Before they knew it, the sun was already high in the sky, its blazing light piercing through the gaps in the bamboo leaves.
Gu An and Zhang Song were in the middle of grooming the spirit chickens — a task they had to do every single day.
The Colorfeather Chickens were lively creatures by nature, always flapping about and messing up their plumage. Worse yet, they were extremely clean. If they noticed even a few feathers out of place, they'd start pecking at themselves until they went half-bald.So if no one took care of them, within a few days you'd have a flock of shiny-headed, patchy-feathered chickens that looked too pitiful to live.
At that moment, a streak of green light flew in from afar — a leaf gliding through the air.
Gu An couldn't help staring, eyes full of envy.
That was an Airwalking Leaf, a lower-grade flying artifact. Even though it was only a low-tier tool, flying artifacts in general were insanely expensive — about the same price as a mid-grade magic weapon.
Aside from the one time he rode a spirit boat to Qingyuan Sect from Heishi City, Gu An had never touched the sky since joining the sect.
Every year around this time, disciples from the sect would come collect spirit chickens to send to Qingyun Pavilion, the sect's famous restaurant.
Gu An had seen that green leaf artifact twice before. Judging by the look of it, today's visitor must be Deacon Wang, just like last year.
Moments later, the leaf descended, and a middle-aged cultivator stepped off with a smile, greeting the steward.
"Brother Liu! How have you been lately?"
"Good, very good," Liu the steward replied, swaying contentedly. "Eat well, drink well, live well — life's about balance, isn't it?"
After a bit of polite chatter, they finally got down to business.
"Brother Wang, how many spirit chickens does the sect need this year?"
Deacon Wang sighed. "The sect hasn't been very peaceful lately. The northern Cloudmist Mountains are swarming with beasts — entire market towns have been attacked. The Sect Master ordered all Qingyun Pavilion branches in the Cloudsmoke and Cloudlake regions to pull back."
"So the demand for spirit chickens is smaller this year. I'll only need about a hundred and twenty from your Spirit Chicken Farm here. If that's not enough, I'll fetch the rest elsewhere."
"That's perfect," Liu replied with a grin. "Brother Wang, you'll have to share a few drinks with me before you go. I just received two jars of Emerald Bamboo Snake Wine from Old He at the peak. The aroma alone is worth the trip!"
"Haha, I can't say no to that!"
Gu An followed behind them quietly, listening intently to every word.
He knew Liu and Wang were old friends. Because of that friendship, Wang never made things difficult during yearly inspections, and Liu always returned the favor with a few "gifts" on the side.
The sect knew all about it, of course. But as the saying goes — a river too clear has no fish.As long as the quotas were met and no problems arose, the higher-ups didn't care what "extra profits" the stewards earned.
After all, the sect only provided a fixed amount of spirit feed. If you could raise more livestock than that — that was your own skill.
Liu led Wang back to his courtyard.
The courtyard wasn't much larger than Gu An's, but it was much more elegant.
A small pond mirrored the sky, two spirit fish swam lazily within, scattering the reflection of drifting clouds.Beside it stood a six-sided pavilion with curved eaves and carved beams — simple, yet graceful.A clump of bamboo swayed nearby, green stalks gleaming like jade, their leaves whispering softly in the breeze.
"Gu An, Zhang Song," Liu called. "Go kill two Colorfeather Chickens. Gu An, you handle the cooking. Zhang Song, you help him out."
Gu An's family used to run a restaurant before he joined the sect. His parents had always expected him to inherit the business — though now, that dream was long gone.Still, he'd learned a few culinary tricks, and since he couldn't stand the tasteless mush from the sect's cafeteria, he practiced his cooking often.
Liu had once tried his Bamboo Fragrance Chicken Bites and had been praising him ever since. So every now and then, Gu An was "volunteered" to cook — not that he minded; he always got a share afterward.
