Chapter 471 Verification
Gu Lin, who had been working hard all day, had not yet returned to his residence when Ji Rong grabbed the hem of his robe, forcing him to stop.
Ji Rong winked and smiled, "Master Gu Lin, I have a favor to ask of you."
"Alas." Gu Lin's heart skipped a beat, and he immediately bowed respectfully and said, "Uncle-Master, I have no money left."
“I’m not asking you for money.” Ji Rong raised his head and said, “At today’s meeting, there was a black dragon that suited my taste very well.”
Now I have invited him and his two servants to your empty alchemy furnace. Please investigate the origins of that little black dragon for me; I have a use for it.”
Having said that, Ji Rong flapped its wings, ready to fly away. Gu Lin, disregarding the wrinkles on his clothes caused by Ji Rong's grip, quickly grabbed Ji Rong's claws and said, "Uncle-Master, do you perhaps wish to take this dragon as your disciple?"
Ji Rong shook her head and said, "You know I don't have time to take on disciples, and even if I did, I wouldn't be the one teaching them."
"Give him a good test. If he is of good character, I will grant him a great opportunity." Then he pulled his claws out of Gu Lin's hand and ran away.
Ji Rong thought to herself that this was the crucial moment to verify the treasure. Although Qingpingzi was not a greedy zheng, she was too poor to sleep with the treasure for a long time.
Gu Lin was relieved to see that Ji Rong didn't ask him for money, but only wanted him to do some easy work.
Remembering that his bird-like uncle had said the black dragon had been thrown into his alchemy furnace, he once again used the Shrinking Earth Technique to rush back to his cave.
Gu Lin thought to himself, "That fellow Shan Zhongfeng used to love sneaking into my room to refine pills when I was busy. It's a good thing he's not here now, otherwise those dragons would definitely be well-cooked."
Back at his residence, Gu Lin went straight to his alchemy room. Sure enough, he heard noises coming from inside. He opened the lid of the alchemy furnace and looked inside, only to see three black dragons entwined together, talking in their sleep about eating delicious food.
Upon seeing the sudden light, Hei Tan opened his eyes and saw the ancient Taoist priest Gu Lin, dressed in a crimson robe and exuding a holy aura. He immediately lost all sleepiness, clung to the two old servants, and began to cry.
The man in black sobs and lamented, “The world is going to the dogs! I never imagined that the mighty Jade Void Palace would now be involved in the business of capturing innocent people to make pills.”
"If I had known this would happen, why would I have pursued this so-called Great Dao? I should have just followed my mother and married a snake from the mountain python clan. Even if it meant marrying into their family and becoming their offspring, it would have been better than dying."
Uncle Hua finally managed to reach out a claw to cover Hei Tao's mouth, but Hei Tao was crying so hard that he had too many tears and his skin was very slippery. He simply turned his head slightly and avoided his claw.
Uncle Hua could only tremble as he advised, "Brother, don't cry, speak properly."
Gu Lin, standing beside the alchemy furnace, sighed and said, "Come out quickly, I am..." He stopped midway, realizing his embarrassment, and immediately changed his words, "How did you end up in my alchemy furnace? Come out and eat something, and tell me what happened."
After saying this, Gu Lin summoned his disciples and set out tables and fruits for them.
The three dragons had been imprisoned for a long time and were starving. They crawled out of the alchemy furnace in a disheveled state. When they saw the fragrant elixir, they sat down and ate their fill without any ceremony. Afterward, without Gu Lin asking, they told him everything about their origins.
It turns out that this black dragon comes from Xiaoluo River in the Lianyun Mountains, and its mother is the patriarch of the local black dragon clan.
Over the years, although they had made some wealth by selling mountain delicacies with the main branch, they felt that their own foundation was weak and they could not change their social status. So they wanted to arrange a marriage between their handsome eldest son and the powerful Shanna clan of the Yuxu Mountains in exchange for some benefits.
But Hei Tang didn't want to follow the path his mother had arranged. His mother didn't only have one son; he also had two younger sisters and a younger brother. Because his sisters and brother were more talented than him, his mother couldn't bear to part with him and decided to abandon him.
Hei Tang was unwilling to marry a mountain python because he felt that if they were to unite, their child might be a python rather than a dragon.
So, on that day, when he reached the Jade Void Mountain Range, he dawdled and refused to go any further. Just then, a grand gathering was being held at the foot of the Jade Void Mountain. This fellow pocketed the betrothal gifts, took two old servants, and broke away from his own party. He then hid in the grass, stole someone else's invitation, and slipped inside.
After listening to his story, Gu Lin took the opportunity to examine the black dragon, who was optimistic, flexible in his principles, and quite daring.
Although his aptitude was average, he had still cultivated to the Profound Spirit Realm. Gu Lin thought that if Uncle-Master Ruoniao wanted a clever servant to serve tea and water, this black dragon seemed like a good fit.
So Gu Lin told them to stay with him temporarily and do some cleaning and medicine identification work. Then he sent a capable disciple to Xiaoluo River in the Lianyun Mountains to inquire about the Hei Tang tribe.
At the foot of the empty Jade Void Mountain, Ji Rong was holding the jade tablet handed to her by Jin Xi, feeling as if she had fallen into a world of treasure once again.
After arranging the jade tablets containing various gifts one by one, she excitedly rolled them back and forth on them, occasionally raising her neck to laugh loudly.
All the servants couldn't help but crane their necks to look at Ji Rong.
Qingpingzi said calmly, "Jinxi, activate all the magic arrays. No one should enter casually, lest others see your uncle's inappropriate behavior."
Jin Xi accepted the order and left.
After Ji Rong finished laughing, Qing Pingzi said, "Junior Sister, we should go give our lessons."
Ji Rong, holding the huge storage artifact, thought for a moment and said, "Senior brother, please wait. I find the black dragon pleasing to the eye today. If it is of good character, you can keep it by your side as an attendant from now on."
Qingpingzi then asked, "What is your aptitude?"
Ji Rong replied, "His aptitude is quite good, much better than when I was a child. He has now cultivated to the Profound Spirit Realm."
Upon hearing this, Qingpingzi immediately smiled and said, "Junior Sister, why don't you take on a disciple? Now that you've returned, I have the time to teach you."
Ji Rong picked up the jade slips laid out on the ground, stuffed them into the huge storage magic artifact, and shook her head, saying, "We have a lot of things to do lately, I don't want to collect them."
If you truly value him, there's nothing wrong with teaching him some techniques. Why be so fixated on his status? It's truly pedantic.
"Junior sister, don't say that. The Dharma cannot be passed on lightly. As you say, we already have the reality of being master and disciple. Why not take it a step further and accept me as your disciple, giving me a proper title?"
Ji Rong nodded and said, "Alright, if he has good aptitude and character and no family burdens, you can take him in for me."
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Ji Rong, carrying the storage artifact, happily headed up Cloud Cliff with Qing Pingzi. Qing Zhizi and other old cultivators who were willing to stay and cultivate the Space Dao together were already waiting at the foot of Cloud Cliff.
Seeing that everyone who was supposed to be there had arrived, Qingpingzi pulled Ji Rong aside and said, "Junior sister, quickly put away the treasures, they're an eyesore to have them sticking out on your back."
Ji Rong said happily, "I don't think it's an eyesore at all." But despite saying that, she still moved it to Qingpingzi's cave, and then went up to the cloud cliff to teach everyone to recognize the inscriptions of the space path together with Qingpingzi.
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