Beast Tamer Ascension

Vol 3 Chapter 69: Plant Mouse

Dragon Carp’s guess had some merit.

After further research, Lin Jing discovered that the excessive potency of the cultivation pill was indeed the cause of the hair loss in the trial pill mouse—it simply couldn't adapt to the surge in power immediately.

Fortunately, the hair loss was completely reversible. Dragon Carp refined a Regeneration Pill and, despite it being a bit of overkill, used it on the little white mouse. Instantly, its fur grew back, now a thick, glossy black.

"Black fur doesn’t get dirty as easily. Consider it a free upgrade, no need to thank me." Lin Jing smirked at the formerly white-furred mouse.

"Squeak…" The trial pill mouse stared at its new black coat, utterly dejected.

"So in summary, taking a cultivation pill requires a strong physique and resilient meridians. Otherwise, the overwhelming medicinal energy could throw the body into chaos, resulting in hair loss. But since the effect is completely reversible, it really is just a minor issue. With the help of a Gluttonous Pill to aid digestion, the problem should be significantly reduced."

With his research on the cultivation pill concluded, Lin Jing let out a breath of relief. Others might have trouble handling its potency, but he and his contracted beasts all had incredibly strong foundations, making it impossible for them to suffer from such side effects.

Of course, that confidence didn't necessarily apply if they tried to take a pill refined from a Nascent Soul-level demon king.

Lin Jing rubbed his chin. Oh well, compared to the boost in cultivation, a little "loss" was a fair trade.

"Go rest for now. Next, let's test the Treant Pills."

He waved the black-furred trial pill mouse away and lined up the remaining four white-furred ones neatly in a row.

Handing them each a different pill—Bloodsucking Devil Vine Treant Pill, Reflective Diamondwood Treant Pill, Exploding Firefruit Treant Pill, and Earth Vein Spirit Tree Treant Pill—he watched as the four mice nervously swallowed them.

The effects were immediate.

The first white-furred mouse let out a startled squeak as its tail transformed into a long, red vine.

The second mouse’s soft flesh hardened instantly, its skin now resembling tree bark.

The third mouse appeared unchanged on the surface, but when Lin Jing and Dragon Carp examined it with their divine senses, they found that its heart had turned into a red fruit.

The fourth mouse had the most dramatic transformation—its head sprouted a delicate green sapling.

All four mice exhibited no adverse reactions after taking the Treant Pills.

"Now let's test their abilities."

Lin Jing took out a drop of mosquito beast blood. As expected, the first mouse, which had acquired the Bloodsucking Devil Vine trait, successfully used blood-path summoning magic to manifest a blood mosquito.

"This might be the first time an organism other than the Pine Leaf Mouse has acquired a plant-based ability." Lin Jing was intrigued.

The second mouse's defense had increased significantly, gaining the ability to reflect a portion of damage back to the attacker.

The third mouse… had the worst luck. To test the Exploding Firefruit’s ability, Lin Jing had it sever one of its own ears and detonate it. Fortunately, the explosion was incredibly powerful—enough to threaten a Foundation Establishment cultivator. Feeling pity for it, Lin Jing named it One-Ear and gave it a healing pill.

The fourth mouse was even more impressive. It could absorb earth vein energy and release spiritual power through the sapling on its head like a geyser.

"Squeak squeak squeak…"

Watching its four companions turn into something neither fully mouse nor fully plant, the black-furred mouse let out a sigh of relief. Compared to them, it had gotten off lightly—only a change in fur color.

However, it was now the weakest among the group, having reached Qi Refinement Level 4, just a step away from Foundation Establishment.

Then—

A shiver ran down its spine.

From behind, came the voice of a devil.

"The Treant Pills seem to work well. However, that was just a single dose. I wonder if there would be any rejection effects if multiple pills were taken together? Normally, a creature can only consume one Treant Pill in its lifetime, but my research suggests that after my modifications, taking multiple pills should be possible. Of course, we’ll need to test that further... Just to be sure nothing goes wrong with the Pine Leaf Mouse later."

Lin Jing turned his gaze to the black-furred mouse and beckoned.

"Hey little guy, you’ve got the highest cultivation. Want to become as strong as them? Come on over. Eat these four pills, one by one."

Black-furred mouse: ...

"Squeak—!!!"

Accompanied by a desperate squeal, Lin Jing's cave dwelling became the stage for a horrifying, mouse-mangling body modification experiment.

When the black-furred mouse took the first Treant Pill, nothing seemed out of the ordinary. However, as soon as it swallowed the second, things got rough—it struggled to sit still, its tiny body visibly resisting the transformation.

This process wouldn’t be completed quickly.

"Your turn."

Lin Jing left Dragon Carp in charge of supervising the trial and turned his attention back to refining pills.

He took out a third-grade Rising Origin Pill, as well as second, third, and fourth-grade cultivation pills, and began his own cultivation.

First, he consumed a second-grade cultivation pill—one refined from a Foundation Establishment-stage poison frog. As expected, it had no adverse effects on him.

However, it also didn’t noticeably improve his cultivation.

Next, he tried a third-grade Rising Origin Pill. The effect was barely different from the second-grade cultivation pill—after taking it, his cultivation fluctuated slightly, but the improvement was negligible.

"At this rate, using low-grade pills to advance from late Foundation Establishment to Great Perfection would take an absurd number of them."

Then, he decided to try a third-grade cultivation pill refined from a poison flood dragon.

The moment he swallowed it, a violent surge of spiritual energy rampaged through his body. This time, he finally felt a clear improvement in his cultivation, though the effect still wasn’t too impressive.

"It’s confirmed. The cultivation pills refined by Dragon Carp have the same effect as a pill of a higher grade. A second-grade cultivation pill works like a third-grade Rising Origin Pill. A third-grade cultivation pill is roughly equivalent to a fourth-grade Rising Origin Pill!"

"Not only is the refinement process faster, but the effectiveness is superior. Once Dragon Carp reaches the Nascent Soul stage, this Monster Core divine ability will be incredibly valuable!"

Taking a deep breath, Lin Jing picked up the fourth-grade cultivation pill refined from the Blazing Sun Tiger King. Without hesitation, he swallowed it, using a Gluttonous Pill to aid absorption.

As the raging medicinal power flooded his body, Lin Jing steadied his mind. Though he inevitably lost a few strands of hair, his cultivation soared like a pet beast undergoing breakthrough feedback.

Several days later—

Lin Jing had reached the absolute peak of the Foundation Establishment stage, just one step away from Great Perfection.

Meanwhile, Dragon Carp examined its results with satisfaction.

The Plant Mouse was born—

A mouse with a fruit for a heart, tree bark for skin, a vine for a tail, and a sapling growing from its head.

"Bo—"

Dragon Carp turned to Lin Jing, who had just opened his eyes, and confidently declared that the pills had been tested—they wouldn’t be fatal. The Pine Leaf Mouse could safely consume them.

"That so…?"

Lin Jing smiled in satisfaction.

"Perfect. I’ll use the Pine Leaf Mouse’s Core Formation breakthrough to push myself into Foundation Establishment Great Perfection…"