Beast Taming: I Have an Immortal Mansion

"Are you serious? You’ve always been dependable. You would never jest with your master for no reason. But this is a Nascent Soul Ancient Beast... Not even many of your senior uncles have one. How could you possibly find one for me?"

After a moment of shock, Lechuan came to his senses. He walked over to Fang Qingyuan and questioned him, staring intently into his eyes.

Fang Qingyuan, however, remained calm. He first pointed to the teacup that had been crushed into fine powder in Lechuan’s hand, then said,

"Master, you just said you’ve weathered great storms and that this matter was hardly enough to faze you."

Hearing Fang Qingyuan’s light jab, Lechuan gave an awkward smile, dispersed the residue from his hand, and then said with a stern face,

"I was just careless for a moment. Don’t push your luck, you brat... Fine, I admit it. In my three hundred years of life, I have truly never seen anything like this. Qingyuan, hurry and tell your master what’s going on."

Seeing that Lechuan had lost all trace of the grandmasterly air he’d had while painting, Fang Qingyuan didn’t dare to push his luck any further. He invited Lechuan to sit down and proceeded to tell him the majority of what he and Bear Wind had agreed upon.

After a long while, it all clicked for Lechuan. He paced back and forth before finally offering his analysis:

"So that’s the Bear Beast he was talking about... To think there were so many secrets involved. And you, you rascal, you’ve kept this from me for so long. An origin like Jinbao’s... I knew he wasn’t some ordinary mutated Tai Chi Bear! A shame, a real shame. If I were the man I was sixty years ago, I might’ve been tempted to snatch that Companion Beast of yours."

Lechuan was deliberately trying to scare Fang Qingyuan. Given his temperament, he wasn’t the kind of Sect Leader to casually plunder a disciple’s resources. Had it been Zhao E Lian, Fang Qingyuan would never have dared reveal so much.

He had now been Lechuan’s Closed-door Disciple for sixty years. After everything they had been through, their relationship had evolved from one of mutual use and investment into a genuine bond between master and disciple.

Fang Qingyuan’s current position, it could be said, was mostly arranged single-handedly by Lechuan. Without Lechuan backing him and pushing him forward, Fang Qingyuan’s personality would have likely led him to be holed up somewhere, cultivating in seclusion. He would never have achieved his current title and status as the head of a sect.

Because of this, Fang Qingyuan chose to reveal some of his secrets to Lechuan. Of course, the matter of the Immortal Mansion was one of life and death. He had already resolved that, whether in the next thousand or ten thousand years, he would never tell a soul. This was to protect not only himself but others as well.

The Immortal Mansion had implications far too great. Fang Qingyuan was certain that if those Divinity Transformation Cultivators ever found out, he would lose his freedom forever. His friends, his sect—everyone around him—would become leverage to force his submission.

After making his joke, Lechuan regained his composure, salvaging his image after his earlier lack of decorum. He then continued,

"What are your plans for the corpse of the Nascent Soul Ancient Beast beneath Qingfeng Mountain?"

The body of a Nascent Soul Ancient Beast was a priceless treasure. It wasn’t just Golden Core Cultivators who would be tempted—even Nascent Soul Cultivators would be rooted to the spot if they saw it.

But for Fang Qingyuan, this was a difficult dilemma. On one hand, he did want the body of the Nascent Soul Ancient Beast. On the other, he couldn’t ignore that this was Jinbao’s birth mother. If he dismantled the corpse for parts and Jinbao found out one day, how could he ever face the trust Jinbao had in him?

To Fang Qingyuan, Jinbao had become like family. He wasn’t just a War Beast who followed orders, and Fang Qingyuan definitely had to consider his feelings.

This was a difficult problem, and Fang Qingyuan had no good solution for it. To take the body of the Nascent Soul Ancient Beast, he would have to keep the secret from Jinbao for his entire life. And that, he could not do.

"I don’t know, Master. We can only leave it buried beneath Qingfeng Mountain. We’ll wait until Jinbao has grown up and make a decision then."

Lechuan looked at Fang Qingyuan with gratification, greatly admiring his character, which valued relationships over greed.

’Who wouldn’t want the people around them to be like that?’

"So, Master, do you have any thoughts on the matter?"

Fang Qingyuan was testing Lechuan’s intentions. ’If he’s tempted,’ Fang Qingyuan thought, ’I’ll have no choice but to try and stop him.’

