Beast Taming: I Have an Immortal Mansion-Chapter 93: Qi Cultivation Level 6

After the height of summer come the days of harvest.

Inside his Quiet Chamber, Fang Qingyuan slowly opened his eyes after completing his daily cultivation exercises. He felt that his Fifth-Layer Qi Cultivation had advanced another step, gradually approaching perfection, and a smile immediately blossomed on his face.

Since returning from the White Mountain Military Array Great Stronghold, Fang Qingyuan had become a recluse, focusing solely on his cultivation. More than three months had already passed.

For the first time since his past-life memories awakened, he felt that being able to cultivate peacefully was also a profoundly pleasant enjoyment.

The sensation of Spiritual Power growing within his body, slowly filling and strengthening him; this feeling of gradual, hard-earned progress was like finally reaping a full granary after a year of hard labor—reassuring and satisfying.

For the past three months, Fang Qingyuan had set aside all other endeavors. Ferrying, trading, and socializing were all put on hold. His only goal was to polish his Fifth-Layer Qi Cultivation to perfection. Everything else would have to wait until he broke through to the Sixth-Layer Qi Cultivation.

Cultivation was the foundation. ’What’s the point of earning Spirit Stones, anyway? Isn’t it just to speed up my cultivation?’

Fang Qingyuan had previously been obsessed with earning more Spirit Stones, but after his trip to Shandu, he had gradually come to understand this principle.

After finishing his cultivation for the day, Fang Qingyuan got up and went into the courtyard. There, he saw a bear cub squatting on the head of a Camel Ray, circling in the low air.

Jinbao was only Tier One Lower Grade and couldn’t yet fly using its own energy. But the little rascal was a natural adventurer and had pestered Yinbao into taking him for a joyride in the sky.

Yinbao was now over ten years old, making it a teenager among Camel Rays, whose expected lifespan was eighty years. When Fang Qingyuan first rented Yinbao, he’d chosen it for its small size, thinking it would eat less and he could save a little on the cost of Spirit Fish.

But after getting it, Fang Qingyuan discovered he had misjudged. Although Yinbao wasn’t large, it had a huge appetite.

It was a pure glutton. And now Jinbao, that little bear cub, was showing a tendency to follow in its footsteps.

’This won’t do.’ Fang Qingyuan shook his head, erasing the mental image of his two Spirit Beasts fighting over food, their minds set on nothing but eating. Then, he called for the two of them to come down.

Hearing Fang Qingyuan’s call, Yinbao didn’t dare to delay. It quickly flew down and prostrated itself at his feet.

Seeing Yinbao so well-behaved, Fang Qingyuan felt a sense of relief. ’All that Pig Fish I fed you wasn’t a waste.’ But when he looked at the still-grinning bear cub, he yanked it over by the ear and dragged it to the training ground.

’How dare you sneak out to play while I was cultivating? Don’t you know you haven’t done any of the exercises I assigned you?’

Yinbao saw this, turned its head away, and pretended it hadn’t seen a thing, showing no sign of their recent camaraderie.

After getting the little bear cub into the training room, Fang Qingyuan supervised Jinbao’s practice of its techniques while pondering the issue of the cub’s development and training.

To be honest, although Fang Qingyuan was a disciple of the Beast Taming Sect, he didn’t have much experience in beast taming.

This was because Fang Qingyuan had been very poor before, and every Spirit Beast worth raising was expensive.

Fang Qingyuan also had to save up Spirit Stones to break into his Immortal Mansion. As a result, he had no Spirit Beast to train for the first ten years of his cultivation.

Later, he rented a Camel Ray from the sect and started his ferrying business, leaving him with even less energy to adopt a second Spirit Beast.

It wasn’t until he was promoted to an Inner Sect Disciple that he finally acquired his first Spirit Beast in name: the Golden Jade Scorpion-tailed Bee Queen.

