Beast Taming: I Have an Immortal Mansion

Chapter 302 - 242: A Demon Cultivator Appears

Ever since arriving in the Iron Wind Islands, Fang Qingyuan had avoided conflict and battle. This wasn’t because he was afraid of clashing with others, but because he worried that a high profile would make it easy for people to figure out his origins.

But now, he had no choice but to act. Still, Fang Qingyuan refrained from using his signature Cultivation Techniques. He simply had his Water Spirit Xuanwu reveal itself in secret, using it to cast Water Daoist Skills.

As Fang Qingyuan’s cultivation level had grown, his total Magical Power had increased substantially, and his Five Elements Spirit Seeds had also benefited greatly.

The most outstanding among them was the Wood Spirit Fish Dragon, and the second was this Water Spirit Xuanwu.

Furthermore, some time ago, Fang Qingyuan had spent eighty Top-grade Spirit Stones to forcefully purchase Tier Three Spiritual Materials suitable for the Water Spirit Xuanwu’s growth from Jia Changqing, letting it devour them. Now, the Water Spirit Xuanwu’s intelligence had soared, allowing it to stand out from the other four spirits.

The most obvious external change was a Daoist Technique so profound that Fang Qingyuan himself had not mastered it: Water Dragon’s Roar. Yet, it had become the Water Spirit Xuanwu’s specialty.

The body of the Three-Clawed Water Dragon was continuously filled by the seawater below. The dragon’s tail was connected to the ocean, and torrents of water surged into its body. This water was compressed by immense Spiritual Power, gradually changing its texture and turning the originally transparent water dragon an increasingly deep black.

A terrifying Spiritual Pressure emanated from the water dragon’s body. Wan Sancai, caught in the dragon’s grasp, was too frightened to speak.

’Is this the combat power of a Foundation Establishment Cultivator? It’s truly terrifying. But for some reason, compared to the Daoist Techniques of other water-attribute Foundation Establishment Cultivators, Brother Jia’s seems even more powerful.’

Wan Sancai silently contemplated the divine might of the water dragon above him, while the Cyan Stone Bone Fish, directly facing the power of the dragon’s claws, was having a much more visceral experience.

As the water dragon’s claws reached for it, the gem on the Cyan Stone Bone Fish’s forehead flashed. A bone-chilling ray of light shot toward the dragon’s claws.

This was the Cyan Stone Bone Fish’s Innate Divine Technique, capable of freezing all things. However, given this particular fish’s cultivation level, it could at most freeze the sea’s surface in a hundred-meter radius. Anything more was beyond its ability.

But against the water dragon’s claws, this power was more than enough. The moment the claws entered the water, they were frozen into a solid block of ice, losing all their fluid motion.

The gem had shown its might, but before the Cyan Stone Bone Fish could feel a flicker of excitement, the water dragon simply trembled. The next moment, the two claws on its chest fell into the sea below, and two new claws grew in their place.

The water dragon was composed of flowing water; it could gather and disperse at will. A mere intent of frost could not freeze its entire body.

Seeing this, the Cyan Stone Bone Fish had a bad feeling. It wisely realized that it was probably no match for this strange creature above.

With a flick of its tail, the Cyan Stone Bone Fish dove with all its might toward the bottom of the sea.

Above, Wan Sancai felt like he was about to be torn apart. Faced with mortal danger, he finally let go of the fishing rod in his hands.

The moment the rod was gone, Fang Qingyuan directed the water dragon to release Wan Sancai. With the man acting as a constraint just now, he couldn’t let the dragon unleash its full power.

Although the Cyan Stone Bone Fish had already dived to a depth of a hundred meters in just a few breaths’ time, within Fang Qingyuan’s mental perception, its every move was still within his senses.

In the pitch-black depths of the sea, a Cultivator’s Divine Sense was severely restricted. The Divine Sense of an Early-stage Foundation Establishment Cultivator, which could extend a hundred zhang, would be compressed to a mere thirty or forty zhang underwater.

But the Bee Queen’s Innate Divine Technique, the Voice of All Things, was unaffected by these limitations.

Fang Qingyuan opened his mind’s perception as wide as he could. In an instant, the Mind Map of thousands of living beings appeared in his mind.

The point of light next to him, flickering between deep and pale yellow, must be the still-shaken Wan Sancai. The numerous other green dots of varying sizes were likely the other Cultivators who had come to watch the spectacle, all of different cultivation levels.

Beneath the sea, the red dot representing the Cyan Stone Bone Fish was rapidly moving away. The light it emitted was far larger than any other creature in the ocean.

Hm?

Just then, among the crowd of green dots, Fang Qingyuan discovered one that was constantly shifting from deep red to light green. This immediately put him on high alert.

