Beast Taming: I Have an Immortal Mansion-Chapter 44: Scripture Jade Slips

Upon arriving at the Beast Cage, Fang Qingyuan found Tian Ziyi and told him he wanted to see Lao Bai. Hearing this, Tian Ziyi didn’t make things difficult and led him directly into the garden where Lao Bai was kept.

The garden was quite large, spanning several acres. It had hills and water, making for pleasant scenery, but for a Foundation Establishment Spirit Beast like Lao Bai, it still felt cramped and stifling.

Lao Bai was spacing out in the garden. Upon seeing Fang Qingyuan, it let out an excited roar.

After Fang Qingyuan had returned Lao Bai to the Beast Cage the last time they parted, Lao Bai hadn’t been sent on any missions. Tianshan Villa was relatively lenient with Foundation Establishment Spirit Beasts like Lao Bai, requiring them to go on a mission only once every six months.

From this recent infant-stealing case, Fang Qingyuan had reaped Spirit Stones and a Tea Garden. Lao Bai, however, despite being the main force, had only received a few months of peace and quiet.

This wasn’t unfair; the two simply weren’t comparable. Fang Qingyuan was an Inner Sect Disciple of Tianshan Villa, his status worlds apart from Lechuan’s. But in the eyes of the Beast Taming Mountain headquarters, there was no difference between Fang Qingyuan and Lechuan; they were all just disciples of the sect.

As for Lao Bai, even if it became a Golden Core Spirit Beast, in the eyes of the Beast Taming Sect, it would be nothing more than an asset.

After leading Fang Qingyuan into the garden, Tian Ziyi went off to busy himself. Once he was gone, Fang Qingyuan began to pull things out of two storage bags.

Just now, on his way over, Fang Qingyuan had passed through the Celestial Gate Mountain Marketplace and spent a dozen or so Low-grade Spirit Stones on some fruit, meat jerky, and other things to give to Lao Bai.

These things weren’t worth many Spirit Stones, but they were all things Lao Bai would likely enjoy. The storage bags Fang Qingyuan had gotten from the Liu Brothers were both five cubic feet in size, and they were now stuffed to the brim.

Red Lotus Fruit, pork jerky, honey wine... As Fang Qingyuan pulled out the items one by one, Lao Bai’s eyes grew brighter and brighter.

As a Foundation Establishment Spirit Beast, Lao Bai received good treatment. But while its food was good, it lacked special treats to liven things up—especially alcohol. Tian Ziyi didn’t want to give any to these Foundation Establishment Spirit Beasts, fearing they would go on a drunken rampage.

Previously, at the Liu Family banquet, Fang Qingyuan had noticed how joyful Lao Bai looked while gnawing on roasted meat and drinking Spirit Wine, so this time, he had secretly brought a few extra jars.

By the time Fang Qingyuan had laid all the items on the ground, a small mountain of goods had piled up in front of Lao Bai.

Seeing Lao Bai’s delight, Fang Qingyuan said softly,

"You can have all this for now. I’ll bring more next time. But don’t let Senior Brother Tian find out, or it might be difficult for me to get in again."

When Lao Bai heard this, it gave a knowing look. With a wave of its large hand, a gust of wind swept up all the items, and it stashed them away.

Then, the man and the ape shared a smile, as if nothing had happened at all.

...

After leaving the Beast Cage, Fang Qingyuan didn’t rush back to his small courtyard. Instead, he went to the Inheritance Hall.

’Since my Immortal Mansion Space is suitable for growing Spirit Plants, it’s only right that I learn how to cultivate them and become a novice Spirit Plant Cultivator.’

’I don’t need to achieve greatness as a Spirit Plant Cultivator, but I should at least understand techniques like transplanting, grafting, cultivating, and harvesting. Otherwise, who else can I count on to do these things in my Immortal Mansion Space?’

Therefore, after arriving at the Inheritance Hall, Fang Qingyuan found a senior brother and explained what he needed.

The senior brother looked at Fang Qingyuan, clearly puzzled by his request. However, he didn’t ask many questions and simply pointed him in the right direction.

"Our Tianshan Villa’s Scripture Pavilion should have what you’re looking for. However, Junior Brother Fang, as disciples of Beast Taming Mountain, all our skills should be focused on our Companion Beasts. The way of Spirit Plants is easy to learn but hard to master. You absolutely must not become obsessed with it."

Having been given this advice, Fang Qingyuan smiled and agreed. ’This senior brother means well. Even though I have my own ideas, I should still appreciate his concern.’

