The Rat Cultivator

Chapter 165: Extreme Utilization

Wu Yuan ignored the Black Water Flood Dragon Snake’s silent screams. His attention was absolute, his mind synced with the silkworm threads.

With a gentle tug of his claw, the silk tightened. The snake’s muscles began to spasm, rippling in waves as if manipulated by a puppeteer.

Wu Yuan pulled harder.

“It… it’s splitting!” Big Old Black gasped, his eyes bulging. “It’s not a double image! They’re separating!”

Under the bear’s horrified gaze, the snake’s crystalline skeleton began to slide out of its own body. There were no large incisions, no butchery—it was as if the bones were simply being squeezed out of the flesh like a seed from a fruit.

Moments later, the extraction was complete.

The Black Water Flood Dragon Snake was now two distinct entities.

The first was a skinless, boneless sack of organs, meridians, and muscle. Inside this meat-husk, thousands of silkworm threads had braided themselves into tough, flexible cables, replacing the skeleton. These threads not only provided structural support but also acted as auxiliary veins, pumping Spirit Mulberry nutrients to keep the flesh alive.

The Spirit Mulberry Tree, via these threads, had effectively hijacked the snake’s nervous system, replacing the brain’s motor control with its own vegetative network.

The second entity was the pristine, complete skeleton.

Wu Yuan waved a claw, channeling a massive amount of Spirit Gathering Power onto the bones. The white osseous matter glowed, sustaining the vibrant Spirit Runes etched into the surface. The runes pulsed rhythmically, alive and active.

Wu Yuan knew this was temporary. Without a living host, the runes would eventually stagnate and calcify. But for now, he had the perfect specimen to reverse-engineer the biological engineering of a dragon-species.

Wu Yuan turned back to the living meat-sack and nodded to the shadows.

One Ear stepped forward, exhaling a cloud of black mist. From within the fog, spectral rat claws emerged, latching onto the snake’s body.

With a piercing shriek, One Ear yanked backward.

RIIIP.

The Black Water Flood Dragon Snake’s Demon Soul was torn from its body, a screaming, translucent phantom.

One Ear caught the soul, compressed it into a dense ball of energy, and shoved it forcefully into the snake’s physical head.

“Great King,” One Ear rasped, “I have imprisoned the soul within the skull. It cannot control the body, nor can it dissipate. It is trapped, alive, and conscious. This ensures the flesh remains active for optimal blood harvesting.”

“Excellent,” Wu Yuan nodded. “A perfect Dragon Blood Generator.”

Now, he only needed to feed the snake low-grade fodder. The snake’s superior digestive system would convert that trash into high-quality Dragon Blood, which could then be refined in the Blood Water Pool into Blood Essence.

This renewable resource would fuel the evolution of the Sinking Gold Carp, creating a virtuous cycle of harvesting. And if he needed to flee? He could just pack the carp and run.

“A pity I lack the proper spells,” Wu Yuan sighed, wiping his claws. “A true sect would have elegant techniques for this. We have to rely on this… clumsy improvisation.”

He turned to Big Old Black.

“The management of this ‘Blood Mine’ is yours,” Wu Yuan commanded. “Figure out the most efficient extraction schedule. Keep him alive, but drain him dry.”

Big Old Black puffed out his chest, eager to please. “Don’t worry, Boss! I have eight different extraction methods I’ve been dying to try!”

Wu Yuan patted the bear’s shoulder. “Work hard. When I ascend, I’ll pull you up with me.”

He glanced at the meat-sack one last time, shaking his head with feigned regret. “Shame he’s only Mid-Stage Qi Condensation. Once I break through, his blood will be useless. Then… we’ll just smelt him into artifacts.”

“Alright. I’m returning to Secluded Cultivation.”

Back in the treehouse.

Wu Yuan sat in a lotus position, his mind diving inward to inspect his own body.

Eight distinct Bloodline Spirit Runes orbited his core, complex and beautiful. With every cycle of energy, he felt a microscopic improvement in his bloodline.

But it wasn’t enough.

His bloodline was stuck at Second Rank Top Grade. The gap between him and Third Rank felt like a chasm. It wasn’t a matter of quantity; it was a matter of quality. He was missing a fundamental element—the spark that turned a beast into a monster.

“The ancient texts mention a ‘Metallic Nature’ in the Core Formation stage,” Wu Yuan mused, his brow furrowed. “A quality of perfection and immutability.”

“Is that what I lack? The ‘Gold’ in the core? Without that spark, I’m just piling water into a bottomless bucket. I need to go from Zero to One.”

Wu Yuan opened his eyes, a fierce light burning within them.

“I refuse to accept this ceiling.”

“Karma Pearl, aid me!”

He poured his accumulated Spirit Gathering Power into the pearl. The artifact vibrated, and a cyan text floated into his vision.

[Cyan Intelligence: To break the shackles of your bloodline and achieve Third Rank under current conditions, you require the ‘Grotto-Heaven Power’ of the Azure Radiance Grotto-Heaven. Sufficient power can even allow you to reshape your flesh and condense a Spirit Body.]

Wu Yuan narrowed his eyes.

“There are other ways—Bloodline Fruits, Dragon Gates, Beast Valleys—but those are out of my reach.”

“The only viable path is right above my head.”

Wu Yuan looked up at the sky, his expression shifting into a polite, almost reverent smile.

“Lord Little Qing… I wonder how you have been doing lately?”