OFR – Chapter 25 Cultivating Arowana.

Zhang Tiantian and her roommates thought long and hard, but they couldn’t figure out who the mysterious person was that donated 100,000 yuan. Their curiosity about the generous anonymous donor only grew.

After much speculation, they concluded that the mysterious benefactor must be someone who knew one of them. Most people who visited Nanjing University’s website were students looking for information. It was unlikely that a random person would casually donate 100,000 yuan just after voting.

Driven by curiosity, the girls decided to individually check with the friends they had asked for votes. They were determined to find out who the mysterious donor was.

By 10 p.m., the city of Nanjing was shrouded in the quiet of night. The early winter wind here wasn’t as harsh as in the north, but it was still cold.

In the basement, after donating to Zhang Tiantian’s project, Mu Bai had already left Nanjing University’s website. He felt the cold draft seeping through the door and put his phone on the bedside table. Tightening his clothes, he got up to make sure the door was securely shut.

“I need to find a better place to live,” Mu Bai muttered as he looked around the damp, dark basement. While he was happy to spend money for others and earn virtual currency, he realized there was no reason to keep putting himself in such uncomfortable living conditions.

Even though spending for others earned him virtual currency, he knew that spending money on himself for a better home wouldn’t be a problem.

However, he decided to look for a new place after he sold his arowana fish.

After closing the door, Mu Bai’s thoughts wandered, and he entered his mystical space once again.

The mystical space was tranquil, giving him a sense of peace. Inside, he turned his attention to the two arowana fish in the breeding area and opened the mystical shop to purchase ten basic growth cards.

“Ping! Would you like to spend 1,000 virtual copper coins to purchase ten basic growth cards?” the system asked.

“Yes,” Mu Bai confirmed without hesitation.

“Ping! Purchase successful.”

After hearing the system’s mechanical voice, Mu Bai now had a total of 15 basic growth cards, and he began cultivating the arowana.

Although only half an hour had passed, the arowana, which had been pale and lifeless, was now regaining vitality under the soft glow of the mystical light, and it started swimming again.

Next to the breeding area, there was a stopwatch symbol representing the acceleration of time. Mu Bai clicked on it.

“Ping! Would you like to use the growth cards to accelerate?”

“Yes.”

“Please select the level and number of growth cards.”

Since Mu Bai only had basic growth cards, he selected three of them. These three cards would speed up the growth process by three months, equivalent to two and a half years in the outside world.

After making his selection, the three cards transformed into a soft golden light, which drifted toward the arowana fry. As the light touched the fish, it grew radiant, almost too bright to look at directly. In the golden glow, the arowana fry began to swim joyfully and grow visibly larger.

After about fifteen minutes, the glow faded, and the arowana fry that had been only palm-sized had grown to a length of 60 centimeters. Its shimmering golden scales were beautiful, exuding a majestic, regal aura. The lethargy it had displayed earlier was now completely gone.

Looking at this 60-centimeter arowana, Mu Bai knew that it could easily fetch over a million yuan, which made him quite happy.

After finishing the cultivation of one fish, Mu Bai continued with the others, using three basic growth cards for each. Under the golden light, each arowana fry grew steadily larger.

Once they were fully grown, Mu Bai stored them in his mystical warehouse.

Now, only one arowana remained to be cultivated, but this one was different.

After using three basic growth cards on it, Mu Bai noticed that this particular fry was undergoing a strange mutation. It grew much more slowly than the others, and its scales, instead of remaining golden, began to turn a silk-like snowy white.

When the golden light faded, the fry had only reached about 50 centimeters in length. Its scales were now a mixture of gold and white, a combination that looked odd and even somewhat eerie.

“What’s going on? Gold and white scales? Platinum arowana don’t look like this. Could it be that something went wrong with the cultivation process?” Mu Bai furrowed his brow as he examined the fish.

He checked the remaining cultivation time and found that it still needed two more months of growth before it would be fully mature.

“Could this be the result of incomplete cultivation?” Mu Bai pondered. He had never encountered this kind of situation before, but he decided to use two more basic growth cards to see what would happen when the process was finished.

He exchanged two more basic growth cards from the shop and applied them to the fish. The cards again transformed into golden light, and the arowana continued to grow, reaching 80 centimeters in length. Its body was larger than the previous arowana, but the golden scales had faded further, leaving behind more of the snowy white color. Still, the two colors remained mixed together.

“It’s fully cultivated now, but it still looks like this? What on earth is going on?” Mu Bai frowned, perplexed.

Just as he was wondering what had happened, the system’s voice rang out.

“Ping! Unfortunately, the arowana’s mutation into a platinum arowana has failed. The host can use a nutrient solution to continue cultivating it, which may result in a successful mutation. If the mutation fails again, the system will automatically destroy the defective product.”

Mu Bai was stunned to hear this. He hadn’t realized that the mystical space could also cause mutations in the arowana.

“Wait a minute, didn’t the spider plant mutate into a golden silk spider plant last time?” Mu Bai suddenly remembered that the spider plant had indeed undergone a successful mutation after cultivation, although it hadn’t been a dramatic change at the time, so he hadn’t paid much attention to it.

“It seems the mystical space has a chance of causing mutations in both plants and animals, but there’s also a risk of failure,” Mu Bai mused. Despite the risk, he felt that the potential benefits outweighed the drawbacks.

After all, if the mutation failed, it would just mean a smaller profit. But if it succeeded, the financial gain would be tremendous.

Take this arowana, for example. If it successfully mutated into a platinum arowana, its price could increase tenfold!

“I should use the nutrient solution to keep cultivating it,” Mu Bai decided.

Having made up his mind, he took out the only bottle of basic nutrient solution he had, worth 500 virtual copper coins, from the mystical space.

Pouring the bright green liquid onto the fish, he watched as the solution began to emit a white mist. The green liquid slowly seeped into the fish’s body.

As the nutrient solution absorbed into the fish, its golden scales began to transform further into a stunning snowy white color.

After about ten minutes, the golden hue had completely faded, and the arowana had fully transformed into a genuine platinum arowana!