Spirit Chicken!

Not until the menial workers had delivered the chicken feed and discarded Spirit Insects.

Old Sun still could not quite figure it out.

"How did it suddenly lay an egg... could I really have remembered wrong?"

Wang Ba did not dare chime in. He simply helped Old Sun pour the delivered chicken feed into a large bucket to ferment.

It might only have been chicken feed, but it still contained a little spiritual power.

Just taking a whiff, Wang Ba felt the weakness in his body ease faintly.

After thorough fermentation, the quality of the spiritual power in this Chicken Feed would rise another level.

Only by eating Chicken Feed like this could the Precious Chickens grow healthier and brim with Spiritual Qi.

Of course, those discarded Spirit Insects were indispensable too.

"Don't use your hands!"

Old Sun barked, stopping Wang Ba from reaching for the Spirit Insects.

Then he picked up an iron spoon, scooped up the crawling Spirit Insects, and scattered them toward the Precious Chickens that had long been waiting nearby.

"Most of these discarded Spirit Insects are poisonous. The Precious Chickens can eat them without fear, but if we touch them, we'll either die or be injured!"

For some reason, Old Sun, who had barely bothered with Wang Ba yesterday, was willing to exchange a few words with him today.

He also offered reminders now and then.

Warned, Wang Ba drew his hand back with lingering fear.

Old Sun saw it, but showed no contempt.

Anyone would feel shaken after escaping death.

"Feed them only once a day. Don't worry about them going hungry. The Spiritual Qi in this Chicken Feed and the Spirit Insects is enough to keep them digesting for a full day and night."

Old Sun dropped the iron spoon and continued instructing him.

Wang Ba nodded repeatedly.

He really was learning something new. The chickens in his previous life had pecked away from morning till night.

After all, chickens had straight guts. They ate, defecated, then ate again, digesting extremely quickly.

Perhaps it was because Wang Ba knew his place and remained humble and courteous.

Old Sun's attitude had softened considerably compared with when Wang Ba first arrived yesterday, and he did not begrudge him a few more words.

"Look at that one. Once it's eaten its fill, it hardly eats anymore. And that one too. These Precious Chickens have all developed terribly picky palates, so sometimes you have to let them go hungry a little. And that one, that... huh? Strange!"

Wang Ba followed Old Sun's gaze and saw a rather familiar large hen using its plump, rounded body to shove its companions aside.

Meanwhile, its head pecked furiously, as though it had been starving for years and meant to eat it all back at once.

The Chicken Feed before him vanished at a visible rate.

It ate more than several of the other large hens combined.

Wang Ba's heart immediately jolted.

This chicken was being way too damned conspicuous!

Seeing this, Old Sun knitted his brows into three deep furrows.

"This chicken again..."

"How strange!"

Old Sun tottered over, then shot out his hand like lightning!

Yet what left both Old Sun and Wang Ba rather stunned was this.

The large hen actually dodged it with a light hop!

Wang Ba was especially shocked!

He had witnessed Old Sun's hand speed himself last night and early this morning.

It could practically be called an unerring shot!

Whatever he reached for, he caught!

At this, however, Old Sun was delighted rather than surprised.

He reached out again.

This time, Wang Ba could not even make out when he had moved.

He only saw a flash before his eyes.

"Cluck! Cluck..."

The plump, rounded hen was already in Old Sun's hands.

He deftly pinned its wings behind its back, then felt it all over...

As he felt around, Old Sun's eyes lit up.

"Well, well! It's actually about to become a Spirit Chicken!"

"A Spirit Chicken?"

Wang Ba asked in puzzlement.

Having obtained a treasure, Old Sun was in an excellent mood, and he made no effort to hide it.

"Though Precious Chickens are precious enough that even the Qi Refining Immortals in the Sect eat them, they're still ordinary domestic fowl at the end of the day. At most, they have a little spiritual nature!"

"A Spirit Chicken, on the other hand, is an immortal fowl that has truly transcended the mundane!"

"Of course, this chicken can't quite be called a Spirit Chicken yet. All we can say is that it's very close. But even so, this counts as a great contribution!"

"As long as it's carefully tended over the coming days, it will definitely become a Spirit Chicken."

Old Sun explained with great enthusiasm.

He turned the large hen over and over in his hands, his joy plain on his face.

Wang Ba's feelings, meanwhile, were rather complicated.

After all, barring anything unexpected, this chicken had only undergone its transformation after his lifespan had been deposited into it.

Still, he picked out the crucial point and asked:

"Old Sun, how much credit would offering up a Spirit Chicken like this earn?"

Old Sun carefully set the large hen back down while answering Wang Ba's question:

"An exemption from one year's tribute."

