Beast Taming Clan: I Have a Jade Book

Chapter 236: Chapter 235: Mountain-devouring Rat

As the dazzling morning sun rose, the mirror on the roof of the Immortal Hall also reflected a brilliant light, shining together with the sunlight on the golden glazed tiles, making the entire hall appear even more sacred.

Because the Immortal Bell was rung last night, many mortals from the Ye Family had already gathered outside the Immortal Hall at dawn.

The official spirit root testing would begin at noon.

But those mortals wouldn’t dare to keep the Immortals waiting.

Children from the town had already been brought over, only those from distant villages were still slowly making their way here.

Yet, the majority had arrived. Ye Jingcheng glanced over and noticed that there were over a hundred and twenty candidates of appropriate age this time, which was indeed a considerable number.

This was also because White Cloud Town was closer to the center of the Taihang Commandery and had not experienced a beast tide.

The children were now naturally forming a queue, timid yet filled with curiosity.

“I hope there will be a few Immortal Seedlings this time!” Ye Jingyu was also feeling a bit of anticipation at this moment.

As inspectors, if many spirit root cultivators emerged, they would also receive additional rewards.

Ye Jingcheng, as a Foundation Establishment cultivator, didn’t care much about this, but for Ye Jingyu, it was quite important. The spirit beast she raised initially was a Jade Ring Rat.

But after the recent beast tide, her spirit beast was replaced by a Tier One Red Blood Eagle.

It required a considerable amount of Spirit Stones for feeding. As a Spirit Plant Master, raising two spirit beasts and maintaining her own cultivation was somewhat tense financially, especially since the clan’s allowance policy had already changed; it would have been even more difficult before.

Soon, noon arrived, and the doors of the Immortal Hall opened. Ye Jingcheng, wearing a Daoist robe of the Ye Family, holding a Spirit Testing Disc, began to gesture.

Ye Jingyu organized the children to queue one by one.

“Everyone, get in line and place your hands on the Spirit Testing Disc one by one. Those with Spiritual Light should wait on the side; those without it can exit through the side door!” Ye Jingcheng explained the rules simply.

The mortal children had already been informed of these rules.

However, hearing Ye Jingcheng explain it once more made them even more nervous.

As was the same scene as yesterday, the Spirit Testing Disc apart from its initial Spiritual Light had not lit up for a long time.

One after another, more than ten didn’t have any Spiritual Aura glow.

Ye Jingcheng remained composed, but Ye Jingyu was starting to look a bit anxious.

Fortunately, the thirtieth was Ye Ting, and being soothed yesterday, today she was especially bold.

When she placed her hand on the Spirit Testing Disc, it instantly spread a significant amount of Spiritual Aura, and her eyes filled with more confidence.

After all, none of the other children had the Spiritual Light glow, and she still remembered Ye Jingcheng admonishing her aunt and second aunt yesterday.

“Not bad, wait on the side!” Ye Jingcheng nodded and let Ye Ting wait to the side.

Ye Jingyu let out a sigh of relief at this moment.

And meanwhile, a boy with dark eyes in line behind Ye Ting brushed over the Spirit Testing Disc next, and suddenly a Spiritual Aura as tall as six inches lit up.

The aura showed only three colors.

This scene made Ye Jingcheng pleased as well.

Three Spirit Roots paired with the Beast Communication Technique in the family had decent potential.

However, whether he could pass the family’s test to receive the Beast Communication Technique depended on the child’s fortune.

This required a vote by the Inner Hall members of the family and passing the test of the Beast Communication Tower.

Even if he became the Patriarch in the future, there could be no exceptions in the aspect of Beast Communication.

Ye Jingyu had not yet had the opportunity for Beast Communication because she hadn’t passed the Inner Hall’s vote.

“What’s your name?” Ye Jingcheng asked.

“Ye Ming, Immortal Master, can I cultivate too?”

“You can. You don’t need to call me Master later, just call me Eleventh Brother or Brother Cheng!” Ye Jingcheng waved his hand and let this Ye Ming stand behind Ye Ting.

They should now be the last batch of the Jing Generation.

Next to Ye Ting, at the moment, was also speaking to Ye Ming, which made the latter much more courageous, impressing Ye Jingcheng.

After observing for a while, he continued with the testing.

Out of the family’s ten or so towns, Ye Jingcheng was responsible for two, one being this White Cloud Town, the other Feng County.

After completing today’s tests, he still had to rush to Feng County, where there should be more children.

Ye Jingyu was now filled with energy as well, having already found two spirit roots among just over thirty people; there were still ninety more to go.

After two Immortal Seedlings emerged consecutively, the remaining were quiet, with no response. A total of more than eighty children showed no movement.

Ye Jingcheng was slightly surprised but understood that this was typical; cultivation, beginning with the spirit root, was extraordinarily harsh.

“Immortal Master, Immortal Master!”

At this moment, a voice came from outside the Immortal Hall.

Ye Jingcheng instructed Ye Jingyu to look after Ye Ting and Ye Ming, as per the rules; they were no longer allowed to bid farewell to family members.

Ye Jingcheng stepped outside the hall.

“Immortal Master, lots and lots of big bamboo rats have appeared in Cloud Rain Village. They’re about the size of calves and can easily gnaw through old bamboo. An entire bamboo forest is on the verge of destruction. I believe this is a demon beast group, for how could ordinary mountain rats have such a large appetite!”

A middle-aged man in linen clothing spoke up.

Ye Jingcheng’s eyes narrowed.

“Where?”

“Cloud Rain Village, Purple Bamboo Mountain!”

“Take me there!” Ye Jingcheng had already formed an idea about the demon beast in his mind.

But without seeing it for himself, he dared not confirm it.

