Chapter 581 - 403: Swallowing Clouds and Spitting Mist

The wind and rain raged, blurring the world in a hazy mist. Water vapor billowed out from within the Immortal Mansion, blanketing an area dozens of miles wide in a dense fog.

This was a sight not seen on ordinary days, and it had all started after Yinbao awoke.

Within the clouds, Yinbao’s two massive eyes, veiled by the mist and vapor, shone like a pair of giant lanterns, their golden-yellow light piercing through the fog.

Nanli instinctively shook the moisture from her body. As a Fire-Attribute Demon Beast, she was not fond of this climate.

Fang Qingyuan stood before Yinbao’s head. Looking at the magnificent giant prostrated before him, its head bowed in submission, he couldn’t help but feel a pang of nostalgia.

His old, gluttonous, and lazy companion, who loved nothing more than feasting on Pig Fish in his spare time, now possessed the majestic air of a great demon beast.

Upon awakening this time, Yinbao’s Cultivation Realm had impressively reached the Late-stage Foundation Establishment. Perhaps because it had always evolved while slumbering within the Immortal Mansion, after several ordinary advancements and being baptized by the mansion’s Exotic Spirit Qi, Yinbao had finally awakened an Earth Tier Upper Grade Lifebound Talent.

[Summoning the Mists: An Earth Tier Upper Grade Talent. Can conjure a dense fog that spreads over a hundred-mile radius. It can confuse the Divine Sense of any Cultivator besides the user and slightly enhances the power of allied Water Attribute Techniques.]

It was a buff-type Divine Technique perfectly suited for a Battle Array. A Lifebound Talent with a hundred-mile radius was exceedingly rare in the Cultivation Realm.

Fang Qingyuan hadn’t expected Yinbao to awaken such a battlefield-oriented Divine Technique. ’If two armies were facing off and I had Yinbao suddenly use this, the enemy would be caught completely off guard. With their vision obscured, they would definitely suffer a massive loss.’

It was essentially a fog of war. Fang Qingyuan also discovered that as Yinbao’s Master, their minds were linked. He could see through the hundred-mile-wide fog with perfect clarity. In other words, the battlefield mist had no effect on him.

After its advancement, Yinbao’s size had surged. It was now thirty zhang long—a hundred meters—and over eighty meters wide. Factoring in its long, slender tail, Yinbao was a colossal demon beast nearly two hundred meters in total length.

Marine creatures were often massive, but even in the Outer Sea’s Land Realm, a beast of Yinbao’s size ranked among the largest giants at the Late-stage Foundation Establishment.

Compared to other Flying Manta Rays of the same rank, Yinbao was easily twice as large. A normal Flying Manta Ray would look like an underdeveloped runt next to it.

Yinbao’s evolution from a Flying Manta Ray of mediocre aptitude to its current state was not just due to Fang Qingyuan’s dedicated nurturing; the Immortal Mansion was the true catalyst.

"Come on, old friend! Show me what you can do!"

Fang Qingyuan stood atop Yinbao’s head, like a single drop of ink on a vast scroll of paper. Yet, that single drop was an undeniable, eye-catching presence.

Receiving Fang Qingyuan’s signal, Yinbao gently spread its massive wings, and its enormous body lifted off the ground, soaring into the sky.

Amidst the boundless clouds and mist, Yinbao seemed even more at ease. As its body shot forward, Fang Qingyuan felt an exhilarating, lightning-fast rush.

However, the Immortal Mansion’s domain was only about fifty or sixty miles across, hardly enough space for Yinbao to fly to its heart’s content. After Fang Qingyuan led it in a few laps, Yinbao returned to its starting point, still eager for more.

By now, the fog lingering in the air was beginning to dissipate. It seemed a single use of [Summoning the Mists] could be maintained for about two hours.

Based on Yinbao’s energy consumption, Fang Qingyuan calculated that it could use this Divine Technique three times in quick succession. Any more than that would begin to drain its life-force.

The recovery period was three days, meaning it could regain one use per day. That recovery speed wasn’t slow at all.

