The Rat Cultivator

Crack!

Wu Yuan’s jaws snapped shut, crushing the female owl’s skull. A slurry of red and white matter splattered across the nest.

Feeling the avian beast go still beneath him, Wu Yuan straightened his spine. He heaved a few ragged breaths, shaking the blood from his fur, before turning his gaze toward the clutch of eggs.

He glanced back at the corpse one last time. “You blocked my path.”

Even a rat is a beast at heart.

Wu Yuan wasted no time. He scurried directly toward the largest egg in the center of the nest. It was three times the size of the others—conspicuously dominant.

While the surrounding eggs were pale green and roughly the size of chicken eggs, this giant was a pristine, crystalline white. It was massive, easily the size of two goose eggs.

No wonder the female owl was so weak during the fight, Wu Yuan realized. Birthing something this potent must have drained her vitality.

“Thinking about it,” Wu Yuan mused, eyeing the prize, “the parents must have paid a heavy price to create an heir like this.”

He shook his head, focusing on the present. “I am truly too lucky.”

Whether he referred to the egg’s quality or the mother’s convenient weakness, it didn’t matter. The result was the same.

Wu Yuan opened his mouth and bit down on the crystalline shell.

He controlled his jaw strength carefully. He didn’t want to shatter it completely and waste the contents.

Thud!

To his surprise, his teeth met resistance comparable to solid rock. The bite produced a dull, heavy thud rather than a crack.

Wu Yuan wasn’t annoyed; he was delighted.

The harder the shell, the more extraordinary the life within. And the greater the benefits of consuming it.

He channeled his Demon Power into his fangs. A faint energy coated his teeth, turning them razor-sharp. He bit down again, this time with magical enhancement.

Snap.

He easily sheared a large hole in the shell.

“Incredible… this fragrance!”

The scent that wafted out was intoxicating. It carried a dense energy, distinctly different from the cool purity of Lunar Essence. It was rich, vibrant, and alive.

Staring at the shimmering white yolk, Wu Yuan didn’t hesitate. He buried his muzzle in the shell and swallowed mouthful after mouthful.

Within a few breaths, the massive egg was drained empty.

“Satisfied.”

Wu Yuan licked his lips, feeling the energy settle in his stomach. Outside, the sounds of battle were reaching a crescendo. The wolf’s defiant roars had faded into weak whimpers. The fight was ending.

He couldn’t stay here.

Wu Yuan turned to flee, but as he moved, a flash of color caught his eye. Hidden beneath the fragments of the giant eggshell lay a single green feather. It was small—only half the size of a normal owl feather—but it pulsed with a strange aura.

There’s something peculiar about this, Wu Yuan thought. For it to be hidden right under the heir… I’ll take it.

He clamped the feather between his teeth. A quick scan of the nest revealed nothing else of value. He scrambled out of the tree hole.

As soon as he emerged, the battlefield below came into view.

It was a massacre.

The Lone Wolf was in a wretched state. It was covered in gore, one eye gouged out to leave a hollow, bloody socket. Its tail had been severed. It was barely clinging to life.

Less than three minutes had passed since the ambush began, yet the wolf was already at death’s door.

Despite its injuries, the wolf’s remaining eye burned with a fierce, unyielding hatred. It stared fixedly at the male owl, refusing to submit even in death.

The male owl, by comparison, was ragged but functional. Feathers were scattered everywhere, and its wings were twisted at odd angles, but it was the clear victor.

The owl felt a surge of arrogant pride. Ever since consuming that strange fruit days ago, it had felt its intelligence and strength soaring. Few beasts in the forest dared to challenge it now.

Its thoughts drifted to its mate and their unborn child, and its mood lifted.

My child will definitely surpass me.

This wolf was a serendipitous harvest. It hadn’t hunted today, and this carcass would feed its mate for a long time.

The male owl prepared to deliver the killing blow.

Suddenly, movement caught its eye. A rat was crawling out of its home.

The owl froze. It recognized that rat.

