Chapter 45: Overcoming Obstacles As They Come

Among other apprentices, Zhao Ying and Lu Xiaoyun were already considered the cream of the crop. Frankly speaking, there was nothing Lin Jin could comment about on the basics.

He could only use the evolution methods from the museum to provide his deductions.

Lin Jin could be seen shaking his head. “It’s still too conservative. As beast appraisers, we mustn’t only follow the rules. Relatively speaking, Xiaoyun’s idea is slightly better because it would cut down the time required. However, it still isn’t bold enough.”

Feeling slightly unconvinced, Lu Xiaoyun asked, “Then Appraiser Lin, what would be considered bold enough?”

Lin Jin remembered a theory he learned from school long ago that was perfect for this very moment. He answered, “Appraising beasts is like going to war. Try imagining, if the troops come across a mountain blocking their path and there was no way around it, or if a raging river obstructs them, and it is difficult to cross. Should they perhaps make a detour? Or return to where they came from?”

Clearly, this theory was very novel, yet practical. Zhao Ying and Lu Xiaoyun were unfortunately too engrossed in listening.

“What else? Making a detour is still the best way to reach the goal,” Zhao Ying answered honestly. Lu Xiaoyun nodded as well. It was as if all other alternatives did not exist in their minds.

Lin Jin shook his head before raising it slightly. His gaze was deep as he stared into the distance, striking the perfect pose before he said in a deep voice, “Beast appraising is like going to war. When you come across such situations, you must naturally hack your way through the mountains and build a bridge across the waters!”

Hack your way through the mountains and build a bridge across the waters!

The girls’ eyes sparkled as they were stunned by this sentence.

What great courage and confidence one must possess to be able to say such a thing.

Also, you could also feel the unyielding determination and bravery from his tone.

Lin Jin still had more to say. He slammed a hand on the table and got up. “If the world doesn’t give you a chance, will you just sit and wait for death to come creeping up on you? To be alive is to do difficult things, perform great feats, so that life would be worth living. It is the same for beast evolution. You mustn’t contain yourself in a dead space. If the path is difficult, you fear crossing it. If there isn’t a path, you only think of retreating. If so, how can the pet beast ever evolve?”

“I got it!” Lu Xiaoyun’s face was flushed from the excitement as she turned to look at Lu Ba. The lion shuddered in fear and quickly lowered its head to hide behind Lu Yunhe. It was a pity that his size was too great that his butt was completely exposed for them to see.

“Let’s hear it!” Lin Jin encouraged.

“To hack your way through the mountain… I think we can feed Lu Ba some medicine that opens up his acupoints and gathers his spirit energy. And it has to be in huge dosages. Apart from this, he needs to keep battling so that it can not only strengthen his muscles and bones, but he could also surpass his potential. With this, he can be forcefully powered up, and in less than a year, there might be signs of evolution,” Lu Xiaoyun spoke eloquently with great confidence.

Lu Ba was about to cry again.

Suddenly, Lin Jin spoke up to correct her, “Your train of thought is accurate but the idea wasn’t formed with detailed consideration. Thirty percent of every medicine is poison. If you increase the dosage too dramatically, even if the pet beast manages to evolve in the future, it would be significantly hurt its life-span. Its potential rate would also be affected. Apart from that, through the blood pact’s influence, it might end up hurting the owner as well.”

Lu Yunhe breathed a sigh of relief when he heard this. Lu Xiaoyun stuck her tongue out, sounding unconvinced as she said, “For me to come up with this idea in such a short time was already hard enough. I’ll just think of something else.”

On the other hand, Zhao Ying had been silently pondering. All of a sudden, she spoke up. “Medicine must be fed, but it has to target the specific symptoms. Also, we can use elemental powers to stimulate the potential within Lu Ba. It’ll be best if we can activate his bloodline, that might just help it evolve.”

Lin Jin nodded and praised her.

When it came to this, Zhao Ying was indeed much more level-headed.

“Then, how should we choose the medicine? How should we refine them? With the use of elemental powers, how can we stimulate the pet beast’s bloodline?” Lin Jin carried on asking. While the process seemed like an interrogation, it was actually an interactive lesson.

The next step involved a deeper theory and required rich practical experience before anyone was able to make a deduction and finally, a choice. Both girls were frowning hard as their minds churned away.

