Beast Taming: I Have an Immortal Mansion

For the past four years, Zhao Liangde had taken five thousand Spirit Stones annually. That was twenty thousand over four years—no small sum. Now, it was time for him to provide some return.

As expected, Zhao Liangde did not shy away from the matter concerning Jiang Kui, instead offering his wholehearted assistance. Following his arrangements, over ten thousand Dragon Worm larvae were placed in earthen crates. Carried by Yinbao and watched over by Jiang Kui, they were the first to return to Yuanling Mountain.

A single Dragon Worm larva was priced at one Low-grade Spirit Stone, so the larvae cost Jiang Kui a total of ten thousand Spirit Stones.

In addition, the materials needed to raise the Dragon Worms, including various Array Talisman Discs, cost nearly another ten thousand Spirit Stones.

Jiang Kui bought four sets of Arrays to place inside the four mining pits. This was to prevent the Dragon Worm larvae from escaping; without the help of an Array, it was very likely the worms would simply run off while being raised in the soil.

After sending Jiang Kui back, Fang Qingyuan remained in the sect. He still had things to do.

It had been half a year since Fang Qingyuan became a Late-stage Qi Refining Cultivator. He had spent that time busy with mining and hadn’t come to the sect to get his status upgraded.

Even though he was now living independently, Fang Qingyuan’s roots were still in the Southern Border Beast Taming Sect. The status of a Core Disciple was better to have than not.

At the very least, the status of a Core Disciple carried more weight than that of an Inner Sect Disciple when he was away from the sect.

For an Inner Sect Disciple to become a Core Disciple, they needed the approval of a peak Elder. If the elder recognized you, your promotion to Core Disciple was all but guaranteed.

If no one sponsored you, you would have to accumulate seniority by completing tasks. Once your contribution points reached ten thousand, you could also be automatically promoted to Core Disciple.

For this matter, Fang Qingyuan would definitely have to seek out Zhao Liangde. In fact, Zhao Liangde was the only one he could turn to at the moment.

Indeed, those five thousand Spirit Stones per year weren’t for nothing. A few days later, during a regular council meeting, Zhao Liangde mentioned Fang Qingyuan’s case to Lechuan. After Lechuan nodded, the matter was settled.

The rest was simple. After waiting for seven days, Fang Qingyuan’s new Identity Token and robes arrived.

In Zhao Liangde’s residence, Fang Qingyuan, now dressed in a Tier One Middle Grade cyan Daoist Robe, bowed to Zhao Liangde and said in thanks:

"Thank you for your care this time, Elder Zhao. Otherwise, I would have had to continue painstakingly building up my seniority. As it happens, I visited Lianshui City a few days ago and came across an interesting Magical Artifact. I was hoping Uncle Zhao might take a look."

Fang Qingyuan then took out a Tier Two Lower Grade Magical Artifact and handed it to Zhao Liangde.

This Tier Two Lower Grade Magical Artifact was a common, run-of-the-mill item, worth about four thousand Spirit Stones—perfect for a gift.

Zhao Liangde accepted it, examined it for a moment, then casually set it aside and chuckled.

"You’ve always been one to act only when there’s a profit to be made. Helping you get recognized as a Core Disciple isn’t worth such a generous gift. Go on, what else do you want from me?"

Being seen through by Zhao Liangde didn’t embarrass Fang Qingyuan in the slightest. Having given Zhao Liangde gifts to get things done time and again, he had long since figured out the man’s temperament. Although Zhao Liangde was greedy, he delivered results proportional to his payment and would never take money without doing the work.

Fang Qingyuan had even heard that on some occasions when Zhao Liangde failed to accomplish a task after accepting Spirit Stones, he would return the entire sum. Such integrity was rare indeed.

"As expected, I can’t hide anything from you, Uncle. I ask for nothing else, only for your permission to go to the second and third floors of the sect’s Scripture Pavilion to select a Cultivation Technique."

After Fang Qingyuan finished speaking, Zhao Liangde fell into a thoughtful silence. A few breaths later, his eyes landed on the Magical Artifact Fang Qingyuan had just given him, and he finally nodded.

"Fine. It’s about time you took a look inside the Scripture Pavilion anyway. Disciples like you, without a formal master, all want to change their Cultivation Technique once their cultivation level increases. I understand you want to pick a good one. How about this: in three days, take this personal note of mine and go to the Scripture Pavilion. You can stay for one day. After that, I don’t care which technique you choose. This matter will be considered settled."

After speaking, Zhao Liangde tucked the Magical Artifact into his storage pouch, picked up his tea, and took a sip. Seeing this, Fang Qingyuan offered his thanks once more and tactfully took his leave.

.....

Back in his small courtyard, which he hadn’t visited in a long time, Fang Qingyuan began to ponder what kind of Cultivation Technique he truly needed.

