Chapter 15: Frostsky Crow

Zhu Tao was a Breeder who specialized in the ice-and-snow attribute. His trip to Shanhai City to fulfill his duty had also been prompted by an old matter from many years ago.

Back then, a Breeder from Jidi City had made an agreement with a friend to come to Shanhai City and leave behind the seed of ice-and-snow spirit beasts. Unfortunately, an accident befell him. Although he was eventually healed, his life became tied to a unique spirit beast, and he could no longer leave Jidi City.

As it happened, Zhu Tao had once received that Breeder's favor, so he came to Shanhai City in his place. This secret realm had already been transformed into an ice-and-snow one. Barring the unexpected, beginning in the next few years, Shanhai City would gain brand-new spirit beasts of this attribute for people to choose from.

The secret realm was rather cold. The four of them sat around a bonfire while listening to Zhu Tao recount these old stories.

He sighed. "Back then, there was no compulsory education yet. I followed a number of breeders around as an apprentice. I was lucky and met Senior Dongshan. He led me through the doorway, and in the end, I graduated at the age of thirty and passed the assessment to become a Mid-Level Breeder."

"Later, the Extreme Ice Cavern appeared, and a great many new spirit beasts and materials were developed from it. I happened to catch a good opportunity, and after only a little more than twenty years, I became a Breeder."

"Jidi City faces constant attacks from the demon beasts of the Great Snow Mountains, so the people inside are relatively united. Shanhai City... is too peaceful. It has developed quickly, but it has also produced many internal problems. Before you reach the Breeder tier, don't get involved."

"After you pass the Breeder assessment, apply to go to a Frontier City as soon as possible."

Wang Mu was somewhat surprised. "Teacher, has it already reached that point? And the Shanhai Overlord doesn't interfere?"

The Shanhai Overlord was the Eighth-Rank Beast Tamer of Shanhai City. When this city was first founded, it had been she who swept the surrounding lands clean and established a safe zone, then built the new city there, even naming it after her title. At the Eighth Rank, the title suffix was Overlord.

Zhu Tao did not know the answer either. But that involved a level far too high for them to discuss, so he merely said, "Who knows? But the places most suitable for newly advanced Breeders are precisely those Frontier Cities."

"If the Overlords want to draw Beast Tamers there, they must have powerful Breeders stationed in those cities. There, you'll receive all kinds of preferential treatment, and you won't lack for materials. Nor will you need to worry about safety. Even if a Frontier City falls, they'll still take you with them when they retreat."

Wang Mu immediately thought of another layer to those words. If one had to leave upon reaching the Breeder tier, then it meant he would become an obstacle in some people's eyes. In a peaceful city, the market was already divided up and resources were already allotted ahead of time. His appearance was bound to disrupt that so-called "order."

So he chose to heed the words of an elder. "Thank you for your guidance, Teacher. I will be careful. A Frontier City truly does seem like a good choice."

Humanity had risen only within the last few hundred years. On the Shenzhou Continent, sixty percent of the land was demon beast territory, thirty percent was occupied by human cities, and the remaining ten percent was unknown. As humanity rapidly expanded, Overlord Beast Tamers would be sent to open up new territory. Those places became the Frontier Cities.

At that moment, the young man beside Zhu Tao could no longer hold himself back. The moment nobody else spoke, he blurted out, "Dad, can he really become a Breeder in five years?"

The young woman beside him also looked toward Zhu Tao, waiting for a definite answer.

Zhu Tao's expression hardened, and he cast them a sidelong glance. "Put those little thoughts of yours aside. Five years is already my conservative estimate."

"Wang Mu, if resources weren't a concern, you could already breed a Commander-rank spirit beast, couldn't you?"

After thinking for a moment, Wang Mu nodded. "I could. But it wouldn't be worth it. My foundation still isn't solid enough."

Zhu Tao frowned. "You're not talking about the Oddshrooms?"

