Chapter 2 - Precautions for Raising Chickens, Good Luck!_1

"This is a Precious Chicken, not a common one. It has spiritual intelligence and breeds very rarely. The hatching is also not easy, so they need to be nurtured carefully."

"Chicken feed consists of Spirit Valley Bran, spirit bean cake, spirit stone powder, bone powder of a Spirit Fish, and other materials with a bit of spiritual energy mixed in a certain proportion. Occasionally, people would bring discarded Spirit Insects for them to eat…"

"A rooster takes about three years to mature, while a hen needs about four years."

"After a hen matures, it lays an egg approximately every three to seven days."

"Every month, two full-grown roosters, two full-grown hens, and two hundred Precious Chicken eggs have to be offered!"

"If the chickens are raised well, there's a reward!"

"If the required quota cannot be met, there's a penalty!"

After tidying up the room and going through the chicken-rearing instructions until he had memorized them completely, Wang Ba finally left.

Old Sun and his little stool were already gone, seemingly having returned to his own room.

Wang Ba had no desire to converse with the old man.

According to what Deacon Li had told him earlier, he left the manor and took a walk around the West Garden market at the other end of the valley.

The West Garden Market was not a trading market for cultivators, but a trading place for mortals.

After all, there were also many friends and family members of the cultivators who could not cultivate. These people followed the cultivators into the Sect and still needed to live.

The West Garden Market was born of this need.

Wang Ba strolled around the market a few times and expanded his horizons.

Although this was a trading place for mortals, it was under the jurisdiction of the Sect, and there would always be some good things from the cultivators for sale.

There were even Precious Chickens, treasure pigs, and colored ducks for sale.

Unfortunately, Wang Ba couldn't afford any of these things.

The cheapest was at least a thousand silver taels.

The expensive ones required spirit stones for purchase.

He also saw people selling the Cultivation Methods of cultivators.

Of course, he couldn't afford that either.

After half a day of wandering, he only bought some pots, stove, and some rice grain.

Now, he was completely broke.

Not a single penny was left.

Fortunately, after joining the Sect, even a scullion like him would be given some silver periodically by the Sect. However, the amount was quite small, which might just be enough for his daily expenses.

Sweating and panting heavily, he carried everything back.

He found an axe in the manor for chopping firewood, cut some, and lit the stove.

Only when it was dark did he finally eat a meal.

There was only rice, no vegetables, but because he worked hard all day, Wang Ba found it very delicious.

He has already accepted his fate, he thought. Since he couldn't become an immortal, he would work hard in the Sect and try to get a position as a deacon in the outer Sect after a few years.

He had heard from Deacon Li before,

that some deacons required a cultivation base, but some could also be held by mortals.

After all, there were a lot of menial tasks in the Sect, and not many cultivators were willing to do them.

Once he had the stature and savings,

he would go down the mountain and marry a few concubines.

It seemed that his efforts did not go in vain.

After dinner, he went for a stroll outside the manor to help digestion, mainly because the smell of chicken droppings in the room was unbearable.

He didn't know how the Old Sun had managed to tolerate this.

When he was looking at the brilliant stars in the sky,

suddenly, a sword-light rose up into the sky far away!

Following it closely, a giant human figure ghostly appeared in the sky, hands held behind his back, and roared.

"I've reached enlightenment!"

Thunder roared in the sky, and the stars dimmed!

Then, voices offering congratulations echoed throughout the East Saint Sect.

"I wonder what realm that is."

Wang Ba looked enviously at the distant, brightly lit place.

Looking afar, faint sword-lights and lights were gathering.

"What a pity…"

Wang Ba lowered his head with melancholy filling his eyes.

The saddest thing for a person is when all the prosperity has nothing to do with him.

Originally planning to go back to rest, he now found he had no sleepiness after such a stimulus.

Thus, he decided not to sleep, holding a lamp in his hand, he started counting the chickens in the manor one by one.

After a long time, he finally counted all the chickens in the manor.

There were 37 roosters.

There are 70 hens.

Due to the darkness, the maturity and egg-laying quantity aren't visible.

But such a quantity immediately made Wang Ba alert.

"There's something wrong with this amount!"

"These Precious Chickens are notoriously challenging to breed."

"If we consider the maturity rate of roosters... there should be at least 36 pairs with different ages every month to ensure the full quota is supplied."

"Similarly, if a hen matures in four years, at least 48 pairs are needed for stable rotation."

However, the number of roosters and hens is inaccurate!

This means, if the breeding is not timely, there will likely be no enough chickens for supply in the fastest two years.

And the result of not providing enough is one word, punishment!

The yellow paper did not specify the punishment.

But Wang Ba certainly didn't want to test it with his own experience.

"No way! I need to check the egg laying situation of the hens!"

Though the number of chickens wasn't right, he could still cope, but if the amount of eggs isn't right either, it would be a real issue right in front of him.

Wang Ba was now wide awake. He didn't even care about the stench of chicken poop, and he was ready to catch the hens in the corner.

He had learnt how to check for eggs from his mother in the past.

Just by touching between the chicken's belly and thighs, he can tell if the chicken is about to lay an egg.

However, he never thought that...

His attempt was empty!

The big hen jumped up suddenly, fluttered onto the eaves of the house like a bird.

It was amazingly agile, which was completely inconsistent with its bulky body.

"Cluck, cluck..."

The big hen standing on the eaves actually looked back at Wang Ba and seemed to be mocking his poor skills.

But there was nothing Wang Ba could do.

He was just a mortal, couldn't fly up.

Although he was madly frustrated, but at least he wasn't clinging onto it, he changed his target to another hen.

However, the result was still the same.

He couldn't stand it and tried to catch more than ten times.

To his disbelief, he did not succeed once!

"It's not my inability, just that these Precious Chickens are too good at escaping!"

Wang Ba tried to justify himself in his heart.

But indeed these Precious Chickens were not ordinary chickens, their speed and strength far exceeded any chickens he had ever seen before.

Despite unreconciled, he tried another seven or eight times, still ended up with failure.

He was covered in smelly chicken filth.

"Stop catching, you can't catch them."

An old voice suddenly sounded behind Wang Ba.

Wang Ba turned around and saw Old Sun wearing a patched Daoist robe, shaking his head.

"My apologies for disturbing you, Old Sun. I couldn't sleep and came here to check the egg-laying conditions of these chickens... "

Wang Ba apologetically stated.

Old Sun didn't pay attention to him; he went to another corner on his own.

His shaky hand reached out.

Then, to Wang Ba's astonishment, like a flash of lightning, his hand reached out and easily trapped a big hen's wing.

He twisted the two wings together and handed the chicken to Wang Ba.

"Practise the Body Strengthening Scripture more, it's good for strengthening your body."

Old Sun's face didn't show any expression, but he still spoke.

"Thank you, Old Sun!"

Wang Ba hurriedly took the big hen.

With complex feelings in his heart.

On one hand, he was amazed at Old Sun's unassuming mighty strength, on the other hand, he was feeling weak.

How pathetic he was, that he couldn't even catch a chicken.

And yet he dare to dream of seeking the path of immortality.

Thankfully, he had already put aside such thoughts.

Wang Ba mocked himself quietly.

Meanwhile, his fingers slid down the smooth belly of the big hen…

[Target Lifespan: 19.2 years]

[Remaining Lifespan of current body: 71.7 years]

[Consumable items: None]

[Absorb/Deposit?]