The Rat Cultivator

Chapter 104: A New Bloodline Spirit Rune

Wu Yuan chuckled, looking at Little Yellow’s new wolf-skull helmet. “It’s a striking look. If you just had a tooth necklace, you’d be the spitting image of a Wild Demon chieftain!”

The Wild Demon tribes were notorious factions of the demon race that rejected the civilized rule of the Holy Halls, choosing instead to worship primal Barbarian Beasts. They adorned themselves with white bones to display their status, with only chieftains permitted to wear skulls. To flaunt their martial prowess, they would pry the teeth from defeated enemies and string them around their necks.

Wu Yuan figured that given Little Yellow’s current strength, assembling a genuine tooth necklace was a tall order.

As if sensing the challenge, Little Yellow immediately reached into his Storage Bag, pulled out a handful of loose teeth, and strung them together on a vine. He slipped the makeshift necklace over his head.

The teeth varied wildly in size and shape, each exuding the faint, lingering aura of a different Demon Beast. Little Yellow planted his paws on his hips and wiggled his rear end proudly.

“Boss, what do you think? Pretty fierce, right?” the hamster boasted, shaking his head so the teeth clattered together. “Especially this beautiful bird beak right in the middle! Super eye-catching!”

Wu Yuan stared at the beak, his smile faltering. “Where exactly did you get those?”

Little Yellow puffed out his chest, flexing his tiny, chubby arms to show off his ‘muscles.’ “Trophies of war, obviously! From all the opponents I’ve crushed!”

He pointed to the long, sharp beak. “This is from that kingfisher that poked me in the butt!” He moved his claw to a sharp fang. “This is Little Tiger’s! He tried to fight me, so I gave him a one-two punch! Knocked his teeth out all over the place until he begged for mercy!”

Little Yellow threw a few shadow punches to illustrate the epic battle. “And this big one here is Little Wolf’s—”

“Stop, stop, stop,” Wu Yuan interrupted, holding up a paw. “I’ll ignore the highly questionable claim that you beat the Winged Tiger into submission. But how did you even cross paths with Little Wolf? He just got here. He’s supposed to be resting at the Bamboo Pool!”

Little Yellow’s chest puffed out even further, the necklace rattling with indignation. “He’s the new guy! You’re the Boss, but he was strutting around acting like he was number two! Where does that leave Second Brother Huang’s reputation? I had to pin him to the ground and teach him a lesson!”

Wu Yuan eyed the hamster cautiously. Little Wolf was a massive, Qi Condensation mid-stage predator. “And he… didn’t fight back?”

Little Yellow froze. He scratched his cheek, his beady eyes darting to the side in a classic display of guilt. “Anyway, he can’t beat me!”

Wu Yuan immediately understood. The adorkable, eager-to-please Wolf King had likely just rolled over and let the Boss’s favorite pet win to avoid causing a scene. Not wanting to puncture the hamster’s inflated ego, Wu Yuan smoothly changed the subject.

“Right. Very impressive. Anyway, what kind of resources did we secure from Wolf Mountain?”

Little Yellow’s attention snapped to the new topic. “Mostly Low Grade Tier-1 Bone-Tempering Grass! It’s weird, Boss—it looks like a finger bone. Every ten years, its medicinal potency grows a new ‘joint.’ Once it hits fifty years, five of those joints fuse together and bloom into a Middle Grade Bone-Tempering Flower. It’s super good for strengthening a Demon Beast’s skeleton!”

Wu Yuan nodded in approval. “Have the logistics team transplant some to the high-density Spiritual Qi zones on Little Green Mountain. We can accelerate that fifty-year growth cycle significantly.”

Little Yellow nodded enthusiastically, making a mental note. “Oh, and there are some Low Grade Ice Rocks in the caves. Should we mine them?”

“Mine a small batch,” Wu Yuan decided. “Ice Rocks are terrible for artifact forging, but they’re useful for practicing ice-attribute techniques. I’ll experiment with them once I finish researching the frost runes on Little Wolf’s body.”

Wu Yuan waited for the rest of the inventory, but Little Yellow just threw his paws in the air.

“That’s it! The mountain is empty!”

Wu Yuan frowned. “That’s the entire haul?”

Little Yellow shrugged helplessly. “Wolf Mountain isn’t very big, and the Spiritual Qi there is painfully average. Its only real value is its geographical location as a buffer zone. If it were a rich territory, a stray like Little Wolf wouldn’t have been able to hold it.”

Wu Yuan sighed, leaning back. “Little Green Mountain has completely spoiled my appetite. I’ve grown too greedy.”

With the conquest of Wolf Mountain concluded and no immediate crises demanding his attention, Wu Yuan curled up in his cozy nest within the treehouse and initiated a period of Secluded Cultivation.

The Azure Radiance Grotto-Heaven was now actively funneling Spiritual Qi from the surrounding dead zones directly into Little Green Mountain. The overall density of Qi on the mountain had skyrocketed, elevating the mine cavern to the standard of a High Grade spirit land.

Inside the treehouse, the environment was even richer.

The moment Wu Yuan slipped into a meditative trance, the ambient Spiritual Qi rushed toward him like a tide, rapidly refining into vast reserves of Demon Power. With every exhale, thick white spiritual mist drifted from his snout, pooling around his body.

Above him, the thick roots of the Spirit Mulberry Tree pulsed. Droplets of concentrated red flesh-and-blood essence seeped from the wood, falling perfectly onto Wu Yuan’s fur. The essence sank into his skin, aggressively nourishing his physical form and allowing his bodily strength to advance in perfect lockstep with his Qi.

As his cultivation deepened, a mysterious, serene azure glow began to radiate from his fur.

Three months passed in the blink of an eye.

Wu Yuan slowly opened his eyes, a sharp, electric light flashing in his pupils. “Sixteen strands of Demon Power,” he murmured, his voice a low, satisfied rumble.

He was currently generating two strands of Demon Power per month. While slightly slower than his explosive growth during the early stages of Qi Condensation, this speed was actually terrifying for the mid-stage. At this rate, he would cap out the mid-stage in under four years—and that was while dual-cultivating his physical body.

It was a pace that eclipsed even some third-tier bloodline geniuses. While those elites might rely on ancient secret techniques or hoards of heavenly treasures, Wu Yuan’s raw, methodical speed easily ranked him in the top three of the entire Azure Radiance Mountain Range.

But Wu Yuan hadn’t just been hoarding power.

During his breaks from meditation, he had tirelessly pushed his research on Bloodline Spirit Runes. Finally, his efforts had borne fruit: a brand new rune had been mapped.

Unlike his first creation—which took the literal, straightforward shape of a mouse—this new rune was wildly abstract. It looked like a chaotic tangle of intricate lines, twisted and folded in on themselves, resembling a complex, crumpled net of pure spiritual logic.