Beast Taming: I Have an Immortal Mansion

But for it to double just from breaking through the single bottleneck between the Sixth-Layer and Seventh-Layer Qi Cultivation was truly beyond his expectations.

However, when Fang Qingyuan felt how much both his cultivation base and his divine soul had grown compared to when he was at the Sixth Layer, it all made sense.

’Since I can’t think of a use for the three new acres of land right now, I might as well just fill them with more Spirit Ore Soil. The Immortal Mansion can absorb it, and who knows, it might even improve the quality of my Earth Spirit Root a bit.’

With this in mind, Fang Qingyuan began to furiously collect the Spirit Ore Soil before him, sending it all into his Immortal Mansion. In just a short while, a man-sized pit had formed where he stood.

Jinbao, who was standing behind Fang Qingyuan, saw this but had no particular reaction. As far as it was concerned, its master was simply collecting soil in a storage bag—nothing strange about that.

As Fang Qingyuan’s figure vanished into the newly dug tunnel, Jinbao instinctively moved to follow, but then his voice echoed out.

"Stay out here and guard. I’ll be out in a minute."

At Fang Qingyuan’s command, Jinbao spun around and stood guard before the entrance of the hole, glaring fiercely at the five Black Contracted Wolf Dogs and scaring them half to death.

A short while later, having burrowed a hundred meters into the tunnel wall, Fang Qingyuan’s face began to pale. He had already moved several hundred cubic meters of soil into the Immortal Mansion, and the toll on his divine soul was immense.

But the rewards were also plentiful. In such a short distance, he had already dug up over five hundred Spirit Stones. ’This is an insanely profitable way to make money.’

The three new acres of Black Land inside the Immortal Mansion were now covered with a thick layer of Spirit Vein Ore Soil. While this soil wasn’t a graded spiritual material, there was a massive amount of it. ’Once the Immortal Mansion absorbs it all,’ he thought, ’I’m sure there will be a pleasant surprise waiting for me.’

When Fang Qingyuan emerged from the mine, he felt utterly exhausted. He instructed Jinbao to wake him if anything happened, then went into his quarters to meditate and recover.

「One day later.」

Fang Qingyuan opened his eyes. After a full day and night of recovery, he felt completely refreshed and invigorated. He felt like he was ready to go again.

When Fang Qingyuan stepped out of his quarters, he saw Jinbao faithfully guarding his door, not having moved an inch. Meanwhile, the five Black Contracted Wolf Dogs were squatting off to the side, holding their food bowls in their mouths and looking utterly pitiful, not daring to make a peep.

’Whoops, I forgot to prepare food for the Spirit Dogs,’ he realized. ’And Jinbao, following my orders, wouldn’t let the Black Contracted Wolf Dogs disturb me. These poor things must be starving.’

Fang Qingyuan hurried to the Storage Room to get their food. After preparing it, he called the Black Contracted Wolf Dogs over and filled the bowls they had brought with them one by one.

The Black Contracted Wolf Dogs ate very well. Their main course was free-range chicken, supplemented with bone meal, eggs, and various grains.

As he mixed the food, Fang Qingyuan noticed Jinbao drooling uncontrollably. It seemed Jinbao wanted a taste, too.

A single Black Contracted Wolf Dog ate five free-range chickens in one meal. Raising one was more expensive than feeding a family of ten, but their contributions more than justified the expense.

Once the Black Contracted Wolf Dogs had eaten their fill, they carried their bowls to a trough to wash them, drank plenty of water, and then lay down to the side to rest.

But Fang Qingyuan couldn’t rest yet. He still had to prepare a meal for the Shrimp Turtle Beasts.

Feeding the Shrimp Turtle Beasts was much simpler. He just had to empty bags of what looked like feed into a large copper cauldron, add the right amount of water, and bring it all to a boil using Spirit Fire.

Each Shrimp Turtle Beast ate about three pounds of this mush per meal, twice a day. They were relatively easy to care for.

Only after finishing all these chores did Fang Qingyuan begin to appreciate just how hard Zhang Yuan must have worked over the past three years.

With that thought, Fang Qingyuan went to the Storage Room. He recorded the over five hundred Spirit Stones he had personally dug up the day before, then did the same for the hundred or so Spirit Stones excavated by the Shrimp Turtle Beasts.

