Chapter 8 (1/2)

Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios

“Ssss—”

After waking up, the green caterpillar wriggled its body, its eyes curved.

It probably had a satisfying dream, as it seemed to be in a good mood.

Green caterpillars were also known as green bugs, but there were huge differences in its appearance compared to an ordinary green bug.

Its skin was tender and elastic. When Wang Che stroked it, he felt like he was touching a sponge… That was the sensation.

“Are you hungry?” Wang Che asked, opening his palm.

The little insect, which was less than ten centimeters long, was quite plump.

It wiggled toward his palm, and he could not feel any weight from it at all.

A regular year of soul power cultivation would allow this soul pet to grow a centimeter.

When it reached around 20 centimeters, it would evolve into a Green Nether Butterfly.

If it did not evolve, it would theoretically just grow in size forever.

Wang Che walked to the kitchen and found that his mother had thoughtfully prepared the bug’s food.

White birch milk leaf.

The white birch milk tree was a grass type soul pet that was artificially cultivated.

By watering it with all sorts of mixed dairy substances, it could grow edible leaves that had a great effect on bug type soul pets.

However, it was expensive, at about ten dollars per leaf.

Maybe it didn’t sound that pricey on its own, but normally, bug type soul pets the size of green caterpillars would eat three to four pieces at once.

Basically, it had to eat at least ten a day, which would cost 100 dollars.

Subsequently, it would rack up to 3,000 dollars a month, and 30,000 to 40,000 dollars a year.

‘That’s enough to raise a child on Earth,’ Wang Che guessed.

With both his parents’ salary added together, it would amount to just over 10,000 dollars.

It was definitely impossible for his pet to have these leaves every meal.

In fact, Father Wang had once wanted to use his savings to buy a rare soul pet egg, but Wang Che felt that a free one was enough. A rare version would be costly to provide for as well.

Average soul pets, given the requirement that they were carefully nurtured, were good enough as long as the student could awaken their martial soul by the third year.

In order to decrease the financial burden on his family, and also because of Lin Xi, he had decided on a free one.

Unexpectedly, a green caterpillar hatched…

Normally, a species with a potential of 100 to 200 was a normal soul pet, and if it was lower than 100, it wouldn’t even be considered as normal.

“Ssss!” the caterpillar hissed, delighted to see the leaves.

Nothing could make a bug type soul pet happier than waking up to such a hearty meal.

Its round, glass-like eyes on its head narrowed and it burrowed into the milky white leaves.

It looked as if a child had crawled into a blanket and slowly squirmed its way through.

In a movement resembling a lunar eclipse, the leaf was slowly eaten away.

Wang Che watched quietly.

Sensing Wang Che’s gaze, the green caterpillar, which had just finished devouring a leaf, glanced at the remaining two.

It didn’t seem to think much of it. It nibbled on one and pulled it toward Wang Che.

Then, it called out twice, as if to persuade him to eat it as well.

“…”

Wang Che was speechless.

He thought for a moment, then picked up the leaf and stuffed it into his mouth.

The insect’s eyes widened in astonishment, its mouth gaping.

Perhaps it was surprised because it had taken the little green caterpillar a while to ingest the whole thing, but Wang Che finished it in one bite.

It turned its head to look at the remaining piece on the plate, then at Wang Che, then back and forth.

After whipping its head several times, it finally crawled over and dragged the piece of leaf, placing it in front of Wang Che.

This time, Wang Che didn’t eat. Instead, he closed his eyes and inspected it carefully with his senses.

It did taste good; the milk had the flavor of a mango milkshake, and the texture of the leaf was soft and sticky.

However, what piqued his interest was the traces of soul power in the leaf.

It wasn’t much, only a very slight tinge.

It was a pity that it did not enter his body after he chewed on the leaf, and instead dispersed.

He was unable to absorb the soul power within the leaf.

Although he could eat it, it was just a regular snack to his body, but the soul power could be naturally taken in by the soul pets.

“The better you eat, the faster your cultivation will grow,” Wang Che murmured as he shook his head.

Cultivating soul pets was not simple.

One of the most popular majors in university currently was Animal Studies.

How could one quickly raise a soul pet’s soul power cultivation? How could one nurture a powerful and formidable soul pet?

How could a soul pet learn powerful techniques? How to boost a soul beast’s affinity rapidly?

These were the few questions they had been tackling, and there were many other elements.

Everyone was talking about experiments nowadays.

They knew that to be a Contract Soul Master and awaken a martial soul, training a soul pet was crucial.

This was because the soul rings provided by them would increase the strength of the Contract Soul Master in all aspects.

As for the ring’s age, it was related to the pet’s cultivation.

Naturally, coaching was one of the hottest topics in this era.

Wang Che swallowed the leaf in his mouth before picking up the last one.

The green caterpillar’s eyes followed his hand, sparkling expectantly…

Wang Che smiled and playfully covered the caterpillar with the leaf after pretending to eat it.

“Ssss!”

The bug gnawed a hole through the center of the leaf and its head popped out, staring at him.

“You should eat, little one.”

“Ssss!”

Wang Che found some fresh dishes and leftovers in the kitchen. He planned to make a simple meal of fried rice with corn.

Cultivators actually didn’t need food, and this was especially true for Immortal Ascension cultivators.

However, delicious food was sort of an indulgence to them. Immortal Ascension realm cultivators also needed to enjoy life, after all.

Wang Che had consumed many delicacies from different civilizations, and his tastes were exquisite.

Though, from a human point of view, he felt that the food culture on earth suited his palate the most.