Chapter 62 - Registration for Advancement
Chapter 62: Registration for Advancement
Maple City’s Beast Appraisal Association had three elders. One of them was Elder Mo who guarded the Earth Fire Spirit Stream’s entrance with his Rank 3 pet beast, a fire lizard. The other one was Nan Gongxian who supervised the association’s internal affairs, and the last one was Elder Du whose territory was here, in the management department.
Just like Elder Mo, Elder Du liked to keep a low-profile and barely showed his face at the association. Most of the time, he could be found here at the management department.
And how low profile was this Elder Du?
In the several years that Lin Jin had spent in the Beast Appraisal Association, he had only met Elder Du once. That was how low profile this specific Elder was.
Elder Du was currently sitting in the main hall, arranging some books. The main hall was just as clean as outside. Lin Jin noticed a monkey with a broom and a cloth in a corner, working hard as it swept and scrubbed away at the floor.
This monkey was Elder Du’s pet beast.
“Appraiser Lin Jin would like to greet Elder Du,” Lin Jin bowed respectfully upon entrance.
Elder Du turned to him and nodded slightly. “Is something the matter?”
“I would like to register for the appraiser’s exam.”
Once he heard Lin Jin’s answer, Elder Du was dumbstruck. “The advancement exam?”
Lin Jin nodded.
Elder Du let out a chuckle.
Everyone described Elder Du as being more ‘aloof’ than Elder Mo. But what they really meant was that Elder Du was unsociable. However, this wasn’t difficult to understand as Elder Du was the oldest among the three elders. Despite his white hair and beard, below his modest robes was a tall and muscular build. He was taller than the average man even when he slouched.
Elder Du took out a piece of paper and handed it to Lin Jin. “Fill up this form. There are brushes over there, help yourself.”
Having said that, he continued to arrange his books.
Lin Jin thanked him before picking up a brush to fill up the form.
Once he was done, Lin Jin returned the form respectfully. Elder Du received it and placed it on one of the tables beside him. Lin Jin noticed that there was another application form on that desk, and the name seemed to read ‘Gao Jiang’.
Clearly, Gao Jiang was planning to take the advancement exam as well.
It didn’t matter if they could pass the exam or not, appraisers would always register to participate. Because what if they passed this time? A shot not taken is a shot missed after all.
Over time, this had become customary.
Once he was done, Lin Jin planned to take his leave. However, he suddenly noticed that Xiao Huo was having a face-off with Elder Du’s pet beast. Yes, it’s the monkey that was sweeping the floor from the beginning.
Both pet beasts were glaring at each other and neither willing to back down. Their gazes seemed to be conveying the message, ‘What are you looking at?’.
The sweeping monkey didn’t seem like a pushover. It was standing tall on both feet like a human, widening its eyes as it let out a growl. And yet, Xiao Huo wasn’t going to take it lying down. He glared back with eyes that seemed to say, ‘Did you think I’d be afraid of you just because you’re glaring at me?’
Since it was growling, Xiao Huo growled as well.
The monkey’s fur was bristling so Xiao Huo bristled his fur as well.
Two invisible forces clashed and the pressure around them rose.
Elder Du noticed this conflict as well and was dumbstruck. His gaze fell onto Xiao Huo and his eyes darkened.
With a broom in hand, the monkey took one step forward like a mountain that was leaning forward, his aura domineering. Xiao Huo returned the favor, also taking a step forward whilst baring his fangs. Like a volcano on the verge of eruption, his aura was equally frightening.
Both pet beasts’ noses were about to touch, and if they took another step forward, it would have definitely ended in a brawl.
“Xiao Huo!” Seeing as Elder Du had no intention of stopping them, Lin Jin had no choice but to intervene. He couldn’t possibly let the two pet beasts duke it out here in Elder Du’s workplace.
Upon hearing Lin Jin’s voice, Xiao Huo immediately retracted his aura and leaped back with a swift movement. However, his gaze remained ferocious while the monkey shot him a deathly glare.
Lin Jin squatted down and patted Xiao Huo on the head before getting up. He bowed and saluted at Elder Du before leaving.
Once Lin Jin was gone, Elder Du glanced at the monkey and said, “The side hall still needs to be cleaned.”
The aggressive-looking monkey immediately became meek. Shrinking its neck, it walked toward the side hall with the broom and cloth in hand. Elder Du went over to the table and held up the form Lin Jin had just filled. He mumbled to himself, “Interesting. Whether he’s trash or a prodigy, there’s finally something I can look forward to in this exam. As for Wang Ji, I can overlook some of your shortcomings, but I can’t pretend that I haven’t seen what you did. If you end up burying a talented appraiser because of this, I won’t ever forgive you.”
As he said this, Elder Du’s aura became terrifying. Being an intelligent creature, the monkey quickly scrambled over to the side hall upon noticing the change in its master’s mood and began to clean up diligently.
***
After the registration, Lin Jin had nothing else to do.
He went for a stroll in the garden and found it rather relaxing to just loiter around.
News of Lin Jin wandering around reached Wang Ji’s ears and this made the chief furious.
“This Lin Jin doesn’t learn even after having his consultation hall shut down. As a certified beast appraiser, he’s setting a bad example by dawdling like that.”
Inside a large hall, Gao Jiang and several other highly-ranked apprentices were attending to a pet beast with a unique illness.
The person who spoke earlier was Gao Jiang.
Due to the previous incident, he was very annoyed at Lin Jin.
Since he had officially begun to take up consultations, thanks to his connections with his brother-in-law, Elder Nan, Dong He got to join in on this group consultation. A sudden idea popped into his head and Dong He said, “Appraiser Gao is right. Lin Jin is a certified beast appraiser of the association, we can’t just let him be. I heard that the emergency hall needs more manpower. Why don’t we let Appraiser Lin help out there?”
Everyone else was startled when they heard this and mused just how heartless this fatty Dong He was.
The association’s emergency hall was the dirtiest, most tiring department. It also had the worst reputation within the association. It mostly dealt with emergency cases or poor folks’ pet beasts. Not only was it hectic, but it was also tiring. As if that wasn’t bad enough, the work was by no means rewarding. That was because the folks would always find something to complain about. Generally-speaking, only newcomers or apprentices without any background would be sent there. Everyone who had ever gone there would try their best to get out of the department at the soonest.
Ever since the establishment of the emergency hall, no certified beast appraiser had ever stepped foot in there. This had become an unwritten rule.
Everyone knew that Dong He’s suggestion was a blatant act for humiliating Lin Jin. For a beast appraiser to have his consultation hall shut down and then reassigned to the emergency hall to do tedious and dirty work with newcomers?
Forget certified beast appraisers, even experienced apprentices would be reluctant to take up the job.
However, Dong He’s suggestion piqued Wang Ji’s interest. Being fond of this idea, he instantly informed the general affairs department to have Lin Jin report to the emergency hall at once.
The emergency hall of Maple City’s Beast Appraisal Association.
The atmosphere here was constantly hectic, and it was always in a mess.
“Hey, have you heard? That Appraiser Lin has been assigned to our station.”
“Appraiser Lin? The Appraiser Lin who messed up his appraisal session?”
“Who else? But he’s still a certified beast appraisal. If I were to be bullied to this extent, I would have disobeyed the orders and pack up my bags. Like hell I’m ever gonna come here.”
“Dream on. With the likes of you, you’re gonna be here for a long time. It’s so hectic over here that we barely have time to study. It’s impossible for us to improve this way.”
Several apprentices gossiped quietly as they slacked off.
At that moment, Lin Jin stepped into the threshold.