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

Chen Qing shook his head with a wry smile and sat down on a rock by the pond.

"As expected, true spirit bloodlines are something that can only be encountered by chance, not something that can be sought after. How could I possibly pull a Kunpeng out of a fishpond so easily?"

He gazed at the school of fish in the water, pondering to himself.

When I first met Dan Yu, there was no option to "purify bloodline (ordinary → a trace of thin crane-like true spirit bloodline)" at the beginning; it only appeared after we signed the contract.

What if he contracts with a blue carp?

Will there also be an option similar to "purifying a trace of Kunpeng's true spirit bloodline"?

Chen Qing thought about the possibility carefully, but quickly shook his head.

That's too risky.

The potential of the blue carp is only at the first-tier low grade, which is the lowest among all spirit beasts. It always sits at the same table as the spirit sheep and chicken when eating at banquets. Even if such an option really appears after the contract is formed, what is the cost of purification?

It takes 100,000 essences to create a trace of crane-like true spirit bloodline from nothingness in Danyu, and 50,000 essences to activate the "Xuanhuang Ancient Ape" bloodline in Qingtian. If this green carp can truly purify the Kunpeng bloodline, it would probably take more than 200,000 essences.

And what if it doesn't?

Then he would have wasted a contract slot. What could he do with a low-grade first-level fish besides eating it?

"That's enough."

Chen Qing stood up and dusted off his robes.

Since the Sky-Wandering Kunpeng has appeared in the history of the Canglan Domain, it means that there must be its bloodline descendants in this world, but he just hasn't found them yet.

Just like the sky.

On the surface, it is just a grayish little monkey, but who would have thought that it has a trace of the bloodline of the "Ancient Xuanhuang Ape" hidden in its body?

and……

Beyond the Canglan Domain, there are countless suddenly appearing secret realms, and perhaps even a wider world.

Wasn't it in the secret realm that Wang Buhuo saw the Youtian Kunpeng from afar back then?

Although those secret realms are dangerous, they are also opportunities, hiding many spirit beasts, and even true spirits, that have long been extinct in the outside world. As long as his cultivation is sufficient, he will be able to go in and explore them sooner or later.

"Take your time looking."

Chen Qing snapped out of her thoughts, turned around, and walked back to the small house by the pond.

Qingtian quickly followed, climbing onto his shoulder in a few moments. Its little paws gripped his collar tightly, as if afraid of being left behind. Danyu, on the other hand, flapped its wings and flew up, landing on the bamboo frame next to the hut, where it began to preen its feathers.

……

The sun was directly overhead.

Chen Qing sat cross-legged on the futon, closed his eyes and began to circulate the "Canglan Technique". Spiritual energy flowed in from the Baihui point on the top of his head, slowly circulating along the meridians and finally converging into his dantian.

In the past two months, Qingtian and Danyu have reported a small but steady increase in their cultivation levels.

With one spirit beast pill every three days, the cultivation level he received from the two spirit beasts each time was roughly equivalent to a whole day of his arduous cultivation. Unfortunately, the two bottles of twenty spirit beast pills were consumed in just one month.

Over the course of two months, the feedback was roughly equivalent to about fifteen days' worth of cultivation progress.

"At this rate..."

Chen Qing silently made the calculations.

He has only broken through to the fourth level of Qi Refining two months ago, and is still far from the fifth level. The further one progresses in the Qi Refining stage, the more spiritual energy is required. It will take at least three to five years of hard work to go from the fourth to the fifth level.

At his current pace, he should be able to break through in about four years.

Four years.

This speed, compared to the entire Lingyun Sect, is neither fast nor slow.

After all, there are still quite a few people with four or five spiritual roots at the bottom...

After selling this batch of blue carp next year and purchasing enough spirit beast pills, Chen Qing expects to shorten the time to three years, about the same as his youngest senior sister, Su Wanwan.

Chen Qing nodded slightly; this speed was already quite good.

After all, it took him nine years to reach the fourth level of Qi Refining, and now he can advance another level in just three years. What more could he ask for?

Moreover, once the blue carp is ready for market in a year, it will bring in several thousand units of essence, which can be used to boost the cultivation levels of Qingtian and Danyu, potentially even within three years.

"The future is bright!"

Chen Qing gave himself a pep talk, calmed his mind, and immersed himself in cultivation.

The spiritual energy slowly flowed into his body, and the shallow pool of spiritual power in his dantian rippled slightly.

……

Spring passes and autumn comes, cold comes and summer comes.

In the blink of an eye, a year has quietly passed.

