Chapter 68: Who Says the Entrance Boss Must Be Fought First?
By the time Jiang Lin walked out of the Miteer Auction House under the respectful gazes of Ya Fei and the others, the sun had already begun to set.
Once outside the city gates, he smoothly shook off any followers and vanished into the Magical Beast Mountains.
Before long, a majestic eagle with blue-purple wings took flight from the forest and soared along the outskirts of the mountain range toward Qingshan Town.
"Huh? Captain, look! There's actually a flying mount around here?" A Dou Grandmaster from the outskirts of the mountains suddenly looked up to see a flash of azure and violet light in the sky.
Blood Beast Mercenary Group's captain, Mu Yun, glanced upward as well, eyes flickering. "There's a tier-two blacksmith in Wutan City. Not the one we're looking for, but the two are likely connected. Don't alarm anyone yet. Let's go investigate Qingshan Town first. Then we'll report back to the mission's sponsor. If I'm not mistaken, the one who posted the mission might be that blacksmith. No one else would ask specifically for intact magical beast hides."
Alchemists typically only needed energy-rich parts like horns or magic cores—only blacksmiths collected everything they could.
"Let's move. As long as we stay out of the deeper parts of the Magical Beast Mountains, we won't be at risk."
—
Jiang Lin returned to Forging Valley before nightfall. Ever since acquiring Eagle-bro, traveling between Qingshan and Wutan had become a breeze.
He first changed into a simple gray outfit, then brought out the body of the tier-three Windhowl Peregrine into the main work area. He also summoned Pei Xuan from the Whitebone Ring.
Storage rings were truly one of the world's greatest inventions. The fact that even a puppet like Pei Xuan could be stored inside was game-changing. Jiang Lin could hardly imagine how powerful he'd be with a whole army of them.
When others thought he was just a lone warrior and tried to jump him… Jiang Lin would show them what a real overwhelming counterattack looked like. Man stacked on man—layers of testosterone!
"Too bad the core of the Xuan Armor Puppet Technique is the Soul-infused Skin Paper. It has instructions on using soul power to control Dou Qi engravings. I should be able to do it once I reach Dou Spirit… but where the hell am I supposed to find a Soulweaver Banshee?"
Every time he looked at Pei Xuan, Jiang Lin sighed.
The ancestors were pretty considerate, after all. Purple Cloud Wings was ready-to-use straight out of the box. Xuan Armor Puppet Technique seemed the same—just plug and play. They'd really gone out of their way for their dumb juniors.
"Get the furnace going. I'm going to make you a new shield." Jiang Lin sent Pei Xuan off to stoke the flames and began preparing to dissect the Windhowl Peregrine, which had so graciously "signed" a posthumous donation agreement.
Windhowl Peregrine: ??? I didn't sign anything!
Jiang Lin: Don't worry—I signed for you. Now thank me.
After using Pei Xuan as a meat shield a few times, Jiang Lin could no longer go back to the old days of clashing swords head-on. Especially after a few hunting trips this year, he'd firmly positioned Pei Xuan as a tanky, aggro-drawing frontliner.
And himself? Naturally, he was the cool and stylish long-range DPS behind the lines.
—
The next morning, Jiang Lin handed over a new, larger shield to Pei Xuan—an upgraded tier-two Xuan Armor Shield modified from the old Xuanming Shield. Stretching in the sun, he looked at the now fully-armored Pei Xuan, who resembled a giant tin can, and smiled in satisfaction.
"Once we get you a stronger body, I'll make even thicker armor. Then you can go take even nastier hits!" he said, patting Pei Xuan's shoulder.
Pei Xuan: …
Expression blank, the puppet stared at him, saying nothing.
"Don't worry. The next puppet will still be named Pei Xuan. It's the unbreakable bond between us!" Jiang Lin declared shamelessly, showing no guilt over having thrown Pei Xuan to the Windhowl Peregrine just days earlier.
"As long as it's named Pei Xuan, it's still you!" Jiang Lin gripped both shoulders and stared into Pei Xuan's hollow green eyes.
…Nothing.
"Hmm, could there really be such a kind-hearted ancestor?" Jiang Lin muttered, circling Pei Xuan suspiciously before giving up.
Purple Cloud Wings, passed down by Senior Whitebone, had shocked Jiang Lin with how plug-and-play it was. He couldn't help but wonder if Xuan Armor Puppet Technique also came with some hidden gift.
But Pei Xuan was clearly not like the Purple Cloud Wings scroll—there was no sign of any remnant soul or secret blessing. After probing a few times and getting no response, Jiang Lin gave up.
He trusted his own soul sense. If Pei Xuan had any spirit capable of resisting the puppet binding, he would've noticed. So, logically, he had to let Pei Xuan be the one to abandon him one day.
Plus, they were both one-star Dou Masters now. Jiang Lin was confident he could beat the grease out of Pei Xuan if it ever rebelled.
Pei Xuan's defense, bolstered by both inner and outer armor, was maxed out. A low-tier Dou Grandmaster without a quality tier-two weapon would have a hard time breaking through. His only flaw was his slowness.
"Eagle-bro, here—tier-three wind magic core. You sure you can handle it?" Seeing Pei Xuan still blank and obedient, Jiang Lin sent him off to work and tossed the core from the Windhowl Peregrine to the nearby excited Purple Cloud Lan Eagle.
"Coo! Coo!" the eagle called out, then swallowed the core in one gulp.
Jiang Lin watched for a bit, saw the eagle slowly absorbing the Dou Qi inside, then turned and headed into the workshop to organize materials for his flying Dou Artifact.
During the process, he came across a beautiful sapphire about the size of a fist and sighed.
Purple Cloud Lan Eagle could improve by eating other "eagles."
Jiang Lin, too, had found a way to cultivate by consuming magic cores… but even after years in the mountains, he still hadn't found a material that could insulate Dou Qi energy.
"I haven't explored the inner region of the mountains yet… Damn this perfectionism. If I don't map this place out 100%, and later find the answer was here all along, I'll wake up screaming in the night and start slapping myself."
He glanced down at the fifth-rank "sea magic core" he'd been carrying for years, lost in thought.
The reason he wandered the mountains so long was simple: when searching for something, he liked to explore every area thoroughly. 100%. That was his mindset in his past life's career—imagination paired with meticulous precision.
"I'll finish exploring the inner mountains over the next year or two. If there's still no result… I'll move on. The boss at the gate? I'll come back for him later. Who says the entrance boss has to be cleared first?"
With that, he returned the sea magic core to the Whitebone Ring and began designing the blueprint for the first-generation flying Dou Artifact.
(END CHAPTER)
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