Chapter 666 - 452: A Couple of Mishaps

When Fang Qingyuan sent all the various broken Magical Artifacts from the Storage Room into his Immortal Mansion, a countless assortment of junk suddenly rained down from the sky. It landed on a patch of black soil in a remote corner of the mansion, an area devoid of any Spirit Plants.

A Magic Sword broken into seven or eight pieces, the tip of a blade, a single remaining fragment of a Golden Bell, banners riddled with large holes and nearly shredded into tatters... all of it was now being dumped in this desolate place like garbage.

In no time, a small mountain of junk had formed. The various broken Magical Artifacts still shimmered with a final glimmer of Spiritual Light, a testament to their once extraordinary quality and immense value.

However, they were too severely damaged; the cost of repairing them would be enough to buy brand-new replacements. Thus, the ultimate fate of these broken Magical Artifacts was to end up here, to fulfill one final purpose.

Once the sky was clear and no more broken Magical Artifacts were being dumped, a rustling sound suddenly emanated from burrows in the surrounding wasteland. A moment later, hundreds of mutant rat beasts, each the size of a hunting dog, crawled out from their underground caves.

Under the command of their leader—the largest of the pack—the swarm of mutant rat beasts worked with clear purpose. Each one moved forward, grabbed a different broken Magical Artifact, and began dragging it back toward its burrow.

The rat beasts worked together in small groups, and with their combined effort, they quickly finished divvying up the small mountain of broken Magical Artifacts.

Among them were pairs of rat beasts as well. One such pair consisted of a black one and a white one, one large and one small. The black one, massive as a wolfhound, was missing an ear. The white one was slightly smaller, its belly was swollen, and it had a slight limp in its hind leg.

The black rat beast appeared to be the male. He carried an extremely heavy broken Magical Artifact on his back and, with the help of his mate, hurried toward their burrow.

After passing through a rugged tunnel, dozens of meters underground, a cavern spanning several dozen square meters opened up before them.

The male rat beast then deposited the fragments of the broken Magical Artifact he had been carrying into a pit that had been dug out for this very purpose.

As the Magical Artifacts fell into the pit, a dense wave of Spiritual Qi burst forth. Like a furnace fed fresh firewood, it began to fiercely vent Spiritual Qi.

At that moment, sensing the dense Spiritual Qi, the two mutant rat beasts snuggled together, quietly enjoying the tranquility. At the same time, their bodies began to absorb the Spiritual Qi radiating from the pit. The white female’s belly twitched from time to time, as if the life gestating within could also feel the nourishment of the Spiritual Qi.

But this was only a small fraction of the escaping Spiritual Qi. The vast majority of it traveled through an extensive underground network, transmitted to a distant location.

This same scene was playing out in the burrows of various other mutant rat beasts. At this moment, each of the deep underground dens acted like a powerful engine, generating a ceaseless flow of Spiritual Qi.

Above this graveyard of broken Magical Artifacts, a massive Array enveloped the area, encompassing all the burrows within. Due to the sudden surge in Spiritual Qi, the Array’s Protective Shield flickered incessantly, revealing its complex patterns.

「...」

Immortal Mansion, Purple Bamboo Forest, center of the beehive.

The Bee Queen’s colossal body came to a halt before a section of the Purple Bamboo Forest. Many large bees flew around her, their flapping wings collectively holding open several books. A pen hovered over each book, writing automatically under the Bee Queen’s control of her Spiritual Power.

"Experiment Log #30. Regarding the catalytic effect of Yinbao’s new Lifebound ability on Purple Bamboo Species No. 1. Record as follows: Growth acceleration effects are as follows..."

High above, Yinbao’s massive body floated over the Purple Bamboo Forest, casting a great shadow below. For such a majestic beast, its expression was surprisingly fawning.

"Anything else you need, Sister Ruoxi? I’ll do whatever you say. Use my Lifebound Talent on the Jade Sound Bamboo to the east, you say? Alright, consider it done!"

The Bee Queen, Fang Ruoxi, nodded in satisfaction. She commanded her subordinate bees to turn the page of another book and continued to write:

"Analysis of Yinbao’s temperament and behavior post-Golden Core ascension is as follows: Some Spirit Beasts develop a delusional arrogance from a rapid increase in power. However, after several days of testing, Yinbao has not exhibited this issue. Next, I will test the level of inflation in Yinbao’s mating drive. I hope he can endure this test..."

A few days later, the page in that book was turned, and on it was written:

"Due to his excessively large size, the mating drive test was a failure. Yinbao is exhibiting a pronounced sense of frustration. Perhaps I should suggest to the Master that he strive to solve this issue for Yinbao’s physical and mental well-being. My thoughts are as follows: have Yinbao comprehend the Wishful Size Divine Techniques—hopefully, Jinbao can teach him after waking up. Alternatively, we could cultivate a female of his species capable of barely meeting Yinbao’s needs. If all else fails, we should consider searching for a suitable partner at the Beast Taming Sect’s Main Mountain..."

While the Bee Queen was pondering Yinbao’s problem, a red-covered book beside her was automatically recording the status of the Spiritual Silkworms:

"Since the day the Master invoked the Immortal Mansion Sun, absorbing Immortal Mansion Primordial Qi to heal Yinbao, the recovery rate of the Primordial Qi within the Immortal Mansion has been steadily decreasing. It is estimated that it will take another two months for the Primordial Qi concentration to return to its previous level. As a result of this incident, the time it will take for the Spiritual Silkworms in the two hundred and four silkworm houses to spin their silk and form cocoons must be extended. The Spiritual Silkworms in the one hundred and three silkworm chambers will require larger portions of mulberry leaves and Growth Pill Liquid..."