Beast Taming: I Have an Immortal Mansion

Chapter 329 - 266: Great Increase in Spirit Root

「Three months later.」

In the seas thousands of miles south of Iron Wind Island, the name of the Soul Hall had begun to spread. And Fang Qingyuan’s Demonic Dao alias, the Soul Dao Cultivator Xiao Sanyan, was gradually making a name for himself.

Using Soul Daoist Techniques more powerful than those of even a Late-stage Foundation Establishment Cultivator, as well as the peerless Godslaying Needle, he had left numerous Foundation Establishment Cultivators utterly routed.

The Godslaying Needle was the physical manifestation of Fang Qingyuan’s Innate Divine Technique, "Godslaying Intent." A gift from an unknown entity, its grade was so high that it far surpassed his comprehension.

Even with his current crude usage of the technique, it was enough to make him invincible among his Foundation Establishment peers.

Moreover, the most critical issue—the Innate Primordial Qi needed to power the Godslaying Needle—was negated by another of his talents, "Innate Qi," which allowed him to draw on the primordial energy from his Immortal Mansion.

Otherwise, using it once cost ten years of one’s lifespan. Unless it was a last resort, who would dare use it as freely as Fang Qingyuan?

However, as he used the Godslaying Needle more often, the rate at which his "Innate Qi" could replenish itself from the Immortal Mansion couldn’t keep up with his expenditure. Thus, Fang Qingyuan didn’t use it on just anyone, resorting to it only when facing particularly difficult opponents.

Currently, no Early-stage Foundation Establishment Cultivator could withstand a single Godslaying Needle.

If struck, a Mid-stage Foundation Establishment Cultivator would be left gravely wounded and near death. While Late-stage Foundation Establishment cultivators had more powerful souls, a direct hit from the Godslaying Needle would still sap fifty percent of their strength.

The Godslaying Needle specialized in attacking the soul. It was launched silently and without a trace, making it impossible to defend against. By the time the target perceived the Godslaying Needle, it was already too late.

Furthermore, the Godslaying Needle was formed from Soul Power. Compared to Five Elements Spiritual Power or various types of True Essence, it was much ’finer’.

This ’fineness’ referred to the Godslaying Needle’s ability to pierce through all sorts of defenses—Spiritual Power Shields, blocks of Magical Power, and the protection of Talismanic Magical Artifacts—to directly strike a Cultivator’s fundamental soul.

The soul is the foundation of a Cultivator, possessing all sorts of incredible and wondrous uses. There are also countless Cultivation Techniques and methods that use the soul for combat.

But compared to the Godslaying Needle, they all seemed crude and utterly laughable.

Unfortunately, Fang Qingyuan could only use it instinctively at present. It was like eating food to feel full; he had no idea how the food was converted through complex processes in the body to become energy for action.

’It was a case of being content with a superficial understanding, but that was fine.’ Fang Qingyuan knew he wasn’t at a high enough level to grasp the principles, so he didn’t force it. As long as it was effective, that was all that mattered. Like right now—with a single Godslaying Needle, he had made the Late-stage Foundation Establishment Cultivator opposite him go ashen-faced, his expression one of utter dismay.

After a few breaths, the man gritted his teeth and said:

"Fellow Daoist Xiao, your skills are impressive. I concede defeat. This Immortal Island is yours."

Fang Qingyuan smiled smugly. Before he could even speak, the crowd of Cultivators behind him erupted in cheers.

Just now, Fang Qingyuan had been dueling this Late-stage Foundation Establishment Cultivator. The winner would gain sole possession of the island beneath their feet.

The island was called Golden Turtle Island, named for its resemblance to a giant deep-sea turtle. It possessed a Tier Two High-Grade Spirit Vein and had been occupied by this Foundation Establishment Loose Cultivator. Now, however, Fang Qingyuan had brought his people to propose a duel—the winner would earn the right to claim the island.

Fang Qingyuan waved his hand, and the dozens of Cultivators behind him immediately fell silent. These were all Cultivators he had subdued over the past three months, and for now, they were relatively obedient.

Because the disobedient ones were already buried in the black soil of his Immortal Mansion.

"Thank you for your concession, Fellow Daoist. Feel free to pack your things."

Fang Qingyuan delivered the victor’s declaration. The other man snorted coldly, didn’t bother packing, and simply turned and left.