Instead of urging them to hurry up, Lin Jin waited patiently. This feeling of teaching others was quite thrilling. If the girls manage to learn something, Lin Jin would feel great satisfaction and a huge sense of achievement as well.

Trying not to disrupt their thoughts, Lin Jin went over to the front hall to loosen up his stiff muscles.

As Lu Yunhe had other matters to attend to and couldn’t wait around here, he informed Lin Jin of his departure before leaving with Lu Ba.

As they left, Lu Ba was scurrying away as if Lin Jin’s consultation hall was a dragon’s lair or a tiger’s den. He was practically dragging Lu Yunhe away as he escaped for his dear life.

Lu Yunhe was gone. Zhao Ying and Lu Xiaoyun were still researching evolution theories. Only Lin Jin had nothing to do.

Since it was still early, why not go home and take a look at the progress?

Yesterday, Lin Jin had hired construction workers to rebuild his house and yard so he had to take a look, to see how they were doing. After all, he had paid quite a lot for it.

Without disturbing the girls as they worked on their assignment, Lin Jin left the association with Xiao Huo in tow, heading for home.

Maple City wasn’t a tiny district. For Lin Jin to get home, he had to pass through two main streets and four alleys. Seeing the strange new scenery around and unfamiliar faces of hawkers and peddlers on his way home was quite interesting.

Because up until several days ago, he was just an average guy from the modern world.

Halfway through his journey, when he passed by the medicine hall, Lin Jin thought of buying some medicinal ingredients. He had planned to produce the ‘energy gathering pill’. This pellet could either be fed to pet beasts or consumed by humans. If Xiao Huo and both Zhao Ying and Lu Xiaoyun’s pet beasts took a pill each day, their strength would gradually increase to reveal signs of evolution on a sooner date.

Strategically situated, this medicine hall was vast and its hall was brightly lit. There were more than ten counters, each packed with drawers containing various exotic medicines. About eight staff were in the midst of serving customers. By taking a deep breath, one could smell the fragrance of the medicinal herbs they had in store.

Perhaps it was due to the one-ring beast logo on Lin Jin’s sleeve, he was immediately served upon entering the premises.

“You must be Appraiser Lin, aren’t you?” the staff abruptly asked after taking a glance at the beast logo on Lin Jin’s sleeve.

Lin Jin was mildly excited. After all, to have someone recognize him outside without him having to give his name meant that he had a pretty good reputation. And so, tidying his robes and straightening his back, Lin Jin asked, “Do you know me?”

The staff smiled. “Even if I’ve never met you before, I would have at least heard of you. After all, there are only two official beast appraisers in Maple City. One of them is Young Master Gao whom everybody knows, so the other one must be you.”

‘That’s true.’

The staff continued, “Moreover, you have an unusual relationship with our Chen Medicine Hall, so as one of their employees, how could I not recognize you?”

‘Huh?’

This time, Lin Jin was confused. This apothecary was called Chen Medicine Hall. But he didn’t seem to have any connections with this Chen Medicine Hall, did he?

‘Could it be my predecessor?’

Lin Jin tried digging into his predecessor’s memories for an answer. But as he tried to think, he felt a wave of dizziness as if his predecessor only had broken pieces of memories concerning this Chen Medicine Hall. Or perhaps his predecessor was trying his best to forget about this place?

‘Why is that?’

Lin Jin stopped trying to recall. His predecessor was his predecessor. He was his own man. Even if there had been grudges, those were now irrelevant to Lin Jin.

“Is Appraiser Lin here for some medicine? Or are you here to see our Young Miss?” the staff asked.

‘Where did this ‘Young Miss’ come from?’

Memories came surging without warning, just like a closed wound that was forcefully reopened. That, or like crap in a sh*thole being boiled to the point of overflowing.

With just a moment’s carelessness, memories that were meant to be forgotten resurfaced.

Lin Jin felt light-headed and his scalp was throbbing in pain.

Seeing this, the medicine hall’s staff immediately stepped forward, wanting to support Lin Jin. But he was frightened back by Xiao Huo instead. It was clear that Xiao Huo was worried for Lin Jin, though he could do nothing but stay beside his owner, feeling anxious.

Thankfully Lin Jin recovered from his mental daze quickly.

‘F*ck! So that’s what happened. I say, Mr. Predecessor, you were really quite the wretched fool. It’s just a woman. Did you really have to go that far?”