Chapter 328: Spirit Beast

Chapter 328: Spirit Beast

January 24, 2025

Nine Realms.

Outside the capital of Guangyang Prefecture.

A manor quietly appeared.

This was the new residence of the Gu Clan.

Ever since Gu Shengxing took over the management of Gu Family Manor, Gu Qingfeng had found a serene and picturesque location outside the capital and established it as the new base for the Gu Clan.

This task was not a difficult one for Gu Qingfeng. With his influence, he could choose any place in the Nine Realms as the Gu Clan's new home.

Gu Yang, the young master of the Gu Clan, had no choice but to agree.

It is worth mentioning that when establishing the new Gu Clan residence, Gu Qingfeng did not bring over any belongings from the old manor.

Among these items was the Sword Polishing Hall, where Gu Qingfeng had secluded himself for a century. Over the years, the hall had absorbed various profound Daoist energies, making it a rare opportunity for other cultivators.

This was also a chance that Gu Qingfeng left for Gu Shengxing.

The young man's ability to cultivate through martial arts indicated his keen comprehension. The profound Daoist energies in the Sword Polishing Hall might bring him some benefits.

Additionally, the Sword Polishing Hall was also a hidden asset for the Gu Family Manor.

Currently, within the Gu Clan's residence, there were pavilions, towers, and artificial hills with flowing water and pavilions—a peaceful and harmonious scene.

Gu Qingfeng did not hire many servants for the new residence; he only brought along a portion of the most trusted servants from the old manor.

Furthermore, Gu Peng, the former chief of the Outer Hall, had joined the Gu Clan and now served as its steward, a role he had strongly requested. Gu Qingfeng, of course, did not refuse.

"The Gu Clan's new residence is quite nice. Although it's less lively than living in the city, it's much quieter here!" Xu Yulan admired the lotuses and goldfish in the pond, her face full of smiles, clearly pleased with the new environment.

Gu Qingfeng stood by her side, smiling calmly. "It's best if you are satisfied, my dear."

"However, I find this place a bit too quiet. After some time, let's have the younger generations come and live here. It will be livelier with more people around."

Upon hearing this, Xu Yulan nodded. "That's exactly what I was thinking, my dear."

"I haven't seen them in a long time!" Xu Yulan agreed with Gu Qingfeng's suggestion, having thought of something.

At that moment, Gu Qingfeng noticed a golden goldfish swimming towards him, opening its mouth to blow bubbles, and then circling in place as if intentionally trying to please him.

Seeing this, Gu Qingfeng's expression changed slightly.

"This goldfish must have come from the old Gu Family Manor, right?"

"That's right!" Xu Yulan nodded.

"In my free time, I raised some goldfish. But over the years, most of them died one after another. Only this goldfish has remained vibrant and even more intelligent over the decades.

So, when we moved here, I brought it with us."

"Indeed, this fish is quite intelligent and shows signs of transforming into a spirit beast!" Gu Qingfeng nodded slightly.

Ordinary goldfish rarely live beyond a few decades.

The goldfish in the pond had lived longer than the average lifespan of its kind, which was extraordinary.

Moreover, Gu Qingfeng sensed a faint spiritual energy from the goldfish.

As Xu Yulan said, this fish was indeed highly intelligent, and if it continued to grow, it might transform into a spirit beast.

Spirit Beasts!

They were not much different from ferocious beasts.

The difference was that ferocious beasts were bloodthirsty, while spirit beasts retained their spiritual nature.

Therefore, top-tier forces often raised spirit beasts, either as mounts or as a symbol of their sect's heritage.

The Ancient Qin Clan, for example, was known to have powerful spirit beasts that rivaled Saints.

However, Gu Qingfeng had never seen this spirit beast.

But it was undeniable that spirit beasts could be quite useful in certain situations.

After all, cultivators had limited lifespans, while spirit beasts often lived much longer.

So, when Gu Qingfeng saw the goldfish in the pond, he had an idea to raise a spirit beast for the Gu Clan.

He wanted to ensure that the Gu Clan had a hidden asset for the future.

If he were ever absent from the clan, this spirit beast could still play a role.

With this in mind, Gu Qingfeng took out a Vitality Pill and crushed it, sprinkling the powder into the pond.

