"A rat?"

With an astonished look on his face, Lin Dong stared at the palm-sized black rat and involuntarily cried out. He clearly did not expect that the thing which had been hiding in the Stone Talisman would actually be a rat.

"Disgraceful, more like you're the rat!"

When it heard Lin Dong's cry, the fur all over the black rat stood up as it's tiny eyes furiously glared at Lin Dong as it unexpectedly spoke out in human words!

"A talking rat?" Astonished by this black rat, Lin Dong gazed strangely at the small animal. This was the first time he had seen a rat with the ability to talk.

"You unlearned and disgraceful brat, this grandfather is a Celestial Demon Marten, not a rat!" Upon hearing Lin Dong continue to call it a rat, that "black rat" immediately screeched in response.

"Celestial Demon Marten..." After seeing the rat's exasperated appearance, Lin Dong chuckled and silently nodded his head. This name was rather intimidating, yet the thing reflected in his eyes looked exactly like a normal black rat.

"Alright, I don't care if you're a Celestial Demon Marten or a Man-Demon Marten. Tell me why you're here!" His earlier nervousness had quickly evaporated. Lin Dong discovered that this "Demon Emperor Sable" seemed to be rather weak. Else, it would not have been caught by him so easily.

"Brat, what do you mean why am I here? I'm the owner of this Stone Talisman. Where else would I be if not here?" The tiny eyes on the small black sable flickered as it crossed it's claws across it's chest and said.

"You are the owner of the Stone Talisman?" Lin Dong was stunned. Soon after, he bent his head and earnestly looked at the small black sable. Under his gaze, that small sable hastily retreated a few steps, prepared to run away at any moment.

"You are not the owner of the Stone Talisman." After observing the small black sable for a short while, Lin Dong shook his head. Though this small sable was perhaps somewhat special, his intuition told him that this guy was lying.

"Don't believe me if you want, brat. Now that the Stone Talisman is in your hands, feel free to enter, but let us each mind our own business and not cross one another. This grandfather sable will not disturb you and you should likewise not interfere with the grandfather sable!" The corners of the small sable's mouth pulled outwards as it declared.

Lin Dong slightly cocked his head to one side and stared at the small sable, suddenly asking: "You seem to be very afraid of me?"

"Haha, haha..."

At these words, that small sable stuck its claws to its waist and faced the sky while pretending to laugh heartily. It looked as if it had just heard the funniest joke ever.

Upon seeing this, Lin Dong slightly smiled as a "Materialized Spirit Needle" once again formed before him.

"Swish!"

When the "Materialized Spirit Needle" fully formed, the then still-laughing small sable quickly scuttled far away with a "swish" sound. It's tiny eyes somewhat nervously stared at Lin Dong as it's shrilly voice sounded out: "What are you planning to do?"

When it saw the fake smile plastered across Lin Dong's face, it suddenly came to its senses and resentfully let out a 'pah' sound before slowly backing a safer distance away from Lin Dong. Then, it sat on it's bottom and said: "Brat, what exactly do you plan on doing? Although this grandfather sable is currently a mere Demon Spirit, you should not irritate me or else we will both be in for a difficult time."

"Demon Spirit..."

At these words, Lin Dong's expression suddenly turned a little serious. He had heard that only monstrously powerful Demon Beasts were able to condense Demon Spirits. Could this tiny thing before his eyes which claimed to be the so-called "Celestial Demon Marten" truly possess such an extremely frightening origin?

"You should have been awoken by me right?" Lin Dong abruptly asked.

"Tch, what do you mean awoken by you. If it were not for that "Fire Ancestral Phantom Flower", you will not even see me even in another hundred years. Plus, if it were not for this grandfather sable's help in absorbing the majority of the medicinal power from the "Fire Ancestral Phantom Flower", you would have been long dead." The small sable retorted with disdain.

"Alright then, it was indeed all thanks to you that time." Lin Dong was stunned, but soon after, he chuckled and replied.

Upon seeing Lin Dong so frankly conceding in spite of everything, that small sable was also amazed for a moment. It skeptically stared at the former and said: "Brat, could it be that you're planning on paralyzing this grandfather sable and then taking the opportunity to gobble up this grandfather samble's Demon Spirit?"

"What good would consuming your Demon Spirit do for me?" After hearing its words, Lin Dong could not help but ask in curiosity.

"Eh...nothing good nothing good..."

The small sable's claws waved wildly in response. When it saw that Lin Dong seemed not to know of these things, it secretly heaved a sigh of relief in its heart. It had only awoken recently and was extremely weak. Even Lin Dong would have no trouble in gobbling up its Demon Spirit. Thus, due to its innately cautious nature, it had hid in the darkness from the start, not daring to show itself.

"Can you explain why you're here? Don't try to trick me, or else..." Lin Dong expression turned even more serious as he made this inquiry. Once he recalled that this thing had concealed itself within the Stone Talisman buried in his flesh, he felt a sense of unnaturalness.

"I've said it before, I am the owner of the Stone Talisman...alright, I was only one of its previous owners." When it saw Lin Dong's skeptical expression, the small sable had no choice but to correct itself before continuing: "Not long after I obtained this thing, I was pursued. In the end, I was forced to self-destruct, my Demon Spirit escaping into the Stone Talisman as the final resort..."

"Were you very strong before?" Lin Dong smiled as he asked.

"Strong in a way. For someone like you, I would only need a fart to squash you flat..." The small sable waved its claws as it offhandedly remarked. However, these words caused Lin Dong to roll his eyes, not too convinced in his heart.

