The chicken is still young and sex cannot yet be determined.
It just hatched not long ago and it's still somewhat damp. Its fluffy, warm-yellow body doesn't show fear towards Wang Ba; instead, it looks at him blankly while occasionally chirping "chi chi".
It quickly recognizes its mother. It flaps its tiny pancake-like wings and frolicks towards the hen.
However, midway, it gets gently picked up by a big hand that descends from above.
"Little one, your lifespan is actually forty-two years..."
Wang Ba cupped his hands together, gently enveloping the month-old chick, his eyes filled with surprise.
Usually, a Precious Chicken would only take around twenty days to hatch.
This little chick took over ten days longer than its companions.
Moreover, its size is noticeably larger than the other freshly hatched chicks.
Thus, Wang Ba harbors a great expectation for this little chick.
And this little chick indeed did not disappoint, boasting a lifespan of a whopping forty-two years!
While it doesn't compare to a Spirit Chicken, it far exceeds any regular Precious Chicken.
"A weakened version of Spirit Chicken or, you could say, 'Half-Spirit Chicken'."
"The father is a Spirit Chicken, the mother is a Precious Chicken, hatching a 'Half-Spirit Chicken', meriting documentation."
Fondly feeling the faint pecking and chirping in his palm, Wang Ba found a liking for this little one.
"Your name will be 'Jia 5'."
Newborn chicks are weak, very sensitive to temperature changes, and are extremely prone to premature death.
Therefore, Wang Ba did not dare to leave this chick outside, and specifically brought it to the room previously occupied by Old Sun.
There are four other Spirit Chickens in here, individually placed in different cages by Wang Ba and covered with black cloths.
Wang Ba also prepared a special feed for the chick, and the chick quickly adapted to it. It tottered around the room with small steps, its large innocent eyes observing this new world with curiosity.
It pecks at its food from time to time, not caring if it could eat it or not, keeping it in its mouth first. But its tender mouth is so small that it could hardly hold anything.
Wang Ba found it amusing, and couldn't resist peeking at it from time to time while he worked.
Because Jia 5 was just born not long ago, he didn't dare to store Lifespan yet, and planned to observe it for a few more days.
It wasn't until nightfall that he finally had time to store Lifespan for the five selected male Precious Chickens.
The reason he chose roosters is because they were the typical examples of those who only eat and do no work.
They have almost no desire to reproduce. All they do all day long, besides eating, is aimlessly wander around.
Despite the plump and charming hens nearby, they turn a blind eye.
As a result, the hens are left to pine away in widowhood.
Which irritated Wang Ba to no end.
He has been at the manor for over four months now, and besides Jia 5, only seven chicks have hatched.
This reproduction rate is alarmingly low. It's no wonder the number of Precious Chickens can't be increased.
After all, he is required to offer four chicks every month.
By calculation, the number of newborn chicks each month is far from enough for his offerings.
And the blame is mostly on the roosters for their inaction and laziness.
Therefore, whenever Wang Ba looks at these roosters, his eyes are filled with murderous intent.
"First breakthrough with five, absorb their Lifespan, and then eat them."
For now, he does not plan to sell any Spirit Chickens.
His previous experience still haunts him; he will definitely not take any risks in the short term.
Three days pass.
When Wang Ba visits the Spirit Chicken's room, he discovers that the condition of the chick seems to be a bit off.
Jia 5, who was originally lively and curious, is now drooping its head with lost eyes.
There's a sense of physical weakness that is apparent at first sight.
"This isn't right, their weight hasn't changed much in the past three days!"
Wang Ba gently picks up Jia 5, his face grave.
Those who have reared chickens know that chicks grow quickly, changing almost daily.
However, Jia 5's weight hasn't changed much in the past two days.
Either it has indigestion, or it is sick.
If it's the former, it's not too bad, as long as the temperature is maintained.
If it's sick, that would be a problem as there's no medication that can be applied here.
Even if there were, chicks are so tiny that it's tough to measure the right dosage, and they could easily be poisoned by accident.
This is another difficulty in breeding Precious Chickens.
Young chicks are weak and can't endure too much. Their survival rate is very low!
After much thought, Wang Ba could only lay his hand on the chick's head.
He planned to infuse 0.1 years of lifespan, attempting to address its sickness by accelerating its growth.
After all, birds have a fast metabolism. As long as their constitution strengthens, the disease will be gone quickly.
However, to Wang Ba's surprise, he couldn't actually infuse 0.1 years!
"Strange! The minimum infusion needs to be 0.5 years!"
This was the first time Wang Ba had encountered such a situation.
"They are all Precious Chickens, so why is the minimum lifespan infusion for this chick so high?"
"Is it because it's so tiny, or...is it because it's a 'Half Spirit Chicken'?"
Wang Ba was left puzzled.
Deciding not to bother too much about it, he lifted his hand and infused the lifespan into the chick.
[Current Lifespan -0.5 years!]
[Target Lifespan +2.5 years!]
In the blink of an eye, the chick had visibly grown a bit!
Thick feather shafts also started to emerge from its fluffy body.
"Chirp, chirp!"
Jia 5, whose eyes had been half-closed, opened them wide, struggled forcefully in Wang Ba's hand, and then hopped down.
Like a starving ghost, it frantically bobbed its head, pecking at the chicken feed on the ground.
It made a 'peck, peck, peck' sound!
Wang Ba observed it for a while from the side, and finally nodded in satisfaction.
His thinking was not wrong, infusing lifespan into the chick could effectively resolve its sickness to some extent.
Another four to five days passed.
The roosters that had achieved the Lifespan Breakthrough to become Spirit Chickens finally stopped growing lifespan. This meant that they were heading for Wang Ba's cooking pot soon.
Perhaps sensing the imminent danger, one of these five roosters forcibly copulated with a Precious Chicken.
Of course, it also attempted with a hen Spirit Chicken, only to be pecked away.
Thus, Wang Ba specifically kept this rooster Spirit Chicken and named it Jia 6.
As for the other rooster Spirit Chickens, after respectively contributing 5.6 years of lifespan, they were each eliminated in the cooking pot.
Wang Ba's lifespan finally recovered a bit, with the current lifespan being: 37.6 years.
Along with the recovery of his lifespan, his body clearly felt much healthier, and the grey hair at his temples gradually disappeared.
During this time, to get the hen Spirit Chicken to cooperate with the eager rooster, he even had to tie up the hen in a very humiliating manner...
"Chirp, chirp—"
Only to receive disdain from the rooster Spirit Chicken.
Wang Ba could see from the look in the rooster's eyes what it was thinking: I need your help to get a hen? Who do you think you're looking down on?
Wang Ba was so furious that he almost couldn't resist cooking Jia 6 on the spot.
Meanwhile, Jia 5's lifespan finally stopped increasing.
[Target Lifespan: 92.7 years!]