After twenty hours of cultivation, Antoine opened his eyes, satisfied. Before starting, he had spent a good hour reflecting on how to use all the knowledge the system and its rewards had granted him.Now, he had a clear idea of what he intended to do over the next few days.
"To begin with, let's create a spiritual field. It's the easiest to set up, and the foundation for many other activities such as alchemy or beast breeding," he said, standing up.
Full of energy, he made his way to the plateau where his current crops were growing.He quickly selected a patch of land he had previously left fallow to carry out the experiment. By fortunate coincidence, the chosen spot was directly beneath one of the branches of the spiritual vein, providing a continuous flow of Qi to nourish the future plants.
Antoine then grabbed an old handmade hoe that still, miraculously, managed to fulfill its purpose.After three hours, and after patching up his tool once or twice, the previously barren land had been transformed into a freshly tilled and fertilized field that would be ready in a few days for its first wave of planting.
Once the field was prepared, he could plant various spiritual herbs that required Qi to grow.Now that the field is ready, it is time for Antoine to move on to the next step: finding the ideal place to plant the Genesis Apple Tree and the Qi Flowers.
Planting the Qi Flowers in the field would be a waste, since they did not need to absorb underground Qi but only the Qi naturally present in the air.
"The best place to plant them should be the cave I use for cultivation.""Although planting some later near the fields and the beasts might also have unexpected effects."
Having made his decision, he quickly planted the ten flowers he possessed along the small lake below the waterfall, behind which lay his cultivation cave.The instructions provided by the system were clear enough; ten minutes were enough for him to set them properly. In forty-five days, they would reach maturity, and Antoine would finally be able to observe their effects.
Although the urge to keep working pushed at him, creating an orchard for the Genesis Apple Tree would have to wait until he checked on Paul.It had been several hours since his last visit, which was unacceptable, even with Custos watching over him.
As he descended the steep path, the powerful barking of the dog echoed through the mountain range. The urgency in its tone immediately alerted him, forcing him to rush toward the cave.The sight that awaited him after the final turn made him exhale in relief.
Custos stood proudly over the mutilated body of what looked like an overcharged tahr.Twice the size of an average member of its species, its horns had tripled in mass and now resembled deadly weapons. Thankfully, his faithful companion had managed to bring it down without a single visible injury.
Custos had saved the young boy's life for the second time: the beast beneath his paws had been heading straight for the cave where the child was still recovering.
Impressed by his dog, Antoine bent down to reward him with affectionate pats, which Custos appreciated immensely. The dense, rough fur slid between his fingers as his attention shifted toward the dead creature lying at the cave's entrance.
Upon closer inspection, he noticed scars on its right flank—eerily similar to those one of his tahrs had received during a nighttime attack by a pack of starving wolves.He remembered that incident vividly, as the tahr had lost her entire young litter, surviving only thanks to the timely intervention of Antoine and Custos.The poor creature had lost her appetite afterward, barely surviving under his careful attention.
Now, she was unrecognizable. Her body had changed far too drastically for any biological explanation to make sense.
"Could this be the work of Qi? Will the other beasts also transform and become aggressive?"
Filled with doubt, Antoine's instincts drove him to check on his livestock further down the slope. Had the mutated beast slaughtered the others, or ignored them to come here?If it was the former, it would be devastating. Capturing and domesticating his entire herd had required immense patience, time, and luck.
Thanks to his enhanced physique, he reached the site swiftly. The absence of fresh blood filled him with cautious hope—maybe his livestock was safe.His expectations, like his instincts, proved right.
All of his beasts, except for the previously transformed tahr, were miraculously still inside their enclosures.But the good news ended there.
A quarter of them were convulsing on the ground, their terrified eyes reflecting unbearable pain. The others, unaffected, kept their distance, avoiding the sick ones as one would avoid a plague victim.
The sight left Antoine perplexed. How could creatures that had been perfectly healthy just hours ago suddenly end up in such a state?
As he approached, he saw their bodies twist, shift, and reshape before his eyes. The mutations differed not only between species but also between individuals of the same kind.
These transformations reminded Antoine of descriptions he had once read in the Basics of Beast Breeding manual.Then, struck by a flash of insight, everything became clear.
The spiritual vein, and the sudden surge in its Qi concentration, must have accelerated the beasts' evolution to an insane degree.What should have been a slow, natural process had turned into a baptism of agony and chaos.
Those spared so far either possessed potential so vast that the phenomenon could not significantly affect them, or none at all—forever bound to remain ordinary mortal beasts.
Though abnormal, the situation was not entirely unheard of; the book had mentioned rare cases of this kind.Trying to recall the short passage, he approached a yak in distress to help it.
"If I remember correctly, animals exposed to an abnormally high amount of Qi, more than they can withstand, can be helped by directing and stabilizing the chaotic Qi absorbed within their bodies.""The explanations were vague, but hesitation would only doom them. I have to try."
With renewed determination, Antoine reached the fallen yak, murmuring gentle words to soothe it.He then placed his hands on its back and began to probe the creature's condition through his Qi.