"Heh heh, brat. I don't know whether to call you fortunate or unlucky now that you've obtained this Stone Talisman..." The small sable's eyes suddenly fixed onto Lin Dong as it let out a strange laughter.

"Why?" Lin Dong asked in surprise.

"Its nothing much, perhaps, you will come to understand in the future. Though your death means nothing to me, based on the fact that you do not have an evil heart, I will warn you. Do not let anyone know of this thing, or else, heh heh..."

Lin Dong creased his brow. Soon after, he earnestly nodded his head and said: "Many thanks for your warning."

The small sable waved his claws in a seemingly magnanimous manner. Of course, its words did not reveal everything. Maybe Lin Dong's death would not directly affect it, but if such a time were to come and if the Stone Talisman once again landed in another's hands, it would not be certain if that person would have designs on its Demon Spirit.

"Alright, I've mostly spoken my part. Do what you must but it would be better for you to act as if this grandfather sable did not exist like before. Other than that, don't think that you've found a good helper. This grandfather sable will not help you with anything and can't do so anyways." The small sable patted its bottom before scuttling back into the darkness.

"Wait a moment." Upon realizing the crafty small sable's intent to slip away, Lin Dong hastily shouted out.

"What is it?" After hearing Lin Dong's words, the little sable vigilantly backed away a little as it replied.

"Since you were once the owner of this Stone Talisman, you should know a little of it's abilities right?" Lin Dong asked. With a readily available previous owner's guidance, he would no longer need to blindly grope about.

"I do indeed...yet why should this grandfather sable tell you anything?" The small sable's eyes turned about as it said.

"Firstly, I can easily dispose of you..." Lin Dong slightly smiled. Upon seeing the small sable's nervous gaze, he continued: "Secondly, if we cooperate, we would both stand to benefit. From what I can tell, you seem extremely weak. If you help familiarize me with the Stone Talisman, I might be able to find some way to let you recover a little. How does that sound?"

As it heard these words, the small sable's little eyes immediately shined. It licked its lips as it replied: "I need Elixirs that have Demon Spirit nourishing capabilities, for example, the "Fire Ancestral Phantom Flower" from before."

"That thing is very rare, but I will do my best." Lin Dong thought to himself for a while before continuing: "Also, you shouldn't distrust me either. The current you does not have much choice, the more powerful I grow, the more easily I will be able to assist you in finding those Elixirs with Demon Spirit nourishing capabilities."

The small sable was silent for a moment. In a now more direct manner, it said: "Speak, what do you wish to know?"

"Is this Stone Talisman able to temper Mental Energy?" Lin Dong was thrilled as he swiftly inquired. As long as his Mental Energy could reach the 2nd Seal stage, he would have the confidence to do battle with Wei Tong.

"It is!" The small sable pondered a little before nodding its head.

"However, you need to suffer a type of pain, or else it would be futile and useless."

"Bring me there!" Lin Dong's heartbeat slightly sped up as he responded without the slightest bit of hesitation. No matter how much hardship he had to suffer, he would definitely protect the Lin Family!

"Follow me then. The space within the Stone Talisman is very complex and there are too many things here which have been sealed up. Thankfully, it is still possible to enter the place you need." The small sable nodded its head. Soon after, it turned and darted into the darkness. Lin Dong hesitated a little before he gritted his teeth and followed.

Within the darkness, Lin Dong closely followed the small sable along the extremely winding route. After this went on for quite some time, the small sable to his front abruptly disappeared. Lin Dong was immediately alarmed. Just as he was about to hurriedly retreat, a faint light suddenly blossomed before his eyes.

Inside the light, Lin Dong saw two gigantic crystal millstones which were slowly rotating on the spot. As the millstones rotated, a special undulation gently spread outwards.

"What is this?" Lin Dong involuntarily mumbled as he gazed at the two gigantic crystal millstones

"This is the Mind Millstone."

Lin Dong was unaware of when the small sable had climbed onto his shoulder. Its claws pointed towards the place where the two crystal millstones met. The light was most concentrated there such that even the space seemed slightly distorted.

"If you want to cultivate Mental Energy, just sit there. The millstone will completely crush your Mental Energy and then reform it. If you are able to endure this continuous cycle, your Mental Energy would benefit tremendously. However, if you are unable to endure, it is possible that the roots of your Mental Energy will be damaged, leaving behind some very serious repercussions."

The small sable's claws patted Lin Dong as it said: "If it were not for your request, I would never have brought you here. I don't know which lunatic came up with such a cultivation method but in the past, this grandfather sable had also tried it. From then on, even if you beat me to death, I would not touch this thing. The kind of immense pain that arises from pulverizing your Mental Energy is not something that any ordinary person is capable of bearing."

Lin Dong silently nodded his head. As he gazed at that Crystal Millstone, he struggled in his heart. In the end, he took in a deep breath and thanked the small sable.

"You can't possibly be thinking of going there to cultivate your Mental Energy right?" Upon seeing this scene, alarm flashed across the small sable's tiny eyes as it said.

This time, Lin Dong did not reply. He only smiled in response as his body leaped forward and dashed into the light between the two gigantic Millstones.

"This brat is also a crazy one. I hope that you are able to endure it. After all, this grandfather sable does not intend to harm you..."

At Lin Dong's actions, the little sable could not help but shake its head as it sighed.

TL: 'grandfather sable' it is~

when you see 'grandfather sable' it's actually 'grandfather sable' in the raws as the rat-like creature loves to mention itself in third person and add the honorific of an elder which sounds totally awkward in english, thus we'll be leaving it as 'grandfather sable' unless we can think up something better

We will be interchanging 'demonic beasts' to 'demon beasts' from this chapter-ish, cause English..