Cultivation: I Can Steal Lifespan from Spirit Beasts

“My great-grandmother passed this down to me. Senior Brother… could you keep it safe for me?”

At the door of the wooden hut, Bu Chan offered the ancient ring with both hands. Her face wore a bright, brave smile, but her eyes betrayed her fear.

Wang Ba stood inside, looking silently at the tarnished metal resting in her pale, trembling palm.

He recognized it instantly. A Storage Ring. An item of immense rarity, possessing a capacity far exceeding the common Storage Bags used by rogue cultivators.

But it wasn’t the value of the artifact that silenced him. It was the implication.

She was giving him her legacy. She was preparing for the end.

Wang Ba hesitated, then reached out and took the cold metal ring.

“I… I will keep it safe for you. For now.”

Bu Chan’s smile dimmed for a split second, the cracks in her mask showing. Then, as if steeling herself, she nodded heavily and forced the brightness back into her expression.

“En. Then, Senior Brother, I’ll go back and prepare.”

“…Go.”

He watched her leave, her figure retreating toward her own quarters. Slowly, Wang Ba lowered his head, shifting his gaze from the ancient ring to the Heavenly Gate Task Token in his other hand.

The crimson light screen scrolled with cold, bureaucratic precision:

[Task Accepted: 17th Day, 5th Month, Year Gui Yin] [Mission #04: Investigate ‘Meng Xing Village’] [Squad Size: 5 Cultivators] [Roster: Wang Ba, Bu Chan (Pending Confirmation)…]

The capacity of the Storage Ring was staggering.

Wang Ba projected his consciousness inside and found a space vast enough to swallow the entire spirit field next to the chicken farm, with room to spare.

Yet, the contents were sparse.

There was a small pile of Low Grade Spirit Stones, a few bound books, and a jade slip that felt unfamiliar to his touch.

His mental gaze swept over the Spirit Stones. Among the standard cuts, he saw many fragmented shards and dust—the savings of a scavenger. Wang Ba fell silent. He could vividly imagine the hardship a low-level cultivator like Bu Chan endured to scrape this meager fortune together within the predatory environment of the Heavenly Gate Sect.

He turned his attention to the books. They were detailed logs of spirit plant cultivation—soil composition, Qi flow, hydration cycles. To him, they were dry manuals. To a Spirit Plant Master, they were priceless grimoires of experience.

Finally, he withdrew the jade slip.

His eyebrows shot up. It was a cultivation method inheritance, an item of extreme rarity.

[Primordial Wood True Method]

It was a profound technique designed for Spirit Plant Masters, allowing them to siphon the “Growth Qi” of the plants they tended to fuel their own cultivation. The larger the field and the higher the grade of the plants, the faster the cultivator advanced.

Wang Ba gripped the jade slip, his heart heavy.

This was Bu Chan’s Foundation of the Dao. It was the root of her survival, her most guarded secret.

Entrusting this to him was an act that spoke louder than any confession. She was leaving her life’s work in his hands.

But amidst the heaviness, a strange sense of clarity washed over him.

He had already made his choice. He had secured the exemption for himself, but failed for her. Now, facing the mission, he would not abandon her.

To live merely for the sake of survival is a hollow existence, he thought, the stifling pressure in his chest loosening. If I live like a coward, immortality is just an eternal prison.

He exhaled slowly, smoothing out the turbulence in his mind.

It was time to work.

Risk Assessment and Asset Inventory.

Wang Ba began a methodical review of his trump cards.

Offense: Alpha-Thirteen (Phoenix Feather Chicken, Top Grade). A berserker capable of shredding defenses.

Anti-Ghost: Black Feather Chicken (Top Grade). A hard counter to yin spirits and souls.

Crowd Control: Singing White Chicken. Capable of suppressing evil entities.

Defense/Utility: Azure Water Spirit Turtle (Male, Top Grade). Insane physical defense and water manipulation.

On his person, he wore the Jade Flow Armor and carried the Soul Suppressing Jade Talisman and the Feihuang Ruler.

His Storage Bag was stocked with High Grade Talismans—offensive, defensive, and utility. Among them sat a single Top Grade Wood Armor Talisman, a lifeline in paper form.

And finally, the nuclear option: The Heavenly Thunder Pearl. A one-time-use artifact capable of severely injuring or killing a Qi Refining 10th Layer cultivator.

Wang Ba tallied the list, feeling a surge of confidence.

Without realizing it, he had become a walking arsenal.

If Meng Randao came at me right now, Wang Ba mused, I might not just survive. I could skin him alive.

Of course, that assumed Wang Ba didn’t trip over his own feet. His personal combat ability was still his weakest link.

He made a hard decision.

He approached Alpha-Six, the chicken bound to his Substitute Death ability. With a quick, painless motion, he euthanized it.

The bond snapped. A slot opened in his soul.

He walked over to the turtle pond. He moved among the basking reptiles, touching their shells, checking his connection. Finally, he selected the strongest male Azure Water Spirit Turtle.

[Lifespan Deduction: 1000 Years.]

The binding formed.