A sudden, terrible premonition seized its heart. The wolf’s arrival had been too sudden, too illogical. Now, seeing the rat, the pieces clicked into a horrifying picture.

Panic exploded in the owl’s chest. It flapped its wings frantically, trying to ascend to the nest.

Whether due to anxiety or its injured wings, it stumbled in the air. The violent downdraft from its desperate takeoff slammed into the dying wolf, extinguishing the last flicker of the beast’s life.

The owl ignored its fallen foe. Gray light flickered across its wings, boosting its speed. In a single breath, it shot into the tree hole.

Silence followed.

Then, the owl saw the carnage.

Its mate, head crushed on the floor. The nest, destroyed. The precious, crystalline egg, shattered and empty.

Its vision went black.

COOO—!

A shrill, blood-curdling shriek echoed through the forest.

Wu Yuan, already sprinting through the undergrowth, heard the cry. He didn’t pause. He pushed his small legs to their limit, fleeing into the distance.

Suddenly, he skidded to a halt.

Above the canopy, the sound of heavy wings beating the air grew louder. The owl was circling. It was hunting.

“Owls have excellent hearing,” Wu Yuan analyzed coldly. “It must have sensed my general direction, but it hasn’t pinpointed me yet.”

He waited, freezing his movements until the sound of wings drifted further away. But he didn’t resume his run.

“I’m far enough from the nest. Running further increases the risk of exposure. I’ll go to ground.”

Wu Yuan located a concealed entrance he had prepared earlier—a winding, twisting tunnel that plunged over 20 meters deep. It was stocked with food and heavily fortified.

He dove inside, scurrying deep into the earth.

Moments later, the sound of talons tearing at the soil echoed from above.

“It’s cunning,” Wu Yuan noted, listening to the digging. “It knew I didn’t go far. It’s betting I’m right here.”

But over 20 meters of earth was a formidable barrier. The owl dug furiously, tearing up shallow rat tunnels, but it couldn’t reach the main chamber. It could only vent its sorrow and rage on the dirt.

Scratch! Tear!

The sharp, mournful cooing continued for a long time.

Safe in the depths, Wu Yuan lay comfortably on the cool earth. He closed his eyes, sensing the impotent fury of the predator above.

A warm current began to spread from his abdomen. It was the energy from the egg, dissolving and flooding his system. It felt incredible—a nourishing tide washing over every cell.

So this is ‘strengthening the foundation,’ Wu Yuan thought. The intelligence was right. But how does this trigger the bloodline Awakening?

As he pondered, a strange sensation pricked at him.

It started as a mild itch. Barely noticeable.

He ignored it.

But seconds later, the sensation intensified. It wasn’t on his skin. It felt as if it were drilling out from the marrow of his bones, spreading like wildfire through his veins.

Wu Yuan’s claws involuntarily dug into the dirt floor. His heart began to hammer against his ribs—thump-thump, thump-thump—like a war drum. His breath came in ragged gasps.

“This… this must be the Awakening,” he thought, panic rising. “But nobody said it would be this unbearable!”

He gritted his teeth. I cannot make a sound. The owl is still up there.

The itch became a torture. He wanted to tear his own skin off, to burrow into the solid earth and grind his bones against the rocks just to stop the sensation.

For half an hour, Wu Yuan endured a hell where every second felt like a year.

Slowly, the itching began to recede.

Wu Yuan exhaled a trembling breath, his body slick with sweat. “Finally… it’s over. But aside from getting bigger, I don’t feel—”

CRACK.

A tidal wave of pain slammed into him, drowning his thoughts.

There was no warning. No transition.

The itching returned instantly, compounding with a blinding agony that felt as if his body were being put through a meat grinder.

Wu Yuan’s eyes bulged from their sockets. His four limbs twisted at unnatural angles, snapping and contorting. It felt as though every bone in his body was being shattered into dust and reassembled.

He curled into a tight, trembling ball.

He couldn’t scream. He couldn’t even groan. His throat bones had shattered in the first wave of transformation.

Suspended in a twilight state between consciousness and oblivion, Wu Yuan lay alone in the dark.