Business was business, and personal was personal. The two had to be kept separate.

This mine belonged to Yuanling Mountain, and most of Yuanling Mountain’s expenses currently relied on its output. If he were to pocket the earnings, he would be failing Jiang Kui and Zhang Yuan after all the care they had shown him over the years.

Besides, when it came time to settle the accounts, half of the profits had to be handed over to the sect. If the output was too low and the sect sent someone to audit the books, any discrepancy would mean big trouble for him.

Besides, he had a mountain of spiritual materials in his Immortal Mansion—resources and Magical Artifacts worth over one hundred thousand Low-grade Spirit Stones that he had yet to sell. He was no longer the shuttle driver who once had to toil for half a year just to scrape together three hundred Spirit Stones.

’With the Immortal Mansion, earning Spirit Stones isn’t hard; the real challenge is turning them into usable wealth,’ he mused. ’I have no need to stoop to skimming dirty money like this. It’s certainly not worth risking my Dao Heart over a few Spirit Stones.’

If this came back to haunt him when he tried to reach Foundation Establishment in the future, no amount of Spirit Stones could ever compensate for the loss.

After entering everything into the ledger, Fang Qingyuan felt a great sense of relief. ’A clear conscience feels good.’ After a brief rest, he headed back toward the mine tunnel.

’Jiang Kui said the Spirit Stone output was low. From the looks of it, all I need to do is put in some extra effort myself, and the production will shoot right up.’

Seeing Fang Qingyuan walk toward the mine, the Black Contracted Wolf Dogs instantly shot to their feet and began barking loudly, trying to rouse the Shrimp Turtle Beasts. ’The master is going to work himself, why aren’t you getting started?!’

But before the Shrimp Turtle Beasts could stir, Fang Qingyuan waved his hand to stop them.

"Just stick to your usual routine. Don’t increase their workload just because of me. If you work these Shrimp Turtle Beasts to death, I’ll have a hard time answering for it. They aren’t cheap to replace, after all."

The Black Contracted Wolf Dogs obediently fell silent at Fang Qingyuan’s words. Seeing their cue, the Shrimp Turtle Beasts lay back down.

And so, Fang Qingyuan descended into the pit alone and began his new life as a miner.

He would release his Divine Sense to locate Spirit Stones, use his divine soul to pull Spirit Vein Soil into the Immortal Mansion, and then return to his quarters to meditate and recover.

This became his cycle, repeated once every three days. In between, he had to feed the dogs and the Shrimp Turtle Beasts. Fang Qingyuan’s days were disciplined and fulfilling.

「And so, the days passed, one by one.」

Fang Qingyuan descended into the mine every three days, each time transferring large amounts of Spirit Ore Soil into his Immortal Mansion.

Sometimes, if he was lucky, Fang Qingyuan could unearth one or two thousand Spirit Stones. On a bad day, he might only find four or five hundred.

The Black Land in the Immortal Mansion was truly incredible. Each time Fang Qingyuan brought in enough Spirit Ore Soil to cover the three acres of Black Land half a meter deep, it would absorb a third of the soil in a single day.

As a result, with each passing day, Fang Qingyuan could feel the aptitude of his Earth Spirit Root increasing slightly. The change might have been less than a tenth of a single point, but he could perceive it clearly.

The sensation was comparable to when he drew upon his own Gold Spirit Power to nourish the Immortal Mansion. While not as dramatic as the improvements to his Metal Spirit Root, the progress was much faster than when his Wood Spirit Root absorbed spiritual materials.

「Six months later.」

When Zhang Yuan returned with Yinbao, he opened the large storeroom where the Spirit Stones were kept and was instantly struck dumb.

A small mountain of Spirit Stones glittered before him, the light reflecting in his wide eyes. He stared at Fang Qingyuan, his face a mask of utter shock.

Before Zhang Yuan could speak, Fang Qingyuan said with a smile,

"I have good news and bad news. Which do you want to hear first?"

Zhang Yuan replied in a daze,

"What’s the good news?"

"The good news is that in the last six months, I’ve mined one hundred fifty thousand Low-grade Spirit Stones. We’re going to have a very prosperous new year."

A look of joy spread across Zhang Yuan’s face, but Fang Qingyuan’s next words made his smile freeze.

"The bad news is... I’ve just about mined this entire Spirit Vein Ore dry."