Outer Sea Cultivators were accustomed to carrying all their worldly possessions on their person. They weren’t in the habit of storing valuables in their cave abodes, as they had to be ready to flee at a moment’s notice.

Watching the man retreat into the distance, Fang Qingyuan’s eyes grew profound. It wasn’t that he couldn’t have forcibly kept the Late-stage Foundation Establishment Cultivator there, but doing so would not have been worth the cost.

Any Late-stage Foundation Establishment Cultivator who could survive in the Outer Sea had a few trump cards up their sleeve. In the duel just now, neither of them had revealed all their cards.

Defeating him was easy, but killing him would have been very difficult. The man might have had a ’take-you-down-with-me’ final resort. After all, Fang Qingyuan wasn’t a Golden Core Cultivator yet; he couldn’t just ignore a desperate last-ditch counterattack.

’So, driving him off was good enough. If I can’t subdue them, then I’ll just chase them far, far away. As long as they don’t affect me, it’s fine.’

Back on Golden Turtle Island, chaos had erupted. The Late-stage Foundation Establishment Cultivator had abandoned them, and the many mortals and Qi Refining Cultivators on the island all felt that disaster was imminent.

Leading his followers onto the island, Fang Qingyuan strolled along a street within the Spiritual Land’s borders. Three Cultivators followed closely behind him.

The other Qi Refining Cultivators dispersed to begin taking control of the area.

"My Lord, as is tradition on Golden Turtle Island, should we carry out a full slaughter?"

The Cultivator who had come to ask was an Early-stage Foundation Establishment Cultivator named Li Zhi. Two months ago, Fang Qingyuan had beaten him into submission, and he had subsequently pledged allegiance. He was now a member of the Soul Hall’s Iron Wind Sub-Hall.

Besides him, Fang Qingyuan had also subdued two other Early-stage Foundation Establishment Cultivators and over forty Qi Refining Cultivators.

’A complete motley crew. If I had lost today, they definitely would have kicked me while I was down.’

Fang Qingyuan understood this perfectly. Facing Li Zhi’s proposal, he knit his brows.

"Kill them all? Who would work for us then? We didn’t bring our own clansmen, so there’s no need to compete with these people for resources. Just pick a few of the former managers to kill as a show of force. That will be enough."

Having received his orders, Li Zhi left excitedly. Fang Qingyuan then sent the other two Foundation Establishment Cultivators off to get to work as well.

Once everyone was far away, Fang Qingyuan finally began to leisurely appreciate his new territory.

Golden Turtle Island spanned several hundred li, making it similar in size to the six satellite islands of the Iron Wind Islands. However, located roughly 15,000 li from the Iron Wind Main Island, it fell outside of Iron Wind Island’s jurisdiction.

Furthermore, the island’s Spirit Vein was only a Tier Two High-Grade at best, which Golden Core Cultivators would look down on. The fact that it was occupied by a Late-stage Foundation Establishment Cultivator was enough to deter other powers.

Unfortunately for him, he ran into Fang Qingyuan, who forcibly drove off the original Late-stage Foundation Establishment Cultivator and seized the place for himself.

The main peak of Golden Turtle Island was on its eastern side. The peak was tall and steep, and from a distance, it greatly resembled the raised head of a golden turtle.

The summit of the peak was a Second-tier top-grade spiritual land. The surrounding area was Tier Two Mid-Grade, and the quality of the Spirit Vein decreased with distance from the peak.

Fang Qingyuan arrived at the summit, blasted open the existing Array, and after rummaging around, couldn’t help but curl his lip. ’So destitute. He didn’t leave a single good thing behind. Could that Cultivator have anticipated this day long ago?’

Releasing Jinbao to stand guard, Fang Qingyuan set up a new Array. Then, inside the cave abode at the peak, he safely entered his Immortal Mansion.

The first thing he did was to check on the many Magical Artifacts and Cultivator corpses he had previously buried, to see how the Immortal Mansion’s absorption was progressing.

Over the past three months, Fang Qingyuan had killed nine Early-stage Foundation Establishment Cultivators alone, not to mention over a hundred Qi Refining Cultivators.

He had buried all of these corpses in the black soil of the Immortal Mansion. The earliest ones were now completely decomposed, and the last batch had been buried ten days ago.

