After Qi Ping discovered the area and geographical advantages of territories twenty-eight and twenty-nine, he suppressed his excitement and carefully observed them again.
He also sent Bees to thoroughly inspect them once more.
Ensuring there were no issues, Qi Ping immediately rushed back to the Cloud Mist Great Hall.
"You're back? How was it?" Steward Zhu asked with a smile when he saw Qi Ping return.
"It's not bad, I'll take Spirit Land number twenty-nine!" Qi Ping replied.
"That's good then. I'll set the price for you at the lowest basic rent of four hundred twenty Spirit Stones a year. Previously, the rent was five to six hundred Spirit Stones!"
Steward Zhu then continued:
"However, I can't waive the thirty percent rent increase, so the total rent will be five hundred forty-six Spirit Stones."
"Additionally, there's the ten percent tea fee, which is forty-two Spirit Stones, but you've already paid it this year. This time, I'll waive twenty-two for you, making the total, including rent, five hundred sixty-six Spirit Stones."
"Also, you've used Peak Seven in Area D for almost two months, which calculates to exactly twenty Spirit Stones."
"Finally, you need to pay a total of five hundred eighty-six Spirit Stones."
Hearing the final number of Spirit Stones, Qi Ping's eyebrow couldn't help but twitch.
Goodness, it was a good thing he finally sold the Black Little Bee's honey, otherwise, the rent wouldn't have been enough, and he would have had to pay with goods.
In the end, Qi Ping still painfully pulled out five hundred eighty-six Spirit Stones from his Storage Pouch, leaving him with less than twenty Spirit Stones.
But thinking about the income from extensively planting hundred spirit grass and cultivating Bee Swarms, Qi Ping felt it was worth it!
When Steward Zhu saw Qi Ping's pained expression and somewhat tight movements, he knew this was probably all of Qi Ping and Old Zhou's savings.
So he could only offer comfort:
"There's no other way. Starting from Area C, you need to pay the rent first before you can use it. It's impossible to use it for a year and then pay. The initial policy of 'use first, pay later' in Area D was to attract Loose Cultivators, and it just continued. But for Intermediate Spirit Land of this grade, 'use first, pay later' is not supported."
"However, since you've made this choice, develop well there this year. If you utilize it properly, several hundred Spirit Stones can still be earned."
"It's very chaotic outside recently. With your strength, don't run around carelessly. Cultivate well and raise Bees. If you need to sell or purchase many items, I can occasionally help you run an errand when I'm passing by."
Last time, seeing the cobweb-filled courtyard at Peak Seven, he had worried about Old Zhou and his disciple for quite some time.
So he felt that if he could help, he should help a little. After all, he was a member of the Three Great Families, which would always be safer in such times.
"Then I thank you for your care," Qi Ping said respectfully.
After completing the procedures and obtaining the lease contract, Qi Ping bid farewell to Steward Zhu.
Having a good relationship with Steward Zhu would also save a lot of trouble when leasing Spirit Land here.
At this moment, Qi Ping couldn't help but admire Old Zhou's way of handling things.
His strength wasn't high, but he truly had many friends.
Whether it was Nan Jie, Boss Gao, or Steward Zhu, all these connections were introduced and left to him by Old Zhou. Otherwise, if Qi Ping had struggled alone, he might not have been able to meet these relatively reliable friends and connections.
However, what Qi Ping admired most was that Old Zhou had lived a carefree life for most of his years, yet he didn't even have any enemies.
Qi Ping had lived with Old Zhou for over five years and had never seen anyone cause him trouble. On the contrary, when there were troubles and dangers outside, many people would proactively inform Old Zhou.
This showed how formidable Old Zhou was.
Qi Ping actually wanted to be such a person, to Cultivate, farm, raise Bees, and pursue longevity peacefully. Unfortunately, he had unknowingly found himself at the center of a whirlpool.
"At this juncture, I can only try my best to keep a low profile and hide myself, minimizing the attention focused on me."
Moreover, Qi Ping also knew that to achieve Foundation Establishment, to condense a Golden Core, and to attain immortality, the struggle for core Cultivation Techniques and core resources was absolutely indispensable. To obtain these things, one would inevitably have to step into the vortex.
However, these risks could be reduced, for example, by being careful and cautious in everything, or by using another identity to do things, not putting oneself in danger just to show off, and so on.
This was also the Dao of dealing with the world in the Cultivation World that Qi Ping had observed from Old Zhou.
Holding the lease contract, Qi Ping rushed to Spirit Land number twenty-nine with excited and eager steps.
Spirit Land number twenty-nine was located deeper in the Cloud Mist Mountain Range, with an area four or five times the size of Peak Seven. Even with Qi Ping's cultivation, it would take a long time to run across it.
"The area and mountain sizes in the Cultivation World truly cannot be compared to the concept of mountains in my previous life."
Qi Ping couldn't help but marvel again at the vastness of the Cultivation World; even a single Qing Shi County was incredibly large.
"The only slight regret is that although the area is large, there aren't many places where the Spiritual Qi concentration reaches the Spirit Land level; it's too dispersed."
In fact, the entire Cloud Mist Mountain Range was like this; the underground Spiritual Vein distribution was extremely irregular, some concentrated, some dispersed.
The Spirit Land number twenty-nine that Qi Ping was currently leasing was one such example of dispersion, and it perfectly suited Qi Ping's intentions.
It was precisely because of this irregularity that it created a cultivation ecosystem with a strong hidden-world cultivation style, allowing industries to flourish in a hundred flowers blooming.
At this moment, looking at Spirit Land number twenty-nine, which was already overgrown with many weeds and vines, a sudden desire and pleasure to build a home and a pastoral paradise surged within Qi Ping.
"Partners! It's time to get moving!"
Qi Ping released all his Bees and Crow, saying with considerable excitement.
It was time to build a new home, but this place was so big; it would be too time-consuming if he had to do it all himself.
So, now was a good time for his Animal Companions to play their part.
"Buzz buzz… (Boss, is this our new home?)"
"Buzz buzz… (The Spiritual Qi is so rich!)"
"It's your new home, but it hasn't been built yet!"
"Buzz buzz… (What do you want us to do, Boss?)"
"Many things. I'll assign tasks first."
"First, High-Speed Ring-Cutting Bees are responsible for weeding and loosening the soil in these areas with high Spiritual Qi concentration."
Qi Ping pointed to the Spirit Land areas where hundred spirit grass could be planted and said.
"Buzz buzz… (Just leave it to us, Boss, we're best at this!)"
All the High-Speed Ring-Cutting Bees replied in unison. They were best at this work; a flick of their small wings and it was done!
"Buzz buzz… (What about us, Boss?)" The other Bees quickly asked.
"Gold Marrow Bees and Poisonous Bees are responsible for following behind the High-Speed Ring-Cutting Bees, picking out all the grass roots and seeds inside and giving them to Crow to burn into plant ash! Mo Jia Bees and Equilibrium Bees have more strength, so they are responsible for using large gourd leaves to fetch water and follow at the very end to water and moisten the land."
As for the Brewer Big Belly Bees… Qi Ping felt it was better to keep them in the Spirit Beast Pouch for now, lest they get lost and can't be found!
"Buzz buzz… (Mission accomplished, guaranteed!)" The other Bee species promised.
Only Crow on Qi Ping's shoulder was a bit confused.
"Caw caw… (Burn plant ash?)"
It, the current Yang Fire Crow, a super fierce bird destined to dominate the world in the future, was actually being told to burn plant ash?
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