YM778.TV Chapter 28 - 28 Sect Recruitment i
“Unless what?”
After waiting for a while, Old Hou remained silent, causing Wang Ba to suddenly ask anxiously.
Leaving a sentence hanging like this was certainly tantalising!
However, this time, no matter how much Wang Ba probed, Old Hou remained tight-lipped.
Even to avoid Wang Ba’s further questioning, seeing that his own will wasn’t strong, Old Hou simply waved his hand, flicked the whip, and drove away on his donkey cart, drifting as he went.
Wang Ba was so angered he wanted to curse.
But he still managed to calm down and quickly sorted out the information from their conversation.
“According to Old Hou and Deacon Li, the Body Strengthening Scripture is just a carrot dangled in front of all the servants, making them work hard in hopes of getting a chance to defy the heavens and change their fate.”
“But apart from those who already have a ‘concealed Spiritual Root’, most people are merely backdrops, lambs to the slaughter.”
“Yet, it seems Old Hou implies there might be a turning point.”
Recalling the changes in Old Hou recently and the fact that he almost couldn’t stop Old Hou from leaving earlier, Wang Ba had a vague guess.
“Old Hou, if things went as I expect, should also have reached Stage IX.”
“The profit from delivering chicken feed isn’t great, and he doesn’t look like a wealthy person, so the chances of his cultivation relying on consuming ‘Meridian Grass seeds’ are not high.”
So, it could only be due to his own talent… But when I just arrived, Old Hou was panting from exhaustion after helping me move the chicken feed. Just a few months later, he’s ferrying tens of kilos of chicken feed up and down the mountains without breaking a sweat. The odds of such a transformation relying solely on natural talent in such a short time frame are slim!”
“Therefore, there’s only one possibility… he benefited substantially from the Chengxian Society!”
“Without a doubt, the secret for ordinary people to defy the heavens and acquire a Spiritual Root must lie with the Chengxian Society!”
“However, what is the Chengxian Society’s aim of enticing and buying over the servants?”
This was an ultimately fruitless contemplation, so Wang Ba didn’t overthink it anymore.
He continued to eat the Spirit Chickens, striving to strengthen his Power of the Yin God.
However, every day following, Wang Ba would bother Old Hou, trying to coax out more information from this ‘motor-mouth’.
What surprised him was that in the days that followed, Old Hou became as tight-lipped as a clam, no matter how Wang Ba provoked him, he wouldn’t loosen up.
“Seems like the Chengxian Society has quite a hold over Old Hou!”
Wang Ba pondered thoughtfully.
It was during these repetitious days that the Sect finally began its recruitment.
On that day,
Wang Ba looked up from his lodge to see countless brilliant streaks of light flashing across the daytime sky.
Beautiful, spectacular, and filled with awe-inspiring dense spiritual energy!
Wang Ba only glanced enviously for a moment before quickly retreating indoors, resisting the impulse to continue watching.
He feared that if any of those people in the sky were to look down and see him, it might entirely deplete the Power of the Yin God he’d worked so hard to condense.
Deacon Li also wanted him to guide and carry gifts for the new Sect Disciples during the recruitment ceremony. For that, he could receive a reward from the Sect,
but Wang Ba declined, saying he needed to care for the Spirit Chickens.
“Really not going? This is a great opportunity to form a good relationship with the Sect Disciples and an opportunity the Sect gives to the servants!”
Deacon Li tried to convince him.
Wang Ba shook his head: “I want to go, but these Spirit Chickens were just bred. 1 worry that it could hamper their growth. I’ll have to pass on this.”
“Moreover, even if I do establish good relationships, would it help me cultivate a Spiritual Root?”
“Well, in that case, I’ll go find other servants.”
Deacon Li shook his head slightly before leaving.
Days returned to their usual peace, the Sect’s recruitment, a significant event, quickly became a speck of dust in his memory.
Only occasionally, when Wang Ba went to the market, could he hear the envious remarks from shopkeeper Lu.
“One of the servants from your Ding villa, Ah, he’s quite handsome, so he was chosen by an inner-sect disciple to serve him. Even if he can’t tread the path of immortality in the future, his status will still skyrocket!”
“Is that inner-sect immortal… male or female?”
Wang Ba asked curiously.
“That inner-sect disciple, naturally, is extraordinary and masculine! He’s just a bit less than the Dong family!”
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So he’s a man…Tsk tsk!”
Wang Ba showed no envy towards that sudden rise in status.
“Hehe, you, with this appearance of yours, even if you wish to serve, others won’t look up to you!”
Shopkeeper Lu joked, then shared a secret:
“Actually, this year, the Sect has recruited a female disciple with an upper-grade Spiritual Root. She’s only 28, but is extraordinarily talented. She even stirred the elders of the Sect to personally take her as a disciple. As soon as she joined the Sect, she became an inner-sect disciple! Truly enviable!”
