Beast Taming: I Have an Immortal Mansion-Chapter 63: Another New Year’s Eve

In the Celestial Gate Mountain Marketplace, Fang Qingyuan was haggling with an herb merchant. He took out his freshly picked Seven-Colored Sunflowers and passionately argued his case:

"Why wouldn’t a cultivated one be worth nine Low-grade Spirit Stones? Look at the quality—it’s so full and healthy. And look at the roots, completely undamaged. It’s perfect! I think it’s definitely worth nine Low-grade Spirit Stones."

The merchant listened, a wry smile on his face, and said to Fang Qingyuan,

"That’s exactly why this Seven-Colored Sunflower isn’t worth nine Spirit Stones. Spirit Plants grown in a Spiritual Land have an excellent appearance because the soil is rich and they’re well-tended. However, since they haven’t endured the hardships of the wild, their roots are shallow and short, and their medicinal potency is lacking."

Seeing Fang Qingyuan’s disbelief, the merchant simply took a wild Seven-Colored Sunflower from his storage bag and handed it over for him to examine closely.

Fang Qingyuan took it and saw that the roots of the merchant’s Seven-Colored Sunflower were indeed much longer than his. The roots of his cultivated flower were barely a foot long, while the merchant’s were over three feet.

Although the wild Seven-Colored Sunflower wasn’t as large as his, a fresh, medicinal fragrance wafted from it. Compared to the one grown in his Immortal Mansion, it was clearly far superior.

’Well, so much for that,’ Fang Qingyuan thought. He’d assumed the greenhouse-grown ones would be more valuable, since they were always more expensive in his past life. But he had forgotten that beyond texture and appearance, the most crucial factor was medicinal potency.

And so, Fang Qingyuan gave up on his price of nine Low-grade Spirit Stones per plant and asked,

"Alright, then. I have nearly a hundred of these. If you can give me a fair price, I won’t bother going to another vendor."

In truth, this was already the fourth vendor Fang Qingyuan had approached; he just used the same polite lines on each of them.

The herb merchant didn’t beat around the bush with Fang Qingyuan and stated plainly,

"Seven-Colored Sunflowers from a Spiritual Land normally go for seven Low-grade Spirit Stones. However, you’re selling in bulk, and their appearance really is excellent. How about I price them at seven and a half Low-grade Spirit Stones a piece?"

Fang Qingyuan was mostly satisfied with this price. A single Seven-Colored Sunflower seedling cost him only four Low-grade Spirit Stones. By selling nearly a hundred of them, he could make a profit of almost four hundred Low-grade Spirit Stones.

But remembering the Spirit Ginseng and Wooden Sunflowers he still needed to buy, Fang Qingyuan made a counteroffer.

"I also want to buy thirty Spirit Ginseng and Wooden Sunflower seedlings. If you have them, we can just settle everything at once. Since I’m buying it all from you, you’ll have to give me a little discount, right?"

The herb merchant was all smiles. He looked at Fang Qingyuan and nodded eagerly. A moment later, Fang Qingyuan, with a pained expression, took out three Mid-tier Spirit Stones to cover the difference.

A single Spirit Ginseng seedling was priced at ten Low-grade Spirit Stones, while a Wooden Sunflower seedling went for a steep fifteen. On top of that, Fang Qingyuan bought another fifty Black-stemmed Ophipogons. In the end, not only did he fail to earn any Spirit Stones, he ended up paying three Mid-tier Spirit Stones out of pocket.

Once the transaction was complete, Fang Qingyuan hurried back to his small courtyard with the Spirit Plants and immediately started planting them.

He started with the Black-stemmed Ophipogon, planting one every few meters. Then, near the base of each, but set a little ways off, he planted the Spirit Ginseng and Wooden Sunflowers.

Finally, he cast the Spring Rain Spirit Technique, summoning a light Spirit Rain to nourish the Spirit Plants. In a few days, once the new transplants had adapted to their environment, he could start fertilizing and tending to the soil.

By the time he finished, the better part of the day was gone. Fang Qingyuan looked at the fruits of his labor, his heart filling with a sense of pleasant satisfaction.

In three to five years, these Wooden Sunflowers would bring in another handsome sum of Spirit Stones.

Imagining his future harvests, Fang Qingyuan went into his Quiet Chamber to begin his daily cultivation.

.....

Spring sowing, autumn reaping, summer tending, winter storing—the seasons cycled endlessly. In the blink of an eye, the second year since Fang Qingyuan had awakened his past-life memories had gone by.

