Over the past three years of Fang Qingyuan’s ceaseless nurturing, the Spiritual Qi within the Immortal Mansion Space had now reached the level of a Tier One Lower Grade Spirit Vein.
However, after cultivating the spell just now to strengthen his soul, Fang Qingyuan was shocked to discover that the Spiritual Power within the Immortal Mansion had visibly diminished.
Although Fang Qingyuan knew that cultivating his soul would consu Spiritual Power, the sheer amount consud was a painful loss.
He felt that if he cultivated like this a few more tis, the Spiritual Power in the Immortal Mansion would surely drop significantly, perhaps even degrading to the level of an unranked Spiritual Land.
But the feeling of his soul’s origin strengthening was simply too wonderful. He had already avoided the greatest hidden danger—that unknown, sharp-headed ghostly figure. Fang Qingyuan wasn’t about to abandon his Soul Dao cultivation just because of the drop in Spiritual Power.
In fact, when Fang Qingyuan had first obtained the Immortal Mansion, he had considered trying Soul Daoist Techniques because of how his own soul was manifesting. However, although he belonged to the Southern Border Beast Taming Sect, the sect’s Scripture Pavilion contained no such techniques.
Perhaps the Zongshan Scripture Pavilion had them, but with Fang Qingyuan’s current status, it was a vain hope.
Soul Daoist Techniques were considered sowhat taboo in the Southern Border, so Fang Qingyuan didn’t dare to search for them openly. But now that he had stumbled upon one, there was no reason not to try it.
’Tomorrow, I’ll ask Zhang Yuan where he got this Soul Dao Cultivation Technique Jade Scroll. Although I haven’t found any problems with the technique itself, I’ll feel more at ease once I know its origin.’
As for the Spiritual Power issue in the Immortal Mansion, Fang Qingyuan thought for a mont and decided to increase the amount of spiritual materials he was adding to boost the Spiritual Power’s density. If that didn’t show results quickly, he might have no choice but to bury Spirit Stones directly in the black soil.
In the Cultivation Realm, most Spiritual Lands had astonishing numbers of Spirit Stones buried beneath them. The higher the grade of the Spiritual Land, the greater the quantity and grade of the Spirit Stones underground.
The Spiritual Qi emitted by a Spirit Stone Vein was released steadily and naturally, which was far more effective than any spiritual materials.
This was especially true when burying Spirit Stones directly in the Immortal Mansion’s black soil. Fang Qingyuan had painfully parted with a few to test it before; a Low-grade Spirit Stone would be completely absorbed in less than half a month, with astonishing results.
However, while the effect was good, the return on investnt was far inferior to using spiritual materials. If he used those sa Spirit Stones to buy spiritual materials and buried those in the black soil to be absorbed slowly, the effect would be more than three or four tis greater than just burying the Spirit Stones directly.
He could either reduce his soul cultivation or bury Spirit Stones to rapidly replenish the Spiritual Power’s density. For a mont, Fang Qingyuan was caught in a dilemma.
After a mont, Fang Qingyuan sighed softly. ’My biggest problem right now is still not having enough Spirit Stones.’
’I need to keep earning Spirit Stones. I only have a little over seven thousand Low-grade Spirit Stones on right now. Without at least ten thousand Spirit Stones to my na, I feel insecure.’
.....
The lively night passed. When dawn broke the next day, Fang Qingyuan could still see many Cultivators celebrating through the night, celebrating their survival and return from that godforsaken place, the Celestial Attraction Mountain front.
Fang Qingyuan found where Zhang Yuan was staying. But just as he reached the outside of the tent, a blast of chilling killing intent froze him in his tracks. Fang Qingyuan stopped and said softly,
"Junior Brother Zhang, are you sober now?"
Hearing Fang Qingyuan’s voice, the killing intent inside the tent instantly receded. A mont later, a bleary-eyed Zhang Yuan walked out and said to Fang Qingyuan,
"Sorry, Senior Brother. For a second there, I thought I was still on Celestial Attraction Mountain."
Fang Qingyuan nodded in understanding. He then perford a spell, conjuring a ball of water and sending it over to Zhang Yuan.
Once Zhang Yuan had tidied himself up, Fang Qingyuan led him toward Zhao Liangde’s quarters.
