Beast Taming: I Have an Immortal Mansion

Lou Yuan spat out the dirt and sand stuffing his mouth. His ashen face began to quickly flush with color. The bloody hole Venerable Li had pierced between his eyebrows had been shifted to his cheek. Although it still looked terrifying, it was no longer fatal.

Lou Yuan was no stranger to grievous injuries, and the wound he had just sustained was far from fatal for him.

At this moment, the white-haired spider that was Master of Ten Thousand Spiders finally poked its head out from Lou Yuan’s body. It scuttled sideways like a crab to the top of Lou Yuan’s head and sent a voice transmission:

"Those two Cultivators just now were not to be trifled with. To save our own skins, I hid myself away. You’re not mad, are you?"

Lou Yuan gritted his teeth. He was completely helpless against this Master of Ten Thousand Spiders, who was even more cautious than he was.

Besides, the Feather Transformation Scripture he cultivated was provided by this same Master of Ten Thousand Spiders, so he had no reason to lose his temper.

The Feather Transformation Scripture allowed him to recover from even the most severe injuries. Even if he died, as long as his physical body wasn’t burned to ash, he could lie dormant underground, absorb earth qi for one to seven days, and then fully heal his wounds.

Such a heaven-defying Cultivation Technique did not come without a price. Lou Yuan had discovered that as he continued to cultivate the Feather Transformation Scripture, his body was becoming less and less human. But under the allure of its power and benefits, Lou Yuan didn’t care about such things.

The Cultivation Technique Master of Ten Thousand Spiders practiced was completely out of step with the current mainstream of cultivation, but one had to admit, it was quite miraculous.

’That Female Cultivator is way too mercurial. I thought I was about to have a romantic encounter, but she went straight for the kill instead?’

Lou Yuan tried to find humor in his grim situation. An ordinary person would have no chance of survival against such a Female Cultivator. Moreover, it seemed he had just stumbled upon a secret transaction, giving her even less reason to let him live.

’Thankfully, in their eyes, I’m already a corpse. And it’s a good thing that in the Cultivation Realm, killing someone and then burning the body isn’t a standard procedure everyone thinks to follow.’

"Old ghost, what happened after that? Did you see?"

Master of Ten Thousand Spiders, perched in Lou Yuan’s hair, rapidly rubbed its forelimbs together, looking like a large white fly. It said lazily:

"The Male Cultivator collected beast souls and gave them to the woman. Nothing special."

Lou Yuan was surprised. "Is that all? And they still tried to kill me for it? It’s just beast souls. Although the Great Zhou Academy forbids soul extraction, it’s being used on beasts, after all. It’s not that big of a taboo."

"Hmph, beast souls are generally used on Magical Artifacts, imbued into them through Artifact Refining. That’s their biggest use. Some are used in Alchemy or setting up formations. But according to that Female Cultivator, the Lifebound Talents within the beast souls can be extracted and used on Cultivators. The implications of that are huge."

Master of Ten Thousand Spiders’ tone was solemn, making Lou Yuan sense the sensitivity of the matter. If an ordinary Cultivator extracted a beast soul for Alchemy or Artifact Refining, although it involved the Soul Dao, it wasn’t a major issue.

It was only when it involved humans that it became a major taboo for the Great Zhou Academy.

Moreover, transferring a Lifebound Talent from a demon beast to a human Cultivator sounded utterly incredible.

Lifebound Talents were innate, a gift of heaven and earth, something one could only obtain through fortuitous encounters. If they could be picked and chosen like buying Magical Artifacts, wouldn’t that throw everything into chaos?

A Cultivator with a powerful Talent would absolutely dominate another Cultivator of the same realm who had no talent.

Lou Yuan thought of this problem, his heart filled with shock and resentment. Combined with the grudge from that finger attack just now, this made him restless and agitated.

’No, this is too important. I have to report it to the sect.’

Having grown up in the Qingyuan Sect, Lou Yuan felt nothing but gratitude towards it, and thus he had a certain degree of affection for the Qingyuan Sect.

While he wouldn’t go so far as to die for the Qingyuan Sect, choosing to report such important news was something he was willing to do.