Because if one bred Oddshrooms directly, that actually was worthwhile. In the Shroomling stage, this species stood at either Excellent or Elite rank. After evolving into an Oddshroom, it ranged from Elite to Commander. With Wang Mu's level, he could absolutely keep the Commander-rank success rate above twenty percent.

Wang Mu nodded. "I'm still mainly focusing on insect-type spirit beasts. I plan to first breed utility pets and support pets. Those will never truly reach market saturation."

After hearing that, even Zhu Tao fell silent. The two beside him found the whole thing unbelievable. They had heard their father speak about this student before. He was only sixteen, had graduated early, and had already passed the High-Level Breeder assessment. And now, only two months later, he was calmly talking about being able to breed Commander-rank spirit beasts?

Was he even human? Was he not cheating?

After a long while, Zhu Tao looked at the Greenleaf Butterfly on Wang Mu's shoulder and shook his head. "It seems I was too conservative. You may as well be bolder and pass the assessment in three years instead. Then leave immediately."

"Insect-types have always advanced quickly. Combined with utility and support positioning, the pairing becomes perfect, and the usual weaknesses of insect-types are instead turned into strengths. And just so happens, Frontier Cities consume enormous numbers of spirit beasts. Looking at it that way, you're naturally suited for a Frontier City."

"You can start looking for a specific target now."

A target?

Wang Mu fell into thought. He more or less had an answer already. For someone like him, the environment did not matter too much. In that case, going somewhere that had family was not a bad choice.

Seeing that Wang Mu already had some idea in mind, Zhu Tao turned to the real matter. "I called you here for one more thing. The Clearwind Ice Wraiths are the spirit beast lineage that Senior left behind in Shanhai City. They have Beast King-rank bloodlines, and the leader among them is a Lord-rank one."

"As for the Frostsky Crows I left behind, they're Commander-rank spirit beasts. One of their eggs currently has a problem. It isn't qualified to serve as breeding stock, so go hatch it yourself and take it away. Otherwise, it'll contaminate the lineage's genes."

Wang Mu froze. This was yet another gift. He quickly said, "Thank you, Teacher."

Zhu Tao waved a hand. "They're in the Frozen Grove over there. Go."

After Wang Mu left, Zhu Tao's daughter Zhu Lin finally asked curiously, "Dad, you're awfully good to him. I'm a tiny little bit jealous."

The jealousy was false. What she truly wanted was the reason.

"Haha." Zhu Tao merely laughed and did not answer.

A person's growth did not come only from age and knowledge. It also required experience, and that could only be understood through proper living.

The Frozen Grove was not a forest that had been frozen over. Rather, the species of tree growing there was actually called the Frozen Tree. At first, they were much like ordinary trees, but when they neared the stage of flowering, they secreted a milky white liquid over their entire bodies, then released cold air and froze themselves solid.

That was to protect the flowers within the ice.

It was far too cold here. Though the scenery was as beautiful as carved jade and ice sculpture, Wang Mu did not spare it a second glance. Instead, he used Earth Ward to defend himself from the cold air and soon spotted a nest in one of the trees. There were only eggs here and no adults, making it convenient for Wang Mu to observe.

This was probably because Zhu Tao had been a teacher for too long, so he was casually testing Wang Mu's eyesight again. There were thirty eggs here in total, and checking them one by one would indeed take some time. Wang Mu directly used the simplest method and released mindforce to sense them.

At the same time, he was also thinking about why his teacher was helping him. The reason was simple. One only had to consider the true purpose of attending the exchange meeting. Breeders needed allies and friends, and true Breeders needed them even more. More importantly, connections and peers within a single city were far from enough.

So in that case, what kind of fool would decline to invest in a student with whom one already had a teacher-disciple bond, and who in a few years would be able to converse on equal terms?

Zhu Tao had that intention, and Wang Mu did too.

It was a perfect fit.

The Frostsky Crow's vitality was very strong, though it was still much inferior to Qingling's. Even if spirit beasts shared the same bloodline grade, once one considered their attributes, talents, innate abilities, spells, and so forth, the difference between them could still be immense.