Fang Qingyuan dismounted from Yinbao, delighted. He savored the feeling of riding his beast, so different from a flying shuttle. Compared to the leisurely comfort of the Qingyun Gangfeng Shuttle, riding Yinbao was a wild, unrestrained experience.

The feeling of being enveloped in mist, of dense Water Spiritual Power surging with every breath, was intoxicating to Fang Qingyuan.

’Truly a top-tier luxury mount in all of White Mountain,’ he thought. ’A flying mount of this size... which other Sect Leader in White Mountain could possibly possess one?’

"Come with me. The Immortal Mansion is large, but it’s not the sky where you’re meant to soar. The vast world outside is your true domain."

On the back mountain of the Qingyuan Sect, Fang Qingyuan released Yinbao into the misty clouds. Its enormous body emerged, and it let out a triumphant cry that echoed throughout the entire sect, announcing to its many mates that Yinbao was back.

......

Yinbao’s whale-like call piqued the curiosity of Tu Dai’Er and Qiqi’s party, who were temporarily staying at the Qingyuan Sect. But unlike the reserved Tu Dai’Er, Qiqi, along with the great brown bear Xiong Ba, headed for the back mountain. She wanted to see this behemoth with such a powerful presence and immense lung capacity.

But just as Qiqi reached the back mountain, Fang Qingyuan intercepted her. He looked at Qiqi perched on the great brown bear’s shoulder and smiled.

"Qiqi, your timing is perfect. I have a favor to ask. In fact, I was just about to come looking for you."

Stopped by Fang Qingyuan, Qiqi tilted her head, a curious look on her face. She asked quizzically:

"What is it?"

Fang Qingyuan took a letter from his robes and handed it to her. After Qiqi painstakingly read through it, pointing at each character with her claw, her expression changed to one of realization.

"It’s him! So he’s the one who’s been doing this in secret... Killing beasts to steal their souls. How utterly vicious!"

Anger flashed across Fang Qingyuan’s face as well. He said sternly:

"People like him are the shame of the Beast Taming Sect. We have always held demon beasts and Spirit Beasts in high regard. Acting so unscrupulously tarnishes the Beast Taming Sect’s name. For the sake of all the beasts in the Barbaric Wilderness, we can’t let him continue."

Fang Qingyuan’s righteous indignation made it seem as if he had never done such things back in the Outer Sea. Firmly believing in the principle of ’that was then, this is now’, his denunciation of Hao Shi was severe and sanctimonious.

However, Qiqi appreciated his stance. She held a deep-seated hatred for Hao Shi, the one who had killed Dabai. Fang Qingyuan’s declaration was also a calculated move to strengthen their alliance.

Any relationship requires effort from both sides; one-sided enthusiasm is never sustainable. Even though Bear Wind had chosen to merge with the Qingyuan Sect, it didn’t mean their relationship was seamless. To achieve true trust, where there was no ’us’ versus ’them’, both parties had to make a significant effort.

"What do you need me to do?"

Qiqi took the initiative, asking for his plan. The fact that Fang Qingyuan had shown her the letter proved he already had a scheme in mind for Hao Shi.

"We’ll lure the snake from its hole. For the sake of high-quality beast souls, Hao Shi has been hunting all over the Barbaric Wilderness, thinning out most of the valuable demon beasts in the area. He’s been marked in your territory because of what happened to Dabai, so he doesn’t dare return. But if one of you were to be spotted alone... I’m certain that once he learns of it, he won’t pass up such a golden opportunity."

High-quality Spirit Beasts weren’t like cabbages, with a new crop every year. A demon beast worthy of Hao Shi’s attention would typically need to mature for at least a century.

Hao Shi has already harvested one crop of demon beasts around Moyun Valley. If he wants to find more rare specimens, his only choice is to poke around Bear Wind’s territory.

However, Fang Qingyuan had underestimated Hao Shi’s audacity. Hao Shi was already making clandestine moves within Bear Wind’s territory, but since he had just begun, he hadn’t yet attracted the attention of Golden Core Demon Beasts like Qiqi.

"I see. In that case, I’ll be the bait myself. If we manage to draw out Hao Shi, I’ll have to ask Sect Leader Fang not to hesitate to strike."