“Good thing Bu Chan was in seclusion,” Wang Ba muttered, wiping sweat from his brow. “If I hadn’t been the one feeding them daily, the affinity wouldn’t have been high enough.”

He made a mental note: Schedule mandatory bonding time with the turtle sons. Emotions are a tactical resource.

With a tank-class summon bound to his soul, Wang Ba felt a layer of tension dissolve. But paranoia was a hard habit to break.

He scooped up ten more high-affinity spirit turtles and stuffed them into a Spirit Beast Bag.

Redundancy, he told himself. If the primary tank falls, I need spare armor plates ready to bind instantly.

If he was going to walk out of the sect’s gates, he would do so wrapped in layers of ablative meat shields.

The Market District.

As expected, it was pandemonium.

The mandatory mission had triggered a panic. Every shop selling combat gear—Pills, Artifacts, Talismans, Spirit Beasts, Puppets—was besieged by a desperate mob of cultivators waving Spirit Stones.

Wang Ba tried to squeeze into a Magical Artifact shop, but was bounced off a wall of bodies. He gave up.

He drifted toward a bookstore. Unlike the frenzy elsewhere, the entrance was deserted.

He walked in.

“What do you need?” the shopkeeper asked, sounding bored.

“Just browsing,” Wang Ba said with a polite smile. “Quiet day?”

“Mandatory missions,” the shopkeeper grunted. “Five-day deadline. Everyone is out buying quick power—talismans, poisons, artifacts. No one has time to sit down and learn a spell from scratch.”

“True,” Wang Ba nodded. “Spells take months to master. Buying a book now is like digging a well when you’re already thirsty.”

He browsed the shelves.

He saw several volumes marked [Internal Sect Reference Only].

Blood Bone Path: Qi Refining Chapter

Profound Puppet Path: Qi Refining Chapter

The prices were astronomical. Wang Ba ignored them. He checked the orthodox cultivation methods, but none surpassed the Ren Water Four-Defense Art in terms of suitability.

It was disappointing. The Ren Water art was solid, but its potential dropped off a cliff after Foundation Establishment.

He moved to the Spell Section.

Jade slips were expensive—minimum 200 Spirit Stones. The physical books were cheaper, mostly minor cantrips like Lighting Lamp, Eye Obscuring, or Clothes Cleansing.

Useful combat spells were a different tier.

Charming Heart Spell

Spirit Armor Spell

Water Mirror Spell (He already knew this one).

Then came the offensive spells: Flying Sand, Wood and Grass Chaotic Arrow, Blood Sacrifice Curse, Fire Blaze.

Price tag: 100-200 Spirit Stones.

For a standard rogue cultivator, buying just one of these was a crippling investment.

Wang Ba checked his own purse. Short on funds.

He gritted his teeth and made a choice. He needed a ranged attack.

He picked out [Golden Wind Swift Arrow Art]. The power was decent, but the price was the main selling point. He also grabbed a few cheap auxiliary spells.

“That will be 345 Low Grade Spirit Stones.”

The shopkeeper’s boredom vanished. He wrapped the books with a beaming smile.

“Fellow Daoist,” the shopkeeper leaned in, his voice dropping to a conspiratorial whisper. “This Golden Wind Swift Arrow Art… to truly shine, it requires daily tempering with Golden Sand Iron. The longer you temper it, the sharper the arrows. Once mastered, it unleashes a storm of metal that shreds everything in its path.”

He paused for effect.

“If you lack Golden Sand Iron, I happen to have a supply. For you? A special price.”

Wang Ba frowned.

“Golden Sand Iron?” He tapped the book cover. “The description didn’t mention expensive consumables.”

“Are you trying to scam me?” Wang Ba asked, his voice cooling.

The shopkeeper waved his hands defensively.

“Fellow Daoist, surely you know how this works? The catalyst materials are trade secrets! If we printed the recipe on the cover, we’d be out of business.”

“Besides,” the shopkeeper reasoned smoothly, “any offensive spell worth its salt requires external resources. How else could we sell a destructive art for a mere 200 Spirit Stones?”

Wang Ba sighed.

He remembered the Ren Water Divine Light from his own cultivation manual. Powerful, yes, but it required refining ‘Ren Water True Essence’ and consuming rare treasures. It was a resource pit.

Pay to win, Wang Ba thought bitterly. Even in magic.

But he needed the firepower. An extra card in his hand was an extra percentage point of survival.

“Fine. Give me the iron.”

He walked out of the shop broke.

He wandered to the stall area, hoping to scavenge a deal.

He spotted a vendor selling a copy of [Soul Searching]—a rare and brutal interrogation spell. Wang Ba paused. That was useful.

“600 Spirit Stones. Firm,” the vendor barked.

Wang Ba flinched. The price was deterrent enough to make most people hesitate to proceed. He was no exception.

He left the market with empty pockets and a heavy heart.

Returning to the chicken farm, he spotted a figure waiting near the entrance. The silhouette was unfamiliar at first glance, but familiar in posture.

Wang Ba squinted.

“Dong Qiyu…”