Elian's eyes twitched slightly as he recalled the name of this type of demonic beast.
The Purple-Striped Goose was a first-tier demonic bird and, like the Azure Spirit Fish, extremely rare and gentle by nature.
Because of its docile temperament and weak combat ability, it was easily preyed upon by other demonic beasts and was considered a rare species in the cultivation world.
It was surprising to encounter one here today.
However, thinking it over, it made sense. Linghu Isle had a spiritual vein, and all the aggressive demonic beasts in the lake had been exterminated by the Chen family. The environment was perfect for such aquatic demonic birds to thrive, making it reasonable for a Purple-Striped Goose to migrate here.
"Finally caught you," Elian muttered, suppressing his urge to attack as he waited for the perfect moment.
The Purple-Striped Goose resembled an untamed wild duck, timid and highly alert, fleeing at the slightest disturbance.
Although this Purple-Striped Goose was only mid-grade first-tier, it was a flying beast. If Elian couldn't strike it in one go, he might miss his chance to kill it entirely.
The Purple-Striped Goose before him was extremely cautious, circling the fishes in the lake for a long time in a sneaky manner.
The fish king noticed it and charged aggressively. The goose had anticipated this, quickly swimming away and luring the fish king farther and farther from the fishes.
As the young fish lagged behind, the goose suddenly spread its wings and dove at one of the stragglers.
"Now's the time."
Just as the demonic bird descended into the water, Elian burst forth, wielding the Greenleaf Sword and slashing through the air.
The Purple-Striped Goose reacted quickly, releasing a protective spiritual shield before flapping its wings to flee. But how could it outpace a flying sword?
Elian controlled the Greenleaf Sword with precision, directing it like an extension of his arm within a 30-zhang radius. The sword transformed into a streak of green light, pierced through the spiritual shield with a clang, and pinned the goose in mid-air.
"Good," Elian said, his face lighting up with joy at the clean kill.
The Purple-Striped Goose's flesh was not only delicious but also boosted cultivation when consumed. This single goose was worth at least 30 spirit stones, equivalent to six adult Azure Spirit Fish.
It wasn't surprising, given that ordinary Azure Spirit Fish were low-grade first-tier creatures, while this Purple-Striped Goose was mid-grade first-tier.
Killing the Purple-Striped Goose not only made up for the loss of the four young spirit fish but also earned him a small profit, lifting Elian's spirits considerably.
The only regret was that he hadn't learned any binding spells or owned a binding artifact. Otherwise, he would have considered capturing the Purple-Striped Goose alive.
Gentle demonic beasts like the Purple-Striped Goose and Azure Spirit Fish could potentially be tamed into spirit beasts. If successfully domesticated, the eggs they laid could be a lucrative resource.
"I should have bought a binding artifact," he lamented. Learning binding spells would slow his cultivation progress, but a low-grade first-tier binding artifact would only cost a few dozen spirit stones. Capturing the Purple-Striped Goose and harvesting its spirit eggs would have been incredibly profitable.
"Right, the eggs!"
His eyes brightened as he stored the Purple-Striped Goose's body and headed toward the reeds where it had emerged.
After searching for half an hour, he discovered another Purple-Striped Goose deep in the reeds.
Unexpectedly, this goose didn't flee but instead attacked Elian with spells. However, it was no match for him and was quickly slain within a few moves.
After killing the second Purple-Striped Goose, Elian searched the area and found a nest of eggs.
"Jackpot," he murmured, barely able to contain his excitement.
The spirit eggs were rich in spiritual energy and free of impurities, making them even more valuable than spirit rice. Each egg could sell for a spirit stone.
This nest contained twelve eggs, and more importantly, all twelve were alive, with the young geese inside already partially developed.
"They're already halfway through incubation."
"It seems this pair of Purple-Striped Geese have been on Linghu Isle for quite some time."
Elian grinned as he examined the eggs.
His guess wasn't far off. The pair of geese had arrived on Linghu Isle about a year ago, around the time the ninth-level Qi Refinement elder was sent to guard the Foundation Establishment Pill. With Chen Nianqian and Chen Nianyuan being too weak to leave the central island often, the geese had gone unnoticed.
Finding the lake safe, the geese had settled in, built a nest, and begun raising their brood.
The Purple-Striped Goose was naturally cautious and had been vigilant for an entire year. But eventually, it grew too comfortable, losing its guard and daring to target the spirit fish.
Little did they know, after only two days of predation, they would encounter Elian. The male goose was killed, and the female, refusing to flee and leaving its young, met the same fate, leaving them both as a tragic pair.
The remaining nest of Purple-Striped Goose eggs was already halfway through incubation and would hatch in about a month.
Taking the nest back to the central island, Elian began preparing an incubation area for the eggs.
As someone who had grown up in the modern era, Elian wasn't completely clueless about egg incubation, despite his unremarkable past life.
Although the Purple-Striped Goose was technically a goose, it could also be considered a type of wild duck—a stronger and more resilient spiritual variant.
Using his knowledge from his previous life, Elian used his magical energy to create a suitable incubation environment and carefully tended to the eggs daily, taking on the role of a mother goose.
A month passed, and the eggs were finally ready to hatch.
On the day of the hatching, Elian sat beside the nest, watching the eggs with excitement and nervousness.
"Crack, crack—"
After half a day of waiting, he finally heard the sound of cracking shells. A small, gray, fluffy gosling emerged from the egg and waddled toward him.
Elian froze for a moment before realizing what was happening. Geese imprinted on the first creature they saw upon hatching.
"So now I'm their mother?" he said, half amused, half exasperated, but also relieved.
The difference between demonic beasts and spirit beasts was just one word. Spirit beasts were tamed by cultivators and had lost their wild, aggressive nature.
Without specialized beast-taming techniques, it was nearly impossible to domesticate spirit beasts. The Chen family lacked such methods. Their so-called "taming" of the Azure Spirit Fish was little more than semi-wild farming, as the fish couldn't leave Linghu Isle.
Flying beasts like the Purple-Striped Goose were even harder to tame. While adult Purple-Striped Geese were naturally docile and not very aggressive, without a proper taming method, they could easily fly away and never return.
Fortunately, these goslings had just hatched and imprinted on Elian as their parent, bypassing the taming process. With proper care, they would grow into loyal spirit birds.
Realizing this, Elian grew excited. He decided to stay by the incubation area, eagerly waiting for the remaining goslings to hatch one by one.