Cultivation: I Can Steal Lifespan from Spirit Beasts

Chapter 151: The Act, First Step Completed

At the peak of the Eastern Sage Sect Garrison, within the cavernous expanse of the highest palace, the ghosts of its former opulence lingered. Faint traces of gold leaf and intricate carvings whispered of a bygone splendor.

Now, however, the vast floor was stripped bare, adorned only with rigid rows of simple, unadorned meditation cushions.

At the vanguard sat Ning Daohuan, Sect Master of the Heavenly Gate Sect. He rested cross-legged, his eyes shut in quiet cultivation. Several cushions directly below him were already occupied.

Soon, shadows detached from the entrance as figures filed into the great hall. They were a motley assembly of the sect’s elite—some radiated cold austerity, others swaggered with untamed arrogance, a few bore the stench of depraved indulgences, while others cloaked themselves in faux righteousness. Lu Yuansheng slipped in among them, claiming a seat near the rear.

They took their places in total silence.

Only after the final cushion was occupied did Ning Daohuan open his eyes. A piercing light flared within his pupils, so intense that the ambient light in the grand hall seemed to dim in submission. Every Elder instinctively bowed their heads.

“Holy peace to the Sect Master!”

Ning Daohuan accepted their reverence with cold tranquility. His gaze swept over the congregation before he spoke. “I have summoned you all today to address the ongoing stalemate between our sect and the five sects of the State of Chen.”

A heavy silence smothered the hall.

Seeing that no one dared to speak first, Ning Daohuan frowned slightly, his eyes drifting to the very back of the crowd. “Yuansheng. Apprise us of the current situation.”

Upon being named, Lu Yuansheng stood swiftly, raising a hand in salute. “As the Sect Master commands.”

He cleared his throat, his voice carrying easily through the quiet room. “As you are all aware, since the clash at Water Controlling City, the remaining four sects of the State of Chen have cast aside all pretense of neutrality. Over the past few years, they have blockaded the expansion of the Faith Path from the east, west, and south. They employ ruthless scorched-earth tactics—evacuating all mortals and emptying the cities—funneling the Faith Path directly toward our borders.”

“To prevent the five sects from forcing a war of attrition while Golden Core cultivators remain sidelined, our sect initiated a rapid purge of the Faith Path forces.”

“Yet, these zealots are fiercely resilient. Just as we neared their absolute eradication, a formidable cadre of second-stage cultivators emerged from the woodwork. Their three leaders, particularly Zheng Yuanhua, are exceptionally lethal. Among our Foundation Establishment disciples, save for Junior Nephew Bai and Junior Nephew Yan, none can stand against them.”

A shadow of shame crossed Lu Yuansheng’s handsome features. “This failure falls upon my shoulders. I was appointed to stabilize the front after emerging from seclusion, yet I failed to turn the tide.”

“I must voice my disagreement with Junior Brother Lu,” a young Daoist interjected smoothly from the front rows.

Lu Yuansheng’s expression stiffened. The surrounding Elders immediately shifted their attention to the young man. Even Ning Daohuan’s eyes narrowed a fraction.

Elder Bei remained entirely unperturbed. “Junior Brother Lu has slaughtered a considerable number of Faith Path cultivators since leaving seclusion. Though the ringleaders draw breath, his accomplishments are undeniable. To label this ‘incompetence’ is a gross mischaracterization.”

“Furthermore,” Elder Bei continued, his tone analytical, “while the Faith Path is a nuisance, it is merely a disease of the skin. The true rot threatening our Sect stems from the State of Chen’s status as a vassal of the Great Jin. Should we commit to an all-out war with the five sects, the Great Jin will undoubtedly take notice. If they intervene, we will have laid our true strength bare for absolutely no gain.”

“Unless we uncover an opportunity to sever one of their limbs and plunder their resources in a single, decisive stroke—an act that would terrify the others into submission—maintaining the current stalemate is our most advantageous play.”

The tension in Lu Yuansheng’s shoulders visibly eased, and Ning Daohuan offered a microscopic nod.

But then, a harsh rasp broke the quiet. “Hmph. Elder Bei speaks as if he holds the keys to certain victory,” an old woman sneered. “The State of Chen is not the Great Chu Dynasty. When we conquered a sect there, we exploited the inherent fractures between their three major sects. They were united in name only, allowing us to divide, dismantle, and conquer. But the five sects of the State of Chen are a different breed entirely. Who could have foreseen the other four rallying so fiercely to defend the Eastern Sage Sect?”

