Chapter 272 - 216: Jinbao Forges

Jinbao’s two little ears twitched, flickering as if speaking to Fang Qingyuan in a rhythmic pattern. Or perhaps, these two ears no longer belonged to Jinbao.

After a moment, as if sensing Fang Qingyuan’s gaze growing menacing, Jinbao finally opened his sleepy eyes and started babbling at him.

"Master? Why do you look like this? And where’s my favorite Golden Jade Flower Honey?"

A naive, childlike voice echoed in Fang Qingyuan’s mind. He looked at Jinbao, gratified. ’This little guy actually cares about me.’

The self that Jinbao now saw was his soul form, different from how Jinbao remembered him.

However, Jinbao was only curious about this change for a moment before he subconsciously started looking for food.

’He cares, but not much.’

The Bee Queen had used her own Talent to transmit Jinbao’s thoughts to Fang Qingyuan, letting him know what the bear was thinking.

And Jinbao, having been betrayed by his own thoughts, was still completely unaware.

Fang Qingyuan stepped forward and tugged Jinbao’s little ear, making him grimace and beg for mercy. Jinbao wasn’t actually in pain; it was just a subconscious reaction.

Given how thick-skinned Jinbao was now, even a fierce slash from a sword wouldn’t cause him any pain, let alone Fang Qingyuan’s little tug.

"Master, let go! This is so embarrassing for a bear."

Jinbao covered his face with his paws, wanting to pry Fang Qingyuan’s hand away but not daring to.

"So you *do* know it’s embarrassing. After this awakening, your cultivation has gone up, and you’ve gotten a lot slicker too."

"Master, let me explain—huh? Wait a minute. I can talk!"

For a moment, Jinbao’s mouth fell open, a look of shock on his face. He was dumbfounded.

He could actually talk to his master! For Jinbao, this had come far too suddenly.

Seeing Jinbao’s dazed and cute expression, Fang Qingyuan chuckled and rubbed the bear’s big, round head, then asked:

"It was your Sister Ruoxi who helped. With her around, you’ll be able to talk to any living creature from now on. How about that? Are you happy?"

Jinbao still hadn’t snapped out of his daze. Besides Fang Qingyuan’s voice, a gentle female voice now appeared in his mind:

"Little brother Jinbao, I’m Fang Ruoxi. You must be the Master’s favorite little one, Fang Jinbao."

’When did another Spirit Beast pop up? Did Master find a new one while I was asleep?’

The thought flashed through Jinbao’s mind. But just as he was about to throw himself on the ground and start wailing, Fang Qingyuan gave him a sharp rap on the head.

"None of that now. It won’t work anymore."

Seeing that trick wouldn’t work, Jinbao tightly hugged Fang Qingyuan’s calf. Luckily, Fang Qingyuan’s soul was solid; otherwise, Jinbao would have grabbed nothing but air.

"Alright, stop embarrassing yourself in front of Ruoxi. Go on and eat your Flower Nectar. And while you’re at it, let me see what Talent you’ve awakened this time."

Fang Qingyuan forcefully pushed Jinbao in front of the pile of food. At the sight of the delicious meal, Jinbao, who had been hungry for over a year, instantly forgot everything that had just happened. Now, his mind was filled with nothing but the feast before him.

Jinbao snatched up a jar of fragrant Flower Nectar, lifted it to his cavernous mouth, and started guzzling it down. GLUG, GLUG. Only after finishing the entire jar did he lick his lips in satisfaction.

After downing the jar of Flower Nectar, Jinbao began to demolish everything around him. Pastries, beast meat, and various spirit materials all vanished into his massive maw and down into his belly.

While Jinbao was busy feasting, Fang Qingyuan placed a hand on the bear’s head and began to carefully perceive the Talent he had awakened.

As for Jinbao, when he felt Fang Qingyuan’s divine sense probe his body, he only gave a slight squirm and offered no further resistance.

In Jinbao’s eyes, the feast before him was far more important than what Fang Qingyuan was doing. Of course, if anyone else had tried this, Jinbao would have instantly entered his combat form and let the enemy know that he, Jinbao, was a bear with dignity.

...

This was a gray, hazy space, filled with a thick, spreading fog. A wisp of Fang Qingyuan’s divine sense arrived here, moving with extreme caution.

This was Jinbao’s sea of consciousness. Although Fang Qingyuan had been here many times, he was always cautious on every visit.

After all, he still didn’t know if that giant white beast from deep underground—Jinbao’s mother—had tampered with this place when she entrusted Jinbao to him.

Within Jinbao’s sea of consciousness, the symbols of his four Innate Divine Techniques were four motes of golden, shimmering starlight. They revolved around a sleeping, miniature bear, like planets orbiting a sun—slowly, but ceaselessly.

