The bird soared above the cloudy sky in a matter of seconds.
The view was nothing new for Rex but Jiang Qing was overly excited over it.
Rex was just enjoying the wind that he found a bunch of black hair belonging to the other passenger, covering his face, Jiang Qing who was completely unaware of it enjoyed the scenery to her heart's content.
Rex didn't say anything, he activated his smart band. The bird was quietly flying until now, suddenly she turned her head to look at the white bracelet on her leg. The bracelet absorbed a small amount of monster Qi from her, she was about to resist but Rex told her not to so she stopped, after it absorbed her monster Qi to a certain extent, an almost transparent oval-shaped green barrier appear around her that fully covered all three of them.
The bird was still thinking what it was for but soon she realized that the wind resistance around her had almost disappeared. Jiang Qing also noticed it but she didn't react in any way.
"Silly bird, how long are you going to remain low key? Do you think I don't know about the ability you got, now quietly increase your size understand?" Rex said in a polite tone.
The bird kept flying seemly unaware of what was he talking about.
"Master Rex, why are you scolding this cute bird she seems really honest and obedient," Jiang Qing said when she saw him scolding the bird.
"Hehe… you are right, I need to be polite," Rex nodded.
"Little Blue can you please increase your size?" Rex asked politely.
{Or else, I will bless you with some male eagles so that I can raise an army of flying eagles in the future, you understand?} Rex said.
The bird's body trembled for a second then her size started to increase all of a sudden, soon she became more than thrice as big as her original size.
At the moment, she was big enough for a bunch of people to leisurely lay down on her back. Rex had appraised her a while ago and noticed that she got a new ability 'Big & Small' in her status that allows her to increase or decrease her body size to a certain extent. An ability like that was although uncommon but not rare as many spirit beast with gigantic bodies have a similar ability.
The bird didn't willingly show it to Rex so that she doesn't become a transportation bird for a bunch of people in the future but how would she guess that Rex already knows about it.
"See Master Rex, it worked," Jiang Qing said with a smile.
"Indeed," Rex nodded in understanding.
He then stretched his arms and led down on her feathery back. The Alchemist Association was quite far away even when they were using the shortest path coupled with the bird's speed, it would still take several hours to reach it. It was why Rex decided to take care of this matter now when there were still four days left.
"Master Rex, does it have a name? If not, have you decided on one?" Jiang Qing asked with bright eyes.
"Hmm… I usually call it Little Blue, I did think of one though. She has a melodious voice that reminds me of a certain bird from the past, I decided to name her based on that bird's name so how about Kenery?" Rex said.
The bird tilted her head slightly and looked back at Rex from the corner of her eyes.
He is not mocking me... right? She thought.
"Kenery? It sounds better than Bluey," Jiang Qing nodded.
She then turned around and spoke to the bird.
"It's good that you got a name, so can you really sing like what people say and..." Jiang Qing started to excitedly talk with the bird.
The bird was quiet, she was very depressed, she didn't mind the name, but she was thinking that they should have at least asked me if I like it or not before deciding… right? Where are my bird rights? What about birds' naming freedom?
Rex didn't talk anymore, he sat cross-legged and entered virtual world. After entering the virtual world he started using the meditation technique given by Zakiya.
Although the meditation technique won't have any effect from being used in the virtual world but its mastery will increase 10 times faster because of Time Control.
Rex further used Calm Mind in specific time intervals to increase its mastery, Calm Mind helps him solve the problems but for that, he needs to find the problems first, for example, he needs to discover why he is not able to increase his mastery or where he is going wrong.
After cultivating for about 9 hours inside the virtual world, Rex opened his eyes.
'Technique-Status,' (Rex)
[Cultivation Techniques:-
Qi Cultivation Technique: Black & White Forbidden Lineage Art
Blood Cultivation: True Blood Saint Ascension Scripture(Lvl: Full Mastery : : Progress: 20% )
Soul Cultivation Technique: Transcend Soul Cleansing Sutra(Lvl: Pinnacle : : Progress: 45%)
Meditation Technique: Transcend Heart Tempering Mantra(Lvl: Full Mastery : : Progress: 91%)
Sword Technique: 12 Overlord Slashes(Lvl: Full Mastery : : Progress: 50%)
Palm Technique: Angry Elephant Palm Strike(Lvl: Big Accomplishment : : Progress: 39%)]
'Just a little more and my mastery of meditation technique will reach Pinnacle level then I won't need to depend on the wine and can even control the bloodthirsty state in battle,' Rex thought.
After thinking for a while, he decided upon what to do next, Rex extended his hand and a yellowish finger size tree seed appeared in his hands.
'In the real world, I need to trigger mutation in a living entity before I can start practicing Gene Coding but here… hehe, I seriously love this inner world,' Rex took a deep breath before focusing on the seed in his hand.
[Let's start from the basics, you don't need to worry about things like DNA compatibility or DNA fusion for now. The spirit brown oak tree grown using this seed would have yellowish leaves, medium height, and 800 years of lifespan.
You need to change its leaves color to brown, make it taller, and increase its life span to 1000+ years,]
'Got it,' (Rex)
[Issuing side mission….]
[Side Mission:-
As an Inventor, if you can't even master your talent then you should go open a farmhouse in one corner of Lower Realm and settle down.
