Growing the Beast

The sounds coming my way were unsettling. It felt like many beasts were coming to get me. I was scared.

The first thing that came to mind was: find a place to hide. That's what I did. There were a few rocks inside the cave—not big enough for proper cover, but it was all I had.

But as I waited, nothing happened. No creatures came. The sounds were still there—I could hear them—but the cave was empty.

I guessed that maybe the spiritual beast, that moth, was doing something to mess with my mind. So I turned to look at the moth—and it was no longer there. It had flown away while I was distracted by the sounds.

It tricked me. An unknown moth beast had fooled me with sounds that weren't real. I didn't have any information about that beast or its abilities, so I tried to stay calm.

All I had to do was find the creature again. This time, it wouldn't escape. I knew at least one of its abilities now.

So I kept moving forward, exploring the rest of the cave, trying to find the creature again. But I found nothing.

I spent at least an hour searching the cave. It wasn't that big to begin with, so during that time I managed to search it twice, from start to finish.

But there was nothing. It was like the creature had just vanished.

"Vanished…"

What if the moth had camouflaged itself inside the cave? The spiritual beast had to still be there. I hadn't seen it fly out. During the noises, I was watching the cave's entrance, so I was sure it hadn't left.

It had to be somewhere.

I started using my hands to search, not just my eyes. I touched the mossy walls multiple times, hoping to hit the moth by chance.

The creature wasn't on the lower parts of the walls, so I jumped and reached for the higher areas. It was a random shot—but it could work.

Eventually, I hit a portion of the wall close to where the moth had been. It startled the spiritual beast. I saw it flying away from that spot.

That was my perfect chance.

I used my improved strength and agility to leap toward the moth. My beast claw attack proved effective—I sliced through its wings with one clean hit.

The moth fell to the ground. Now that it was grounded, it was much easier to kill. Its wings had been the problem.

But it didn't attack me. The moth just lay there, waiting for its death.

I felt bad for it. So I picked up the wings that had fallen and left the cave.

"Maybe it can survive," I muttered to myself.

A long shot, but the chance was there.

I returned to my cabin with the wings. Once there, I searched the area for a place to start my beast farm.

The farm needed to be close to my cabin, but hidden enough that Zhao Lintao or his son wouldn't see it. I chose a spot behind the cabin, surrounded by vegetation.

It wasn't the most hidden place, but it was just the beginning. Eventually, I'd find a better location—but for now, it would do.

I dug into the ground with my hands and planted both translucent wings of the moth. Not in the same spot, though. I wanted to see if I could plant more than one beast using parts of the same body.

If that worked, I could cut any beast into pieces and cultivate multiple ones at once.

Short story short—it didn't work.

When I tried to plant the second wing, the system warned me:

[There's already a beast being cultivated from this body. You cannot plant it again.]

Basically, it was impossible to use one beast to grow multiple creatures from tiny parts. My system had its limitations, as usual.

The time for the moth to grow was ten days—longer than the previous beast I planted. I didn't know if that was because of the larger body part I used compared to the bone I used before, or if it was because the moth was a stronger creature.

Just like last time, I searched for food that could decrease the time for the beast to be born. Zhao Lintao had recently delivered a sack of supplies, so I had plenty of food stocked.

I went back to the cabin and grabbed the sack of potatoes. It was the food I had the most of, so giving a bit to the beast wouldn't harm me much.

[Time decreased]

[Time decreased]

Eventually, the system told me I had to wait twenty-four hours before feeding the beast again. It didn't show any visual changes, though. With nothing else to do, I returned home.

It would take a few days for the beast to fully grow. I considered heading out again to look for another spiritual beast to plant, but it wasn't worth the risk. I was lucky to find a weaker beast like that moth.

The chances of bumping into something stronger—something that could kill me—were high, and I wasn't ready to gamble on it.

Reaching the fourth layer of Qi Condensation was the minimum I needed to feel secure. Until then, I had to be patient.

So, I waited.

Every day, I would go check on the spiritual beast, feed it whenever the system allowed, and return to my cabin to relax. The nights were getting colder. Maybe winter was approaching—though I had no way of knowing for sure.

The cabin was holding up fine. Sleeping next to the fireplace made things bearable. The only real problem was my food supply. I had used a lot of it for the beast's growth, so my stock was running low.

"I might have to go to the village to get some more," I muttered.

One morning, I woke up feeling excited. That was the day the moth would be born.

I went to check, and the creature was there—inside a translucent cocoon, surrounded by leaves and a network of tangled plant matter.

Its size matched exactly what I'd seen in the cave.

I was about to absorb it when the system gave me a new notification:

[Do you wish to absorb it? You can keep growing it to a certain point to get additional benefits, like more Qi into your body.]

I could keep growing the moth. That was new.

Last time, I had to absorb the beast immediately. But this time, I had the option to wait and let it grow stronger—yielding more Qi as a result.

It was worth experimenting.

Instead of absorbing it, I buried more food around the cocoon to help its development. Then, I left—heading back to the village with empty sacks.

I needed more potatoes.