Beast Tamer Ascension
Book 4: Chapter 99: This Squirrel’s Not Right

Vol 4 Chapter 99: This Squirrel’s Not Right

"Sure." Lin Jing nodded. Since that’s the case, then it’s even more solid!

He smiled, though he had his own little scheme.

The domain rules were: [Each of the five winning cultivators may select one type of *Divine Physique Pill from the Immortal Palace treasury as a reward. The more outstanding the performance, the broader the selection range, and the higher the quality of the pill.]

If the Pine Leaf Mouse fought in place of Alchemist Du Zao, then wouldn’t that mean the reward would go to the Pine Leaf Mouse?

In that case, Lin Jing would receive two Divine Physique Pills as a reward!

"Fellow Daoist Du, what do you think about letting my pet take your place in the match? You might miss out on the Divine Physique Pill reward, but at least this ensures that the Tianyuan Realm will ultimately secure victory."

"I won’t let you suffer a loss either. Once we return to Tianyuan, I’ll gift you a wisp of Immortal-grade Lotus Heart Flame. Though it’s not a source flame and you won’t be able to refine it, just like the Immortal Pill Spirit in your Tongtian Tower, this flame can heal almost any injury in the lower realms—even foundation damage or origin wounds!"

"Of course, as one of the gentlest exotic flames, you should understand what an Immortal-grade Lotus Heart Flame means for an alchemist. Its value is in no way inferior to a Divine Physique Pill."

Du Zao’s pupils contracted. Lin Jing actually had an Immortal-grade flame. Was it from that Dragon Carp?

So that’s why—now he understood how that Dragon Carp could use Late Nascent Soul cultivation to defeat a Nascent Soul Transformation-stage Holy Son of the Wu God Sect.

"If you put it that way, I’ve got no objections." Du Zao agreed immediately, afraid Lin Jing would change his mind. That was an Immortal-grade flame, after all.

Even the Tower Master of the Tongtian Tower—his master—didn't possess an Immortal-grade flame. At most, he had a few quasi-Immortal flames.

It was said that only with the help of the Immortal Pill Spirit could flames temporarily be upgraded to Immortal-level.

A Late Nascent Soul Dragon Carp actually... so this is what a Rare Beast is?

Just like Lin Jing said—even if it’s not a source flame he can refine, a mere wisp of Lotus Heart Flame still held immense value. Especially for someone like him—who might not need the healing attribute—but could use it to cultivate in an Immortal-grade flame, making all fire-related techniques and spells twice as effective, maybe even developing new effects.

Even in the Tongtian Tower’s special training environments, the best he could get was cultivating in a quasi-Immortal-level gentle flame. But an actual Immortal flame... he doubted even his Tower Master had experienced that more than a few times.

Sure, the Immortal-level effect came from a Nascent Soul-level Rare Beast, but his own cultivation wasn’t high either—this was more than enough!

Du Zao even concluded that a gentle Immortal flame probably had limited combat value for Lin Jing, since he wasn’t a fire-path cultivator. But for Du Zao? He could easily make ten times better use of it.

Compared to a Divine Physique Pill he wasn’t sure suited him, he’d rather not have it at all.

“Since you’ve agreed—Pine Leaf Mouse, you’ll handle the next match.” As Lin Jing finished speaking, he glanced at the arena. The Pine Leaf Mouse yawned and instantly teleported up onto the stage.

So much time had passed; its spatial manipulation had long since evolved. No need to use the red leaf as a medium anymore—it could teleport anywhere within the range of its divine sense. That was also because it had stashed tons of space-related collectibles in its beast core space…

“Wait, not the Dragon Carp or the Ice Gu?” As Lin Jing let the squirrel go, Du Zao blinked. If he remembered correctly, this squirrel hadn’t even made it onto the Golden Ranking, right?

Unlike the other two—they were both in the top ten!

“Close enough. It just didn’t have time to get on the list, not that it lacked the strength.” Lin Jing casually dropped a line that made Du Zao, the Third Prince, and Bai Yuran all feel a sharp pang in their guts.

…

At that moment—

The Tianming Realm side was stunned to see that the Tianyuan Realm didn’t wait for the “three-minute prep time” to finish and instead sent someone up early.

Everyone entered the stage at the same time, so no one knew who their opponent would be. But going up early like this…

This move basically exposed their fighter in advance, making the Tianming Realm feel as though the Tianyuan side was looking down on them.

And what’s more, the fighter wasn’t one of the original five—it was a... mid-stage Nascent Soul squirrel spirit that seemingly came out of nowhere!

“Huh? What the h*ll is this thing?” A Rare Beast in the form of a woodpecker scratched its head, looking totally baffled. “Where’d this squirrel come from?”

