With the critical strategic layout of the spatial teleportation arrays complete, Qi Ping took advantage of the time before the bee swarm's evolution to screen the spirit wood that had recently developed spirituality.
The earlier these trees were identified, the more powerful beings he could cultivate. Moreover, cultivating spirit wood was much easier for Qi Ping than cultivating human practitioners. He only needed to find them, plant them in the high-level spirit lands of the Qingtian Mountain Range, and then engrave suitable spells upon them. After these simple tasks, he could just sit back and wait for the trees to grow rapidly and produce massive amounts of resources. With every passing interval, his wealth and the strength of the land would increase.
"The number of trees that developed spirituality this time is actually more than four times that of the first screening!"
Qi Ping was shocked as the trees were gathered in the Qingtian Mountain Range. This harvest far exceeded his expectations. The reasons for this success were manifold: first, the rewards given during the first screening encouraged many hesitant people to join the tree-planting movement, causing the total number of trees in the domain to explode. Second, many trees that had not developed spirituality previously had finally begun to do so.
But the most important reason was that Qi Ping had bought up almost all the spirit wood seeds on the continent. After being screened by the siblings Chang Qing and Chang E, the number of spirituality-bearing trees from those seeds was far higher than from other sources.
"Good, good, good!"
"My efforts were not in vain!"
Looking at the vast number of spiritual trees, Qi Ping's mood was excellent. If he wished, these trees were not just resource packs; they could all become powerful Treant Warriors—and ones capable of casting spells, at that!
The following period was one of 'painful joy.' Qi Ping personally planted each tree and engraved tailored spells based on their individual characteristics. Under the effect of the basic spells and the high-level spirit land, they grew at a rate far exceeding normal trees.
After the initial planting and engraving, Qi Ping began to inspect the trees he had cultivated during the first wave. After several years of growth, some had already begun to stand out, displaying potential far beyond their peers.
"Some are growing quite well!" Qi Ping nodded repeatedly as he observed.
His cultivation strategy was proving to be correct. After several years, the gap between the trees had become obvious. Some were only slightly better than normal; these had the lowest potential. But others had used Qi Ping's engraved spells to break through two rank barriers in a row, showing extraordinary potential and vitality. Who had high potential and who did not was now clear at a glance. Those in the top ranks were almost guaranteed to achieve great things in the future.
Qi Ping then selected the two most outstanding trees among them to perform a Tree-Spirit Contract, making them his life-bound spiritual trees. These two were both fruit-bearing types: a Peach Tree and a Fire Spirit Fruit Tree. After two rank-breaking evolutions, their potential was fully revealed.
Qi Ping looked forward to seeing how these two would grow under his care. They had been selected for their top-tier potential from among tens of millions of trees, comparable to the top-tier genius practitioners of the Star-Sea Continent.
"The rest can wait. This is already very good!"
As for the trees Qi Ping didn't select for a contract, he didn't discard or clear them. He felt that given enough time, some might still show special traits. Furthermore, even if a tree wasn't 'the best' here, it would be a 'one-in-a-thousand' treasure in the outside world. Cultivating them for resource production was still highly profitable.
After reviewing the growth of his first large-scale screening, Qi Ping was quite satisfied. At this rate, within a century, he would cultivate more spirit wood than the rest of the continent combined! By then, his title as a Shepherd of Trees would be truly deserved. Only one who possessed the most and strongest trees in the world could be called a true Shepherd of Trees!
However, the inspection didn't end there. The true highlight was saved for last.
"Immortal-grade potential!"
Qi Ping looked at the two trees he had saved for last, his eyes full of excitement. He had gone through all this trouble precisely for trees like these. They were the equivalent of 'Immortal Spiritual Bodies' in humans! Whether they could reach the Immortal grade in the future was unknown, but their achievements would certainly not be low.
On the Qingtian Mountain Range, in a celestial spirit land where the spiritual energy was so dense it nearly liquified, two seemingly ordinary trees stood among a forest of trees displaying various phenomena. One was an Ironwood tree that emitted a metallic luster, with leaves that looked like hammered metal. The other was an Over-Rain Tree that seemed perpetually shrouded in mist, radiating a thick water-attribute spiritual aura.
These two were the Immortal-grade potential trees discovered in this batch. In Qi Ping's forest of spiritual trees, they didn't look particularly remarkable for now. The Ironwood came from a rogue cultivator in Starfall City who happened to be one of Qi Ping's faith-bound followers. For this person, Qi Ping not only gave a generous reward but also bestowed the 'Favor of the Land' and special disciple status in the Qingyuan Academy. The other tree came from the siblings Chang Qing and Chang E. With the massive number of seeds and their special talents, finding an Immortal-grade tree was within Qi Ping's expectations.
"With these two, I have now gathered Metal, Water, and Thunder attributes. To find three attributes in such a short time is quite efficient! And that's not even counting the Peach Tree or the Fire Spirit Fruit Tree..."
"At this rate, within a century, my spirit wood cultivation plan should show its full results!"
Qi Ping was very satisfied with this collection speed. He immediately researched the most suitable engraved spells and special spiritual energy gathering arrays for the Ironwood and Over-Rain Tree. He also arranged for a large amount of ore and water-attribute spiritual items to accelerate their growth.
His first Immortal-grade tree, the Azure Lightning Bamboo, had already reached the late stage of Rank 2 under the saturation of resources and the tempering of its spells. Its azure body had now turned entirely purple, and its growth was astonishingly fast; it was not far from breaking through to Rank 3. The growth speed advantage of spirit wood was fully displayed. Thus, Qi Ping could predict that these trees would quickly catch up to his own realm, becoming vital aids for his future cultivation and breakthroughs.
"Soon! The true utility of the spirit wood will explode!"
Qi Ping was now absolutely certain that once his trees were truly grown, they would become a power capable of influencing the fate of the Star-Sea Continent. In the future, influencing the entire cultivation world was not out of the question...