I tamed beasts and achieved immortality in the world of cultivation.

The next morning, Chen Qing got up very early again.

Danyu stood on the wooden shelf by the window. Seeing him wake up, she called out softly and then began preening her feathers.

He looked even more aloof than yesterday.

Qingtian was quite enthusiastic, climbing up from beside the pillow and quickly jumping onto his shoulder, rubbing his fluffy head against his ear and making squeaking noises, whether he was hungry or simply wanted to be pampered.

Chen Qing smiled and patted its head, then took out a green jujube he had picked from Xiao Chunan's yard and handed it to Qingtian. Qingtian took it and squatted on his shoulder, munching on it with relish.

"Let's go."

Chen Qing pushed open the door and went out, Dan Yu spread his wings and followed. The two of them walked along the mountain path toward the "Beast Taming Pavilion" where their senior sister Zhou Wanqing often stayed.

……

At the foot of Beast Taming Peak, there is a wide valley.

The stream meanders through the valley, its waters gurgling. The land on both banks is flat and covered with waist-high grass, with a few old trees dotting the landscape, their branches chirping with birds.

Chen Qing stood at the entrance of the valley, looked around, and nodded in satisfaction.

This place is not far from the area where he and Xiao Chunan usually work. Standing here, you can even see the outlines of several fish ponds in the distance. At this moment, a blue figure is squatting by the pond, scattering something in his hand and occasionally stuffing something into his mouth.

It was Xiao Chunan.

Chen Qing's lips twitched. This guy, even when feeding fish, he doesn't forget to eat. Hopefully, what he's eating isn't the poop of the spirit sheep chicken.

He withdrew his gaze, turned to the three people behind him, and cupped his hands in greeting:

"Thank you for your help, senior brothers."

The leader of the three was Song Yang, who had helped him contract a spirit beast yesterday.

Song Yang waved his hand and laughed, "Junior Brother Chen, you're being too polite. Our Beast Taming Peak is small in number, so it's only right that we help each other out. Besides, the blue carp is a product of Beast Taming Peak, so digging fish ponds is doing a service for the sect. We're just idling around on the mountain anyway."

As he spoke, his gaze fell on Qingtian on Chen Qing's shoulder, and he paused slightly.

"what?"

Song Yang blinked, carefully examined the dusty Qingtian, and then looked at Danyu, who was perched on a rock not far away, preening its feathers with its head held high. A look of doubt appeared on his face.

"Junior Brother Chen, I remember you contracted a red-crowned crane yesterday, how come you have a monkey today?"

Chen Qing smiled and said, "I met him in the Valley of a Hundred Beasts yesterday. We are destined to meet, so we signed a spirit contract last night."

Song Yang suddenly understood and nodded, saying, "I see."

He didn't ask any further questions.

After all, he had witnessed Chen Qing's performance in the Spirit Beast Cave yesterday, which suggested that his soul was powerful.

However, Song Yang felt it was necessary to tell his senior sister Zhou Ruoqing and his martial uncle Shentu about this.

Although the disciples of Beast Taming Peak are blessed by spirit beasts and are generally stronger than their peers, their breakthroughs in major realms are often slow because they need to gradually progress over a period of more than ten years to contract with a spirit beast.

However, Chen Qing was able to contract two spirit beasts in one day, which means that as long as resources are sufficient, spirit beasts will not become a burden for him. In fact, Chen Qing may not be limited to three spirit beasts like them.

The round-faced senior brother and the tall, thin senior brother who came to help dig the fishpond also had the same thought in their minds.

The round-faced senior brother looked at Qingtian curiously a few more times and laughed, "This little monkey looks clever. Junior Brother Chen has good taste."

"Squeak squeak squeak!"

Qingtian seemed to understand the praise. He stood up from Chen Qing's shoulder, puffed out his little chest, and held his three golden hairs even higher.

Everyone laughed when they saw this.

Song Yang clapped his hands: "Alright, let's stop wasting time and get to work."

As he spoke, he reached for a palm-sized storage bag at his waist, and in a flash of inspiration, pulled out a hoe.

However, he took the tools not for his own use.

Song Yang walked up to the grayish-brown armored bear, squatted down, handed it the hoe, and patted its thick paws:

"Little Bear, time to get to work."

The rock-armored bear, with its simple-minded look, took the hoe, gripped it with its two front paws, stood upright, and surprisingly, stood steadily.

The round-faced senior brother also summoned his spirit beast—

A pangolin king with a yellowish-brown body and thick limbs, more than three times the size of an ordinary pangolin, with gleaming scales and claws that gleam with a faint yellowish-brown light.

"Let's go through the mountains."

Upon hearing this, the Pangolin twisted its body and crawled toward the chosen pond site. Wherever it passed, the soil automatically surged to both sides, and in a short while, it dug a shallow pit.

