Chapter 541 - 378: Awakening and Descent
Jinbao, now awake, had reached the Late-stage Foundation Establishment. After an inspection, Fang Qingyuan confirmed that Jinbao’s original six Divine Techniques were unchanged, and he had now gained a new one.
Besides his original six Divine Techniques—Size Shifting, Gold-Swallowing and Iron-Chewing, Golden Eye of Truth, Golden Spirit Body, Gold-Seeking and Spirit-Sensing, and Yin-Yang Qi—a small sphere of light had now quietly appeared in Jinbao’s sea of consciousness.
This was the new Divine Technique Jinbao had awakened during his advancement. Fang Qingyuan assessed its grade; it should be Profound Tier. Among the Heaven, Earth, Profound, and Yellow Four Tiers, for a Spirit Beast to awaken a Profound Tier Divine Technique during the Foundation Establishment Stage was quite rare.
Fang Qingyuan gently touched the sphere of light with a wisp of his Divine Sense. Instantly, a stream of information flooded his mind. The Divine Technique was called Carrying Mountain. As the name implied, once activated, it allowed one to carry even a mountain.
It was reminiscent of myths where figures would carry mountains on their shoulders. However, Fang Qingyuan knew that while the Divine Technique greatly increased Jinbao’s strength, even if Jinbao activated both Size Shifting and Carrying Mountain, he probably couldn’t actually lift an entire mountain range.
But this would make Jinbao’s physical combat abilities even more outstanding. In other words, Jinbao had taken a firm step toward becoming the ultimate tank.
However, this one Divine Technique clearly couldn’t have consumed all the Top-grade Golden Attribute Spirit Stones Fang Qingyuan had just provided. So, he observed carefully for a while and discovered some changes in the six existing Divine Techniques.
First, the sphere of light representing Jinbao’s Golden Spirit Body had grown much larger in his sea of consciousness. From Fang Qingyuan’s perspective, if the sphere for Golden Spirit Body was previously the size of a quail’s egg, the sphere for this Divine Technique was now the size of a chicken’s egg.
The size of the sphere of light represented the level of mastery of that Divine Technique. Among Jinbao’s current seven Divine Techniques, the sphere for Golden Spirit Body was now the largest.
The sphere representing Gold-Seeking and Spirit-Sensing was the smallest, only the size of a peanut. If ranked by size, the order was as follows:
Golden Spirit Body, Gold-Swallowing and Iron-Chewing, Yin-Yang Qi, Size Shifting, Golden Eye of Truth, Carrying Mountain, and Gold-Seeking and Spirit-Sensing.
Besides the sphere for Golden Spirit Body growing larger, the other four—Gold-Swallowing and Iron-Chewing, Yin-Yang Qi, Size Shifting, and Golden Eye of Truth—had all been enhanced as well. This meant Jinbao’s power had become even more formidable.
To possess seven Talents at only the Late-stage Foundation Establishment... such innate gifts were truly worthy of a descendant of a Divinity Transformation-level beast. Indeed, Spirit Beasts valued bloodline heritage above all else. Compared to one’s lineage, postnatal effort seemed truly insignificant.
Moreover, five of these seven Talents were Earth Tier or higher in quality. Yin-Yang Qi was even a Celestial Tier Talent. In comparison, Yinbao, a common Camel Beast by birth, currently only possessed two Yellow Tier Talents.
Awakening a new Divine Technique was a pleasant surprise. Seeing Jinbao’s anxious look, Fang Qingyuan dotingly presented him with all sorts of food.
Jinbao, having just awoken, was like a bear that had hibernated all winter; he was famished. Seeing blocks of Flower Nectar, cured demon beast meat, various Spirit Fruits, and freshly brewed Spirit Wine, he couldn’t be bothered to act cute for Fang Qingyuan anymore and lowered his head to eat and drink with gusto.
Only then did Fang Qingyuan have a moment to estimate the number of Top-grade Spirit Stones he had just spent on Jinbao. After a quick calculation, Fang Qingyuan felt his teeth ache. This fellow Jinbao was just too expensive.
In just that short time, several hundred Top-grade Spirit Stones had vanished. That was the entire income of a small sect for over a decade, enough to support a hundred Qi Cultivation Cultivators for ten years.