The goldfish seemed to sense the delicious taste and immediately opened its mouth, greedily devouring the pill's remnants.

In less than a moment, most of the pill's powder had been consumed by the goldfish.

"Good, let's see how much you can take!"

Gu Qingfeng smiled.

This time, he didn't crush the Vitality Pill but instead threw the entire pill into the pond.

The koi, having tasted the sweetness, didn't wait for the pill to sink into the water. It leaped up and forcefully swallowed the pill.

Vitality Pills were consumed by first-tier Body Refinement cultivators, so their medicinal power wasn't too strong.

However, it also depended on who was taking the pill.

To Gu Qingfeng, Vitality Pills were insignificant, and the power they contained was even less useful than his casual breaths.

But for those who had never embarked on cultivation or had just begun, the effects of Vitality Pills were not to be underestimated.

Especially the former.

Taking a Vitality Pill without caution could result in an inability to withstand its power, leading to a fatal explosion of the body.

However...

The koi in the pond swallowed the entire pill and showed no signs of distress, happily blowing bubbles in the water.

This change surprised Gu Qingfeng.

The next moment, Gu Qingfeng's divine sense fell upon the koi, and he immediately discovered the reason.

The koi's body was filled with various spiritual energies, setting it apart from its ordinary kin.

This showed that the koi had been tempered by spiritual energy day and night, and its body had undergone subtle changes.

This was also the reason it could withstand the Vitality Pill.

"Let's see how much you can take!"

Gu Qingfeng took out a batch of Vitality Pills and threw them into the pond, directly feeding the koi.

He had an abundance of these pills in his possession.

Although the Vitality Pills provided by the Attribute Panel were limited, he had obtained numerous pills from other sources.

These pills were so plentiful that Gu Qingfeng could grab a handful at will.

After witnessing the koi remaining active and showing no signs of indigestion even after consuming dozens of Vitality Pills, Gu Qingfeng's curiosity grew.

He wanted to see how far this fish could go.

So, instead of continuing to feed it Vitality Pills, Gu Qingfeng took it a step further and threw a Blood Refinement Pill, used by Blood Refinement cultivators, into the pond.

This time, after swallowing the Blood Refinement Pill, the koi's body swayed unsteadily, as if drunk, no longer as lively as before.

After observing the fish for a while, Gu Qingfeng withdrew his gaze.

He was certain that the Blood Refinement Pill posed no harm to the koi. Its body, tempered by spiritual energy for decades, could withstand the power of such pills.

...

For the next month, Gu Qingfeng frequently came to the pond to feed the fish.

Starting with Blood Refinement Pills, he later fed it Bone Refinement Pills, Bone Marrow Cleansing Pills, and Organ Refinement Pills.

Over the course of a month, the koi underwent a significant transformation.

Its size was three to four times larger than an ordinary koi.

Additionally, its body was robust, and a simple flick of its tail could shatter rocks.

Among a school of koi, calling it the Koi Emperor would not be an exaggeration.

Furthermore, its spiritual intelligence had greatly improved after a month of pill nourishment. Although it was challenging for spiritual beasts to refine the horizontal bone in their mouths and speak human language, it could follow some of Gu Qingfeng's commands.

When the last Organ Refinement Pill was thrown into the pond and landed in the fish's belly, the koi suddenly stopped moving in the water. Its scales dimmed at a visible rate.

Then, one by one, the scales fell off, and new ones grew in their place.

Unlike the previous scales, the newly grown ones appeared more lustrous and full, resembling a golden battle armor, making the koi seem more majestic.

Moreover, the two whiskers on the koi's mouth had grown slightly longer.

The entire fish now looked distinct from ordinary koi.

At that moment, the koi suddenly opened its mouth, and a beam of light shot out, heading towards Gu Qingfeng.

He extended his palm and caught the beam of light, feeling a cool and smooth sensation. When he opened his palm, he saw a golden scale lying peacefully.

This scale was different from ordinary ones.

It was golden, with traces of crimson red, and its texture was exceptionally hard.

This was the strongest and hardest scale the koi had just shed, condensed from the essence of its entire body.

Or, one could say, it was an inverse scale.

