Beast Taming: I Have an Immortal Mansion-Chapter 41: Golden Jade Scorpion Tail

Half a month later, at the Loose Cultivator Marketplace at the foot of Tianshan Villa, Fang Qingyuan was haggling with a Cultivator:

"This is an Exorcism Talisman—a Mid-Level Talisman. And you’re only offering one Middle-grade Spirit Stone, fellow Daoist? That’s hardly fair."

One Middle-grade Spirit Stone could be exchanged for one hundred and three Low-grade Spirit Stones. The price wasn’t exactly low, but it still fell short of what Fang Qingyuan was hoping for.

Across from Fang Qingyuan was a middle-aged Cultivator with a sallow complexion, his cultivation at the Late-stage of Qi Cultivation. He looked at Fang Qingyuan and earnestly retorted:

"It is an Exorcism Talisman, yes, but its use is very specific. It only works against evil spirits and ghosts. You hardly ever encounter those things these days, so why would I need to buy an Exorcism Talisman just to have one lying around?

If I weren’t heading into a dense, wild forest today, I wouldn’t even be thinking of buying one. One Middle-grade Spirit Stone is more than enough."

Hearing this, Fang Qingyuan simply shook his head and repeated:

"It’s a Mid-Level Talisman, and it’s my last one. Just add a little more. Come on, a little more."

In the end, the sallow-faced Cultivator couldn’t hold out against Fang Qingyuan’s persistence. Since he really did need it, he coughed up another five Low-grade Spirit Stones.

After the Cultivator left with his Exorcism Talisman, Fang Qingyuan pulled another one from his storage bag and placed it right where the last one had been.

Fang Qingyuan gleefully placed the newly acquired Spirit Stones into his storage bag, making a quick mental calculation. ’Including today’s sale, my assets have reached fifteen Middle-grade Spirit Stones.’

He couldn’t help but think that those Talisman users from the Liu Family had been truly wealthy. ’After getting the storage bags from the Liu Brothers, Liu Tongshu and Liu Tongwen, I’ve been selling the contents for half a month and I’m still not done.’

Furthermore, he hadn’t sold the most valuable item: a Second-order Magical Artifact. Fang Qingyuan couldn’t bear to part with it, thinking he would keep it for his own use.

When he had followed the Wei Family to attack Shandu, Fang Qingyuan had also managed to snag four storage bags. However, their quality was nothing special.

The contents of all four storage bags combined weren’t even worth ten Middle-grade Spirit Stones, making them less valuable than the possessions of just one of the Liu Brothers.

Over the past half-month, Fang Qingyuan had first sold off everything from those four storage bags for ten Middle-grade Spirit Stones before slowly starting to sell the items belonging to the Liu Brothers.

The entire Liu Family had been relocated by the Great Zhou Academy, so Fang Qingyuan wasn’t worried about anyone coming to avenge the deceased Liu Brothers.

Thus, Fang Qingyuan was in no rush, choosing to sell the items slowly to maximize his earnings in Spirit Stones.

As time passed, Fang Qingyuan sold a few more Talismans before packing up his stall and calling it a day.

Back in his small courtyard, Fang Qingyuan entered his Quiet Chamber, took a Turtle Shell Magical Artifact from his storage bag, and began the refinement process.

This Turtle Shell Magical Artifact was a Second-Order, Lower-Grade item named the Turtle Shell Spirit Shield. As the name suggested, it was a Protective Magical Artifact; if it had been an offensive weapon like a Magic Sword, Fang Qingyuan would have sold it long ago.

He had obtained the Turtle Shell Spirit Shield from the deceased Liu Tongwen, who had relied on this Magical Artifact and a Pure Yang Talisman Sword to fight against Lao Bai, a Foundation Establishment Stage Spirit Beast, for a considerable time.

Unfortunately, the Pure Yang Talisman Sword was a single-use item that was completely spent after one activation. Otherwise, Fang Qingyuan would have had another tidy sum to add to his accounts.

Second-order Magical Artifacts were extremely valuable. The average Qi Cultivation Cultivator couldn’t unleash the full power of one unless they had reached the Late-stage of Qi Cultivation.

Even some struggling Foundation Establishment Stage Loose Cultivators could only afford a single Second-order Magical Artifact as their primary weapon.

Although the Turtle Shell Spirit Shield was only a Second-Order, Lower-Grade Magical Artifact and had been somewhat damaged and worn down during the battle with Lao Bai, it was a Second-order Magical Artifact nonetheless.

