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

The next morning, as dawn broke.

Chen Qing awoke from his meditation, his spiritual energy circulated once, and he felt even more radiant than yesterday.

His cultivation at the fourth level of Qi Refining has been stabilized.

He opened his eyes, glanced at Qingtian who was curled up in a ball by the bedside, and then looked at Danyu who had woken up and was standing on one leg under the old pine tree in the courtyard. The corners of his mouth turned up slightly.

After a quick wash, Chen Qing pushed open the door. Qingtian groggily opened his eyes, and seeing that he was about to leave, he immediately jumped off the bed, darted onto Chen Qing's shoulder in a few quick movements, and squatted down skillfully.

Niwa walked over with elegant steps, her slender neck slightly lowered, and she let out a soft whistle.

"belch--"

"Let's go, it's time to feed the fish today." Chen Qing smiled and led the two spirit beasts down Beast Taming Peak.

……

At the foot of Yushou Peak, beside Chen Qing's fishpond.

Just as Chen Qing finished inspecting the fishpond and was about to feed the fish, he heard footsteps and voices coming from the bamboo forest path not far away. The twenty outer disciples were carrying wooden buckets and walking up the mountain in twos and threes.

Upon seeing Chen Qing, they all bowed and greeted him.

Good morning, Senior Brother Chen.

Good morning, Junior Brother Chen.

Chen Qing returned the greetings one by one, and pointed to another blue brick hut about twenty feet away from the feed hut: "Thank you all for your hard work. Just put it in that blue brick hut."

The disciples put down the wooden bucket, exchanged a few pleasantries, and then turned to leave.

As the footsteps faded into the depths of the bamboo forest, Qingtian poked its head out from Chen Qing's shoulder, sniffed towards the wooden barrels, then scrunched up its little face, squeaked, and burrowed into his neck, letting out another familiar thought—

"Smelly!"

Chen Qing's lips twitched: "...Your nose is quite sensitive."

Dan Yu, standing to the side, silently took two steps back, glanced at the wooden barrels with her black bean-like eyes, then quickly looked away, raising her long neck with an aloof "it's none of my business" expression.

Chen Qing shook his head helplessly.

Well, we can't count on those two big Buddhas.

He turned to look at the twenty fishponds, pondered for a moment, and made up his mind.

"Niwa, you spread the feed."

Chen Qing took a bag of feed from the house, opened the bag, took out just enough for one fishpond, and handed it to Dan Yu.

"it is good."

Dan Yu glanced at Chen Qing and sent him a thought.

It let out a soft cry, stretched out its claws to grab the bag opening, flapped its wings and took off. A flash of light appeared in mid-air, and a small opening appeared in the bag, from which the feed slowly fell into the fishpond like a waterfall.

Seeing this, Chen Qing nodded slightly, rubbed the three golden hairs on Qingtian's shoulder and head, took a small bag of feed from the house, and stuffed it into its arms:

"You help too, scatter these into the other pond."

Qingtian looked down at the feed bag in his arms, then at Chen Qing and Danyu flying in mid-air, nodded vigorously, jumped off Chen Qing's shoulder with the bag in his arms, and ran to the edge of the fishpond in a flash.

Then--

"Snapped!"

The whole bag of feed was turned upside down by the pond, and the feed spilled all over the ground, with most of it falling into the water and a small portion landing on the bank.

"Squeak?"

Looking at the mess on the ground, Qingtian scratched his head, turned to look at Chen Qing, and a hint of guilt appeared in his golden-brown eyes.

Chen Qing: "..."

He took a deep breath, suppressed the twitching at the corner of his mouth, walked over, squatted down, picked up the scattered feed on the shore, put it back in the bag, and demonstrated again:

"Take a small handful at a time and sprinkle it in slowly, don't rush."

Qingtian nodded as if it understood, then reached out its little hand and grabbed a handful of feed, trying to scatter it into the pond like Chen Qing had done. But its hand was too small to hold much, and its movements were clumsy, so the feed was scattered crookedly, with most of it floating on the surface of the water at the edge of the pond instead of spreading out.

Chen Qing watched this scene without showing any anger.

For some reason, although both Qingtian and Danyu were at the lower level of the first rank, their intelligence was vastly different. Danyu was about ten years old, while Qingtian was only at the level of a four-year-old child. He was also thin and weak, only about two feet tall. Although he was a lower level of the first rank spirit beast, he probably couldn't even beat a mortal who knew martial arts.

Chen Qing could only attribute this to Dan Yu's potential as a third-tier low-grade cultivator.

but--

Making them stronger is exactly what he needs to do!

"Don't rush, take your time."

Chen Qing snapped out of his thoughts, patted Qingtian's head, and turned to walk toward the twenty newly delivered buckets of chicken manure.

He lifted the cloth covering the bucket, and a faint, fishy odor wafted out.

Qingtian immediately squeaked and darted to the side, covering his nose and looking at him with disgust.

Just as Danyu finished feeding the fish in the pond and was about to grab the second bag of feed, it looked up and glanced in this direction. Its long neck tilted back slightly, and a hint of disdain flashed in its black bean-like eyes. Then it lowered its head and continued to grab the feed, but its feet moved away from the pond without leaving a trace.

Chen Qing: "..."

He sighed silently, resignedly picked up the wooden bucket, walked to the pond, and evenly sprinkled the chicken manure crumbs into the water. Fortunately, he had raised Lingyang chickens for four years, so this smell was nothing to him.

One bucket, two buckets, three buckets...

As the sun rose higher, all twenty fishponds were finally fed.

Chen Qing stood by the last pond, squatted down, and carefully observed the water quality and the carp fry in the water.

The water was crystal clear, and the fish fry were happily feeding on chicken droppings and feed. They were agile, with smooth scales, and swam freely in the water. No abnormalities were observed.

Chen Qing nodded, relieved.

He stood up, dusted off his hands, and waved to Qingtian, who had somehow climbed to the treetop: "Come down, it's time to go."

"Squeak~"

Qingtian leaped down from the tree and landed lightly on his shoulder. Its furry little hand touched his face, conveying a desire to please him.

Chen Qing smiled and then looked at Dan Yu: "Dan Yu, let's go."

"belch--"

Dan Yu called out and walked over with long, slender steps, stopping beside him with an elegant posture, like a dignified lady.

Chen Qing took out two handkerchiefs and handed one to Dan Yu: "Wipe your paws."

Danyu looked down at its paws, which were covered in feed powder, picked up a cloth with its beak, and carefully wiped them clean. Its movements were meticulous. After wiping, it didn't forget to rub them on the grass by the stream and then wade into the stream to make sure they were clean before it stopped.

Chen Qing's lips twitched slightly.

Is she... a germaphobe?

Chen Qing shook his head, stopped thinking about it, and led the two spirit beasts along the mountain path toward Danxia Peak.