Wang Ba returned to the mountain manor, but he did not rush back to the market immediately.
He waited patiently for several more days. Then, near closing time, he took a male Spirit Poultry to Lu’s Grain Depot.
He wore the same disguise: Old Man Sun’s tattered robes, soot smeared on his face.
This time, however, Shopkeeper Lu recognized him the moment he stepped through the door.
“Please, come in, esteemed guest!”
Unlike their first encounter, Shopkeeper Lu didn’t just sit behind his high counter. He personally came out, smiling warmly as he greeted Wang Ba.
Wang Ba was both flattered and taken aback by the shift in attitude.
But he soon composed himself.
He pulled the rooster from his basket.
Shopkeeper Lu’s eyes lit up. “It is indeed a First Rank, Low-Grade Spirit Poultry!”
Despite his verbal confirmation, Lu was a professional. He produced a slip of yellow paper inscribed with faint, mysterious patterns—a Spirit Light Talisman.
He brought the talisman close to the struggling bird.
Whoosh.
The paper ignited of its own accord, releasing a faint gray light.
“My judgment was right. That gray light means it is Low-Grade.”
Wang Ba nodded. He had expected nothing less.
“It’s a shame it’s not a hen,” Lu said, a practiced look of regret crossing his face. “According to today’s market price, I can offer you three and four-tenths low-grade Spirit Stones.”
Spirit Stones were precious and not often used even in the West Garden Market. A low-grade Spirit Stone was divided into ten tenths.
Three and four-tenths was one-tenth of a stone more than the other shops had offered him the previous day.
Naturally, Wang Ba was inclined to sell here.
But he had a better idea.
“Shopkeeper Lu,” Wang Ba said, cupping his hands. “I don’t want Spirit Stones. Could we barter instead?”
“Oh? No stones?” Lu blinked, then laughed heartily. “That would be best! To be frank, Spirit Stones are always in short supply. If you wanted cash, it would give me a real headache!”
They exchanged warm smiles, the tension of the negotiation melting away. Their relationship grew a bit closer without them even realizing it.
“What would you like?” Lu asked.
Wang Ba didn’t hesitate. “I want to exchange for a batch of Rare Fowl.”
“Rare Fowl?” Shopkeeper Lu’s eyes flickered with calculation as he stroked his beard. “We certainly have stock. Do you wish to convert the entire sum?”
“Uh… I’ll keep four-tenths of a stone and exchange the rest for Rare Fowl. How many would that buy?”
Wang Ba decided to keep a small amount of liquid currency for emergencies.
“Three Spirit Stones…”
Shopkeeper Lu fetched an abacus, his fingers dancing across the beads with practiced speed. Click-clack-click.
“I can offer the hens at 0.32 Spirit Stones each, and count the roosters at 0.15 each.”
“That makes 0.47 Spirit Stones for a pair.”
Wang Ba ran the numbers in his head.
For the manor, hens were objectively better. They laid eggs and contained more spiritual energy.
For Wang Ba’s immediate needs, however, roosters would be more useful.
He needed volume. His plan was simple: force a breakthrough in the roosters, harvest their lifespan, and convert that time into cultivation progress.
That might at least give him a little sense of security.
Later, after he got the farming manual from Deacon Li, he could slowly, legitimately expand the flock. Slow and steady. Safe.
“I have a counter-offer,” Wang Ba said. “Three Spirit Stones can buy twenty male Rare Fowl at market rate. I would like twenty-two.”
Shopkeeper Lu’s face twisted into a pained grimace.
“This… two extra roosters? That’s a whole three-tenths of a stone in value…”
Inwardly, Lu was delighted. Hens contained more spiritual energy and could lay eggs, so they were in demand and brought much higher profits. If he had not wanted a returning customer, he would never have let so many go at buying price.
But he kept the pained look plastered on his face. Finally, he sighed, gritting his teeth.
“Fine! I feel like I’ve known you forever, so I’ll take the liberty of calling you Little Brother. Little Brother, I’ll eat the loss this time! But if you get another Spirit Poultry, you must bring it to your Old Brother Lu first!”
“By sheer luck, by sheer luck. If fortune smiles on me again, I will definitely come to you.”
The deal struck, Lu led him into the back of the shop.
Wang Ba was surprised to find a hidden yard behind the storefront, complete with small coops and pens. It was a miniature farm.
He meticulously selected twenty-two roosters with the highest base lifespans. Satisfied, he loaded them into a massive bamboo basket that towered over his head.
Before he left, Shopkeeper Lu also pressed a small bag of something on him, telling him to look at it when he got home. Wang Ba accepted it.
As Wang Ba disappeared into the twilight, Shopkeeper Lu stood at the door, sipping his tea.
“Spirit Poultry are hard to come by,” he murmured to a servant boy. “Go ask around. See if anyone new has been assigned to the Ding Section.”
The servant boy, trying to be clever, whispered, “Master, should I have someone follow him?”
Smack!
Lu slapped him.
“Have you lost your mind? I told you to ask so we might gain another supplier, not to stir up trouble! If he has an expert behind him, ten of you wouldn’t be enough to pay with your lives!”
“Go! Just ask! Do not pry!”
“Yes! Yes!” The boy held his cheek, not daring to say another word.
Wang Ba took the long way home, winding through hidden paths.
His timing was good, and he met almost no one along the way.
But even with the strength from the first layer of the Physique Strengthening Scripture, carrying twenty-two chickens up a mountain road was grueling work. He was drenched in sweat.
Worse still, chickens defecated frequently.
Liquid droppings seeped through the weave of the bamboo basket, dripping onto his back and robes.
The stench was eye-watering.
In the past, the smell would have made him gag.
But now? Wang Ba didn’t feel a thing.
He looked at the birds with more delight than he would have felt at the sight of gold or silver. Get faster updates on novelping.com.
These weren’t chickens. They were walking, clucking years of lifespan.
Back at the manor, he wasted no time.
He injected 0.1 years of lifespan into each of the twenty-two roosters.
He marked them, released them, and ordered extra feed.
Eight days later.
“The lifespan of this batch has stopped increasing.”
Wang Ba stood in the coop, scanning the flock.
“Time to harvest.”
He took a deep breath.
One by one, he caught the transformed roosters.
He placed his hand on them.
[Extract.]
Twenty-two birds, with fifty-five years drawn from each.
Converted at a 10:1 ratio, that was 5.5 years of personal lifespan per bird.
Total Harvest: 121 Years.
The interface flashed.
[Current Host Remaining Lifespan: 179.1 Years]
[Consumable Items: Physique Strengthening Scripture, Layer 2. Accounting for aptitude and constitution, cost: 18 years.]
For some reason, Wang Ba felt eighteen again, full of youthful vitality.
As he looked at the numbers on the panel, a sense of fulfillment from the promise of longevity filled his heart.
But he quickly snapped out of the intoxication.
“This longevity is only an illusion for now! Only by truly embarking on cultivation can I hope for eternal life!”
He didn’t hesitate.
Consume.
[Lifespan -18 Years!]
Physique Strengthening Scripture: Second Layer — COMPLETED!
He didn’t stop.
[Lifespan -36 Years!]
Physique Strengthening Scripture: Third Layer — COMPLETED!
[Current Host Remaining Lifespan: 125.1 Years]
[Consumable Items: Physique Strengthening Scripture, Layer 4. Accounting for aptitude and constitution, cost: 72 years!]
His finger hovered over the button for the fourth layer.
Suddenly, he hesitated.