The Monster is Coming

Chapter 403 Breeding Ranch, Spiritual Crisis

The Illusion Flower Plain.

Millions of flowers sway and shine here, flowing into a magnificent ocean.

In the heart of a sea of ​​flowers stands a magnificent city: Spirit City.

This city was built by the Spirit Breath Clan using the life-weaving technique. The city walls appear to be white bricks and stones, but in reality, they are flesh and blood that can autonomously absorb and filter the spiritual energy of heaven and earth.

The towering city surface is covered with perpetually flowing pale gold runes, forming a massive defensive array that envelops the entire city.

The city is filled with towers, their spires piercing the sky.

After a year and a half of development, Lingxi City has continued to grow in size.

In the Northeast region, the fourth phase of urban expansion is in full swing.

Hundreds of thousands of massive construction vehicles tirelessly transport living prefabricated components from other parts of the city to this location.

The master craftsmen of the Spirit Breath Clan roared their chants as they struck the energy nodes with their rune hammers, sending sparks flying.

The planners of the Spirit Breath Clan float in mid-air, guiding the massive fleshy structural components to fit together.

A massive dome is gradually taking shape, its framework already outlining an arc covering a small part of the city, and the entire construction site is pulsating with life energy.

On the rooftop terrace of the Royal District in the heart of the city.

A figure was quietly observing all of this.

His figure was tall and slender, like a sharp sword sheathed in its sheath, his eyes concealing their sharpness.

Dressed in a blood-red robe with gold patterns that clung to her body, a red ribbon on her forehead fluttered in the wind like a flowing flame.

He is the cunning villain in the players' eyes: Little Mage.

In a year and a half, he ruled over eight million people of the Spirit Breeze, holding the power of life and death and the direction of development of the city beneath his feet... His long-term leadership had tempered a kind of quiet, authoritative authority in him that needed no words.

His mere silhouette was enough to make countless spiritual beings bow down in submission.

He looked down at the city's development, his deep eyes reflecting the bustling construction site in the distance and the boundless sea of ​​flowers further away.

Just then, a figure dressed in blood-red robes silently appeared ten paces behind him, bowing deeply and not daring to overstep his bounds in the slightest.

"Blood King, the breeding farm reports that the Howling Wind Beasts have matured and been released from their cages, ready for slaughter. We request your presence to inspect them."

The young monk nodded slightly upon hearing this.

The next instant, a subtle ripple spread through the space around him, like a drop of water falling into a calm lake, disappearing from the terrace, leaving only a few wisps of energy ripples that were not yet calmed and were still spreading.

His figure darted through the air, and soon he appeared on the edge of the city.

Looking up, there was a huge breeding ranch in front of me, shaped like a biological furnace.

The architectural style is consistent with the main body of Lingxi City. Under the dome of transparent biofilm, there are huge enclosures that are separated from each other.

The air was filled with an even stronger sense of life.

Inside the enclosure, a large number of spiritual creatures of various shapes and sizes, exuding a powerful aura and life energy, are raised.

The most prominent creature on the left is the "Howling Wind Beast" mentioned in the sacrificial ceremony.

Their bodies are covered with pale, thick bony armor, with sharp bone spurs growing from their joints. Their heads are a single spiral horn, which can draw airflow when they hiss, forming sharp whirlwinds that can be seen with the naked eye, cutting through the air and making a hissing sound.

Adjacent to the Howling Beast Enclosures is an area covered with sticky, blood-red swamp.

The swamp is inhabited by a spiritual creature called the "Blood Shield Mountain Boar".

Their bodies are as big as small hills, their skin is rough like leather and dark red, and their two curved fangs are like giant scythes. They occasionally burrow into the mud and make satisfied snoring sounds.

On the right is a pool of churning blood.

In the pool lives a creature called the Bloodthorn Dragon. It has strong hind limbs and relatively short forelimbs. Its swung tail is like a huge spiked club. Its head is ferocious and its strength is astonishing. It can crush hard rune rocks with a single bite.

Further away, a shallow lake area, emitting warm steam, lies isolated.

A creature called "Rainbow Dragon Scale Carp" swims in the lake.

They are enormous, and when illuminated, they refract a rainbow of colors, as if they were wearing a flowing suit of jeweled armor.

Its flesh is delicate and smooth, containing the pure essence of aquatic life.

They are all spiritual food cultivated and optimized by the Spirit Breath Clan through biotechnology, and each one contains a surge of life essence.

The farm currently raises eight different species, which will be an important source of income for the Lingxi tribe in the future.

The way to earn foreign exchange through exports is through player trading platforms.

The idea of ​​establishing a spirit beast breeding farm had already taken root in the little mage's mind when he first came to complete control of the Spirit Breath Clan.

