Chapter 163: Chapter 2: Friend Yu, What a Pity _1

Translator: 549690339 I

Seven years passed.

While Wang Ba was focusing on his cultivation, he naturally did not neglect the spirit beasts he was raising.

Be it the Spirit Chickens, Spirit Turtles, or the batch of lower grade Class II Spiritual Ghost Eels he happened to encounter in the market a few years ago, he took great care of them all.

However, due to the stringent requirements of a Bloodline Breakthrough, Wang Ba could only foster them through Lifespan Breakthrough and reproduction.

Things went reasonably smoothly with the Spirit Chickens. Wang Ba didn’t hesitate to use the Bloodline Breakthrough materials obtained from Bai Yu on Jia 13 and a few regular top grade Spirit Chickens.

It was a sort of validation of his learning.

With the help of his faint Spiritual Sense, he managed to achieve breakthroughs in a few with adjusted proportions of materials.

Jia 13 was among them.

However, after his breakthrough, Jia 13 happily picked a fight with the Mountain Moving Ape, only to unexpectedly end up severely beaten by the ape.

This made Wang Ba attach importance to the Mountain Moving Ape, only to regret not having encountered any for sale ever since.

After inquiring from the original seller, he learned that despite its low grade, the Mountain Moving Ape was extremely rare.

Wang Ba could only regretfully let it go.

Perhaps discouraged by his defeat at the hands of the Mountain Moving Ape, Jia 13 became somewhat less irritable and would occasionally mate with Class II female Spirit Chickens of the same grade.

In Wang Ba’s view, it was probably due to his frustration with the Mountain Moving Ape that he let off steam on the female Spirit Chickens.

He saw Jia 13 as a rather despicable, spiritless male spirit chicken.

And its offspring inherited some of its flaws.

Each one was exceptionally fast and strong, but none were particularly intelligent, and all were volatile.

Even compared to Jia 13, they seemed to be a bit more mindless.

Wang Ba had no choice but to spend a great deal of money to put Spirit Beast Collars on them all.

After these little beasts underwent a Lifespan Breakthrough, they remained lower grade Class II creatures.

Wang Ba was not surprised.

The higher the grade, the larger the disparity within the same grade, and it often takes several generations of breeding, in addition to a Lifespan Breakthrough, to successfully advance in rank.

This had already been confirmed by his previous experiences.

Luckily, Wang Ba had “fortuitously” bred a Class I, top-grade Spirit Chicken, and so he requested Bai Yu for further support in materials.

This time, Bai Yu readily agreed and provided him with a good deal of Bloodline Breakthrough materials.

Wang Ba used these materials and, without specific proportions, relied on his extensive knowledge from studying various texts and trial and error to successfully cultivate two Class II, middle grade Phantom Chickens from seven or eight offspring of Jia 13 using Bloodline Breakthrough.

A male and a female, whom Wang Ba named Jia 15 and Jia 16, respectively.

He figured out the difference between a Bloodline Breakthrough and a Lifespan Breakthrough.

The former is costly with a low success rate but often results in a substantial advancement once successful.

For instance, directly elevating from lower grade Class II to middle grade Class II.

The latter, on the other hand, does not cause much loss besides lifespan. As long as one can breed steadily, continuous and stable breakthroughs can be achieved, albeit each breakthrough results in only minor changes, demanding a great deal of patience and time.

Wang Ba certainly had enough patience.

The biggest issue with cultivating Spirit Chickens through Lifespan Breakthrough, however, is the extremely unstable breeding, which depends entirely on the mood and luck of the male Spirit Chicken.

Compared with it, Spirit Turtles are perfect in this regard. Once the defect caused by repeated close breeding is resolved, the breakthrough of the Spirit Turtles becomes very stable.

Of course, both, the Spirit Chickens and Spirit Turtles encountered similar issues after they reached Class II.

They both had fewer eggs, and many of them were ‘blank’ eggs.

Blank eggs are the unfertilised ones.

Wang Ba concluded that the higher the individual’s life level, the lower its capacity to reproduce.

This is seemingly a form of balance.

As a result, Spirit Beasts that are powerful, have long life spans, and at the same time reproduce easily are almost non-existent.

Compared to their Class I stage, the Class II Spirit Chickens and Spirit Turtles are noticeably at a higher life stage.

During his Lifespan Breakthrough attempts with the Class II Spirit Chickens, Wang Ba had noticed this change.

One significant change was that when he exchanged his own lifespan for that of a Class II Spirit Chicken, the exchange ratio decreased considerably.

Originally, Wang Ba’s exchange ratio with the Spirit Chickens was 1:5.

But now, his exchange ratio with the Class II Spirit Chickens had become 2:1.

To put it differently, the lifespan quality of Class II Spirit Chickens was nearly ten times that of a Class I Spirit Chicken.

And a lower grade Class II Spirit Chicken had a lifespan of nearly 260 years.

So, one lower grade Class II Spirit Chicken could provide Wang Ba with a lifespan of 260 years.

This was the life stage of a Class II Spirit Beast.

Of course, there are also Spirit Beasts that are relatively powerful and also reproduce easily.

For instance, the ‘Spiritual Ghost Eel’.

As a lower grade Class II creature, it has a greater reproduction ability compared to other Spirit Beasts of the same class. While it doesn’t produce large batches of offspring like some insect species, at its best, it can produce tens of thousands of eggs.

