“From now on, I can actively choose my talents!”
The significance of successfully selecting the [Water Marsh True Lord] talent this time was immense.
Although failure was still a possibility, the chances of ending up with a useless talent would be greatly reduced, and Qi Ping’s progress toward gathering all five elemental talents would accelerate significantly.
“Water Marsh True Lord…”
[Shared Talent: Water Marsh True Lord]!
[Water Marsh True Lord: You are the True Lord of the Waters. Your talent for water-attributed cultivation is extremely high. You possess the special water-attributed physique [Cloud Dream Spirit Body], granting you faster cultivation speed, mastery over water-attributed spells, and the ability to harness the power of rivers, lakes, and seas in battle.]
Cloud Dream Spirit Body + Mastery of Water-Attributed Spells + Harnessing the Power of Rivers, Lakes, and Seas
“What a True Lord of the Waters!”
Looking at the effects of this newly acquired talent, Qi Ping felt an indescribable joy in his heart.
It was practically three talents in one!
The Cloud Dream Spirit Body was similar to the Golden Flame Body—both were exceptional physiques for cultivation.
Mastery of water-attributed spells would allow Qi Ping to learn and master them faster and with greater ease. At this moment, his mind was already filled with many insights regarding water-attributed spells. As long as he fully absorbed and internalized all of this knowledge, his progress in comprehending the True Meaning of Water and studying water-attributed formations would undoubtedly advance by leaps and bounds.
As for the third effect—harnessing the power of rivers, lakes, and seas in battle—it might not have much use at his current stage. But the cultivation world was filled with countless vast rivers, lakes, and seas, so there would surely come a day when it proved useful.
And in fact, it wasn’t limited to combat. If Qi Ping set up formations near rivers, lakes, or seas, he could also borrow their power to construct even more formidable arrays!
In short, this talent offered incredible value for its cost, which was precisely why he had passed on the other two options.
While [Insight into All Things] wasn’t a bad talent, it came at the expense of his body and lifespan—something Qi Ping, with his obsession with longevity and the pinnacle of immortality, absolutely could not accept.
[Profound Fortune] was actually a pretty great talent, undoubtedly ranking among the top tier of third-grade talents.
Whether it was the effect of “possessing fortune, encountering few calamities, and having an increased chance of encountering opportunities” or “using fortune’s power to block heavenly divination and curse forces,” both were top-notch.
The reason he didn’t choose it was that he already possessed [Curse Immunity] and [Heaven’s Favor], with the latter overlapping with the fortune-related effect.
As for the former effect, compared to [Water Marsh True Lord], Qi Ping preferred the latter. True strength was the eternal truth; fortune could sometimes fail.
Besides, since the Cloud Dream Immortal Tiger was always by his side as an animal companion, the [Profound Fortune] talent could still work its effects through it, making it less essential for Qi Ping himself.
Otherwise, if not for that, Profound Fortune would have certainly been Qi Ping’s first choice.
[Shared Talents: Golden Flame Body, Golden Stone Body, Water Marsh True Lord]
“So now I’ve gathered three of the five elemental talents. I just need wood and earth to switch over to cultivating the Path of Five Elements!”
After completing the contract ceremony with the Cloud Dream Immortal Tiger, Qi Ping devoted most of his energy to cultivation, comprehending the laws of fire, and nurturing spirit herbs.
During that time, due to various disruptions and resource limitations, his cultivation had remained stagnant at the early Foundation Establishment stage.
Now that he had the Cloud Dream Immortal Tiger in hand, as long as he raised it to Foundation Establishment, his territory would be basically secure. If anyone tried to divine his information, the tiger would sense it.
Qi Ping estimated that with the tiger’s help, combined with his Curse Immunity and Heaven’s Favor talents, even Golden Core cultivators probably wouldn’t be able to divine his information. And with Heaven’s Favor protecting him, perhaps even Nascent Soul cultivators would fail to calculate his fate.
The art of divination and deduction already consumed spirit and shortened one’s lifespan; if it also triggered heaven’s backlash, the consequences would be even more dire.
In the following period, Qi Ping threw all his energy into cultivation.
With resources and a suitable environment at hand, he treasured them dearly.
