"Slow!"
"It's simply too slow!"
Having experienced the rocket-like Realm advancement, Qi Ping felt that his current Cultivation speed was terribly slow.
"No wonder so many people in Qing Shi County stop at the Qi Refining Late Stage. The difficulty of advancing in the Qi Refining Late Stage is more than several times that of the Qi Refining Middle Stage."
Moreover, this was Qi Ping's Cultivation speed with the blessings of Fire Ginseng Honey, Yang Fire Body, Jungle Druid, and various other conditions.
It was understandable that those who stopped at the Qi Refining Late Stage would languish in that Realm for ten or even several decades.
"At my current Cultivation speed, I estimate it will take at least a year and a half to Breakthrough to Qi Refining Eighth Layer."
In truth, this speed was already very fast, even many Disciples of Qingyuan Sect could not achieve this Cultivation speed.
However, Qi Ping was not very satisfied.
Because if he continued at this Cultivation speed, his Realm would not be able to keep up with the advancement speed of his Animal Companion.
Just like now, his speed in cultivating blood ginseng could not keep up with the Bee Swarm's demand for resources due to their rapid population growth.
Fortunately, Plant Growth broke through to Rank 3 a few days ago, and the speed of cultivating Spirit Medicine had greatly improved.
Lv2 Plant Growth (161/200) → Lv3 Plant Growth (5/400)
However, to fully keep up with the demand and Cultivate the extra resources he and Crow needed, Qi Ping felt that he would need to reach at least Qi Refining Ninth Layer.
Therefore, Realm advancement was also an urgent matter for Qi Ping, and in such a world, the faster one's strength improved, the better.
"So, next, I need to find a suitable fire-attribute Spirit Medicine and wood-attribute Spirit Medicine for myself, and preferably a fire-attribute First-Order Advanced Pill Formula."
"That way, both Crow and I can use them."
"I wonder if there are any suitable First-Order Advanced Spirit Medicine in Qing Shi Market."
Cultivation resources that reach First-Order Advanced Rank will have a linearly increasing difficulty to obtain, and their prices will also be much higher, not something ordinary people can easily buy.
It would be the same when reaching the Foundation Establishment Stage; to obtain resources of this Rank, one must either become an insider or pay a huge amount of Spirit Stone.
"Fortunately, I have the [Plant Growth] skill to accelerate the growth of Spirit Medicine, and also the spirit origin stone pillar to Cultivate Advanced Spirit Medicine. I only need to obtain active Spirit Medicine or Spirit Seeds; even if there is only one plant, I can cut off a small piece each time I use it and then continue cultivating it."
This way, Qi Ping's limitations would be much smaller, otherwise, if all Cultivation resources relied on purchase or Opportunity, it would be practically impossible.
One of the major difficulties for Loose Cultivators is the huge limitation in resource acquisition channels.
However, even if Qi Ping was anxious, there was nothing he could do. He currently had about five hundred seventy Spirit Stone. It should be enough to purchase suitable First-Order Advanced Spirit Medicine, but to also obtain a suitable Pill Formula and corresponding Spirit Medicine and Medicinal Pill knowledge, he was still far short.
So, in the end, it was still a problem of lacking money.
Thus, Qi Ping could only wait until the suitable Bailing Honey Pill Formula was successfully experimented with and he could start earning a large amount of Spirit Stone.
Based on previous selling prices, it was estimated that he could earn over a thousand Spirit Stone a month, and hundred spirit grass matured once a quarter, meaning three thousand Spirit Stone per quarter.
He just needed to wait a bit longer, and he would have a large sum of Spirit Stone coming in.
"Be patient, don't be too eager for quick success. First, calm down and focus on Cultivating."
Just like that, Qi Ping dedicated himself to Cultivating and cultivating Spirit Medicine, diligently comprehending the Law of Plant Growth, hoping to increase the proficiency of this skill faster.
At the same time, Qi Ping also used these matters to temper his mindset.
In this way, Qi Ping gradually entered a very peaceful state of Cultivation.
No matter the external turmoil, he only needed to stay hidden and Cultivate properly.
Perhaps it was due to his tranquil thoughts, or perhaps this state was more conducive to comprehending the Law Concept, but Qi Ping's Realm advancement speed actually increased slightly.
After about a week of this, all fifty Bailing Honey formulas Qi Ping had set up were successfully brewed by the Brewer Big Belly Bee.
"Finally, all of them have been successfully brewed!"
"I wonder if the traces of hundred spirit grass can be perfectly removed."
As long as his Grand Brewer Talent could not distinguish the traces of hundred spirit grass, the risk could basically be minimized.
Because if Qi Ping, actively looking for traces of hundred spirit grass, couldn't find any, then it would be a pipe dream for others to discover anything amiss.
This way, Qi Ping could confidently use it to earn Spirit Stone!
"As long as the test is successful, the problem of Spirit Stone scarcity will basically be solved."
With such anticipation, Qi Ping carefully distinguished the medicinal properties of each portion of honey.
"The first one, the traces of hundred spirit grass are very obvious, no good."
"The second one, no good."
"The third one, failed."
"The twenty-seventh one, succeeded."
"The fiftieth one, failed."
When Qi Ping had tried all fifty different Bailing Honey formulas, his brows furrowed tightly.
Out of fifty formulas, only one succeeded!
This honey formula completely showed no traces of hundred spirit grass; Qi Ping tried several times, and it was always the same.
Therefore, if sold according to this formula, the risk should not be high.
However, this formula had a problem: it used a considerable amount of Yun Ling Fruit.
The amount of Yun Ling Fruit used was about one-fifth the amount of hundred spirit grass.
"If that's the case, although the medicinal effect of this formula has increased somewhat, approaching the medicinal properties of First Order Intermediate, considering the cost of Yun Ling Fruit, the final profit is estimated to decrease by one-fifth."
Originally, a one-fifth reduction in profit wasn't a big deal, because Qi Ping's hundred spirit grass cost was too low; even with a slight reduction in profit, it was still extremely profitable.
What truly made Qi Ping frown was that this meant he would need to acquire a large amount of Yun Ling Fruit, as he currently couldn't achieve natural mass production of Yun Ling Fruit, and Nan Jie's output couldn't keep up with his demand.
Thinking of this, Qi Ping couldn't help but frown in thought.
However, not long after, Qi Ping's brows gradually relaxed, and a smile appeared on his face.
"It seems this isn't bad either; it just so happens that Yun Ling Fruit can be used to cover the traces of hundred spirit grass."
"Anyone with a slight understanding of medicinal properties would be able to detect the medicinal properties of Yun Ling Fruit within it, and thus would have no intention of investigating whether there are other things inside, because there's nothing extraordinary about cultivating honey of this Rank using Yun Ling Fruit. If nothing could be seen, it would instead arouse suspicion."
After all, who would bother him over a First-Order Low-level honey that doesn't even reach the market value of First Order Intermediate standard?
Even if it attracted enemies, at most they would only be some Qi Refining small fry, posing no threat to Qi Ping!
"However, the Yun Ling Fruit I purchased from Nan Jie last time has basically been used up. Next, I need to find a stable supply channel for Yun Ling Fruit so that I can maintain a stable output of Bailing Honey and earn abundant Spirit Stone from it."
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