The Rat Cultivator

Chapter 120: A Pleasant Surprise

Wu Yuan sighed with a mix of admiration and disbelief.

“As expected of a wealthy bird family. To use an entire Array Artifact set as a Life-Bound Magical Artifact… that is truly extravagant to the point of absurdity.”

He scratched his head, genuinely puzzled. “But did the Peng Bird spend every waking moment forging artifacts instead of cultivating? How did he have the time?”

He could sense the aura connection between the feathers and the bird’s skeleton. This confirmed that every single artifact had been refined from the Peng Bird’s own body.

This raised a significant issue: Life-Bound Magical Artifacts had to be hand-forged by the user.

This was precisely why the demon seniors of old had distributed the Spirit-Nurturing Artifact Forging Method so widely. It was the simplest, most accessible technique for demons. It required no Spirit Fire, no furnace, and no external tools. One simply nurtured the raw materials within their own body, using their own claws, teeth, or feathers as the base. With enough patience and the inscription of Spirit Runes, a rough artifact embryo would form.

It was a method of grinding water into a needle—slow, personal, and foolproof.

Yet, even this “simple” method stumped most demons. The complex Spirit Runes alone were a high barrier to entry.

For the Peng Bird to forge this set of Array Artifacts, the mental energy required to inscribe the interlocking runes must have been astronomical. Even if the bird was a prodigy in artifact crafting—which he clearly was—the cost was staggering.

Wu Yuan considered himself talented in crafting; even Bibo respected his skills. But compared to the sheer volume of work here, Wu Yuan felt like an amateur.

“Think about it,” Wu Yuan muttered, running the numbers. “He was only at the mid-stage of Qi Condensation. To produce one hundred and eight ranked feathers, how much vitality did it cost to grow them back after plucking? And the eighteen main feathers… how much essence did it take to nurture them to Middle-Grade quality? And that doesn’t even account for the failures.”

“No wonder he had such a deep background but such low cultivation. He poured his entire life into these feathers.”

Wu Yuan stroked the eighteen Wind Feathers, feeling the latent power humming within them.

“These must be his Life-Bound Spirit Feathers. Even with endless resources, growing this many would take years.”

“And yet… the formation is entirely auxiliary. Zero offense.”

“You couldn’t even control it consciously. When you lost consciousness, the formation weakened so much that I could tear it apart with my bare hands.”

Wu Yuan shook his head, a look of pity crossing his face.

“Who fooled you into walking this crooked path? Your Life-Bound Artifact slot is occupied by a useless toy, and your cultivation is stunted. No wonder you broke down when Winged Tiger called you trash.”

“It turns out… you really had no future.”

Wu Yuan turned his attention to the Peng Bird’s Storage Bag. He dumped the contents out.

A few Jade Slips. A dozen Spirit Stones. Some miscellaneous junk.

Nothing else.

Wu Yuan shook the bag upside down, staring in disbelief.

“That’s it? Seriously?”

“My subordinates are richer than you! Were you kicked out of the house? Did you leave with nothing but the feathers on your back?”

He picked up one of the Jade Slips. His expression instantly turned serious.

The slip was made of Green Jade, a Second-Grade High-Grade material used exclusively for recording priceless information.

“Jackpot.”

Wu Yuan carefully extended a tendril of Divine Sense into the slip, bracing himself for a flood of data. Knowledge was power, and high-level knowledge could crush a weak mind.

HISS.

Even with his caution, Wu Yuan felt his brain swell painfully. The information density was immense. He massaged his temples, waiting a full ten breaths for the throbbing to subside before he could parse what he had stolen.

Wu Yuan’s eyes narrowed as he read.

The slip contained the blueprint for a “Life-Bound Array Treasure” forged from a demon’s own feathers. It was exactly what the Peng Bird had created—but the bird’s version was a crude, bastardized copy.

The true Array Treasure was a First-Grade Top-Grade formation: the Spirit Wind Thousand Changes God-Destroying Formation.

In the complete version, the eighteen Wind Feathers needed to be at least High-Grade artifacts, and the supporting plumes needed to be Middle-Grade. The formation allowed for flight, wind manipulation, and “Thousand Changes”—adapting the wind into Baleful Wind, Bone-Scraping Wind, or Spirit-Seizing Wind depending on the user’s will.

Crucially, the feathers acted as both flags and conduits, generating a Spirit-Bewildering Mind-Confusing Wind that could disrupt an enemy’s magic power and scatter their Divine Sense.

Combined with a Peng Bird’s natural speed, it was the ultimate offensive and defensive weapon.

The manual was incredibly complete, detailing the progression from First-Grade to Second-Grade, and even vaguely hinting at a Golden Core-level evolution.

Wu Yuan rubbed the smooth jade surface, his mind racing.

“This bird was set up.”

“This formation was definitely stripped from a much larger, more powerful inheritance. It contains the forging method for the Array Treasure, but none of the accompanying secret techniques to control it.”

“Without the control techniques, you end up like the Peng Bird—wielding a clumsy, rigid weapon you can’t truly use.”

“The trap is insidious,” Wu Yuan analyzed. “The method is too perfect for the Peng Bird race. It’s complete, high-quality, and promises immense power. But the requirements… honestly, a cultivator needs to be at the peak of Qi Condensation to even attempt this safely. Anyone else who tries will ruin their foundation and end up with a subpar artifact.”

“Someone was targeting the Green Roc Great Demon,” Wu Yuan concluded. “Either they wanted to ruin his son to disturb his Dao heart, or they used the Golden Core chapters as bait to lure the father into a trap.”

A smile slowly curled the corners of Wu Yuan’s mouth.

“But what does that have to do with me?”

“Just the Qi Condensation chapters are enough for me to study for years!”

“And the Peng Bird couldn’t control it because he was rigid. I’m different. I can adapt.”

“He needed one mind to control a hundred feathers. I have a hundred minds.”

“I’ll just assign one rat demon to each feather. Problem solved.”

“So what if the power is slightly lower? I don’t mind. Using another demon’s Life-Bound Artifact reduces the power anyway.”

Wu Yuan handled the Peng Feathers gently, treating them like fragile treasures.

“These feathers are brimming with spiritual light. The effort invested in them is astronomical. I’ll have the rat demons continue to nurture them with Spiritual Qi to improve their quality. That will save me years of work.”

“I need to select rats with strong Spiritual Qi control. And since their aura differs from mine, I’ll use the Spirit Mulberry Tree as a bridge. It contains my Blood Qi; a quick wash in its energy should align the artifacts to me.”

“As for Spirit Awakening them… I’ll wait.”

“I want to raise the quality of this Array Treasure until the awakened spirit possesses high intelligence. The smarter, the better.”