Beast Taming Clan: I Have a Jade Book

When it came to Magical Combat, they typically sought out Demon Beasts in the mountain range or sparred among clan members. This naturally harbored hidden dangers, as very few young members of the Ye family had abundant experience in Magical Combat. The only benefit was that over the years, the Ye family’s cultivation of Spirit Medicine and Spirit Beasts, as well as their proficiency in Alchemy and Talisman Refining, had vastly improved.

Ye Qingfeng flew to the foot of a hill in the grassland and stopped. Beside the hill lay an Array. From within it, a Spiritual Sheep flew out. This was a ram, robust and powerful, significantly larger than a typical Spiritual Sheep. Its horns were slightly massive, clearly indicating it was a breeding ram. Upon closer inspection, a Talisman Shadow could be seen on its waist.

”Nephew Yunxuan, your physical Engraving skill is getting stronger and stronger!” Ye Qingfeng praised involuntarily.

Soon after, Ye Yunxuan walked out from within the hill. Compared to a few years ago, he was visibly more reserved, though his face was currently filled with joy.

He replied modestly, ”I merely managed to increase the breeding numbers for some of the family’s Low-Tier Spirit Beasts. I’m still far behind Uncle Qingyan and Granduncle Jingli. Their Spirit Pills and Magical Artifacts are of much greater help to the family!

”However, if this Blood Talisman Skill—which strengthens vitality and enhances breeding capabilities—can be applied to Tier Three Golden Lizards or Flood Dragons in the future, our Ye family won’t have to worry so much about High-Tier Spirit Beasts!” Despite his humility, his eyes were full of anticipation.

He was the only person in the family who had cultivated the Celestial Talisman Profound Body Secret Manual, making him the sole individual capable of Engraving. Although the Ye family now possessed many Spirit Beasts and numerous Beast Valleys, the breeding ability of those beasts worsened the higher their tier. By the time the clan members of the Yun Generation and Teng Generation fully matured, there would inevitably be a shortage of High-Tier Spirit Beasts.

”Here are some Beast Hides and Essence Blood from Tier Three Great Demons. Perhaps they will be of some help to you,” Ye Qingfeng said, taking out a few pieces of hide and handing them to Ye Yunxuan. Many of these Beast Hides had been gifted to her by the Xilu Demon King. Knowing that Ye Yunxuan could use them, she had specifically stopped by to give them to him.

”Thank you, Aunt Qingfeng!” Ye Yunxuan was overjoyed upon seeing them. Although his Engraving skill primarily relied on Essence Blood, he occasionally needed Beast Hides for experiments. After receiving the Storage Bag, he opened it and took out three Spirit Talismans.

”Aunt Qingfeng, these are the Small Celestial Gate Talismans I recently refined. While they aren’t as overbearing as the Tier Four Celestial Gate Talismans, they can still allow you to escape from ordinary Tier Three Arrays,” Ye Yunxuan explained.

Hearing this, Ye Qingfeng felt rather delighted. She praised him a bit more before flying toward the Celestial Phoenix Oasis.

Watching her depart, Ye Yunxuan re-entered the Array. With more than half a year left until the Nascent Soul ceremony, he wanted to conduct further research. He knew very well that once the Nascent Soul ceremony concluded, the Ye family would dispatch a large number of clan members to enter the Central Domain and establish new Restaurants, Pill Pavilions, and Artifact Workshops. At that time, Spirit Beast Meat—something the Ye family currently had in abundance—would likely become scarce.

***

At the Yuanling Oasis, atop the Spirit Mountain, Ye Qingfu had already begun gathering the Cultivators.

Following this Nascent Soul ceremony, the family tournament and the family’s Immortal Ascension Conference would be held. Although the Ye family didn’t have distinct main branches and sub-branches, nor any concepts of an inner and outer family, the various peaks would still compete over Combat Power, the Cultivation progress of their Cultivators, the Four Skills of Cultivation, and the number of Immortal Seedlings.

As a Peak Master of a Sub-Peak, he naturally hoped to see the Yuanling Oasis members outpace the other Sub-Peaks in their Cultivation progress, especially the Sub-Peaks of the other three large oases. Therefore, when it came to the Four Skills of Cultivation, he needed to organize extra training and give special attention to the highly talented seedlings. For those with strong Combat Ability, he needed to arrange more Magical Combat sparring sessions. As for the Immortal Seedlings, they needed to be tested in advance. The quality of the seedlings aside, they couldn’t afford to miss a single eligible child in terms of quantity.

However, after looking around, nothing truly brought Ye Qingfu any joy. He reckoned that the Yuanling Oasis wouldn’t steal the spotlight in this upcoming tournament like before; they would perform averagely at best. In ordinary times, he would have let it slide, but this was his Eleventh Uncle’s Nascent Soul ceremony. In his eyes, such an event only happened once in several centuries.

