Beast Taming: I Have an Immortal Mansion

"Are we going to attack the Spirit Wood Alliance? With our current strength, aren't we a bit outmatched?"

The one who said this was Chen Huicheng. Upon hearing this, Jiang Tianfang couldn't help but facepalm at the blockhead who was always engrossed in Alchemy and Artifact Creation.

As expected, Liu Xun said irritably:

"How could that be possible? None of us are tired of living yet. What I mean is, this matter depends on the Spirit Wood Alliance—to be precise, on Chai Yi, the City Lord of Bomu City."

"Chai Yi?"

Fang Qingyuan mulled over the significance of the name. In the Spirit Wood Alliance, Chai Yi was undoubtedly a pivotal figure.

Recalling his various clashes with Chai Yi over the years, both overt and covert, Fang Qingyuan found that for some reason, he always felt a certain wariness toward the man.

"We originally thought Chai Yi was the Alliance Leader of the Spirit Wood Alliance, but strictly speaking, any of the three City Lords could be considered the leader.

Back then, the Spirit Wood Alliance had three cities, each built upon a Fourth-rank Spiritual Land. Before the pioneering wars, their territory bordered the Barbaric Wilderness. Bosen City was the most prosperous and had the strongest defenses, so its City Lord was the most powerful figure at the time.

But we all know what happened next. After the pioneering wars, although the Spirit Wood Alliance gained a vast territory south of Bosen City and in the northern depths of White Mountain, they lost their border with the Barbaric Wilderness. As a result, Bosen City's power has been slowly declining over the past few decades.

As one waned, the other waxed. Chai Yi's Bomu City seized a golden opportunity for development. First, it annexed the remnants of Kuai Tong and Qi Wushuang's Artifact Talisman Alliance, acquiring a large amount of territory.

Then it launched a war against the Pill Alliance, extorting many benefits from them. Now, in Southern White Mountain, the Spirit Wood Alliance is the undisputed hegemon.

Therefore, I believe the Li Huo Alliance would not be happy to see this situation unfold. After all, even though the Five Elements Alliance are nominally allies, the other four would not want to see one of them become overwhelmingly dominant."

At this point, Liu Xun paused. He glanced at Fang Qingyuan's expression, but seeing no discernible reaction, he continued with his analysis:

"Why must we approach Chai Yi for this matter? First, because of Chai Yi's greed. Second, because of his viciousness."

Hearing this, Fang Qingyuan's interest was piqued. He looked at the eloquently speaking Liu Xun. This Vice Sect Leader of the Qingyuan Sect, after so many years of tempering, was finally showing the brilliance he had hoped for.

Liu Xun continued:

"The greed is easy to understand. Chai Yi's desire for territory seems to be carved into his very bones. He won't let go of any piece of land. Why is he relentlessly pressuring the Pill Alliance? It's simply because he covets their land.

As for 'vicious'—I use this word because I've collected information on what Chai Yi has done over the years and found a pattern. When this man schemes, he has no moral compass whatsoever. He'll do whatever is most insidious. But on one point, Chai Yi isn't selfish; everything he does is essentially on behalf of the Spirit Wood Alliance."

Liu Xun offered a few words of praise for Chai Yi, then laid out his plan to Fang Qingyuan. After he finished speaking, Fang Qingyuan's expression grew hesitant.

"Will this work? After all, I just went on a killing spree, wiping out quite a few Loose Cultivators acting under the Spirit Wood Alliance's orders. I also transported a large shipment of supplies to the Pill Alliance. Would Chai Yi really agree to something like this?"

Fang Qingyuan felt Liu Xun's idea was a bit fantastical. He actually wanted to promise a large portion of the former lands of the White Mountain Beast Taming Sect—which Lechuan had granted them—to the Spirit Wood Alliance, with the rest going to the Li Huo Alliance. In exchange, they would get the land in the Far East, some of the Pill Alliance's territory currently held by the Spirit Wood Alliance, and some territory from the Li Huo Alliance.

If Liu Xun's plan succeeded, the Qingyuan Sect's territory would instantly expand to over ten thousand square kilometers, turning it into a large-scale Golden Core Sect.

Currently, the Qingyuan Sect's territory didn't directly border the Pill Alliance and the Li Huo Alliance, but it was situated between their spheres of influence, separated only by the territories of a few other sects.

"The land of the White Mountain Beast Taming Sect is currently a third-rank top-grade spiritual land, but its location is terrible. If we were to relocate there, we would share a direct border with the Spirit Wood Alliance. Considering the tactics they've used against the Pill Alliance, how would our Qingyuan Sect cope in the future?

Secondly, relocating a sect is incredibly expensive. Our fifty-plus years of effort at the foot of Celestial Eagle Mountain would likely go to waste. Furthermore, moving there would take us far from the Barbaric Wilderness, which would be a significant blow to the sect's future income."

Liu Xun continued to list the disadvantages of moving the sect's base. In his view, having the Qingyuan Sect move to a place between the Spirit Wood Alliance and the Li Huo Alliance was absolutely not worth the cost.

What he wanted to do was trade benefits they hadn't even acquired yet for the Qingyuan Sect's development over the next several decades.

After hearing Liu Xun's explanation, Fang Qingyuan had to admit his own thinking had been a bit shallow. He had only seen the benefits of a third-rank top-grade spiritual land, but hadn't considered whether the Qingyuan Sect was actually suited to relocate there.

However, he couldn't make a final decision just yet. Since this concerned the White Mountain Beast Taming Sect, Fang Qingyuan needed to discuss it with Lechuan again.

Thus, after a detailed discussion, Chen Huicheng was left looking bewildered, Jiang Tianfang was visibly excited, and Liu Xun was full of anticipation. Only Fang Qingyuan's expression had returned to calm.

