Chapter 2 - The Book of Immortality

For the next period of time, Long Xuan stayed in the medicine garden, researching the optimal dosage and use intervals of the ripening liquid for each spiritual medicine, meticulously recording the data. With hundreds of spiritual medicines in the garden, this was a lengthy process. Fortunately, a large white hen kept her company, making the task less tedious.

This big hen served as a natural pest controller. Typically, crops infested with insects require pesticide sprays, and spiritual medicines need insecticide powder from the Chamber of Commerce. However, the original owner, under the old man Long's laissez-faire approach, had saved spiritual stones by buying a big hen instead of insecticide powder.

Initially, this decision seemed ill-advised. While countryside chickens can remove insects from ordinary crops, spiritual medicine pests are far more resilient. Normally, a hen eating these insects would get parasitized rather than digesting them. Yet, this hen not only survived but evolved into a spirit chicken, becoming an expert in pest control—a stroke of luck for the original owner.

Long Xuan observed the white chicken with admiration as it roamed the garden. The chicken strutted with a majestic demeanor, shaking as it walked, its head held high, eyes gleaming with intelligence. It scratched the ground, quickly uncovering a fat worm and swallowing it in one gulp.

Noticing the progress on the chicken's head changing from 99.3% to 99.4%, Long Xuan stroked his chin thoughtfully. The chicken had consumed various items, but only a few fat worms altered its maturity.

If feeding the spirit chicken different foods could change its maturity, it was possible to determine which foods were most beneficial and create feed that could significantly shorten the spirit chicken's growth cycle. Long Xuan didn't want to make chicken feed, but the idea led him to consider raising insects.

Raising spiritual insects could be as profitable as cultivating spiritual medicines. Spiritual insects are used to make Gu, and the higher their maturity, the higher the success rate of creating Gu. Rare spiritual insects fetch exorbitant prices, but few know how to raise them.

Different Gu families use various feeds, resulting in vastly different growth times for the same type of spiritual insect. Advanced feeds can dramatically reduce growth times, giving some families a competitive edge in the market. If the best feed for a specific insect species could be developed, it would be highly lucrative.

Long Xuan was intrigued by the idea of raising spiritual insects. The maturation period for powerful Gu species is long—thousands or even tens of thousands of years. Gu cultivators, with their shorter lifespans, struggle with this delay. Mature Gu insects have vastly superior combat effectiveness compared to juveniles, driving Gu cultivators to find ways to shorten their maturation periods.

Developing an optimal feed for a powerful Gu species could significantly reduce its maturation period, potentially from ten thousand years to just a hundred or fewer. This would be a game-changer, and Long Xuan was excited about the prospect.

"I have nearly perfected the use of the ripening liquid for each spiritual medicine. With my method, the garden's yield can increase by fifty percent, providing ample funds to refine the first poisonous insect," Long Xuan thought, his eyes gleaming with excitement.

He reached for the chicken coop to take out a few spiritual eggs to celebrate. He was curious about the taste of the eggs laid by the spirit chicken. The spiritual eggs were smooth, white, large, and rich in spiritual power and nutrition—visually appetizing and enticing.

However, as soon as his hand touched the plump egg, the white chicken noticed, clucked at his hand, and shooed him away.

"Go, go, you're so presumptuous..."

...

Seasons passed, and a year had gone by. The colorful spiritual flowers in the garden bloomed, creating a vibrant sea of colors. The fragrant breeze made the atmosphere dreamlike.

Long Xuan lay on a rocking chair beside the flower sea, with papers and tea on a table nearby. He leisurely read a book, enjoying the breeze. His once thin frame had filled out, likely due to his diet of spiritual eggs.

The big white chicken, now fat and strong, patrolled the garden, searching for spiritual insects. Long Xuan had named it Ji Ge, a nod to the chickens he referred to in games in his previous life, despite Ji Ge being female.

With Ji Ge's help, Long Xuan saved time and money on pest control. The garden was a daily buffet for Ji Ge, providing ample nutrition and allowing it to lay at least one egg a day—all of which ended up in Long Xuan's stomach.

At that moment, Long Xuan was holding a book titled "Eternal Life Sutra." Health-preserving methods were common in this world, accessible to all mortals to extend their lifespans. Gu Xiu families promoted these methods to ensure mortals could work longer and produce more.

The "Eternal Life Sutra" had ten levels, each increasing lifespan by ten years. The original owner had poor cultivation aptitude but was a rare genius in practicing health-preserving exercises, having reached the tenth level at a young age, extending his lifespan by a century.

Long Xuan discovered that the "Eternal Life Sutra" progress bar showed only 10%, indicating room for further development. Driven by curiosity, he attempted to continue the text using a trial-and-error method. Correct guesses advanced the progress, while incorrect ones did not.

After a year of effort, he successfully extended the text to the twentieth level, with each new level adding a hundred years to lifespan. However, the twenty-level skill was still only 20% complete, hinting at more profound knowledge beyond his current understanding.

Long Xuan pondered how long it would take to deduce the entire "Eternal Life Sutra"—a century, a millennium, or even longer? The challenge ahead was daunting, but the potential rewards were immense.