Rat Prodigy

Within the residence on the South Slope, Jiang Chen was cultivating. His body moved like willow fluff riding the wind, drawing the spiritual energy of heaven and earth toward him.

"The tempering of my torso is complete."

At a certain moment, inspiration struck, and Jiang Chen stopped moving.

"Come to think of it, I've been transported into this world for two months already. Today, I've finally made new progress."

He clenched his five fingers into a fist and sensed the changes within himself. A faint smile appeared on Jiang Chen's face.

With the cleansing of his torso complete, his physical strength had grown even greater. Even among first-rate martial artists, he stood at the top. Only those blessed with extraordinary bodily talents could suppress him. Yet for cultivators, using spiritual essence to temper the body, the increase in physical strength was merely a byproduct.

"With the tempering of my torso complete, I can feel that I've grown even closer to the spiritual energy of heaven and earth. Using talismans should become much more effortless now. Perhaps I can even try the Skinning Art again, which I've been unable to grasp for so long."

As his thoughts turned, Jiang Chen gained a deeper understanding of cultivation in the Inspiration Realm.

Cultivating in this realm was not meant to increase a cultivator's strength, but to heighten their affinity with the spiritual energy of heaven and earth. It transformed a cultivator's mortal flesh into a spiritual womb through acquired means, laying a solid foundation for future cultivation.

"To a certain extent, cultivation in the Inspiration Realm has already increased a cultivator's innate potential, allowing them the chance to travel farther down the path. From this point alone, the cultivation system of this world is far from simple."

Having glimpsed only the tip of the iceberg, Jiang Chen could not help but sigh inwardly.

"What I need to do next is complete the cleansing of my head as quickly as possible and seek entry into Qi Refinement. With the Spirit Spring Stone helping me create favorable terrain, this step shouldn't hold me up."

Glancing at the well in the courtyard, Jiang Chen felt quite satisfied. It had to be said that this unexpected spiritual item had provided no small amount of help to his cultivation. Without the Spirit Spring Stone, he likely would have needed quite some time to finish tempering his torso.

The reason Jiang Wang had been stuck at this step back then was not solely due to his own shortcomings. The external environment had also been a major issue.

"According to the cultivation knowledge Jiang Wang left behind, there are things in this world known as spiritual veins. Wherever they take root, the spiritual energy of heaven and earth is abundant, making it a treasure ground for cultivation. Unfortunately, spiritual veins are rare. It seems that not even Qinghe County possesses one."

His thoughts drifted, and when he thought of spiritual veins, Jiang Chen could not help frowning.

His previous self had come to Wooden Fish Island for a possible treasure mentioned by his teacher, White Crane Daoist, and had hidden within a bandit stronghold. He had also sought information about spiritual veins from many sources, but unfortunately gained nothing.

"Jiang Wang's teacher, White Crane Daoist, once hinted that this land seemed to have suffered something, making it unsuitable for cultivation. He told Jiang Wang to quietly await the right opportunity."

Thinking of certain memories Jiang Wang had left behind, Jiang Chen's brow furrowed even more deeply. It was then that two low growls caught his attention.

"Have they gone mad?"

Turning his gaze toward the wooden cage some distance away, Jiang Chen's eyes shifted slightly as he watched the two rats crazily battering against it.

Compared to before, the two rats had changed enormously. Not only had their fur turned blackish red, but their bodies had also grown much larger. They no longer looked like rats, but more like fully grown cats.

At this moment, their eyes were scarlet as they rammed against the wooden cage in near madness, trying to break free.

"Have they reached their limit too? But something seems off."

His thoughts whirled as Jiang Chen observed the changes in the two rats without rushing to act.

Back on Wooden Fish Island, there had been too many watchful eyes, making many things inconvenient to do. After arriving in Golden Sand Valley, those restrictions had instead vanished. Because of this, the two rats had lived very well these past days, receiving supplements of blood essence every day.

Of course, only one of these two rats was among the original three. The other had been added later. Apart from these two, the other several dozen rats had all died suddenly one after another during this period. Fortunately, Golden Sand Valley was not short of rats.

From this perspective, these two rats could be considered prodigies among ratkind, and their luck was not bad either. Otherwise, they would never have lasted until now. Yet they seemed to have reached their limit at last.

With a growl rumbling from their throats, as though they had been provoked by something, the two rats—trapped in the cage and unable to escape for so long—suddenly sucked in a breath. Their bodies rapidly swelled. If they had originally been the size of kittens, they were now comparable to calves.

Crack! Powerful force erupted, and the wooden cage could no longer contain the two rats. Its door was instantly smashed open.

Yet after breaking out of the cage, the two rats did not flee immediately. Instead, they fixed their eyes on Jiang Chen. At this moment, their completely distorted rat faces were filled with savagery and bloodlust. Clearly, they had taken Jiang Chen for prey.

Threatening hisses rumbled in their throats. Saliva dripped from one rat's mouth as it could no longer restrain itself. Its hind legs exploded with force, and it pounced at Jiang Chen like a ferocious tiger, intending to devour him whole. The other rat also seemed tempted, but the scarlet light in its eyes flickered unsteadily, as though it were struggling and hesitating.

Watching the enormous rat pounce toward him, Jiang Chen showed no panic. There was only regret on his face.

"The body has not yet reached its limit, but the mind has already fallen into disorder. I didn't expect absorbing the blood essence of other species to carry such a hidden danger. It seems the Bloodflame Art's refinement of blood essence has not reached perfection. Still, that is only natural. The Bloodflame Art is merely the lowest-grade talisman art, after all."

With a thought rising and vanishing, Jiang Chen casually extended a finger.

The next instant, accompanied by the sound of a heavy object hitting the ground, the maddened rat collapsed and fell silent forever. This was the Mystic Slaying Finger.

Having done this, Jiang Chen turned his gaze to the other rat. He was quite familiar with it. Not only had it been one of the original three rats, it was also the one that had wet itself in terror at the Mystic Slaying Finger.

At this moment, when it met Jiang Chen's gaze and felt that familiar killing intent, the terror sleeping deep in its heart was awakened. It was as if a basin of cold water had been poured over it. The rat, originally driven mad, immediately regained clarity. The scarlet in its eyes steadily receded until they finally returned to normal.

It whimpered. The rat, which had been muddleheaded until this moment, seemed to understand something. It immediately retracted its claws and fangs, no longer showing the slightest posture of attack.

Jiang Chen remained unmoved at the sight, still staring at the rat expressionlessly.

Seeing this, then glancing at its fallen and motionless cellmate, the awakened rat gritted its teeth and walked into the cage of its own accord. The instant it returned inside, its tail flicked, and it shut the cage door that had previously been smashed open.

After doing all this, it dismissed its enlarged body and lay prone within the cage, staring at Jiang Chen with a pair of beady black eyes. Its face was the picture of obedience and innocence.

At last, a trace of curiosity appeared on Jiang Chen's face as he looked at the rat.

"Has it awakened intelligence and is about to become a demon? Its spiritual nature is truly unexpectedly high."

"By the looks of it, that rat that went mad can only be considered a false prodigy. You are the true Rat Prodigy."

After observing carefully, Jiang Chen formed a few guesses about the rat's condition.