The Master of Beasts
Chapter 34 Stone-Dragon Lizard Experiment

Chapter 34: Chapter 34 Stone-Dragon Lizard Experiment

First, he fitted the five Stone-dragon Lizards with Spiritual Beast Rings to prevent them from going berserk after being strengthened.

Although Chen Jiuge could easily suppress these five Stone-dragon Lizards with a flip of his hand, they still possessed Fourth Rank cultivation, so a little restriction was necessary.

Just as he was about to begin, Chen Jiuge suddenly remembered that he could only extract bloodlines four times. This meant that out of these five bloodlines, he had to leave one unenhanced.

Damn it! If I’d only known, I would have bought four adult ones. At least that would have saved me a hundred Upper Spirits! Chen Jiuge felt he had truly lost out; a hundred Upper Spirits was enough for a Golden Core Realm Loose Cultivator to risk half their life for.

After some thought, Chen Jiuge decided to keep the Grey Stone Mouse. After all, among the five bloodlines, it was the only Second Rank one, which was too low. It was only slightly better than a Spiritual Chicken or a Snow Rabbit, so he would just consider it an addition to the variety in his Spiritual Beast Garden.

Chen Jiuge now also wanted to release the Spiritual Beasts from the small Secret Realm. Lin En and Ye Chenghai’s experiences had taught him that selling high-bloodline Spiritual Beasts was the correct way to utilize his Golden Finger.

In the past, his cultivation was insufficient, but now it was almost adequate. Moreover, the Nascent Soul Realm required substantial cultivation resources, as did the mandatory tasks every ten years. He had to accelerate his earning of Spirit Stones and convert them into cultivation and strength.

He picked out the most unfortunate adult Stone-dragon Lizard. Disregarding its pitiful cries, he extracted its main bloodline along with the other three bloodlines. As he watched its body shrink until it transformed into a Grey Stone Mouse half its original size, its cultivation also falling to Third Rank, Chen Jiuge couldn’t help but feel a chill. Every time I extract a Spiritual Beast’s main bloodline, I feel like one of those evil scientists from a sci-fi movie.

Shaking the thought from his mind, he quickly processed the other three Stone-dragon Lizards that needed their main bloodlines extracted. Then, turning his attention to the four experimental subjects before him, Chen Jiuge started with the Armored Stone Worm.

The previous actions seemed to have frightened the young Stone-dragon Lizards. Unfortunately, with only First Rank cultivation, they couldn’t escape Chen Jiuge’s grasp.

The experimental changes for the Armored Stone Worm were as follows:

After the main bloodline extraction, the Armored Stone Worm’s cultivation was at Third Rank.

Thirty injections of Armored Stone Worm bloodline, and its cultivation returned to Fourth Rank.

Fifty injections seemed to reach a peak; the Fourth Rank Armored Stone Worm bloodline became extremely pure, seemingly reaching one hundred percent.

One hundred injections, and the Armored Stone Worm began to change; its original one-meter-long body started to expand.

One hundred and fifty injections, and the Armored Stone Worm broke through; its body size increased to over four meters, and its bloodline advanced to Fifth Rank.

One hundred and ninety-six injections, the bloodline was extremely pure, but it did not break through to Sixth Rank.

Subsequent experiments pending...

The second subject was the Golden Stone Pangolin:

Eighteen injections, cultivation returned to Fourth Rank.

Forty-two injections, bloodline purity suspected to be one hundred percent.

Seventy-four injections, the body started to change.

Ninety injections, transformation completed; body size didn’t change much, but the originally pale golden scales on its back turned dark gold, greatly increasing its defensive power.

One hundred and twenty injections, the bloodline broke through its limit, reaching Fifth Rank.

One hundred and forty-five injections, bloodline purity suspected to be one hundred percent.

One hundred and seventy injections, its external appearance changed again.

One hundred and ninety-four injections, transformation completed; patterns appeared on the dark golden scales, further increasing its defensive power.

One hundred and ninety-six injections, and the bloodline did not achieve a breakthrough.

Subsequent experiments pending...

Looking at the Golden Stone Pangolin in front of him, Chen Jiuge felt it might be able to break through its limits once again, but he was running out of Stone-dragon Lizards to use. It seemed he would need to buy some more.

