Beast Taming: I Have an Immortal Mansion

Scolded by Fang Qingyuan, Jinbao wore a resentful look on its bear-like face. Jinbao could sense that the flesh of the great bird before it was rich with Spiritual Power. A single bite would be so delicious it would make him drool.

In fact, Jinbao was already drooling. As a Golden Core Stage demonic beast, every piece of the Gu Diao’s flesh was comparable to a Miracle Elixir—provided, of course, that one was immune to its Gu poison, which could affect even Golden Core Cultivators.

By now, all signs of life had vanished from the Gu Diao. Yet, where its blood seeped into the ground, the surrounding vegetation withered in an instant, even the roots underground dying off.

This was the Gu poison, an exceptionally strange and nearly incurable toxin.

When Fang Qingyuan had made his move earlier, he hadn’t fought directly. Instead, he had summoned the White Tiger Aspect from his Immortal Mansion to battle the beast. As a result, Fang Qingyuan himself remained untainted.

Facing the White Tiger Star Aspect, half of the Gu Diao’s Divine Techniques were rendered useless. Combined with its grievous injuries, it was obviously no match for Fang Qingyuan and thus met its bitter end on the spot.

The Gu Diao, thirty to forty feet long and weighing nearly eighty thousand pounds, was retrieved by Fang Qingyuan. It now lay silently inside the Immortal Mansion, awaiting his attention.

Gently setting the Bee Queen down and letting Jinbao and Nanli hide behind him, Fang Qingyuan beckoned with his hand, summoning a Top-Grade Sword from the distant Treasure Pavilion. He then aimed for the Gu Diao’s stomach and slashed down.

The dead Gu Diao’s body no longer had its Protective Gang Sha. Though its flesh was still incredibly tough, it couldn’t withstand the blade infused with Fang Qingyuan’s Magical Power. Flesh tore open instantly, and blood gushed out.

Retracting the Magic Sword, Fang Qingyuan glanced at its tainted Spiritual Light and frowned. ’This Gu poison is truly potent.’

Tossing the Magic Sword aside, Fang Qingyuan channeled his Soul Power to form a shadowy hand. He plunged it into the Gu Diao’s chest, gave a casual twist, and pulled out a jet-black Inner Core.

The Inner Core was merely the size of a fist, yet it felt incredibly heavy. Black energy coiled around it, swirling and retracting from time to time as if it were alive.

This was the Inner Core the Gu Diao had cultivated for several hundred years—the very essence of its being. Just before its death, the Gu Diao had tried to self-destruct its Inner Core to take Fang Qingyuan down with it, but it lost the opportunity due to the interference from Fang Qingyuan’s Mind Divine Techniques. In the end, it fell to a single Godslaying Needle.

Fang Qingyuan levitated the Inner Core, took out a Top-grade Jade Box, and sealed it inside. This single Inner Core could sell for more than a thousand Top-grade Spirit Stones.

All in all, the flesh and blood of the entire Gu Diao were less valuable than this one Inner Core.

This Inner Core housed the Gu Diao’s Innate Divine Techniques. If it were to fall into the hands of an Artifact Refining Master, the resulting Magical Artifact might even possess the creature’s Innate Divine Techniques. If not used for Artifact Refining, it could be made into an Elixir Pill that could increase one’s cultivation. The person taking such a Spirit Pill would also have a certain chance of comprehending the Divine Techniques within.

Holding the Gu Diao’s Inner Core, Fang Qingyuan wasn’t immediately sure how to use it. He stored the sealed jade box in the Scripture Pavilion, leaving it for a later date.

With the Inner Core secured, the rest of the flesh couldn’t go to waste. Seeing Jinbao drooling buckets, an idea struck Fang Qingyuan, and he said:

"You want a taste, huh? Go on, take a bite."

Ecstatic at Fang Qingyuan’s permission, Jinbao scrambled forward and took a huge bite out of the Gu Diao’s thigh.

An instant later, a pitiful yelp echoed from the bear. Jinbao stuck out his tongue, his lips immediately turning red and swollen.

"HOT! HOT! HOT!"

Hearing Jinbao’s mental cry, Fang Qingyuan snickered to himself. ’That’s what you get for not learning your lesson.’

Afterward, Fang Qingyuan invoked the Bright Moon above, drawing out motes of its light. Using the Godslaying Stabbing Intent hidden within, he painstakingly ground away the Gu poison from Jinbao’s mouth.

The Immortal Mansion now had a proper cycle of day and night, unlike before when only the Three-legged Golden Crow provided light. When Fang Qingyuan had first established the sun and moon, he had wished for them to rise in the east and set in the west, each shining in its turn.

Now, there wasn’t much difference between the Immortal Mansion and the outside world, except that its area of fifty square li still felt too small. ’Only when it expands to tens of millions of li could it truly be called a greater world.’

