Chapter 18: Trait — King of the Species!

The spirit beasts and Wang Mu were of one heart, while Wang Mu did all the thinking for them.

Now that he understood every effect of Shared Levels, and had also inferred from the Greenleaf Butterfly's behavior how to raise that level more quickly, Wang Mu came up with a few rather strange ideas. In the future, if he wanted to rapidly raise the Shared Level with a new spirit beast, he could first hold it back, then reward it afterward.

After teaching it the remaining four mid-tier spells one after another, Wang Mu put on a weak and exhausted act and sent mental waves to the Greenleaf Butterfly. "Teaching you all these spells has taken a great deal out of me. There's still one high-tier spell left. Do you want it?"

The Greenleaf Butterfly hesitated. It had already noticed that its master's spiritual fluctuations were weak and that his mental strength had declined as well. It wanted the spell, but in the end, it still refused.

"Master, rest."

It was already concerned for him!

Wang Mu's conscience felt a tiny bit pricked, then he said with heartfelt satisfaction, "What a good child. Then I'll teach it to you in a few days."

Though it would waste a few days, Wang Mu had a feeling that after the next round of sharing, the Greenleaf Butterfly's Shared Level would reach Level 8, and the trait he had been longing for would finally be within reach.

That was nothing less than a pass to Beast King-rank bloodline.

The Breeders Association had always felt there were too few breeders, because once one reached the level of a Beast King bloodline, it simply could not be mass-produced. Even if the bloodline grade itself reached that level, it would still only count as a "Pseudo Beast King."

Only when the lineage split into a true population, reproduced naturally, and then gave birth to a king from within that race would it become a genuine Beast King. Even with the accelerated time of a secret realm, it still took years to produce one.

Wang Mu, however, could break part of that rule, so long as the Shared Level was high enough.

After the Greenleaf Butterfly flew off to digest its new gains, Wang Mu discovered a clump of Verdant Spirit Dew being delivered before him, along with Qingling's faint mental ripple of concern. Keeping up the performance to the very end, Wang Mu felt deeply gratified. "Qingling has grown up."

This time, Qingling did not understand. It was still in its growth stage and needed some time yet before reaching adulthood, so naturally it had not grown up.

"Hahaha." Wang Mu found spirit beasts far too adorable—pure-hearted, with no pressure in communicating with them.

Afterward, he stretched lazily, repaid his loan, and told his father to gather a few kinds of rare but not especially dangerous Second- and Third-Rank demon beasts. Whether they were elderly or not, as long as they were elders, if you asked them to do absolutely nothing, that would never work.

So giving them something to stay busy with, while keeping it safe, was enough.

It was not that Wang Mu doubted his father's strength. Rather, a Fourth-Rank Phoenix-Eyed Butterfly and a Fourth-Rank Azure Jade Butterfly still had limited combat power. Qingling had not been raised along a combat path, yet Wang Mu himself could already face hundreds of spirit butterflies at once.

Because of the arrangements Wang Mu had made during this period, he had more contact with his father's two spirit beasts, and their Shared Levels had risen as well. When the time came, he could directly raise their talents and let Wang Lingfeng reach the Fifth Rank sooner.

After drinking the Verdant Spirit Dew, Wang Mu deliberately let his aura seem a little stronger than before, then recovered a bit more each day. By the third day, several spirit butterflies broke from their cocoons, but the results left Wang Mu disappointed. Even after gathering both water and light spells and feeding them the corresponding materials, the spirit butterflies still remained single-attribute.

Even their spells had not increased. Their talents had merely risen by the slightest amount.

For the time being, Wang Mu set aside the breeding of the other spirit butterflies.

He understood very clearly that if he wanted the Greenleaf Butterflies to truly evolve, then he had to use Control-level spells and let them pass those down through one generation after another. Only then could he crossbreed spirit butterflies that were naturally multi-attribute.

Rather than continue wasting effort, it was better to relax a little and begin researching more advanced knowledge.