Currently, the Golden Jade Scorpion-tailed Bee Queen was in the Immortal Mansion and couldn’t come out. Fang Qingyuan didn’t train the Bee Queen on a daily basis; it was enough as long as it could peacefully lay eggs and water and pollinate the Spirit Plants inside the Immortal Mansion.

As for Yinbao, a Camel Beast used for transport, Fang Qingyuan had never intended to train it for combat. Rather than having Yinbao fight, he had hoped it would run faster so he could maybe squeeze in an extra trip.

Only Jinbao, this little bear cub, was the Spirit Beast that Fang Qingyuan wanted to raise seriously and had placed high hopes on. That was why his demands for it were so strict.

But then again, Jinbao had an illustrious background. Its father was a Divinity Transformation expert, and its mother was a Nascent Soul master. In a world that valued bloodlines, Jinbao could probably reach Golden Core as an adult even without any training.

Sometimes, Fang Qingyuan wondered if forcing Jinbao to practice the Golden Blade Technique was actually useful for it.

Perhaps after Jinbao used its "As-You-Will" size-shifting Divine Technique, a single punch would be even more powerful than the golden blades it could conjure.

’Perhaps actual combat is the best teacher. After this year, Jinbao will be two years old. It’s time for it to go out and get some real experience.’

’Otherwise, if it never sees blood and keeps following a senior like Yinbao who only thinks about stuffing its face, its personality might be ruined.’

At this thought, Fang Qingyuan’s gaze on Jinbao gradually became oppressive, causing the cub to subconsciously speed up its training.

Seeing Jinbao’s reaction, Fang Qingyuan couldn’t help but want to laugh. On second thought, he decided there was no rush. It could wait until he advanced to the Sixth-Layer Qi Cultivation. Going from the Fifth-Layer to the Sixth-Layer Qi Cultivation would take two and a half years of cultivation.

As for the time needed to go from the Sixth-Layer to the Seventh-Layer Qi Cultivation, that was uncertain.

This was because it involved crossing the second major hurdle on the path of cultivation. Although this hurdle wasn’t as formidable as the one between the Third-Layer and Fourth-Layer Qi Cultivation, it was still not easily overcome.

Fang Qingyuan was already prepared to lie low for five to seven years. During that time, he could properly raise Jinbao, saving himself from having to burn through a pile of Talismans every time he fought.

Moreover, by that time, his Metal Spirit Root would have likely surpassed his Wood Spirit Root in quality, becoming a Top-grade Spirit Root or even an Earth-grade Spirit Root. With that, he would also need to start planning for a subsequent Cultivation Technique.

These thoughts about his cultivation churned in Fang Qingyuan’s mind, and for a moment, he found himself lost in them. The great path of the future lay ahead, just waiting for him to walk it step by step.

...

Autumn gave way to winter. The morning sun scattered its rays upon the land, casting a cold light.

Fang Qingyuan strolled through the mountain forests of the Qingfeng Tea Garden after a snowfall. The crisp, cold air brushed against his face, but a fire burned in his chest.

His excitement transformed into abundant warmth that surged endlessly through his body, keeping him energized on this cold winter morning. Even his exposed skin, like his cheeks, felt no chill.

He stretched out a hand and clenched it into a tight fist. Though it held nothing, Fang Qingyuan felt it was full of his gains.

Just a moment ago, while strolling through these woods, he had finally broken past the peak of the Fifth-Layer Qi Cultivation, his cultivation level silently advancing to the Sixth-Layer Qi Cultivation.

More than four years after his past-life memories awakened, Fang Qingyuan had finally grown from a minor nobody at the Third-Layer Perfection of Qi Cultivation in the Cultivation Realm to a Quasi-Late Stage Cultivator at the Sixth-Layer Qi Cultivation.

This rate of progress was not considered slow, even among all the Inner Sect Disciples of the Southern Border Beast Taming Sect.

Behind him, Jinbao followed in silence. The man and the beast left a series of clear yet light footprints in the white snow as they walked.