The Path of Survivor begins with obtaining titles - Chapter 23

23 Chapter 18 The Desperately Running Zhi Ling_1
Translator: 549690339
Upon returning home, Lin Yi immediately opened the cage and let the Purple Mink out. He had just fed the chickens in his yard, still holding the title of [Junior Dung Cleaner].

Perhaps it was because of this that the Purple Mink felt an affinity towards him and saw him as its lifebuoy, trying to escape from Li Yuan Qing, the Beast Hunter.

When the cage door opened, the Purple Mink tentatively extended a claw. Then, its whole body swiftly scurried out, continuously leaping around the room, curiously examining everything, and making chirping noises.

Next, it jumped onto Lin Yi’s shoulder and rubbed its head against his neck. It then went down along his arm into his open hand.

Lin Yi laughed and petted it. The Purple Mink chirped in pleasure and extended its tiny tongue to lick his finger.

He pulled out some Demon Beast Meat from his bag and gave it to the lion-hearted mink, who sniffed it curiously and then quickly took it into its mouth, chirping while eating. It drooled continually, signalling the deliciousness of the meat.

While stroking the Purple Mink’s body, he decided to name it. He said, “You have a purple body and are the offspring of a Lightning Mink, so let’s call you Zhi Ling.”

Zhi Ling chirped a couple of times, rubbed its face against Lin Yi’s hand then resumed its battle with the Demon Beast meat.

After eating two pieces of meat, Zhi Ling pat its belly with its paw to signal that it was full and returned to the cage. It curled up and quickly fell asleep.

Upon seeing this, Lin Yi thought for a while. He then walked into the yard and began to carve wood with his Geng Metal Finger. As the level of Geng Metal Finger increased, the chi could be controlled more flexibly. A small amount of chi could be made larger using spiritual power.

He carved a small wooden house for Zhi Ling. Seeing that Zhi Ling was similar to a mouse, he also made a wooden exercise wheel.

After finishing this, he opened a secret passage on the floor of his bedroom leading him to the basement where he had previously only dug a small pit. Because of the sounds of dogs outside, he expanded it into multiple secret rooms. He went into the underground cave to make talisman templates in peace.

This gave him a surprise reward. Because it was challenging to increase the experience points of [Young Survivor], spending a short time in the basement every day counted towards the Path of Survivor experience.

Lin Yi donned his Talisman Craftsman title and made more than twenty Raging Fire Talismans in the secret room. Suddenly, he detected disturbances near the entrance of the secret room and immediately became vigilant.

With the freshly made Raging Fire Talisman in his hand, he retreated into another secret room from where he could descend to the second floor, beyond the reach of the talisman flame.

When he saw a small figure dash from the passage into the secret room, he sighed in relief and put away the talisman. “Zhi Ling, your nose is sharp!” he said.

At this point, he didn’t change his title to [Junior Dung Cleaner]. Instead, he wanted to test whether his relationship with Zhi Ling remained the same without the influence of his title.

Seeing him, Zhi Ling tilted its head in confusion. However, after a moment, it excitedly leapt onto Lin Yi. Its claws waved continuously, chirping as if complaining about something.

Lin Yi guessed what Zhi Ling was trying to express, and he put Zhi Ling on his palm and gently stroked it. “Okay, I won’t leave you alone anymore. Come, let’s see your new home.”

With that, he took Zhi Ling back to the surface. He put on his [Junior Dung Cleaner] title and brought out the small wooden house he had made. “From now on, this is your new home. We won’t need this cage anymore.” With that, he threw the small cage away.

Zhi Ling looked at the small wood house, quickly scurried in, and began to scrutinize everything inside. Eventually, it lay down on the cotton-made bed, comfortably stretching its claws.

“Also, this exercise wheel for you to play happily inside.” He brought out the exercise wheel and spun it with his finger as he laughed.

Zhi Ling’s eyes lit up as it got into the wheel and began to run quickly, chirping excitedly.

“You play first. I’m going out to check on the Spiritual Field.” Lin Yi glanced at the time and decided to take a look at the field.

Now, Spirit Rice had already grown its grains. Apart from attracting insects, it was also inviting birds to peck at it. Though numerous scarecrows were placed in the Spiritual Field, a few brave ones still flew in to steal food.

Zhi Ling, which was running vigorously inside the wheel, seemed to understand his words. It immediately dashed out and jumped onto Lin Yi’s shoulder, pointing outside with its paw.

“Little fellow, you’re mighty clever, let’s go together.” Lin Yi patted its head. Although its bloodline had degenerated and it lacked Lightning Mink’s speed, its spiritual nature seemed to have been passed down.

Once in the Spiritual Field amidst occasional swearing of the Spirit Farmers nearby, Lin Yi quickly spotted a bird that had passed the scarecrow line, hooking onto the Spirit Rice stem and pecking at the grains.

Before Lin Yi could summon his Geng Metal Finger, Zhi Ling, who was perched on his shoulder, suddenly leaped out towards the bird’s location.

However, before it could reach the bird, the bird heard the sound and swiftly flew away. Zhi Ling landed on the Spirit Rice stem and swayed with the wind, looking quite disheartened.

“Zhi Ling, come back.” Lin Yi called, and Zhi Ling swiftly returned to his shoulder, with its head hung low, seeming rather upset.

He couldn’t help but laugh and pat Zhi Ling’s head, “No worries, we will try twice if we fail once. You will be successful.”

It appeared that Zhi Ling’s bloodline had degenerated significantly. If it truly was a descendant of the Lightning Mink, the bird wouldn’t have detected any movements and would’ve been caught instantly.

However, having said that, if Zhi Ling had any remaining Bloodline Power, it wouldn’t have ended up with him.

Zhi Ling nodded heavily, didn’t say anything, but pointed in the direction of their home and left quickly.

Following it secretly, Lin Yi returned home and found it hard to conceal his amusement when he saw Zhi Ling running fiercely in the exercise wheel, chirping in a motivational manner as if boosting its spirits.

“What an interesting little thing.” He laughed as he left the house. Having such a spirited creature as a companion seemed beautiful, whether it could awaken its ancestral bloodline was no longer important.

After killing a few birds stealing food in the Spiritual Field, it began to get dark. Lin Yi returned home, brought out his barbecue grill, grilled some Demon Beast meat, and sprinkled his specially made seasoning. A delicious aroma filled the air, and Zhi Ling’s mouth began to water.

After dinner, he instructed Zhi Ling to stay at home properly and hide in case of danger, because he had to go to Xun Fang Pavilion to make talisman templates. He couldn’t keep bringing this little fellow along with him.

This time, Zhi Ling showed no intention of chasing after him. It waved its paw at him and continued to run in the exercise wheel.