but remained obediently in a solidified pile, squirming.

Upon seeing this, Gu Mengzhong was once again stunned. He simply said, “I don’t have a container and I can’t control it. I’ll leave it with Appraiser Lin and come get it after the appraisal tomorrow.”

Lin Jin nodded with a ‘Sure’.

Just then, Masterchef Liao Gu came out with several dishes only to be startled by how Lin Jin and Gu Mengzhong were having a great conversation. He mumbled under his breath, “They were just ignoring each other but why do they look so chummy now?”

“Food’s here!”

With his sensitive nose, Lin Jin could smell the fragrance from a mile. After half a day of talking, he was now starving.

There were three meat dishes and two vegetable dishes. Each one of them a delicacy.

Liao Gu wanted to hear Lin Jin’s comments but it was impossible for the latter to give it. He could only talk about the meat dishes with information obtained from the museum. However, this instead made him seem wiser, especially to Liao Gu. He was so amazed by Lin Jin’s knowledge in meat that he even learned a few things from Lin Jin’s remarks.

Gu Mengzhong was no longer hostile and the trio enjoyed friendly conversation. As if three strangers had suddenly come together and become great friends. After this meal, the three men were like old pals.

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In culinary arts, Liao Gu was invincible; in calligraphy, Gu Mengzhong was a master; as for beast appraisals, it took only one meal for Lin Jin to persuade both men of his capabilities, to the point of them feeling a hint of respect for the younger man.

Whoever was more knowledgeable deserved respect regardless of age.

Since they were now acquainted, Lin Jin pondered before telling Gu Mengzhong, “Generally speaking, just by gradually feeding the ink monster to tame it isn’t enough. Especially for rare creatures like this with high potential rates and battle prowess. But it also has a weakness, which is low intelligence, so regular taming methods don’t work on it.”

Gu Mengzhong was a smart man. Her eyes immediately lit up. “No wonder I couldn’t tame it at all before. Should I have suppressed it with power?”

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Lin Jin nodded.

“How shall I do that?” Gu Mengzhong asked again.

Lin Jin answered, “This is a little tricky. Will Master Gu be able to obtain things like blood samples or fur from a level four fire elemental beast?”

Gu Mengzhong pinched his eyebrows together. “I can, but it’ll take a long time.”

Lin Jin shook his head. “We can’t let this thing drag on either. Forget it. I’ll come up with something. You just have to look for me at the association tomorrow and I should be ready. I need to prepare these things overnight, otherwise, I could help you solve this now.”

At this, Gu Mengzhong realized that Lin Jin had other methods so he was obviously thrilled. He had been waiting for so long, hence, one more day was no problem at all.

His attitude toward Lin Jin changed once more for the better.

At times, it only took a little comparison between humans to realize their difference. For example, Jia Qian and Zhang He whom the association sent to receive him. While both individuals were respectful, they had no skills. Instead, being only respectful would make a person look down on them. Moreover, those two enjoyed gossiping about people, especially Zhang He.

Up till here, Gu Mengzhong glanced at Lin Jin, musing, ‘Look at Lin Jin. He remains composed despite his reputation endangered and fears no rumors. While he’s being ostracized, he holds to his values and only focuses on improving himself. A man of such a mentality was worthy of big things. If he can really help me tame and sign a blood pact with this ink monster, I have to assist him as well.’

He never said it out loud but Gu Mengzhong made a decision.

If Gu Mengzhong only befriended Lin Jin because the young man had caliber, in Liao Gu’s case, it was because of pure admiration. In his words, he took a liking to this young man.

After their meal, Gu Mengzhong pondered before painting two drawings on the spot. One for Liao Gu, the other for Lin Jin.

Lin Jin had wanted to be polite but Liao Gu suddenly said, “Mengzhong’s paintings are priceless. Even a simple painting could be worth at least a thousand or two. Some even go up to several thousand.”

At this, Lin Jin swiftly received the drawing.

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After that, they parted ways and Lin Jin returned to the association. He still had to stay at his consultation hall for the rest of the afternoon. Maybe now someone would take his consultation tokens.

Inside the hall, Zhao Ying and Lu Xiaoyun were sitting in a corner, studying the evaluation report Lin Jin gave them. They even needed to flip through books about pet beast bloodlines for reference.

Xiao Huo was still cultivating, but on the outside, it merely looked like it was napping.

The sapphire turtle was well-behaved, never moving an inch. Lin Jin went over to check on him and nodded. Truth be told, the large turtle had a powerful bloodline and great potential. Only Zu Can didn’t know how to activate its bloodline. It was also thanks to the turtle having a thick shell and strong constitution. Otherwise, it would have died from poison long ago.

Seeing Lin Jin approach, the large turtle poked its head out and nudged Lin Jin’s hand, showing affection.

“Alright, big guy. Just stay at my place for a few days. I’ll bring Goldy here some other day so you guys can get to know each other. Become friends.”

Ignoring the fact if this sapphire turtle could understand him, Lin Jin nagged for a bit.

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Then, as if recalling something, he took out a wine gourd from his shirt. Of course, the wine gourd didn’t contain liquor but Gu Mengzhong’s ink monster.

He placed the gourd in a cabinet then took out the drawing Gu Mengzhong gave him and put it on the table. Lin Jin planned to head to the market tomorrow, looking for buyers.

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Of course, he wasn’t going to sell it. He just wanted to confirm how valuable this painting was.

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After taking a sip of tea, Lin Jin began waiting for clients to show up.

However, things didn’t get better. Besides the customers he had shamelessly dragged in this morning, no one took his consultation token at all.

When Lin Jin was about to doze off, there was a sudden commotion outside, like someone was shouting and scolding. The sound got closer, and at that moment, Lin Jin’s door was kicked open with the door instantly cracking. Then, a man marched in aggressively.

“Who is Lin Jin? Get out here! How dare he cheat my younger sister! If I don’t teach him a lesson today, did he assume our Lu family is such a pushover?”