Requirement: Control the mutation route in the seed and manipulate its DNA structure that meets Rose's requirement.
Success Condition: Succeed in less than 6 tries.
Reward: Mutated Seed recipe of Brown Oak Tree
Failure Penalty: Address Rose as Venerable Rose for the next six days,]
'You are getting cocky day by day,' Rex sneered.
Rose didn't respond.
Rex snapped his finger and a small tub filled with light green liquid appeared in front of him.
[Oh, using the medicinal liquid to nurture seed during mutation so it won't get destroyed in the process? Good idea,]
He placed the seed in both of his hand then dipped it in the medicinal liquid, Rex closed his eyes and relaxed his mind.
All the information related to the seed surfaced in his mind, starting from its basic structure, its properties, favorable environmental conditions it can grow in,… then its DNA structure and genes present in it.
After the mutation started, Rex's aim was to change the sequence of its DNA to get the result he wants without destroying it.
Outside, Jiang Qing was already bored from talking to the bird who never responded, she wanted to talk with Rex but he was meditating so she reluctantly gave up and started cultivating.
But she couldn't cultivate for long periods because she had to check the map every hour and give directions to Kenery.
Several hours passed just like that, Rex succeeded in refining the seed after his first 2 failures.
After refining the first seed he did the same with a different type of seed to increase his mastery, normally just doing it on one would give him some mental fatigue but he didn't need to worry about these things in the virtual world.
Rex had just finished mutating a seed, Rose informed him that Jiang Qing is calling him.
Rex nodded and left the virtual world.
When he opened his eyes, Jiang Qing' sighed in relief.
"Did we reach the Association?" Rex asked.
"It is just a little far away, but…" Jiang Qing didn't say more and pointed behind him.
Rex turned around only to see three old men chasing them. When Rex looked towards them, they all started to look in other directions like it was a complete coincidence that they were traveling on the same route.
'Looks like people really get shameless with age here?' He thought. There was not even a need to think about what they wanted.
A big rare female thunder eagle was flying alone in such a place, a transparent green barrier was around her, furthermore, two young people were riding it. For them, it was a treasure flying in the sky.
Rex was annoyed for a second before his eyes shined brightly.
'Damn! Is this heaven sending gifts to me? Three Golden Core stage subjects, Yessss I can use them to practice Gene Coding in the future, do poison tests, and most importantly aren't these three the most loved category of Cannon Fodders I can use when I am not in Frozen Flame City during the trip,' Rex's lips curled into a smile.
Rex used Telepathy to tell Jiang Qing about their cultivation and asked her to follow his instructions.
Just at this time, one old man finally looked at Rex and shouted.
"This little brother, we are going in the same direction can you give us a ride," The old man asked in a polite tone.
They could see that the thunder eagle was quite strong but it was after all a mount, meaning if its master is taken under control then it could do nothing because of the pet contract.
Kenery had noticed these three long ago but ignored them, with her present strength these three were only qualified to be her food.
Rex waved his hand and the green barrier disappeared, he then signaled them to come in.
All three old men looked at each other with surprise-filled eyes, then they quickly dashed in and sat around Rex in a triangle formation.
With one glance it was obvious that they were just cutting his escape routes.
They didn't know that Rex had already seen through their cultivation base so they weren't too cautious or suspicious about him.
Jiang Qing was a little nervous but when she thought of Rex's story where he was a supreme powerhouse, she was slightly relieved thinking that he must have some cards up his sleeves.
"Hahaha… I thank young friend for the hospitality, you can call me Old One, this serious looking one is Old Two and this quiet one is Old Three, we three are sworn brothers. May I ask what my young friend is called and where are you from," The over friendly old man said with a smile.
'So they want to confirm if I have a formidable backing or something, what idiotic old means do they believe I also evolved to think using my little brother? If Darwin was alive he would have given his life by repeatedly striking his head on the stone floor after seeing these kind of idiots,' Rex thought with a friendly smile on his face.
{Master Rex be careful, I have an idea who can they be if I am right they are called the Three Lone Crows, they were once part of a big organization called Dark Crow Legion but they killed their Young Sect Leader for their sect heirloom and escaped, they are famous for robbing and murdering people for their resources in Golden Bird Continent} Jiang Qing sent a message to Rex. She didn't know Rex's cultivation hence she was a little worried.
Young Sect Leader or Young Clan leaders are the titles given to the ones who are next in line to become the leader of the organization. Dark Crow Legion is not actually a sect but follows a similar inner system.
Anyone who had reached the Golden Core stage has their fame in the continent whether it is good or bad, although people can be low key but who wouldn't want fame after finally reaching this stage.
Of course, it means that Core Breaking stage experts are more famous but they remain in seclusion most of the time and don't show their faces normally, after living for such long times small fame cannot move their hearts.
The last one is Sky Body Formation stage expert, their name is more than enough to shake people's heart and fill it with admiration and reverence. Lerna is like that, once her name started spreading it is just a matter of time until she is known by the whole continent.
The number of Sky Body Formation stage experts in a continent is the true force that defines its overall power.
Rex smiled then took out four wine glasses, a wine bottle, and a metallic capsule.
He first pours light yellow wine in the glasses until they were half-filled, he then rotated the upper part of the capsule and opened it, eight drippers were arranged in the capsule in a circular line pattern.