Cultivation: I Can Steal Lifespan from Spirit Beasts

A knock echoed against the heavy wooden door.

Wang Ba frowned, puzzled.

Due to the Heavenly Gate Sect’s mandatory purge mission, the Stone Cave Dwelling district was a ghost town. Most tenants had already departed, venturing into the wilderness to hunt down remnants of the Eastern Sage Sect.

The few who remained were hermits like him.

He couldn’t imagine who would come looking for him at a time like this.

Although violence inside the sect was technically forbidden, Wang Ba took no chances. He immediately primed his Spirit Beast Bag, ready to release Alpha-Seven at a moment’s notice, while simultaneously flooding his meridians with Spiritual Power.

Muscles coiled, he cracked the door open.

He blinked.

Standing outside wasn’t a squad of enforcers or a desperate robber, but a group of teenagers. They looked no older than eighteen or nineteen.

They wore cultivator robes, but their faces were painted with a visible, pathetic immaturity.

When they saw Wang Ba, they tried to stand tall, but the slight trembling of their limbs betrayed their terror.

“You are…” Wang Ba asked, keeping the door blocked.

“Greetings, Senior Brother. I am Zhang Qi. This is Shi Jin, this is Bu Chan, and she is…”

A young man who appeared to be the leader stepped forward, introducing his companions one by one. His eyes were dim, filled with a fresh trauma.

“We are all new disciples who joined the Eastern Sage Sect less than a year ago. We never expected that… that the sect would fall so soon after we entered.”

Wang Ba’s expression softened slightly as a memory surfaced.

A few months after he had joined the sect, there had indeed been a recruitment drive. If he guessed correctly, Ye Lingyu—the naive girl who had been taken in by Elder Qin—would have been in the same cohort as these kids.

Now, due to the cataclysm, these chosen ones had been reduced to refugees.

As for Ye Lingyu… she was likely dead. Wang Ba suppressed a sigh. In this world, innocence was a fatal condition.

He pushed the sentiment aside and looked at the group with cold pragmatism.

“So, what do you want from me?”

Zhang Qi took a breath, his expression turning grave. “We hope to form an alliance with you, Senior Brother… That man, Jing Kuang, came to recruit you as well, didn’t he?”

“Jing Kuang?”

Wang Ba recalled the young cultivator with the lofty, pretentious aura. He nodded slowly. “He was here about half a month ago. What about it?”

“We had companions who were deceived by him,” Zhang Qi said, his voice trembling with suppressed rage. “They left with him. They never came back.”

Wang Ba frowned. “That doesn’t necessarily mean they were deceived. Perhaps the mission is just taking time?”

Zhang Qi shook his head violently.

“We have a Senior Sister with exceptional aptitude. She was selected to join the Heavenly Gate Sect proper. She checked the records at the Merit Department.”

Zhang Qi looked Wang Ba in the eye.

“Our missing companion… was submitted as proof of a kill.”

Wang Ba’s pupils contracted. A dark hypothesis instantly formed in his mind.

“You mean to say…”

“It’s not speculation,” Zhang Qi hissed through gritted teeth. “Senior Sister saw the record. The person who submitted the body was Jing Kuang.”

“The stated reason for the execution was that our companion attempted to leak intelligence to the Eastern Sage Sect remnants.”

“But we knew him! He had no loyalty to the fallen sect. He would never do something so suicidal!”

Even Wang Ba, cynical as he was, felt a jolt of shock.

If this was true, Jing Kuang was a monster.

This wasn’t just following orders to hunt enemies. This was killing the innocent to claim merit. It was treating fellow refugees as livestock to be slaughtered for promotion.

Suddenly, the pieces clicked into place regarding his neighbors, Chen Mian and his wife.

They had left with Jing Kuang. When they returned, they were flush with wealth, moving into a luxury Wood Tower Dwelling.

They must have received a cut of the “merit” from Jing Kuang. Blood money.

Wang Ba felt a chill crawl up his spine. If he hadn’t been so paranoid back then—if he had accepted the invitation to “network”—his head might currently be rotting in a Merit Department storage bag.

Survival Rule affirmed: Trust no one.

Cultivators were still human. Power didn’t remove the seven emotions and six desires; it amplified them. Greed, when armed with Spiritual Power, became a voracious beast.

“So…” Wang Ba looked at the shivering group. “What good would uniting do?”

Zhang Qi misinterpreted Wang Ba’s skepticism. He stepped forward eagerly. “If we unite, we have strength in numbers! We don’t need Jing Kuang. We can go outside and hunt real remnants together!”

“Leave the Heavenly Gate Sect?”

Wang Ba looked at them as if they were brain-damaged.

These kids were unbelievably naive.

Staying inside the sect offered a slim chance of survival. Going outside? The wilderness was filled with Outer Sect Left-Path Cultivators who had killed until their eyes were red. If they saw a group of tender, inexperienced novices like this… even a saint would be tempted to rob and murder them.

“Sorry,” Wang Ba said flatly. “I will not leave the Heavenly Gate Sect.”

