Chapter 6: Lin Xi

One in a billion.

Wang Che thought to himself that even a million years of lifespan was not young for those divine beasts in the Cultivation World.

Of course, discussing lifespan without considering time flow and civilization systems was just nonsense—there was nothing to compare.

“But with the Life Soul Pact, young soul beasts gain early spiritual intelligence, and with the cultivation by a Soul Pact Master, their cultivation can improve rapidly. Even if not for such soul beasts, we humans can also cultivate some soul pets with high potential up to a million years of cultivation.”

Professor Yan continued.

“You just answered me too. In the Ancient Era, the upper limit of lifespan was the upper limit of soul beast cultivation. You haven’t entered university yet, so you haven’t studied soul beast history.”

“If you study it later, you’ll know that in modern times, the upper limit a soul pet can be cultivated to, under normal circumstances, won’t exceed twice its lifespan limit.”

“Do you know what the lifespan limit of a Green Caterpillar is?”

Wang Che shook his head slightly.

That kind of knowledge was too detailed.

“It’s about five thousand years,” Professor Yan said calmly. “Modern historical records show that a Green Caterpillar, without evolving, can at most be cultivated to around ten thousand years of cultivation.”

“In the Ancient Era, it might have been impossible to even find a thousand-year-old Green Caterpillar. Because it was too weak; even with a thousand years of cultivation, its combat power was low. It could easily be eaten by other soul beasts…”

“In modern times, the environment has changed, and you can still find thousand-year-old Green Caterpillars in the wild. In the Ancient Era, you couldn’t find them at all.”

“So, forget a million years—you can’t even cultivate a Green Caterpillar with more than ten thousand years of cultivation.”

“As for a million years…”

Professor Yan sighed but didn’t elaborate. “Youth is good—daring to strive and dream.”

Wang Che nodded slightly, understanding.

He roughly knew what to do now.

The information Professor Yan shared was crucial.

“Of course, you might still think about increasing a soul beast’s lifespan limit,” Professor Yan said, his eyes shining with wisdom. “In fact, a soul beast’s lifespan limit can indeed be increased.”

“Many people have thought of it. There are quite a few ways to increase a soul pet’s lifespan limit.”

“After all, increasing a soul beast’s lifespan limit raises their cultivation limit. If a soul pet’s cultivation limit increases, the soul pet might even undergo unknown evolution.”

“But…”

Professor Yan stopped there.

At the same time, a clear, firm voice came from a distance, interrupting him:

“But, no matter which method, it’s very hard to achieve.”

Just by the sound, you could tell the person had a strong presence.

Wang Che turned to look. It was a female student dressed simply, with a very strong aura and extremely high looks.

But Wang Che’s gaze only lingered on her shoulder.

There was a very beautiful soul pet there.

This soul pet was a snake-type soul pet.

Its body was light green overall, about twenty centimeters tall, with a tail shaped like a lingzhi mushroom. In front of the tail, it had two small clawed feet, standing steadily on the girl’s shoulder. Beside its head were small wing-like feathers like flowing clouds, and its eyes were like emeralds.

It was currently crossing its two little clawed hands, glancing sideways at Wang Che and the others.

It looked very noble.

Zhiyun Snake.

Among infant-level soul pets, it was a rare Ultra-Rare Soul Pet.

Even in its infant stage, it possessed a racial potential of three hundred.

Racial potential was different from a soul beast’s lifespan.

It was like allocating points in a game—a higher racial potential meant more attribute points gained upon leveling up.

For each year of soul power cultivation increased, the soul pet’s improvements in all aspects were greater.

Whereas lifespan determined how many levels it could reach—it set the upper limit.

The difference in potential was huge.

And racial potential only changed with the soul pet’s life form, that is, through evolution.

It was basically fixed.

For soul pets with the same years of cultivation, the higher the racial potential, the stronger their raw power.

A high-potential soul pet gaining one year of cultivation might equal a low-potential soul pet gaining several years, or even dozens of years, of cultivation.

And that was just the soul pet’s strength.

When it came to the Soul Pact Master, the boosts provided by soul pets of different racial potentials—like soul rings, soul skills, and other enhancements—were vastly different.

