Chapter 401: Tempering Jade With Dragonfire
Lin Jin did not expect Senior Mo to make such a statement, but he still entertained the idea nonetheless. He gave it some thought before shaking his head.
“Hmm, you may be a useful servant but it’s a pity that you don’t even know Transfiguration so bringing you around would be inconvenient. Not to mention the fact that you’re already quite aged and it’ll be difficult to prolong your life. Even if you desire it, I’m afraid I won’t let you come with me. However, if proof of my statement is what you seek, then I will be able to help you with that.”
At the mention of Transfiguration, Senior Mo shuddered. When the dragon heard the words ‘aged’ and ‘difficult to prolong your life’, its eyes nearly popped out of their sockets.
These words carried heavy implications.
The fact that Lin Jin was able to point out that Senior Mo did not possess the Transfiguration skill implied that Lin Jin did. The use of the word ‘tough’ instead of ‘impossible’ when speaking of prolonging its life indicated that Lin Jin had a way to achieve it.
Senior Mo had been residing in this cave for more than two hundred years now. Considering the average lifespan of an average jade dragon, it was considered old. The human equivalent of Senior Mo would be an elderly man who was nearing his end. The closer one got to death, the more fearful they become, and the same applied to Senior Mo.
As for Transfiguration, Senior Mo had been searching for the cultivation method for the longest time now, but to no avail. The jade dragon deity was able to master the skill, but given how selfish he was, he never passed on the cultivation method to the other jade dragons.
In fact, unity was one thing the jade dragon tribe lacked. Senior Mo was only giving them trouble today just to vent its frustrations with the death of the jade dragon deity as a convenient pretext. The dragon wasn’t doing this to avenge the deity.
And now, Senior Mo felt conflicted. It wanted to know more about what Lin Jin had said, but at the same time, it thought that doing such a thing would result in humiliation. Lin Jin turned to He Yu and said, “I will help this white jade dragon mend its flaws now and subsequently help form a blood contract between you two.”
More than pleased at the idea, He Yu nodded. She looked forward to watching the process.
Then, Lin Jin sent a few needles tunneling into the white jade dragon’s body. He started explaining, “This little white jade dragon looks flawed on the surface. The quality of its jade is defective due to the abundance of impurities and what’s more, one of its horns has broken off. There is no denying those facts, but we were to remove said impurities, it would transform into a white jade dragon. White jade is a tepid material and inherently contains healing properties. In a month to half a year, I can guarantee you that its horn will grow back. When the time comes, we don’t even have to do anything and it will evolve into Rank 4 on its own.”
Lin Jin invoked Dragonfire and opened his mouth to blow out a jet of flames that engulfed the white jade dragon completely.
Unrefined fire was mixed into Lin Jin’s Dragonfire. With his needles protecting the little dragon’s heart veins, instead of getting roasted alive, the fire was actually able to refine the dragon’s body and burn away its impurities.
As the crowd watched on with shock. Instead of dying away, the flames began to revolve around the white jade dragon. There seemed to be an invisible barrier separating the flames from them. All of a sudden, the space surrounding the dragon turned into an invisible furnace, refining the white jade dragon.
“What kind of supernatural phenomenon is this?” He Huang’s fingers were trembling. He was genuinely shocked. All this while, he was working under the assumption that he was more knowledgeable than anyone here. To his surprise, he would witness something like this for the first time in his life.
He Yv felt the same. Excitement bubbled in their hearts as both princes arrived at the same conclusion.
They had to find ways to turn Lin Jin into their teacher.
Perhaps this was the reason their father had brought them along. Though, instead of blatantly telling them what to do, the Emperor wished for them to realize it on their own.
Now, they understood. To become Appraiser Lin’s disciples would bring them endless advantages.
Thus, the princes started rubbing their hands together. They were thinking about how they would bring up the request later.
As for He Qian, though he may seem composed, his hands were gripping tightly to his robes behind his back. Only with this could he manage to contain his shock.
The most composed of them all was still He Qing. To her, no matter how phenomenal Lin Jin’s skills were, it would come across as reasonable, given how he was Curator’s disciple.
That was all that was needed to convince her.
Lin Jin flicked a needle toward He Yu, piercing it into the area between her brows to draw a drop of blood before sending the bloodstained needle through the flames and into the body of the white jade dragon.
This was the beginning of their blood contract.
It happened so fast that He Yu couldn’t even react in time.
The dancing flames appeared so intense that they expected to feel a wave of scorching heat, given how close they were standing to it. And yet, everyone here felt only warmth as if they were basking under the morning sun. It wasn’t as searing as they imagined it would be.
The swirling flames continued without stopping for the longest time. It was so attractive that almost every jade dragon in the cave had decided to come up and watch. Jade dragons were supposed to be terrified of fire due to their attributes, which made it all the more astonishing that they were so fascinated by the flames. Some even started feeling the urge to jump into the fiery display.
It did not apply exclusively to the jade dragon beasts, but even Senior Mo felt it.
The old dragon’s emotions were a complete mess, but its stubbornness had gradually begun to crumble away. It recalled Lin Jin’s ability to walk on clouds, and now that he was demonstrating his prowess at fire manipulation, fear grabbed hold of Senior Mo.
More than fear, there was respect.
This change in attitude was so abrupt that Senior Mo didn’t even realize it himself.
Through the naked eye, they could see changes happening to the white jade dragon amidst the flames. As the fire continued to burn, impurities and gunk were forced out of its body and turned into ashes.
Suddenly, from the crowd of jade dragons, a peculiar dragon with red and black stripes could contain itself no longer, so it leaped over. Exactly like a moth to a flame, it hopped right into the fire.
The next instant, it was seared by the burning flames, and what followed was a harrowing screech.
Lin Jin saw what happened but decided not to take any action.
He didn’t stop the dragon nor said anything as if he wasn’t the least bit concerned.
Though on the inside, Lin Jin noted how surprisingly courageous the lizard-like dragon was. While the other dragons were attracted by his unrefined fire, not a single one had been brave enough to come over.
They did not approach the flames due to their instinctual fear of fire and Lin Jin’s presence was all the more reason for them to stay back.
However, opportunities would always come and go quickly. To successfully seize such an opportunity would be a life-changing decision. A missed opportunity would almost never appear again.
As the fire continued to burn, it gradually weakened.
The dragon that had jumped into the fire became silent after screaming and struggling for the longest time. Those who were clueless presumed that it had already died in the flames.
At one point, the fire died down and was extinguished.
The first thing they noticed was the white jade dragon.
It looked completely different compared to its previous form.
Like a beautiful jade piece carved by a skilled craftsman, the dragon was breathtaking. It drew so much attention that it was impossible to look away. Not a speck of dirt was left on its body of pure white jade and its aura was much stronger than before. Through its eyes, the white jade dragon’s cowardice was nowhere to be seen. Instead, it was so domineering that it began to scorn all the other jade dragons in this cave.
Including Senior Mo.
Everyone was able to tell what had happened.
Just as Lin Jin had said. By using flames to cleanse the white jade dragon, the creature had gained a whole new body. This change allowed it to possess the aura of a true dragon.