"Just an exemption from one year's tribute?"

Wang Ba was immediately rather disappointed.

He had thought the Sect might reward them with a Cultivation Method or something, though he could not use it anyway.

"Hah! Don't underestimate an exemption from tribute."

In high spirits, Old Sun grew more talkative.

"The Sect has rules."

"As long as you raise the chickens in this Mountain Manor well, aside from the portion owed as tribute, you can do whatever you like with the rest."

"The only requirement is that you mustn't fall behind on the monthly tribute, or things will end badly."

"Think about it. Without having to pay tribute for a year, you'd effectively have an extra forty-eight Precious Chickens and twenty-four hundred Precious Chicken eggs to sell!"

"At Market prices, a prized rooster sells for two-tenths of a Spirit Stone, and a hen for four-tenths. Those alone would fetch a full fourteen low-grade Spirit Stones!"

"Precious Chicken eggs aren't worth much, but twenty-four hundred would still be worth at least two or three Spirit Stones."

"Add it up, and that's a whole seventeen or eighteen Lower-grade Spirit Stones!"

"Seventeen or eighteen Spirit Stones! Once you leave the mountain, that's enough to buy a grand courtyard residence three courtyards deep in a mortal capital, with several wives to spare!"

Wang Ba's heart pounded as he listened!

He had never imagined these Precious Chickens were worth so much!

Nor had he imagined a single Spirit Chicken could be so valuable!

After all, the reward was probably worth less than the tribute. If the Sect was willing to give so much, it naturally meant it received even more.

But after thinking it over carefully, he felt something was wrong.

"Old Sun, judging by the tribute requirements, it seems we don't even have enough chickens here."

"Even if we're exempt from a year's tribute, we still have to keep some breeding stock, as well as the share owed when tribute resumes a year later. By that calculation, we could sell at most eleven roosters and two hens."

"Including the eggs, that would really only come to around three or four Lower-grade Spirit Stones."

Hearing Wang Ba's words, Old Sun gave him a somewhat surprised look.

"You've got a quick mind, boy!"

After a moment's thought, he glanced around and lowered his voice.

"The Sect naturally wouldn't be that generous. They've done their sums far more thoroughly than you! These Precious Chickens are already the breed closest to Spirit Chickens, and they're extremely difficult to breed. The Sect's stewards know that too. It's already no easy feat for each manor to provide its full monthly tribute. There might be a surplus, but never much."

"As for our manor, a Chicken Plague broke out a few years back, killing and injuring a great many. We've only barely recovered some vitality over these past few years."

"And as for what you said about not having enough... heh, the Sect doesn't care about that! If you're short, find a way yourself. Even if you have to buy them at the Market, you must make up the full amount. Why else do you think they give us a regular allowance?"

So that was it.

Wang Ba understood.

He had wondered how a single Spirit Chicken could be worth so much. It turned out they were all writing empty checks.

That also explained his doubts about why the number of Precious Chickens in the Mountain Manor did not add up.

"All right, I'm only telling you this because I'm leaving. Keep it in mind. It'll do you a great deal of good."

Old Sun stroked his beard.

"Hm? You're leaving the mountain?"

Wang Ba froze at his words.

"I'm old!"

Stroking his beard, Old Sun sighed.

"When I was young, I thought of nothing but seeking immortality and pursuing the Dao. I spent my entire family fortune to enter the Sect, hoping only to gain a sliver of opportunity."

"After joining the Sect, I practiced the Body-Strengthening Scripture diligently for fifty years. Now I've reached the ninth level, only one level short of the Tenth Layer, where a Spiritual Root can be born..."

"What a pity. What a pity!"

"One level apart, yet a thousand miles away!"

"Boy, life is short. Enjoy it while you can. Don't wait until you're my age to regret it."

"Consider that the only piece of advice this senior has for you."

Wang Ba fell silent.

At first hearing, Old Sun's life was practically a copy of his own.

He almost mistook it for an account of himself.

And compared with him, Old Sun clearly had much better aptitude.

At least he had managed to cultivate the Body-Strengthening Scripture to the Ninth Layer in just fifty years.

Had he remained in the mortal world, he would surely have been an unparalleled martial prodigy.

Riding through the martial world and living as he pleased would have held a splendor all its own.

Sadly, now he could only remain within this immortal sect as an obscure old chicken keeper.

Frustrated and unfulfilled his whole life.

Without his cheat, this would probably have been the future Wang Ba could plainly see before him.

But... now that I have a chance to turn things around, I will never let it slip through my fingers again!

But... I still need to endure and wait!

Watching the Precious Chickens before him going leisurely about their lives, Wang Ba quietly clenched his fists.