Chapter 343: Chapter 6: Missing_1
A hut.
When Wang Ba woke up from the bed, he did not find Bu Chan.
The only thing that greeted him was the faint yet refreshing aroma of plants.
Hence, his mood brightened up.
As Wang Ba looked out the window, indeed Bu Chan was there, preparing food. From time to time, she shooed away Boli from stealing the food.
‘Boli——’
“Boli——”
The little creature landed grumpily on a nearby beam, chattering as if cursing something.
“You curse again, curse again.”
Bu Chan stared at it with a mixture of annoyance and amusement.
Boli immediately turned its head away. It seemed to have noticed something, tilted its head to observe, then flapped its wings, landing on top of a little monkey meditating by the lake.
‘Boli——’
The small bird tapped on the silver hair on the little monkey’s head, tugging hard, then suddenly flew up in surprise due to a streak of electric light that sprung up.
“Hmm?”
Wang Ba, who was in the hut, saw this scene and was taken aback, his face showing a hint of shock.
In a flash, he appeared beside the little monkey.
The little monkey, sensing Wang Ba’s aura, immediately opened its eyes from its meditative state.
“Hee.”
Wang Ba gently patted the little monkey’s head, and quickly revealed a delighted expression:
“Well done, you really leveled up!”
The little monkey was actually the Wu Monkey King. Prior to transforming into a Demon Ape, it was only a Class II upper grade. After the transformation, it could even compete with late-stage or peak Foundation Establishment Competitors.
But now, its aura had surprisingly reached the peak of Class II.
Wang Ba wasn’t too taken aback.
Wu Monkey King was full of spirituality. Wang Ba had noticed, long before, that it had been slowly figuring out a Cultivation method to actively absorb and refine the Spiritual Energy.
Jia 15 seemed to be learning from it.
Although this method seemed crude and unimaginable to Wang Ba, there weren’t too many fancy moves in Spirit Beast training. Thus, it was probably the most suitable method for Wu Monkey King.
After more than ten years of daily meditation and cultivation, Wu Monkey King finally managed to breakthrough its limits, taking another sturdy step forward.
It was just that Wang Ba hadn’t been around and thus hadn’t noticed when it completed its breakthrough.
The promotion of Wu Monkey King delighted Wang Ba.
As the most combat-adept Spirit Beast under his command, Wu Monkey King had played pivotal roles in several of Wang Ba’s crucial battles, hence, Wang Ba was pretty hopeful about it.
“If there’s a chance, I should teach it some new spells…”
Wang Ba quickly made a training plan for Wu Monkey King.
The strengths of Spirit Beasts relate to their bodies and the spells they master.
For instance, even though its natural spell, ‘Mountain Collapse Earth Split’ has a power level equivalent to a common Class II spell, it allows Wu Monkey King to successfully approach enemies in high altitudes by abruptly raising the ground level.
Then, relying on its powerful body, it fights opponents at close range.
This spell is extremely important tactically.
Including the ‘Quicksand’ and ‘Wood Vine’ spells that Wang Ba had previously taught it, the former doesn’t work as effectively on Foundation Establishment Competitors, but the latter could provide Wu Monkey King with a weapon, allowing it to better utilize its power.
This is the value of spells.
However, these three spells are gradually unable to keep up with Wu Monkey King’s strength.
So Wang Ba planned to take some time soon to give Wu Monkey King some additional training.
Currently, Wu Monkey King should find it easier to master new spells than when it was a Class II lower grade.
But that will have to wait, as he had more important things to handle.
“By the way, where’s Jia 15?”
Wang Ba asked, puzzled.
Bu Chan, who was setting up breakfast, pointed into the distance.
Only then did Wang Ba notice a male Spirit Chicken, significantly leaner than the others, calmly slid off a Class II peak-grade female Spirit Chicken.
It walked with a calm demeanor towards another female Spirit Chicken thrusting its butt up in the air.
