Chapter 490 - 355: A Strange Gaze
But as soon as his spirit entered, Fang Qingyuan saw the Bee Queen foaming at the mouth. Jinbao was rushing forward to help, while Nanli was fluttering around in circles.
’Huh?’
Fang Qingyuan was startled. ’What in the world is going on?’ He quickly went to the Bee Queen’s side, pushed Jinbao aside, and released a massive amount of Soul Power, enveloping her entire body.
A few breaths later, soothed by Fang Qingyuan’s Soul Power, the Bee Queen coughed up a chunk of bloody meat and finally started to recover.
"Ah, Master, you’re here."
The Bee Queen looked a little embarrassed when she saw Fang Qingyuan. She had just been processing the flesh of the Golden Core Gu Carving, trying to remove its toxicity. But after she finished, she couldn’t resist tasting it herself, and... well, this happened.
Seeing the chunks of meat being cooked to the side, Fang Qingyuan understood what the Bee Queen had been doing. He didn’t know whether to laugh or cry.
"If you needed a taste tester, you should have gotten Jinbao! He has a stomach of steel. If not him, you could have had Nanli eat it. She’s got a straight gut."
Hearing this, Nanli was mortified. She covered her face with her wings and scurried away.
The Bee Queen nodded her little head vigorously, indicating she understood. She had just been careless this time.
After this little incident passed, the Bee Queen reported to Fang Qingyuan about the swarm of Iron-Seeking Rats.
Yesterday, Fang Qingyuan had sent out over a hundred Iron-Seeking Rats to devour any remains left by the Bow-holding Nascent Soul. After they returned, several of the rats immediately fell into a deep slumber. It seemed they were about to advance in rank.
These Iron-Seeking Rats had all been at the Late-stage of Qi Cultivation. Advancing now meant they would reach Foundation Establishment. The Qingyuan Sect currently had fewer than ten Foundation Establishment Cultivators, so with this new batch of Foundation Establishment Iron-Seeking Rats, the sect’s strength would be greatly enhanced.
After hearing this news, Fang Qingyuan released his Divine Sense to perceive the swarm of Iron-Seeking Rats. He confirmed it was true. In fact, it wasn’t just three or five that had fallen asleep; many more were hovering on the verge of a breakthrough.
’A Nascent Soul’s body is truly potent. Even just the leftover scraps of flesh are enough for these Qi Cultivating Demon Beasts to evolve.’
But when Fang Qingyuan imagined a future where every disciple of the Qingyuan Sect was accompanied by a giant Foundation Establishment rat, his expression soured. The mental image was too beautiful for him to bear.
’I’ll worry about that later.’ Fang Qingyuan continued to expand his Divine Sense, spreading it across the fifty-li radius of the Immortal Mansion’s Land Realm. Looking at the vast, sparsely used Spiritual Land, he couldn’t help but feel it was a waste.
’It’s a real shame not to farm such good Spiritual Land. I only achieved Core Formation a month or two ago, and there are many things I haven’t had time to manage. Besides, with a fifty-li radius—a plot of land a thousand or two li in size—how could I and my few monkeys possibly cultivate it all? It would take forever.’
’Is there a way to take care of so many Spirit Fields?’
Fang Qingyuan began to ponder. After a long while, he suddenly recalled a type of mechanical puppet technique.
Spirit Field Puppets. Even the lowest-grade Spirit Field Puppet could tend to several acres of Spiritual Land. They were clumsy compared to the fine work of a human, but they also had an advantage: they worked tirelessly without complaint and were on standby around the clock.
Moreover, they had no thoughts of their own, which made them perfectly suited for a place like Fang Qingyuan’s Immortal Mansion.
At this thought, Fang Qingyuan’s mood brightened considerably. He had originally been thinking of capturing more monkeys.
However, while Spirit Field Puppets weren’t exorbitantly expensive, they were still Mechanical Puppets. The materials used were all spiritual, and they needed to be inscribed with Arrays. All told, a single Spirit Field Puppet would cost over a hundred Low-grade Spirit Stones.
Fang Qingyuan looked at the scope of his Spiritual Land and made a rough estimate. His heart immediately sank.
It would take four or five thousand Spirit Field Puppets to look after this much Spiritual Land. After all, an ordinary Loose Cultivator would buy a single puppet to tend to only a couple of acres of Spirit Fields, whereas he had to calculate his needs in square kilometers.
And what’s more, Spirit Field Puppets could be damaged during operation and would require future maintenance and repairs. All of that added up to another major Spirit Stone expense.
’Damn it, farming is so expensive! I’m tempted to just capture some Loose Cultivators and force them to work for me.’
Fang Qingyuan dispelled this wicked thought and began to calculate how many Spirit Stones he would need to utilize all his current land.
But before Fang Qingyuan could finish his calculations, a message from the outside world informed him that Ji Yulang and Lechuan had arrived.
Fang Qingyuan withdrew his spirit from the Immortal Mansion. He saw that Lechuan’s face was full of delight. In contrast, the expression on Ji Yulang’s face was far more complex.
It was a mixture of worry, anticipation, and resolve. Clearly, in the face of such bombshell news, Ji Yulang didn’t have the energy to conceal his expression. Or perhaps, in front of Lechuan and Fang Qingyuan, he felt no need to.
’Alright, it looks like Inspector Envoy Ji Yulang is going to be busy for a long time to come.’
After Ji Yulang left, Fang Qingyuan hurried over to Lechuan’s side to ask about the progress of the matter.
Yan Nanxing perked up his ears, hoping to overhear some inside information. But Lechuan stepped forward, said a few words to Yan Nanxing, and smilingly persuaded him to leave.
As Yan Nanxing was leaving, he looked at Fang Qingyuan with pleading eyes. Fang Qingyuan understood what he meant and mouthed back that he wouldn’t forget.
Only after Yan Nanxing had also gone did Lechuan speak:
"I’ve already entrusted Chu Hongshang to Ji Yulang. With his protection, she has nothing to worry about. I also gave him the corpse of the One-armed Nascent Soul and that Blood Transformation Demon Saber as evidence. The only strange thing is, there’s no trace of the longbow that was in the Bow-holding Nascent Soul’s hands."