The Rat Cultivator

Wu Yuan was careful not to damage the structure of the earth pit. Instead, he crouched low, observing the specific points where the Spiritual Qi was venting.

There were over a dozen holes, each as thick as a thumb, surrounded by a spiderweb of fine hairline cracks. He resisted the urge to dig them open, fearing that disturbing the earth might cut off the flow of Qi.

Wu Yuan pressed his nose right up to one of the vents, inhaling deeply to analyze the scent profile.

The top note was pure Spiritual Qi—refreshing and cool, like a clear spring washing through his nasal cavity.

“Truly enchanting,” Wu Yuan sighed, intoxicated.

“The middle note,” he murmured, like a connoisseur analyzing fine wine, “is damp air. It must be an underground river… wait. There’s a distinct fishy smell mixed in!”

His eyes widened. “So that’s where all the fish are.”

Wu Yuan’s brow furrowed as a lingering mystery was finally solved. He had always found it strange that the surface rivers of Little Green Mountain were completely devoid of fish. It turned out they were all thriving in the subterranean waterways.

“And the base note…” He sniffed again. “A pungent, earthy musk. Very similar to the [Earth Spirit Worms] we caught.”

He examined the diameter of the vents. Could these tunnels have been dug by an [Earth Spirit Earthworm]?

The [Earth Spirit Earthworm] was a miraculous creature, capable of improving soil quality and drastically accelerating the growth of spirit plants.

Wu Yuan leaned in for another whiff. Suddenly, a scent hit him—a scent that had once haunted his nightmares.

It was a cold, malicious odor that slithered into his nostrils like a venomous viper.

Wu Yuan scrambled back, cursing aloud, his expression turning ugly.

“Dammit! It’s that cursed Snake Valley smell again. This underground river must connect directly to the valley.”

He spat on the ground. “I was planning to explore the waterways, but that’s out of the question now. I’m not swimming into a nest of vipers.”

He turned to Big Old Black. “The liquid in this pit is likely [Earth Spirit Marrow]. Do not touch it.”

Wu Yuan gestured to the captive worms. “This marrow is probably essential for the reproduction of the Earth Spirit Worms. Keep them penned here. We will treat this as a renewable resource.”

He glanced at the pile of Fire Ant eggs they had looted. “These worms might have a taste for Fire Ant eggs. Feed them a few and see what happens.”

“Also,” Wu Yuan added, tapping his chin, “take the Spirit Stones I’ve already drained of Qi and place them back into the pit. I want to see if the environment here can recharge them.”

Wu Yuan gathered half of the charged Spirit Stones from the pit and shoveled them into his [Storage Bag].

“Bibo,” he said, turning to the toad. “Keep a close watch on this pit. If an actual [Earth Spirit Earthworm] appears, I want to know immediately.”

His tone was serious. The [Earth Spirit Earthworm] was a rare species listed on the World’s Extraordinary Insects Ranking. Although it only ranked in the nine hundreds, it was a treasure that one could only encounter by chance, never by seeking.

“Even these common Earth Spirit Worms, which likely possess just a trace of the ancestor bloodline, are beneficial for farming,” Wu Yuan mused. “If we actually obtained a true [Earth Spirit Earthworm], who knows how fast our spirit plants would grow?”

His heart swelled with anticipation. He could almost see the future: fields of lush spiritual herbs and trees heavy with fruit.

He picked up Little Huang, who was currently hugging a pile of Spirit Stones and giggling like a fool, and hurried back toward the main vein cave.

All the way back, Little Huang kept muttering in a trance, “Spirit Stones… yummy… shiny…”

Wu Yuan ignored him, his mind racing with the implications of the pit.

“The more I look at Little Green Mountain, the stranger it gets,” he thought. “Why are there so many anomalies popping up everywhere?”

He shivered slightly. “I just hope I don’t run into something horrifying and lose my life for no reason.”

Wu Yuan poked the Karma Pearl lodged in his soul. “Big Brother, give me a sign, will you? I’m panicking here. I have no idea what I’m dealing with.”

The Karma Pearl remained dead silent, completely ignoring his internal rambling.

“Fine. Since I’m here, I’ll make the best of it,” Wu Yuan sighed, consoling himself.

Another month passed. Time slipped away quietly in the rhythm of cultivation.

Wu Yuan had now condensed forty-two strands of Demon Power. The energy coursed through his meridians, constantly nourishing his rodent body and thickening his foundation.

While Wu Yuan was singularly focused on his training, Bibo and Big Old Black had been running ragged, managing the expansion of Wu Yuan’s empire.

One afternoon, Big Old Black rushed in, breathless but excited.

“Boss! You asked me to take a census of the remaining essence monsters on Little Green Mountain. I’ve got the full report.”

He took a gulp of air and continued. “Including the newly emerged ones, the situation has changed.”

“First, Snake Valley has a new ruler. It’s the same species as the old Snake King, and it looks just as sinister.”

“Second, the Peach Grove. Since you wiped out the original monkey tribe, only ordinary monkeys remain. They’re good farmers, so I let them be. But recently, a Wild Boar Essence Monster showed up. The guy is arrogant as hell—he’s been rooting up the soil and damaging the spirit peach trees.”

Big Old Black mimed a boar tusking a tree to emphasize his point.

“Third, the Bamboo Forest. A Hummingbird Essence Monster has moved in. It’s incredibly fast; we can’t catch it.”

Big Old Black scratched his head. “We also found traces of a Pangolin Essence Monster, but it’s nomadic. We haven’t been able to pin down its lair.”

“The rest are just small fry—creatures with Demon Power but no Awakened bloodlines. They aren’t a threat,” he concluded.

Wu Yuan nodded slowly. “Good work.”

“Lead the rat swarm and round up the small fry,” Wu Yuan ordered coldly. “Those with gentle temperaments will be enslaved to work the farms. Those with violent streaks are to be executed on the spot. We don’t need wild cards causing trouble.”

His eyes narrowed. “As for the Essence Monsters… give it some time. We will hunt them down personally. We cannot allow them to disrupt the development of the Middle Grade Spirit Lands.”

“These lands are the key to our ascension. How can we let others encroach on them?”

Wu Yuan knew perfectly well why his cultivation was progressing so fast: his headquarters in the vein cave was a First-Order Middle Grade Spirit Land.

But that was the problem.

Little Green Mountain also contained Snake Valley, the Peach Grove, and the Bamboo Forest—all large-scale Middle Grade Spirit Lands. On top of that, there were seven or eight smaller pockets of Middle Grade land scattered about.

It defied the laws of the cultivation world.

A mountain range of this size should, at most, support one or two Middle Grade nodes. For Little Green Mountain to sustain four major nodes and nearly a dozen minor ones was statistically impossible.

With this total density of Spiritual Qi, the mountain should have consolidated into a High Grade Spirit Land long ago.

Wu Yuan thought of the giant green rock that could absorb [Lunar Essence] and [Emperor’s Sap]. He thought of the terrifying secret hiding behind Snake Valley. A chill ran down his spine.

“There is no record in common cultivation knowledge of a place as peculiar as this,” he muttered. “And then there’s the White Fox… the Giant Green Bird…”

“I can visit the green rock,” he whispered to himself, “but Snake Valley is a forbidden zone. At most, I’ll send subordinates to snatch a few snakes for fertilizer.”

“The more I know, the smaller I feel.”

Wu Yuan sighed deeply.

“Cat King, I miss you. I urgently need your guidance.”

The mysterious cat who had mentored him had vanished the day before the Emperor’s Sap event.