Beast Taming: I Have an Immortal Mansion

When Fang Qingyuan reached the edge of the battlefield, he could sense that neither side was holding anything back.

The Cloud-Clawed Lizard, an ancient beast, was naturally fighting for its life. But even with Chu Hongshang providing support, Yuan Duo was also going all out, her unrestrained nature on full display as she fought with everything she had.

Of course, Fang Qingyuan couldn’t be entirely sure if Yuan Duo was truly holding back. This was his first time witnessing a clash between Nascent Soul Cultivators, so all he could do was watch and rely on his own judgment.

In the center of the battlefield, two distinctly different auras were locked onto one another. Within a narrow area of just over ten li, their energies collided, disengaged, and vied for encirclement, playing out a struggle for dominance in the confined space.

At the moment, at least in terms of their locked auras, Yuan Duo had the upper hand.

Yuan Duo was from the Beast Taming Sect, after all, and trained in her sect’s Heart Method. The Cloud-Clawed Lizard, on the other hand, relied solely on instinct. While it didn’t lack for power, it was wanting in finesse.

"This is a Nascent Soul Domain. A Cultivator releases their True Meaning of the Great Dao to extend ten li around them, creating intense suppression against an enemy within that range. That’s why Cultivators below Nascent Soul, those in the Golden Core Realm, have never been able to contend with them."

Lechuan squinted as he watched from the side, casually offering Fang Qingyuan this explanation for the clash of auras.

’So that’s how it is,’ Fang Qingyuan thought. ’When Nascent Soul Cultivators fight, it comes down to a battle of domains. Whoever seizes the initiative and overwhelms their opponent’s domain has a much higher chance of victory.’

’Back then, Huo Hu was called a peerless genius for slaying a Golden Core Cultivator while only at the Foundation Establishment Realm. But if someone could slay a Nascent Soul Cultivator as a Golden Core... what would you even call that?’

’If the power of a Nascent Soul was this immense, wouldn’t a battle between Divinity Transformation Cultivators be world-shattering?’

"Master, do Divinity Transformation Cultivators also fight over domains?"

Letting his mind wander, Fang Qingyuan posed the question to Lechuan, who, with his vast knowledge, could shed some light on the matter.

"I can’t speak to all the details, but my ancestor once said that Divinity Transformation Cultivators also contest domains. However, unlike the dozens of li covered by a Nascent Soul Cultivator’s domain, a Divinity Transformation Cultivator’s is measured in thousands of li. They call it a ’Boundary.’ Of course, as for the specifics of how they fight... that I don’t know."

Their brief chat helped to ease the tense atmosphere of the great battle. According to their plan, once Yuan Duo and Chu Hongshang subdued the Cloud-Clawed Lizard, it would be time for Lechuan to undergo his Nascent Soul Transformation.

Nearby, Situ Jingyu was captivated, watching Yuan Duo’s every punch. She practiced a Body Cultivation Technique, and though her path was different from Yuan Duo’s, the Yuan-Fixing Hammer technique Yuan Duo used was a display of exquisite finesse in combat. Situ Jingyu stood to benefit greatly just from observing.

Yuan Duo’s punches seemed unadorned, but they were devastatingly sharp. Each punch had little variation, yet it unfailingly kept immense pressure on her opponent.

Even with the Cloud-Clawed Lizard’s tough hide—a defense impressive even for a Nascent Soul Ancient Beast—it didn’t dare to take one of Yuan Duo’s punches head-on.

Early in the fight, the Cloud-Clawed Lizard had carelessly taken one of her punches. It had thought nothing of it at the time, but now a bowl-sized crater marred its hind leg. Deeper inside, a large chunk of its flesh had been turned to pulp.

That one moment of carelessness had cost the Cloud-Clawed Lizard dearly. But it was no simple-minded beast. Seeing the formidability of Yuan Duo’s fist technique, it let out a sudden roar. The sound was incredibly deep, like a rumble of distant thunder.

This was one of the Cloud-Clawed Lizard’s minor Divine Techniques, allowing it to injure foes with sonic waves. As Yuan Duo turned to defend against the sonic assault, the beast’s body shuddered, and it brute-forced its way out of her suppressive domain. In a flash, it tunneled nearly a hundred zhang through the earth in a great shift, and it didn’t stop there.

Fang Qingyuan frowned as he watched. As the Cloud-Clawed Lizard’s ten-zhang-long body entered the earth, it moved with the nimbleness of a fish in water.

The beast’s speed as it "swam" through the earth was scarcely less than its speed in the air. Moreover, it used the layers of soil and rock for cover, striking unpredictably like a phantom. It would occasionally emerge to lunge at Yuan Duo, posing a tremendous threat.

Just like that, the tables had turned. As formidable as Yuan Duo’s fist intent was, she couldn’t possibly shatter hundreds of zhang of earth and tens of thousands of tons of rock with a single punch to harm the Cloud-Clawed Lizard.

The battle had lasted little more than a hundred breaths, yet it had already reached this stage. Fang Qingyuan could see that Yuan Duo, on her own, would be unable to defeat the Cloud-Clawed Lizard.

Yuan Duo, however, remained composed in the face of the Cloud-Clawed Lizard’s tactic. After throwing a few experimental punches at the ground—attempting to compact the earth and restrict its movement—she stopped wasting her energy on futile efforts.

Now, she adopted a tactic of conserving her strength and waiting for her enemy to tire. She stood her ground, her fist intent gathering power like a colossal boulder, poised to strike. She was simply waiting for the Cloud-Clawed Lizard to surface before blasting it with another punch.

In contrast to her static posture, Yuan Duo’s spiritual sense was incredibly active, casting about like a net. It might fail to catch its target, but the moment it did, she would unleash a strike with the force of a thunderbolt.

This strategy was the perfect counter to the Cloud-Clawed Lizard’s hit-and-run tactics, but she had lost the initiative. If the beast was determined to flee, Yuan Duo would be unable to stop it.

And such an outcome was unacceptable to Fang Qingyuan and Lechuan.

This was where Chu Hongshang’s importance became clear.

In the next moment, the subterranean layers of earth the Cloud-Clawed Lizard moved through suddenly became scorching hot. Within just a few breaths, the intense heat began to sear the beast, causing it great distress.