Elder Hu’s eyes swept the room. “In my estimation, bleeding our disciples dry against the five sects is utter folly. We should withdraw to the Great Chu and set our sights on a weaker, smaller state! We are cultivators, not mortal generals squabbling over dirt. If a territory offers no resources, we discard it.”

Several Elders nodded in quiet agreement, murmuring their assent.

Elder Bei sighed, shaking his head. “Senior Sister Hu, do not twist my words. I am merely analyzing the board.”

“Hmph,” Elder Hu scoffed, turning away.

Ning Daohuan remained an impenetrable fortress of calm. He looked back up at Lu Yuansheng. “What do you think?”

Lu Yuansheng quickly raised his hands in deference. “Both Senior Sister Hu and Senior Brother Bei speak with great wisdom. My vision was clouded; I was entirely too focused on the immediate threat of the Faith Path.”

“Slippery as always, Yuansheng,” Ning Daohuan noted dryly. “Refusing to offend either side.”

Lu Yuansheng offered an embarrassed, practiced smile.

Ning Daohuan did not reprimand him. Instead, he addressed the entire hall. “Does anyone else have council to offer?”

The silence returned, absolute and heavy.

“I hear you all clearly,” Ning Daohuan declared, his voice taking on a resonant authority. “Elder Bei advocates for the status quo unless a perfect, crippling strike presents itself. Elder Hu wishes to abandon this Eastern Sage Sect Garrison entirely and retreat to the Great Chu.”

“However…” He paused, letting the weight of his next words hang in the air. “A leader who cannot plot a thousand years into the future cannot secure tomorrow!”

“The board across the Wind Descending Continent is shifting. Yes, the Great Chu is fractured, but the Faith Path is constantly gnawing at their borders, as well as those of the Great Qi. If we linger there, the Faith Path will eventually swallow us whole!”

“Our only avenues of expansion are west into the Great Jin, or north into the Great Yan.” A dangerous, sharp light glinted in Ning Daohuan’s eyes. “The Great Yan Demon Dynasty is a den of ravenous wolves. Do any of you truly believe we can carve out a sanctuary in their domain?”

“We are burdened with the illusion of choice. In truth, the Great Jin is our only viable path forward! What say you?”

The hall shifted. Realization dawned on the faces of the Elders.

“Excellent!”

“The Sect Master’s vision is unparalleled!”

“We were blinded by our own shortsightedness!”

Ning Daohuan raised a single hand, and the murmurs died instantly. “Since the path is set, a clash with the five sects is our destiny! But how we fight, when we strike, and who bleeds first—that is for this Sect Master to dictate!”

“Yuansheng.”

“Yes!” Lu Yuansheng straightened perfectly.

“Share the intelligence.”

“Senior Brothers and Sisters,” Lu Yuansheng addressed the hall. “Not long ago, I received word from the West Sea coast. The Longevity Sect’s recent suppression of the two continents’ remnants has sparked severe blowback. The four sects of the Great Jin will soon be drowning in their own political and martial crises. Our window of opportunity is opening!”

At that moment, the trap snapped shut.

The Elders’ gazes flicked rapidly between Lu Yuansheng and Elder Bei. It was blindingly obvious now—this entire debate was a meticulously choreographed play, directed by the Sect Master himself to force them into a corner. With all avenues of objection cleanly blocked, they had no choice but to kneel.

In unison, they cupped their hands and bowed low. “We shall follow the Sect Master’s command!”

When the hall finally emptied, only Ning Daohuan and Lu Yuansheng remained.

Lu Yuansheng approached the dais, a faint smile of triumph on his face. “We finally convinced the Elders.”

Ning Daohuan let out a chilling snort. “We didn’t convince them. They simply realized they had no choice but to agree today.”

“You think they are blind to the grand scheme? Hmph. They see the board perfectly. But the resources they’ve plundered over the past few years are still keeping their pockets fat. They are paralyzed by their own greed, entirely unwilling to complicate their comfortable lives until they are forced to.”

A chill ran down Lu Yuansheng’s spine. He had vastly underestimated his nominal peers.

“How fare the preparations?” Ning Daohuan asked, his tone shifting back to cold business.