Lechuan laughed freely.

"Do you really take your master for some greedy, money-grubbing character? Besides, you’ve already brought me a tremendous benefit. A living, Mid-stage Nascent Soul Ancient Beast is a hundred times more valuable than a dead body."

"But according to our agreement, Bear Wind won’t fight for us. He just wants to be free and unrestrained. He only chose us because he was forced to. He won’t involve himself in anything risky."

When negotiating the terms of their cooperation with Fang Qingyuan, Bear Wind had made it very clear that he would not fight. He had no intention of letting Lechuan order him into life-or-death battles against other Nascent Soul Battle Powers. If he did, he would become a Spirit Beast at Lechuan’s command, which was no different from signing a binding contract.

If he had to fight every time Lechuan gave an order, he might as well have sought refuge with a powerful Nascent Soul Cultivator. The treatment and status would surely be better than following a mere Late-stage Golden Core Cultivator like Lechuan.

But Lechuan was unconcerned by Fang Qingyuan’s words. He walked over to the newly finished Mountain and River Flow Map. Gazing at the tall mountain silhouette representing White Mountain and the alarming black patches marking the Barbaric Wilderness, he spoke with soaring ambition,

"So what if he won’t fight? The value of Nascent Soul Battle Power lies in deterrence. By the time you actually have to fight, the situation has already spiraled out of control. Qingyuan, you must understand: an enemy only fears you when he knows what you have and knows you’re willing to use it. The moment you actually use it, he’s already prepared and no longer afraid. That’s why we must do our best to avoid such a situation."

Fang Qingyuan nodded, accepting Lechuan’s teachings. When it came to experience as a Sect Leader, Fang Qingyuan was far inferior to Lechuan. Even with the wisdom from his past life, he was a complete novice in this respect.

A mere decade or so of workplace experience was far too brief, far too shallow, compared to a life that spanned three hundred years.

In this regard, Fang Qingyuan had long since shed the misplaced arrogance of his early days.

After speaking, Lechuan began to strategize how to proceed. Fang Qingyuan had already laid the groundwork; it was only natural for Lechuan to take charge of the rest.

"To prevent any complications from arising, I’ve decided we’ll push into the Barbaric Wilderness in five years. Zongshan has been displeased with my slow progress. Hmph. Let’s see what they have to say about this."

Lechuan stroked his beard, his mind made up. Fang Qingyuan offered a timely reminder,

"The Namo Cloud-Clawed Lizard is no pushover, either. I heard from Bear Wind that the old lizard is ancient and cunning, with a sly temperament. It usually keeps a low profile, but if a real fight breaks out, our current forces won’t be able to hold out at all."

Within the Namo Cloud-Clawed Lizard’s territory are six Golden Core Demon Beasts, five to six hundred Foundation Establishment Demon Beasts, and nearly ten thousand Qi Cultivating Demon Beasts. This is a massive force. Given the current assets of the White Mountain Beast Taming Sect, they are truly no match for it.

What’s more, eight years ago, Lechuan sold a portion of their War Beasts to the Pill Alliance for Spirit Stones. This made their position even weaker.

At this, Lechuan smiled mysteriously.

"Do you really think we can take the Namo Cloud-Clawed Lizard’s territory with our own strength? Even if we still had those War Beasts, it would be impossible. Our disciples are only meant for initial intelligence gathering and post-battle cleanup. When it’s time to truly deal with the Namo Cloud-Clawed Lizard, it won’t be us doing the fighting. Zongshan will send its own people."

"And as for when to have Zongshan send people, that, of course, is for your master to control. I didn’t have a clear picture of the Namo Cloud-Clawed Lizard’s territory before. But now, with our ’old neighbor’ Bear Wind, our progress will advance by leaps and bounds. A few casual words from him could save so many of our people’s lives."

"We aren’t strong on our own. What’s truly strong is the sect at our backs. Qingyuan, you must remember, even if you were to leave the Beast Taming Sect, as long as I am around, the White Mountain Beast Taming Sect will be your strongest support."

Lechuan spoke at length, and Fang Qingyuan could see he was in an exceptionally good mood. Clearly, this new variable—Bear Wind—had left Lechuan thrilled. And this, perhaps, was the greatest return on the investment Lechuan had ever made in Fang Qingyuan.