Ever since obtaining the Turtle Shell Spirit Shield, Fang Qingyuan had spent two hours a day refining it. He first needed to erase the original owner’s Divine Soul Seal before replacing it with his own. 𝑓𝘳𝑒𝑒𝓌𝘦𝘣𝘯ℴ𝑣𝘦𝑙.𝘤𝑜𝑚

The refinement would be complete only when the Turtle Shell Spirit Shield was fully linked to his own consciousness.

Besides this Second-order Magical Artifact, the Liu Brothers’ storage bags had also contained a good number of Elixir Pills. Fang Qingyuan had sold all of them; Elixir Pills were a hot commodity and moved quickly.

But as for the Talismans, which were the most numerous items, selling them at a high price depended on finding the right buyer.

Talismans were difficult to sell because most were single-use items. On top of that, ever since the Wei Family’s attack on Shandu, there was no longer a black market for them, causing the price of many Talismans to drop.

Fortunately, time was something Fang Qingyuan had in abundance, so he could afford to sell them off slowly.

He had already completed his sect missions for the year. Between that and the previous case of the stolen infants, Fang Qingyuan had more than enough contribution points. Lechuan wasn’t pressuring him to take on any new tasks, so Fang Qingyuan could finally cultivate in peace and do a few things he enjoyed on the side.

For instance, he could practice the basics of Talisman creation.

The Liu Brothers’ storage bags contained some notes on their Talisman research—the culmination of the insights the two had gained into the art of Talismans over their lifetimes.

As far as Fang Qingyuan was concerned, these insights were the most precious items in the two storage bags.

Among the many arts of cultivation, the way of Talismans was considered a major discipline. In the Beast Taming Sect, however, it was merely a side path.

For a disciple of the Beast Taming Sect, a skill was only considered useful if it related to Spirit Beasts; Talismans had little relevance.

Since he had their notes right in front of him, Fang Qingyuan figured he might as well give it a try. ’If I get good at this, it could be another way to earn money.’

Unfortunately, after half a month of practice, he couldn’t even properly draw the most elementary Calming Talisman.

Fang Qingyuan made a decision. ’Maybe I’m just not cut out for the art of Talismans. I’ll practice for another half a month. If I still can’t even draw a simple Calming Talisman by then, I’ll just sell these notes and be done with it. At least I’ll get some Spirit Stones.’

After finishing his refinement of the Turtle Shell Spirit Shield and practicing the basics of Talismans for two hours, Fang Qingyuan entered an incubation room.

The room was equipped with a Spirit Stone Array. Though it was a very basic, small-scale Array, it had still cost Fang Qingyuan one Middle-grade Spirit Stone.

In the center of the temperature- and humidity-controlled Array rested a fist-sized, grayish-white cocoon. This cocoon was a perk Fang Qingyuan had received upon his promotion to Inner Sect Disciple.

Half a month prior, immediately after returning to Tianshan Villa, Fang Qingyuan had gone to select his Spirit Beast. He had spent a long time deliberating over the many available species before finally choosing this one.

The Spirit Beast’s full name was the Golden Jade Scorpion-tailed Bee Queen, a first-order insect-type Spirit Beast. Fang Qingyuan’s reason for choosing it was simple: in addition to breeding Scorpion-tailed Poison Bees, this species could also produce a substance called Golden Jade Flower Honey.

This Golden Jade Flower Honey had a delectable taste and was an essential ingredient for crafting the Youthful Appearance Pill, commanding a high price.

After his trials of the past three months, Fang Qingyuan didn’t plan on engaging in any more dangerous activities like combat for the foreseeable future, which was why he had chosen this Bee Queen as his second Spirit Beast.

Moreover, insect-type Spirit Beasts had low intelligence and weren’t as clever as other Spirit Beasts. Even an insectoid Spirit Beast at the Core Formation Stage would often be less intelligent than a typical Foundation Establishment Spirit Beast.

This led Fang Qingyuan to a plan. ’I can raise the Golden Jade Scorpion-tailed Bee Queen in my Immortal Mansion Space and carry it with me. I won’t have to worry about the Bee Queen noticing anything is off, and it can even pollinate the Spirit Plants in my Immortal Mansion. It solves multiple problems at once.’

Just as Fang Qingyuan was inspecting the cocoon, he heard a faint sound. CRACKLE. A small fissure had appeared on the surface of the grayish-white cocoon.