He took out a Spiritual Ship: “Get on and guide me.”

“The rest of you continue with the Immortal Ascension Conference!” Ye Jingcheng gazed at the mayor of White Cloud Town once more.

“Yes, Immortal Master!” All the mortals watched with a hint of envy.

Indeed, they were flying in the sky.

Even the affluent who discovered the bamboo were full of excitement at this moment.

However, because the Spiritual Ship was too fast, and it was in the air, they were a bit hesitant about the route due to nervousness.

But after listening to the general description given by the latter, Ye Jingcheng swept his Divine Sense and quickly found the Purple Bamboo Mountain.

The bamboo on this Purple Bamboo Mountain was similar to Ye Xingqun’s bamboo forest; both were planted with Cyan Stone Bamboo.

However, layers of purple flowers were blooming on this mountain, which gave it the name Purple Bamboo Forest.

Among the bamboo forest, he immediately spotted numerous giant blue rats falling in the forest, resembling lumberjacks.

One by one, the bamboo fell.

Cyan Stone Bamboo could be cultivated into Spiritual Bamboo, which naturally absorbs spiritual energy better than ordinary bamboo.

These giant rats were exactly what he had previously speculated—Mountain-devouring Rats.

Of course, the name Mountain-devouring Rat is not due to the rat’s strength but because the rat eats everything; it’s no exaggeration to say they would devour a mountain.

Although these Mountain-devouring Rats are Demon Beasts, they’re practically at the bottom of the Taihang Mountain Range, unable to beat anyone, and they don’t have a speed advantage, only good at earth escape and burrowing.

So even though they have a significant reproductive ability, the Ye Family hadn’t found a Mountain-devouring Rat race before.

This time, the Immortal Ascension Conference happened to encounter them by chance.

For the Ye Family, now that the restaurant is open, using the meat of such Spirit Rats for a Spiritual Cuisine event is a good direction.

After all, Mountain-devouring Rats breed fast, and they are plenty in number, and although the taste is not as good as Forest Pig, they’re easier to raise and mature quickly.

Moreover, they can breed twice a year, possibly giving birth to a dozen at a time, which is rare among Demon Beasts.

Ye Jingcheng’s expression was ablaze now.

His Divine Sense was continuously fluctuating and quickly landed on the largest Mountain-devouring Rat.

This Mountain-devouring Rat unexpectedly had the aura of Mid-stage First Tier.

And there were seventy to eighty Mountain-devouring Rats in total.

It formed a considerable race.

Ye Jingcheng estimated they followed the beast tide to escape, and while other Demon Beasts fled towards the Taihang Mountain Range,

they, fearing other Demon Beasts, fled deeper into the Ye Family’s territory.

These Cyan Stone Bamboos growing in the mountain basin, though there was no spirit vein, could still accumulate some spiritual energy.

Hence, these Cyan Stone Bamboos naturally became the Mountain-devouring Rats’ food.

Such Spirit Rats never know what restraint means.

They eat without limit; if they were more careful, the Ye Family might not have detected them.

After all, they don’t harm humans.

Ye Jingcheng landed at the pass of Purple Bamboo Mountain, and at this moment, those Bamboo Rats seemed to be alert.

But Ye Jingcheng directly took out an Earthquake Talisman and covered the mouth of Purple Bamboo Mountain with it.

Suddenly, a rumbling sound erupted, and all the burrows in the underground collapsed.

Ye Jingcheng then released the Five Poison Bees, letting the bee swarm shoot illusions at these Mountain-devouring Rats one by one.

His Five Poison Bees mainly devour the poison of the Purple Illusion Flower, so except for causing illusions, they’re not lethal.

At this moment, it was just right for capturing.

If one or two escaped, it wouldn’t matter much, only worth one or two Spirit Stones.

But for family purposes, they would have more significance.

As thumb-sized Five Poison Bees invaded the bamboo forest, those Mountain-devouring Rats scattered in all directions.

But each of these Five Poison Bees is either at the Mid-stage or Late Stage of First Tier Demon Insect, nothing they could escape from, and they were quickly hit by the Five Poison Needles, beginning to scurry in chaos.

“Immortal Master, you truly are a deity!” said the mortal watching Ye Jingcheng’s methods, eyes full of admiration.

Ye Jingcheng paid no heed, stepped forward, and collected all the Mountain-devouring Rats into a Spirit Beast Bag.

“These Mountain-devouring Rats have all been contained. If more appear, contact the cultivators in Feng County!” Ye Jingcheng said.

Though these Mountain-devouring Rats aren’t very harmful, they are still Demon Beasts, and better managed by the family.

There might be stragglers not in Purple Bamboo Mountain.

“Also, you can apply for a mansion in the town, just contact the mayor of White Cloud Town!” Ye Jingcheng added.

The latter was instantly grateful upon hearing this.

Although all are mortals of the Ye Family, there’s a significant gap in having no Spirit Root Cultivators in three generations.

Having acquired a Mountain-devouring Rat race, Ye Jingcheng was in a good mood.

He took the mortal back to the Immortal Hall again.

This time, the latter was much more composed; gone was the initial surprise, but overlooking the earth still made his heart race.

The journey that would take him over half a day, Ye Jingcheng covered in the time it takes to drink a cup of tea, even though Ye Jingcheng slowed down intentionally for him to see the scenery; otherwise, he wouldn’t even distinguish mountains and rivers.

They soon arrived at the Immortal Hall, and at that moment, Ye Jingyu suddenly transmitted a message.

“Jingcheng, a person with an Abnormal Spirit Root has been discovered!” Ye Jingyu’s mood was incredibly excited at this moment.

Apparently, during his time away, someone else went for Spirit Testing.

Moreover, an Abnormal Spirit Root Person appeared!