But unlike the common loach that Wang Ba is familiar with, this Spiritual Ghost Eel is extremely violent by nature. Shortly after hatching, it will start to cannibalize each other, and out of the tens of thousands of eggs, only about a dozen survive to the end.

Even if these eggs are separated, they would die mysteriously, leaving almost the same number.

Furthermore, since they are considered prey by bugs, birds, and amphibians in the wild, these Spirit Beasts aren’t common.

Wang Ba saw a few when he went to the spirit beast store while collecting chicken feed and gritted his teeth to buy them.

Under his cultivation, they quickly reproduced and broke through. Now, in just a few short years, they’ve bred nearly eight generations and have successfully risen from the lower grade Class II to upper grade Class II.

Their individual strengths aren’t extraordinary, and their skills are limited to biting and squirming into gaps.

They are slimy and elongated in shape, and once they form a group, they are capable of rapidly burrowing into the body of an adversary, ripping and biting until their enemy is torn apart.

The reason for their name, ghost eels, is due to their elusive speed, concealment, and ferocity.

The only drawback is that while these spiritual ghost eels can be used on land, they are undoubtedly best suited to water.

After taking care of these conspicuous spirit beasts, Wang Ba confirmed everything several times over again.

Afterwards, he intentionally unearthed two jars of Crystal Spirit Peach Wine from one corner of the chicken farm.

However, as he shook off the dirt, he suddenly remembered the figure of an old friend, and he couldn’t help but sigh with regret.

“Friend Yu… what a pity.”

Yu Changchun passed away three years ago.

He secluded himself in the immortal cave, and there was no movement for several years.

In the end, another member of the cult who had a good relationship with him forcibly entered and discovered that the person had passed away a while ago.

The cause of death was that during the Foundation Establishment, his heart demons erupted unexpectedly and he lost control, forcing his mana to go awry and lead to a violent death.

When Wang Ba first heard this news from Bai Yu, he had mixed feelings.

Admittedly, he initially raised Spirit Chickens for him, but in his heart he genuinely detested the man.

After all, when he was in the East Saint Sect, this person had been watching him for several days, forcing him to slash his finger to escape disaster.

However, as their relationship developed, Wang Ba gradually came to realize that even though Yu Changchun was a person from the Tianmen Cult, violent by nature and miserly, he still treated him sincerely.

The motives may not entirely be benefits, and perhaps even more than that.

Especially since he was worried that his seclusion would delay Wang Ba, he was careful to introduce him to Bai Yu.

Wang Ba received a lot of advice from him.

In those days, he said that Wang Ba was one of his few good friends, a statement that came straight from the heart.

Thinking of this, Wang Ba couldn’t help but remember what he had said before his seclusion.

“How is this year’s Crystal Spirit Peach Wine?”

At that time, he had said, “It was just buried not long ago, and it will be a few months more before it is ready.”

The wine is still fragrant to this day, but sadly the friend is no longer there.

He sighed softly.

He gently tapped on the closure of one of the jars, filled two cups to the brim, picked up one, gently touched it to his friend’s cup, and then drank it all down.

Bai Yu quietly appeared in front of Wang Ba, seeing this, he paused slightly.

He then took up a jar of wine, carelessly filling a ceramic bowl, lightly touched it to Yu Changchun’s bowl, and then drained it all down.

“Good wine, too bad my apprentice nephew Yu can’t taste it anymore…”

Bai Yu sighed.

“Mr. Bai.”

Wang Ba quickly composed his emotions, respectfully looking at Bai Yu.

After several years of interacting, Bai Yu was also familiar with him and shook his head slightly, “There’s no one else here, have a drink with me.”

“Yes.”

With utmost respect, Wang Ba filled Bai Yu’s cup with wine.

Bai Yu drank three bowls in a row, the alcohol quickly absorbed in his throat, he couldn’t help but let out a satisfied sigh from deep within his throat.

Afterwards, he took out a storage bag from his sleeve and threw it on the table.

“The things you wanted, I’ve brought them all.”

Wang Ba quickly took the storage bag with a glance, and the gleam of surprise in his eyes was evident, his previously gloomy mood easing slightly.

“Thank you, Mr. Bai!”

“Don’t thank me, that was Elder Lu’s decision, oh, no, Chief Lu’s.”

Bai Yu waved his hand, refusing to take credit.

Wang Ba was familiar with his style.

Despite his high position in the Tianmen Cult, he maintained the demeanor of a gentleman, staying true to his word and being fair and just.

An odd match.

But for him, it was a good thing.

“Don’t think that it’s all a good thing… Elder Lu said that these materials are quite rare, so if you can’t show results soon, the words he said before about killing you will still stand.”

Bai Yu, full of helplessness over Lu Yuansheng’s attitude, nevertheless relayed the message.

Wang Ba immediately put on an ‘anxious’ look.

But Bai Yu didn’t pay any attention to this and his gaze suddenly focused on him: “Ah… have you achieved the integration of essense, energy and spirit?”

The state of essense, Qi, and spirit integrated as one cannot be concealed because when these three integrate, a unique aura emanates, which is why Bu Chan recognized him instantaneously.

What surprised Wang Ba was that Bai Yu nodded satisfactorily:

“Not bad, I was just about to give this to you!”

As he was talking, he took a small box out of the storage bag and handed it to Wang Ba.

“This is…”

As he spoke, Wang Ba carefully opened the box.

Surprisingly, inside the box was another Foundation Establishment Pill..