’Besides, the Sect Leader is also a Golden Core Cultivator with heaven-defying combat power and roots in the Beast Taming Sect. In Southern White Mountain, no one is his match.’

’This isn’t something a mere Qi Cultivation Cultivator like me can get involved in. If the Sect Leader handles this, and if this method is implemented in the sect in the future, I could be the first to benefit.’

In that moment, Lou Yuan saw the matter with perfect clarity and chose the most logical course of action.

Lou Yuan could have also said nothing, treating the incident as just an unpleasant episode. That way, he could have completely extricated himself from the matter.

But with his youthful nature, Lou Yuan couldn’t swallow this insult. Coupled with the matter’s immense importance, his first thought as a disciple of the Qingyuan Sect was to seek help from the sect. Of course, Lou Yuan had too many secrets of his own and wouldn’t be so foolish as to expose himself.

"Old ghost, do me a favor. Use your unique mark to create a letter for me to send to the sect. Hmph, now let’s see what misfortune befalls you, you vicious Female Cultivator."

.....

In the Qingyuan Sect, Liu Xun hurried to the Sect Leader’s Quiet Chamber with a letter, preparing to report to Fang Qingyuan.

But as soon as he reached the door, he was stared down by a ferocious-looking large brown bear. The tyrannical aura it emanated nearly scared the Mid-stage Foundation Establishment Liu Xun into a cold sweat.

’Since when did the Sect Leader have a Golden Core Demon Beast guarding his door?’

Liu Xun was appalled, but just then, Fang Qingyuan’s voice came from within the Quiet Chamber:

"Ah, Liu Xun. It’s alright, you can come in. This bear won’t bite you."

The large brown bear snorted and turned its head away. Seeing this, Liu Xun was surprised that it could understand Fang Qingyuan’s words. ’Are the Ancient Beasts of the Wilderness all this intelligent?’

Inside the Quiet Chamber, a small raccoon was sitting primly across from Fang Qingyuan. In front of her was a steaming cup of fragrant tea.

The little raccoon held the cup with both her paws, blowing on the hot tea. When she saw Liu Xun enter, she even nodded at him.

In a daze, Liu Xun handed the letter he was carrying to Fang Qingyuan and explained:

"This is information I gathered through a special channel. You said before, Sect Leader, that we must obtain any information related to Chunyu Hua and his group. For this, I spared no expense and finally obtained this piece of news from a certain senior."

Listening to Liu Xun present his achievements, Fang Qingyuan took the letter. He saw a spider pattern engraved on it. When Fang Qingyuan opened it, a burst of Golden Core Realm aura was triggered. Although it vanished in an instant, the will it conveyed was undoubtedly that of the Golden Core Realm.

Fang Qingyuan had no reason to doubt it. He offered a few words of praise for Liu Xun’s abilities, then began to read the letter carefully.

After a moment, Fang Qingyuan put the letter away without a change in expression, then dismissed Liu Xun. He turned to the little raccoon Qiqi before him and said:

"Thank you all for your generous contributions. With this batch of spiritual materials and resources, fifty thousand Top-grade Spirit Stones should be no problem."

Qiqi was sipping the delicious water infused with Spirit Tree Leaves, and she was very happy with Fang Qingyuan’s approval.

Previously, after leaving Ji Jiaqing, Fang Qingyuan had immediately gone to Bear Wind’s residence to tell him of his difficulties.

In a word: he was broke.

Fang Qingyuan’s bustling about wasn’t entirely for the Qingyuan Sect; more importantly, Bear Wind’s faction also stood to benefit.

It was a win-win situation, so there was no reason for the Qingyuan Sect to foot the entire bill.

And when it came to wealth, how could Fang Qingyuan and the Qingyuan Sect possibly compare to a Nascent Soul Ancient Beast like Bear Wind?

Not to mention Bear Wind’s accumulation over so many years, even the materials shed from his body would cause a frenzy if they reached the outside world.

Shed teeth, fallen fur—all of these were spiritual materials in the eyes of Cultivators.