The festive atmosphere was muted again this year. Under Lechuan’s leadership, Tianshan Villa was like a wild horse that had slipped its reins, charging forward at a breakneck pace.

According to Lechuan, Tianshan Villa was to be officially upgraded to the Southern Border Beast Taming Sect in the new year. Therefore, all disciples were required to put forth their greatest effort, dropping everything else to throw themselves completely into this endeavor.

However, while Lechuan and his Foundation Establishment Disciples were wholeheartedly devoted to this matter, a few disciples back at the original Tianshan Villa were still secretly slacking off.

"Senior Brother Qingyuan, come try my newly brewed Yellow Rice Wine! I selected five kinds of Spirit Plants and seven different spices, then painstakingly brewed it for three whole years to get this. You have to give it a proper tasting."

In Fang Qingyuan’s courtyard, Zhang Yuan took a jar of Spirit Wine from his storage bag. After breaking the clay seal, he poured a small bowl for Fang Qingyuan.

Then Zhang Yuan turned his head to Jiang Kui, who was sitting nearby, and said,

"Senior Sister, would you like a bowl, too?"

Jiang Kui smiled and waved her hand, politely declining. Seeing this, Zhang Yuan didn’t press the issue and simply poured himself a large, full bowl. He then raised it and said,

"On this New Year’s Eve, the three of us have gathered here for a bit of peace and quiet. I propose we drain our bowls—a toast to this moment of tranquility."

After Zhang Yuan finished, Fang Qingyuan raised his half-full bowl of wine and said in agreement,

"There are fewer and fewer of our martial siblings left in the old Tianshan Villa these days. It’s really just the three of us who are still close. I remember a few years ago, when Dean Jiang was still around, the villa would come alive at this time of year.

"The senior brothers would be competing with their beasts and fooling around, you’d be going around mooching wine, and Senior Sister here was always challenging people to duels, determined to fight every single one of our senior brothers. Eventually, everyone got so scared of you they’d hide the moment they saw you coming."

At the mention of this, a nostalgic look crossed Jiang Kui’s face, but the smile vanished as quickly as it had appeared. 𝒻𝓇𝑒𝘦𝘸𝑒𝒷𝓃ℴ𝑣𝘦𝑙.𝒸ℴ𝘮

Seeing her reaction, Fang Qingyuan sighed to himself. ’It looks like even after almost two years, she still hasn’t come to terms with Dean Jiang’s death.’

Just then, Zhang Yuan asked with a puzzled look,

"So what were you doing back then? For some reason, I can’t recall."

Fang Qingyuan gave a self-deprecating laugh.

"My cultivation had stagnated for years back then. When I saw you, a junior brother who’d joined a year after me, become an Inner Sect Disciple before I did... well, my frustration just kept building. So I didn’t even take New Year’s Eve off. I’d make a brief appearance, then go right back to my Quiet Chamber and lock myself away to cultivate."

Zhang Yuan was taken aback. He truly hadn’t paid much attention to Fang Qingyuan back then. He never would have guessed that the cheerful, gentle senior brother before him held such a difficult memory.

At this thought, Zhang Yuan quickly said,

"Well, that’s all in the past. The here and now is what matters. Come on, drink up."

With that, Zhang Yuan raised his wine bowl and drained it in one gulp, an expression of pure bliss spreading across his face.

Fang Qingyuan, seeing this, only took a small sip. He then looked at Zhang Yuan with a strange expression.

"Did you mess up the brewing? Why is it a little sour?"

Hearing Fang Qingyuan say it out loud, Zhang Yuan’s face fell. He muttered under his breath,

"You don’t get it. One of the supplementary spirit ingredients is sour plum, so it’s normal for it to be a bit sour. Hey, it’s wine. As long as it’s drinkable, it’s good enough."

At this, Jiang Kui, who had been sitting quietly to the side, set down her teacup. Lightly covering her mouth, she couldn’t help but let out a stifled laugh.

Fang Qingyuan shook his head and set the wine bowl down on the table. He got up, went to the kitchen, and brought out a large pot of Medicinal Turtle and Pig Fish stew that had been simmering for hours. He placed it on a fire-based Magical Artifact, then took various Spirit Vegetables out of his storage bag one by one, setting them beside the pot. He then said mysteriously,

"Today, I’m treating you two to something new."

As Fang Qingyuan spoke, a single snowflake drifted down lazily, melting into the pot.

And so, the three of them looked up at the clear night sky, watching the vast, starry expanse and the gently falling snow.