Chapter 23
Chapter 23: The First Sprouts
Su Huan Li had gone out to train. Within Flying Sparrow Sect, the only person Song Jiu Lai could contact right now was Senior Sister Shui Ping.
In two in-game days, Song Jiu Lai had plowed through part of the Yun Zhou mineral compendium. The moment she tried to rest by reading something lighter, the System’s voice drifted in.
“At your age, how can you still read novels?”
Song Jiu Lai stared at the air. “Even a production team’s donkey needs a break.”
She didn’t need sleep anymore. As long as she kept her qi circulating slowly, her mind stayed clear.
Since awakening her spirit roots on Yun Zhou Continent, she hadn’t rested once. If she wasn’t reading, she was cultivating.
Even a donkey would collapse.
“You can rest,” the System conceded. “Just not too long. Three minutes should be enough, right?”
Song Jiu Lai ground her teeth. “You’re truly a beast of a System.”
“Sect Master!” A Wu’s voice sounded from outside.
Song Jiu Lai lowered her legs from the table, stood, and stepped out. “What is it, A Wu?”
A Wu looked confused. “When I was harvesting herbs, I saw spirit-stealing mice heading for the junior brothers’ fields. This time they didn’t bite the herbs—they bit the junior brothers a couple times. I chased them off. But spirit-stealing mice attacking people… should we report it to Flying Sparrow Sect?”
Song Jiu Lai’s expression tightened.
spirit-stealing mice were first-rank demon beasts, mindless, living off spirit herbs. Annoying, fast, and cowardly. In most cases you couldn’t catch them; you just chased them away and moved on.
But attacking people?
That wasn’t normal.
This mountain had first-rank demon beasts. Flying Sparrow Sect left them alone because an ecosystem mattered; demon beasts helped circulate spiritual qi. Only the ones that hurt people would be cleared out.
If spirit-stealing mice were truly harming disciples, Flying Sparrow Sect would respond.
But Song Jiu Lai’s mind snapped to the real danger.
The players’ bodies weren’t flesh. They were puppet dolls.
Puppet dolls were made from spirit-herb powder.
To a spirit-stealing mouse, a player would look like a glowing, oversized food ball.
If Flying Sparrow Sect discovered the players’ bodies were puppet constructs, how could Song Jiu Lai explain something that ridiculous?
She kept her voice steady. “Are they badly hurt?”
A Wu hesitated. “Not really. One junior brother got licked once and screamed like he was dying. I think he’s scared of mice, so he felt disgusted.” He added, almost defensively, “Honestly, spirit-stealing mice don’t look that bad. They’re kind of like squirrels. Pretty cute.”
“Then it’s fine,” Song Jiu Lai said at once. “They’re timid by nature. Tell the juniors to be careful and chase them off.”
“All right.” A Wu took two steps, then turned back. “Um… can we raise them?”
Song Jiu Lai blinked. “Raise what? Spirit-stealing mice?”
A Wu nodded, suddenly sheepish.
Song Jiu Lai didn’t even need to ask. A Wu would never think of raising a demon beast. To him, demon beasts were demon beasts—cute or not. And spirit-stealing mice ate spirit herbs. Outside of a beast-taming sect’s techniques, no cultivator kept mindless demon beasts around for fun.
They ate. They didn’t fight. They ran faster than you if trouble started.
Useless.
Only players would come up with a suggestion this dumb.
“Was that the junior brothers’ idea?” Song Jiu Lai asked.
A Wu’s ears reddened. “Sect Master… I also think it’s not appropriate, but they keep pestering me.”
Song Jiu Lai’s gaze cooled. “Tell them this: if they want to raise one, fine. But spirit-stealing mice eat a lot, and they can ruin the fields. If they can’t handle that, don’t raise it. Any losses are on them.”
A Wu exhaled in relief. “I’ll tell them.”
After he left, Song Jiu Lai still had the System issue a warning.
[Notice: If players have any requests, consult the System first. Only proceed after approval.]
The System wasn’t watching everyone nonstop—monitoring cost energy. It only appeared when someone triggered alarms or summoned it directly.
The warning landed, and the online players immediately understood.
“You see? I told you we should’ve asked ourselves.”
“Exactly. It’s just a pet and you made that kid go ask.”
“He’s Eldest Senior Brother, don’t bully him!”
A Wu came hurrying down the Sect Master’s courtyard steps, eyes bright, and shouted, “Sect Master said it’s fine! We can raise them!”
Almost at the same moment, another notice arrived.
[Notice: Regarding raising demon beasts.]
[Players may raise demon beasts they capture. Before the beast is fully tamed, all damage it causes within the sect is borne by the player. The demon beast’s food costs are also borne entirely by the player.]
The player who’d been licked practically jumped out of his skin.
“You people actually want to raise mice?”
Ma Dash—Ma Little Bird’s good brother—snorted. “What do you mean, mice? I saw them. They look like squirrels. Cute as hell. And Sect Master said yes.”
Chen Miao Miao, who’d been examining the blood pearl grass the mice had bitten, stood up and cut through the excitement. “Sect Master said you can raise them if you catch them. But they’re too fast. You won’t catch them. And A Wu said a spirit-stealing mouse eats at least one spirit herb a day. Which one of you can afford that right now?”
That ended the discussion.
Still, two players lingered in the corner, whispering like conspirators.
“I’m terrible at farming,” one muttered. “I can do sect tasks, sure, but I want to develop something else. I looked up info. Big Shot Han said the people at the foot of the mountain live at an ancient-tech level, like our own history. Cultivator stuff doesn’t work for them. What if we start development from the bottom—build workshops, expand industry?”
The other one looked blank. “You want to industrialize? Aren’t we here to play a cultivation game?”
“Use your head,” the first snapped. “The sect has no money and no spirit stones. Our cultivation right now is basically absorbing the sun and moon. We need resources. Even if it’s not a literal ‘game console’—if we make something mortals want, we earn spirit stones. Maybe even cultivators would be interested. First goal: money.”
“You can build a game console?”
“It’s an example. Everything’s hard at the beginning.”
The second one hesitated. “It sounds huge. Just the two of us won’t be enough. And we’re broke.”
“We recruit. Plenty of people hate farming like I do. I’ll find partners and write up a plan.”
“…Fine,” the second agreed at last.
And somewhere beneath the surface, the first sprouts began to push up through the soil.