While Zhang Song went to chop bamboo, Gu An headed to the chicken pens. After a bit of watching, he picked out two plump birds with vibrant feathers.
"You two will do nicely.""Alright, little ones — time to be reborn!"
A soft azure glow flickered around his fingers as strands of spiritual energy coiled out, wrapping around the chickens and binding them tight.
With practiced movements, Gu An grabbed one chicken, twisted its neck, and plucked a patch of down. Then he shaped his spiritual energy into a blade — a thin, water-blue edge — and made a clean cut.
A thin line of crimson appeared, and the chicken went still.
Just then—
[One of your Colorfeather Chickens has reached the end of its lifespan. It returns a portion of spiritual energy to you!]
A voice echoed in his mind.
At the same time, a warm wisp of spirit energy flowed straight into his dantian.
"What… what was that?!"
Gu An froze, nearly dropping the chicken.
Then it hit him — his golden finger!
Finally!
Joy exploded in his chest. In his past life, he'd been just a regular college kid. In this one, he wasn't anything special either — average roots, no backing, average talent.
Without some kind of cheat, reaching the Foundation Establishment stage would be hard enough. As for the Golden Core stage? Forget it.
But now—Now he had this.
So what if it came out of nowhere?So what if it sounded sketchy?Who cares — he had a golden finger!
If someone asked, "What if it's a trap?" Gu An would've laughed in their face.
A trap? Please.You can worry about traps after you're immortal.
He clenched his fist, eyes gleaming. "This is it. My path to immortality just opened up!"
Then he thought a moment. "Can't just keep calling it 'golden finger,' though. Needs a proper name…"
After a moment's pondering: "Since it gives back spiritual energy when spirit beasts die… I'll call it Spirit Source Feedback!"
Still, the system's wording was a little odd — "reached the end of its lifespan"? Sure, buddy. I ended its lifespan.
Was it pretending I didn't just snap that chicken's neck? How wholesome.
But whatever. It worked. That's all that mattered.
After a while, he calmed himself down, though his eyes still sparkled with barely-contained excitement.
"What are you doing? The chicken's on the ground!" Zhang Song's voice broke through his thoughts.
"Nothing, nothing! Uh… you kill the next one. I'll go wash this one."
Before Zhang Song could question it, Gu An bolted away.
"Why not just use a Cleaning Spell?" Zhang Song muttered. "He's acting weird…"
Gu An didn't run far — just enough to test something. He didn't want to lose range if the ability only worked nearby.
He waited a moment, then killed the second chicken.
[One of your Colorfeather Chickens has reached the end of its lifespan. It returns a portion of spiritual energy to you!]
Another pulse of energy surged into his dantian.
"This one feels a little stronger… huh, maybe because it was fatter?"
He chuckled to himself, rubbing his chin in thought. Then he hurried back — no need to let the steward get suspicious.
In the kitchen, Gu An and Zhang Song worked quickly.They chopped bamboo into tubes, washed them clean, and filled them with the chicken pieces, bamboo shoots, and salt.Then Gu An sealed the ends with sharpened bamboo pegs.
When the firewood caught, the tubes began to crackle softly, the green skin beading with droplets before turning golden-brown and fragrant.
After a stick of incense's time, the Bamboo Fragrance Roast Chicken was ready.
Carrying two steaming tubes, the pair went back to the courtyard.
Liu was already deep into his cups with Deacon Wang, laughing loudly.
"Ah, perfect timing!" he said, waving them over. "Sit, sit!"
Gu An cracked open the bamboo tubes, the aroma flooding the air and mingling with the sharp scent of bamboo wine.
As the mountain breeze drifted through the courtyard, the fragrance swirled around them.
The older cultivators drank and talked, voices light and easy, while Gu An sat quietly, feeling the warmth spread through his chest — not just from the food or drink, but from something deeper.
That strange new power pulsing in his dantian.
For the first time, he felt like the road ahead wasn't just a dream.
He could feel it now — his immortal path had truly begun.