diskusbooks Chapter 157 - 135: Bee Queen’s Advancement 2
Chapter 157 - 135: Bee Queen’s Advancement 2
Fang Qingyuan ignored Zhao Laqian and said, "Two thousand will do. Give them to me first."
"Suit yourself. Come on, let’s go to the Storage Room and get the Spirit Stones."
Fang Qingyuan and Zhao Laqian went one after the other to an underground area that had been completely excavated. Besides a single Storage Room, the vast subterranean space also contained several other buildings.
This place, also built by the She Family, was still just a basic structure, with more construction planned for later.
The Storage Room was jointly managed by Fang Qingyuan and Zhao Laqian. Fang Qingyuan took out his Array Token, combined it with Zhao Laqian’s, and pressed them against the door. The entrance to the Storage Room opened automatically.
Inside, the Storage Room, which spanned half a mu, now held only a single, solitary chest. That chest contained this month’s profits.
He took out the chest, closed the Storage Room, and retrieved two thousand Spirit Stones for his storage pouch before turning to leave.
Zhao Laqian was responsible for delivering the remaining Spirit Stones to the She Family and Lechuan. Although the amount was small, it was their first profit—enough to boost morale.
Carrying the Spirit Stones, Fang Qingyuan returned to Yuanling Mountain. The Marketplace was only about twenty or thirty li from Yuanling Mountain, and Fang Qingyuan made the flight in less than half a quarter-hour.
During the flight, Fang Qingyuan had to hold Jinbao by the scruff of its neck; otherwise, it wouldn’t have fit on his small flying sword.
After arriving at Yuanling Mountain, Fang Qingyuan summoned all the Cultivators currently on the mountain and announced, "For the time being, none of you are to leave the mountain. Focus on your cultivation here and strive for an early breakthrough."
As soon as Fang Qingyuan finished speaking, the three people below him showed different expressions. Zhang Yuan looked gloomy, Liu Xun was nervous, and Qu Wujie remained expressionless.
There was also Jiang Wanqin, who had a Middle-grade Water Spirit Root, but the child was not yet three years old, so there was no point in telling her these things.
Then, Zhang Yuan asked sullenly, "Is this about Shen Wenyan causing trouble?"
Fang Qingyuan said in surprise, "Junior Brother, what made you think of him? After Shen Wenyan made those threats last time, I used the Yuanling Square Marketplace’s cut for Lechuan as leverage to have Lechuan discipline him a bit. The man is behaving himself now; he won’t dare to stir up trouble for the next few years."
Zhang Yuan sneered. "You can’t be so sure. Senior Brother, you can’t place all your hopes on them staying their hand. If Shen Wenyan sneaks over to cause trouble for us, Lechuan might not intervene again. He’s already getting his cut from the Marketplace, after all. Besides, in terms of status, Shen Wenyan is far more important to Lechuan than we are."
After a moment of thought, Fang Qingyuan nodded. "I understand. We’ll discuss this matter later. What I wanted to talk about is a problem that has arisen in the Wilderness Forest. I received news from Zhao Liangde that after the last Golden Core Demon Beast reveals itself, it might break through the blockade and head for the Death Swamp."
"Yuanling Mountain is right on the path between the Wilderness Forest and the Death Swamp. If that Turtle Demon really intends to go to the Death Swamp, there’s a high probability it will pass right through here. That’s why I’m telling you all to be careful and stay within the mountain gates."
At this, Liu Xun, who was standing to the side, asked, "Mountain Master, didn’t you say the Beast Taming Sect had many Golden Core Cultivators this time? How could they let a single Turtle Demon break through?"
Liu Xun was now twelve years old. He had a refined face and a scholarly air about him. He was already trying to participate in adult discussions and voice his own opinions.
Looking at the boy, Fang Qingyuan remembered the scene of testing his Spirit Root when he was just a swaddled baby. ’In the blink of an eye, the child has grown so much.’
Pushing aside these thoughts, Fang Qingyuan explained, "The Golden Core Cultivators hired by the Southern Border Beast Taming Sect all left after killing three Golden Core Demon Beasts at the start of the battle. They all have matters to attend to in their own sects. The only ones left guarding the front line are a single Golden Core Cultivator from the Ancient Grassland and Lechuan’s Companion Beast. That Golden Core Demon Turtle is extremely cunning. I think there’s a high chance our Golden Cores won’t be able to stop it."
After hearing this news, they all nodded in understanding. Seeing this, Fang Qingyuan didn’t press the issue further. Instead, he went to the core of the Mountain Protection Array and poured a large number of Spirit Stones into it, setting it to operate at full power.
