Iron Egg's talent

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Chapter 16: Iron Egg's talent

In the transparent glass jars, an earthworm dug for its life, a jade mantis strutted about, and a squirrel lay motionless, its belly rising and falling faintly. It had clearly fainted from sheer fright.

Good. I can bring living things with me too. Chen Beiwu's spirits lifted.

This meant he could bring Companion Beasts, or even an army of cultivators, into another world to plunder resources.

The former was straightforward enough: he could use a gu-style survival-of-the-fittest method to improve his Companion Beasts' cultivation as quickly as possible.

The latter would require the right opportunity, such as when he reached the pinnacle of power in the Immortal Alliance or took charge of one of its three major institutions.

He was far too weak now, like a child carrying gold through a bustling market. Once exposed, he would have no hope of keeping Nine-Breath Chaos.

He pushed open the cultivation room door, and Iron Egg immediately came over with a cup of water balanced on his head.

"Woof, woof, woof!"

"Stop barking, you silly dog. Don't you even recognize me anymore?" Chen Beiwu took the cup and slapped the dog's head.

Hearing the familiar voice, Iron Egg blinked his bewildered eyes, his nose twitching slightly.

This time, he finally caught Chen Beiwu's scent. The demonic power gathering in his throat instantly dispersed, and he obediently lay down on the floor.

"Good. Here's something nice for you."

Chen Beiwu nodded in satisfaction, took out a piece of Illusion Weasel Wolf meat, and placed it in front of Iron Egg.

Iron Egg looked at him without moving, but the drool flooding from his mouth had already betrayed his feelings.

"Go ahead."

The moment Chen Beiwu finished speaking, Iron Egg seemed possessed by a ravenous hound. He opened his jaws and tore into the Illusion Weasel Wolf meat.

The meat contained a mild poison. To be safe, Chen Beiwu stayed nearby and watched Iron Egg eat.

Five minutes later, Iron Egg licked his chops contentedly.

Looks like there shouldn't be any problem, Chen Beiwu thought.

Yet a second later, Iron Egg began coughing wildly, as though his throat were itching.

At first, he spat out nothing but saliva. As time passed, the saliva gradually turned into wisps of sparks that drifted into the air and eventually surrounded him.

The flesh of a greater spirit monster really packs a punch! Chen Beiwu's eyes flickered.

With his knowledge, he could naturally tell that Iron Egg had not been poisoned. Instead, the cultivation accumulated inside him had reached a breakthrough.

It made sense. After eating the spirit deer meat his family had treasured for so long, followed by a large chunk of greater spirit monster meat, even a pig could awaken its intelligence and gain cultivation, let alone Iron Egg, whose aptitude was already quite good.

"A breakthrough is fine, but don't burn the house down!"

Feeling the temperature indoors steadily climb, Chen Beiwu mobilized his magical power. His fingers flew through hand seals as he used the moisture in the air as a medium to cast the first-tier special spell, Water Prison Spell.

In an instant, twenty-four ice-blue chains encircled the space within ten feet of Iron Egg, forming overlapping curtains of water. They confined the seething fire-aspect demonic power and dispersed the violent spiritual energy within it.

After a minute, the raging demonic power around Iron Egg gradually settled, and the white markings on his four paws grew even more flawless.

"How do you feel?"

Chen Beiwu crouched down and tentatively extended his right hand.

Iron Egg leaned forward to rub his head against Chen Beiwu's palm, barking eagerly.

"Woof."

Under Chen Beiwu's astonished gaze, Iron Egg let out a low growl and spat out a ball of pale golden flame.

The flame slowly rose and spread out above his head, becoming a crude star chart of fire dotted with lights of different colors.

Chen Beiwu looked closely and noticed two faint green points of light steadily approaching the center of the chart.

"Click."

Just then, the sound of the door opening and his parents talking came from downstairs. The star chart above Iron Egg's head vanished with it.

Chen Beiwu's eyes lit up as he immediately understood.

;psme&;psme&

"Silly dog, did you awaken a reconnaissance spell talent?"

"Woof?";psme&;psme&

Iron Egg blinked in confusion.

What was a reconnaissance spell talent? He had no idea!

He was just a dog. He didn't understand all the strange things humans came up with.

Chen Beiwu took a deep breath and said calmly, "Can you use that again?"

"Woof." Iron Egg shook his head.

"Not right now? Then about how many times can you use it in a day?"

Iron Egg tilted his head and gave four rather uncertain barks.

Four times a day is enough. It could come in handy at a critical moment, Chen Beiwu thought.

Iron Egg's estimate probably did not account for recovery through spirit stones, replenishment through pills, or similar methods. Otherwise, he should be able to use it a few more times.

"Excellent. From now on, you're the number one tracking dog under my command. Maybe you'll even become a Hound General someday." Chen Beiwu stroked his head.

me&

sp; Only demonic beasts with more than five hundred years of cultivation could be called Demon Generals.

Such beings could condense a demon core and assume a half-human, half-beast form. They were terrifying existences whose strength rivaled that of a Golden Core True Person.

"Woof!" Iron Egg responded excitedly.

He didn't know what a tracking dog was, nor did he know what a Hound General was. He only knew that Chen Beiwu was very happy right now, and that was enough.

After taking off his equipment and washing up, Chen Beiwu headed downstairs and smelled the aroma of food.

He turned to look and saw his father, Chen Dong, smoking in the living room.

They had only gone a day without seeing each other, yet his father seemed to have aged several years, his face full of exhaustion.

"Dinner's almost ready. Cultivate later." Chen Dong pressed his cigarette into the ashtray and extinguished it.

Chen Dong was a body cultivator at the sixth level of Qi Refining who worked at the Azure Radiance Tile Factory. Since his Qi Refining level was relatively high, he worked as an inspector, a comparatively easy job.

Cultivators with lower Qi Refining levels could only work as kiln workers at the tile factory.

Firing tiles was exhausting work. Cultivators frequently had to expend their own magical power to resist the encroachment of earthfire poison.

If they worked too long, earthfire poison would damage their bodies. Some unlucky workers would even become riddled with fire poison, suffering dried-up meridians and declining cultivation.

But the more dangerous the work, the higher the pay.

As an inspector at the tile factory, Chen Dong received a fixed monthly wage of six low-grade spirit stones. Including brick-hauling work, he could earn around twelve spirit stones a month by working himself to the bone.

Meanwhile, a newly hired kiln apprentice could earn twenty spirit stones a month, and a master kiln worker's monthly wage could reach fifty low-grade spirit stones.

But this was a trade for the young. They were exchanging their bodies for spirit stones.

Every master kiln worker in Far Sky County who had worked for more than five years eventually developed fire poison syndrome, without exception. Most of the spirit stones they earned by risking their lives ended up going toward medical bills.

Yet some master kiln workers who wanted to carve out a future for their descendants would forgo treatment entirely. They spent every spirit stone they earned on nurturing the next generation, hoping to pool several generations' purses to raise a Foundation Establishment cultivator.

That way, their descendants would no longer have to fire tiles for a living.

If fortune smiled upon them and their family produced another Foundation Establishment cultivator within four or five generations, they might even have a chance to bring glory to their ancestors and establish a Foundation Establishment lineage.

Dad's been firing tiles! Realizing something was wrong, Chen Beiwu's heart sank.

Although his father had used cigarette smoke to mask the lingering aura of fire poison on him, Chen Beiwu could still detect a trace of it.

That shouldn't be necessary! A Spirit Beast Loan isn't like a Cultivation Loan. It can be paid back gradually.

Could something have happened at home?

(End of chapter)