However, such a degree of reverse-scale power was useless to Gu Qingfeng, but for ordinary cultivators, this was still quite a good find.

Especially when refining protective gear, mixing in these scales could improve the grade of the equipment.

"From today onwards, you shall be named Li Huang!"

Gu Qingfeng gave it a name.

Li Huang!

It was the emperor among the koi fish.

Legend has it that koi fish could leap over the Dragon Gate and transform into a true dragon of the Nine Heavens.

But regarding this legend, Gu Qingfeng was unsure of its truth.

At the very least, he had never seen any so-called Dragon Gate.

As for the koi fish before him, how far it could grow, Gu Qingfeng had no idea.

However, for now...

After a month of abundant dan pills, the koi fish in the pond was no weaker than an average Refining Organs Realm cultivator in terms of strength.

But at the moment, besides discovering that this koi fish had a robust physique and profound spiritual awareness, Gu Qingfeng had not found any other abnormalities.

Hearing Gu Qingfeng's words, Li Huang was delighted and swam around in the pond, splashing up waves.

After that, the other koi fish in the pond seemed to be summoned, all swimming towards Li Huang as if guarding him.

"It seems this name wasn't chosen in vain; you truly can be the emperor among the koi fish!"

This scene made Gu Qingfeng smile wryly.

He hadn't expected Li Huang to be able to command the other koi fish in the pond.

It was worth mentioning that because Gu Qingfeng had been feeding Li Huang a large number of dan pills for a month, the lotus pond's water had also absorbed a lot of the pills' power.

These waters, when absorbed by the other koi fish, greatly improved their condition.

At the very least, the many koi fish in Gu Qingfeng's sight were all at least three to four feet long.

As for Li Huang, it was about ten feet long.

It was only because the lotus pond built by the Gu Clan was quite large that it could accommodate these koi fish.

Otherwise, a small lotus pond would have been overcrowded.

But seeing this scene in the pond, Gu Qingfeng's heart stirred.

"I should expand the lotus pond and connect it to the outside, allowing the entire water system to surround the Gu Clan, and with these koi fish hiding within, it would be quite a sight."

Gu Qingfeng already had some ideas in mind.

Once he had an idea, he acted on it.

For Gu Qingfeng, creating a water system was as simple as it could be.

He took a step and rose into the air, and with a thought, the ground around the Gu Family Manor suddenly sank, forming a twenty-zhang wide and hundred-zhang deep riverbed.

After that, Gu Qingfeng used astonishing means to connect to the underground water flow, causing a large amount of groundwater to gush out. In just a few breaths, the dry riverbed was completely filled with river water.

Seeing that the groundwater was still rising, Gu Qingfeng used his power to suppress it, and an invisible restriction fell, preventing the river water from rising any further.

After completing this step, Gu Qingfeng also cultivated a bridge spanning the twenty-zhang-wide river, allowing others to travel to and from the Gu Clan.

Although the river was twenty zhang wide, for those with cultivation, it was not a challenge.

Even if they couldn't fly, a simple leap would allow them to cross with ease.

But the appearance of the river was still impressive.

Subsequently, Gu Qingfeng used his means to connect the lotus pond within the Gu Clan to the river system.

With this, Li Huang and the other koi fish had enough living space.

Even if the number of koi fish increased a hundredfold or a thousandfold, there would still be ample room.

The next day, many members of the Gu Clan discovered that, at some point, a water system had appeared outside their family.

A river twenty zhang wide was more like a small river than a water system.

For a moment, many people were shocked.

But when they learned that this was Gu Qingfeng's doing, they were relieved and filled with admiration.

"The Manor Master's methods are truly divine; he quietly created such a river, and his abilities are awe-inspiring!"

Gu Peng was moved.

As a Daoist Palace Realm cultivator, it was not difficult for him to achieve this.

The truly challenging part was doing it without making a sound.

If not for witnessing it himself, even Gu Peng would not have noticed the changes outside the Gu Clan.

At the same time, the changes outside the Gu Clan also attracted the attention of many. The news of Gu Qingfeng creating a river with his bare hands sparked heated discussions among the common people.

Some even came in person to witness this spectacle.

(End of Chapter)

Chapter end