With Jinbao awake, the Bee Queen and Nanli also came over to join the fun. Nanli took off on her big feet, rushing over to casually snatch some food from Jinbao. Seeing his little sidekick, Jinbao didn’t hold it against her. He just shifted over slightly to make some room for Nanli.
The Bee Queen’s arrival was more arduous. However, as her realm deepened, she could now use a technique to ride the wind, allowing her to wriggle along at three or four times her previous speed.
Although she was still wriggling, the Bee Queen’s posture was much more elegant than when she resembled a maggot. She wriggled to Fang Qingyuan’s side and, through the Voice of All Things, reported to him on the production status of the Spirit Rice Flower Brew.
"Master, Yuan Yi says we’re running low on Ice Cup Flowers. He hopes you can gather some more. Also, we don’t have enough wine jars and need to increase the number."
Fang Qingyuan had entrusted most of the matters concerning the Spirit Rice Flower Brew production to the Bee Queen. Her intelligence was now no different from an ordinary person’s, and she could handle these trivial tasks well.
It wasn’t that he wanted to give it all to the Bee Queen; Fang Qingyuan just didn’t have any other choice. He estimated that among his four Spirit Beasts, the combined intelligence of the other three Companion Beasts couldn’t match the Bee Queen’s. That was how much faith Fang Qingyuan had in the minds of his other three companions.
"Just make a list for me. I’ll have the people from the sect prepare it. From now on, if you’re short on anything, just make a list. You don’t need to report every single thing to me."
After Fang Qingyuan gave his instructions, the Bee Queen wriggled back, satisfied. She was busy with Alchemy and had no time to watch Jinbao and Nanli stuff their faces.
Fang Qingyuan felt the same. He left the two little ones to their feast and turned to check on Yinbao. After an inspection, he found that Yinbao still showed no signs of waking up anytime soon.
Compared to Jinbao, Yinbao’s Talent was nothing to write home about. Fang Qingyuan didn’t expect Yinbao to be a peerless fighter; as long as it could live a safe and peaceful life, that was enough.
After leaving the Immortal Mansion, Fang Qingyuan thought for a moment, then sent someone to summon Tu Dai’Er. Now that Jinbao had awoken, Fang Qingyuan planned to send her away.
’Given that Tu Dai’Er dared to stir up trouble right under the nose of a Divinity Transformation Cultivator like Gui Zheng—and for some reason, Gui Zheng didn’t notice—it only made the forces behind her seem all the more strange and dangerous. Fang Qingyuan felt he couldn’t afford to get mixed up in such matters. It was best to send her away quickly and get back to his own peaceful life.’
As the fragrant smoke of the messenger incense curled upwards, Fang Qingyuan sat properly in a chair. Tu Dai’Er’s status was different from Liu Xun’s; he could no longer remain seated on his Cloud Bed.
After an attendant on duty at the door announced her arrival in a clear voice, Tu Dai’Er gracefully entered. Though it had been some time since they had last met, Tu Dai’Er still carried herself with the same valiant air.
During this time, Fang Qingyuan hadn’t arranged for anyone to monitor Tu Dai’Er. Throughout the entire sect, she was simply regarded as Fang Qingyuan’s honored guest.
In short, for this Female Cultivator whose background seemed even deeper than his own, Fang Qingyuan treated her with hospitality but kept her at a respectful distance.
This was the first time the two had met privately since leaving Jixia City.
After she was seated and served tea, Tu Dai’Er looked at Fang Qingyuan with a pleased expression. She was an extremely intelligent person and could guess why he had summoned her.
As expected, Fang Qingyuan didn’t waste any words and got straight to the point:
"Jinbao has completed his advancement smoothly. Fellow Daoist Tu, you are a person of your word, are you not? Are you prepared to leave after just seeing him?"
Tu Dai’Er nodded. That was what she had told Fang Qingyuan before, and she had no intention of changing her mind now.
Seeing her confirm, Fang Qingyuan breathed a small sigh of relief in his heart. ’After all, Tu Dai’Er is a Golden Core from a major sect like Black Wind Valley. She should keep her word, if only for the sake of her reputation.’
