Cultivation: I Can Steal Lifespan from Spirit Beasts

Chapter 185: Reaching an Agreement

Master?

Wang Ba’s expression remained perfectly blank, but his heart slammed against his ribs.

Within the Qian Dong Hall, there was only one person these human puppet guards would ever refer to as ‘Master.’ And it certainly wasn’t Bai Yu.

The true identity of the man waiting inside was dreadfully obvious. But Wang Ba couldn’t fathom why he was being summoned. He had come here seeking Bai Yu, yet the apex predator of the garrison had taken an interest in him instead.

Feeling the heavy, scrutinizing gazes of the elite disciples outside, Wang Ba had no choice but to brace himself. He followed the puppet guard step by step into the yawning, pitch-black maw of the palace.

Passing through a dead-silent foyer, the inner sanctum opened up before him.

A group of Foundation Establishment cultivators stood near the center of the hall, delivering hushed, rapid reports. Bai Yu was among them. As Wang Ba entered, the others shot him brief, dismissive glances before returning their attention forward. Only Bai Yu’s empty, dark eye sockets remained locked straight ahead.

Wang Ba shifted his gaze to the head of the hall.

Seated upon a high throne was a figure radiating an aura so profound and unfathomable it felt like looking into an abyss. He was dressed in immaculate black robes, his features handsome and delicate, resembling a graceful, aristocratic youth.

It was the current second-in-command of the Heavenly Gate Sect, the newly advanced Golden Core Elder, Lu Yuansheng.

The instant Wang Ba laid eyes on him, every hair on his body stood on end. A phantom barrage of needles pricked at his eyes, forcing him to immediately snap his gaze downward and bow his head in deep submission.

Even staring at the floor, the echoes of the ongoing war council washed over him.

“In the southeast, the Incense Path has deployed a third-stage Refining Spirit cultivator. While he fears the Elder’s presence and dares not strike directly, his backing makes Li Canghai a massive threat. We have no one in that theater who can suppress him…”

“Furthermore, Zheng Yuanhua continues to be a treacherous plague. Every trap we’ve laid has been seen through…”

“As for the four major sects…”

“…Deploy Zhu Ziji of the Slaughtering Life Path to the southeast,” Lu Yuansheng’s voice floated down, eerily calm and melodic. “He lacks Yan Yun’s finesse, but once his bloodlust takes hold, he is an adequate butcher.”

“Reinforce the southwest…”

Wang Ba stood perfectly still in the shadows of the corner, burying his presence, daring not to show a flicker of impatience or eavesdropping.

Eventually, the council concluded. The commanders received their marching orders and swiftly exited the hall.

Soon, the sprawling palace was empty save for Lu Yuansheng, Bai Yu, a ring of silent puppet guards, and Wang Ba hiding in the corner.

Bai Yu turned to leave, but the melodic voice pinned him in place.

“Bai Yu. Stay.”

“…Yes, Elder.” Bai Yu bowed respectfully and stepped to the side. His bleached skeletal face betrayed absolutely nothing.

Lu Yuansheng didn’t look at him. His dark, abyssal eyes drifted down to the corner, locking onto the tense figure of Wang Ba.

His voice echoed softly through the cavernous hall. “If memory serves, your name is Wang Ba, correct?”

“Yes. Yes, Elder. This junior is Wang Ba.” He immediately stepped out of the shadows, offering a flawless, subservient bow.

“Wang Ba…” Lu Yuansheng tasted the name on his tongue.

His next words plunged Wang Ba’s heart into a vat of ice.

“Last time, you were somewhat useful to me. So, I didn’t kill you.” Lu Yuansheng smiled, a gentle, almost affectionate curve of his lips. “This time, however, I still want you dead. I assume you have no regrets?”

The tone was terrifyingly polite, conversational even, yet it suffocated the room with an undeniable, psychotic tyranny.

Wang Ba’s pulse roared in his ears. He’s insane. Even though he had braced himself for Lu Yuansheng’s erratic nature, he hadn’t expected the Golden Core Elder to casually announce his murder like he was ordering tea.

But to a Golden Core True Person, an ordinary Foundation Establishment ant required no justification. A single whim decided life and death.

Countless escape plans and desperate calculations flashed through Wang Ba’s mind, burning out just as quickly. I can’t run. I can’t fight.

Gritting his teeth, Wang Ba made a razor-thin gamble.

Under Lu Yuansheng’s mildly amused gaze, Wang Ba bowed even deeper, his voice dripping with utter, fanatic sincerity.

“If the Elder desires my life, this junior has absolutely no complaints! However, before my execution, this junior wishes to offer the Elder a treasure!”

“A treasure?”

Lu Yuansheng blinked, genuinely surprised. The amused smile returned, sharper this time. “I tell you I am going to kill you, and you want to give me a present?”

