Time flowed like water, and two years passed in the blink of an eye. On this day, Fang Qingyuan was practicing the Five Elements Undying Body in a Water Extremity Spirit Land when he suddenly felt a stir within him, and his face lit up with immense joy.

Stepping out stark naked from the extreme, icy cold, Fang Qingyuan casually threw on a robe and submerged his consciousness into his Immortal Mansion.

Fang Qingyuan’s divine soul arrived at the place where Yinbao slumbered. He opened the Array and strolled inside.

In the pool, Yinbao’s body had grown enormous, nearly filling the entire space. When it submerged and rolled over, water surged out in endless waves.

At that moment, Yinbao looked dazed, as if it hadn’t fully woken up yet. It shook its wings and quickly flew into the air, but the Array above suddenly materialized and knocked it back down.

After falling back into the pool, Yinbao seemed much more lucid. Its eyes darted about; it was actually thinking.

At this point, it still hadn’t noticed Fang Qingyuan. Perhaps Yinbao’s body was now so massive that it had overlooked the small black dot below.

Indeed, next to Yinbao’s current body, Fang Qingyuan’s divine soul was nothing more than a small black dot. It was like how a creature even larger than a blue whale could easily overlook a human-shaped figure.

After its advancement, Yinbao’s body had reached a length of thirteen zhang, a true and undeniable behemoth.

Looking at Yinbao’s current form, Fang Qingyuan recalled the days when he and Yinbao used to give rides for hire. A smile couldn’t help but appear on his face. Then, he spoke:

"Old friend, what are you looking at?"

Hearing Fang Qingyuan’s call, Yinbao finally noticed him below. It immediately dove down, coming to a stop right in front of Fang Qingyuan.

Yinbao instinctively tried to nuzzle Fang Qingyuan’s robes with its huge head, but it had only moved halfway before its own head completely blocked its view of him.

Fang Qingyuan laughed heartily and leaped onto Yinbao’s head. He then closed his eyes and inspected Yinbao’s current Talents through their Divine Soul Contract.

In Yinbao’s sea of consciousness, a miniature Flying Manta Ray was swimming joyfully, with two silvery-white orbs of light circling around it.

’It actually awakened two Divine Techniques!’ This was beyond Fang Qingyuan’s expectations. He would have been perfectly fine even if Yinbao hadn’t awakened a single Talent, as long as it safely passed the Foundation Establishment Stage.

Extending a wisp of his Divine Sense, Fang Qingyuan tried to connect with these two Innate Divine Techniques. A moment later, he opened his eyes, overjoyed.

These two Talents were [As Great as Mountains] and [Great Sound, Silent Voice]. In terms of rank, they were truly not low.

[As Great as Mountains] was a growth-related Talent affecting the physical body. It was commonly seen in large creatures, and beasts like giant lizards, giant elephants, and draconic beasts all had a chance of awakening this Divine Technique.

He thought about the Sea Spirit Whale’s heart that Yinbao had eaten. ’Perhaps Yinbao awakening this Divine Technique has something to do with that Sea Spirit Whale.’

’Of course, the greater possibility is that it’s thanks to the Immortal Mansion.’

A Spirit Beast with the [As Great as Mountains] Divine Technique would ultimately have a body one to three times larger than others of its species, regardless of cultivation level. This alone was incredibly formidable. When competing for a mate against others of its kind, a larger Spirit Beast had a much higher chance of success.

Fang Qingyuan had seen the Foundation Establishment Manta Rays in the Southern Border Beast Taming Sect. A Manta Ray that had just entered the Foundation Establishment Stage was only about ten zhang long, yet Yinbao was already thirteen zhang.

Moreover, Yinbao had only just awakened and still had a growth period ahead of it. By the time Yinbao stabilized in the Early-stage Foundation Establishment, its body would probably reach a length of fifteen zhang.

A beast of fifteen zhang was already half the length of a soccer field from Fang Qingyuan’s previous life. What’s more, Yinbao had a flat, squarish body.

Aside from its size, Yinbao had also awakened a means of combat: [Great Sound, Silent Voice].

In a narrow sense, this Divine Technique involved emitting ultrasonic waves to attack enemies, but in reality, it was far more complex than Fang Qingyuan understood.

Crouching down, Fang Qingyuan patted Yinbao’s head, signaling it not to resist. He then enveloped Yinbao’s body with his divine soul. With a turn of his thoughts, the world around Yinbao shifted in a daze.

Gazing at the boundless, shimmering expanse of the sea before it, Yinbao didn’t even need a signal from Fang Qingyuan before it excitedly flew toward the ocean depths.

Fang Qingyuan now stood firmly atop Yinbao’s head. Feeling the fierce wind whistle past him, he gained a clear understanding of Yinbao’s current speed.