In terms of cultivation level, Zhao Liangde was not the highest among Lechuan’s disciples. However, in terms of status within the Southern Border Beast Taming Sect, Zhao Liangde was the third most important figure, after only Lechuan and Lechuan’s Companion Beast.
Currently, Zhao Liangde was following Lechuan’s orders to withdraw all the disciples of the Southern Border Beast Taming Sect to the Shandu Great Stronghold. As a result, all matters in the stronghold, big or small, now required Zhao Liangde’s approval.
Fang Qingyuan had dragged Zhang Yuan to see Zhao Liangde first thing in the morning precisely because he wanted to secure a good post for him. When asking for favors, it’s better to be early than late. If they went too late, all the good opportunities would be gone.
Flying was forbidden for Cultivators within the great stronghold, so Fang Qingyuan and Zhang Yuan walked side-by-side down the chaotic streets. Watching the disorganized Cultivators, Zhang Yuan frowned slightly and asked,
"Has the stronghold always been like this? Aren’t any of the senior uncles doing anything about it?"
Fang Qingyuan chuckled and said casually,
"This is what it looks like *after* they tried to manage it. You have no idea. When the stronghold was first established, Cultivators were getting into private duels every other day. Sotis, dozens of people would brawl at once. We were sent out to suppress them no fewer than five tis."
Zhang Yuan listened in disbelief. He said in astonishnt,
"It can be that chaotic? But this is supposed to be a military encampnt."
Seeing Zhang Yuan’s expression, Fang Qingyuan knew that the chaos here was a difficult adjustnt for soone like Zhang Yuan, who was used to the strict discipline of the front lines.
So, Fang Qingyuan thought for a mont before slowly explaining the situation to him.
"For the past two years, the sect has been focused on upgrading the courtyard into a branch, so they’ve neglected to manage the surrounding sects and Cultivation Clans near Celestial Gate Mountain. Most importantly, because the sect’s handover with the Wei Family was peaceful, we never showed a bloody, iron fist. That ans we lost our deterrent power."
"Secondly, ever since the great stronghold was built, the Luo Family and Artifact Talisman Alliance forces we were supposed to be defending against haven’t launched any major attacks. Every battle has been more like going through the motions. Over the past six months, more Cultivators have died in private duels than in combat. If this continues, it’s only natural for the Cultivators to beco lax."
Zhang Yuan listened, lost in thought. He wasn’t stupid; he just hadn’t switched his mindset since returning from the front.
Seeing Zhang Yuan’s expression gradually relax, Fang Qingyuan comforted him,
"Relax, Junior Brother. You’re out of that quagmire on Celestial Attraction Mountain. I’ll find a good post for you, and we can get by in this stronghold together. That way, we can look out for each other."
As Zhang Yuan nodded, touched, Fang Qingyuan added nonchalantly,
"By the way, where did you get those jade scrolls you gave yesterday? Are there any other copies?"
To this, Zhang Yuan replied without a second thought,
"Oh, those jade scrolls? We got them from the storage bags of enemy Cultivators on the battlefield after our victories. We collected a huge pile of them over several months. Later on, after looking through them, I traded and shared them with so fellow cultivators."
"But just as we were about to return, that Wei Tong had us charge one more ti. We even killed a few Foundation Establishnt Cultivators and collected another pile of jade scrolls. A few of the ones I gave you might have co from that haul."
"What, you finished reading them all last night? I’ve still got about ten more here."
Seeing how casually Zhang Yuan spoke, his expression calm, Fang Qingyuan asked again,
"Why do you want so many Jade Scroll Techniques? So of the techniques inside are pretty taboo."
Zhang Yuan froze for a second, then said in surprise,
"Senior Brother, you’re actually reading them as Cultivation Techniques? We just treat these jade scrolls like Erotic Paintings, sothing to critique for a bit of fun. Life on the battlefield is grim, so it’s just a small diversion. We’re from a prestigious sect; we might glance at these techniques for the novelty, but they’re beneath our notice."
At this, Fang Qingyuan imdiately declared with conviction,
"Junior Brother speaks the truth. We should only look at them critically. What kind of Cultivation Technique could our Beast Taming Mountain possibly lack? These unorthodox thods are hardly fit for polite company."
The mont Fang Qingyuan finished speaking, the two of them looked at each other and burst out laughing, quickly adding:
"Just for critique, nothing else."
"Exactly! We must critique them thoroughly!"
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