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"Secondly, the breeding affairs within the Beast Department are too numerous nowadays. Your knowledge and experience in Beast Control are already sufficient; you only lack extensive personal experimentation, and this place is the most suitable for that."
Upon hearing this, Wang Ba immediately realized. 𝚗o𝚟pub.𝚌𝚘𝚖
However, what Qi Yan mentioned about ’lacking extensive personal experimentation’ wasn’t quite accurate.
On Wanfa Peak, the Class III Spirit Beasts he had cultivated were not few in number.
Of course, thinking of the immensely diverse types of Spirit Beasts in the Beast Department, his heart couldn’t help but flutter with joy.
This was an instinct borne from years of cultivating Spirit Beasts.
The opportunity to apply what he had learned on many Spirit Beasts without cost was indeed exhilarating.
He glanced over the data Qi Yan had casually reviewed and at a somewhat familiar table next to it.
Wang Ba was slightly surprised and seemed to hesitate for a moment.
Qi Yan, however, didn’t notice his reaction and thought of something before instructing the late-stage Golden Core Vice Minister Sang to take Wang Ba to try his hand at a Class III Spirit Beast breeding ground.
"Class III? Minister, wouldn’t that be too difficult? This isn’t just for a single Spirit Beast."
The Vice Minister Sang couldn’t help but interject.
It wasn’t that he looked down on Wang Ba, but the skills imparted on Shou Peak were different from what was required in the Beast Department.
The transmission from Shou Peak was more about concentrating resources and focusing on cultivating a single Spirit Beast.
The Beast Department, on the other hand, valued the cultivator’s ability to promote the breeding of Spirit Beasts.
Upon hearing this, Qi Yan pondered for a moment and then said,
"Then you shall accompany him there for a while."
Vice Minister Sang, a young-looking cultivator, was taken aback. He glanced at the thick stacks of written messages near his seat.
Despite feeling rather helpless, he quickly forced a smile and said,
"Yes, I will take Junior Brother Wang now."
Upon hearing this, Wang Ba had no choice but to suppress his thoughts of returning.
He had even considered asking the Spirit Food Department for leave tomorrow to help out at the Beast Department for a while.
But he had not expected Martial Uncle Qi to be so eager, having him start right away that very night.
"It seems the pressure in the Beast Department is indeed substantial if Uncle must pull even me over," thought Wang Ba.
Following Vice Minister Sang, the two Golden Core Craftsmen quickly flew to their destination—a fenced-off forest.
Wang Ba swept his Spiritual Sense across the large Spirit Beasts in the forest below, each as hefty as a small hill, and expressed his surprise:
"Class III lower grade ’Bronze Swine’?"
Sensing the movement above, a creature resembling a wild boar, but many times larger, rose from its side. Its mane, shining with a metallic luster, stood on end. Its yellowish tusks pointed towards the sky, emitting a deep and threatening warning sound.
Vice Minister Sang, looking young for a cultivator, was not concerned about the Bronze Swine’s warning below. Instead, he looked at Wang Ba with some surprise:
"You recognize them, Junior Brother?"
Wang Ba did not conceal his knowledge, humbly saying,
"I have seen it mentioned in the ’Strange Object Records.’ However, I remember the Bronze Swine being a Class II lower grade..."
Vice Minister Sang nodded:
"This breed of Bronze Swine is valuable because its entire body is a treasure. It has been bred over several generations and its bloodline purified. Only more than two Jiazis ago have we managed to cultivate this batch of Class III lower grade, which have just reached adulthood and are ready for breeding."
"More than two Jiazis? Just reached adulthood?"
Wang Ba felt momentarily disoriented upon hearing the time span.
Most of the Spirit Beasts he had cultivated were rushed to maturity in an extremely short time, bypassing their juvenile phase and leaping straight to adulthood.
He had grown accustomed to such rapid cultivation speeds and was completely unaware of the lengthy cycle a normal cultivator endures while breeding Spirit Beasts.
From youth to adulthood, from the beginning of propagation to the birth of offspring, then growing up to repeat the process...
The higher the grade of the Spirit Beast, the longer its lifespan, and the longer it takes to reach the point of reproduction.
Time is the greatest challenge for a practitioner of The Way of Beast Tamer when it comes to improving the breeds of Spirit Beasts.
Improving a breed of Spirit Beast often requires the persistent efforts of one or even several generations of cultivators.
Vice Minister Sang was unaware that in just an instant, Wang Ba’s mind could have such a surge of feelings. Looking down at the Bronze Swine below, he then said:
"The Bronze Swine has not gained intelligence. Its flesh can be used as spirit food; its bristles can be made into talisman pens for drawing Talismans and have numerous other uses... This batch of Bronze Swine now numbers over a hundred heads, and most are of age. Once their numbers reach a thousand or so, we can start to regularly distribute them. Now, we need you, Junior Brother, to find a way to encourage these Bronze Swine to mate and to increase their fertility."
"A thousand heads?"
"May I ask, Senior Brother Sang, how many offspring can a Bronze Swine carry in a single pregnancy?"
Curious, Wang Ba shook off his reverie and inquired.
Ordinary domestic pigs, long before reaching their peak size, can mate. After a pregnancy of less than four months, they give birth to piglets.
A litter can have as few as several or as many as over twenty piglets, and they can mate again just a few months later—showing an astonishing reproductive capacity.
But those are just mundane pigs. Spirit Beasts cannot compare to them in reproductive abilities.
Vice Minister Sang heard this, shook his head slightly with a troubled look, and explained:
"We are not too sure ourselves. Based on the experience from Class II top grade, the fertility of Bronze Swine is extremely low. With good luck, even after mating more than ten times, they might not conceive even once. Their mating instincts are not strong, and with these factors, they tend to have only one litter every thirty to forty years, birthing two to three piglets at a time with a gestation period of about five years. By that calculation, they can only give birth three to four times in their lives..."
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