At this point, Fang Qingyuan wasted no more words. He extended his hand, and a ten-foot-long banner appeared in his grasp. The body of the banner hung down, five feet long and a little over a foot wide. It was pitch-black, its surface inscribed with simple line drawings of birds and beasts. Though sketched with just a few light strokes, they possessed an immense spiritual charm.
It was the Ten Thousand Beasts Qiankun Banner. As the face of the banner unfurled, Jinbao’s figure grew from small to large, finally materializing.
Jinbao was still chewing on some food, a look of confusion in his eyes. He first looked at Fang Qingyuan, then at the ’second hairless female monkey’ in the room. He blinked, then got up and started to crawl behind Fang Qingyuan.
Jinbao could sense an aura from that ’female monkey’ that made him very uncomfortable.
"Jinbao, don’t move. Let this fellow Daoist have a look."
Hearing Fang Qingyuan’s command, Jinbao obediently stopped moving, though his expression was a little aggrieved. Seeing this, Tu Dai’Er’s lips curved into a smile. The next moment, she slowly ’looked’ at Jinbao.
Suddenly, Fang Qingyuan’s heart skipped a beat. His exceptional divine soul could sense that, just a few moments after Jinbao appeared, Tu Dai’Er’s spiritual aura had silently transformed into that of a complete stranger.
An obscure and immense presence descended.
’If the previous Tu Dai’Er was a single rose with thorns, then she had now become an entire ocean of them. At this moment, she could no longer be called Tu Dai’Er.’
"Good child, come here."
’Tu Dai’Er’ extended a hand and spoke in a light and cheerful tone. As she called out to Jinbao, he turned his head to look at Fang Qingyuan but received no response. Fang Qingyuan kept a smile on his face, but it looked somewhat stiff.
’He’s back to this trick again!’ Fang Qingyuan was screaming internally. He had witnessed it before in the Land of Trial in Jixia City. That kind of method and Divine Technique was absolutely not something a Golden Core Cultivator like Tu Dai’Er could perform.
’Experiencing it up close now, he could feel it even more clearly. This was a Divine Technique belonging to a Divinity Transformation Cultivator. The will inhabiting Tu Dai’Er’s body was no longer her own, but that of her master, the one known as the ’Black Heaven Bodhisattva,’ Tu Wuzhao.’
’Black Wind Valley was hundreds of thousands of miles away from White Mountain. For Tu Wuzhao to be able to project her divine will across such a distance... her cultivation was truly boundlessly powerful. No wonder she had the guts to try and steal something from Gui Zheng.’
While Fang Qingyuan was still in shock, Jinbao, receiving no response from him, had been about to ignore the ’female monkey’. But at that moment, the aura around Tu Dai’Er changed again. An energy that was of the same origin as Jinbao’s, but infinitely more powerful, appeared, instantly captivating him.
"Good child, come here!"
This time, although the voice was still Tu Dai’Er’s, it sounded exceptionally deep. The rich emotion contained within it made Jinbao subconsciously roll over to ’Tu Dai’Er’ and let her hand stroke his head.
As the slender, jade-like hand gently caressed him, Jinbao’s eyes were vacant, yet they held a glint of moisture. He himself didn’t know why.
In contrast to Jinbao, though ’Tu Dai’Er’ wore a smile, her eyes were filled with a profound sadness. She looked at Jinbao as if she could never get enough of the sight.
After a few short moments, ’Tu Dai’Er’s’ hand left the top of Jinbao’s head. Then, as if having made some kind of decision, she gently tapped a finger on the spot between Jinbao’s eyebrows.
In the next instant, a mouthful of blood sprayed out, turning into a mist. It was Tu Dai’Er who seemed to have suffered a grievous injury. Then, all the strange auras vanished. The gentle smile on Tu Dai’Er’s face was gone, replaced only by terror.
"Jinbao!"
Fang Qingyuan was startled. He shot to his feet, placing himself in front of Jinbao, and stared coldly at Tu Dai’Er, demanding angrily:
"I treated you with kindness! How could you do this to Jinbao?"
Tu Dai’Er closed her eyes, exposing her slender neck. Through this small gap, Fang Qingyuan noticed that beneath her loose robes, her body was shockingly emaciated.
"Sect Leader Fang, why pretend to be confused? Was this my intention? Some things are better left unsaid, for everyone’s sake. Sect Leader Fang, are you sure you want to hear it?"