After controlling his Treant clone to lead the Small Stone Spirit outside, Qi Ping redirected his focus. For now, he only needed to wait patiently for the Small Stone Spirit to finish its meal and undergo its transformation. At this stage, planting the spirit trees and herbs was his top priority.
Qi Ping first sowed all the Rank 2 spirit seeds. Finally, he brought out the two precious seeds that had cost him twenty-eight thousand spirit stones and twenty-eight thousand black market points.
One seed was wreathed in misty water vapor, covered in a layer of the unique aura of the Water Laws. The other seed was surrounded by the power of moonlight and Extreme Yin spiritual energy, radiating a terrifying aura of intense cold.
Qi Ping looked at these two seeds and fell into deep thought.
'I should transplant the Moon-Glow Tree, the Star-Light Wood, and the Ghost-Iron Tree further to the side... It is more important to give the rich soil closest to the spirit vein to the Ripple Wondrous Wood and the Dark Moon Soul Wood so they can grow quickly.'
'The Sun-Blaze Wood is my Life-Bound Wood; it will always be the priority for cultivation. I will leave it where it is!'
'Let's do it.'
With his decision made, Qi Ping took immediate action. He quickly moved the Star-Light Wood and the other trees to the side, then carefully planted the two new seeds in a position not far from the center of the spirit vein.
Once the seeds were in the ground, he cast Plant Growth, injecting spiritual energy imbued with the power of growth into these two Rank 3 spirit trees.
Technically speaking, Qi Ping's territory had not yet reached the Rank 3 level, meaning it fell far short of the standards required to plant Rank 3 spirit trees. The reason Rank 3 trees like the Sun-Blaze Wood could grow here was twofold: first, they could absorb external forces like solar energy to grow; second, Qi Ping had engraved spells to assist in that absorption and had constantly supplemented the required energy with Plant Growth during their early stages.
Now, the Sun-Blaze Wood had practiced the Great Sun Refining Method Qi Ping had engraved upon it to such an extent that the student surpassed the master. In this regard, it was only slightly inferior to the Crows. Decades of daily practice, combined with the Sun-Blaze Wood's perfect aptitude, made such an achievement unsurprising.
Even so, Rank 3 spirit trees were the current limit of what the territory could sustain. To plant higher-quality trees, he would have to wait until the spirit vein ascended to Rank 3.
After planting the Ripple Wondrous Wood and the Dark Moon Soul Wood, Qi Ping's life of cultivation and farming returned to a peaceful rhythm. He had fully entrusted the care of the flowers and herbs in the sanctuary to the bees. His daily uses of Plant Growth were primarily focused on nurturing the two new spirit trees and the Fire-attribute herbs needed for his own cultivation.
As long as he ensured enough resources for his training, he poured all remaining uses of Plant Growth into the Ripple Wondrous Wood and the Dark Moon Soul Wood. In his spare time, Qi Ping focused on researching array fusion, gaining insights into his Water-Fire cultivation and spells, and creating specialized spells for his new spirit trees.
Additionally, Qi Ping kept the Clear-Manifestation Green Snake's egg by his side. Every so often, he would inject gentle spiritual energy into it to aid the little snake's development while fostering a deep sense of affinity between them.
The creation of the two engraved spells was the easiest part of his tasks. Since these were production-type spirit trees, they only needed spells to accelerate their absorption and refinement of spiritual energy and Law power.
The Ripple Wondrous Wood needed to absorb Water-attribute energy and Water Laws. Since Qi Ping had already comprehended the Water Law Intent, it took him only a few days to create a remarkable Water Marsh Refining Method. It was far more sophisticated and profound than the original Moon-Glow Refining Method.
However, creating the spell for the Dark Moon Soul Wood took a bit longer. Although he was familiar with moonlight, the Extreme Yin energy that made up the bulk of its needs was something Qi Ping had never practiced. Thus, he had to search for and study similar Yin-attribute spells while gaining his own insights.
Fortunately, among the many spells he had seized, there were quite a few involving Yin attributes and methods of refining Yin power. Building upon these, Qi Ping spent about a week creating the Dark Moon Refining Method.
Once both spells were finished, Qi Ping immediately completed the contracts and the engraving process for both the Ripple Wondrous Wood and the Dark Moon Soul Wood. As he had expected, these tailored spells were perfectly suited to the trees.
This was where Qi Ping's advantage in creating spells truly shone. If he had been forced to search for pre-existing spells compatible with contracted trees, it would have cost him immense effort and might not have yielded such high compatibility. Now, the spells were not only a perfect fit but also ideally suited to his current resource needs.
With the engraving finished, Qi Ping concentrated the rest of his energy on array fusion and the study of Water-Fire techniques, constantly deepening his comprehension of Water and Fire Intents.
Thus, another five years passed.
In this year, supported by abundant resources and his powerful talent, Qi Ping's cultivation smoothly broke through to the late stage of Foundation Establishment. His strength and lifespan reached a new level!
In addition to this, Qi Ping easily completed the breakthrough of the bee swarm to the late stage of Rank 2. Because he had sufficient herbs and a large enough number of Balanced Bees, the evolution went off without a hitch.
In fact, Qi Ping directly refreshed over twenty new bee species!
Among these twenty species, he produced an enhanced version of the Apothecary Bee! The existence of Apothecary Bees was crucial for his "Bee Breeding" strategy. Their research capabilities and honey-brewing skills were vital to both Qi Ping and his animal companions. As the Apothecary Bees evolved, Qi Ping's shared Brewing Artisan talent also saw a boost in strength.
Aside from the Apothecary Bees, Qi Ping also bred a Robust Bee with an exceptionally strong body and a Spiritual Power Bee with extremely pure internal energy. He decided to focus on nurturing these two species as well. Their combat power wasn't particularly outstanding, but the traits they evolved were very beneficial for improving the Queen Bee's physical and spiritual aptitude.
The bloodline of the Demon Insect King was too powerful and incredibly difficult to absorb. Qi Ping had to do everything in his power to improve the Queen Bee's aptitude. Only then would the bees she birthed be strong enough to withstand the bloodline pressure and successfully transform! This was the most important hurdle for the bees' path to immortality, and he could not afford any carelessness. Once successful, the bees' bloodline would undergo a fundamental leap!
Finally, there were the Balanced Bees and the Wind-Blade Bees. The Balanced Bees were the most important players in devouring the Demon Insect King's bloodline. The Wind-Blade Bees, however, were a pleasant surprise.
The Golden Marrow Bees were naturally most inclined toward the Wind attribute, yet after so many evolutions, Qi Ping had only just now produced a pure Wind-attribute bee. With the emergence of the Wind-Blade Bee, the basic evolution chapter of the bees finally came to a perfect conclusion.
This pure Wind-attribute Wind-Blade Bee was the most perfect bee Qi Ping had evolved to date. It not only inherited the Queen Bee's powerful constitution but was also unique in its Wind-attribute abilities. Its representative talents were Wind Armor and Wind Blade.
Wind Armor allowed it to cover its body in a layer of protective wind, using flowing blades of air to shield itself. Wind Blade was a powerful offensive spell. However, what surprised Qi Ping most was that the Wind-Blade Bees seemed capable of forming a high-level Storm Array!