'Let's see how effective this Fire-Glow Honey recipe—modeled after the Fire-Glow Pill—can be with the help of alchemical knowledge.'
Qi Ping was curious to see if his progress in alchemy notes had improved his honey brewing. His previous attempt, Fire-Spirit Honey, had only reached about sixty percent of the original pill's efficacy. Achieving high efficacy wasn't just about efficiency; it was about the limit of tempering one's body.
Pills were precious in the cultivation world for several reasons:
They could exert effects far beyond the herbs themselves—sometimes several-fold.
They purified the herbs, removing useless properties and making them easier to absorb. For example, retaining only the body-strengthening property of the Fire-Glow Flower.
They neutralized toxic or violent properties. For instance, the Soul-Crossing Flower could strengthen the spirit-soul but contained terrifying resentment. Using it directly was suicidal. It had to be refined with Buddha-Heart Lotus into a Soul-Crossing Buddha-Heart Pill, which combined the spirit-soul boost with the lotus's comprehension-enhancing properties.
This was the true charm of alchemy. While his Fire-Spirit Honey reached sixty percent efficacy and could be compensated for by taking more, it lacked the "ceiling" of a high-tier pill. Special effects of a pill might vanish if the efficacy wasn't high enough.
However, honey brewed by bees had one advantage pills could never match:
No pill toxins!
This was the key to Qi Ping's ability to refine honey in massive quantities. As long as he kept his foundation stable, he could consume honey without limit! Most pills accumulated toxins in the body, which eventually created bottlenecks that took massive amounts of time to clear.
This was why he was so obsessed with honey recipes. With his Druid powers, he had an endless supply of herbs; if he could find the perfect recipe, he could cultivate infinitely, saving the time a refiner would spend at the furnace. Alchemy was an exhausting task that took up sixty to seventy percent of a refiner's energy, which was why many of them were weak in combat.
Qi Ping's ultimate goal was immortality and invincibility; a craft that consumed too much energy conflicted with that. Thus, having bees refine his "pills" was the best choice.
Unlike alchemy, the path of formations involved studying and utilizing the Laws of heaven and earth—similar to a Druid's cultivation. Formations also provided combat and utility—like defense arrays and Spirit-Gathering arrays—that perfectly complemented a Druid's homestead.
'Let's try the honey that perfectly mirrors the pill recipe first.'
Qi Ping tried the original ratio, but the result was disappointing.
'It only reached about fifty percent efficacy—worse than the Fire-Spirit Honey. Clearly, the refining method is different, so the ratio must change. Following the book blindly won't yield the best results.'
However, the second batch gave him a surprise!
'About sixty-seven percent efficacy!'
'As expected! After adjusting two herbs based on alchemical neutralization principles, the effect increased significantly!'
This success gave him great hope. He had eight more recipes to test.
'The third is sixty-one percent... the fourth is only thirty... the fifth is ten percent? But it seems to have a strange effect; my lower abdomen feels like it's on fire...'
After trying all eight, the second recipe remained the best.
'I feel a bit of disappointment, but it's actually quite good. I've only just started learning alchemy, and my sample size is small. Reaching this level is a great start.'
With the sixty-seven percent efficacy recipe confirmed, he immediately ordered the mass production of Fire-Glow Honey. He needed to raise his physical strength quickly to push the limits of his Explosive Flame Movement.
While he was busy with his herbs, something happened that made him truly excited.
The number of combat bees in his swarm had reached ten thousand!
Four thousand High-speed Ring-cutter Bees!
Two thousand Ink-Armor Bees!
Two thousand Toxic Bees!
Two thousand Balanced Bees!
Furthermore, thanks to the Queen's evolution, all subsequent bees had been born with a twenty to thirty percent increase in combat power due to improved physical constitution. They were already stronger than the first generation of mutated bees.
'The Queen truly is the core of the swarm. Her growth has caused a qualitative change in the entire hive!'
With this Queen, the future of the swarm was promising. Looking at the ten thousand bees—each just smaller than a fist—filling the forest, Qi Ping wore a look of utter satisfaction.