In the small courtyard halfway up the Beast Taming Peak, the old pine tree and the wind chimes remain the same, but under the old pine tree in the courtyard, there is now an ancient-style alchemy furnace.

The alchemy furnace was about half a person's height, with three legs and two handles. The furnace body was engraved with blurry cloud patterns, and the outlines of some spirit beast patterns could be vaguely seen. However, due to its age, the patterns had been worn away and were not very clear. There were also a few fine cracks on the furnace wall, which had been repaired with an unknown material, making it look quite old.

Dan Yu stood before the alchemy furnace, her slender neck slightly lowered, her eyes intently fixed on the furnace opening, her long beak occasionally probing into the furnace to gently stir the herbs inside.

With that serious demeanor, if he were to wear a Taoist robe, he would look exactly like a seasoned alchemist.

only……

She used the most ordinary firewood, refined the most ordinary mortal herbs, and used a broken alchemy furnace that had been passed from hand to hand countless times.

This scene looks utterly out of place.

Chen Qing sat cross-legged on a futon in the courtyard, watching this scene, and couldn't help but smile slightly.

Qingtian, perched on Chen Qing's shoulder, has grown from two feet long to nearly three feet tall after a year of training and ample nutrition, and his thin frame has become more muscular.

However, it still likes to perch on Chen Qing's shoulder.

Qingtian's golden-brown eyes stared at Danyu, its claws, now larger, gripped Chen Qing's collar tightly, and a bewildered thought crossed its mind:

"What is she doing?"

"Alchemy."

"What is alchemy?"

"...It's something really impressive."

"Oh." Qingtian nodded as if he understood, then rubbed Chen Qing's ear and didn't ask any more questions.

Chen Qing smiled, looked away, and his thoughts drifted back to two months ago.

At that time, he had just sold his first batch of carp.

2000 green carp, the canteen buys them for 5 spirit stones each, so they should sell for 10000 spirit stones.

After deducting the 3200 spirit stones for feed, the estimated 500 spirit stones for chicken manure, the 1000 land rent and 40% commission from Beast Taming Peak, and the 100 spirit stones to repay Zhou Ruoqing, there should have been 1200 spirit stones left.

However, after the carp matured, Chen Qing gave Xu Gui ten carp, and Song Yang, Fang Yuan, and Shi Xiuyuan, the three senior brothers who helped dig the fishpond on Yushou Peak, also each gave him ten carp.

The others, including Shen Tu Yu, Zhou Ruo Qing, Su Wan Wan, other senior brothers and sisters, and Manager Qian of the Hundred Beasts Hall, also sent a lot. In addition, several animals that had suffered from "heatstroke" had to be cooked and fed to Chen Qing, Xiao Chunan, etc. to heal their stomachs.

In the end, 1900 tails were sold to the dining hall, earning 9500 spirit stones.

The cost of chicken manure was less than the 500 spirit stones Chen Qing had expected, only 430, bringing the total to 970 low-grade spirit stones.

Including this year's annual salary of 30 yuan, the total is 1000 spirit stones.

As for the few coins he had left, he had already spent them in small amounts.

After receiving 1000 spirit stones, Chen Qing first went to Danxia Peak to buy ten bottles of spirit beast pills, spending 400 spirit stones. Then he went to Lingyun Market alone, intending to buy a storage bag and find some cheap and good things. However, he saw a pill furnace in an inconspicuous shop.

Forty spirit stones.

This price wouldn't even buy the cheapest entry-level furnace. The shopkeeper said he got it from a rogue cultivator. Although it was in poor condition, it was barely usable. However, without a ground fire starter, you'd have to start a fire yourself.

Chen Qing immediately thought of Dan Yu.

A year ago, when Dan Yu went to Danxia Peak to buy spirit beast pills, he showed a faint interest in alchemy. Later, Chen Qing learned that although Dan Yu did not have a fire spirit root, he could master a kind of spirit fire after reaching the middle grade of the first rank, which was perfect for alchemy.

Although Dan Yu is currently only a low-grade first-level pill furnace, she will eventually advance to a mid-grade pill furnace. Therefore, Chen Qing had long planned to buy a pill furnace for her to practice and familiarize herself with the process.

So he bought back that broken alchemy furnace that cost only 40 spirit stones.

In addition to the 80 spirit stones he bought a four-foot square storage bag, and the 25 spirit stones he spent on buying 2000 fish fry this year, he still had 455 spirit stones left.

This is all of Chen Qing's current assets.

[New book recommendation period, please vote, fellow readers!]