Inside one of the Beast Appraisal Headquarters’ hall stood several beast appraisers with grave expressions.
There were two rings on each of these beast appraisers’ sleeve guards. Some were walking back and forth with their hands behind their back while some were holding brushes, staring at the books on the table as if they were frozen in place.
“This is hard, too hard!”
“How is it only hard? It’s practically impossible to cure it.”
“Did anyone call for a Rank 3 appraiser?”
“We did, but they’re all engaged and aren’t coming over anytime soon.”
The Rank 2 beast appraisers discussed with each other.
Lying on the floor nearby was a large beast.
It was no ordinary beast. It looked like a twenty-foot-long lizard covered in rough scales. Its head was large as a drum with a sharp horn protruding from its forehead and its limbs were as thick as tree trunks. This creature was clearly a rare variant of the monitor lizard beast. Although it laid weakly on the floor, its eyes, which were slightly open were intimidating, to say the least.
This was a Rank 3 beast.
Although Rank 3 creatures weren’t a rare sight in Jade Dragon City, they were not something average folk possessed. Most of them belonged to wealthy dignitaries.
Especially a monitor lizard breed like this one.
Beasts that were associated with dragon types were known to be valuable. Not only were they rare but were also much more fearsome and noble compared to normal beasts. The owner of this monitor lizard was actually Prince Yu, a relative of Jade Dragon Kingdom’s emperor.
Prince Yu was the emperor’s younger brother, thus making him a member of the royal family. Hence, the Beast Appraisal Association had to take extra care when treating his pet beast.
However, this monitor lizard ended up causing distress for these Rank 2 beast appraisers instead.
Every bit of medicine in their arsenal was used.
Spells were cast.
None of them worked. Moreover, the monitor lizard seemed to be worse off compared to when it first came. It couldn’t even move now so the Rank 2 beast appraisers were petrified by the thought of it dying in their hands.
“There’s nothing we can do!”
“We better get a Rank 3 beast appraiser over right this moment.”
Outside, Lin Jin casually felt up random beasts he passed by, increasing the body count in his archive. However, he wasn’t particularly aiming for this anymore.
The number of beasts he recorded into the museum was quite large now but to proceed a step further to gain the next reward, he was still quite a ways away.
Hence, Lin Jin wasn’t adamant about it. After all, the next level required about ten thousand new recordings.
It didn’t make sense to forcefully achieve it.
On such occasions, as a guest appraiser, there should have been someone here to guide Lin Jin around the association. However, he knew only one person here, and that was Tan Xun.
Hence, he was here to visit Tan Xun.
Before he left, Tan Lin wrote her father a letter which Lin Jin was tasked with delivering so he had to come here either way.
“Sir, if you’re looking for beast appraisals or treatment services, please join the line over there.”
When a guard at headquarters’s gate saw Lin Jin, he halted him albeit politely.
Lin Jin stopped while Xiao Huo and the white ape paused too. The two beasts were still glancing around with much curiosity.
Lin Jin saluted and said, “I’m Lin Jin from Maple City’s Beast Appraisal Association. I’m here to visit Appraiser Tan Xun. Please help me pass the word on.”
The guard was then surprised when he noticed the two-ringed beast logo on Lin Jin’s sleeve.
Headquarters in the royal capital had tons of beast appraisers. While Rank 2 beast appraisers were rare in smaller cities, they were everywhere in headquarters. There was also a rule here that only Rank 2 beast appraisers could have their own consultation halls while Rank 1 appraisers could only work as assistants.
“Since you’re a beast appraiser from Maple City, you may wait inside. We’ll inform Appraiser Tan of your arrival.” The guard led Lin Jin in respectfully. As he did so, he stole a glance at Xiao Huo and the white ape because of two reasons. One, both the fire wolf and primate’s vigor startled him, and two, which one of them was the young appraiser’s pet beast?
They arrived at a small guest room. The guard settled Lin Jin down before making off to inform Tan Xun of his arrival.
Though the room wasn’t huge, it was tidy and clean. There was even tea ready on the table and formulas hanging on the walls. These were formulas for basic beast appraising.
Soon, the sound of footsteps, as well as Tan Xun’s familiar voice could be heard outside the door.
“Did Appraiser Lin come all the way here?”
Before he got an answer, Tan Xun stepped inside.
Lin Jin quickly got up to bow at him. “Greetings, Appraiser Tan Xun.”
“Hahaha, there’s no need for such formalities, Appraiser Lin. You are my daughter’s savior after all. I was thinking of dropping by at Maple City to visit you but who knew that you’d come here before I got the chance to do so. This is great too. How about this, let’s try out some of the famous dishes in the capital’s Yanchun Tower later,” Tan Xun offered ardently.
All this while, Lin Jin’s name would appear in almost every letter he received from Tan Lin. Tan Xun could tell how much his precious daughter respected Lin Jin a lot and how the latter had helped her resolved several crises.
Oftentimes, she would talk about Lin Jin’s beast appraising capabilities.
Lin Jin was of course, completely oblivious about this.
Ever since Tan Lin took up the chief position at Maple City’s Beast Appraisal Association, she had been paying extra attention to Lin Jin, never missing a single one of his evaluation reports, all of which she studied carefully.
The more reports she read, the more she realized how profound his skills were.
Tan Lin was a Rank 2 beast appraiser herself. She had an expert like Tan Xun to guide her since she was a child which should have given her a headstart against her fellow beast appraisers. It was also for this reason that she knew what constituted a valuable evaluation report.
And Lin Jin’s evaluation reports were a good example of that.
Both beast appraisals and treatments were recorded with pinpoint detail, logically organized, and packed with irrefutable facts. All diagnoses were theoretically sound and made sense. Either one of them could be used as lecture materials in academies.
Speaking of which, in some of Tan Xun’s lectures to his disciples at the consultation hall, he would use Lin Jin’s evaluation reports as examples and elaborate on the theories of beast appraising there.
The more they studied, the more Tan Lin and Tan Xun appreciated Lin Jin’s beast appraising skills Out of curiosity, Tan Xun investigated Lin Jin’s academy days but didn’t find anything unique. Among his peers, Lin Jin’s achievements were most notable.
Hence, besides being smart and a keen learner, there must be other factors at play here.
Beast appraisal skills didn’t appear out of anywhere and quite a few things he had presented could only be derived from decades of experience. Those without a background in researching the subject couldn’t possibly know of such practices.
Hence, Tan Xun deduced that Lin Jin must have had a miraculous encounter. He must have met an expert at some point in time.
Since Lin Jin didn’t bring it up, it wouldn’t be appropriate to ask him about it either. But it was customary that capable individuals were well-respected. Not only Tan Lin but even Tan Xun was impressed by Lin Jin’s beast appraising skills which explained why they held him with such high regard.
As Tan Xun was offering to treat him to a meal, it would be impolite for Lin Jin to turn it down.
Lin Jin took this opportunity to pass Tan Lin’s letter to Tan Xun, completing his task.
It was at this moment that Tan Xun noticed Lin Jin’s pet beast and the white ape. He was stunned.
“It is said that one could tell the level of a creature’s vigor from its fur, and its spirit from its eyes. Appraiser Lin, your pet beast is quite the creature indeed.” Tan Xun observed closer and the more he looked, the more astonished he was.
He was a Rank 3 beast appraiser after all. With profound knowledge and keen eyes, Tan Xun could easily identify what others couldn’t.
After Tan Xun performed some minor appraising, his expression changed immediately.