After thinking it over, Wang Mu created an official website for Qingmu Breeding Center and published a Growth Plan, open only to newly graduated students. The requirement was that novice Beast Tamers record each stage of their spirit beasts' growth.

For example, in a given year and month, a spirit butterfly might break through to the Third Rank, or a certain spell might reach the Proficient level.

At the same time, Wang Mu also set the rewards for the plan. If, within a year, someone could raise any one spell to the Control level, then they would be allowed to bring their spirit beast back to the breeding center for temporary boarding, during which it would receive a chance to be taught a mid-tier spell.

The Growth Plan also had an advanced stage. If, within two years, any one spell could be raised to Perfection or higher, then the spirit beast could participate in bloodline advancement experiments.

Once he had laid out the concept in simple form, Wang Mu chose to publish it and immediately sent it to all customers who met the requirements.

This was both encouragement and a benefit.

If one calculated the matter carefully, Wang Mu was actually losing out, because many of the spells would repeat. But that did not matter. Wang Mu was also one of humanity. In earlier ages, breeders had once raised spirit beasts without charge and gifted them to the military.

Now that the human heartland was safe, breeders could improve themselves peacefully while also shouldering part of their responsibility by raising the new generation of Beast Tamers.

Breeding did not concern only spirit beasts.

It also concerned humanity itself.

When a person no longer lacked material foundations, he would naturally begin to pursue other things. Wang Mu had known of "Maslow's hierarchy of needs" in his previous life, and this world had similar phenomena as well.

Breeders pursued higher-rank spirit beasts, greater strength, higher status in society, and the praise of the outside world.

Almost immediately after the Growth Plan was published, some young people who happened to be free chose to submit their information. As for whether this counted as information leakage?

There was no need to overthink it.

Beast Tamer academies had similar welfare plans as well, and if someone did not want to participate, then they simply did not need to report anything.

But wanting benefits while refusing to do anything at all was pure fantasy in any world.

Quite a few youths were stirred into urgency because of it. New breeders had already been racing to improve themselves, hoping to compete for the title and rewards of the city's Rising Star among novice Beast Tamers. Now that the Growth Plan had appeared, they could grow even faster.

Even those who had no intention of fighting for rankings were tempted by the prospect of mid-tier spells or bloodline enhancement. Commoners had no such channels, and even if they did, the price would be far too high. Since this opportunity was free, anyone would want to try.

Moreover, the plan was relatively fair. It was difficult, yes, but not impossible to complete.

Zhang Wenting signed up for it.

After returning from the forest training grounds with her Azure Jade Butterfly, she immediately pulled her father over and said, "Dad, could you specially train the Azure Jade Butterfly for a while? The breeding center has this Growth Plan..."

Almost the moment she finished speaking, Zhang Tiancheng agreed. "All right. Your brother will be back in a few days too. One of his Forest Giant Lizards knows Needle Barrage at the Control level, so he can help teach you as well."

Zhang Wenqiu had been called back by Zhang Tiancheng for exactly this reason. The goal was to have him go and inspect the breeding center. In Zhang Tiancheng's eyes, the best spirit beasts they could possibly come into contact with at their level were those spirit butterflies from Qingmu Breeding Center.

Even more valuable was the fact that Wang Lingfeng was his friend. During their recent trip searching for rare demon beasts together, Zhang Tiancheng had seen that Wang Lingfeng had also contracted an Azure Jade Butterfly. That alone made him think of certain possibilities: this spirit beast had later evolution forms.

That was enough to make their whole family place their bet on the Azure Jade Butterfly.

With the parents now participating as well, it took only another four or five days before someone uploaded new information. One spirit butterfly had already raised one of its spells to the Mastery level.

At that point, after setting up reminder notifications, Wang Mu went to find the Greenleaf Butterfly, because according to the "schedule," he had now fully recovered. It was time to teach it the high-tier spell Force of Life.

