After Qi Ping explained the entire methodology of improvement to Yaya in detail, Yaya’s eyes sparkled with excitement and light, as if she had discovered some kind of treasure. Then, without wasting a moment, she eagerly went off to cultivate. At this point, Qi Ping had no idea just how much Yaya’s cultivation speed would skyrocket after this.
He knew she would get faster, but he absolutely did not realize just how fast that would be.
As for a special being like Little Stone Spirit, Qi Ping still didn’t know how to nurture it just yet.
All he knew for now was that special beings like stone spirits have far fewer bottlenecks to growth compared to ordinary spirit beasts, provided they have enough mineral resources.
For the time being, with the Dark Iron Tree and the spirit vein in place, Little Stone Spirit had more than enough to grow stronger.
After finalizing the cultivation plans for his animal companions, Qi Ping threw himself wholeheartedly into researching spells.
In particular, spells suitable for spirit trees became his most important focus at this point.
Aside from tending to the spirit trees and the spirit vein, Qi Ping now devoted nearly all of his time to the study of spells.
Half a year later.
Within Qi Ping’s territory in the Cloudmist Mountain Range.
After more than half a year of hard work, the four spirit trees—Blazing Sun Wood, Moonlight Tree, Starlight Wood, and Dark Iron Tree—had grown remarkably tall. With the enhancement of the spirit vein and the effect of the Star Spirit Wood (Spirit Gathering Technique), the spiritual energy within the territory had become extremely dense.
It might still be a little lacking for Foundation Establishment cultivators in terms of quality, but for first-tier bees and spirit plants, the environment was already excellent.
Even other first-tier spirit lands in the Cloudmist Mountain Range couldn’t reach this level of density!
That was because Qi Ping’s formation had locked all the spiritual energy firmly within his territory.
So while the quality of the spiritual energy might still fall short of second-tier, the quantity was absolutely abundant.
Thanks to this ample spiritual energy, the medicinal herbs and plants within the territory had grown to an incredibly lush state.
Here, almost every step you take, you can see flowers and spirit herbs emitting unique fragrances. The air is filled with the scent of flowers and a faint, pleasant herbal aroma.
The bees hardly ever rest, tirelessly collecting all kinds of spirit herbs and pollen.
Ever since Qi Ping cultivated the second-tier bee species, the Apothecary Bee, the ordinary worker bees had it rough. Their usual tasks of collecting and sorting suddenly came with many new requirements. Even the methods for collecting and processing different spirit herbs varied—all to make the Apothecary Bees’ research work easier!
In the middle of this lively and bustling scene, Qi Ping was completely focused on studying the various spells he had gathered.
Piles of cultivation knowledge, techniques, spells, spell fundamentals, jade slips—stacked up like a small mountain!
Some he had seized, others he had asked Meng Yan to procure.
Qi Ping wasn’t willing to let a single one of these go unread!
With his talent “Spirit of Three Colors” and the terrifying comprehension boosted by his powerful soul, Qi Ping’s foundational knowledge of spellcraft had surged higher and higher each day over these six months!
If you compared Qi Ping’s current understanding of spell foundations to that of a moderately accomplished scholar, then his previous grasp of spells was like that of a child who had just learned to read!
In these six months, Qi Ping’s understanding of cultivation had risen by several notches!
He was certain that his progress in cultivation comprehension over the past seven or eight years was less than one-tenth of what he had achieved in these six months of study.
After spending a day studying a single spell manual, Qi Ping began experimenting.
He lightly raised a finger, and razor-sharp metal-attribute sword fingers shot out at terrifying speeds!
Then, with a twist of his palm, a tough, resilient wood-attribute spiritual shield formed in front of him!
Just from sensing it, you could tell the shield possessed tremendous defensive power. Qi Ping waved his hand, dispersing the wood-attribute shield, then gently tapped his finger. Above his territory, clouds of spiritual energy suddenly gathered.
Then, showers of spirit rain, rich in spiritual energy, fell precisely onto every flower and spirit herb, demonstrating an astonishing level of control!
But that wasn’t all!
After the spirit rain ended, fireballs far more terrifying than the original Explosive Fireballs instantly covered every corner around Qi Ping!
The intense heat and explosive force made the entire space feel incredibly oppressive.
Finally, after Qi Ping willed all the fireballs to vanish, the ground suddenly trembled violently. Sturdy earthen walls rose up instantly, tightly encasing him!
In the distance, spikes of earth shot up, striking every target Qi Ping had preset with pinpoint accuracy!
“There’s no longer any pressure in continuously casting the five-element spells.”
Thinking back to the smooth, unbroken flow of his spellcasting just now, Qi Ping couldn’t help but feel a surge of joy.
After more than half a year, he had finally elevated his understanding and control of spells to this level!
Now, ordinary spells held no difficulty for Qi Ping. Especially the common five-element spells—he could cast them almost effortlessly.
He could even pluck a leaf, turn it into a flying sword, shoot it out, and then pull it back.
Of course, spells cast this way wouldn’t be exceptionally powerful. To raise their power to a very high level still required a solid foundation of cultivation knowledge and consistent practice.
For example, Qi Ping’s strongest spell remained the Explosive Fire spell.
This was because that spell had been refined and practiced countless times, and its power was further enhanced by talents like Beast King’s Flame, Yang Fire Body, and Golden Flame Art—advantages that other elemental spells couldn’t easily match.
But for Qi Ping, diversifying his methods was just a bonus. The most important thing was that he could now create spells!
His current soul-powered comprehension and knowledge base were more than enough to allow him to create many types of spells!
In fact, if he were willing to spend the time, creating more advanced techniques wouldn’t be out of the question either.
“From now on, spells and cultivation techniques will no longer be my shackles!”
After thoroughly completing this round of practice and experimentation, Qi Ping’s excitement was beyond words.
He now had the qualifications to break the monopoly on cultivation techniques in the cultivation world.
“From now on, no one can restrict or control me using techniques and spells!”
As long as he could obtain the most basic techniques and spells, Qi Ping was confident he could draw from the strengths of many schools to create the spells and methods best suited to himself.
Moreover, reaching a level of understanding where he could create his own spells came with another huge advantage: his ability to respond to various spells, his combat methods, and his adaptability were far beyond what ordinary cultivators who only practiced a fixed set of spells could match.
In that moment, Qi Ping had a realization: Understanding cultivation techniques and spells to this level was probably what truly qualified someone as a real cultivator!
“I’ll pause the research on techniques and spells here for now.”
“Half a year has passed. It’s time to find suitable spells for these four third-tier spirit trees.”