After going through so much, Qi Ping understood more than ever how precious a stable cultivation environment and ample resources truly were.
Even a single second-grade spirit herb in his territory could spark a conflict. If he were to reveal all of them at once, it would undoubtedly incite a bloody storm among Foundation Establishment cultivators.
And with talent, comprehension, and resources all in place, Qi Ping’s cultivation progress climbed steadily!
Feeling his body and power growing stronger, and his vitality becoming more vibrant, Qi Ping’s satisfaction was beyond words.
This kind of immortal cultivation life was truly as comfortable as it could get.
…
Two years later…
Qi Ping’s cultivation finally broke through to the mid-Foundation Establishment stage!
“Finally, mid-Foundation Establishment!”
“With a solid and stable foundation, the breakthrough came naturally!”
Feeling his power and vitality surge once again, Qi Ping’s inner joy was almost indescribable.
Wasn’t this what cultivation was all about?
Longevity and eternal life!
And now, he was moving toward it step by step!
That feeling was the most exhilarating thing for Qi Ping.
Aside from that, during these two years, the growth of his animal companions also brought him great satisfaction.
The Little Spirit Fox and the Tri-Color Deer, with ample resources and relentless training, had both broken through to the early second-grade stage over the course of two years!
At this point, among Qi Ping’s animal companions, only the Golden Core Bee Queen and the Cloud Dream Immortal Tiger had yet to reach second-grade.
However, they were both currently at the peak of first-grade, and breaking through to second-grade was just a matter of a few years.
The reason the Cloud Dream Immortal Tiger could advance so quickly was mainly because when Qi Ping brought it back to his territory, it was already a late first-grade spirit beast.
And with Qi Ping’s current resources, raising a first-grade spirit beast wasn’t particularly difficult—especially with the honey that the Apothecary Bees specially brewed for the tiger, and the spirit herbs that his Treant Clone went out to purchase specifically for it. Its breakthrough speed was naturally not too slow.
In Qi Ping’s current cultivation plan, the Cloud Dream Immortal Tiger even took priority over Little Crow.
Because only when the tiger broke through to second-grade would the Treant Clone be safer when traveling—for instance, when joining the Qingyuan Sect to acquire more precious knowledge and such.
After breaking through to mid-Foundation Establishment, Qi Ping didn’t slack off. After resting for a few days, he resumed his cultivation with full focus. At this point, nothing attracted him more than treading the path of immortality and longevity.
At the same time, he also began studying second-grade high-level formations.
With his spiritual power and soul strength having grown further, combined with his comprehension of laws and the support of heaven and earth’s power, he now qualified to set up second-grade high-level formations.
Once he successfully laid out a second-grade high-level formation, there wouldn’t be many Foundation Establishment cultivators left who could pose a threat to him.
Just as Qi Ping thought he could cultivate steadily all the way to the late Foundation Establishment stage, an unexpected event interrupted his training over a year later.
He had previously succeeded in setting up the second-grade high-level formation [Six Ding Flame Serpent Array] several times and had grown quite proficient at it.
This time, after his cultivation session, he wanted to set up another second-grade high-level formation to further familiarize himself with the art. But halfway through, at a step where he shouldn’t have made any mistakes, he suddenly erred—and the entire formation collapsed in an instant!
“What’s going on?” Qi Ping frowned deeply. He shouldn’t have made a mistake at that step.
“How strange—what happened?”
Qi Ping carefully reviewed every operation he’d just performed. He was absolutely certain he hadn’t made a single error—so how could the formation have collapsed?
“No, no—could it be that it wasn’t my fault?”
A sense of foreboding immediately rose in Qi Ping’s heart.
So he merged his spiritual awareness into the natural world, attuning himself to heaven and earth.
The very next moment, his expression changed drastically!
“What’s this?! Why has the power of heaven and earth suddenly declined so much?!”
With his identity as a Druid—one who was close to nature—and his [Heaven’s Favor] talent, Qi Ping could easily detect such changes.
He distinctly remembered that when he set up the second-grade high-level [Six Ding Flame Serpent Array] just two months ago, everything had been normal!
It was at that very moment that the Treant Clone stationed in Area C of the Cloud Mist Mountain Range also discovered a troublesome issue—