The other tall, thin senior brother's spirit beast was even more direct—

A gigantic ironback tortoise, its shell as black as iron and its limbs as thick as elephant legs, slowly crawled to a spot, its forelimbs digging, sending mud flying, its speed no slower than that of a pangolin.

Song Yang's Rock Armor Bear was not to be outdone, gripping the hoe and digging away. Although clumsy, it had the advantage of great strength, and each shovel stroke could dig up a large clump of soil. Song Yang himself was idle, squatting to the side with his Silver Moon Wolf, taking out a few spirit fruits from his storage bag, munching on them while watching the spirit beasts work.

Chen Qing watched in amazement.

The Pangolin was digging at an astonishing speed; in the time it takes for an incense stick to burn, it had dug out the basic shape of a fishpond. The Ironback Turtle was even more steady and methodical, leaving the bottom of the pond as smooth as a mirror wherever it went. The Rock Bear was slower, but it worked hard and didn't stop even when it was covered in sweat.

"this……"

As Chen Qing watched, he suddenly exclaimed, "Cultivating immortality is truly the primary productive force!"

Upon hearing this, Song Yang turned and laughed, "Junior Brother Chen's words are novel, but they make sense. Aren't the spirit beasts of our Beast Taming Peak the best laborers? When it comes to digging holes, who can compare to the Mountain King? When it comes to moving stones, who can compare to the Rock Armor Bear?"

The round-faced senior brother also laughed and said, "It's just that we have a lot of spirit beasts on our Beast Taming Peak. If we went to another place, it would take ten days to half a month to dig so many fish ponds by manpower alone."

While the group chatted, the spirit beasts worked with great enthusiasm.

……

Two hours later.

Twenty fishponds are neatly arranged on both sides of the stream. Each fishpond is about ten zhang square, with uniform depth, flat bottom, and rammed banks.

The round-faced senior brother stepped forward, made hand seals, and chanted incantations. A beam of spiritual light shot out from between his fingers and entered the pond wall. In a moment, the originally soft soil became hard and smooth, with a faint yellowish-brown luster.

"This is a 'soil stabilization technique,' which can prevent the pond walls from collapsing and also reduce water seepage," the round-faced senior explained.

The tall, thin senior brother walked to the stream, raised his hand, and a stream of water rose from the stream, turning into a water dragon that meandered into the nearest fishpond, filling it to more than halfway in a moment.

He then made a hand gesture, and the water flowed along the pre-reserved ditches between the ponds, into the next one in turn. When all twenty fish ponds were filled, the stream continued to flow gently, and the water level did not drop.

"Water circulation." The tall, thin senior brother clapped his hands. "From now on, Junior Brother Chen only needs to check the water inlet every day to make sure it's not clogged with debris."

Chen Qing was dumbfounded.

Two hours, twenty fishponds.

If this were in my previous life, let alone two hours, it might not even have been enough for two months.

He took a deep breath, stepped forward, and bowed deeply:

"Thank you very much, my three senior brothers! I will remember your kindness today."

Song Yang waved his hand and laughed, "Alright, alright, don't be so polite."

The round-faced senior brother also laughed and said, "If you feel bad about it, junior brother, just treat us to a meal when you raise fish in the future."

"Yes, yes, yes." The tall, thin senior brother nodded repeatedly. "I've long heard that the meat of the blue carp is delicious, and it's expensive in the dining hall. We poor disciples can't afford to buy it."

Chen Qing shook his head upon hearing this.

The benefits for disciples of Beast Taming Peak are among the best in the Lingyun Sect, with an annual salary of thirty spirit stones and occasional extra income.

But two spirit beasts per person isn't enough.

Therefore, while ensuring their cultivation, most disciples have their own side jobs.

For example, Song Yang took on the job of taking care of spirit beasts on Beast Taming Peak; while the round-faced senior brother and the tall, thin senior brother jointly raised more than a hundred Iron-spine pigs. The senior brother who was injured by the Iron-spine pig in Xiao Chunan's words was raised by these two.

However, they are different from Chen Qing.

With the feedback from Qingtian and Danyu, Chen Qing could devote himself fully to fish farming; other disciples of the Beast Taming Peak could only raise fish appropriately while ensuring their cultivation, barely enough to cover their cultivation expenses.

However, the situation improves slightly in the later stages of Qi Refining. At that time, most people will go to the secret realm in groups to obtain resources and train their spirit beasts.

Chen Qing nodded solemnly: "Don't worry, my three senior brothers, the carp will be ready for market in a year. Come and eat as much as you like, there's plenty!"

Song Yang laughed heartily: "That's great! Alright, we won't keep you any longer, let's head back to the mountain first."

The three tidied themselves up, summoned their respective spirit beasts, and headed up the Beast Taming Peak along the mountain path.

Chen Qing watched them walk away before turning around and looking at the twenty shimmering fishponds, a slight smile playing on his lips.

Next, it's time to go find Xu Gui.