The courtyard was still his, at least in name. Even when Fang Qingyuan wasn’t on the mountain, the sect kept it reserved for him.

During the days he had spent in the sect with Jiang Kui, Fang Qingyuan had been constantly debating whether to replace the Cyan Wood Technique, which he had been practicing for nearly twenty years.

Back when Fang Qingyuan first entered the Beast Taming Sect at Tianshan Villa in the Southern Border, the sect didn’t offer good choices of Cultivation Techniques to Outer Sect Disciples like him.

The entire Tianshan Villa was not valued by the Beast Taming Sect’s Main Mountain. An Outer Sect Disciple from a branch villa was equivalent to the most insignificant members of other sects; how many resources could the sect be expected to spend on them?

The Cyan Wood Technique, an unremarkable Cultivation Technique of Yellow Tier Middle Grade, naturally became Fang Qingyuan’s first choice. This was because the highest quality techniques the sect provided at the time were only of Yellow Tier Middle-Lower Grade, leaving him with no real options.

Moreover, the Cyan Wood Technique was suitable for Fang Qingyuan’s Spirit Root aptitude of 23 points at the time. Without superior aptitude, practicing a higher-grade Cultivation Technique would have been extremely difficult. Forcing it would only yield half the results with twice the effort.

The Cyan Wood Technique was balanced and gentle, making it very suitable for cultivators with Lower-grade and Middle-grade Spirit Roots. Furthermore, there were many written insights from previous practitioners of this technique. This meant that even without a good teacher’s guidance, Fang Qingyuan could practice using the various versions without running into any major problems.

But now that Fang Qingyuan’s Spirit Root aptitude had improved, continuing to practice the Cyan Wood Technique would be a waste of his talent.

The Tier Three Lower Grade Spiritual Material he had buried a few months ago, the piece of Sea Purple Agarwood, had now been completely absorbed by the Immortal Mansion. Fang Qingyuan’s Wood Spirit Root aptitude had finally reached thirty points, becoming a Top-grade Spirit Root.

More importantly, not only was Fang Qingyuan’s Wood Spirit Root Top-grade, but his Metal Spirit Root was as well. In fact, his Metal Spirit Root aptitude was even stronger than his Wood Spirit Root’s.

Therefore, to increase his cultivation speed, Fang Qingyuan prepared to switch his Cultivation Technique. He planned to find a technique that cultivated both Metal and Wood elements, one of at least Profound Tier quality. This way, he could make perfect use of his aptitude.

And so, after Jiang Kui had left, Fang Qingyuan finally made up his mind to replace the Wood Element Technique, the Cyan Wood Technique.

With his mind made up, the next step was to find a suitable Cultivation Technique. In the Southern Border, dual-attribute Metal and Wood techniques of Profound Tier quality weren’t hard to find, but every single one was prohibitively expensive.

Besides, there was no guarantee that a Cultivation Technique bought on the outside wouldn’t have hidden dangers. How could it compare to the safety of one from his own sect?

Moreover, the Southern Border Beast Taming Sect was backed by the super-sect that was the Beast Taming Sect. Its Scripture Pavilion’s Cultivation Techniques were of higher grades, greater variety, and, most importantly, cheaper than those outside.

All things considered, Fang Qingyuan was much more inclined to find one within his own sect. There was just one problem to solve: with his current status as a Core Disciple, he was only permitted to browse Cultivation Techniques of all grades within the Yellow Tier and Profound Tier Lower Grade techniques in the Scripture Pavilion.

A Profound Tier Lower Grade Cultivation Technique could, at most, be cultivated to the Golden Core Stage. For other Core Disciples, this was more than enough.

But Fang Qingyuan thought to himself, ’My aptitude is still constantly improving. If I pick a Profound Tier Lower Grade technique now, I’ll just have to switch again in a few decades. Wouldn’t that be a hassle?’

’I might as well take this opportunity to pick something better—a Profound Tier Middle or Top Grade, or even an Earth Tier technique. Get it done once and for all.’

Higher-grade Cultivation Techniques were available in the sect’s Scripture Pavilion, but only Foundation Establishment Cultivators were allowed to view them. Fang Qingyuan’s status wasn’t high enough, yet he wanted to see them. This was precisely why he had given a gift to Zhao Liangde, hoping he would grant his approval and make an exception.

Now that Zhao Liangde had relented, he could access the second and third floors of the Scripture Pavilion. With this, his search for a new Cultivation Technique was finally on track.

Of course, Zhao Liangde was only giving him the chance to choose a technique. How many Spirit Stones it would cost to actually take the one he wanted was no longer Zhao Liangde’s concern.

And so, three days later, Fang Qingyuan took Zhao Liangde’s personal note and went to the second floor of the Scripture Pavilion. After handing the note to the keeper, he walked inside, his heart filled with a mix of nervousness and anticipation.