He dismissed the three of them, then closed his eyes and sank his consciousness into the Immortal Mansion.

Political maneuvering and territorial expansion were important, but inside the Immortal Mansion, Jinbao and Yinbao's advancement was equally crucial.

Inside the Immortal Mansion, a vast expanse of lush greenery stretched out. Even when he focused his vision and gazed into the distance, he could not see the end of the green.

Countless Spirit Field Puppets were meticulously tending to the Spirit Rice. In another four or five months, there would be another great harvest of over a million pounds of Spirit Rice.

In a corner of the Immortal Mansion, a pile of damaged Spirit Field Puppets had accumulated. The Bee Queen was using her Divine Sense to inspect and repair them one by one.

When the Bee Queen sensed Fang Qingyuan's arrival, she immediately dropped her work, wriggled over to his side, and sought comfort.

Fang Qingyuan gently stroked her head. Looking at his Companion Beast, who was skilled in Alchemy and also had a rough understanding of puppetry, he couldn't help but feel that he was holding her back.

Lately, the Bee Queen had been busy repairing damaged Spirit Field Puppets, and the number of Elixir Pills she refined had decreased. Even so, she was busier than ever.

But Fang Qingyuan didn't have a better solution at the moment. This concerned the Immortal Mansion, and he didn't want a large number of broken Spirit Field Puppets to appear in the outside world. Even hiring other Cultivators to repair them felt too risky.

After gently comforting the Bee Queen, she wriggled back to tinker with the Spirit Field Puppets without any prompting from Fang Qingyuan.

Only then did Fang Qingyuan go to the place where Jinbao slept to check on its condition.

Ever since Fang Qingyuan brought Jinbao back from the Barbaric Wilderness, it had been in a deep slumber. Before falling asleep, Jinbao's cultivation was at Mid-stage Foundation Establishment. If this advancement was successful, it should reach Late-stage Foundation Establishment.

Calculating the time, Jinbao was now about one hundred and twenty years old. As a descendant of a Divinity Transformation Ancient Beast, reaching this level at its age could only be considered passing.

However, Fang Qingyuan had no doubt that Jinbao would reach the Golden Core realm in the future. Its mother was a Nascent Soul and its father was a Divinity Transformation. How could it not at least become a Golden Core?

Seeing Jinbao sleeping soundly, Fang Qingyuan closed the Array and turned to a massive saltwater pool.

The original Water Spirit Xuanwu had already merged into the Star Realm above, leaving the position that controlled water vapor vacant. To ensure the Spirit Rice planted in the Immortal Mansion would always enjoy favorable weather, Fang Qingyuan brought Yinbao and its family back from their retirement home at the sect. He placed them in the Immortal Mansion to take on the duty of regulating the rain.

Perhaps because Yinbao's Talent was put to great use in this process, after accompanying Fang Qingyuan on a supply run for the Pill Alliance, it also signaled its intention to enter a dormant state for advancement.

Now, Yinbao's body was submerged in the saltwater pool ahead. Its body, over a hundred feet long, was sunk within, with no part of it visible.

But with Fang Qingyuan's vision, Yinbao's condition, even at the bottom of the water, could not be hidden from him.

After arriving at the spot, Fang Qingyuan quietly observed Yinbao's reaction for a moment. He finally sighed, then took a bottle of Elixir Pills from the Treasure Pavilion on the side. He poured them out, crushed them into powder, and dumped it all into the pool.

These were the Tier Three Elixirs he had just obtained from the Pill Alliance: the water-attribute Mystic Water Creation Pills.

There were six pills in the bottle. Each one could reduce a Water Spirit Root Golden Core Cultivator's cultivation time by more than a year, though the effect would be halved with repeated use.

Fang Qingyuan had originally intended to save this bottle of pills for himself after he broke through to the Fourth Stage of Golden Core, but Yinbao's sudden advancement had caught him off guard.

Compared to Jinbao's lineage, Yinbao's origins were exceptionally ordinary. And an ordinary bloodline meant low potential.

Jinbao could advance successfully even if Fang Qingyuan did nothing to help. Yinbao was different. Its breakthrough from Qi Cultivation to Foundation Establishment was only possible with Fang Qingyuan's help using external resources.

And advancing from Early-stage to Mid-stage Foundation Establishment, a feat not considered difficult for other Spirit Beasts, was already a risky endeavor for the current Yinbao.

Therefore, to be safe, Fang Qingyuan took out a bottle of high-end Third-grade Elixirs and gave them all to Yinbao.

When Fang Qingyuan saw that the muscles on Yinbao's body in the pool had stopped trembling, he finally breathed a sigh of relief.

'Old friend, you'd better make this count. Don't let my efforts go to waste.'

'I just want you to live for a few more decades, lest I forget what it was like to be that low-level Qi Cultivation disciple, scrambling everywhere for Spirit Stones.'

Holding the empty pill bottle, Fang Qingyuan watched Yinbao, which was now happily rolling and splashing even in its sleep, and a natural smile appeared on his face.

Elixir Pills were valuable, but he could always get more in the future.

But if Yinbao was gone, it would mean that a part of Fang Qingyuan's past happiness had vanished along with it.

...

More than half a month passed in the blink of an eye. On this day, at the border where the territories of the White Mountain Beast Taming Sect and the Spirit Wood Alliance met, Chai Yi appeared quietly. He looked at Fang Qingyuan and Lechuan across from him, and a wave of malice rose in his heart.

'I truly want to leave these two here for good... but alas, I cannot.'

Chai Yi took a single step, crossing a distance of nearly a thousand feet. He arrived in front of Fang Qingyuan and asked:

"Do you think you're qualified to sit at the table?"

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