“He’s relentless!”
Wang Ba had no choice but to admire the dedication of this Master Lin who had possessed Jia 15.
Doing such things repetitively for ten years had emaciated him beyond recognition, yet he was still at the forefront. Not everyone could have such a dedicated mindset.
At least, Wang Ba himself admitted he couldn’t do this.
Especially considering that most of these top-grade Spirit Chickens in the barn had actually been sired by him…
To be frank, Wang Ba frowned, wondering if he had gone too far.
This was in violation of nature!
However, compared to Wang Ba’s self-reflection, Lin Xiwen, oh no, Jia 15, didn’t seem to have a shred of burden.
On the contrary, he was filled with energy.
“My lifespan is over three thousand four hundred years now!”
“Cluck.”
“That’s several times more than I had at my peak!”
“Keep going!”
“Although the Cultivation progress is slow now, cluck, but with such a long lifespan, I should be able to become an Immortal Master of Nascent Soul!”
“It’s a pity that the System has too many restrictions. The lifespan of the offspring born to me doesn’t count, otherwise, I could just focus on cultivation now.”
At that moment, upon noticing Wang Ba looking at him, Jia 15 sneered defiantly.
“This devil surnamed Wang, most probably has no idea that the Spiritual Lineage and spirit food he provided, all ended up benefiting me!”
“Ke ke, he must be worrying about how to feed so many Spirit Chickens… If he has to blame anyone, he can only blame himself for offending me!”
“He deserves this calamity!”
Thinking of this, it immediately jumped onto the female Spirit Chicken again, feeling naturally excited. However, this excitement was followed by a taste of blandness…
But inexplicably, it felt a sense of unparalleled revenge from within.
“Little demon, wait until this old man regains his peak, hehe…”
However, very soon, Jia 15’s sneer became rigid.
The chicken was lifted up uncontrollably.
“It’s the demon!”
“He’s back!”
Seeing his body being lifted up by Wang Ba, Jia 15 couldn’t help but curse in his heart.
After struggling for a while, it gave up.
With the Spirit Beast Collar around its neck, there was no way for it to resist.
It could only hang its head in anger, closing its eyes in humiliation and allowing Wang Ba to inspect its body in a demeaning manner.
“Not bad! The spiritual power inside the body has improved quite a bit, in that case, the dosage of the ‘Thunderfire Rain’ in the bloodline breakthrough materials can be reduced appropriately…”
Wang Ba wiped his hands on Jia 15’s body, a hint of surprise in his eyes.
Since Jia 15 itself was also improving its body through cultivation, Wang Ba would periodically inspect Jia 15’s body to adjust the bloodline breakthrough formula in time.
This time was definitely good news. They could completely replace the decreased dosage of Thunderfire Rain with other Class II spirit materials.
Plus the resources promised by Shang Li, he only needed to find the remaining three types of spirit materials.
In a good mood, he specifically fed Jia 15 some of the Class II Spirit Insects he bought with Spirit Stones, and treated it to an extra meal.
Jia 15, who was silently motivating itself with the thought of ‘it’s my turn after three hundred years’, was stunned when he saw these menacing spirit insects.
It didn’t give a damn about humiliation anymore. It relished each insect one by one; the juices were overflowing, the spiritual energy was surging, and its mood immediately improved.
“Watch me eat you out of house and home!”
It immediately gobbled down the delicious nearby Class II Spirit Valley Bran and spirit rice, feeling immensely elated.
Far away.
In front of the house, there was a wooden table.
“It seems that a cultivator’s possession of a spirit beast has a great impact on the cultivator…”
As Bu Chan, who had always been watching Jia 15’s situation secretly, invited Wang Ba to have dinner together, she quietly passed the message to Wang Ba.
Wang Ba didn’t conceal the matter of Jia 15 being possessed from Bu Chan.
