Beast Taming: I Have an Immortal Mansion-Chapter 97: Multiple Metamorphoses

Fang Qingyuan had now converted the new seven-tenths of a mu plot of land inside the Immortal Mansion into a silkworm nursery.

First, Fang Qingyuan paved the ground level with heavy stone slabs. Then, he selected some Spirit Wood and meticulously built three silkworm houses on top of the slabs.

Silkworm houses were an essential part of sericulture, just as crucial as mulberry leaves. Without suitable houses, the silkworms would have nowhere to live.

Although there was no wind or rain inside the Immortal Mansion to harm the little silkworms, they would still be uncomfortable under the illumination of the unknown light source.

With the silkworm houses built, Fang Qingyuan had one worry. The Black Land didn’t absorb living plants or animals, but anything else—Spirit Wood, ores, and the like—would inevitably be devoured by it.

Therefore, Fang Qingyuan scattered the seeds of the Thousand Silk Vine underneath the stone slabs. He hoped the vines would grow normally and eventually envelop the slabs he had laid, thus separating them from the Black Land and preventing the silkworm houses he had painstakingly built from being absorbed in the end.

The Spirit Wood Fang Qingyuan chose was a type of Zhe wood. This wood was straight and sturdy, and it also emitted a faint, medicinal, woody fragrance that could effectively soothe the little silkworms’ temperament.

In addition, Fang Qingyuan also prepared three major categories of items: silkworm-rearing tools, cocooning frames, and silkworm medicine. He had everything ready, including square-celled cocooning frames, silkworm trays, rearing racks, Anti-Zombie Pills, and molting Spiritual Medicine.

Raising silkworms was no simple matter, especially on a large scale. The slightest mistake could lead to a decrease in production in a mild case; in a severe one, entire swathes of silkworms in a house could die off.

That was why Fang Qingyuan had built three separate silkworm houses—if a problem occurred in one, the other two would remain unaffected.

Fang Qingyuan had no desire to suffer a total loss on the Spiritual Silkworms he had just bought for 1,500 Low-grade Spirit Stones.

Entering the middle silkworm house, Fang Qingyuan carefully placed the male and female pair of Celestial Zhe Wood Silkworms he had brought back into a silkworm box.

This pair of Celestial Zhe Wood Silkworms was a vibrant jade-green, like the finest jadeite, exuding a captivating luster.

Fang Qingyuan had previously scanned them with his divine soul and discovered that when this pair of Celestial Zhe Wood Silkworms molted from Tier One Lower Grade to Tier One Middle Grade, they had awakened an Innate Divine Technique common to most insects: "Multiple Metamorphoses."

This was a Talent exclusive to Spirit Insects. Generally, Spirit Beasts only had a chance of awakening Innate Divine Techniques from their bloodline when they advanced in tier.

Spirit Insects, however, could awaken Innate Divine Techniques even when not advancing in tier—they had a certain probability of doing so inside their cocoon while pupating.

For example, when this pair of Celestial Zhe Wood Silkworms neared the end of their lifespan, they would spin silk again to form a cocoon, encasing their entire bodies. If they could break out, they would be granted a new life.

The life expectancy of Spirit Insects was generally shorter than that of Spirit Beasts and Spiritual Birds. Take Yinbao, for example. The Flying Manta Ray was originally a Spirit Beast from the sea. If it didn’t advance past Tier One Lower Grade, its life expectancy would typically be around eighty years.

A life expectancy of eighty years was already quite long. While it couldn’t compare to turtle-type Spirit Beasts, it was at least twenty years longer than that of the Golden Claw Silver Cang Flying Eagle that had previously helped Fang Qingyuan deal with the White-headed Vulture.

The lifespans of these Spirit Beasts and Spiritual Birds were measured in decades, whereas the lifespans of Spirit Insects generally didn’t exceed ten years.

The pair of Celestial Zhe Wood Silkworms Fang Qingyuan now held were Spirit Insects that had already pupated twice. They formed a cocoon once every ten years, and they had survived the first two times.

