Inside the Immortal Mansion, as soon as Fang Qingyuan entered, he was surrounded by a swarm of Scorpion-tailed Soldier Bees. Bees are very territorial, and Fang Qingyuan’s arrival was no exception.
However, with a re stir of his spiritual sense, Fang Qingyuan made the Scorpion-tailed Bees scatter. The bees returned to their duties, so gathering nectar, others fetching water.
Currently, there were eight hundred Worker Bees and three hundred Soldier Bees in the Immortal Mansion. This wasn’t a large colony, but it was the maximum the Immortal Mansion could support.
With only this small plot of land, any more Scorpion-tailed Bees and they would start killing each other. This ratio was just right.
After entering, Fang Qingyuan first inspected the Spirit Plants in the dicinal garden. Over a hundred Seven-Colored Sunflowers were blooming profusely, and their second leaves had all developed color.
Fang Qingyuan thought for a mont and decided to sell the vast majority, keeping only about ten stalks. It would take several more years for the Seven-Colored Sunflowers to grow their third leaves.
’It would be better to sell these Seven-Colored Sunflowers and exchange them for Tier One Lower Grade Black-stemd Ophipogon.’ This type of orchid grew to be about half a person’s height. Its black stalks, which gave it its na, made it resemble a small tree.
Once planted, however, they were like the Purple Bamboo: they could be left untended for many years to grow on their own.
The Black-stemd Ophipogon was extrely hardy, had few environntal requirents, and wasn’t expensive.
Black-stemd Ophipogon was also perfect for planting alongside ginseng. Ginseng was a Tier One Upper Grade Spirit Plant that grew primarily underground and preferred cool, shady conditions.
The Black-stemd Ophipogon could create a shady environnt, and the two plants would complent each other perfectly.
Ginseng beca more valuable with age. This Spirit Plant could be harvested after five years or ten years—it was very flexible. It could even be left for a hundred years. Its price was based on its age; the older, the more expensive.
Once planted, it didn’t need regular care and could just be left there. It could be dug up and sold for Spirit Stones whenever he needed it or was in a pinch. Therefore, the sooner the ginseng was planted, the better.
Besides ginseng, Fang Qingyuan also wanted to plant so Wooden Sunflowers. This Spirit Flower could bloom continuously, providing a food source for the Bee Queen.
Moreover, the Wooden Sunflower was a Tier Two Middle Grade Spirit Plant harvested every three years. Each plant produced one large flower bud, and two or three buds could be exchanged for one Middle-grade Spirit Stone, making it very profitable. It could also be densely intercropped with ginseng at a one-to-one ratio to maximize the use of the soil’s fertility.
The Black-stemd Ophipogon would be on top to improve the environnt, while the ginseng and Wooden Sunflowers would be intercropped below. Together, the three would form a small ecological cycle.
However, planting all three together would consu a shocking amount of soil fertility. Fang Qingyuan knew from the two books of a Spirit Plant Cultivator’s insights he’d read that if he wanted these Spirit Plants to grow well, spirit fertilizer was essential.
Spirit Plant Cultivators had to frequently purchase Yellow Sealing Soil to spread on their fields to replenish the soil’s fertility. They also had to use nutrients like bone al and Spirit Water to supplent the Spirit Plants.
Large-scale cultivation of Spirit Plants was different from letting them grow wild. If the soil’s fertility couldn’t keep up, the Spirit Plants often wouldn’t survive.
Fang Qingyuan’s Immortal Mansion was basically a greenhouse, and the Spirit Plants grown inside were much more delicate than those outside.
Having made up his mind, Fang Qingyuan began to harvest the Seven-Colored Sunflowers. With each stalk he collected, he carefully shook off the clinging black soil and gave it a quick rinse with water.
The soil from the Immortal Mansion could not be brought into the outside world. Although Fang Qingyuan hadn’t yet discovered anything magical about this black soil, it was better to be cautious.
After half a day, nearly a hundred Seven-Colored Sunflowers were harvested. They were complete with roots and tendrils, and in perfect condition.
These Spirit Plants should sell for seven or eight Middle-grade Spirit Stones, while their initial cost had been less than four.
An inco of three to four Middle-grade Spirit Stones a year didn’t seem like much, but it was steady. The key was that these Seven-Colored Sunflowers only took up two small lots of land, and there were still Spirit Plants on several other lots that hadn’t been harvested.
After picking the Spirit Plants, Fang Qingyuan went to the Purple Bamboo Forest, found the Bee Queen, and poured a small vial of Turtle Shell Powder in front of it.
The Bee Queen, which had already grown to the size of a soccer ball, wriggled its body and ate the Turtle Shell Powder Fang Qingyuan had provided mouthful by mouthful, a human-like expression of enjoynt on its face.
