Feeling the strength surging through his body and his muscles gradually firming up,
Wang Ba wanted to push the Body-Strengthening Scripture to the fourth layer.
But he held himself back.
What if Steward Li notices after I break through?
How would I explain it?
Breaking through the first three layers could just barely be put down to exceptional talent, but mastering the fourth layer too would be a bit much...
After all, even the first three layers combined took less time than the fourth.
No! I still need to play it safe!
I'm only thirty now, not old yet. I still have plenty of time. I can't rush this.
He weighed it back and forth, thinking it over again and again.
In the end, Wang Ba set aside the temptation to swiftly master the fourth layer of the Body-Strengthening Scripture.
Still, he could not quite resign himself to leaving so much lifespan sitting unused.
At present, leaving resources unconverted into abilities of his own was simply too wasteful.
It would completely squander the risk he had taken to sell a Spirit Chicken.
Right! Didn't that sheet of gold paper from Old Sun record a cultivation method?
Wang Ba suddenly remembered the Yin Spirit Great Dream Scripture.
This cultivation method consumed an immense amount of time.
Yet its effects were described only vaguely. It merely said it could bewilder people's minds; only those who practiced it would know its specific effects.
Previously, Wang Ba had been reluctant to waste his lifespan on it.
But now that he dared not advance the Body-Strengthening Scripture, he had no choice besides the Yin Spirit Great Dream Scripture.
One more skill means one more path.
Wang Ba consoled himself.
The only problem was that this cultivation method was not yet on his panel.
Clearly, he had not yet gained an initial grasp of it.
That was easy enough to address. After fermenting the chicken feed, feeding the chickens, and cleaning up each day, he had plenty of time to study it.
Right, Shopkeeper Lu also slipped me a pouch earlier.
Suddenly remembering this, Wang Ba quickly took out the pouch and gently tipped its contents onto the table.
Clack.
An irregular, pale blue stone the size of his little finger fell onto the table, along with a pile of brilliantly red rice!
"It's a Spirit Stone... Is this spirit rice?!"
Wang Ba could not help holding his breath. Cradling the Spirit Stone in his palm, he examined it closely by the dim yellow candlelight.
The uneven Spirit Stone shimmered with a dreamlike luster in the flickering candlelight.
Its appearance was every bit the equal of the finest diamonds from his previous life.
This was his first time holding one himself.
Previously, he had only seen them from afar. It would have been impossible not to envy them.
Now he actually had the chance to handle such an immortal treasure himself.
It felt just like when, as a child in his previous life, he had finally gotten a razor he had long yearned for.
That had been more than just a razor.
And this was more than just a Spirit Stone.
He took a deep breath, suppressing the waves in his heart.
Calm once more, Wang Ba carefully picked up a handful of spirit rice.
He had seen it many times in the grain shop.
But he had never been willing to spend the money on it.
Nor had he had the money to buy it.
Unlike ordinary rice, which cost two taels of silver per jin,
Spirit rice started at prices measured in Spirit Stones.
The cheapest cost two hundredths of a Spirit Stone per jin.
It looked no different from the rice before him.
He carefully gathered up the spirit rice on the table and weighed it in his hand. There seemed to be about a jin.
Shopkeeper Lu really knows how to do business!
Wang Ba marveled inwardly.
Three Spirit Stones in exchange for twenty-two Precious Chickens, with a jin of spirit rice thrown in for free.
Though it was the cheapest kind, any ordinary person who wanted to sell again would surely return to the Lu Family Grain Shop.
Shaking his head, he grabbed a male Spirit Chicken and drained all its remaining lifespan. After gaining 0.4 years of lifespan, he caught it off guard and deftly slit its throat to drain its blood...
Then he heated water and plucked it, burning the feathers as he went. After washing it clean, he placed it in a clay pot, filled it with water, brought it to a boil over high heat, and left it to simmer over low heat.
He put on another pot and cooked one tael of spirit rice together with ordinary rice.
He really could not bear to use spirit rice alone.
