Beast Taming: I Have an Immortal Mansion

Chapter 316 - 254: Hunting Conflict

Upon the boundless sea, the Evergreen was shrouded in a faint Spiritual Light as it sped forward.

This was the effect of the ship’s built-in Tier Two Water Array. A complete Beast Hunting Ship was equipped with three such Second Order Arrays.

Otherwise, how could a mere ten-zhang-long Beast Hunting Ship sell for a price of three hundred Top-grade Spirit Stones?

On the ship, the one-eyed Cultivator, Tuoba Ye, was directing a dozen or so Qi Refining Cultivators, each to their posts. He personally took the helm, responsible for chasing a school of fish ahead.

The dozen or so Qi Refining Realm Cultivators were all crew members recruited by Tuoba Ye. Each had signed a ten-year contract with the Evergreen. Once they chose to board, they could only leave freely after a decade.

For Cultivators, ten years was a long time, especially since a Qi Refining Cultivator’s lifespan was only one hundred and twenty years.

These ten years were equivalent to selling their lives to the Evergreen; they couldn’t leave without Fang Qingyuan’s permission.

Being a crew member on a Beast Hunting Ship was a very dangerous profession, but it was also a job filled with opportunity and handsome rewards.

For these Qi Refining Cultivators, just three steady years aboard Fang Qingyuan’s ship would allow them to save up one Top-grade Spirit Stone to purchase a Foundation Establishment Pill.

Currently, a Foundation Establishment Pill sold for about one Top-grade Spirit Stone. An ordinary Late-stage Qi Refining Cultivator, however, couldn’t even save a tenth of a Top-grade Spirit Stone in a year.

This showed just how generous Fang Qingyuan’s terms were. Even with the strict conditions, it attracted a large number of middle and Late-stage Qi Refining Cultivators to sign up.

Inside the cockpit, Tuoba Ye detected a school of Spirit Fish ahead using the ship’s Investigation Array. His brow lifted in delight, and he quickly walked toward the captain’s cabin.

Arriving at the door, Tuoba Ye took a deep breath and softly asked for instructions:

"Captain, the array has detected a school of Tier One Middle Grade Yellow Belly Fish ahead. Should we prepare to hunt?"

A few breaths later, Fang Qingyuan’s calm voice came from the captain’s cabin:

"Proceed."

Upon receiving Fang Qingyuan’s reply, Tuoba Ye’s spirits lifted. He quietly excused himself, went to the deck, and gathered the crew, his voice ringing with excitement:

"Brothers, our chance to get rich is here! Get ready! Switch the Evergreen from pursuit mode to capture mode! Whether or not we can visit the Spring Flower Building next time we make port depends on this haul!"

Tuoba Ye’s words were crude, but they suited the crew’s temperament. Few refined, gentlemanly Cultivators became crewmen on Beast Hunting Ships.

Amidst the crew’s cheers, the Evergreen began to slow down. A thousand-zhang-wide net, inscribed with numerous restrictive seals, sank into the water and spread out silently with the current.

.....

While the hunt outside raged on, Fang Qingyuan remained calm and unconcerned inside his cabin.

Even though his Water Spirit Root had just improved slightly, his expression remained unchanged.

After cultivating in this island environment for so long, supplemented by five sets of Foundation Establishment Hippocampus Bones, Fang Qingyuan’s Water Spirit Root aptitude had finally, pleasingly, risen by one point, from thirty-one to thirty-two.

This increase in his Spirit Root’s aptitude was not a sudden surprise but an expected improvement, which was why his expression remained normal.

As for the school of Spirit Fish Tuoba Ye had reported, Fang Qingyuan had already sensed it with his Mind Map. In fact, the Evergreen’s current course was a result of his subtle manipulation.

Aside from the cockpit, the Array Talisman Disc in the captain’s cabin was the ultimate means of controlling the entire Beast Hunting Ship.

Fang Qingyuan didn’t trust anyone else with such a crucial device.

If this school of Yellow Belly Fish was captured successfully, Fang Qingyuan would earn two Top-grade Spirit Stones from this trip.