Add to that Bear Wind’s collection from over a thousand years—any random item released to the auction market would be a grand finale piece. This time, the two Bear Beasts, Qiqi and Xiong Ba, had come cautiously to Fang Qingyuan’s territory, partly to adapt to their future lives, and partly to take out Bear Wind’s treasures, test the waters at an auction, and see how many Spirit Stones they could fetch.

Why not just give these spiritual materials directly to Fang Qingyuan? The reason was simple: even blood brothers must keep clear accounts. Since the two parties would be living together in the future, the books couldn’t get muddled.

When starting a partnership, unclear accounts and unequal distribution are the biggest taboos. Right now, the relationship between Fang Qingyuan and Bear Wind was far from one of life and death.

"You two can stay here with me for now. On the day of the auction, you can pretend to be my Companion Beasts and go observe."

"That sounds great. We’ll be troubling Sect Leader Fang for the next few days, then."

"Ah, we’re family, no need for such formalities. In a little while, you’ll have to call me Sect Leader."

Fang Qingyuan bantered with the little raccoon Qiqi for a few more moments, then watched as she led the large brown bear towards a cave-dwelling in the mountains.

Afterwards, he took out the letter again, his brow gradually furrowing. The letter stated that Hao Shi was deliberately searching for the souls of various demon beasts, sealing them in Crystal Stones, and finally handing them over to some organization.

The scene was described vividly, as if witnessed firsthand. Although Fang Qingyuan was skeptical about the letter’s authenticity, he was already starting to find it more credible.

After all, a Golden Core Cultivator wouldn’t have the time to fabricate information just to trick him for a few Spirit Stones.

It was just that this well-informed Golden Core Cultivator was hidden very deeply. According to Liu Xun’s deduction, they seemed to be a shadowy figure, which was a sensitive matter.

But acting rashly based on a single letter was not in Fang Qingyuan’s character. Therefore, he needed to observe a while longer.

However, this letter gave him a direction, which was better than his previous state of complete confusion. ’Plotting for beast souls, are they? Perhaps I can use this to set a trap and lure them in.’

As Fang Qingyuan was thinking about how to deal with Hao Shi and vent the anger of Bear Wind’s family of big and small Bear Beasts, a strange signal suddenly came from his Immortal Mansion. When Fang Qingyuan’s divine soul entered, he saw the Bee Queen and Nanli waiting anxiously for him, gesturing frantically towards where Yinbao was.

The Bee Queen was more rational. Through her description, Fang Qingyuan learned that after such a long slumber, ripples had gradually started to appear in the pool where Yinbao was. This was originally a good thing, but as the ripples grew into powerful waves, Yinbao’s body was tossed and shaken, and it looked as if it was about to be thrown out of the water.

Hearing this, Fang Qingyuan looked at Yinbao with a bit more worry in his eyes. This old partner of his already had a difficult time advancing, and now it had to face this ordeal. It really shouldn’t be happening.

Yinbao’s potential wasn’t outstanding. This current anomaly was clearly caused by it awakening some kind of Divine Technique. Moreover, judging by the scale and momentum, the Divine Technique it was about to awaken was of a very high grade.

Faced with this sudden crisis, Fang Qingyuan had no time to investigate the cause. The most urgent task was to save Yinbao.

In the outside world, the waves Yinbao was stirring up might even have been enough to cause a great flood, like a flood dragon entering the sea. But in the Immortal Mansion, everything was under the control of Fang Qingyuan’s will. Before, when Fang Qingyuan’s consciousness wasn’t present, Yinbao could still cause a ruckus. But as Fang Qingyuan’s will took control, the pool where Yinbao was instantly became calm and still, without a single ripple.

And at that very moment, Yinbao leaped out of the pool and coiled in mid-air. Its enormous body showered down a sky full of Spirit Rain, nourishing the countless plants.

It was obvious that Yinbao had advanced. Not only had it advanced, but it also seemed to have awakened a high-grade Lifebound Talent.

Seeing this, a look of delight appeared on Fang Qingyuan’s face. He waved for Yinbao to come down. When Yinbao’s giant head rested on the ground, he placed his palm on it to inspect its condition.