Lu ming understood that his constitution, like that of an ordinary person, was without any elemental attributes.

Looking at Elder Mo, he said, "Then Elder Mo, I’ll choose the Pine Leaf Mouse."

"Oh?" Elder Mo asked, "Are you certain?"

Lu ming nodded. "I am certain."

His reasoning was simple; as an Eternal Life Constitution, he was not suited for fighting and killing in the early stages. Raising a Wood-attribute pet beast that could assist in farming and nurturing spiritual plants seemed a better option for gradually increasing his strength while staying within the sect.

Moreover, even though his constitution had no elemental affinity, Wood techniques were generally related to vitality and life force, making a Wood-attribute spiritual beast evidently more suitable for him.

As for combat-oriented beasts, he could look for those later, once his cultivation improved and he became an inner disciple.

"Elder Mo, is there a problem with this Pine Leaf Mouse?" Lu ming asked, a bit concerned.

"Well…" Elder Mo began, "The sect raises many spiritual beasts, and from the moment they are born, we instill a sense of purpose in them and help them develop their intelligence. Each month, we provide them with spiritual stones to aid in their cultivation."

"Those available for disciples to choose from are generally under a year old, nurtured by the sect's resources to reach the third layer of Qi Refining and possess enough intelligence to understand human speech."

"After all, if a beast can’t reach the third layer with this level of training and can’t understand human speech, it simply isn’t suited for cultivation. Let alone assisting human disciples, it would be a burden."

"This one, however… during the last selection, only reached the second layer of Qi Refining and does not meet the standard."

"Normally, it would be released to roam the Pine Forest and would not be given to disciples."

"However, the elder responsible for basic spiritual beast training discovered that this Pine Leaf Mouse only reached the second layer due to some special circumstances."

"What kind of circumstances?" Lu ming asked, startled.

Elder Mo hesitated before explaining, "This Pine Leaf Mouse has some peculiarities; it treats the resources provided by the sect like treasures, hoarding them away without using a single piece, relying solely on its talent to recently reach the third layer of Qi Refining."

"I don’t understand its reasoning; can hoarding spiritual stones increase their amount?"

"…Perhaps it’s about a sense of security," Lu ming speculated.

"Given its talent isn’t bad—indeed, it could be considered exceptionally rare—the elder decided not to revoke its eligibility and granted it a second chance to enter the outer sect."

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"Anyway, let’s go take a look first. If it doesn’t suit you, we can look for other pet beasts. If you can subdue it, its talent will greatly benefit your cultivation," Elder Mo said.

"Understood, Elder…" Lu ming responded, intending to see it first.

*Pine Forest Peak.*

The two celestial cranes landed.

Soon, Elder Mo and Lu ming arrived at the edge of a pine forest.

"This is Pine Leaf Mouse territory," Elder Mo stated.

Within the forest, Lu ming spotted many mice. The Pine Leaf Mice resembled ordinary squirrels but were enchanting, possessing soft, shiny fur adorned with delicate yellow stripes—very adorable.

What set them apart from ordinary squirrels were their vibrant green eyes, which seemed to reflect the dreamlike colors of leaves dancing in the morning light.

"Chirp…"

The Pine Leaf Mice leaped around, but those who had just awakened their intelligence or hadn’t at all clearly couldn’t speak like Elder Black Bear or the celestial cranes they had just met.

"Most of the Pine Leaf Mice living in this forest are those whose potential doesn’t meet the contract standards."

As they reached their destination, Elder Mo walked ahead with Lu ming following closely.

"Except for the one I mentioned that’s a bit special."

Under Elder Mo's guidance, Lu ming quickly spotted the specific Pine Leaf Mouse.

It sat atop a pine tree, eyes closed in meditation.

Upon noticing someone approaching, it opened its eyes.

"Chirp?"

The two locked eyes.

At that moment, several rebellious strands of Elder Mo's hair danced in the wind, giving him an air of carefree wisdom.

