Chapter 351: Training Montage
Jin LiJuan’s life had become very weird in the approximately five months since meeting the thunderbird, Leizhenzi. For one thing, her cultivation had increased dramatically. With Leizhenzi’s help, her wolf, Ganzou, fearlessly hunted spirit beasts constantly and reached the peak of Foundation Establishment.
Which meant she reached that realm as well.
It was quite strange for her to know that only two members of the Rising Tide Sect exceeded her cultivation—Master and Town Lord Fatty Ren. She was technically stronger than Senior Brother and Senior Sister, though Jin LiJuan had no doubt that either of them would trounce her in a fight.
Put another way, her next advancement would make her a Golden Core.
She boggled at the thought. Everyone knew that almost no cultivators reached Nascent Soul, meaning Golden Core was widely considered the true pinnacle on the continent. Even in her wildest dreams as a child, she never pictured herself achieving that much power.
Another big change was that she was now bonded to three spirit beasts instead of just Ganzou. Leizhenzi was, of course, the second, and she’d added his friend as the third, a massive turtle that Master named Oogway.
She didn’t one hundred percent understand everything the thunderbird told her about bonding, but since her connection to Ganzou increased her cultivation whenever his went up, it wasn’t possible or desirable for her to gain similar boosts from the other two as well. Instead, he’d modified the connection to them to make her stronger—Leizhenzi’s contribution—and tougher—due to Oogway.
Jin LiJuan had gone along with his recommendations easily enough and was pleased with the result. Even ignoring the effect of her increased cultivation, the benefits of the bonds made her much less likely to be taken out in a single hit from one of her future opponents in the tournament. When combined with her peak Silver Body Cultivation, she felt she wasn’t nearly as vulnerable as she would have been.
She’d not only advanced physically in that time, though. Master had left her with a stack of talismans that allowed her to Teleport from the Eternal Celestial Peak to the sect grounds and back whenever she wanted, and she frequently did just that to make use of the Time dilation rooms.
It took hours and hours and hours of effort, both in the training rooms and participating in real world fights against tough spirit beasts, but she saw much progress with her techniques. Her first goal, which she achieved, was to get Quiet Mind, Upgraded Strong Oak Sword Art, and Ensnare all to Large Success. After that, she visited the Contribution Points Shop and emptied her account to purchase a shield technique.
In truth, her age and lack of talent prevented her from earning many points, and she could only afford one of Master’s amazing creations because she wasn’t seeking one to be custom made for her. Instead, she chose between the ones he’d given to Senior Brother, Senior Sister, and Esteemed Cultivator Kang Lin.
Jin LiJuan had eyed the Lightning aspected shield of the latter for a long time but reluctantly didn’t choose it. Master had suggested that she keep a relatively low profile as far as letting anyone know that she could use any qi aspect, and Lightning was simply too flashy. The Ice aspect of Senior Sister’s was likewise not exactly low key as it tended to lower temperatures around it, making its element obvious.