As for the Spirit Chickens,
keeping them would only invite trouble.
After all, Steward Li came once a month. Hiding a few where they would not stand out was one thing, but so many Spirit Chickens would certainly be noticed.
Thus, when he bartered with Shopkeeper Lu, he had already decided how to deal with them.
He would eat them himself.
There were only twenty-two, after all.
A mortal woman could eat thirty chickens during her month of postpartum confinement. He could surely manage it too.
Though it was admittedly quite wasteful.
If he really could not finish them, he would find a way to sell them at a more distant Market.
In any case, he absolutely could not leave them at the mountain estate.
After the clay pot had simmered over low heat for two to four hours, he lifted the lid, and a rich fragrance rushed into his nose.
No seasonings were needed. Just a light sprinkling of salt was enough for the chicken's savory fragrance to flood his nose and mouth.
Especially with the Spiritual Qi contained within it-one breath almost made Wang Ba ascend to immortality on the spot.
Only because the mountain estate stood isolated, surrounded by desolate, uninhabited land, had it not already drawn anyone's attention.
Wang Ba did not stand on ceremony either.
He served himself a bowl of crimson spirit rice, a bowl of chicken soup with meat, and some blood curd made from the chicken's blood.
The chicken was tender, the blood curd smooth on the tongue.
Most importantly, although he had no Spiritual Root and could not capture Spiritual Qi,
the rich Spiritual Qi contained in the Spirit Chicken still surged in a swarm, rising throughout his body!
Vaguely, he actually felt his Body-Strengthening Scripture improve as well.
Though the improvement was minuscule,
it was still a pleasant surprise for Wang Ba.
"No wonder immortals use this as Spirit Cuisine. It really is extraordinary!"
After eating just one drumstick, Wang Ba already felt his belly bulging.
He only managed half his bowl of spirit rice before he could not eat another bite, no matter what.
Though the spirit rice filled his mouth with a rich fragrance that whetted his appetite the moment it touched his tongue,
the Spiritual Qi was simply too abundant. As a mortal, Wang Ba truly could not stomach it.
This is troublesome. There's no way I can finish twenty-two in a month.
Besides, there's less than a month until Steward Li comes again.
After the meal, Wang Ba rubbed his belly, sinking into worry.
In truth, never mind twenty-two Spirit Chickens a month-even finishing five a month would mean he had made quite an effort.
Just now, for instance, after eating, he felt filled with inexhaustible strength, as though he would not feel hungry even if he went three days without food or drink.
He was so alert that even when the moon reached the middle of the sky and moonlight spilled over the head of his bed, he felt no trace of sleepiness.
After tossing and turning, utterly unable to sleep, he simply got up, lit a lamp, and began reading the Yin Spirit Great Dream Scripture.
Since he had read it before, some impressions remained in his mind despite his hazy recollection. Even when the characters were sometimes too small to make out clearly, he soon remembered them.
He read carefully from beginning to end, then went over it several more times, reading and comprehending each word and sentence.
Whether it was because he had eaten the Spirit Chicken or not, Wang Ba felt exceptionally clearheaded that night, even vaguely feeling as though he could remember everything at a glance.
Not only could he quickly grasp the meaning of what he read, but whenever he thought back on it, he recalled it at once.
Just like that, he lost himself in it until the roosters began to crow.
Only then did he rouse from the profound contents of the gold paper.
Looking through the window, he saw that the horizon had already turned fish-belly white.
"A whole night has already passed."
The cold early-morning wind carried a faint scent as it swept into the cramped room.
Wang Ba rose from the table and stretched. Whether it was because of the Spirit Chicken or not, his lower back felt no soreness at all despite having sat there all night.
Instead, he still felt refreshed and clearheaded.
Most importantly, his hard work throughout the night had finally yielded something.
[Available expenditure: First layer of the Yin Spirit Great Dream Scripture. Accounting for overall aptitude and Root Bone, the required expenditure is 113.7 years.] [Current remaining lifespan of main body: 125.3 years.]
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