Beast Taming: I Have an Immortal Mansion

Inside the Immortal Mansion, it was like spring all year round, a world of lush greenery. The Bee Queen, having received Fang Qingyuan’s orders, was currently dispatching the ever-growing Long-armed Ape Tribe to search the mountains and fields for fresh flowers and tender buds.

The Long-armed Ape Tribe of today had no worries about food and drink, nor did they have any natural enemies. As a result, the number of young monkeys had skyrocketed in recent years.

A glance at the troop revealed a horde of young monkeys running wild, burning off the excess energy of youth.

Yuan Yi, the troop’s leader, had been under a great deal of pressure lately. Under his direction, all the adult males tirelessly brewed wine for Fang Qingyuan. A portion of the females also had to participate in production, leaving only a small number to care for the newborns. This meant many of the months-old infants were left unattended, forced to fend for themselves as they grew.

The troop was prematurely developing a clear division of labor, a process influenced by an external factor. And that external factor was observing the troop’s changes from a distance.

Fang Qingyuan’s divine soul manifested within the Immortal Mansion. He first went to check on Yinbao’s condition. Finding nothing amiss, he turned his attention to observing the Long-armed Ape Tribe.

The Long-armed Apes were social creatures by nature. Furthermore, with their leader at the Foundation Establishment Realm, the tribe’s collective intelligence was comparable to that of remote mountain folk from the outside world.

’In my past life’s world, there were examples of people training monkeys to pick coconuts. But in this Cultivation World, blessed by Spiritual Power, the intelligence of these monkeys is far greater than those mountain folk.’

What was once a medium-sized troop of just a few hundred monkeys had, after so many years of development, grown into a large tribe of over a thousand.

’If they keep developing at this rate, in just ten or twenty years, the troop’s numbers will double, becoming a massive tribe of three thousand.’

Fang Qingyuan had a nagging question. ’A troop of monkeys that never interacts with outsiders and only reproduces internally... wouldn’t that lead to bloodline regression?’

’Monkeys born from bloodline regression are mostly defective, but every now and then, a cultivation genius might appear among them.’

’Based on my observations, the troop’s leader, Yuan Yi, seems to be a case of bloodline regression himself.’

’Bloodline regression is a product of inbreeding. The offspring are either frail and weak or riddled with defects. But occasionally, a monkey with a powerful constitution is born. That kind of monkey almost always becomes the troop’s future leader.’

’It isn’t just monkeys, either. I once heard stories in the Cultivation Realm about some Cultivation Clans on islands in the Outer Sea. They were obsessed with bloodline purity, refusing to marry outsiders. For generation after generation, they practiced inbreeding, all for the sake of producing descendants with extraordinary talent.’

’Of course, the Great Zhou Academy would never tolerate such a thing. Any clan discovered doing this would be punished severely and without mercy. It touches upon the very foundation of the Academy’s principles, so there’s absolutely no room for negotiation.’

’That’s why such practices only occur in extremely remote places like the Outer Sea. By the time word of it reached the White Mountain Territory, it was just treated as a bizarre story.’

When the Bee Queen arrived with Yuan Yi, carrying a large pile of freshly gathered flowers and tender buds, Fang Qingyuan’s eyes fell on the ones at the top, still glistening with dew. He felt a sense of reassurance.

’With this many fresh flowers and buds, surely it’s enough to get the Jade Rabbit to agree to remove this Divine Incense and Candle Smoke Aroma from me.’

Although the Divine Incense and Candle Smoke Aroma was harmless, the thought that his every move could be watched by someone was unbearable for Fang Qingyuan, a man with many secrets.

Fang Qingyuan’s greatest hope, therefore, was to eliminate this hidden vulnerability. To that end, he didn’t care if his actions might provoke the Witch, Tu Wuzhao.

"You’ve done very well. What is the recent production volume for the ’Cyan Court’ Spirit Rice Flower Brew?"

After stowing away the ordinary flowers and plants, which were suffused with the Immortal Mansion’s Spiritual Qi, Fang Qingyuan voiced the question that concerned him most.

The Immortal Mansion produced a massive yield of Spirit Rice. Given the influence of the Qingyuan Sect—or rather, the Qingyuan Alliance—they couldn’t risk dumping it on the market in a way that would disrupt prices without provoking a backlash. Therefore, Fang Qingyuan used the excess Spirit Rice as a raw material for brewing wine.

As production of this Spirit Wine grew, and considering its cyan-green hue, Fang Qingyuan decided to give it a name: the ’Cyan Court’ brand.

"Last month’s yield was eighty-five thousand jars. This month, we’re projecting one hundred thousand. By next year, it could be one hundred thirty or one hundred forty thousand jars."

The Bee Queen reported the figures with a solemn, focused expression.

All matters related to brewing the Spirit Wine were under the Bee Queen’s control. As the most mentally agile being in the Immortal Mansion, her intelligence surpassed the combined intellect of Nanli, Yuan Yi, Jinbao, and even Yinbao thrown into the mix.

The miscellaneous books she had read over the years, the diverse knowledge she’d gained from studying alchemy, and her past experiences as a hive mother—all of these had contributed to a massive boost in the Bee Queen’s intellect.

’Sometimes I even subconsciously feel that if I didn’t have my preconceived notions, if I were communicating with the Bee Queen from a distance, I’d probably never guess she’s actually just a plump, tender-looking white worm.’

Lately, the production of Cyan Court Wine had been steadily increasing. This was mainly due to the growth of the ape tribe’s population and improvements in their production techniques.

It started at only thirty to forty thousand jars, later increasing to seventy or eighty thousand. Now, in just over half a year, production had already broken the one-hundred-thousand-jar mark.