Fang Qingyuan only told Zhang Yuan and the other two about the possibility of the Golden Core Demon Turtle passing through. As for the people in Yuanling Square Marketplace, he didn’t notify them one by one.
The matter was ambiguous, merely a guess, and it was also a secret of the Southern Border Beast Taming Mountain. Fang Qingyuan didn’t want to make it public knowledge.
Besides, it would take a Golden Core Demon Beast a lot of time to break a high-grade Tier Two Array. By then, the pursuers from Beast Taming Mountain would have long since caught up.
’Still, I have a question,’ Fang Qingyuan thought. ’Why isn’t this Golden Core Demon Beast following its leader’s example and heading deeper into the Wilderness Forest? Why is it trying to cross the Barbaric Boundary Line, traverse human territory—the Land Realm—and go to the Death Swamp?’
’What’s so special about the Death Swamp that a Golden Core Demon Beast would take such a huge risk?’
These questions plagued Fang Qingyuan’s mind, and he couldn’t figure them out for the life of him. Since he couldn’t make sense of it, he pushed the matter to the back of his mind and focused on his cultivation.
As for the remaining rent for the cave residence on Sea Gate Island, Fang Qingyuan had asked Zhang Yuan to make a trip for him after escorting Jiang Kui. He had the residence sub-let to someone else, recovering about seven thousand Spirit Stones.
’Plans really can’t keep up with reality.’ Fang Qingyuan had originally intended to cultivate on Sea Gate Island until he reached the Ninth-Layer Qi Cultivation. But who could have predicted this mess with Jiang Kui? Now, Yuanling Mountain truly couldn’t do without him.
Jiang Kui had been back in the Qi Yun Territory for several months. During this time, she had, as she’d hoped, found a way to dissipate the poison: by exchanging Spiritual Power, she could slowly release the toxins into a Spiritual Water Pool.
However, this method was a matter of slow, patient work. It would take decades to completely purge the poison from her body.
A faster solution would require a Tier Four Jade Dew Dust Cleansing Pill. Fang Qingyuan was also asking around about this elixir, but he had no leads so far. Still, it went without saying that a Tier Four Elixir Pill would be astronomically expensive, which was why Fang Qingyuan was so urgently planning various ways for Yuanling Mountain to earn Spirit Stones.
「Three days later.」
No one came to claim the body of the White Mountain Cultivator, so the She Family sent the corpse to Yuanling Mountain and handed it over to Fang Qingyuan.
Fang Qingyuan took the corpse of the Late-stage Qi Refining cultivator, immediately tossed it into the Immortal Mansion, and then dug a pit to bury it.
He had promised to give the man a final resting place, and there was no place in the world comparable to the Immortal Mansion Space. ’Being buried in the Immortal Mansion is a blessing this cultivator earned.’
Now, when Fang Qingyuan’s soul was inside the Immortal Mansion, his soul-body was exceptionally solid, almost looking tangible.
Although Fang Qingyuan no longer had the aid of the other soul fragment, his Soul Dao cultivation had never stopped; he just practiced it less frequently.
By his own estimation, Fang Qingyuan’s soul strength had already surpassed that of She Xuanyan, a Cultivator at Qi Cultivation Perfection. He knew this because on many occasions, he would spot She Xuanyan first, and it would be several breaths later before She Xuanyan noticed him.
Every person’s maximum soul strength was different. Perhaps because Fang Qingyuan’s was a fusion of two souls, his limit was 50 to 100 percent higher than that of a normal Cultivator. Even now, he had yet to feel his own limit.
’This should be a good thing. Increased soul strength allows one to get twice the results with half the effort in cultivation. The chances of a Breakthrough Realm are also much higher than for other Cultivators at the same stage.’
After burying the corpse, Fang Qingyuan went to the Purple Bamboo Forest. The Bee Queen’s condition had been a bit unusual lately, similar to how it was before its last advancement. This filled Fang Qingyuan with both alarm and delight.
He was alarmed because it had only been a few years, and the Bee Queen was already about to advance again. He was delighted because an advancement was, after all, a good thing—the sooner, the better.
Upon entering the hive, he found the Bee Queen, which was over a meter and a half long, lying lazily in its little nook. When it saw Fang Qingyuan arrive, it wiggled its body, made some space, and gestured for him to come lie down with it and enjoy the good life.
Seeing the Bee Queen like this, Fang Qingyuan wanted to slap his forehead. ’Do bees not even need a brain to advance?’
Watching the dazed Bee Queen, Fang Qingyuan sighed, bent down to enter the hive, and lay down beside it.