Cultivating a Spiritual Beast is not actually difficult for the disciples of the Myriad Beasts Sect. The true difficulty lies in the cost of nurturing such beasts and the quality ultimately obtained—these are the crucial challenges.
The scoring in the Beast Breeding Competition mostly weighs these two aspects.
With three months left until the start of the Beast Breeding Competition, the entire Myriad Beasts Sect had plunged into an inexplicable bustle.
Huo Lie held up a large, four-legged lizard, laughing arrogantly. "My Four-legged Dragon has finally been successfully bred! Beast Breeding Competition, here I come!"
Huo Lian landed a heavy punch on her foolish brother’s head, grabbed the Four-legged Dragon, and tossed it casually. It was immediately swallowed by a humanoid Spiritual Beast standing behind her.
"Idiot, don’t embarrass our Huo Family. With your intelligence, just sit back and watch instead of trying to breed Spiritual Beasts," Huo Lian said disdainfully.
Watching his elder sister turn and leave, Huo Lie’s face filled with grief and indignation. "Damn tigress! My little Four, you died so miserably! Thankfully, I still have one more."
「Vermilion Bird Peak」
"HAHAHA! Big Red, I knew you were the best!" Zhu Yinghuang exclaimed, looking at the exhausted Vermilion Bird lying on the ground, and happily rubbed its neck.
Before Big Red could feel moved, it saw its master tenderly holding a small red bird—one that Big Red itself had produced through irradiation. "My little cutie," Zhu Yinghuang cooed, "you are my hope for washing away past humiliations."
After returning from the Martial Arts World, Zhu Yinghuang was ridiculed again by his younger sister. When he learned that Zhu Yingque was also participating in the Beast Breeding Competition, it spurred him to the actions just witnessed. For nearly sixty years, he had his Vermilion Bird, Big Red, irradiate this little bird, and now, it was finally a success.
"Are you participating in this Beast Breeding Competition?" Baili Wen asked with a smile, looking toward Jin Xiao, the genius of White Tiger Peak most likely to achieve the rank of Golden Immortal.
"Boring," Jin Xiao said emotionlessly. He was about to leave when a sharp slash suddenly struck Baili Wen, leaving a bloody mark on his face. "Don’t show that disgusting fake smile in front of me," Jin Xiao continued, his voice cold. "If I accidentally kill you, you’ll have died for nothing."
Baili Wen’s forehead veins bulged, but he dared not retort. Jin Xiao was a Direct Disciple of the Supreme Elder and one of the strong candidates for the next generation of Core Disciples. Both his status and power were far beyond what Baili Wen could afford to offend.
Still, there’s some resentment in my heart. Father, really, why should a disciple from Myriad Snakes Peak try to curry favor with a disciple of White Tiger Peak? Isn’t that just asking for trouble?
"All set! After so many years, it’s finally about to begin! My Turtle is already itching for action!" Gui Xuansheng, the Eldest Sister of Xuanwu Peak, laughed boisterously.
"Eldest Sister, you’re a girl. Show some restraint," Lin Jiayu, a petite girl standing behind Gui Xuansheng, said with a helpless look on her face.
"HEH HEH HEH, that’s not important! What’s important is that my Turtle is finally making its entrance!"
Watching her frenzied Eldest Sister, Lin Jiayu looked utterly helpless.
Apart from the four major peaks, disciples from all other peaks were extremely excited.
The first-place reward in this Beast Breeding Competition was a descendant of the Golden Immortal Ba Snake! While becoming a Golden Immortal was still immensely challenging even if one secured first place, becoming an ordinary immortal might be quite effortless.
Chen Jiuge, however, was undisturbed by the outside madness.
Over the past hundred years, Chen Jiuge had devoted himself entirely to the Silver Iron Eagles. In his spare time, he practiced the "Green Vine Immortal Body" and spent a large amount of Spirit Stones to purchase Life Origin Liquid, which rapidly advanced his Body Refining Cultivation. He was now only a step away from becoming a Divinity Transformation Refiner. However, his Qi Cultivation was only at the late Nascent Soul stage, progressing somewhat slowly.
As for the Silver Iron Eagles of old, their current transformation was astonishingly great.