Without a change in expression, Fang Qingyuan added this person to his mental watchlist. Then, he pointed a finger at the now even more massive water dragon on the sea’s surface. The next moment, the dragon plunged headfirst into the ocean.

As soon as the water dragon entered the sea, the Water Spirit Xuanwu merged into its body. The Water Spirit Xuanwu had been hiding its presence, having quietly slipped into the water earlier.

With the addition of the Water Spirit Xuanwu, a glint of intelligence appeared in the water dragon’s eyes.

The dragon, now seven zhang long with a body like ancient, dark wood, merely flicked its tail and shot off like an arrow released from a bow, swiftly chasing after the fleeing Cyan Stone Bone Fish.

’It ate three of my Blood Qi Pills. I can’t let it get away that easily.’

...

On Du Feng Cliff, Fang Qingyuan stood in place with his eyes closed, appearing to be in the middle of casting a technique.

In truth, with the Water Spirit Xuanwu in control, the water dragon no longer needed Fang Qingyuan’s personal command.

The reason Fang Qingyuan was acting this way was to lull the hostile stranger into a false sense of security.

Fang Qingyuan was sure he hadn’t revealed his true origins. He hadn’t used his Companion Beast, and the techniques he displayed were purely Water Daoist Skills.

Now that his Five Elements Spirit Root was top-grade, the Cultivation Technique he practiced encompassed all five elements. He could easily pick any one element and put on a convincing disguise.

’I just arrived and haven’t offended anyone. Why would someone harbor such strong hostility toward me?’

Relying on his mind-sensing Divine Technique, Fang Qingyuan secretly began to observe and pry into the other person’s thoughts.

"Report... sacrifice... Water Spirit Cultivator, no background, Loose Cultivator, stranger... my Lord awakens..."

Because the target was also an Early-stage Foundation Establishment Cultivator, Fang Qingyuan was afraid of alerting him, so he could only perceive as passively as possible.

But after listening to the thoughts, Fang Qingyuan was left completely speechless.

Just from the fragments he’d heard, Fang Qingyuan understood. He had been wronged, targeted by a Demonic Cultivator to be captured as a sacrifice for some "Lord" of theirs.

Fang Qingyuan knew there were many Demon Cultivators overseas. The endless ocean was dotted with countless islands isolated from the outside world. Even with the power of the Great Zhou Academy, it was impossible to find every hidden outpost of the Demon Sect on some remote islet.

But to be targeted after being here for only two or three months... wasn’t this a bit too absurd?

’Was I too high-profile? I shouldn’t have acted in front of so many people. A lone Early-stage Foundation Establishment Cultivator with no backing is the perfect prey for these members of the Demonic Dao.’

’And I even dared to stray so far from the Iron Wind Beast Taming Sect’s sphere of influence. What a miscalculation.’

’Hm? No, wait. Could there be something wrong with this Wan Sancai? Did he intentionally get close to me, specifically seeking out a Loose Cultivator like me to befriend, only to lead me to a remote place to become someone’s prey?’

’I was too careless. I saw that Wan Sancai’s cultivation was low, that I could crush him with a single finger, and I let my guard down.’

’Little did I know, the rabbit that lures the fox doesn’t need to be strong, because behind the rabbit is a hunter.’

At this thought, Fang Qingyuan no longer believed Wan Sancai could be innocent. He drove his mind’s perception directly into Wan Sancai’s mind.

Compared to the caution he used when probing the mind of the unknown Foundation Establishment Demon Cultivator, Fang Qingyuan was much more domineering this time. It was so forceful that Wan Sancai felt waves of pain in his head, making him suspect he had injured his brain earlier.

A moment later, Fang Qingyuan found nothing suspicious in Wan Sancai’s mind. He let out a sigh of relief.

’It seems the appearance of that Demon Cultivator was just a coincidence.’

’But no matter what, I can’t delay. The best thing to do is leave now.’

The next moment, the sea below began to roil and surge. A Three-Clawed Black Dragon, black as ink, emerged, clutching a massive fish.

Seeing this, a look of joy appeared on Wan Sancai’s face. But in the next instant, he felt a tightness around his neck, and his whole body was lifted into the air as if soaring through the clouds.

The black dragon had come before Fang Qingyuan and seized Wan Sancai in one of its claws.

Fang Qingyuan expressionlessly stepped onto the black dragon’s head. Carrying Wan Sancai and the dead Cyan Stone Bone Fish, he swept his gaze around, then turned and left without a word.

Watching the black dragon depart, the many spectating Cultivators broke out in sounds of admiration. The scene today would surely be a topic of discussion for a long time.

And within the crowd, a Cultivator with an unremarkable face tensed up, then also quickened his pace and flew away from the area.