"Yes, burning plant ash!" Facing the Crow's question, Qi Ping nodded firmly. "These weeds have absorbed a fair amount of spiritual energy. Burning them with your Sun-Fire Flame into ash will be beneficial for the growth of the spirit herbs."
In truth, Qi Ping felt this was just a convenient way to get things done, helping the first batch of Hundred-Spirit Grass grow more quickly.
"Caw caw... (Fine! Whatever Boss says!)" Under normal circumstances, as a Crow with dignity, it would never do such a thing. But if it was Qi Ping's command, then it was no problem.
Sensing the Crow's thoughts, Qi Ping shook his head helplessly. "You go absorb the solar power and cultivate first! Once the bees have gathered the weeds and piled them up, you can just fly over and spit a few flames."
"Caw caw... (Boss is wise!)" The Sun-Fire Crow praised him and happily flapped its wings to go sunbathe.
Qi Ping knew that the Crow had been cooped up in the spirit beast bag for two days. With its nature as a cultivation fanatic, it had been itching to get out. Now that it had the time and place, why would it want to stay and burn ash? Its heart was already drifting toward the sun. Qi Ping didn't stop it; in fact, he was happy to see it. If the Crow could continue to evolve and upgrade, and in turn carry him, its master, to higher heights, that would be a wonderful thing!
After assigning all the tasks, Qi Ping didn't stay idle. He found a spot to plant the Moon-Sleep Flowers and Day-Sun Flowers he had brought. These two spirit flowers bloomed year-round and grew quickly. Their pollen was suitable for beekeeping, so Qi Ping planned to plant them in large quantities. After all, a single type of Hundred-Spirit Grass was too monotonous. A diverse diet of spirit herbs and flowers would enrich the bees' recipes and might even help the Brewer Pot-bellied Bees mask the medicinal scent of the Hundred-Spirit Grass.
After half a day of hard work, plot twenty-nine was finally prepared. All the areas suitable for Hundred-Spirit Grass had been loosened, watered, and mixed with simple ash fertilizer. The mature Moon-Sleep and Day-Sun Flower plants Qi Ping brought were also successfully transplanted.
Standing at the summit of Peak 29, looking down at the neat rows of spirit fields and the familiar flowers, Qi Ping felt a swell of happiness.
"It's starting to feel like a home!"
"Once I renovate this place bit by bit, it will be a fantastic place for my growth in cultivation."
In truth, compared to joining a sect and participating in various tournaments and resource competitions, Qi Ping preferred this peaceful life of development. However, as a rogue cultivator, obtaining core techniques, rare spirit herbs, and specialized knowledge was a major hurdle. Even with spirit stones, it was difficult to buy truly core knowledge.
Qi Ping felt that if he had the chance to join a sect to gain more knowledge and resources, it wouldn't be bad—provided it didn't interfere with his peaceful farming. Being able to use a sect disciple's identity for benefits without being dragged into the vortex of internal power struggles was his ideal state. But he also knew this was very difficult; joining a sect always came with a price. He decided to wait until he could learn more about the internal situation of sects from other disciples before making a decision.
Regardless, the abilities of the Beast King Druid and Jungle Druid were his foundation in this world; everything else was just a tool to acquire resources. He would choose whichever was most suitable.
The sun began to set, its blood-red glow painting the horizon and reflecting off Qi Ping's tired face.
"Finally finished planting the Hundred-Spirit Grass, as well as the Day-Sun and Moon-Sleep Flowers."
Under the diligent labor of the bees, all the seeds Qi Ping had purchased were neatly sown. Now, he only needed to wait for the fast-growing Hundred-Spirit Grass to mature on a large scale.
Qi Ping had been busy all day—from going to the market to being followed and killing the enemy, returning to choose the lease, and finally building his home and planting. He felt mentally exhausted. Under the protection of the swarm and the Crow, he soon fell into a deep sleep on the grass.
One must balance tension and relaxation to better comprehend the Dao. The benefits of having animal companions were evident here; with a mountain full of late-stage first-rank bees, even a Foundation Establishment cultivator couldn't sneak up on him silently. Without them, he would have had to sleep with one eye open, which would have been no life at all.
The next morning, the soft sunlight spilled lazily across Qi Ping's face, and he woke up slowly. The Crow had long since flown to the highest treetop to absorb the solar power; after evolving into a Sun-Fire Crow, its speed in absorbing solar energy and growing stronger had soared.
"How comfortable!" Qi Ping couldn't help but sigh. Although cultivators could go days without sleep, an occasional rest truly allowed the body and spirit to recover to their peak.
The bees had also been busy since dawn. Knowing that the neighboring plot, twenty-eight, was currently unclaimed, they had been gathering nectar and spiritual essence from both plots since the sun rose. Although the Hundred-Spirit Grass hadn't matured, there were plenty of wild flowers, morning dew, and spirit tree sap. Mixing these into honey was more than enough for their food, and the flavor was quite good. They knew Qi Ping struggled to cultivate spirit herbs, so they worked hard to collect whatever they could; they were little experts at thriftiness! Qi Ping also occasionally enjoyed the honey made from dew and tree sap; the taste was indeed unique.
After waking up, Qi Ping began to plan the development of his new home.
"Currently, all the low-grade first-rank land and the areas that almost meet that standard have been fully developed and planted with Hundred-Spirit Grass."
"The mid-grade spiritual land is small, less than ten square meters. That will be reserved for the Blood Ginseng and Fire Spirit Grass."
Spiritual land was rare, so he could only plant this much for now. If he needed to plant more in the future, he would have to wait until he could rent plot twenty-eight.
"As for the trees on this mountain, I won't touch them. Even with the Jungle Druid class, the difficulty of cultivating trees that are centuries or millennia old is very high."
"And it seems the older the trees are, the better the bonus for the Jungle Druid class..."
In this place, Qi Ping felt that the Jungle Druid bonuses in all aspects were significantly higher than those at Peak 007.
"The remaining common vegetation can be mostly cleared and replaced with various types of ordinary flowers."
"The spiritual energy in those areas isn't high, but it's more than enough for common flowers."
Qi Ping planned to leave these tasks to the bees; they were already very skilled at loosening soil, watering, and sowing. He had plenty of common flower seeds to give them. He chose to plant so many common flowers to supplement the diet of the Black Little Bees and Golden Marrow Bees, and also to serve as a cover. The number of Black Little Bees needed to increase to better hide his presence; otherwise, renting such a large area wouldn't make sense to outsiders. Furthermore, if all the common land was utilized, the Black Little Bees could earn him several hundred spirit stones a year, providing an extra source of income.
As for Qi Ping himself, he would focus his energy on cultivating spirit herbs, practicing his techniques, and other more important matters. First and foremost, he needed to cultivate more Blood Ginseng to allow the Brewer Pot-bellied Bees to produce honey suitable for raising young bees; this was a vital resource for swarm expansion.
He had lost quite a few combat bees in recent battles. He planned to not only replenish their numbers but also increase the total population several times over. By then, the Hundred-Spirit Grass should be mature, solving the food problem for the massive swarm. Additionally, he planned to put the production of Sun-Ginseng Honey and Fire Spirit Tempering Honey on the agenda. Now that there were no immediate threats, his physical strength and cultivation level needed to be raised as quickly as possible.