Beast Taming: I Have an Immortal Mansion

「Half a month later.」

In the Qi Yun territory, a male Golden Core Cultivator from Sishui Cave on Water Element Peak—located near the Qi Yun Sect’s main gate—emerged from seclusion. He gazed at the invitation card a disciple presented to him and fell into thought.

This man was none other than Xu Taichu. Now that he was a Golden Core Cultivator, he could establish his own immortal’s abode in Sishui Cave to focus on his cultivation.

Water Element Peak was a Tier Four High-Grade Spirit Vein. To have one’s own immortal’s abode here was a clear testament to Xu Taichu’s high status.

Normally, for someone of his stature, an ordinary invitation card would never have reached him. But when Spirit Stones paved the way, the impossible became possible.

Xu Taichu was fair-faced and beardless, appearing to be around thirty years old, though his actual age was closer to one hundred fifty or sixty. Upon entering the Golden Core Realm, even an old man with graying hair could experience a second spring as their hair turned black again. This was even more true for Xu Taichu, who had been far from old age when he made his breakthrough.

’White Mountain Territory? Qingyuan Sect? Fang Qingyuan?’

Xu Taichu searched his mind for the name. It felt unfamiliar. After a few moments, an incident from over seventy years ago surfaced from the depths of his memory.

The spiritual soul of a Golden Core Cultivator was already formidable. If they wished, they could recall every memory from their entire life, from birth to the present. This was the result of the soul’s refinement; upon achieving the Golden Core, the spiritual soul converted the vast, hidden consciousness of the mind into its own Soul Power.

Gazing at the exquisitely made invitation card, Xu Taichu recalled a time over seventy years ago when he had accompanied his junior sister on a training expedition under his master’s orders. Now, all these years later, his junior sister had reached the Foundation Establishment Realm. ’And this old acquaintance from back then has suddenly shown up at my door. I wonder what it’s for.’

’The fact that the invitation even reached my hands shows this person has some connections. Still, more than seventy years have passed. A casual invitation from back then isn’t worth my time.’

Xu Taichu was about to dismiss the matter, but then his spiritual soul, sifting through his memories, dredged up another piece of information, and he recalled something else.

Over fifty years ago, he had gone on a training journey to perfect his theories on pill refinement. After he returned, he heard his master mention that Lechuan, who was the Sect Leader of the Southern Border Beast Taming Sect at the time, had come seeking a pill. Lechuan had spent a vast amount of resources in exchange for a single Jade Dew Dust Cleansing Pill.

When his master had asked Lechuan’s purpose, Lechuan had apparently said it was for his disciple. And that disciple was none other than this very Fang Qingyuan.

Now, with all the details about Fang Qingyuan flooding back into his mind, Xu Taichu put away the invitation card. He summoned the disciple on duty at his door and gave him an order:

"Go and invite Sect Leader Fang Qingyuan of the Qingyuan Sect. Set up a banquet in the Cyan Cypress Garden. I will receive him personally."

The disciple’s cultivation was at the Foundation Establishment Realm. Hearing an order from a Golden Core Uncle like Xu Taichu, he dared not delay. He rushed to the reception hall at the main gate and shouted to the crowd of visiting cultivators:

"Who here is Sect Leader Fang of the White Mountain Qingyuan Sect? Please follow me. My Uncle has invited you."

The bustling reception hall fell silent for a moment. Fang Qingyuan calmly rose, ignoring the envious gazes of the crowd, and said to the disciple in a steady voice:

"I am Fang Qingyuan. Thank you, fellow Daoist."

The disciple noted that Fang Qingyuan’s cultivation was only late-stage Foundation Establishment, just one minor realm above his own. ’It’s strange,’ he thought. ’Why does my Uncle have a friend from White Mountain?’ But, possessing a strong Daoist Qi Cultivation Skill, he kept his expression neutral and said:

"Excellent. Sect Leader Fang, please follow me to the Cyan Cypress Garden. We mustn’t keep my Uncle waiting."

...

Within Water Element Peak, Fang Qingyuan followed the disciple through a mountain gate, heading toward the aforementioned Cyan Cypress Garden.

Along the path, exotic flowers bloomed beside cascading waterfalls. Immortal Cranes and Spirit Deer roamed freely, and every building and pavilion was a work of art. All this was bathed in Spiritual Qi so dense that a single deep breath could dispel calamities and cure diseases in a mortal. It was no exaggeration to call this place an Immortal Marvelous Land.

Water Element Peak was one of the Qi Yun Five Elements Peaks. The Five Elements Peaks were a crucial institution within the Qi Yun Sect; their Chairman was a Divinity Transformation Cultivator. The Peak Master of Water Element Peak, specifically, was typically a late-stage Nascent Soul Cultivator who possessed a Water Spirit Root.

This explained why it was such a remarkable feat for Fang Qingyuan to be personally invited inside by a Water Element Peak disciple, drawing the envy of everyone in the hall.

Here, even Golden Core Cultivators who were not from the Qi Yun Sect were often treated as if they were a realm lower in status. For a Qi Yun Disciple to host a banquet for him—especially when he wasn’t even at the Golden Core Cultivation level—made Fang Qingyuan’s background seem exceptionally profound.

The Qi Yun Sect’s territory spanned more than a hundred thousand li, populated by hundreds of millions of mortals. Controlling such a vast land, they naturally had the largest number of cultivators in the entire realm.

It was widely rumored that the populations of White Mountain, the Outer Sea, and Black Wind Valley—plus all the lands controlled by the Confucian Family’s forces like Yangming Mountain, the Celestial Justice Sect, and Jixia City—when added together, could only just match the population under Qi Yun.

Therefore, it was no exaggeration to call the Qi Yun Sect the flourishing heartland and central hub of the Cultivation Realm.

But Fang Qingyuan hailed from the Beast Taming Sect, a super-sect nearly on par with Qi Yun in power. Xu Taichu’s choice to give him face was largely because of this background. Otherwise, a mere late-stage Foundation Establishment cultivator would never be worthy of a Qi Yun Golden Core like himself personally hosting a welcoming banquet.