“It’s that beast tamer’s pet.” The cultivator with the Heaven’s Mercy Physique spoke. “Looks like the Tianyuan Realm intends to let this pet fight independently from the Beast Master, meaning they think this pet alone is stronger than at least one of their original fighters—making their odds better this way.”

“But as a cost, once the beast tamer enters a later match, this pet can’t participate again.”

“Even so, this is pretty arrogant. Just charging up like that…” The woodpecker muttered, “This squirrel’s clearly wood-elemental. Its bloodline is pretty strong—close to mine. Probably peak imperial level. But the main thing is, it used spatial teleportation to enter the arena—it just revealed that it knows space spells.”

“A mid-Nascent Soul, wood-element squirrel spirit that can use space techniques? Its physical strength doesn’t look like much. Want me to handle it?” Yuan Liu, who had the Void Divine Physique, spoke up.

Everyone nodded. A squirrel spirit’s spatial skills couldn’t possibly surpass Yuan Liu, who cultivated the Minor Void Technique. He not only had the Innate Void Divine Physique, but also an acquired Void physique. His spatial mastery was formidable, and the squirrel likely relied on mana, not brute force. Against someone with the Void physique, it would be helpless.

This fight looked like an easy win.

When time was up, Yuan Liu, now in the Late Nascent Soul stage, also teleported into the arena and smiled at the Pine Leaf Mouse.

He even wondered if the other side had sent this squirrel spirit up just to hand over some free points.

…

Once the opponent appeared, the Pine Leaf Mouse stared blankly at his… storage pouch.

In the next moment, under Yuan Liu’s curious gaze, the Pine Leaf Mouse summoned a red leaf and flew high into the sky using it.

“Hey, little squirrel, what are you up to?” Yuan Liu looked up, not rushing to attack.

He wanted to see if he could extract some useful information from this squirrel. However...

At that moment, the Pine Leaf Mouse was recalling the information Lin Jing had provided before the match.

[Use physical attacks on him. Don’t mix in mana. Hmm… but with your destructive power, even if you do mix some in, it shouldn’t matter. The opponent’s just Late Nascent Soul. He’s immune to Nascent Soul-level spell attacks—but surely he can’t completely block ones strong enough to insta-kill a typical Divine Transformation-stage enemy, right?]

Physical attacks.

The Pine Leaf Mouse’s eyes sharpened. It raised both claws overhead, then offered up its beast core.

“Huh?” Yuan Liu froze, then his face changed dramatically. That harmless little squirrel just now... had savagely ripped out its beast core. And it was growing—madly—until it blanketed the arena spanning thousands of meters in every direction.

“That’s a beast core from a Nascent Soul beast???” He was stunned. Then he watched as the Pine Leaf Mouse casually tossed the enormous beast core like a ball—hurling it violently at the arena.

“You’re not afraid of damaging your own beast core?” he exclaimed.

“Sigh... Beast Core Divine Art: Five Elements World!”

At that moment, not just Yuan Liu—every Tianming Realm cultivator froze. From that beast core, they felt an overwhelming pressure. It was like the Divine Soul of a peak Divine Transformation-stage Beast Emperor had appeared in the void.

Even the one known as Tianming’s strongest Nascent Soul cultivator—the possessor of the Lunar Solar Physique—frowned slightly, unable to understand how a beast core could be this overpowering… completely unprecedented.

“This—!” The entire arena became a target zone. Yuan Liu’s face changed drastically. He had no choice but to hide in an alternate space. But to his horror, even in that space, he could clearly perceive—under the crushing descent of the beast core—that the space itself was beginning to collapse.

The power of that attack exceeded his imagination.

It was as if he were being slammed by a miniature world!

“Void!” In desperation, Yuan Liu could only rely on the Void Divine Physique, hoping to negate most of the mana damage. But when that beast core—like a star—slammed down on him, he realized...

That beast core had no external mana. It was purely… physical mass and density at an unimaginable level.

Crack.

The impact struck the arena, crushing the opponent beneath the core. As cracks spread across the platform, the Pine Leaf Mouse, standing atop its beast core, scratched its head—feeling like it had forgotten something.

“This squirrel’s not right!”

At the same time, as Yuan Liu’s completely disfigured body was transported back to the Tianming Realm’s side, all the cultivators held their breath, staring silently at the squirrel on stage—like they were looking at a monster.

This squirrel… what the h*ll?! Not only did it smash someone with its beast core—it hit that hard?

Is that a beast core or a top-tier artifact!?

On the Dayuan Realm’s side, the others also went silent, finally understanding what Lin Jing meant by: It just didn’t have time to get on the rankings.

“Heh, maybe I’ll let my pet handle the next match too. I brought three of them today, after all.” Lin Jing looked at the Third Prince and added, “Don’t worry, there’s compensation. For example—I’ll introduce you to a senior even more powerful than your father, before you even meet the Crown Prince.”