Chapter 640: Instant Recognition Of A Non-Human
“That is our sect leader, Miao Yan Zhenren!” Chen Xuankong introduced, as he led Lin Jin up the floating steps.
“Taoist Lin, we’ll wait downstairs,” whispered Huang Shi Sanren softly.
Zuo Men nodded as well.
They were only loose immortals, so among half-immortals, they were only average. Compared to the disciples of the Mystery Dao Sect, they were inferior. They would be lying if they said they weren’t nervous about meeting a profound immortal.
Even among loose immortals, Miao Yan Zhenren’s name struck like a bolt of thunder. He was so renowned that most loose immortals revered him as a sacred existence.
Miao Yan Zhenren only intended to meet Lin Jin. Being sensible individuals, they knew that it would be rude for them to barge into the hall recklessly together with Lin Jin.
Lin Jin understood their concerns so he didn’t force them to follow him.
“Then, please wait for me here, my friends,” said Lin Jin. Chen Xuankong smiled at them and said, “You may walk around as you please. If you’re bored, you may read the books over there too.”
Having said that, he continued up the stairs with Lin Jin.
Zuo Men and Huang Shi Sanren breathed sighs of relief. It wasn’t long before they started feeling ecstatic.
Their entry to the Mystery Dao Sect was a great adventure. Not only was it an enlightening experience, but Chen Xuankong had also said they could read the cultivation books inside the sect.
That was a huge benefit.
As loose immortals, although they each had their way of learning, their foundation could never be compared to that of orthodox disciples. For the latter, cultivation books were the main contributor to their success.
Books of immortal sects were far better than what they could get hold of outside since such literature was on a whole other level.
It went without saying that they stood to gain much from this visit.
Of course, they would never let slip the opportunity to grow stronger. They even hoped Lin Jin would stay here longer. It would be best if he could stay for a few days.
Zuo Men and Huang Shi Sanren merrily rushed off to the big tortoise they saw earlier. Meanwhile, Lin Jin had reached the floating hall where he saluted Miao Yan Zhenren.
“Greetings, Miao Yan Zhenren. My name is Lin Jin,” said Lin Jin respectfully.
He was meeting a profound immortal after all. Judging by beast rank, this man here was at least Rank 7 and above.
Miao Yan Zhenren nodded with a subtle smile. Since just now, he had been observing Lin Jin through an immortal’s eyes, so whatever he saw was vastly different from other people.
He could see that Lin Jin possessed a mortal’s body and showed no signs of overcoming tribulations to achieve immortal status.
However, two powerful energies were hidden inside his body. One resided in his right arm, and it burned fiercely like the scorching sun. The other was spread throughout his body, like a monster made of blood.
That monster rivaled a half-immortal in terms of strength.
Miao Yan Zhenren rarely came across cases like this and it reminded him of a beast taming spell used by some immortal sect.
What a pity Miao Yan Zhenren didn’t know much about beast taming so he couldn’t investigate further. When he returned his focus to Lin Jin, he saw the sword and gourd that hung around his waist.
Miao Yan Zhenren nodded at the sword as it seemed to have a spirit and the strength of a half-immortal. It was worthy to be deemed an immortal sword.
After millenniums of cultivation, Miao Yan Zhenren too had his sword, which he kept in the Xumi Realm. Although Lin Jin’s sword couldn’t compare to his own, it was still comparable to some other immortal swords.
As for the gourd, Miao Yan Zhenren’s brows furrowed at the sight of it.
‘This gourd has a very unusual origin.’ Miao Yan Zhenren’s eyes glinted. At that moment, his Taoist resolve wavered, as the desire to obtain the sword for himself emerged.
Other people may not recognize the value of this gourd, but the same could not be said for Miao Yan Zhenren, who had been around for thousands of years, outliving the immortal’s era. The sheer amount of knowledge he had could never be compared to. He found this gourd to be very similar to what an unfettered immortal possessed back in the immortal palace. He was almost certain that this gourd belonged to that exact unfettered immortal.
This was a phenomenal magic treasure hand-crafted by an unfettered immortal so even Miao Yan Zhenren desired it.
‘It’ll be challenging for him to utilize even a fraction of its powers. In my hands, I can make it work wonders, I can even…’
Miao Yan Zhenren remained silent as these thoughts ran through his mind.
Lin Jin was able to sense it when a profound immortal revealed his intention. In that instant, Lin Jin felt as if he was crushed by a large mountain, rendering him immobile.
That pressure he felt made him exasperated.
However, that unseen pressure vanished without a trace, as if it never existed in the first place. That happened after Miao Yan Zhenren saw the vague outline of a door behind Lin Jin.
That frightened him because Miao Yan Zhenren sensed hints of heavenly aura from that door. As if being splashed by a bucket of cold water, Miao Yan Zhenren immediately regained his composure and dispelled his greed.
After his head cleared up, Miao Yan Zhenren felt ashamed because he was almost demonized.
The source of that problem was quite obviously Lin Jin’s gourd. No matter how profound a person’s cultivation was, there would always be something that would drive them crazy and incite their selfish desire.
“I’m ashamed. Very ashamed indeed!” said Miao Yan Zhenren as he looked away from the gourd, to avoid having other inappropriate thoughts. Even without the door behind Lin Jin, Miao Yan Zhenren wouldn’t repeat the same mistake.
Forget acting on it, such malicious thoughts shouldn’t be allowed to exist.
Lin Jin smiled sheepishly. He didn’t know precisely what happened, but he knew he must have survived a life-threatening situation. Frankly speaking, if Miao Yan Zhenren turned out to be hostile, Lin Jin had nothing to defend himself with.
All his abilities would probably work on half-immortals, but up against above-average profound immortals, he was but a small fry.
The disparity in strength was too great.
Lin Jin realized how reckless he was. Still, there was no point in regretting his decision now. He was thankful that Miao Yan Zhenren seemed to have regained his usual demeanor.
Then, Lin Jin noticed someone standing behind Miao Yan Zhenren.
It was a young teen.
The boy looked to be about thirteen, had rosy lips against pearly white teeth, and was very charming. He was dressed quite decently too, and he gave off an untainted aura.
However, upon looking at him the second time, a frown was cast on Lin Jin’s face.
He was a beast appraiser, and probably the best one this world had ever seen before. The number of creatures he had appraised thus far was in the tens of thousands, so his experience was commendable. Lin Jin knew everything about beasts, and the same applied to monsters, especially those who could transform. Lin Jin had a unique ability to tell humans apart from beasts.
His senses told him that the teen behind Miao Yan Zhenren wasn’t human.
However, Lin Jin couldn’t tell what exact monster he was yet since he hadn’t touched him. Lin Jin was quite satisfied that he could tell this much from sight alone.
Perhaps he sensed Lin Jin’s gaze, the young man looked over to meet his eyes.