Chen Jiuge let out a series of eagle cries, and a majestic eagle, with wings spanning dozens of meters, swiftly descended from the sky.
This was the strongest Silver Iron Eagle that Chen Jiuge had cultivated over nearly a thousand years. It possessed Fourth Rank Cultivation, a Seventh Rank Bloodline, and was even a Mutant Spiritual Beast with its potential fully maximized.
As for the other Silver Iron Eagles, most were Fifth Rank; only a few with mutated bloodlines reached Sixth Rank. This also proved one of Chen Jiuge’s theories: the rarer the mixed bloodline, the higher the probability of producing Mutant Spiritual Beasts after mating. This could even lead to rank-breaking mutations, like the Silver Iron Eagle before him, which he had named Silver King.
"Silver King, gather all the Spiritual Beasts. We’re going home," Chen Jiuge said, patting Silver King’s large head.
The eagle’s cry, like the sound of clashing metal, pierced through the clouds. A large number of Silver Iron Eagles converged above Chen Jiuge, neatly aligning behind Silver King. Nearby, the Fire Spiritual Chickens and White Spiritual Chickens also shakily arranged themselves on either side.
Chen Jiuge nodded in satisfaction and once more patted Silver King. "Good job. When we get home, I’ll reward you with your favorite grilled meat."
The sudden appearance of numerous Spiritual Beasts caused considerable chaos in Eden Garden. The herbivorous Spiritual Beasts, in particular, were startled and began scattering wildly.
"Silver King, first lead your kin to the pre-arranged nesting grounds, or it will be too chaotic," Chen Jiuge said, noticing that several Silver Iron Eagles were already unable to restrain themselves and were swooping down to catch Spiritual Chickens and Snow Rabbits for food.
After all, Silver Iron Eagles evolved from Spiritual Chickens. Eating them is a bit inhumane; I should control this.
With Silver King’s assistance, the Silver Iron Eagles quickly settled down. As for the Fire Spiritual Chickens and White Spiritual Chickens, it was simpler. Being mostly herbivores, they were directly mixed into the main flock of Spiritual Chickens. Chen Jiuge just needed to remind the Feeder, the Golden Iron Back Ape, to ensure they weren’t accidentally fed meat.
Not long after they had settled, Senior Sister Wen Ruo arrived.
"Junior Brother, Elder Gu said you came out and even cultivated a very strong Silver Iron Eagle. Let your Senior Sister see," Wen Ruo said with curiosity.
Previously, to avoid disturbing Chen Jiuge, Senior Sister Wen Ruo hadn’t visited the Flower Sea Realm even once to check on him.
Chen Jiuge emitted an eagle cry, and Silver King’s figure arrived instantly.
Looking at the majestic eagle before her, Wen Ruo expressed surprise. "This is a Silver Iron Eagle?"
After carefully sensing its aura, Wen Ruo exclaimed again, "Seventh Rank Bloodline, late Fourth Rank Cultivation?"
"Junior Brother, you are an absolute genius in cultivating Spiritual Beasts!"
"Senior Sister, you flatter me. I don’t know if I can achieve good results," Chen Jiuge said, a little worried.
"Indeed, it’s quite difficult. I heard that Flying Fish Peak has cultivated Yin-Yang Fish, Xuanwu Peak’s Eldest Sister also plans to participate, and Myriad Snakes Peak has reportedly bred several new types of Spiritual Snakes. Even our Hundred Herbs Peak has a disciple who cultivated a Wood Attribute Spiritual Beast this year. The competition is fierce. But Junior Brother, don’t think too much; you should at least be able to pass the preliminary rounds easily," Wen Ruo said with a smile.
"That’s true. If I fail this time, there’s always the next. After all, my Cultivation is still a bit too low," Chen Jiuge said, relaxing.
"Indeed. Junior Brother, after this Beast Breeding Competition, you really need to focus on your Cultivation and strive to become an immortal soon. Many Divine Secret Skills and numerous interesting places require great strength to access," Wen Ruo agreed.
"Thank you for the reminder, Senior Sister."
"Alright, I won’t disturb you further. The Beast Breeding Competition starts in a few months, so prepare well."