Even after a menial worker delivered the chicken feed and discarded spirit insects, Old Man Sun still could not make sense of it.
“How did it suddenly lay an egg… Could my memory truly be failing me?”
Standing a few paces back, Wang Ba didn’t dare chime in. He kept his head low, simply following the old man’s lead as they poured the delivered feed into a massive vat for fermentation.
One shouldn’t underestimate this slop. Even as raw chicken feed, it contained a faint trace of spiritual energy.
Even a whiff made Wang Ba feel the weakness in his body ease a little.
Once this feed underwent proper fermentation, the quality of that spiritual energy would rise by another level. Only by consuming such enriched fodder could the Rare Fowl grow healthy and plump with spiritual essence.
The discarded spirit insects were indispensable too.
“Don’t use your hands!”
Old Man Sun barked, stopping Wang Ba’s hand in mid-air just as he reached for the writhing mass of bugs.
The old man snatched up an iron ladle, scooped up the crawling critters, and scattered them toward the flock of Rare Fowl waiting eagerly around them.
“Most of these discarded spirit insects are poisonous. The Rare Fowl can eat them safely, but if we touch them, we could be injured or killed!”
For some reason, the old man, who had barely spared Wang Ba a glance yesterday, was now willing to chat. He even offered a few pointers here and there.
Wang Ba, properly chastised, retracted his hand with a shudder of fear.
Old Man Sun noted the reaction but didn’t look down on him.
Anyone would be shaken after such a narrow escape.
“Feed them only once a day,” Old Man Sun said, tossing the iron ladle back into the bucket. “Don’t worry about them starving. Between the spiritual energy in the feed and the insects, it’s enough to keep them full for a day and night.”
Wang Ba nodded repeatedly, committing every word to memory.
It was truly an eye-opener. The chickens in his previous life would peck and scratch from dawn till dusk, never seeming full.
Then again, chickens are known for their straightforward digestive system—eat, excrete, and repeat—making their digestion very fast. These spiritual breeds were clearly different.
Perhaps seeing that Wang Ba knew his place and remained consistently respectful, Old Man Sun’s attitude softened considerably compared to the previous day. He didn’t hesitate to share a bit more wisdom.
“Look at that one. It stops after eating a little. And that one. These Rare Fowl are picky eaters, so sometimes you need to let them go hungry for a while. And that one, that… Huh?”
Old Man Sun stopped mid-sentence. “Strange!”
Wang Ba followed Old Man Sun’s gaze.
A familiar-looking hen was pushing its companions aside with its round, plump body.
It pecked furiously, as if making up for years of hunger.
The pile of feed in front of it vanished at a visible rate.
That single hen was eating more than several of the other large hens combined.
Wang Ba’s heart gave a jolt.
That chicken is way too damn flashy!
Seeing this, Old Man Sun’s brow furrowed into a deep ravine.
“It’s this chicken again…”
“Really strange!”
Old Man Sun tottered forward, his movements seemingly frail, until—
Swish!
His hand shot out like lightning!
However, what happened next shocked both of them.
The large hen leaped lightly into the air, dodging the grab with uncanny agility!
Wang Ba was especially shocked. He had witnessed Old Man Sun’s hand speed last night and early this morning.
The old man was so skilled that he never missed a shot!
See one, catch one. No exceptions.
Yet, seeing the dodge, Old Man Sun wasn’t alarmed. Instead, a look of delight washed over his weathered face.
He moved again.
This time, Wang Ba couldn’t even track the movement.
He only felt a blur flash before his eyes.
Cluck! Cluck…
The plump hen was already in Old Man Sun’s hands. He deftly secured its wings behind its back, then began feeling it all over.
As he felt the bird, Old Man Sun’s eyes began to shine.
“Good heavens! It’s almost about to become Spirit Poultry!”
“Spirit Poultry?” Wang Ba asked, puzzled.
Having discovered a treasure, Old Man Sun was in high spirits and didn’t bother to hide his knowledge.
“Although Rare Fowl are precious—even the Qi Refining immortals within the sect consume them—when it comes down to it, they are still mundane poultry. At most, they possess a touch of spirituality.”
“But Spirit Poultry… they are truly transcendent beings. They have shed their mundane roots to become celestial birds!”
He turned the hen over and over, examining it.
“Of course, this hen isn’t quite Spirit Poultry yet, but it’s very close. Even so, this counts as a major achievement!”
“With careful nurturing over the next few days, it will surely complete the transformation.”
The old man’s joy was palpable.
Wang Ba had mixed feelings.
Barring any accidents, this chicken had only undergone its transformation after he had deposited his own lifespan into it.
Still, he focused on the most practical question.
“Old Man Sun, how much credit can one get for offering such a Spirit Poultry to the sect?”