If it wasn’t successful, he would just find another school of Spirit Fish.

Right now, Fang Qingyuan’s mind wasn’t on this; instead, he immersed his consciousness in his Immortal Mansion.

Jinbao had been hibernating for nearly three years. If all went well, it would awaken by the end of this year or the beginning of the next.

Jinbao’s original five Divine Techniques and Talents were already astounding. It was unknown what new Talents its advancement to Foundation Establishment would bring.

For a Qi Refining Spiritual Beast advancing to Foundation Establishment, a hibernation of just over three years was usually sufficient. A long hibernation like the Bee Queen’s was rarely seen.

Yinbao had only just begun its hibernation and still needed another two and a half years, while Nanli showed no signs of advancing to the Foundation Establishment Stage anytime soon.

However, Nanli’s aptitude was sufficient; it would reach the Foundation Establishment Stage sooner or later. As for the Golden Core Stage, Fang Qingyuan honestly wasn’t confident.

The birth of every Golden Core Spirit Beast was an extraordinary life transformation. Even though Nanli’s mother was a Golden Core, it didn’t mean all her offspring could reach that stage.

In contrast, Fang Qingyuan was quite certain Jinbao could advance to the Golden Core Stage.

Only Yinbao worried Fang Qingyuan. He estimated that if Yinbao managed to reach Foundation Establishment, it would have already exhausted all its potential. As for reaching the Golden Core Stage, that was something Fang Qingyuan had only ever dreamed of.

Even the seemingly lazy Bee Queen had a much greater chance of reaching the Golden Core Stage than Yinbao. The Bee Queen’s current mutated form was completely different from a standard Golden Jade Scorpion-tailed Bee Queen.

Insect-type Spirit Beasts were the most prone to mutation, and the Bee Queen was a prime example. Its current state was a rare sight, even in the entire Cultivation Realm.

After pondering the futures of his Spirit Beasts, Fang Qingyuan began to think about his own Five Elements Undying Body.

In the five years he had been in the Iron Wind Islands, Fang Qingyuan had yet to formally begin practicing the Foundation Establishment Stage of the Five Elements Undying Body.

For one, he couldn’t find a suitable location. For another, the urgency of the Five Elements Undying Body was ranked below his cultivation level, pill formulas, and Spirit Root enhancement.

Now, his cultivation was progressing steadily, his direction with pill formulas was temporarily set, and improving his Spirit Root couldn’t be rushed. With the Evergreen, he could now openly search for a suitable training location and begin practicing the Foundation Establishment stage of the Five Elements Undying Body.

With this in mind, Fang Qingyuan unfurled a simple chart of the nearby sea and began to carefully select a suitable place to practice.

The sea chart had been a friendly gift from Shen Wan Jun, showing only a rough outline of the area within three thousand li of the Iron Wind Islands.

On the chart, only islands with an area of a hundred li or more were recorded; countless smaller islands had been deliberately omitted.

As for more valuable locations rich in Spiritual Objects or the distribution of dangerous sea beasts—if he wanted to know that, he would have to pay Spirit Stones to purchase a separate chart.

At the edge of the sea chart was a very conspicuous red mark. It indicated the location of a volcanic island where a Demon Tide had erupted three years ago.

Red meant danger, and on the entire chart, this spot was the most vividly colored.

But according to the information recorded, although the Spirit Vein there was not high-grade, the place was filled with dense Fire and Earth Spirits, which seemed very suitable for his Body Refining needs.

Fang Qingyuan smiled slightly and ruled the place out. No matter how suitable, he couldn’t go there.

Just as Fang Qingyuan was engrossed in studying the sea chart, his physical body in the captain’s cabin suddenly felt a jolt. This immediately caused him to vanish from the Immortal Mansion and return to his body.

Opening his eyes, he simultaneously released his Mind Map and Divine Sense. Instantly, Fang Qingyuan’s expression turned grim.

The next moment, Tuoba Ye’s report came from the door:

"There’s another Beast Hunting Ship outside, blocking our way! They’re telling us to leave this area, saying the Spirit Fish ahead are theirs."