The eggs of this spirit beast looked much like ordinary chicken eggs, and after growing up, the birds would be no larger than hawks or falcons, perhaps one or two meters across. They naturally came with a mid-tier spell, making them a standard Commander-rank spirit beast. Their market price was roughly thirty million—the Association's suggested price.

Breeders generally added an extra condition, such as requiring a certain material as part of the purchase qualification.

Wang Mu scanned the nest once and locked onto four eggs whose vitality was relatively weak. Then he eliminated them one by one. This time, he closed his eyes and carefully sensed the rate at which each egg absorbed ice spiritual energy. Three of them were obviously faster. With that, the screening was complete, and he took out the egg.

At the same time, beside the bonfire, Zhu Tao held a device that projected ten green dots, one of which abruptly turned red.

Zhu Lin's little mouth parted, and she murmured, "Only eleven minutes!"

The young man beside her, Zhu Tong, was similarly shaken. "It took us six hours, but he..."

At that moment, both of them felt somewhat dazed.

Could the difference between people truly be this great?

So when Father said they were lacking in talent, he had not been joking.

And when Mother said they were not working hard enough, that had not been an angry exaggeration either...

For a moment, the two of them felt that life had grown much dimmer.

Zhu Tao only smiled and said nothing. A proper blow to their confidence was exactly what they needed if they were ever going to wake up sooner.

Wang Mu took the egg away to hatch it. Natural incubation could not compare to an incubator, but for something like leaving behind a breeding lineage, it had to be naturally hatched so that the birds would be capable of natural reproduction.

The incubator displayed a three-day countdown, which conveniently caused him to miss the exchange meeting. Once he returned home afterward, it would not delay the raising of the Greenleaf Caterpillars either.

Even without contracting spirit beasts, breeders could still command them. The method was simply companionship. From hatching to adulthood, and then through the next generation, if one continued that way, then aside from not feeding back strength to the breeder, the spirit beasts would be almost as obedient as properly contracted ones.

Wang Mu sat beside the incubator, occasionally reaching out to touch the egg and sending soothing comfort through his mental power.

Two days later, the incubator's countdown ended.

The eggshell began to tremble. One spot was suddenly pierced open, and a pale yellow beak broke through the shell. Then the opening widened, and a little creature with sparse downy feathers struggled free.

Cheep, cheep~ Cheep, cheep~

The newly born Frostsky Crow still had its eyes shut, yet it accurately opened its beak toward Wang Mu and chirped without pause. It had already grown familiar with Wang Mu's aura and regarded him as family.

Wang Mu, of course, had prepared beforehand. Yesterday, Zhu Tong had already delivered some special food for young birds, which was just right for feeding it.

Using mindforce to carry a lump of soft mash to the little bird's beak, Wang Mu fed it while the Greenleaf Butterfly landed beside the incubator to observe this tiny new life.

And Wang Mu was observing as well.

Frostsky Crow (Juvenile): 1

Bloodline: Elite

Talent: Ice (Intermediate, Low Grade)

Innate Spell: Blizzard (Beginner)

Inherited Spell: Wings of Frost (Beginner)

Shared Level: 2

For newly born spirit beasts, one generally only needed to look at the innate spells and inherited spells. Possessing even one was already good. And throughout their growth, talent would play an enormous role. The higher it was, the easier it would be for the spirit beast to comprehend new spells.

This Frostsky Crow really did have a problem. Its bloodline could not reach Commander rank. However, the rest of its configuration remained unchanged, so it could still be raised as breeding stock. As long as the other crow-type spirit beast did not possess an opposing attribute, it could be paired for breeding.

Before Wang Mu had even gone to exchange for the Jadefeather Birds, he had already obtained a better spirit beast ahead of time. At present, he could actually try to make a rapid breakthrough and leave sooner.

The world beyond was wider.

The sea was vast enough for fish to leap.

The sky was high enough for birds to fly.