He knew very well that the Spirit Breath Clan had no hope of establishing themselves in the monster world based solely on their own potential.

The most likely path to success is to connect with fellow villagers.

This is also the absolute core of the Spirit Breath Clan's current development.

Before this, the Spirit Breath Clan earned sacrificial power mainly through handicrafts, such as fishing line making, material supply (spiritual materials, spiritual minerals), tool making, and so on.

Among the handicrafts, the items sold are small commodities that ordinary players don't want to touch but are willing to spend money to buy.

The profits weren't huge, but enough to allow the Spirit Breath Clan to develop rapidly through player channels.

As for weapons, equipment, enchanted items, etc.

They wouldn't even look at their own fellow villagers.

It would be better to sell the materials directly or offer them as sacrifices to the Emperor.

Adding processing techniques will not only fail to increase the selling price, but will also cause material waste during the processing, thus affecting the price.

But spiritual food is different.

This is a player's daily necessity.

Regardless of version changes or the evolution of the Star Pulse system, players will always rely on Spirit Food.

Enjoying a spiritual meal is one of the most anticipated parts of every player's daily activities.

However, spiritual food meals are generally priced higher in the trading market.

The main reason is the shortage of ingredients, and the fact that the ingredients were sold at prices that did not reflect their true value.

Many players on the forum have expressed their intention to build a breeding farm to drive down the price of spirit beast meat in the trading market.

But these kinds of comments are basically just empty talk.

Site selection, enclosure construction, breeding, daily management... Ordinary players, or even a small team, simply don't have enough energy to complete this task.

There is also a huge risk that it could be wiped out by the descending forces at any time.

Despite significant initial investment, all efforts ultimately failed.

But the little mage saw a business opportunity here.

He realized that the Spirit Breath Clan's "Life Weaving" biotechnology had a significant advantage in this regard.

Players lack the patience for selective breeding, large-scale farming, and continuous optimization, which happens to be exactly what the Spirit Breath Clan excels at.

Before entering the monster world, the Spirit Breath race possessed powerful life modification technology.

There are also special logistics units specifically used to cultivate super beasts.

Thus, this spirit beast breeding factory was built.

When choosing which species to raise, he refers to the prices of different ingredients in the trading market.

In the early stages, we actually faced a problem.

Many of the ingredients sought after in trading posts cannot be found on the Illusion Flower Plains by any corresponding spirit beasts.

Despite possessing advanced breeding techniques, they are powerless to make a meal without ingredients, unable to access the lucrative food market.

He considered looking for other spirit beasts to raise near Spirit Breath City, but this approach carried certain risks, as the ingredients produced by the captured spirit beasts were not necessarily what the spirit chef players wanted.

He prefers ingredients that are in "mature demand" in the market.

These ingredients have been used by spirit chefs to create various spirit dishes. They are consumed in large quantities on a regular basis, and if they are listed at a reasonable price, they will be snapped up instantly.

But to obtain such a spirit beast, one must return to the village.

But this is obviously unrealistic.

Once I go back, I'm afraid I'll never be able to come back.

Blocking the village entrance and wreaking havoc is no joke on the forums; many players want to do it.

Many of the players he "tricked" back then are now in management positions or as guild leaders in large guilds.

They all still remember this debt.

Therefore, he could not find a solution on how to obtain spirit beasts.

Just as he decided to cultivate new varieties that did not exist in the trading market and try to open up a new path for food ingredients, a turning point quietly arrived.

The trading system has undergone a major update, introducing a "Pet Trading" category.

It enables convenient cross-space transactions of living organisms.

The trading post's extensive pet list includes a large number of species that can produce high-quality ingredients.

Players only pay for combat power, but what they see is a treasure trove of top-tier ingredients waiting to be explored.

No longer do we need to spend huge sums of money to develop them. Now, we can simply pay a sacrifice to bring these "delicious potential stocks" scattered among countless players directly into our possession.

This update makes the possibility of establishing a high-yield food supply chain more attainable.

Next, he began large-scale procurement.

He would not hesitate to buy even at a premium.

These live samples were purchased and then sent to the Super Beast Research Center in Lingxi City.

There, the Spirit Breath Clan's top breeding masters use the "Life Weaving" technique to perform genetic analysis, adaptive modification, and targeted optimization for the edible properties of these pets.

The sole purpose of this research is to transform it into an edible variety that can be produced on a large scale and in a standardized manner.

This large-scale spirit beast breeding farm was built based on this strategic purpose.

Inside, separate environments suitable for the growth of different spirit beasts were created, separated by energy barriers. The first mature spirit beast species was the Howling Wind Beast.

Just as the little mage's gaze swept over the enclosure shrouded in wind elements, a spirit-breathing clan breeding supervisor dressed in dark red robes and with a capable expression strode forward.

