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

Half Moon Lake, second floor quiet room.

The calming incense was lit, and wisps of smoke rose from it.

Whether Chen Qing was lucky or there were simply no tribulations on this road, he did not encounter any accidents until he could see the outline of Half Moon Lake in the distance, leaving him unsure whether to be happy or disappointed.

Chen Qing sat cross-legged on the futon, took out the Soul-Capturing Jade Slip from his storage bag, and probed it with his spiritual sense, carefully reading it.

The methods recorded in the jade slip are quite exquisite.

True soul-searching techniques require forcibly invading another person's consciousness with one's divine sense. It is brutal and direct, like ransacking a room. The person whose soul is searched will suffer mental damage at best, and die on the spot at worst.

However, this soul-capturing technique takes a completely different approach.

It uses spiritual consciousness as a guide, first using special methods to interfere with the other party's consciousness, causing them to fall into a dazed state, and then taking advantage of the weakness to "retriev" the required information from the surface of the other party's memory.

The whole process was like trying to catch the moon's reflection in water; what was retrieved were only fragments, unable to piece together a complete picture, but it was enough for obtaining information through interrogation.

"The method itself isn't complicated; the key lies in having a sufficiently refined control over one's spiritual consciousness."

Chen Qing read the contents of the jade slip three times to make sure he remembered every detail before putting it down, closing his eyes and concentrating on his spiritual senses according to the method.

Spiritual awareness emerged from between his brows, like fine threads, and slowly condensed in the air.

With a slight thought, Chen Qing's spiritual consciousness transformed into a thin needle, piercing the void before him, then abruptly stopped midway, transforming into a large net that slowly closed in...

It's easier said than done.

Since spiritual consciousness is formless and intangible, one needs extremely precise control over one's own spiritual consciousness in order to change its form at will.

Chen Qing tried again and again, his spiritual consciousness sometimes transforming into fine needles, sometimes into silk threads, and sometimes scattering into countless points of light, flickering uncertainly in the quiet room.

……

Three days later.

In the quiet room, Chen Qing opened his eyes, a glint of shrewdness flashing in them.

In three days, he had almost mastered the Soul-Capturing Technique.

This spell is much simpler than the "Hidden Spirit Technique". After all, the "Hidden Spirit Technique" requires suppressing the aura of the whole body to the extreme. If you relax even slightly, you will reveal a flaw. The Soul-Capturing Technique is more about the skill level. Once you master the trick, all that's left is to practice repeatedly.

"Although I can't yet reach the pinnacle of skill, it's definitely enough to deal with ants weaker than me."

Chen Qing smiled slightly, nodded in satisfaction, put the Soul-Capturing Technique jade slip into his storage bag, stood up and walked to the window.

Pushing open the wooden window, the breeze from the lake blew in, carrying the fresh scent of aquatic plants.

Half-Moon Lake ripples with clear blue water, where blue carp swim leisurely, occasionally leaping out of the water and splashing a spray. In the distance, in the chicken coop by the lake, the pheasants are clucking and scrambling for food.

Chen Qing's gaze swept across the lake and looked south.

Judging by the time, Zhou Ruoqing and Shen Tu Yu's replies should have arrived long ago.

But there has been no news to date.

"They're probably still inside the secret realm and haven't come out yet. I need to take the initiative."

Chen Qing muttered to himself, and with a thought, a light screen that only he could see appeared before his eyes.

[Beast Taming and Immortality System]

[Host: Chen Qing]

[Realm Level: Qi Refining Level 7 (Suppressed to Qi Refining Level 5 by the Concealing Spirit Technique)]

[Contracted Spirit Beasts: Queen Lingming·Qingtian, Red-crowned Crane·Danyu]

[Highlights: 5538]

[Contract slots: 2/3]

[Note: May enhance the host's affinity with mammals]

On the screen, the section for contract slots clearly displayed "2/3".

four years ago.