“The Elder finds Wang Ba displeasing; therefore, Wang Ba is inherently at fault,” Wang Ba declared smoothly, his face a mask of solemn reverence. “But my respect for the Elder is boundless. Only my death, and this item, can truly represent it.”

Lu Yuansheng leaned forward, his eyes narrowing into cold slits. “I want to murder you, and you don’t hate me?”

“I do hate,” Wang Ba replied instantly. “But I only hate myself! I hate that my incompetence failed to please the Elder’s eyes. The Elder possesses talents that eclipse the heavens. My only regret is that I lacked the qualifications to serve by your side. Dying by your hand is the fulfillment of my greatest wish!”

Beside the throne, Bai Yu’s empty eye sockets slowly turned toward Wang Ba. Even without a shred of flesh or muscle to convey emotion, the sheer, unadulterated shock radiating from the skeletal cultivator was palpable.

How can a human being be this utterly, shamelessly sycophantic?! Bai Yu screamed internally.

Even Lu Yuansheng was momentarily rendered speechless. The handsome youth stared at Wang Ba for a long time before slowly shaking his head. “The world truly is vast, breeding all sorts of creatures.”

“As long as the Elder wills it, Wang Ba will be whatever creature you desire!” Wang Ba fired back without missing a beat.

His expression was so terrifyingly earnest that Bai Yu actually suffered a moment of profound self-doubt. As the Elder’s actual right-hand man, was he not groveling enough?

Lu Yuansheng stared at Wang Ba in utter silence. Then, he began to laugh.

“You are very good,” Lu Yuansheng chuckled, though his eyes remained dead and freezing. “However, I still want you dead. Looking at you simply irritates me. Since you are so devoted to me… why don’t you just kill yourself right now?”

It was a test of supreme cruelty.

But to Lu Yuansheng’s immense shock, Wang Ba didn’t hesitate.

Without a word, Wang Ba unclipped a spirit beast bag from his belt, carefully smoothed out the fabric, and placed it respectfully on the floor.

Then, he raised his palm, violently gathered his Qi, and ruthlessly slammed it toward his own skull!

Lu Yuansheng watched with a cold, mocking smirk. He didn’t believe it for a second. Every cultivator, no matter how utterly outmatched, possessed a primal survival instinct. They would fight back.

Bai Yu’s dark sockets locked onto the descending hand.

Under Lu Yuansheng’s widening eyes, the glowing palm plummeted toward Wang Ba’s head without a microsecond of hesitation. Lu Yuansheng didn’t even have time to raise a finger to stop it!

Hum!

A brilliant, blinding barrier of light violently erupted from Wang Ba’s forehead!

Wang Ba’s hand bounced off the shield. He lowered his arm, blinking in feigned realization. “Ah! Elder, please forgive this junior’s sheer stupidity. I forgot to deactivate my passive defensive Magical Artifact. Allow me to remove it immediately!”

With a swift motion, Wang Ba ripped the second-grade Middle Grade pendant from his neck and tossed it carelessly across the floor.

Once again, he raised his palm, his eyes dead set, and swung it toward his skull to cave it in.

Bai Yu’s skeletal jaw literally unhinged. Does this Fellow Daoist Wang have a blood feud with his own brain?!

This time, the palm never landed.

An invisible, insurmountable wall of Golden Core Qi easily clamped around Wang Ba’s wrist, freezing it in mid-air. Simultaneously, a tendril of energy swept up the spirit beast bag Wang Ba had placed on the floor and delivered it directly into Lu Yuansheng’s hand.

At the head of the hall, Lu Yuansheng untied the pouch and peered inside.

The mocking amusement vanished from his face, replaced by a flash of unconcealable shock. He sat up bone-straight, his gaze locking onto Wang Ba with sudden, intense gravity.

“A second-grade Top Grade Spirit Poultry… you managed to breed this?”

Wang Ba lowered his hand, his posture returning to perfect, subservient calm, as if he hadn’t just tried to violently end his own life twice. “Yes, Elder. Just before the Heavenly Gate Task Token was issued, this junior happened to be gathering the necessary catalysts for a Bloodline Breakthrough near the Sword Billow Garrison. Unfortunately, the deployment orders arrived before I could report this success to the garrison command…”

Lu Yuansheng narrowed his eyes and shot a look at Bai Yu.

Understanding the silent command, Bai Yu immediately produced a Talisman and fired off a covert transmission. A few moments later, a reply zipped back into his skeletal hand. Bai Yu read the spiritual imprint, then gave Lu Yuansheng a firm nod.

Receiving the confirmation, Lu Yuansheng looked at Wang Ba again. This time, the dismissive cruelty was gone. He was looking at an asset.

