Beast Taming: I Have an Immortal Mansion

The world is a tapestry of countless stories. Aboard a flying shuttle returning to the Qingyuan Sect, Fang Qingyuan fretted over fifty thousand Top-grade Spirit Stones. Meanwhile, deep in the distant Barbaric Wilderness, another disciple of the Qingyuan Sect fought desperately for his very survival.

In the wilderness, mountains stretched endlessly, often shrouded in a terrifying, dense miasma. For an ordinary Cultivator, a single touch meant certain death.

At dusk, within a Miasma Forest so vast it seemed endless, the daylight had already begun to fade.

A youth in gray robes appeared, panting heavily as he darted through the gaps in the dense foliage.

Slender branches snaked through the air, like venomous serpents trying to block his path.

The youth paid the branches no mind, simply barreling forward. His seemingly frail body erupted with immense force, shattering the branches and leaving a messy trail of destruction in his wake.

He was fast, but the trail he left was far too conspicuous. Even a common hunting dog could follow it, to say nothing of the intelligent demonic beast chasing him from behind.

After barely a few miles, the youth heard a sharp shriek tearing through the air from behind him.

No time to think. The youth rolled, and his body, which had been crashing forward with brute force, instantly became unbelievably supple. He slipped through the nearly seamless foliage like a phantom.

An immense force struck from behind, pulverizing two massive trees in its path. He used the blast to propel himself forward, his speed increasing.

"ROAR!"

The furious roar of the pursuing demonic beast echoed from behind, clearly enraged that its attack had missed.

After escaping the blow, the youth’s movements became even more fluid, but his panting grew heavier.

A moment later, the roar of clashing energies erupted once more. It rose and fell in an instant, then went silent again.

The next moment, a towering Four-armed Demon Ape appeared. A look of confusion flickered across its ugly, coarse face. Then, as if it had thought of something, its expression turned cold. It turned in a different direction and leaped into the misty thicket, vanishing in the blink of an eye.

’Damned Four-armed Demon Ape! Damned Barbaric Miasma Forest!’

The youth lay hidden beneath a thick layer of fallen leaves, his body curled into a ball. He had formed a strange Dharma Seal with his hands, causing his aura to become faint and nearly undetectable. The Four-armed Demon Ape, after all, lacked human intelligence, which was the only reason he’d managed to fool it.

"Old Ghost, help me check. Is that demonic beast really gone, or is it trying to trick me?"

The youth’s voice was as faint as a mosquito’s buzz, and it was unclear who he was speaking to. But in the next instant, a fist-sized, human-faced spider crawled out of his sleeve. The face on its abdomen was old and ugly, and the hairs on its eight legs swayed gently. After a long moment, a hoarse voice sounded in the youth’s ear:

"By my judgment, that Four-armed Demon Ape has truly left. You can drop the breath-concealing state."

Hearing the little spider’s words, the youth could no longer maintain the Dharma Seal. As he released it, sweat burst from his pores, and he began to pant violently.

"Damn that Four-armed Demon Ape! To think it would appear at the edge of the Miasma Forest... From what I know, a demonic beast equivalent to the Late-stage Foundation Establishment realm shouldn’t be here."

This youth was none other than a grown-up Lou Yuan. He pondered for a moment but still couldn’t figure it out, so he decided to drop it. The Four-armed Demon Ape had chased him into a corner, forcing him deep into the Barbaric Miasma Forest. He had never set foot in this area before and feared it was fraught with danger.

Today’s Lou Yuan was no longer the inexperienced youth he had been at the Two-Layer Qi Cultivation. After a decade of training, he had now reached Late-stage Qi Cultivation, a level where one could seek out a Foundation Establishment Opportunity. Such cultivation speed was astonishing, even within the Qingyuan Sect.

If one also considered Lou Yuan’s Lower Grade Wood aptitude, the sect would surely take notice if they learned of his cultivation speed, and there was no telling what would await him. For that reason, Lou Yuan kept his true strength a closely guarded secret. In the eyes of his fellow disciples, he was still just a mediocre Qi Refining Fourth Level disciple.

This wasn’t just Lou Yuan’s own idea; it was also thanks to the guidance of the Master of Ten Thousand Spiders. Because of him, Lou Yuan had learned the importance of forbearance from a young age. As it stood, not a single person in the entire sect knew his true cultivation level.

"The Four-armed Demon Ape may have astonishing combat power, but it has always lacked intelligence. The Ten Directions Seal Technique I taught you is more than enough to handle it. If not for your insufficient aptitude, even at Late-stage Qi Cultivation, you could have killed that beast outright by mastering my technique."

’Listening to the Master of Ten Thousand Spiders’s boasting, Lou Yuan curled his lip. The Master of Ten Thousand Spiders might know a bit about everything, but his own combat power was pitifully weak. He was only at the Mid-stage Qi Cultivation level now. His claims were good enough to fool a newbie like me back when I was at the Second-Layer Qi Cultivation, but once my own realm started to rise, the guy’s true level was exposed.’

Still, after years of companionship, the two had become partners who would entrust their lives to one another, so Lou Yuan didn’t actually call out the Master of Ten Thousand Spiders on his bragging.

According to the Master of Ten Thousand Spiders, the Ten Directions Seal Technique was difficult to learn and even harder to master. Its variations were endless and unpredictable. The ten basic Dharma Seals were just the foundation; after mastering them came advanced combinations of different seals, and finally, the most difficult of all: Seal Formations.

Only a true cultivation genius could hope to master it. And while Lou Yuan’s cultivation aptitude was good, he had not yet reached the level of genius that the Master of Ten Thousand Spiders spoke of.

It should be noted that this reference to Lou Yuan’s cultivation aptitude was not about his Lower Grade Wood aptitude, but rather an assessment based on a much more ancient method. Likewise, the Ten Directions Seal Technique was not a mainstream Cultivation Method of the current era.