Chen Qing joined the Beast Taming Peak and has been cultivating the Soul Nourishing Technique for four years now.

Four years ago, when he contracted with Qingtian and Danyu, his soul strength could only support two spirit beasts. But today, four years later, the Soul Nourishing Technique has been nourishing his soul day and night, and now he is finally strong enough to contract with a third one.

Chen Qing withdrew the light screen and began to make plans in his mind.

According to the sect's rules, disciples guarding the border are not allowed to leave their assigned areas without special circumstances.

But is contracting a spirit beast considered a special case?

Of course it's calculated.

The disciples of Beast Taming Peak take contracting with spirit beasts as their foundation. If they are not even allowed to contract with spirit beasts, what kind of path of beast taming are they cultivating?

Chen Qing made up his mind, turned around and went downstairs to the lakeside.

Qingtian was squatting on a blue stone by the lake, holding a well-worn copy of "Romance of the Three Kingdoms" in his hands, reading it with great interest. Every now and then, he would make some gestures on the stone with his little paws and squeak with his mouth.

Dan Yu stood beside her "Nth-hand alchemy furnace," engrossed in studying the alchemy manual Chen Qing had bought for her, completely ignoring Qing Tian's movements.

"Get ready to go." Chen Qing clapped his hands.

Qingtian looked up, his little face full of reluctance: "Going out again? I haven't finished feeding the chickens yet..."

Chen Qing tapped Qingtian on the head: "Go to Yunzhou Market, then return to the sect. It's time to form a contract with our third partner."

Qingtian rubbed his head, his eyes lit up, and he suddenly jumped up from the bluestone: "A new partner? I'm finally going to have a new partner?"

Dan Yu also turned her head, her clear and cold eyes looking at Chen Qing. Although she didn't speak, Chen Qing could feel the hint of curiosity in her mind.

"Don't be too happy yet." Chen Qing smiled. "This round trip will take at least fifteen days. We need to get things settled at Half Moon Lake first."

He walked to the chicken coop and looked at the four or five hundred spirit sheep chickens.

The carp are fine; Half Moon Lake is big enough, so we can just scatter some fish food and they won't go hungry.

But the Lingyang Chicken is much more troublesome.

These guys get restless if they don't eat for a day, they'll cause a ruckus if they don't eat for two days, and if they don't eat for three days, they might even tear down the chicken coop.

Chen Qing stood in front of the chicken coop for a moment, his gaze falling on the horizontal bar above the coop, and he had an idea.

He took out a few planks of wood and a thin rope from his storage bag, and with some other scraps of material, he quickly made a simple automatic dispensing device.

An upside-down bamboo basket had an opening at the bottom, covered by a wooden board. A thin rope was tied to the board, and a wooden stick was attached to the other end of the rope. The stick was placed horizontally above the chicken coop, and a piece of dried meat from a spirit beast hung on it.

If the spirit sheep chickens get hungry, they will peck at the dried meat. When the dried meat moves, the wooden stick will pull the thin rope, the thin rope will open the wooden board, and the feed will fall out of the bamboo basket.

Although it's rudimentary, it should last for about ten days.

Chen Qing then made several more of the same devices, filled the bamboo baskets with feed, and nodded in satisfaction after confirming that the devices were working properly.

He turned to look at Qingtian, about to speak, but found that Qingtian was looking at him with a resentful gaze.

Chen Qing seemed to see the scene of him fooling Qingtian last time, so he quickly coughed and pretended not to see it, then patted the spirit beast bag: "Come in, I'll buy you some good food on the way."

Qingtian gave him a resentful look, but still obediently transformed into a ray of light and disappeared into the spirit beast pouch.

Its red feathers fluttered and took flight, gracefully transforming into a ray of light that followed closely behind.

Chen Qing put the spirit beast bag into his bosom, mounted the dragon-scaled horse, and rode along the mountain road towards Yunzhou Market.

[Third update today, new book recommendation period, please vote, fellow readers~]