And beside the small bear, in the outermost layer, was a silver-white mote of starlight, also moving slowly. If Fang Qingyuan wasn’t paying close attention, he would subconsciously overlook this silver star.

The four golden motes of starlight were the abilities Jinbao was born with: Size Manipulation, Metal Devourer, the Golden Eye of Truth, and the Golden Spirit Body. The silver-white mote was the Talent Jinbao had awakened last time: Gold and Spirit Detection.

Strangely, among the myriad living beings in the world, it seemed only humans had a core manifestation in their sea of consciousness that was not an image of themselves. All other creatures had a reflection of their own form.

’Is it because Cultivators were originally outsiders?’

Fang Qingyuan couldn’t figure it out, and he didn’t dwell on it. He simply focused his mind and carefully probed forward, checking for Jinbao’s new Talent.

After a long while, Fang Qingyuan retracted his divine sense and opened his eyes. He stared at the heartily feasting Jinbao, his jaw tightening.

This time, Jinbao hadn’t awakened any new Divine Techniques or Talents at all.

’All brawn and no brains, is that it?’ Fang Qingyuan’s anger flared. Although a Spirit Beast wasn’t guaranteed to awaken a new Talent with every advancement, ’Jinbao! Your father is a Divinity Transformation expert, and your mother is a Nascent Soul! And this is all you give me?’

Sensing Fang Qingyuan’s anger behind him, Jinbao’s frantic eating and drinking came to a sudden halt. He thought for a moment, then said naively:

"Master, I may not have awakened a new Talent this time, but my original Metal Devourer Talent seems to have changed a little. Why don’t you take another look?"

Hearing Jinbao’s suggestion, Fang Qingyuan calmed down. He sent his divine sense back into Jinbao’s sea of consciousness. This time, with Jinbao’s willing cooperation, he discovered that the golden mote of starlight representing the Metal Devourer Talent was indeed a little different.

The information about the Metal Devourer Talent now showed that in addition to being able to consume metal and iron-based spirit materials, its range had expanded. It could now also ingest artifact refining materials like Fire Glaze and Shui Xuanbing.

In addition to the Metal element, the scope now included the Water and Fire elements. Fang Qingyuan looked at the bear cub before him. ’How is it that this little guy is gradually evolving from a Golden Spirit into a Five Elements Bear, just like me?’

He recalled how he had continuously nourished Jinbao with the Spiritual Qi from the Immortal Mansion while the bear was in deep sleep. Perhaps that had something to do with it.

However, Jinbao’s cultivation was still in the Qi Refining Realm. Although this slumber had raised him to the Late-stage Qi Refining, he was still a long way from having the foundation needed to break through to the Foundation Establishment Stage.

The more powerful the cub, the slower its growth. Though his potential was immense, his cultivation speed was now falling far behind the Bee Queen’s.

’Should I find a way to raise Jinbao’s cultivation before the duel?’

After Jinbao had finished his happy meal, Fang Qingyuan had an idea. He pulled the bear out of the Immortal Mansion and placed him outside.

The moment Jinbao was out, the first thing he saw was the leisurely Crimson Young Bird. He instantly perked up, shuffled over to the bird, glanced back to see that Fang Qingyuan wasn’t looking, and then reached out with a paw and gave the Crimson Young Bird another solid smack.

The Crimson Young Bird staggered and fell to the ground. An instant later, Jinbao felt his own ear being yanked.

Fang Qingyuan suppressed his frustration. ’What am I supposed to do when two of my Spirit Beasts don’t get along and fight every day?’

’He’s just too idle.’ Thinking of this, Fang Qingyuan decided to find some work for Jinbao.

So, he went to the sect’s Artifact Refining Hall, pointed to a pile of materials that needed to be hammered and processed, and said to Jinbao:

"You need to process all these Magic Artifact Embryos. If you don’t, you don’t eat. Also, I’ll be checking the quality of each one. If you break one, I’ll add two more to your pile."

After Fang Qingyuan left, Jinbao stared at the pile of Magic Artifact Embryos, his heart filled with regret. ’Why can’t I just control my paws?’

’But making me smith iron... did Master get something wrong here?’

After a long pause, Jinbao tried his paw at hammering one. Unsurprisingly, the very first Magic Artifact Embryo was shattered.

A chill went through Jinbao’s heart. He glanced around and saw no one was watching. Then, he picked up the broken Magic Artifact Embryo and swallowed it in one gulp.

’Hey, not bad,’ he thought. ’It tastes pretty good, just a little spicy.’

After evaluating the flavor of the Magic Artifact Embryo, Jinbao’s eyes narrowed in bliss. He then looked at the remaining Magic Artifact Embryos and broke into a dopey grin.