Fang Qingyuan was exasperated by Yinbao’s behavior. They say a Spirit Beast takes after its master, and Yinbao’s lazy habits certainly hadn’t ford in just a year or two.
Back when he was just a lowly Outer Disciple at Tianshan Villa, Yinbao’s attitude had been even more arrogant. If you couldn’t coax it into a good mood, it would simply lie down, and absolutely nothing could get it back up.
He couldn’t bring himself to hit it, and scolding was useless since it didn’t understand. It would just adopt a completely lazy attitude, making him grind his teeth in frustration, but he was utterly helpless.
It took slow and patient training to improve Yinbao’s temperant. Unfortunately, after he reached Foundation Establishnt and beca the head of the Ministry of Affairs, he neglected its discipline, and Yinbao reverted to its old habits.
Seeing that Yinbao was nearly halfway through its life and still acting this way, Fang Qingyuan grew anxious.
If Yinbao continued on this path, its chances of achieving a breakthrough in the next ten or twenty years were practically zero.
The lifespan of a Flying Manta Ray is typically around eighty years. Without reaching Foundation Establishnt, they begin to decline around age fifty or sixty.
Yinbao had been with Fang Qingyuan since it was five years old, and now, after so many years, it was approaching forty.
They say a person must shoulder their responsibilities by thirty. Even though Yinbao was just a giant manta ray, at its age, it too needed to take on so responsibility.
So the next day, as Yinbao was sleeping in like usual, Fang Qingyuan hauled it to its feet and shouted:
"How can you still be sleeping?! At your age, if you don’t start working hard, your life will be over before you know it!"
Yinbao was startled by Fang Qingyuan’s scolding. It had no idea what had gotten into him. ’Haven’t I always lived this way?’
Fang Qingyuan snorted and gave a direct order:
"Get flying. Your speed now is even worse than it was before."
Fang Qingyuan needed to ignite Yinbao’s spirit and get it into peak condition. Otherwise, no matter how miraculous the Sea Spirit Whale’s heart might be, it would be useless to Yinbao.
Bowing to Fang Qingyuan’s tyrannical pressure, Yinbao began flapping its wings and flying endless circles inside the Immortal Mansion.
But for Yinbao, the four-hundred-mu Immortal Mansion was far too cramped. A single flap of its wings often sent it soaring from one end to the other.
Watching Yinbao’s clumsy turns, Fang Qingyuan frowned slightly. ’Looks like the Immortal Mansion is still too small. Yinbao can’t maneuver properly in here.’
’Still, we can at least work on its turning and maneuvering inside the Immortal Mansion for now.’
Leaving Yinbao to continue practicing, Fang Qingyuan turned and headed into the Purple Bamboo Forest.
Inside the hive, the Bee Queen was refining Blood Qi Pills out of sheer boredom. In the last three years, the process had beco so instinctual that she could do it perfectly with her eyes closed.
The Bee Queen’s eyes lit up when she saw Fang Qingyuan arrive. Keeping one eye on the heat in the Pill Furnace, she scurried over to his side and asked:
"Master, did you buy the Pill Furnace?"
Looking into the Bee Queen’s hopeful eyes, Fang Qingyuan kept his expression calm. He took out the Fire Jade Blood Date and said:
"The Pill Furnace can wait. Look what I brought you."
The exquisite appearance of the Fire Jade Blood Date made the Bee Queen instantly forget all about the Pill Furnace. She asked joyfully:
"Is this for ?"
Fang Qingyuan nodded and handed the Fire Jade Blood Date to her. Seeing how carefully she took it, her expression one of utter adoration, Fang Qingyuan felt a pang in his heart.
’So easily pleased. You sweet, silly girl, you haven’t seen anything yet.’
Giving the Fire Date to the Bee Queen was a carefully considered decision. The date’s primary effect was a chance to improve the user’s Fire Spirit Root.
His own Fire Spirit Root was already high-grade, making the Fire Date useless to him. The fledgling was still in a deep slumber, and besides, in Fang Qingyuan’s heart, the young bird was nowhere near as important as the Bee Queen.
So, giving her this Fire Date was a reward for her three years of hard work.
After taking the Fire Date, the Bee Queen thought for a long mont before solemnly placing it inside the small box on her back.
As she opened the box, Fang Qingyuan caught a glimpse of the various knick-knacks inside.
There were so dried flower petals, a feather shed by the fledgling bird, and the Water Spirit Treasure Pearl from the forehead of the Cyan Stone Bone Fish that Fang Qingyuan had hunted before.
The Cyan Stone Bone Fish had ultimately beco rations for Fang Qingyuan and his four Spirit Beasts. The massive, three-zhang-long fish had sohow fed them for nearly half a year.
Once the Bee Queen had hidden the Fire Date, Fang Qingyuan patted her head and departed with a smile.
The Bee Queen remained overjoyed long after Fang Qingyuan left. This happiness persisted for quite so ti, manifesting in a significant increase in the speed at which she refined Blood Qi Pills.
...
In the blink of an eye, two years passed. The Demon Tide outbreak, which had once thrown everyone into a panic, was gradually no longer spoken of.
All anyone knew was that a Nascent Soul Cultivator from the Beast Taming Sect had worked with the Great Zhou Academy to resolve the issue. Just like the many crises of years past, justice had ultimately triumphed over evil.
As for the remote volcanic island where the Demon Tide had broken out, it had been reduced to a field of rubble by the full might of six Nascent Soul Cultivators.
But even so, many Loose Cultivators still ca to explore the ruins of the shattered Spirit Vein, hoping to scavenge for any fortuitous encounters that might have been missed.
On a remote island three thousand li from Volcano Island, a Flying Manta Ray with a streamlined body skimd across the surface of the sea at incredible speed.
Suddenly, the Flying Manta Ray ca to an abrupt halt, transitioning from extre motion to absolute stillness, before plunging headfirst into the ocean below.
When it erged again, the Flying Manta Ray was already carrying a fat fish in its mouth.
SPLAT! The Flying Manta Ray tossed the succulent fish onto the reef in front of a young Cultivator seated there cross-legged.
The fish thrashed about, trying to escape, but in the next instant, a fiery red beak shot out, snatched it up, and swallowed it in a few quick gulps.
After devouring the fish, the large, red bird let out a happy coo, then sneezed, sending a few sparks shooting from its nostrils.
"Nanli, eat a little slower next ti. You should have roasted a fish that big first."
Fang Qingyuan opened his eyes on the reef, looking at the giant red bird and the Flying Manta Ray before him.
The giant red bird before him was the sa fledgling that had fallen into a deep slumber two years ago. She had awakened half a year prior, her cultivation having jumped from the Early-stage Qi Refining to the Late-stage Qi Refining.
Fang Qingyuan had nad her ’Nanli.’ Since her species was the Nanming Firebird, it was a convenient choice and saved him so trouble.
When standing upright, Nanli was now over two ters tall. Her crimson legs, in particular, accounted for two-thirds of her total height.
She was fiery red from head to toe, without a single speck of another color. Her feathers were smooth and sleek, making her more elegant than the red-crowned cranes of his past life. She bore no resemblance to the weak, fragile creature she had been when she was young.
’A girl really does change as she grows up,’ he thought. ’Even a female bird is no exception.’
Many birds are at their ugliest when young, only to beco stunning once they’re fully grown.
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