Taking the pass written by the senior brother, Fang Qingyuan left the Inheritance Hall and headed straight for the Scripture Pavilion.

Once there, Fang Qingyuan had to pass through three checkpoints before he was finally allowed inside to begin selecting the Cultivation Techniques he needed.

The first floor of the Scripture Pavilion was sparsely populated. This area was open specifically for Qi Cultivation Disciples. Tianshan Villa didn’t have many disciples to begin with, and most of them were currently busy running errands. The only people in the Scripture Pavilion were Fang Qingyuan and one other person.

"Senior Sister Jiang, you’re back?"

Fang Qingyuan, holding a jade slip, had run right into this Senior Sister Jiang at the end of a bookshelf.

This Senior Sister Jiang was none other than Jiang Kui. Three months ago, she had escorted the Elder Dean’s remains back to his hometown. Fang Qingyuan had assumed she wouldn’t be returning, so he was surprised to see her here. 𝘧𝓇ℯℯ𝑤ℯ𝘣𝓃ℴ𝓋𝑒𝑙.𝑐𝘰𝑚

Jiang Kui saw Fang Qingyuan, gave a slight nod, and said,

"I’ve been back for more than ten days. Junior Brother Fang, I heard you solved the Minshan Liu Family infant-stealing case. That’s truly impressive."

Fang Qingyuan was quite pleased by Jiang Kui’s praise, but he didn’t forget the reason he was here. He seized the opportunity to ask,

"Senior Sister Jiang, I’m looking for a few cultivation techniques on raising Spirit Plants, but there are so many jade slips in the Scripture Pavilion that I don’t know where to begin. Could I possibly ask for your guidance?"

Fang Qingyuan was telling the truth. The Scripture Pavilion was nothing like a modern library where every cultivation technique was neatly categorized with indexes and labels.

Instead, the jade slips were merely grouped together by rough affiliation, meaning Fang Qingyuan would have to probe each one with his spiritual sense to find what he needed.

Fang Qingyuan had only looked through forty or fifty jade slips and already felt his head spinning. Staring at the hundreds he had yet to check, he thought, ’I’m definitely not getting out of here today.’

Fortunately, Jiang Kui’s appearance gave Fang Qingyuan a glimmer of hope. ’This Senior Sister Jiang is a Core Disciple at the Eighth-Layer Qi Cultivation. She definitely knows more than I do. A few words of guidance from her could save me from taking a lot of wrong turns.’

Hearing Fang Qingyuan’s request, Jiang Kui was not stingy. After clarifying his needs, she turned, retrieved three jade slips, and handed them to him while explaining,

"Junior Brother Fang, since you have no prior experience with Spirit Plants, I suggest you start with the absolute basics. First, you must learn to identify them. This jade slip contains a compendium of all the Spirit Plants in the vicinity of Celestial Gate Mountain. You can start with this.

"The other two jade slips contain a lifetime of insights from two official Spirit Plant Cultivators. If you take them back and study them carefully, you will surely benefit greatly."

Fang Qingyuan accepted the three jade slips, his face beaming. Jiang Kui’s few casual words had saved him an immense amount of trouble. After thanking her sincerely, he brought the three jade slips to the Scripture Pavilion’s steward.

"Will you be renting or making a copy? Renting is three Low-grade Spirit Stones per jade slip for one month. Copying is ten stones per slip."

The price wasn’t expensive at all; in fact, it was quite cheap. It was one of the benefits afforded to the sect’s disciples.

Hearing the steward’s question, Fang Qingyuan thought for a moment before replying,

"I’ll make a copy of this one and rent the other two for a month."

’The one I need to copy is the compendium of Spirit Plants. As for the two slips with personal insights, a month’s rental should be enough time for me to absorb them; no need to copy them. Spirit Stones are hard to come by, after all. Every bit I can save counts.’

The steward took the jade slip to be copied and began to speak as he worked,

"A newly copied jade slip cannot be copied again, or the slip will be damaged. Also, the contents of the jade slip may not be shared with outsiders without the express permission of this Scripture Pavilion. If we discover you have done so, you will be banned from entering the Scripture Pavilion for three years. Furthermore..."

Fang Qingyuan listened calmly to the steward’s rambling. ’It’s only natural for the Scripture Pavilion to have so many rules. Knowledge deserves to be treated with such reverence.’

Ten minutes later, when the steward had finally finished speaking, Fang Qingyuan took the three jade slips, left the Scripture Pavilion, and mounted his hump-backed ray to fly back to his small courtyard.