“The sleeper agents within the Mountain Sea Sect are deeply embedded. They await the signal,” Lu Yuansheng reported crisply.

“Good. You are methodical; that reassures me,” Ning Daohuan noted. “And the Spirit Poultry cultivation?”

“Cheng Shu has successfully bred a batch of second-stage Middle Grade Spirit Poultry. I have already extracted fragments of Fan Ming’s primordial spirit and fused them into the vessels… The biomaterial compatibility is incredibly high. These Spirit Poultry can now temporarily force a breakthrough to the second-stage Top Grade.”

“Second-stage Top Grade… It is insufficient,” Ning Daohuan dismissed. “Force Cheng Shu to push the bloodline further. I demand High Grade specimens, at minimum. The purer, the better.”

“Understood,” Lu Yuansheng nodded.

“I nearly forgot. There is also the matter of the Eastern Sage Sect,” Ning Daohuan added, his voice dropping into a dark register. “They are so desperately eager to reclaim Fan Ming…”

“They will never get their wish!” Lu Yuansheng stated firmly.

“No…” A cruel glint flashed in Ning Daohuan’s eyes. “Let us indulge their desperation just a bit.”

Two months later.

Wang Ba stared at the array of Eel-Tailed Toad biomaterials hovering before him, cleanly severed and extracted by a single, focused exertion of his will. He exhaled slowly, the tension leaving his shoulders.

“Finally,” he muttered to himself in the quiet of his workspace.

Building upon the grueling foundation of manual dissection, he had spent the last two months integrating his Divine Sense into the process. Now, channeling his Qi, he could instantly deconstruct the creature, severing meridians and isolating viable organs in a fraction of a second. The extraction was clinically perfect, mirroring the flawless precision of his physical scalpel.

The first phase of his methodology was complete.

The next step required him to return to the Sword Billow Garrison to seek out Bao Chao for further instruction on material refinement.

Yet, Wang Ba did not rush his departure. He remained methodical, waiting for the latest generation of Rare Fowl and Spirit Turtles to hatch so he could infuse them with Lifespan.

As their cultivation advanced, forcing structural breakthroughs in the spirit beasts became exponentially more difficult. Over the past two months, while his stock of first-stage Top Grade specimens had swelled, those that successfully condensed their essence to reach the second stage remained frustratingly sparse.

The Psychic Ghost Loaches, however, proved to be a bizarre anomaly. Perhaps due to a superior foundational bloodline, several more had successfully mutated into second-stage High Grade specimens.

Unfortunately, their terrestrial combat viability was abysmal.

Wang Ba had tested the newly refined loaches against Alpha-Ten in the training yard. In a controlled, one-on-one skirmish, the second-stage High Grade loaches were effortlessly dismantled by the second-stage Middle Grade Alpha-Ten. If Wang Ba hadn’t intervened with razor-sharp reflexes, the avian would have surgically extracted the loach’s gallbladder before it even registered the lethal strike.

He felt no disappointment; this outcome aligned perfectly with his hypothesis. Compared to the labyrinthine genetic complexities of elevating Spirit Poultry, optimizing the Psychic Ghost Loaches was a trivial, secondary pursuit.

Furthermore, what they lacked in individual lethality, they compensated for in swarming efficiency. When he released a swarm of a dozen second-stage High Grade Psychic Ghost Loaches, even the combined might of Alpha-Ten and Alpha-Sixteen—both second-stage Middle Grade Spirit Poultry—was forced into a panicked, frantic retreat.

Meanwhile, his aquatic reserves flourished. The Emerald Water Spirit Turtle population was experiencing stable, robust expansion. This was the distinct biological advantage of the turtles over the fowl: though their incubation and maturation cycles were agonizingly slow, their genetic stability ensured a highly consistent yield.

The Spirit Poultry, by contrast, suffered from catastrophic genetic bottlenecks. A massive flock of first-stage Low Grade fowl would experience a severe die-off when attempting to purify their bloodlines to the first-stage Middle Grade.

The inefficiency was glaring. Even as a Foundation Establishment cultivator, Wang Ba was still forced to consume Spirit Poultry Essence synthesized from base-level, first-stage Low Grade stock.

Soon, the scheduled activation of the teleportation array arrived. Gathering a freshly processed batch of Spirit Poultry, Wang Ba stepped into the formation, returning to the Sword Billow Garrison.