Old Man Sun carefully placed the large hen back onto the ground before answering.
“It can exempt you from one year of offerings.”
“Just… exempted from the annual tribute?”
Wang Ba couldn’t hide his disappointment.
He had thought the sect might reward them with a cultivation method or something of the sort, though he would have no use for it anyway.
“Hah! Don’t underestimate the value of a tribute exemption.”
Old Man Sun chuckled, his mood clearly lifted by the discovery. He became chatty.
“The sect has strict regulations. Regarding the chickens in this manor, as long as you raise them well, anything surplus to the tribute is yours to handle.”
“The only hard rule is that you must not delay the monthly tribute. The consequences for that are unpleasant, to say the least.”
“Think about it. A year without tribute means an extra 48 Rare Fowl and 2,400 eggs you can sell!”
“At market prices, a rooster sells for two-tenths of a Spirit Stone and a hen for four-tenths. Those birds alone would fetch fourteen low-grade Spirit Stones!”
“And while the eggs aren’t worth much individually, 2,400 of them would fetch at least another two or three Spirit Stones.”
“Calculated this way, that’s a full seventeen or eighteen low-grade Spirit Stones!”
The old man sighed wistfully. “Seventeen or eighteen Spirit Stones… if you went down the mountain with that wealth, it would be enough to buy a grand three-courtyard mansion in a mortal capital city, and you could even afford to marry several wives!”
Wang Ba’s heart raced as he listened.
He hadn’t expected the Rare Fowl to be so valuable.
Nor had he expected a single Spirit Poultry to be worth so much.
After all, a reward was unlikely to be worth as much as the offering. If the sect was willing to give so much, it must be receiving something worth even more.
But on reflection, something seemed wrong.
“Old Man Sun, given the tribute requirements, we don’t seem to have enough chickens here.”
“Even with a year’s exemption, we still need to keep breeding birds and enough stock for the following year’s tribute. At most, we could sell 11 roosters and 2 hens.”
“Including the eggs, the real profit comes out to roughly three or four low-grade Spirit Stones.”
Old Man Sun paused, looking at Wang Ba with surprise.
“Young man, your mind works quite fast!”
The old man glanced left and right, ensuring no one was listening, and lowered his voice.
“The sect naturally wouldn’t be so generous; they calculate things much more clearly than you do! The Rare Fowl is the breed closest to Spirit Poultry, and it is extremely difficult to breed. The sect’s managers know this.”
“For a manor to simply guarantee the full monthly tribute is already a rare feat. To have a surplus? It might happen, but it definitely wouldn’t be much.”
“Our manor suffered a chicken plague some years ago and lost many birds. It has only just begun to recover over the past few years.”
So that’s how it is.
Wang Ba suddenly understood.
He had wondered how a single Spirit Poultry could be worth so much. The reward was largely an empty promise.
This also explained why the headcount of the flock didn’t match the expected yield.
“Alright, I’m only telling you this because I’m about to leave. Keep it in mind; it will be of great benefit to you,” Old Man Sun said, stroking his beard.
“Huh? You’re going down the mountain?” Wang Ba was taken aback.
“I’m old!”
Old Man Sun sighed, stroking his beard.
“In my youth, I was determined to seek immortality and enlightenment. I was willing to spend my family’s entire fortune to join the sect, just to gain a bit of opportunity.”
“After joining, I diligently practiced the Physique Strengthening Scripture for fifty years. Now, I have reached the ninth layer. I am just one layer away from the tenth layer, where a spiritual root can be born…”
“Unfortunately… unfortunately!”
“A single layer’s difference can be like a thousand miles apart!”
“Young Wang, life is short. Enjoy it while you can, and don’t wait until you’re my age to regret it.”
“This is the only advice I, as a senior, have for you.”
Wang Ba fell silent.
At first hearing, Old Man Sun’s life experience seemed almost a mirror image of his own.
He almost felt the old man was talking about him.
And compared to himself, Old Man Sun’s aptitude was clearly superior. At least the old man had managed to cultivate the Physique Strengthening Scripture to the ninth layer in fifty years.
If Old Man Sun had stayed in the mortal world, he would likely have been a peerless martial arts prodigy.
He could have roamed the martial world on horseback, living freely and finding a different kind of fulfillment.
Instead, he ended up as an obscure old chicken farmer within this immortal sect. A lifetime of pent-up frustration and unfulfilled ambitions.
Without his special advantage, this would likely be Wang Ba’s foreseeable future.
However… I already have a chance to turn things around.
Wang Ba looked at the Rare Fowl wandering at ease before him.
I absolutely will not let this opportunity slip through my fingers.
But… I must endure. I must wait.
He quietly clenched his fist.