He knelt on one knee five paces away from him, bowed deeply, and respectfully reported:
"Blood King, the first batch of 500 Howling Beasts in the No. 1 Howling Beast Pen are fully mature, and their blood and qi saturation has reached the optimal standard you gave. They can be slaughtered at any time."

When questioned, the little mage remained calm and nodded slightly.

"let's start."

The order was given.

A team of Spirit Breath Clan slaughter warriors, who had been waiting for a long time, slid through the energy barrier and entered the enclosure.

Faced with the restless Howling Beast, the warriors moved with ghostly speed and coordinated perfectly.

Two people work together, each wielding a specially made energy-absorbing bone spear, precisely piercing the Howling Wind Beast's neck at a specific point where blood and energy flow converges, instantly blocking its nerve conduction and elemental gathering abilities, causing it to fall into a painless state of paralysis.

Immediately afterwards, two other soldiers stepped forward.

They wielded bio-energy blades that emitted a soft white light.

With a swift movement, the blade sliced ​​along the natural energy patterns of the Howling Wind Beast, avoiding the blood vessels and glands that would contaminate the flesh.

The tough fur was silently peeled away, revealing the exquisite meat inside, which shimmered with a faint bluish light and contained surging wind elements.

Besides food, the Howling Wind Beast also contains materials that can be used to make elixirs.

The warriors specifically tasked with collecting the essence stepped forward and used a conduit to extract the purest wind essence from the crystalline horn on the Howling Wind Beast's forehead.

The entire process is efficient and precise, with no waste or unnecessary pain.

In a short time, a massive Howling Wind Beast was broken down into meat chunks and materials of different grades, then wrapped in a layer of spiritual liquid to preserve them, and quickly sent to the storage area.

In less than half an hour, the five hundred enormous beasts had been dealt with.

Before the stench of blood had completely dissipated, the little mage had already turned away indifferently and left the observation platform.

Its figure soon appeared in the giant storage area adjacent to the breeding farm.

The space was extremely large, with a large number of shelves neatly arranged and meticulously categorized according to his requirements.

This ensures that he can quickly collect the listed resources each time he arrives, without needing to sort and organize them himself.

The little wizard's gaze did not linger on the other goods, but went straight to the food storage room deep inside the storage area.

As they passed through the almost transparent energy barrier, the air temperature suddenly dropped.

The materials for the Howling Beasts that were just delivered have been sorted and are neatly stacked here.

The tenderloin, cooked in green mango, is cut into standard portions and sealed in transparent, liquid-based cling film.

The plant jars containing wind-elemental essence are fixed on a specially designed energy base, where processed tendons, bones, and fur are also categorized.

The little mage raised his hand and collected the ingredients in bulk into his spatial bag.

Then the trading hall interface will be brought up.

First, I checked the prices of ingredients related to Howling Beasts in the list.

Then, the massive supply of goods was put on the shelves in bulk at a fixed price 5% lower than the market price.

However, he did not choose the timed auction mode, which could extract more profits, because the development of the Spirit Breath Clan and the research and development of the War Legion urgently needed the help of the mall resources.

Time itself is a resource.

A mountain of materials is meaningless if it cannot be quickly transformed into flowing sacrificial power to purchase development resources.

The rapidly arriving sacrificial power can be immediately invested in the next phase of the city defense system's construction.

For example, it can accelerate the production efficiency of farms, or feed more war behemoths that are hatching... The overall gains from starting each link ahead of time far exceed the 5% price difference.

What he needs is efficiency, to make the sacrificial power flow at high speed through the city's veins like blood.

Only by generating revenue quickly can we invest in those money-devouring projects.

The sooner we complete the accumulation, the sooner we can start the next strategic phase.

The advantage of time creates a snowball effect, which is the true way to maximize benefits.

Almost the instant the product was put on the shelves, the challenger's prompts resounded in the depths of his mind like a sudden storm:
[Challenger's Note: The item "Howling Beast Top-Grade Tenderloin x383" has been purchased in bulk by players, resulting in a Sacrifice Power gain of 392939 points (after deducting 5% handling fee).]

[Trading Hall Notification: The listed item "Pure Wind Core Essence" x7 has been purchased in bulk by players, earning 38293 Sacrificial Points (after deducting 5% transaction fees).]

……

The prompts kept echoing in my mind.

The pricing strategy of 5% below the market price attracted not only players of the "Spirit Chef" game, but also many non-"Spirit Chef" players to participate in the rush to buy.

While a massive amount of goods were being put on the shelves, they were also being cleared out of the trading house list at a visible speed.

A massive amount of sacrificial energy flowed into his account balance.