However, according to the general pattern of Spirit Insect pupation, the chances of successfully emerging were quite high for the first three times. But the more times they pupated, the slimmer their chances of being reborn from the cocoon became.

There were many theories in the Cultivation Realm as to why. One of the most plausible explanations was that a Spirit Insect’s Divine Soul was inherently weak. With each emergence from the cocoon, the origin of their Divine Soul was consumed until it could no longer sustain them, and they would die inside the cocoon.

This was the theory of the Divine Soul Sect. There was also the Heavenly Mandate school; Cultivators from Yangming Mountain proposed that the reason Spirit Insects couldn’t be reborn from their cocoons indefinitely had little to do with their Divine Souls. It was purely because the will of heaven and earth in this realm forbade it. If not for this restriction, the Cultivation Realm would have long been dominated by Spirit Insects.

Furthermore, there was the Bloodline Theory, which held that a Spirit Insect’s bloodline origin could only support a few emergences. To be reborn more times, they would need to purify their bloodline and undergo atavism.

There were other theories as well, but they were all too absurd to be considered mainstream.

Fang Qingyuan couldn’t make heads or tails of these theories. ’If even Divinity Transformation Cultivators haven’t figured it out, how could I possibly know?’

Still, if he had to choose one theory to believe in, he would definitely be a supporter of the Heavenly Mandate school. ’Because if that theory is correct,’ he thought, ’then couldn’t Spirit Insects inside the Immortal Mansion, separated from their original world, be reborn an infinite number of times?’

Of course, a dream like that was something Fang Qingyuan would only entertain for a moment. The most urgent matter at hand was to take good care of this pair of Celestial Zhe Wood Silkworms, help them recover, and have them lay eggs as soon as possible.

The senior sister who owned them before had overworked them so cruelly that the pair of Celestial Zhe Wood Silkworms was now listless and weak. Fang Qingyuan estimated that he couldn’t expect them to mate and lay eggs for at least the next three months.

But this was fine, too. ’Sharpening the axe doesn’t delay the woodcutting,’ he thought. He had just obtained the late Senior Brother Yaozu’s personal notes and hadn’t had a chance to study them in depth yet. This was the perfect opportunity to learn more so he could raise the silkworms with greater ease in the future.

After settling the Celestial Zhe Wood Silkworms and leaving them a pile of fresh mulberry and Zhe leaves, Fang Qingyuan turned and went to see the Bee Queen.

When Fang Qingyuan’s divine soul arrived at the Purple Bamboo Forest, the Bee Queen merely rolled over lazily, showing none of the excitement she had on his previous visits.

Seeing the Bee Queen’s behavior, Fang Qingyuan understood. ’She probably knows she can’t stop me from taking her Flower Nectar no matter what, so she’s decided to just give up.’

Fang Qingyuan frowned at this. ’This won’t do,’ he thought. ’If the Bee Queen gives up, her Worker Bees will probably give up too. Won’t that mean I’ll get less Flower Nectar?’

At this thought, Fang Qingyuan began to reflect on his actions. He realized he had indeed been a bit excessive lately. Every time he came, he would take half a jin of Flower Nectar for Jinbao, and each time the Bee Queen sensed this, she would grow a little more dispirited.

Over time, this had completely worn away whatever goodwill they had.

’It seems my methods have been too crude,’ Fang Qingyuan thought. ’No, I can’t let this continue.’ To prevent the Bee Queen from giving up entirely, he decided he had to change his approach.

’Before, I was taking half a jin each time—a small amount, but frequently. From now on, I’ll take five jin all at once. It’s a lot more, but I’ll only make her upset once. Given the Bee Queen’s current level of intelligence and her not-so-great memory, she’ll probably find this more acceptable.’

At this thought, Fang Qingyuan felt a flicker of shame. ’Am I, her master, being a bit shameless, bullying and tricking a Spirit Insect like this?’