Upon inspection, Fang Qingyuan found that the black soil was completely empty. It was clear the Immortal Mansion had absorbed everything.

There were also the hundred-plus First-tier Magical Artifacts and various Daoist Robes. Fang Qingyuan had buried them all in the Immortal Mansion in one go, simply letting it absorb everything.

Except for a few particularly interesting Magical Artifacts that he kept, Fang Qingyuan also buried all the miscellaneous items from the storage bags of the hundred-plus Cultivators.

By now, First-tier Magical Artifacts were dispensable to Fang Qingyuan. Even a First-tier Top-grade Magical Artifact couldn’t compare to the power of his casual strike.

Such a huge number of Magical Artifacts would be inconvenient to sell. Besides, they weren’t worth much—he could earn more by refining a couple of bottles of Blood Life Pills. So, he simply used them all to enhance his Spirit Root.

The Immortal Mansion, for its part, accepted all of these things without refusal. No matter what was buried in the black soil, it would be completely absorbed within half a month at most, leaving not even a speck of dust behind.

Fang Qingyuan carefully sensed the Five Elements Spiritual Power within the Immortal Mansion and could clearly perceive that it was much denser than it had been three months ago.

’Looks like my Spirit Root has improved. And one of the elements has improved by more than just a little.’

At this thought, Fang Qingyuan quickly exited the Immortal Mansion, his soul returning to his physical body.

He took out the Magical Artifact used for testing Spirit Roots and channeled his Spiritual Power into it. A moment later, a multicolored light emerged from the artifact.

Looking at the Five Elements Spirit Root scale, Fang Qingyuan beamed with joy. His three months of hard work had finally paid off.

’Metal: thirty-four. Wood: thirty-three. Earth: thirty-three. Fire: thirty-three. Water: thirty-five.’

His Metal Spirit Root had finally increased by a point. Ever since he lost the Gold Spirit Power from Jinbao’s mother, his Gold Attribute Spirit Root had completely stagnated.

The Wood element was still at thirty-three, likely just a little bit short. The Earth element, however, had surprisingly risen by two points. Fang Qingyuan recalled the Mid-stage Foundation Establishment Cultivator with the Earth Spirit Root he had killed; that one had left a deep impression on him.

That person had actually withstood three of his Godslaying Needles before falling, which was a sign of extraordinary talent.

Moreover, the man’s mastery of Earth Techniques was superb; relying on Soul Dao Divine Techniques alone, Fang Qingyuan truly would have been unable to defeat him.

But that was all in the past now. A genius who doesn’t live long enough to develop is nothing.

The Fire element rose by one point, which was normal. The Water element’s increase was the most obvious, jumping straight to thirty-five points and becoming his highest-aptitude element among the five.

’This must be because most of the Cultivators I absorbed had Water Spirit Roots. In the Outer Sea, the Water element is orthodox.’

After checking his aptitude, Fang Qingyuan eagerly began to meditate and cultivate.

’My Spirit Root aptitude has increased dramatically. Originally, I would have needed more than seven years to advance to the Foundation Establishment Fifth Layer. I wonder how much time this will save me now.’

He activated his Five Elements Technique and felt the Five Elements Spiritual Qi swarming toward him, far more intensely than before. A wave of delight washed over him. ’At this rate, I’ll probably reach the Foundation Establishment Fifth Layer in less than five years.’

’And advancing from the Foundation Establishment Fifth Layer to the Sixth Layer, which originally would have taken fifteen or sixteen years, will now probably only take around twelve.’

’This is the benefit of improving one’s Spirit Root aptitude. Unfortunately, I’ve already killed too many people in the last three months. If I keep this up, I’m afraid I’ll attract the attention of a Golden Core Cultivator.’

Although the Outer Sea was chaotic and seemingly lawless, Fang Qingyuan understood that no place was truly without order.

While the Iron Wind Beast Taming Sect wasn’t present here, the Iron Wind He Family was a power that could not be ignored.

After finishing his meditation, Fang Qingyuan began to contemplate his next move, but just then, Jinbao sent him a signal.

He opened the Array, and Li Zhi came scrambling in, practically wetting himself in terror. With a tear-streaked face, he reported:

"My Lord, the He Family’s great ship is leading a dozen other sea vessels... they’ve surrounded us from a distance!"