Chapter 21 - Pellet Refinement 2

Within the undergrounds of Maple City, an Earth Fire Spirit Stream coursed through its veins. Although this stream had an average quality, it was still of earth fire, a type of spirit fire that was more powerful than regular flames. 

Spirit fire usage was a necessity in pellet refinement. 

The path of pellet refinement dated way back into the ancient age of immortals. Back then, spirit energy was abundant. Cultivators didn't need pet beasts and could use their bodies to rule the earth, to control the weather, and master all five elements. But as times changed, the era of immortals ended. The earth's spirit energy died away and cultivators could hardly nurture their physical bodies anymore. Only a handful of people could enter the energy formation stage of immortal cultivation, so the subsequent stages: foundation establishment, core formation, nascent soul, and soul formation, were long forgotten. 

They became legends of the past. 

Today, it was the era of spirit beasts. Friars would sign blood pacts with these creatures, command them and raise their levels. This aspect had become so extraordinary that the development of pills gradually morphed to be catered specifically for pet beasts. 

Behind the stone door was a natural cave. As you travel further in, the intensity of heat would grow stronger until a glowing stream of lava was seen, that ended in a lava pond.

This was the Earth Fire Spirit Stream. 

Nobody else was here at this time so without anyone disturbing him, Lin Jin quickly took out the pellet furnace to begin refining the six sun beast soul pill. 

To tell the truth, Lin Jin wasn't even familiar with pelletization as much as he was in pellet refinement. Everything he does is through the hands of the museum. Without it, he would barely know how to utilize this spirit energy to absorb the earth's flames. 

The Museum of Deadly Beasts was a museum that wiped away all his problems. 

"Xiao Huo, go play somewhere else and don't bother me." Lin Jin instructed before he began drawing out a seal to activate the pellet furnace obeying the museum's manual. 

With the control of spiritual energy, the pellet furnace floated over, suspending above the lava pond. Instantly, the furnace heated bright red. 

After that, Lin Jin tossed in his medicinal ingredients. 

As expected of a spirit fire variant, paired with the earth fire and Lu Xiaoyun's quality furnace, the ingredients momentarily converted into spirit energy, boiling together with the furnace. It was such a delightful sight. 

Fifteen minutes later, Lin Jin tossed in the last ingredient of the process, the six sun grass. 

Once he tossed it in, a dense fire spirit energy overflowed. 

The six sun grass didn't melt away upon entering the furnace, but Lin Jin was patient because the museum stated that a spell of fire accumulation was required. He needed to gather the flames of the Earth Fire Spirit Stream and spill it onto the furnace for refinement. 

And so, Lin Jin raised his hands and cast a fire accumulation spell. 

At that moment, the cave gently rumbled. 

Outside the stone door, Elder Mo abruptly opened his eyes. His pet beast, the fire lizard became agitated as well and emitted a low grunt in response. 

"What's going on? Why is there a disturbance in the Earth Fire Spirit Stream?" Elder Mo's expression dropped. He turned to his pet beast. The fire lizard shrieked and stomped on the ground causing fiery patterns to shoot out, zipping across the grounds. 

The irregular occurrence dissipated. 

Elder Mo sighed in relief. Having thought of something, he muttered to himself, "Could it be as spoken in the legends, that the creature below had moved? This won't do. It's a serious matter. I have to report this." 

Beside the lava pond, Lin Jin was ecstatic like a kid in a candy store as he watched the six sun grass melt away. To complete it, what's left was to toss in the beast soul and cast a pill condensation spell as the final step. 

Both the beast soul and beast soul talisman were tossed in. The talisman disintegrated into ashes once it touched the furnace, leaving only the softly illuminating beast soul as it slowly imbibed the spirit energies around it. 

When it was done, Lin Jin sealed it up with the pill condensation spell. Inside the furnace, the fire spiritual energy, medicinal energy merged with the beast soul, and a pellet gradually surfaced. 

"It's done!" 

Lin Jin impatiently retrieved the pellet furnace, opened it, and took out the pill. 

The six sun beast soul pill was finally at hand. 

"And they say pill refinement was hard. That wasn't so hard, was it?" Lin Jin basked in his undeserved gain. But of course, he knew that he was just following the museum's instructions. If a problem still occurred after the diligence he put in, he would be the idiot then. 