Wang Mu found the Greenleaf Butterfly beside Qingling. The two of them were exchanging心得 about spells. The moment he arrived, both spirit beasts stopped. As always, Qingling offered him Verdant Spirit Dew, while the Greenleaf Butterfly was visibly guilty. It felt that it was because of itself that its master had been unwell these past few days, and that even the breeding of spirit beasts had stopped because of it.

It remembered that its master had never stopped before...

This time, Wang Mu did not drink the Verdant Spirit Dew. Instead, he said, "I've completely recovered. That's all thanks to Qingling. Since you're here too, I'll teach you the spell Force of Life. Once you learn it, your lifespan will definitely improve again."

The Greenleaf Butterfly felt both anticipation and a little hesitation. It did not want its master to grow weak, because in the minds of spirit beasts, weakness meant danger.

Could Wang Mu fail to see through the thoughts of such simple-hearted spirit beasts?

He did not even need to use his talent. He could see everything clearly, so now he deliberately made his attitude a little firmer.

"Come here. Be good."

Sure enough, the Greenleaf Butterfly flew over. Only then did Wang Mu soften his tone. "Don't worry. I'm inside the breeding center. I don't go out, so there's no danger. Besides, don't I still have all of you? Once you grow stronger, if anyone dares to come, just beat them back."

No danger → can teach spells → it becomes stronger → it can protect its master better.

Now that the logic had become clear to it, the Greenleaf Butterfly stopped hesitating and hardened its resolve.

Wang Mu deliberately closed his eyes and waited for several minutes before finally sharing the spell Force of Life with the Greenleaf Butterfly. Almost instantly, a storm of spiritual energy arose. Qingling proactively let the mist of spiritual energy around it be absorbed by the Greenleaf Butterfly.

Meanwhile, Wang Mu himself backed away. The last time Qingling had comprehended Force of Life, the disturbance had already been considerable, directly raising the spiritual energy concentration of the breeding center above 7.

If it could exceed 10, then Commander-rank spirit beasts would truly be able to reproduce and thrive there.

At the center of the storm, the Greenleaf Butterfly comprehended things on its own without a teacher and used the spell Forest Domain. At once, every plant in the breeding center began supplying it with energy. It very quickly satisfied its needs and, at the same time that it learned the spell, raised its own strength to the peak of the Fourth Rank.

Wang Mu, meanwhile, turned his attention to another major matter.

Now that the Shared Level was high enough, he could see an entirely new sharing option.

Greenleaf Butterfly (Adult): 4

Bloodline: Elite

Talent: Wood (Intermediate, High Grade)

Inherited Spell: Leaf Blade

Spells: Omitted

Shared Level: 8

Special Shared Option: King of the Species (Greenleaf Butterfly). When the original species breaks through its original life limit, it will become the king of its species, able to command all members of the lineage and possess all the abilities of the lineage. Its descendants will inherit that legacy as well.

"Hiss..."

Now that what he had guessed had truly come to pass, Wang Mu found it even harder to believe.

This trait, King of the Species, was simply too powerful.

The meaning of those final two sentences was that if other Greenleaf Butterflies evolved into forms such as the Mind Butterfly, Silver Butterfly, Azure Jade Butterfly, and so on, then the abilities of those forms would all be acquired by this Greenleaf Butterfly as well—and could also be inherited by its descendants.

"No wonder Beast King- and Lord-rank spirit beasts are born already possessing most of their species' spells. They can inherit them directly, whereas lower-level spirit beasts still need enough talent just to learn them. That's the difference."

Wang Mu immediately shared it.

In that instant, every spirit butterfly in the breeding center resonated with him. Some spells that he had not previously bothered to share over—simply because their effects overlapped too much—were now learned by him as naturally as breathing.

He even had the feeling that every spirit butterfly, including the Greenleaf Caterpillars, could be controlled and commanded by him.

He checked almost reflexively, and at once, a grin spread uncontrollably across his face.

It turned out that every spirit butterfly, including the Greenleaf Caterpillars, had reached Shared Level 6!