After all, while Jia 15 was indeed Wang Ba’s current crucial helper, there were also hidden dangers. Therefore, he naturally couldn’t keep it from her.
Hearing Bu Chan’s message, Wang Ba nodded slightly, agreeing with Bu Chan.
Bu Chan drew this conclusion simply by observing Jia 15’s behavior, while Wang Ba often used the power of the Yin God to deeply investigate Jia 15, assessing potential dangers.
Wang Ba was surprisingly found that the Master Lin within Jia 15, instead of being the remnant soul of a Golden Core expert as before, had already been assimilated by the Spirit Chicken’s body so subtly. It had become a new Jia 15 with the memory and part of the character of a Golden Core master.
It was accustomed to the taste of chicken food, and occasionally eating a Spirit Insect was delicious.
It was habitual to mate with a female Spirit Chicken, and was even absorbed in it.
Its behavior bore the mark of Master Lin but was gradually getting close to that of other Spirit Chickens.
It was completely oblivious of what was happening, still under the impression that it was the Golden Core master it once was.
Wang Ba was not sure if its will was changed by the environment or the body of the Spirit Chicken. Apparently, the possession was not without risks.
However, he didn’t dwell on it any further, as long as he ensured that Jia 15 was not a risk.
“Let’s have breakfast first. It’s been a long time since I’ve had your breakfast.”
Wang Ba said with a smile on his face.
Foundation Establishment cultivators could live on wind and dew, and as long as they had enough spiritual energy, the need for food was actually optional.
But both of them maintained the usual eating habits of mortals when they weren’t in secluded cultivation.
“Mm.”
Hearing this, Bu Chan didn’t ask anything else. She confidently believed that her senior brother could handle these things, and all she needed to do was offer her unconditional support.
She immediately passed Wang Ba a pair of chopsticks.
On the wooden table.
There was porridge made from spirit rice, pancakes made from eggs laid by Class II top-grade Spirit Chickens, and rice cakes made from rice lees fermented by spirit rice. Also present were two small plates of side dishes.
The sounds of drinking porridge, munching sides, occasional laughter, chirping of Boli and flapping of wings…
…
After breakfast, it was Bu Chan who got busy first.
She was predominantly occupied with taking care of the Thousand God Tree.
Adept spirit plant masters could expedite the growth of spirit plants through various means. With Bu Chan’s meticulous care, the maturity speed of the Divine Dew on the Thousand God Tree had at least increased by 20% during these years.
It originally took more than a dozen years for a batch to mature, and now it just took about ten years.
As a Spirit Plant Master, Bu Chan also benefited greatly from taking care of these Class II spirit plants. Over the span of nine years, she successfully moved from the Qi Refining Stage IX and established her foundation.
Wang Ba wasn’t left behind either — the continuous supply of Divine Dew allowed him to not only maintain control over Jia 15 but also ensure the continued rise of the power of the Yin God in the Spirit Government.
Wang Ba helped Bu Chan for a while, but was soon kicked out of the spirit field as he was awkward and clumsy.
He didn’t mind, and after some thought, he decided to visit Wen Yong, who he hadn’t seen since his return. He quickly cleaned up and left the gathering place of the rogue cultivators, and headed to the Shanli Changyi Society near Lingbi City.
Wen Yong was indeed there, inventorying a large number of treasures.
Seeing Wang Ba arrive, he breathed a sigh of relief.
But, he immediately became alert and put away all the treasures. He quickly led Wang Ba away from the vicinity of the Shanli boundary tablet.
Although Wang Ba was puzzled, he still followed Wen Yong, wind around a long way.
Finally, in a place where Wang Ba wasn’t paying attention to at all, Wen Yong formed a finger seal and activated an extremely covert Formation.
Then he led Wang Ba into it.
Before Wang Ba could say anything, Wen Yong said with a solemn face:
“Shen, have you heard the news?”
“All those Class II alchemists from the Baidan Society have disappeared!”