This Zhiyun Snake—Wang Che had seen a few outside the base gate when he came in.

In its later stages, the Zhiyun Snake’s final evolution form was the Proud Emperor Snake.

It was a dual-type soul pet of Sky Type and Plant-Type, with racial potential surpassing five hundred—a true King Soul Pet.

As for this female student…

‘Lin Xi.’

A name surfaced in Wang Che’s mind.

“There are many ways to increase a soul pet’s lifespan,” Lin Xi said as she walked over slowly, a calm smile on her face. “First, feeding the soul pet blood of various Dark Annihilation Beasts can increase the soul pet’s lifespan limit. But, most likely, it will explode and die. Countless soul pets have died this way.”

“Second, feeding it various Natural Treasures. Soul beasts inherently have much stronger vitality than humans. To increase their lifespan beyond that requires Natural Treasures that are priceless and hard to find. Legend says, back in the Northern Ice Plains, there was an ice silkworm-type soul beast with only tens of thousands of years of lifespan. But by eating a kind of ice marrow treasure, it reached a million years…”

“Third, Life Feedback—powerful soul beasts can transfer their own life force to weaker soul beasts. Not only does this have strict requirements for same attributes and bloodline, but few soul beasts are willing to do it.”

“Fourth, at the forefront of soul pact studies, a Life Essence Liquid has been developed. It can increase both soul beasts’ and humans’ lifespans. It’s very expensive, has significant side effects and drug resistance, and only increases lifespan by a few years.”

“Fifth, beyond the War Zone, there are soul illusion realms created by Soul Ghosts back then. If you can endure them, there’s a chance to increase the soul pet’s life limit, or even boost its potential. But the death rate is even higher than the first method…”

…

Lin Xi listed several methods in a row.

But every one of them was very difficult; many students hadn’t even heard of them.

“None of them are easy to achieve,” Lin Xi said, looking at Wang Che.

Information about this female student surfaced in Wang Che’s mind.

Lin Xi was his classmate.

She was an independent, calm, rational female student with a mysterious background.

Her relationship with Wang Che was actually pretty good.

But just before winter break, she approached Wang Che, wanting to make a deal.

The deal was: she would pay for Wang Che to buy a rare Soul Pet Egg.

In return, Wang Che needed to meet a certain girl and help her with something.

She only said to get to know her.

At the time, Wang Che naturally thought there was something else to it… and because he had strong self-esteem.

So without a second thought, he sternly refused, feeling it was an insult to his character.

And Lin Xi wasn’t the petty type. Though she might have been a bit upset, she didn’t say anything.

She didn’t bother Wang Che anymore after that. After winter break, they had less contact.

The other students didn’t really know what happened between them.

With Wang Che’s current mindset, of course he wouldn’t hold a grudge against a girl.

For him, the only thing that slightly interested him was the soul pet on Lin Xi’s shoulder.

Of course, it wasn’t envy—rather, he could sense the powerful life force of this soul pet.

It was quite extraordinary.

“I see, you’re right,” Wang Che replied simply. Then he looked at the other students and said, “I’m heading back first. You all can keep having fun.”

“Oh, and thank you, Professor Yan.”

After saying that, Wang Che smiled, waved to everyone, and prepared to go home.

“Hey, what’s the rush?” Xu Haifeng grabbed Wang Che. “Let’s go to the third-floor battle area later and check it out! We haven’t seen the pretty girls at the second-floor Soul Pet Recovery Center either…”

Wang Che gently scratched the head of the Green Caterpillar, which was already fast asleep.

Newborn soul pets slept a lot every day; after wandering around all morning, it seemed tired.

“Battles are still half a semester away, it’s too early,” Wang Che refused. “As for pretty girls… from an aesthetic point of view, I’d rather look at myself.”

Having said that, Wang Che turned and left.

From all the explanations Professor Yan gave this morning, Wang Che had formed quite a few ideas in his mind.

His understanding of this world, especially regarding soul pets, had changed a lot.

“Damn,” Xu Haifeng gave Wang Che the middle finger.

As Wang Che passed by Lin Xi, he suddenly said, “Oh, and thank you too.”

Hearing this, Lin Xi frowned slightly. She turned to watch Wang Che’s retreating back but didn’t say anything more.