When he returns home later and feeds Xiao Huo the pill, the little guy might be able to evolve. 

Packing up his belongings, Lin Jin left the place. Simultaneously, someone entered the place. 

This man looked to be in his early twenties and had a single-ringed beast pattern on his sleeve, evidently an official beast appraiser. He had an arrogant temperament and only had eyes for himself, just waltzing in as if Lin Jin was transparent. 

The man was clearly here to absorb fire spiritual energy as well. 

Lin Jin knew this man. Like himself, he was the other official beast appraiser of the association, Gao Jiang. 

Since Gao Jiang was ignoring him, why bother asking if he was just going to get a cold shoulder? So, Lin Jin just raised his head and strutted past Gao Jiang. 

Outside, there was no sign of Elder Mo's presence, but the fire lizard lingered. The creature had a titanic body, reaching half the height of a human adult even when it was plopped on its belly. Its body length stretched up to at least twenty feet long, including its tail. A gentle bump from it could knock down a house. 

How mighty and domineering. 

As Lin Jin strolled past, a sudden thought came to mind that made him halt his walk. 

The Museum of Deadly Beast had a reward system. Recording over a certain amount of pet beasts or appraising beasts of a rare or high level would grant him rewards and unlock achievements too. 

He had recorded several beasts with hidden bloodlines previously. If he'd reached a certain number of beasts, there must be a reward for that too. 

He was face to face with an opportunity. 

Just from its appearance, Elder Mo's pet beast was definitely a rare breed that was higher than level three at least. If Lin Jin managed to record it in the museum, would it trigger an achievement? 

Once this thought surfaced, there was no dismissing it. 

Lin Jin was aware that Elder Mo's absence was a window of opportunity, otherwise, he'd never had this chance. 

So he took a deep breath, braced himself and extended his hand over. 

'Don't move, don't move. Please don't move!' Lin Jin silently prayed. This fire lizard's head was huge as a grinding disc. Even when it was resting, its intimidating aura was intense. Lin Jin was terrified that the violent beast might abruptly wake up and gnaw off his arm. 

But life only brings fullness for the bold and famine for the timid, so Lin Jin chose to place his palm over the fire lizard's head. 

The violent beast's eyes shot open. 

A searing aura frightened Lin Jin into retracting his hand instantly, bowing in salutations while asking, "Where is Elder Mo?" 

Distress. 

Fear. 

Fortunately, the fire lizard didn't hold Lin Jin accountable, it only fired a menacing glare at him before laying back down and returning to slumber. 

Lin Jin shot off, his body drenched in cold sweat. 

"Who would've guessed that it was actually a level three, and they say that Chief was the number one expert in the association. I think instead, Elder Mo should be the strongest. The pet beasts of the other two elders might not be able to reach his level. A level three pet beast is truly phenomenal." 

Lin Jin kept hustling. Although this recklessness was risky, it held a greater yield. 

This fire lizard was the first level three pet beast Lin Jin had encountered that also had a unique bloodline embedded in it. In this era where power was weighed by a pet beast's strengths, that thought riled up Lin Jin's impatience to promote Xiao Huo's level. 

Back home, Lin Jin shut the door and windows. He took out the refined six sun beast soul pill and fed it to Xiao Huo, he also shoved the fire spirit crystal into the little guy's mouth together with the pill. 

The stone tablet on the museum stated that consuming the six sun beast soul pill together with the fire spirit crystal could help Xiao Huo achieve a perfect evolution. As for the advantages of a perfect promotion, Lin Jin read and understood a bit about it from the museum's tablet. 

A perfect evolution would solidify the pet beast's level. The other evolution methods would create some flaws here and there but a perfect evolution would eliminate this possibility. 

In addition, it could have the capability for the pet beast to evolve continuously. Meaning to say, it could probably level up twice. 

Of course, this depended on the quality of the six sun beast soul pill and the fire spirit crystal. 

After Xiao Huo consumed the pill, the reaction was instantaneous. 

A blazing ball of fire ignited from its body. 

Lin Jin took several steps back in caution of burning himself. 

Then, Xiao Huo was drowned in the flames that enveloped its body, arousing worry in Lin Jin that something might happen to it. A low growl emitted within the embers while the crisp sounds of bones cracking followed as its body expanded in size. 

Xiao Huo's initially dry fur began regrowing inside the flames, renewing its coat entirely.