Fang Qingyuan was overjoyed to see Qiqi, a Late-stage Golden Core demon beast, volunteer to be the bait. Qiqi’s cultivation had already reached Golden Core Perfection. Even if she couldn’t defeat Hao Shi, who was at the Eighth-Layer Golden Core, she wouldn’t be taken down immediately.

She could at least hold on long enough for Xiong Ba and the other Golden Core Demon Beasts to arrive, not to mention aid from Fang Qingyuan and reinforcements from Bear Wind.

Although Hao Shi’s Cultivation Realm was lower than Qiqi’s, their actual combat strength couldn’t be judged by that alone.

As a disciple of the Beast Taming Sect, Hao Shi was far more powerful than any Loose Cultivator or member of a Minor Sect at the same cultivation level.

The resources and training of a Major Sect Disciple made them several, or even more than ten times, stronger than a cultivator from one of the Minor Sects.

A real case from thirty years ago proved this: more than ten Golden Core Loose Cultivators from the Outer Sea had ambushed a single disciple from the Beast Taming Sect, only for him to kill three of them before escaping unscathed. That alone was enough to show the true combat strength of disciples from powers like Qi Yun or the Beast Taming Sect.

In the Barbaric Wilderness, a Golden Core Demon Beast like Qiqi could dominate her own territory thanks to her Lifebound Talent, but against a Beast Taming Sect disciple like Hao Shi, she had no real chance of victory.

In terms of combat power, Hao Shi would overwhelm Qiqi. Qiqi, in turn, could match a Golden Core from the White Mountain Spirit Wood Alliance or the Li Huo Alliance. At the very bottom of the hierarchy were the White Mountain Loose Cultivator Golden Core Cultivators.

And if one were to ask where Fang Qingyuan ranked in all this? He was, without a doubt, in a tier of his own at the very top.

Seeing Qiqi agree, Fang Qingyuan showered her with praise, causing her to blush slightly.

Having settled the matter, Qiqi no longer mentioned seeing Yinbao and turned to leave.

After she and the great brown bear had departed, Fang Qingyuan secretly clenched his fist. ’Everything is proceeding according to plan,’ he thought. ’I just hope there are no more unexpected hitches.’

......

「Half a month later.」 The semi-annual grand auction at the Black River Marketplace was held as scheduled.

The Black River Marketplace sorted the attending sects into three tiers. Sects possessing Foundation Establishment Cultivators were designated third-class, while Golden Core Sects were second-class. Only Nascent Soul Powers were considered first-class.

Fang Qingyuan arrived with Qiqi and Xiong Ba. With three Golden Core-level combatants in their party, they were assigned a high-end, second-class private box.

Inside the private box, Qiqi and Xiong Ba looked all around, intrigued by their new surroundings.

Ever since leaving the Barbaric Wilderness to follow Fang Qingyuan, Qiqi had been filled with immense curiosity. Having grown up in the wilds, everything about the human world was novel and fascinating to her.

The private box was a spacious one hundred square meters. Inside the vast room were only Fang Qingyuan, Qiqi, and Xiong Ba, who had shrunk himself down to the size of a single zhang.

When a serving girl entered with refreshments, she was nearly scared witless by the ferocious, demonic aura radiating from Xiong Ba.

Untamed by humans, the demonic auras of Qiqi and Xiong Ba were incredibly potent. To certain individuals, this was a deadly temptation.

For example, in a first-class box to their left, Hao Shi stood beside Chunyu Hua, his nostrils twitching unconsciously.

His gaze then pierced through the barriers separating the boxes, locking onto Fang Qingyuan’s location.

In response, Fang Qingyuan cast his own gaze outward. Separated by layers of Spiritual Material Arrays, the two of them sensed each other’s presence for the very first time.

The Voice of All Things, his Divine Technique, was powerful enough for Fang Qingyuan to bypass the obstruction of the Arrays and discover Hao Shi’s presence.

Hao Shi, in turn, used some kind of Innate Divine Technique to sense Qiqi’s presence.

Sensing this, the corners of Fang Qingyuan’s mouth curled into a smile. ’It looks like the fish is about to take the bait.’