"I’ve spoken with Elder Jiang ; this is a new disciple of the sect who wishes to select you as his first pet. What do you think?" he asked the Pine Leaf Mouse, hands clasped behind his back.

"Chirp…" The Pine Leaf Mouse hesitated before turning to Lu ming, its voice soft.

With its emerald green eyes, it scrutinized Lu ming.

Beside them, Elder Mo added, "You need to introduce yourself. Generally, spiritual beasts will decide whether to follow a disciple based on their situation."

"Choosing a pet beast in the Beast Taming Sect is always a mutual decision; to take a beast, the disciple must earn its acknowledgment."

"This process is also a test for the disciple; whether they can win the beast’s recognition based on their capabilities is very important for disciples of the Beast Taming Sect."

"Only when both the cultivator and the pet acknowledge each other can they achieve double the results with half the effort in their cultivation."

"Understood," Lu ming nodded.

He wasn’t one to boast.

"My name is Lu ming. Due to my special constitution, my cultivation speed is somewhat slow. If you become my pet beast, you may need to put in extra effort."

Lu ming looked at the Pine Leaf Mouse, giving it a heads-up; since he wanted its assistance in his cultivation, he didn’t hide his constitutional flaw.

After all, the Eternal Life Constitution was known for being extremely slow in cultivation.

He believed that sincerity would be enough to win its favor.

However…

"Chirp!!" The Pine Leaf Mouse was startled.

If its cultivation speed was slow, wouldn’t that mean using up the spiritual stones it had hoarded for so long?

It took a small step back.

Seeing this, Lu ming fell silent.

As expected, true feelings were hard to keep.

Elder Mo, watching from the side, couldn’t suppress a hint of amusement.

Such a peculiar pet often had a quirky personality and unique perspective; capturing it wouldn’t be easy.

Yet Lu ming wasn’t just any person.

Faced with a mouse that could hold onto spiritual stones, resolute like an addict, he pondered and said:

"Storage bag."

Since sincerity didn’t seem effective, Lu ming decided to appeal to its interests.

He spoke, "Once you become my pet beast, I’ll save up spiritual stones to gift you a storage bag that can hold countless items in a separate space."

"When we reach a higher cultivation level, I can even give you ten larger storage rings."

"Don’t you enjoy hoarding resources? Once you have a lot of items, where will you put them?"

For a mouse that loved to hoard, the worst thing would be running out of backpack space. Lu ming was certain of this.

Pine Leaf Mouse: !!??

"Chirp!?"

In the next moment, the Pine Leaf Mouse's eyes lit up, instantly captivated by Lu ming’s offer.

"This Lu ming boy is quite clever," Elder Mo remarked, taken aback.

"It has a peculiar habit of hoarding items, and a storage bag…" Given his prior experience as a seasoned hoarder in his past life, Lu ming knew exactly what this mouse needed.

"It’s just that this Pine Leaf Mouse doesn’t seem very smart."

"But it has only just awakened its intelligence."

Elder Mo shook his head, seeing how the situation unfolded. A storage bag could be quite costly.

Regardless, it appeared that the Pine Leaf Mouse was hooked.

Soon enough.

One piece, two pieces, three pieces… dozens of low-grade spiritual stones were tossed out of a tree hole by the Pine Leaf Mouse while the two of them watched in silence. Eventually, the Pine Leaf Mouse emerged again.

"Chirp chirp chirp!"

Looking at Lu ming, the Pine Leaf Mouse seemed excited, as if it had recognized him and planned to bring all its belongings along, embarking on a new cultivation journey together.

Lu ming smiled in return.

"In order for us to buy that storage bag soon, I’ll help you keep these spiritual stones for now so we can plan and use them wisely."

The Pine Leaf Mouse stared at Lu ming’s earnest gaze, confused but nodded slightly.

It was filled with anticipation for the future.