To take a first-grade High Grade Spirit Poultry and forcefully evolve it into a second-grade Top Grade entity in less than ten years was an act of biological alchemy. As the former Head Disciple of the Eastern Sage Sect’s Outer Sect, Lu Yuansheng hadn’t practiced beast taming, but he understood the sheer, terrifying weight of that metric.

Even within the Eastern Sage Sect’s dedicated Myriad Beast Department, counting every genius disciple and Elder, there were perhaps three people alive who could replicate that speed.

Cheng Shu had recently produced a Top Grade bird, yes. But Cheng Shu was a seasoned expert. Wang Ba had achieved the exact same result while starting as a lowly Qi Refining peon. The disparity in their foundational resources was massive, yet the timeframe was identical. It was a testament to Wang Ba’s monstrous talent in the beast-taming Dao.

For the first time since Wang Ba entered the room, Lu Yuansheng actually hesitated.

Execute, or exploit?

Acting as though he couldn’t sense the Golden Core Elder weighing his life on a mental scale, Wang Ba kept his head bowed and spoke softly.

“During the breeding process, this junior began to grasp the underlying laws of the bloodline mutations. I firmly believe that, given sufficient resources and backing, within ten years… I can touch the threshold of a third-grade Spirit Poultry.”

Third-grade!

Bai Yu’s non-existent breath hitched. Third-grade meant Golden Core. It was the legendary realm he had sacrificed his own flesh and humanity trying to reach. And this mere Foundation Establishment junior had the audacity to claim he could breed a beast of that caliber?!

Lu Yuansheng maintained a cooler exterior, but the shock in his eyes deepened. The gap between second-grade Top Grade and third-grade was the difference between a puddle and an ocean.

If Wang Ba could actually manufacture Golden Core beasts…

Tap. Tap. Tap.

Lu Yuansheng’s pale fingers drummed rhythmically against the armrest of his throne.

The scales had tipped.

Killing Wang Ba was a momentary stress relief. A fleeting indulgence. Keeping Wang Ba alive, however, could yield a strategic nuclear weapon in the years to come.

A dark, calculating coldness flashed through Lu Yuansheng’s eyes, hidden as quickly as it appeared. He suddenly understood exactly what Wang Ba was doing, and the sheer audacity of the manipulation amused him.

“Bai Yu. Leave us,” Lu Yuansheng commanded abruptly.

Bai Yu paused, confused by the sudden dismissal, but he knew better than to question his master. Shooting Wang Ba one last, deeply conflicted look, the skeletal cultivator exited the hall.

The massive doors sealed shut. Under the suffocating suppression of Lu Yuansheng’s Qi, the puppet guards were rendered entirely deaf and blind.

“Speak,” Lu Yuansheng said, his voice dropping to a glacial chill. “What are your conditions?”

Wang Ba kept his posture low, his tone perfectly submissive. “This junior would never dare to impose conditions upon the Elder.”

Seeing Wang Ba still playing the flawless sycophant, Lu Yuansheng sneered.

“You want to avoid the front lines.” Before Wang Ba could agree, Lu Yuansheng crushed the hope. “Erase that thought. The deployment of Foundation Establishment cultivators was personally mandated by the Sect Master. He etched every single name himself. I cannot pull you off the vanguard.”

Lu Yuansheng leaned back. “At least, not until this war with the five major sects concludes.”

Wang Ba’s heart plummeted into his stomach.

The Sect Master personally drafted me? Though he suspected there was foul play involved, he had prepared for the worst-case scenario. Dropping the extreme flattery, he shifted to his actual objective.

“Elder, my Dao Companion is only at the eighth layer of Qi Refining. I beg of you, is it possible to exempt her from the deployment?”

Lu Yuansheng tilted his head, calculating the cost, before giving a crisp nod. “Acceptable. I have the authority to bury a Qi Refining conscript. However…” His eyes locked onto Wang Ba like a striking viper. “I want an exact timeline. How fast can you give me a third-grade Spirit Poultry?”

“Within ten years, it should be possible!” Wang Ba answered smoothly.

“I don’t want ‘should.’ I demand certainty.”

“Nine years!” Wang Ba fired back immediately.

In nine years, I’ll have enough power to flee this hellhole anyway, he added mentally.

Lu Yuansheng analyzed Wang Ba’s face and found no deception. Given the man’s terrifying talent, a nine-year incubation period with full Sect backing was entirely plausible.

“Very well,” Lu Yuansheng said, flicking his wrist. The spirit beast bag containing the Top Grade chicken shot back across the room, landing precisely in Wang Ba’s hands. “Survive the front lines. When you return, you will remain in the garrison and breed my birds.”

“Yes, Elder!”

The pact was sealed. Wang Ba immediately bowed and retreated from the hall, his spine drenched in cold sweat.

In the dim silence of the Qian Dong Hall, Lu Yuansheng sat alone on his throne, his eyes gleaming with a dark, predatory light.

“A third-grade beast… yes. That should be enough.”