Right at that moment, a clan member flew over. ”Uncle Qingfu, the Haoyu Oasis has been breached by the Ma family! They found a pair of young Cyan Yang Camels on the oasis.”

The clan member was extraordinarily excited. Cyan Yang Camels were no ordinary creatures; much like Blood Jade Eels, they were highly nourishing Spirit Beasts. Moreover, these Cyan Yang Camels could break through to Tier Three. Ordinary cubs were at Peak Tier One, while the more formidable ones were at the Early Stage of Tier Two. If nurtured to Peak Tier Three and made into Spiritual Cuisine, they could even aid a Purple Mansion Body Cultivator in breaking through to the Golden Core stage.

The Ye family had searched for Cyan Yang Camels for a long time in the past but had never found any leads. For them to appear in a small oasis now was naturally a joyous occasion.

Yet, Ye Qingfu showed little semblance of a smile, his brows furrowed deeply. This left the clan member extremely perplexed.

”Uncle Qingfu, there is a pair of these Cyan Yang Camels. Offering them to the family for breeding will definitely earn us no small amount of merit,” said the clan member, named Ye Yunfei. He was considered an outstanding talent among the Yun Generation.

”Yunfei, do you think it was the Haoyu Oasis that secretly hoarded the Cyan Yang Camels, or is it the Ma family hoarding them?” Ye Qingfu asked. Because the Ye family’s century-long protection period had expired, they no longer offered absolute protection to the oases they had previously distributed. In the past, even after the time limit passed, everyone remained at peace with each other. Now, with the first oasis being breached, it marked the fall of a family that had once been branched out. At the same time, this was likely a signal that the power dynamic among the Desert Sea Oases was about to be reshuffled.

”Uncle Qingfu, are you saying...” Ye Yunfei was not foolish; on the contrary, he was quite clever. He simply lacked experience because he grew up in the Desert Sea. But now that Ye Qingfu mentioned it, he instantly understood. This time, it was likely that the Ma family had succumbed to greed, using the Cyan Yang Camels as a pretext to start invading the oasis.

Most importantly, the Haoyu Oasis wasn’t considered a weak one. Over the years, they had provided the Ye family with a considerable amount of resources and had even earned the family’s praise for their cultivation of Sturgeon Jade Grass.

”Yunfei, the family’s purpose in lifting the protection was to eliminate the families in the Desert Sea that only wanted to slack off and enjoy a comfortable life. But now, it’s clear that some families have grossly misunderstood this intention.”

”Uncle Qingfu, then...”

”First, we give them a warning. Once the Nascent Soul ceremony is over, the family should have a counter-strategy. In the meantime, arrange an auction for some Mountain Protection Array Discs. This will increase the cost of invasion...” Ye Qingfu began making arrangements. However, he also found the situation extraordinarily headache-inducing.

The area around the Yuanling Oasis had the highest number of Affiliated Clans. Over the years, they had developed the Celestial Departure Grassland, raised Spirit Beasts, and cultivated Low-Tier Spirit Tea and Spirit Grass. They had made considerable contributions to the Ye family. Now that trouble was brewing, the Yuanling Oasis was naturally bearing the brunt of it.

Except, the Ye family couldn’t completely put a stop to it either. After all, the Ye family weren’t mindless do-gooders. What they needed were families capable of generating profit for the Ye family. And the three major families—the Ma family, the Wan family, and the Xu family—were currently generating the most profit for them.

Of course, fundamentally, it was because the Desert Sea had been far too peaceful under the Ye family’s order. Such peace was fine during ordinary times, but over an extended period, it could become exceptionally fatal. Without a place for the Ye family to engage in Magical Combat, these other families naturally had few opportunities for it as well. Since no one could venture too deeply into the Demon Beast Mountain Range, conflicts were bound to arise sooner or later.

Ye Qingfu pondered the matter thoroughly, feeling a massive headache coming on. Fortunately, the two Cyan Yang Camels were indeed highly valuable to the Ye family.

***

Meanwhile, atop the Wan family’s Spirit Mountain, Wan Chengjie was also awaiting news. Upon seeing that the Ma family had conquered the Haoyu Oasis, he crushed a Jade Talisman.

This Jade Talisman was the signal for the Wan family to seize oases—not just one, but three. These three were all considered relatively backward oases, lacking resources and housing barely any Cultivators.

Wan Chengjie understood the Ye family’s intentions, and he knew exactly which families the Ye family needed to see decline. Even though these three oases combined couldn’t compare to the Haoyu Oasis that the Ma family had acquired, Wan Chengjie was far more satisfied. He preferred to prioritize caution above all else.

Furthermore, while the Ma family was blindly guessing the Ye family’s thoughts, his Wan family was actively conforming to them. Though both actions constituted invasion, the underlying approach was vastly different.