Perhaps the Turtle Shell Powder was like a snack to it. After eating so many sweets like Golden Jade Flower Honey, a change of pace was probably quite nice.
After finishing the Turtle Shell Powder, the Bee Queen slowly moved back into its hive and began to drowse.
Lately, the Bee Queen had been constantly listless. After observing it a few tis, Fang Qingyuan guessed that the Bee Queen was probably about to advance in rank.
For over a year, Fang Qingyuan had fed it all sorts of good things. Besides Turtle Shell Powder, he sotis bought Spirit Insects, ground them into powder, and fed them to the queen as well.
Insect-type creatures advanced faster to begin with, so it was within expectations for the Bee Queen to be advancing now.
’But when the Bee Queen advances to Tier One Middle Grade, I wonder if it will gain one or two new Innate Divine Techniques.’
This made Fang Qingyuan very expectant. When his other beast, Yinbao, had advanced from Tier One Lower Grade to Tier One Middle Grade, it hadn’t awakened a single Talent. Although that was normal, Fang Qingyuan couldn’t help but feel a little disappointed. Now, it was up to the Bee Queen to see if it could make up for it.
Each ti a Spirit Beast advanced in rank, there was a chance it would awaken one or two talent skills. These talent skills were gifts rooted in the deepest part of the Spirit Beast’s soul. Awakening even one could bring great benefits to the Spirit Beast.
First-stage and Second-stage Spirit Beasts corresponded to Qi Cultivation and Foundation Establishnt Cultivators, respectively. Because they awakened few Talents, they generally couldn’t defeat Cultivators of the sa level. However, from the third stage onwards, as they awakened more and more Talents, they could fight on even footing with Cultivators of the sa rank.
After checking on the Bee Queen, Fang Qingyuan went to the edge of the pool and stared intently at the boundary where the black soil t the black fog of the outside world.
Beyond the barrier, black fog swirled; within the barrier, it was like spring all year round.
The black soil on the ground had imperceptibly expanded outward a little more. Through observation, Fang Qingyuan had learned that over the past six months, as his cultivation level increased, the area of the Immortal Mansion had also been growing.
However, this increase wasn’t a sudden surge like the one that occurred when he advanced from the Qi Refining Fourth Level to the fifth. Instead, it was a subtle, gradual process—expanding a little today, a little more tomorrow.
This growth was like a light rain falling on a lake; the water level rose steadily and silently until one day, you would suddenly realize just how much new area had been added.
The newly added land amounted to less than one lot. Fang Qingyuan hadn’t decided how to use it yet. He planned to wait until he had accumulated three lots before making a decision.
After looking around one last ti and seeing no issues, Fang Qingyuan took the harvested Seven-Colored Sunflowers, mounted Yinbao, and flew toward the Celestial Gate Mountain Marketplace.
He planned to sell the Spirit Plants and exchange them for Black-stemd Ophipogon, ginseng, and Wooden Sunflowers. He would also buy a few Magical Artifacts and Talismans while he was at it.
Now that the situation had stabilized sowhat, he could resu his rchant business. For the past six months, he had only had expenses and no inco. Middle-grade Spirit Stones had been flowing out like water, leaving Fang Qingyuan feeling very uneasy.
Last ti, he had sold the White-headed Vulture, received ransom money from three Cultivators, and gotten a reward from Lechuan, totaling nearly fifty Middle-grade Spirit Stones. But in the last six months, he had already spent about ten of them on Spirit Soil and spiritual materials.
Then there were the daily cultivation expenses, food for Yinbao and the Bee Queen, gifts for social occasions, maintaining relationships, food, clothing, and other miscellaneous costs. All told, it ca to more than twenty Middle-grade Spirit Stones.
Fang Qingyuan finally understood why the disciples of the Beast Taming Sect only used Magical Artifacts in fights. It was because they couldn’t afford to raise Spirit Beasts, let alone let them get injured.
He only had two Spirit Beasts, and his net expenses were already around ten Middle-grade Spirit Stones a year. If he raised a few more, he probably wouldn’t even be able to afford to eat.
Thinking of this, Fang Qingyuan sighed. His desire to earn Spirit Stones by running a business grew even stronger.
........
Note: I’ve added a new setting for Spirit Beast talent skills, drawing inspiration from the systems in Fantasy Westward Journey and Hearthstone. Many fellow Daoists have said they haven’t seen the unique characteristics of beast taming, so I will focus so of my attention on the beast-taming aspect.
Also, I’m overturning the previous Spirit Beast level settings. I’m changing it so that First-stage Spirit Beasts correspond to Qi Cultivation Cultivators, and Second-stage Spirit Beasts to Foundation Establishnt, and so on. Otherwise, the divisions are unclear, and it’s difficult for everyone to follow.
Also, if anyone has any questions or is confused about anything, please speak up. My personal energy is limited, and I can’t think of everything. Jinfeng kowtows!
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