"Next, I'll dig a tunnel!"
"It wouldn't be good to just disappear in the middle of the gorge every time. I'll dig a tunnel leading to a hidden cliff wall and set up another small illusion array there. I can come and go through the tunnel; that'll be much better!"
Thinking it over, Qi Ping felt it was necessary, so he immediately ordered the bees to start digging. When it came to moving earth, the bees were surprisingly proficient.
"Bzz bzz... (Understood, Boss! We guarantee the task's completion!)"
"Good, thank you for your hard work!"
After assigning the task to the bees, Qi Ping set out to search the Cloud-Mist Mountain Range. He had to find the best soil for his territory. He cared deeply about his new home. Since he was going to build it, he had to start with excellent soil.
He and several bee swarms searched for half a day before finally finding a lush, flowery area with plenty of fertile black soil. After some time, he returned to his territory with several storage bags filled to the brim with black earth.
After several trips, a small mountain of black soil had piled up inside the illusion array.
"I should have cleared the rocks first. That was a oversight!"
The black soil almost had nowhere to go. Qi Ping had to clear out more storage bags and start lugging rocks away. After removing several layers of stone, he finally hit the bottom—a solid, massive stone floor. If he wanted to go deeper, he would have to break the bedrock.
"This is fine. This is deep enough. Later, I'll set up a defensive array to prevent spiritual energy from leaking and to provide protection!"
Initially, Qi Ping wanted to set up a Spirit-Gathering Array, but after careful consideration, he decided against it. A Spirit-Gathering Array would cause abnormal fluctuations in the surrounding spiritual energy. If a cultivator passed by, they might notice. Since the natural energy here was so thin, the risk of exposing his location for a tiny bit of energy wasn't worth it.
After a lot of effort clearing the rocks, Qi Ping began spreading the black soil. It took all the soil he had moved to just barely cover the area. However, after inspecting it, he frowned slightly.
"It seems like there's still too little black soil. I need to get more!"
He refused to be sloppy with his territory. After several more trips, he finally had a thick layer of fertile black earth! Looking at the fertile plot surrounded by jagged rocks, he finally smiled with satisfaction.
'It seems I need to find Sister Nan again and get that spirit fertilizer technique from her. It'll also be an excuse to give her more honey so she can reach the late stages of Qi Refinement sooner.'
'I can also have Brother Meng look for such techniques. There should be some good knowledge on spirit fertilizers within the Qingyuan Sect. Perhaps those methods will provide some surprises...'
Given the state of his territory, he needed spirit fertilizer to enhance the land's foundation, especially if it could be made from low-value items. Combining the Star-Spirit Wood with spirit fertilizer would allow him to build a high-level spirit land much more effectively.
'It's a bit of a hassle, but it's safe!'
He felt it was worth it. Nothing was more important than staying alive! In this place, he felt a sense of peace he had never experienced in lands ruled by others.
With the soil ready, Qi Ping buried the four spirit-source stone pillars he had obtained and planted various spiritual herbs. This included the Star-Spirit Wood seed. Only the two herbs given to him by Hong Li of the Ningshan Family remained in a temporary hole; he planned to bring them over once the initial safety period passed.
As each herb was planted, the once-barren black land became vibrant with life. A faint fragrance unique to spiritual herbs began to fill the air, mixing with the scent of soil and making Qi Ping feel incredibly comfortable.
Once everything was done, he released the spirit fox and the flower sprite. As for Ya Ya, that restless fellow had already been sent off to find a place to cultivate.
"Chirp chirp... (Boss, is this our new home?)" the little fox asked curiously as it looked at the simple plot.
"Yes, this is our new home—our true home. We'll be staying here for a long, long time!" Qi Ping replied with a smile.
"Chirp chirp... (Hooray! A new home!)"
"Chirp chirp... (Can Tong Tong and I decorate this place? It's too plain right now!)"
"Of course you can!" Qi Ping replied firmly.
"Chirp chirp... (I want to build a little wooden hut, but first, I'll build one for the Boss...)"
After some discussion, and with Qi Ping's permission, the two little ones began busily decorating. Qi Ping watched them for a while before letting them be. A little liveliness was good!
'A hundred square meters is a bit small. It's a far cry from a true Druid Sanctuary. I need to eventually encompass at least half the gorge.'
'But that would probably require a Third-Rank Illusion Array. I can only do First-Rank Low-Grade right now; I'm still too far away.'
To build a true Druid Sanctuary, he needed to plant and nurture many spiritual trees. To achieve this, he had to find and buy spiritual treasures to turn this place into a high-level spirit land, then procure various spiritual trees. It was a lot of work, but worth it.
The more spiritual trees there were in a Druid Sanctuary, and the higher their grade, the stronger the sanctuary would be. Inside the sanctuary, a Druid could enjoy boosts to combat power and attributes. For Qi Ping, this would effectively increase his combat strength and cultivation speed within his territory, and it might even help with setting up arrays.
Thinking of the Druid Sanctuary, Qi Ping also thought of his Farming Domain intent, which also granted him the support of heaven and earth's power within his territory. He was truly born to be a farmer!
'One step at a time. I'll focus on researching the Mid-Grade First-Rank Illusion Array first, and then hopefully the High-Grade one as well!'
The low-grade array was not only rough but covered a tiny area. Once the herbs were planted, there was hardly any space left to move...