He moved to close the door.

The faces of Zhang Qi and the others fell, despair washing over them.

“Wait!”

One of the young women suddenly spoke up.

“Senior Brother, if you don’t want to leave, that’s fine! But if we unite, we can still help each other. You’ve seen the prices in the market, haven’t you? The shops are skinning us alive.”

She spoke fast, desperate to keep him listening.

“If we trade directly among ourselves—bartering goods based on actual value—we can bypass the exploitation. We can all improve faster. What do you think?”

The other youths nodded vigorously, their eyes lighting up with hope.

Wang Ba paused. He looked at the girl with genuine surprise.

She was young, but she saw the economic reality clearly.

“You are… Bu Chan, correct?” Wang Ba leaned against the doorframe, intrigued. “Your logic holds water. But you’ve only been in the sect for less than a year. What skills could you possibly have learned that I would need?”

Bu Chan swallowed her nervousness, organizing her thoughts rapidly.

“We may be new, but we were chosen for a reason. Each of us has a specialization.”

She pointed to the leader. “Zhang Qi was in the ‘Five Arts Department.’ His talent for talisman crafting is high; he studied under a Foundation Establishment Elder. As long as he has materials, he can mass-produce Low Grade Talismans. Once his cultivation rises, he can attempt Middle Grade ones.”

“Shi Jin,” she pointed to another, “cultivated in the Clean Mountain Department. He specializes in raising Spirit Insects.”

“Su Lingling is a geomancer. She can organize and condense weak Spirit Veins…”

“Jiang Ke…”

As Bu Chan listed their skills, Wang Ba’s interest grew. This was a diverse portfolio. There was potential here.

“And you?” Wang Ba interrupted, looking directly at her. “What are you good at?”

Bu Chan seemed to gather her courage. She looked back at him, meeting his gaze.

“Senior Brother, you haven’t told us what you are good at yet.”

Wang Ba blinked, then chuckled internally. Gutsy.

“Fair enough. My surname is Wang. I specialize in… raising chickens.”

“Raising chickens?”

The group looked blank.

Bu Chan, however, reacted instantly. “Spirit Poultry? Were you in the Myriad Beast Department?”

Wang Ba gave a noncommittal nod. He had been a lowly laborer there, not a disciple, but there was no need to clarify the distinction.

Bu Chan’s eyes sparkled. “That’s perfect! If we can trade for Spirit Poultry, the nutritional energy will help us reach the Second Layer of Qi Refining much faster!”

Wang Ba noted her quick reaction. He later learned she came from a minor cultivation family, which explained her knowledge base.

Now that the cards were on the table, Bu Chan played hers.

“I specialize in Spirit Plants.”

“You know Spirit Plants?” Wang Ba raised an eyebrow.

Bu Chan lifted her chin slightly, a trace of pride breaking through her anxiety. “I am, untalented as I may be, a Middle Grade First-Rank Spirit Plant Master.”

Wang Ba felt a surge of joy.

Jackpot.

He had a dying peach tree and zero knowledge of how to care for it.

On the surface, however, he remained impassive. He simply nodded. “In that case, we definitely have grounds for cooperation.”

Bu Chan’s face fell at his lukewarm reaction, but then she realized the implication. Her eyes widened.

“Senior Brother Wang, you agree?”

“As you said, mutual benefit beats mutual destruction. But regarding this barter network…” Wang Ba smiled, his tone dropping to a warning whisper. “Do not advertise it. The shopkeepers in the market district would be very unhappy to hear about lost profits.”

Zhang Qi looked confused, but Bu Chan nodded fervently. “Thank you for the reminder, Senior Brother. We understand. We will never speak of it to outsiders!”

“Good. And one more thing…” Wang Ba looked at the group of fresh meat. “Your cultivation is too low. Don’t even think about hunting outside. Surviving is the only victory that matters.”

He hoped they would listen. He wanted long-term trading partners, not corpses.

Whether they took his advice was up to them. Everyone had their own fate.

He gave them the location of his chicken farm—he would be moving out of the Stone Cave Dwelling soon anyway—and sent them on their way.

The group left to knock on other doors, seeking more allies. In Wang Ba’s estimation, their chances were slim.

Time slipped away.

In the end, Wang Ba couldn’t bring himself to pay the exorbitant twenty Spirit Stones required for a Wood Tower Dwelling. He renewed his lease on the cramped Stone Cave Dwelling for another two months.

He stayed for a specific reason.

Zhang Qi had brought him rumors that someone in the district was selling “proof of kills”—corpses of Eastern Sage Sect remnants. The asking price was high, but it was an option.

Zhang Qi and the others were struggling. Aside from the talisman maker, they were barely scraping by. Eventually, desperation won out, and they decided to risk leaving the sect’s territory to hunt.

Wang Ba stayed behind.

He waited.

He had decided to buy his way out of the mission. Three chances to fail meant death, but if Spirit Stones could solve the problem, he would spend them.

He waited anxiously, day after day, until he almost gave up hope.

Finally, the seller came knocking.