"Precious Chickens!"
"They actually are in here!"
Wang Ba was overjoyed!
He eagerly found the page corresponding to Precious Chickens.
Daoist Jiao Hu wasted no words, stating his point right from the outset:
"The bloodlines of all birds can be traced back to the ancient phoenix and Vermilion Bird!"
"But time is most merciless. Even those with phoenix or Vermilion Bird bloodlines can inherit, at most, only a little of their might."
"Although Precious Chickens are mundane chickens, they are the closest of all mundane chicken breeds to Spirit Chickens. Their bloodlines are somewhat richer than those of other breeds, making advancement extremely easy. Occasionally, a Precious Chicken can break through on its own. They belong to the 'meat chicken' category, and even after becoming Spirit Chickens, pose not the slightest threat to mortals."
"Furthermore, they can consume many waste pills and insects that cultivators cannot use, gathering and purifying Spiritual Qi, which makes them quite economical. Eating them strengthens Essence Blood. When Qi Refining cultivators encounter a bottleneck, consuming large quantities of Spirit Chicken over a prolonged period even offers some chance of breaking through, without the toxicity of medicinal pills..."
"Thus, this chicken breed is exceptionally suitable as Spirit Cuisine for the Qi Refining cultivators of the various great Sects!"
Wang Ba read with rapt attention.
He vaguely realized that this book might be the origin of the chicken-raising trade within their Sect.
"No wonder the Sect has us raise chickens... They can actually help cultivators break through!"
Perhaps the effects were not as pronounced as those of medicinal pills, but they had the advantage of being gentle and having no side effects.
That alone was probably enough to make them worth the Sect's investment.
Wang Ba continued reading.
"To have a Precious Chicken advance into a Spirit Chicken, the method is as follows-"
"Take one Middle Grade Spirit Stone, grind it into powder, and mix it with one jin of first-tier superior-grade Meridian-Passing Grass seeds, two jin of first-tier mid-grade Moonlight Liquid, and two liang of powdered Spirit Chicken gizzard lining... Feed it to the chicken."
"This constitutes one course."
"Within three courses, a breakthrough is guaranteed!"
Wang Ba: "..."
For some reason, his scalp tingled.
A Middle Grade Spirit Stone?
Daoist Jiao Hu, do you know how many Lower-grade Spirit Stones one Middle Grade Spirit Stone can be exchanged for?
A hundred!
Do you know how many Lower-grade Spirit Stones a low-grade Spirit Chicken is worth?
Three for a rooster, six for a hen!
Pleasantly surprised?
Didn't see that coming, did you?
If he fucking used this method to achieve a breakthrough, wouldn't he lose so much he'd be left with chicken shit?!
And that wasn't even counting the first-tier superior-grade Meridian-Passing Grass seeds or that Moonlight Liquid.
He did have Spirit Chicken gizzard linings-the inner lining of a chicken's gizzard, which aided digestion.
He had eaten eight Spirit Chickens and kept all their Chicken Gizzard Linings.
But one thing was certain: he absolutely would not use this method to legitimize what he was doing.
It was far too wasteful! He could not afford it at all, either.
However, he also noticed a line of small writing Daoist Jiao Hu had left to one side.
"This formula uses Meridian-Passing Grass seeds to open the Precious Chicken's meridians, then floods them with the Spiritual Qi of a Middle Grade Spirit Stone in one sustained rush, stimulating its bloodline. These are merely a common man's humble views; you may alter it as you see fit."
So that was what Meridian-Passing Grass seeds did.
A faint understanding dawned on Wang Ba.
He could not help lowering his head to ponder it.
He realized that Daoist Jiao Hu's thinking was not actually complicated.
Under normal circumstances, a Precious Chicken needed an extremely long period of nourishment by Spiritual Qi to advance into a Spirit Chicken.
This was because Spiritual Qi transformed a Precious Chicken's body and bloodline from the outside in, which was naturally very slow.
Daoist Jiao Hu had therefore devised a method: he used Meridian-Passing Grass seeds to open the Precious Chicken's meridians, then fed it a Middle Grade Spirit Stone, forcibly shortening the nourishment process.
