Chapter 154: Reproduction
Xiang Yu opened his eyes within the vast expanse of his spiritual sea, his expression stern as he contemplated the countless battles he had fought in simulation. After reaching a hundred, he had simply lost track. The extensive time spent in battle simulations had pushed his mental endurance to its limits, though thankfully his elevated Mind level allowed him to withstand the strain without breaking.
A satisfied smile spread across his face. After countless iterations, he had finally progressed to the point where he could put up a respectable defense against the peak Core Formation Meiling. Victory still eluded him, but this wasn’t due to any inherent weakness on his part—it was merely a matter of technique mastery. Once he perfected one of his techniques or reached the Great Completion stage, the gap would narrow significantly.
With a thoughtful sigh, Xiang Yu decided it was time to return to his physical form. The soul infant remained perched atop his head, deeply immersed in its cultivation routine. With gentle movements, he carefully lifted the tiny being and placed it on the shimmering surface of the spiritual sea. The infant didn’t stir from its meditative trance, its small features locked in perfect concentration. After confirming the little one’s condition was stable, Xiang Yu withdrew his consciousness.
His eyes opened to the familiar surroundings of the spirit vein. Having acquired new professions in farming and medicine, he decided to dedicate this session to developing these skills. He approached his garden plot.
Though there wasn’t much maintenance required, he took the opportunity to expand the cultivated area significantly, planting additional seedlings in neat rows and irrigating the established plants. He also infused spiritual qi into the soil, enhancing its nurturing properties. Though just slightly since it already had adequate qi concentration.
After tending to his garden for some time, Xiang Yu’s thoughts turned to medicine. While he had several ideas in mind, he needed to consult with his martial aunt before proceeding further. For now, he would focus on a different project.
Leaving the spirit vein, Xiang Yu made his way to the animal pen where he’d been gradually assembling a collection of creatures. Over time, he had increased his menagerie to twenty boars, along with several vicuñas and other species. He transported the entire collection to the spirit vein, constructing separate enclosures for each animal type. The careful segregation would prevent unwanted interaction while allowing him to monitor each species independently.
With the animals settled, Xiang Yu proceeded to his planned experiment. Among the valuable resources Meiling had provided were several lightwell flowers. He refined these into seventh-grade healing pills.
Next came the challenging part—transforming some of the lightwell flowers into midnight flowers for crafting qi absorption pills. Activating his divine ability, he began the painstaking process of converting each blossom. The transformation drained his energy considerably, but fortunately, his soul infant’s diligent cultivation accelerated his recovery. As his strength returned, he would craft a pill, then move on to transforming another flower. Through this approach, he successfully produced fifteen qi absorption pills.
He decided to set aside five pills for Xiuying as he didn’t want the stress of refining qi absorption pills later without the infant restoring his energy. Xiang Yu reserved the remainder for his spirit beast creation project..
From the remaining ten pills, Xiang Yu carefully administered one to a female boar, ensuring that Zero would have a mate for reproduction. He remained uncertain whether offspring from a normal mother would inherit spirit beast characteristics, and preferred not to risk finding out through trial and error. Two more pills went to a male and female vicuña.
The final seven pills were reserved for the junglefowl he had captured. His reasoning was practical—these birds reproduced more quickly than the larger mammals. Once they laid eggs, he could employ specialized techniques from his farmer profession to accelerate incubation, reducing hatching time to mere days. The young birds would also mature much faster than the larger animals, providing him with a sustainable source of spirit beasts in the shortest possible timeframe.
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Xiang Yu’s eyes narrowed in concentration as he monitored their effects. The timing was crucial—he needed to wait until each pill had absorbed a significant amount of qi without becoming completely saturated. At this precise moment, when spiritual energy actively flowed into the animals from the surrounding environment, he administered the healing pills.
The healing energy worked exactly as he had theorized, restructuring the animals’ internal systems around these temporary energy channels. As the medicinal power spread through their bodies, it solidified these pathways into permanent meridians, transforming ordinary creatures into genuine spirit beasts. One by one, the animals’ auras shifted perceptibly, their eyes gaining an unmistakable spiritual gleam that distinguished them from mundane counterparts.
A satisfied exhale escaped Xiang Yu’s lips as he observed the successful transformation of each test subject. Only one question remained unanswered—would these newly created spirit beasts produce spirit beast offspring, or would their progeny revert to ordinary animals? This critical detail would determine the sustainability of his entire project.
The junglefowl offered the most practical test case. With a pregnancy period of mere weeks rather than the boar’s four-month gestation. "I’d be fossils by then if I waited that long," he thought wryly.
Though he had methods to help the male junglefowl fertilize the females from his spirit farmer profession, Xiang Yu had an even better idea. Of the seven birds he’d transformed, six were females with just a single male. This imbalanced ratio would maximize offspring production, assuming the lone male could service all potential mates.
A mischievous smile played across Xiang Yu’s face as he withdrew a special pill from his sleeve. After giving his master the majority of his "special" pills, he’d saved one for precisely this situation. This enhancement would ensure the male bird could fulfill its reproductive duties with exceptional vigor.
"If this male doesn’t fertilize all the females with this pill, it’s probably impossible," he thought with smug confidence, administering the medicine to the unsuspecting bird.
As Xiang Yu departed the enclosure, the sounds of energetic activity already emanated from within. Even the ordinary junglefowl that hadn’t been transformed were responding to the commotion, their excited squeaking adding to the cacophony. The enhanced male was clearly embracing its role with extraordinary enthusiasm.
"Well, it’s out of my hands now," Xiang Yu thought. He could also use this chance to test whether spirit beasts could reproduce with ordinary animals while preserving their spiritual characteristics in the next generation...