“Upper-grade Spiritual Root…”
Wang Ba also displayed a look of longing, but immediately shook his head.
Forget about an upper-grade Spiritual Root, he’d count his blessings even if he had a lower-grade Spiritual Root.
“Let’s get to business, did your Precious Chickens arrive?”
The moment Shopkeeper Lu heard this, he sighed deeply. “Ah, don’t even mention it. The fresh batch of Precious Chickens 1 just got, was hoarded by a junior from the Dong family. I didn’t make any profit!
“Again, they’re gone?”
Disappointment was evident on Wang Ba’s face.
In these few days, the bird flu outbreak at Ding Villa has been impossible to hide and a few more Precious Chickens from other villas ended up being victims.
Who knows who’s been fanning the flames in the market, but the price of Precious Chickens has shot up recently. An ordinary male Precious Chicken could fetch up to eight or nine Spirit Stones, and supplies still couldn’t meet the demand.
Wang Ba has been visiting almost every day, but has yet to see a single one.
He really regrets it, if he had known, he would have taken more risks and stocked up on Precious Chickens.
Unfortunately, hindsight is 20/20. He had no idea the market for these chickens would change so drastically and missed out on the opportunity.
After some thought, he asked again: “What about the Treasure Pigs, Red Snow Cows, Wind Sheep, and Colorful Ducks?”
These animals have similar benefits to the Precious Chickens, but their rearing requirements are different, apart from the Colorful Ducks which are similar to the chickens.
In his desperation, Wang Ba had no choice but to consider raising other animals.
After all, they all result in a Lifespan Breakthrough.
However, to his disappointment, Shopkeeper Lu indicated that he didn’t have any of them either.
“All gone! Every single living one has been sold off!”
“By the way, 1 still have a thousand or so Tendon-Cutting Silkworms left. Do you still want them? If so, 1 can sell them to you in a bundle for a discount.”
Wang Ba thought for a moment: “How much for the bundle?”
“Five Spirit Stones!”
“One!”
“Deal!”
Wang Ba:”…”
Could the margin really be this much?
He felt like he had already haggled hard!
Such a profiteer!
Having gotten rid of the Tendon-Cutting Silkworms, Shopkeeper Lu was in a pretty good mood. As Wang Ba was about to leave, he stopped him, glanced around, and reminded him:
“Brother Wang, it would be best if you stayed indoors as much as possible recently. Things haven’t been quite right within our Sect. Be very careful!”
A thought struck Wang Ba. Could it be that the person behind Shopkeeper Lu had discovered some issues?
He quickly sought advice from Shopkeeper Lu.
But Shopkeeper Lu just shook his head: “I’m not sure myself. I’ve been a merchant for many years and have a keen nose. There’s a strange feeling I’ve been getting. As an ordinary laborer with no one to protect you, you need to be careful. During troubled times, we, the lower class, are the ones who suffer the most!”
Hearing Shopkeeper Lu’s words, Wang Ba fell silent before solemnly bowing to him.
Shopkeeper Lu accepted it graciously.
After returning to the manor, Wang Ba resumed his hermit lifestyle, not stepping out of his place.
Day after day he had so many Spirit Chickens that he was on the verge of throwing up.
But the Power of the Yin God was making significant progress, he had successfully condensed ten droplets.
In addition, his biggest gain was the upgraded version 2.0 of the Tendon-Cutting Silkworm that was cultivated through the method of a Lifespan Breakthrough.
[Target Lifespan: 1 year]
Unlike the original Tendon-Cutting Silkworms that only had a lifespan of o.i years, these upgraded versions, each had a lifespan of over a year.
And when tested with the Spirit Light Talisman, they had all reached Class 1 middle grade.
Both their speed and the pain they inflicted when they burrowed into the body were nearly twice that of the Class 1 lower-grade Tendon-Cutting Silkworms!
The only disappointment for Wang Ba was that the ratio of lifespan exchange between the Tendon-Cutting Silkworms and him was extremely low.
On average, fifty middle-grade Tendon-Cutting Silkworms only contributed to one year of his lifespan.
Even if he exhausted all the Tendon-Cutting Silkworms on hand, it would only provide him with less than 30 years of lifespan.
Barely equivalent to five or six Spirit Chickens.
Compared to Precious Chickens, the only advantage of the Tendon-Cutting Silkworms was their hassle-free reproduction.
They just needed to be raised among the bones of a high-grade Spirit Beast, and they would lay eggs when well-fed.
Though maintaining the temperature and humidity for the eggs to hatch subsequently required time, it was still much better compared to the impracticability of the Precious Chickens’ raising method.
The only regret was that he currently had no high-grade Spirit Beast bones.
So he couldn’t cultivate them.
The peaceful days like these went by, one by one. Everything outside seemed completely isolated from him.
Until one day…
His roof was blown off by someone..