Middle Grade Spirit Stones were hard and difficult to digest even when ground into powder. This was probably why he had added Spirit Chicken gizzard lining.
With the Spiritual Qi of a Middle Grade Spirit Stone, a Precious Chicken's advancement into a Spirit Chicken was guaranteed.
"Then... what is the Moonlight Liquid for?"
"Middle Grade Spirit Stone, Meridian-Passing Grass seeds, Moonlight Liquid, Chicken Gizzard Lining... With all that Spiritual Qi in a Middle Grade Spirit Stone, wouldn't the Precious Chicken be stuffed to death?"
"Wait, stuffed to death?"
Wang Ba's eyes suddenly lit up!
He had a vague guess as to the Moonlight Liquid's purpose!
"It's protection!"
"A Middle Grade Spirit Stone contains too much Spiritual Qi. Using it to force a breakthrough would definitely cause problems! So there has to be something in there to cushion the impact. Unless I'm mistaken, this Moonlight Liquid should serve as a buffer and protection."
"In that case, if the impact of the Spiritual Qi weren't so great, could I do without the Moonlight Liquid?"
"That should work..."
"Reduce the impact of the Spiritual Qi... Would replacing it with a Lower-grade Spirit Stone work, then?"
"The Spiritual Qi in a Lower-grade Spirit Stone is still quite a lot for a Precious Chicken. If I used a Lower-grade Spirit Stone instead, the cost would be much lower."
Wang Ba rubbed his chin. The more he thought about it, the more feasible it seemed.
A Lower-grade Spirit Stone certainly would not work as well as a Middle Grade Spirit Stone, but as long as he could verify that the method worked, it would explain why he could raise Spirit Chickens.
That would be enough.
As it happened, he had previously sold Spirit Chickens for quite a few Spirit Stones.
Now all he lacked was Meridian-Passing Grass seeds.
"I'll visit the Market in a couple of days and see what they cost."
"Cough, cough!"
He closed the book with difficulty. All that reading and thinking had consumed an enormous amount of his strength.
"Strange. I've cultivated the Body-Strengthening Scripture, so my constitution should far surpass what it used to be. How did I suddenly fall so seriously ill?"
"Even if that Sect disciple gave me a fright last night, I shouldn't be this fragile."
Wang Ba wrapped the thin quilt tightly around himself, inwardly puzzled.
He thought it over repeatedly without finding an answer. Only when his thirst became unbearable and he leaned over the water vat to scoop up a drink did he suddenly find the cause.
The wavering water reflected the barely noticeable dry strands of hair at his temples.
The sight gave him a fright!
"I'm only thirty. How have I become so haggard?!"
"No! That's not right!"
"Judging by my remaining lifespan, I'm probably already close to fifty or sixty!"
He opened the panel. The lifespan field clearly read:
[Current remaining lifespan of main body: 13.2 years]
It had been even less before. Only after eating quite a few Spirit Chickens had he increased it to its current amount.
"If this is the body of a fifty- or sixty-year-old, falling seriously ill after a fright does make sense."
Wang Ba shook his head.
Being seriously ill was truly agonizing.
Weakness radiated from deep within his bones.
Especially when weak, people could often feel the cold desolation of their surroundings all the more keenly.
The cramped, dilapidated house, the musty corners, the occasional waft of accumulated chicken manure...
He still remembered the few Spirit Chickens he had hidden in Old Sun's former room.
But now, he dared not draw lifespan from those four Spirit Chickens he had hidden away.
He feared that someone was silently watching this place.
His Yin Spirit power was almost nonexistent and could no longer conceal him.
Whether it was cowardice or caution, he dared not take even the slightest further risk.
And so it went.
He slept for a while, opened his eyes, and leafed through Notes on Raising Poultry on his bed. When he grew drowsy, he went back to sleep.
When thirsty, he struggled up to drink a little water. When hungry, he shoveled down a little of yesterday's leftover rice.
He drifted in a haze from day into night...
"Get up!"
"Did you hear me?!"
Through his daze, he heard someone shouting at him.
Before you continue