After soothing Jinbao, Fang Qingyuan turned his attention to the Bee Queen.

"Ruoxi, see if you can figure out a way to deal with the Gu poison in this Gu Diao’s corpse. At least enough to make it edible. Otherwise, we can only watch it decay, and that would be a terrible waste."

The Bee Queen nodded her small head, indicating it wasn’t a problem. Through her years of refining all sorts of Elixir Pills, she had developed her own expertise in processing spiritual materials.

After entrusting the matter to the Bee Queen, Fang Qingyuan left the Immortal Mansion, his mind at ease. The purpose of his trip was to meet Bear Wind and negotiate his assistance. The Gu Diao had merely been an unexpected interlude.

.....

This time, no clueless Cultivators were tailing him. When Fang Qingyuan arrived in Bear Wind’s territory, he saw the ancient beast from a distance, squatting to one side and directing numerous demonic beasts as they moved earth to repair his cave abode.

Seeing this, Fang Qingyuan felt a little embarrassed. His tribulation had ended up destroying Bear Wind’s lair, which was truly inexcusable.

"Uncle Xiong, have you been well?"

Fang Qingyuan brazenly stepped forward to greet him. Bear Wind looked back at him, his attitude distant.

"I haven’t signed a contract with your master yet, so don’t get so familiar calling me ’Uncle.’ Now tell me, what scheme are you planning this time?"

Fang Qingyuan gave a sly laugh and pulled out a variety of spiritual materials from his storage bag, piling them up in front of Bear Wind.

"A token of this disciple’s sincerity. All of it is the fine handiwork of master artisans. The materials may not be top-tier, but they’re certainly more refined than what you’re working with now."

Fang Qingyuan was referring to the structures being assembled by the demonic beasts. Compared to cave abodes built by humans, these could indeed only be called "structures."

Bear Wind’s expression softened as he looked at the gifts Fang Qingyuan offered. Seeing his chance, Fang Qingyuan immediately struck while the iron was hot.

"This is just the first batch; there’s more to come. Furthermore, once you sign the contract with my master, he might even dispatch disciples and select artisans to build a most magnificent cave abode for you. When that time comes, what will these trifles matter?"

Bear Wind was captivated by the scene Fang Qingyuan described. Having lived for so many years, he held little hope of advancing his cultivation and just wanted to live more comfortably. Fang Qingyuan’s words had scratched a particular itch.

But before Bear Wind could enjoy the thought for long, Fang Qingyuan’s expression soured.

"Uncle, you must understand. This disciple has run into a small problem. You see, it’s like this..."

Fang Qingyuan explained his predicament to Bear Wind. When he finished, Bear Wind’s eyes narrowed, and he asked in return:

"You want me to personally deal with that old lizard?"

"It would be best if you could take action yourself. If not, I still ask that you help guard the perimeter, Uncle. Don’t let that old lizard escape."

The Cloud-Clawed Lizard’s territory was located right next to Bear Wind’s. If the Cloud-Clawed Lizard wanted to flee, its only path was to cross Bear Wind’s territory and escape deeper into the Barbaric Wilderness.

As for why it wouldn’t flee toward human territories, Fang Qingyuan didn’t know the specific reasons, but he knew that no Nascent Soul Ancient Beast dared to cross the border between the Barbaric Wilderness and the lands of men.

Bear Wind considered for a moment before finally nodding in agreement.

"I just don’t want that old lizard entering my territory. Anything else has nothing to do with me. You’d do well to remember that."

Fang Qingyuan nodded quickly. It was understandable that Bear Wind wouldn’t personally intervene. For one, he hadn’t even allied with their side yet. Even if he had, compelling an ancient beast like him to act would be incredibly difficult.

Besides, humans intended to use the Spirit Transformation Secret Technique on the Cloud-Clawed Lizard. As an ancient beast himself, Bear Wind would naturally feel a degree of sympathy. It was best not to provoke him and create unnecessary complications.

After securing Bear Wind’s promise, Fang Qingyuan immediately hurried back to the White Mountain Beast Taming Sect. Lechuan was visibly pleased upon hearing the news and sent a message to the Zongshan.

「One month later.」

Lechuan led the entire sect in a respectful welcome for the arriving Nascent Soul Uncle.

However, this Nascent Soul Uncle was not the Hu Family ancestor Fang Qingyuan had expected. Instead, it was a young, beautiful woman with a wild aura and a stunning figure, clad only in a leather skirt and a bandeau top.

"Disciple Lechuan, on behalf of the entire White Mountain Beast Taming Sect, respectfully welcomes Martial Aunt Yuan Duo."

’Yuan Duo? What a strange name.’ Fang Qingyuan kept to the side, silently mulling it over.