In less than 3 minutes, the villagers bought up all the resources.

He would keep only a portion of the sacrificial power he received as a reserve, and consume the rest.

He brought up the player shop interface and began purchasing development resources.

The required items include pure energy stones, stamina recovery potions, mental recovery potions, and space expansion stones, etc.

In particular, various recovery potions are sold by the Gold Coin Merchants at exorbitant prices.

However, as a player, he only needs 10 points of sacrificial power to purchase the lowest-level version.

These potions will be distributed to the Spiritbringer artisans and engineers who undertake intensive construction projects.

A single bottle of medicine can quickly eliminate their fatigue, allowing them to continue working and devote more energy and time to the development and construction of the Spirit Breath Clan.

After completing the procurement, the little mage appeared in the resource transfer area at the core of Spirit Breath City.

This is a circular plaza that connects various important departments of the city.

He walked to the center of the open space and raised his hand.

In an instant, a surge of light burst forth.

As if a torrent from another dimension had been unleashed, energy stones, potion bottles, and all sorts of other resources and materials appeared out of thin air, piling up into a small mountain on the open ground of the transfer area in the blink of an eye.

A dense energy fluctuation instantly spread out.

After the supplies were delivered, his figure blurred again and then disappeared from the spot.

Almost as soon as he left, the Spirit Breath Clan's resource coordinators, who had been waiting there, quickly surrounded him. Holding registration boards, they began to systematically count and classify these precious resources.

Subsequently, batches of supplies were loaded onto the back of the super beast and sent to the construction sites, laboratories, and war legion bases that were desperately in need of supplies.

The entire process was seamless, from procurement to deployment and distribution, operating efficiently throughout.

With the help of these resources.

The behemoth that was Lingxi City once again received abundant nourishment and began to roar forward with even greater efficiency.

The little mage's figure appeared deep within the royal court.

In his private rest area.

There are no luxurious decorations here; the furnishings are extremely simple.

In the center of the room, a three-dimensional dynamic image of the Spirit City, composed entirely of living flesh and blood, floats in the air.

The map is connected to the entire Spirit Breath Clan's neural network. The development and changes in every corner of the city, the flow of energy, and even the mobilization of personnel and resources will be recorded and displayed synchronously on the map.

He slowly walked to the front of the map and stood still.

As you move your gaze across the map and tap any area, detailed information about that region will appear in your mind as mental information.

Besides the spirit beast breeding farm, his current focus is on a spirit mining area in the northwest of the city.

There is a small chance of obtaining space-type spirit ore there, and each one can be exchanged for a considerable amount of sacrificial power from the locals.

This is also the largest source of sacrificial power income for the Spirit Breath Clan at this stage.

Just as his fingertip was about to touch the blue dot representing the mining area, a dark red shadow silently appeared at the doorway and knelt down on one knee in front of him.

The newcomer was clad in ferocious bone armor, and his aura carried a strong smell of blood and fire. He was the war priest in charge of the Spirit Breath Clan's external conquests, defenses, and explorations.

"Blood King." The war priest's voice was low and urgent, tinged with tension:
"Four hundred miles west of the city, on the edge of the Black Miasma Forest, a thirty-person elite exploration team of our clan encountered an unknown alien race and a conflict broke out. Only three members of the team escaped with serious injuries thanks to the Super Beast Secret Technique, while the rest of the warriors were killed in battle."

As soon as the words were spoken, the previously stable energy field in the rest area suddenly turned icy cold.

The little mage's finger, which was pointing at the map, paused in mid-air before slowly retracting.

He turned around, his gaze towards the war priest sharpening as if a sleeping dragon had suddenly opened its eyes.

This is clearly not good news.

If he were still that naive young player struggling in the village back then, the first thought that would flash through his mind upon hearing the word "alien race" would definitely be: Can I hunt them? If so, I must make a fortune from them.

But at this moment, he is the king of the Spirit Breath Clan.

On his shoulders lay the survival of eight million people, and beneath his feet stood Lingxi City, a city into which he had poured a year and a half of effort and which had just begun to enter a period of rapid development.

The word "alien race" instantly made him tense.

This means that a brutal war is about to begin.

Even in the most brutal war, he would not die.

However, it could nip in the bud everything he had painstakingly built, including the nascent flame of revival that the Spirit Breath Clan had just ignited.

Along with the entire Spirit Breath Clan, they were dragged into an abyss of no return.

A strong sense of crisis lingered in the young mage's heart.

His heart began to race, but reason quickly suppressed his anxiety.

He realized that intelligence was now the most important thing.

We cannot fight a battle unprepared, nor can we allow the entire Spirit Breath Clan to fall into a passive position due to a lack of intelligence.

　Here are 5600 words~
　　
　
(End of this chapter)