CHAPTER 450: CHAPTER 88 CULTIVATION_2

"In that case, have someone... No, I’ll go myself," Zhu Ying suddenly amended.

Chen Jiuge anxiously followed Zhu Ying; the short walk felt exceptionally long.

"Steward Zhu, why have you come yourself?" Chen Jiuge asked, somewhat surprised.

"I heard that the new batch of mutated white-haired mice has been cultivated, and I came to check it out," Zhu Ying said indifferently.

"There’s no need for someone of your standing to come all this way. Please, let me lead the way," Chen Jiuge gestured forward.

NEIGH.

On the way to the white-haired mouse breeding grounds, a Fire Spirit unexpectedly appeared, curiously eyeing Zhu Ying.

After confirming it wasn’t anyone familiar, the Fire Spirit rubbed against Chen Jiuge’s body with delight and made an excited nicker.

"It seems that you have a good relationship with this Heavenly Fire Colt!" Zhu Ying said expressionlessly.

"Ha ha ha, it’s alright. I guess I’ve just got a way with Spiritual Beasts."

"We’ve arrived. This is the mutated white-haired mouse that I have cultivated."

Zhu Ying looked over to see Dagu’s giant Dharma Image securely covering the breeding grounds from above, while inside, the mutated white-haired mice were attempting to take flight in an effort to escape.

"Three hundred and fifty-two? That doesn’t seem like a lot," Zhu Ying frowned.

"It’s not a small number; it’s almost one-tenth of the whole," Chen Jiuge said with a wry smile.

"The breeding grounds are too small. I’ll have someone build you a better one later. As for the white-haired mice, I will also issue instructions: for the next year, you must cultivate at least ten thousand mutated white-haired mice for me."

"Oh, and the Lady has given the mice a new name, the ’Jadeite Mouse.’ Make sure not to get it wrong in the future."

"Got it."

"Mm, as long as the task is completed, I will reward you with this Heavenly Fire Colt. I’ll also send a group of slaves to assist you," Zhu Ying said generously.

"No problem."

Zhu Ying’s position was indeed high. Just as the batch of Jadeite Mice was collected, a group of craftsmen arrived at the Treasure Pavilion the very next day to construct the new breeding facility.

These craftsmen were royal Cultivators specially assigned for construction. They built quickly, their structures were beautiful, and they even covered them with a Defense Magic Array.

In just seven short days, a vast and exquisite mouse breeding facility was completed, even featuring the four large characters "Jadeite Mouse Grounds" prominently displayed.

A few days after the Jadeite Mouse Grounds were completed, one hundred thousand white-haired mice were delivered by the brothers Qi Gao and Qi Wen. This showed how highly Zhu Ying valued the Jadeite Mice.

Guiding the one hundred thousand white-haired mice to mutate into Jadeite Mice took quite some time. Chen Jiuge spent a full three days on it. He also penned up the white-haired mice that failed to mutate.

Chen Jiuge figured there would be other varieties besides the Jadeite Mouse, other mutations that would likely take more time to appear.

Sure enough, his guess was correct; in just half a month, a new variant of the white-haired mouse appeared.

An entirely red mouse with a row of Bone Spurs on its back emerged. This was a variety more adept at Fighting Techniques. Unfortunately, its potential was similar to the Jadeite Mouse, with a maximum Cultivation of about Heavenly Origin. Chen Jiuge named it the Fire Spirit Mouse.

Because they lacked strength, didn’t produce valuable resources, and their meat was not good, the Fire Spirit Mouse was of little use. However, Chen Jiuge discovered that the few Fire Spirit Mice could undergo a second guided mutation, so he Contracted them, planning to cultivate them slowly. It was a source of anticipation, one might say.

The primary focus, the Black-and-White Deer, showed no changes, no signs of mutation. It’s known that before mutating, white-haired mice would display ravenous behavior. In contrast, these deer did not exhibit this at all, spending their days either eating or sleeping, seeming utterly carefree.

After checking on the eight Black-and-White Deer, Jiuge let them go, muttering disappointedly, "This Golden Finger... no, the Chaos Pearl... since coming to the True Realm, it seems to have lost a lot of its effectiveness!"

"I need to elevate my status quickly, gather resources, accelerate my Cultivation, and I also need many people to retrieve the scattered Spiritual Beasts."

"Let’s take it step by step. First, I’ll stabilize my position by cultivating Jadeite Mice. Then, I’ll strive to cultivate powerful Spiritual Beasts to send the Lady back to the Imperial Palace, find a way to obtain an official title, and then I’ll gather people to search for the Spiritual Beasts."

Chen Jiuge roughly planned his path forward, a sense of urgency stirring in his heart.

「Star Sea Realm」

Since that clash between the Dao Yi groups, not only had a large number of lower-level Cultivators perished on both sides, but the Barrier had also shattered.

With no Barrier, the True Demon Clan’s invasion met no resistance. Numerous small tribes were obliterated, and for a time, the weaker groups throughout the Star Sea Realm were consumed by panic.

Because the passages connecting the two realms only allowed those at the Heavenly Immortal Cultivation level to pass, the major tribes didn’t care much about the destruction of the smaller ones.

It wasn’t until news of the Crystal Clan’s fall spread that the major tribes of the Star Sea Realm realized the True Demon Clan had unknowingly grown to such a formidable extent.

While the major tribes in various regions began to ally with neighboring ones, the True Demon Clan halted their advance, merely establishing camps and ceasing their indiscriminate attacks.

Of course, this was only on the surface. In secret, the True Demon Clan had already dispatched forces to invade the Infinite Star Sea. The Insect Clan and Corpse Demon Clan hiding there were caught off guard by the sudden assault and quickly lost a significant amount of territory.

Realizing this situation was untenable, the various tribes began to formally unite to resist the True Demon Clan.

However, the internal strife among the tribes was too severe. For a time, they were unable to eradicate the True Demon Clan. Instead, through repeated confrontations, the True Demon Clan was tempered, and their strength increased substantially.