After reaching Foundation Establishment, Yinbao could fly five to six hundred li in two hours at full speed. Flying nonstop for a day, it could cover over six thousand li.

This speed was twice as fast as Fang Qingyuan flying on his Spiritual Boat. Moreover, Fang Qingyuan couldn’t pilot the Spiritual Boat continuously; he had to stop from time to time to meditate and recover his Magical Power.

Yinbao, however, could fly without sleep or rest for more than ten days straight. With such an advantage, Fang Qingyuan now held a massive strategic edge over other Cultivators of the same level.

As if it had been cooped up in the Immortal Mansion for too long, Yinbao flew with wild abandon over the sea. It only began to slow down when Fang Qingyuan felt they had been flying for too long.

Once Yinbao stopped, Fang Qingyuan pointed toward the sea ahead. Yinbao understood his intent at once. It suddenly reared up its body, its wings vibrating rapidly.

Following Yinbao’s movements, a tidal wave of sound invisible to the naked eye swept across the sea before them.

In an instant, all sorts of sea fish floated to the surface. Fang Qingyuan looked closely and saw that there were even several sea beasts of the Qi Cultivation Realm among them, the largest of which was two to three zhang long.

This was Yinbao’s newly awakened offensive Innate Divine Technique. With this Divine Technique, hunting for food would be much more convenient for Yinbao.

As the fish floated up, Yinbao joyfully rushed forward to feast. For fish only one or two meters long, it didn’t even bother to chew, swallowing them in a single gulp.

Only for the slightly larger Qi Cultivation sea beasts did Yinbao reveal its sharp teeth, tearing them apart in a few bites.

Blood instantly stained the sea, rapidly attracting numerous bloodthirsty sea beasts. However, these beasts only circled at a distance, not daring to approach and compete with Yinbao for food.

Yinbao ate for a good while. After devouring all the large fish, it contentedly and leisurely took to the air, carrying Fang Qingyuan as it headed back.

Only after Yinbao had left did the bloodthirsty sea beasts dare to move forward and fight over the remaining scraps.

...

When Yinbao flew back to Fang Qingyuan’s cultivation spot, Fang Qingyuan let it roam freely in the surrounding area. Given Yinbao’s current size, the four-hundred-mu Immortal Mansion was indeed too restrictive for it.

Yinbao’s awakening and successful Foundation Establishment settled a major weight on Fang Qingyuan’s mind.

The help Yinbao could provide him after its Foundation Establishment was secondary. The most important thing was that Yinbao no longer had to slowly await death from old age and could now accompany him for much longer. That alone was enough.

The lifespans of Spirit Beasts are generally longer than those of Cultivators, mainly due to the overall enhancement they receive after Foundation Establishment. Yinbao could now live for three hundred years.

From eighty to three hundred years—an increase of nearly four times. This was something human Cultivators deeply envied but could not attain.

Letting Yinbao roam free and lord over this Land Realm, Fang Qingyuan peacefully resumed cultivating his Five Elements Undying Body. Right now, he was only focused on cultivating the Water Spirit Body.

This was because cultivating the Water Spirit Body was most effective in the ocean, whereas cultivating the other four elements would yield half the results for twice the effort.

Sensing the Magical Power within him, he realized he was only a hair’s breadth from the Foundation Establishment Fifth Layer. ’This rate of cultivation is faster than I expected.’

’I thought it would take another four or five years of patient work, but after I took Red Crab Island, my Spirit Root aptitude increased by two points: one for my Water Spirit Root and one for my Fire Spirit Root.’

These two points of Spirit Root aptitude made his cultivation speed faster than expected. Yet, as he felt this benefit, Fang Qingyuan had mixed feelings.

’The Outer Sea has always been a kill-or-be-killed place, but for me to actively stir up trouble and plunder the corpses of my enemies just to improve my aptitude... what’s the difference between that and the actions of a Demon Cultivator?’

’After being in the Outer Sea for so long, I’m starting to lose my own sense of identity as a disciple of the Beast Taming Sect. It’s manifesting as an unrestrained indulgence of my inner desires.’

’Thankfully, the Longevity Vine gave me a warning. If I had conquered a few more small islands and Demonic Qi had invaded my body, how could I ever return to the Southern Border?’

’At that point, no matter how powerful my cultivation became, I’d only be able to eke out an existence on the fringes of human civilization. If my luck turned bad, I might even become a cautionary tale used by the Great Zhou Academy.’

’One’s environment shapes one’s destiny.’ Thinking of this, Fang Qingyuan’s desire to return to the Southern Border grew even stronger.

’I hope this war of expansion ends soon so I can go back early.’ Remembering his old friends in the Southern Border, Fang Qingyuan peacefully closed his eyes and sank into a deep state of meditation.