Next was the Black Stone Snake, which was the only one that maintained its Fourth Rank cultivation even after its main bloodline had been extracted.

Black Stone Snake:

Eighty-eight injections, bloodline broke through to Fifth Rank, no change in appearance.

One hundred and eight injections, its size increased.

One hundred and sixty injections, transformation complete; its body, originally about five meters long, surged to around thirty meters, and both its cultivation and bloodline simultaneously broke through to Fifth Rank.

One hundred and ninety injections, bloodline purity suspected to be one hundred percent.

One hundred and ninety-six injections, no change.

Seeing the Black Stone Snake before him, which seemed eager to resist, Chen Jiuge merely frowned. He activated the Spiritual Beast Ring to punish it lightly but made no other moves.

The experimental results for the Black Stone Snake seemed surprisingly good. I’ll list it as the top priority beneath the Stone-dragon Lizard, he decided.

Finally, there was the Stone-dragon Lizard from which the other four bloodlines had been extracted. It showed no actual changes in appearance, except for its pale golden eye-rings turning grey-white—a testament to it being one of the most stable Spiritual Beast Bloodlines.

Amidst the pitiful cries of the Stone-dragon Lizard younglings, and even after absorbing its own kind’s bloodline power through one hundred and ninety-six injections, this Fourth Rank Stone-dragon Lizard showed no changes whatsoever. Chen Jiuge was stunned.

Seriously, buddy, are you always this stable? This makes things really difficult for me!

Chen Jiuge found himself in a quandary. Even if he spent all his Spirit Stones on Stone-dragon Lizard younglings, he could only acquire another five or six hundred. Given its stability, he feared this approach would be entirely useless.

That’s right! Chen Jiuge came up with a good idea.

Since I can’t afford to buy them, I’ll have to become self-sufficient. This Stone-dragon Lizard is male, anyway. I’ll just buy some female Stone-dragon Lizards and let them breed more. After all, I only need their bloodline. Yes, that’s the plan.

After a trip to the Beast King Pavilion where he purchased twenty female Stone-dragon Lizards, Chen Jiuge planned to release the Spiritual Beasts in the small Secret Realm. However, before that, he needed to use Wisdom Opening Pills to slightly enhance their Spiritual Wisdom and prevent them from wreaking havoc in the Spiritual Beast Garden.

In the few days before that, he could only keep these experimental subjects confined within the Array.

As for the remaining experimental subjects, the Grey Stone Mice, Chen Jiuge opened the Array and released them. After all, Grey Stone Mouse droppings were also excellent fertilizer, and they reproduced quickly. This made them a perfect additional food source for future carnivorous Spiritual Beasts.

Chen Jiuge recorded the experimental results on a Jade Scroll using the script from his previous life and then carefully stored it away.

"Junior Chen, I have a task here that needs an extra hand. It can count as two ten-year task quotas. Are you interested?" The content of the message from Brother Lin En startled Chen Jiuge.

As an Inner Sect Disciple, one had to complete either one garrison task or three escort tasks every ten years. A task that could offset two escort tasks—what could it be?

Chen Jiuge hesitated. A task that could offset two ten-year task quotas would definitely be harder than an ordinary escort mission. There would undoubtedly be danger, but he wondered how grave it could be. After all, while the garrison tasks were the most dangerous, other missions weren’t usually so risky, and the likelihood of death was small. Inner Sect Disciples more often encountered mishaps while traveling and exploring.

After some deliberation, Chen Jiuge still wanted to know more. The Stone-dragon Lizard experiments were only halfway done, and what he lacked most now was time. Completing this task could win him ten years of leeway, which was quite tempting.

"Brother Lin, may I know what the task is about?" Chen Jiuge sent in his inquiry.

"Let’s do this—I’ll come over to your place tomorrow and give you an overview. It’s been a while since we’ve seen each other, and that Thunder Deer you sold me last time was indeed excellent," Lin En replied.

After replying with a simple "Okay," Chen Jiuge put away the Communication Stone. He was curious about the task Brother Lin En had mentioned. Ye Chenghai had also been introduced by Brother Lin En. It seemed he needed to prepare well to receive his senior brother.