“With this many spirit stones in hand, I can now afford a spirit beast in the million-spirit-stone tier!”
Especially now that he could actively choose the talent during the contracting process, each animal companion slot had become that much more precious.
So, given that he could select a more powerful companion, naturally he’d go for the best within his reach.
Aside from the spirit stones, the loot this time included an overwhelming number of magical artifacts, elixirs, and spiritual materials of all sorts. Their total value was easily over five million spirit stones as well.
When it came to handling these spoils, Qi Ping kept things simple—just as he’d always done.
“Martial arts, spells, cultivation insights, and knowledge-based texts—I’ve acquired quite a few great spells and new knowledge this time. If I can fully absorb and integrate all of this, my mastery over spells will leap to a whole new level!”
Qi Ping’s spellcasting was already no slouch. He could casually cast all sorts of conventional spells, and his fire-attributed and metal-attributed spells were downright masterful.
Just relying on his spells alone, he could already steamroll cultivators at the same level. After all, he had no weaknesses in terms of physical constitution, cultivation foundation, or spell comprehension—and on top of that, he had the backing of Heaven-Earth forces.
Still, with all the profound arts and spells he’d obtained this time, his innate talent [Tri-Color Spirit]—which boosted his comprehension—was falling a bit short in the face of such a massive influx of knowledge.
So he planned to contract an additional spirit beast, one worth a million spirit stones, with a strong comprehension talent. That should be enough to help him fully digest all the knowledge he’d gathered.
And if he successfully entered the Qingyuan Sect later to study their vast archives, this would come in handy as well.
Either way, stacking another powerful comprehension talent was absolutely not a loss.
When it came to soul-related talents, he already had [Beast King’s Will] and Little Spirit Fox’s [Mystic Immortal Seal]—two talents that were more than enough for now.
On top of that, thanks to consuming large amounts of spiritual fruits, honey, and moon essence, Little Spirit Fox was already showing signs of a bloodline transformation.
Qi Ping planned to buy some resources suited to help her break through to an even higher bloodline tier, which would, in turn, elevate his own soul-related talents.
“Aside from the knowledge-based loot that I must keep, the ores must be set aside for Little Stone Spirit…”
As a unique primordial spirit-being, Qi Ping had high hopes for Little Stone Spirit.
With all the ores and rare minerals seized from various Foundation Establishment cultivators and families, it should be more than enough to give Little Stone Spirit a massive boost in power.
He wouldn’t dare claim Golden Core level, but reaching the peak of the second tier should be no problem for Little Stone Spirit. A peak second-tier primordial stone spirit? Even Crow Crow at the same level might not be able to do much against it.
“As for the spirit herbs that can be planted and materials suitable for setting up formations—those I’ll keep. Everything else? Sell it all!”
As for the miscellaneous items—magical instruments, elixirs, and other random junk—Qi Ping planned to bundle them all and sell them to the Mysterious Black Market. Anything weird or questionable would go, too.
When it came to elixirs, he had more than enough honey to cover his needs for now. His only task at the moment was to wait for the Bee Queen to advance once more, then use that metamorphosis to further upgrade the entire swarm. After that, he could attempt to devour the Demon Insect King’s remains. As long as his bees kept getting stronger, he wouldn’t need to worry about elixirs at all.
The honey brewed by his own bees? Safe and reliable!
Besides, Qi Ping was currently walking the path of the Five Elements and Ten Thousand Arts. If he pushed this path to its absolute limit, it would be enough to sweep through anyone at his level—unless he ran into some monstrously gifted prodigy.
The Five Elements path was one of the most difficult and supreme paths in cultivation. Even with the ability to share multiple talents, it wasn’t easy to walk. That’s why Qi Ping refused to waste time on random magical treasures or miscellaneous spells—except for utility spells like concealment and tracking, which he’d invest significant time into mastering.
And there was one more crucial reason: in this cultivation world—which felt more like a breeding ground—even geniuses were mere playthings. Beating them meant nothing to him.
As he flipped through the confidential materials obtained from this haul, Qi Ping grew increasingly convinced that the cultivation world was nothing but one massive farm and hunting ground.
Among the loot, he’d found quite a few Mother-Child cultivation methods. Under normal circumstances, practicing the Child technique posed no issues and showed no signs of abnormality—it even appeared to be a rare, secret-level technique.
But at a critical moment, the one who cultivated the Mother technique could instantly seize control over the Child practitioner—or even devour their cultivation base and spiritual energy entirely…
Such techniques were not uncommon among those families, and the Immortal Alliance had spread many of them far and wide to cultivate “blood sacrifices”…
Those who practiced the Child technique had a name: [Humanoid Great Medicine]!
Devouring and refining such a humanoid medicine was even more potent than consuming rare spiritual herbs!
These techniques were disseminated through various channels—opportunities, sects, families, auctions, trades—you name it.
Many people went through great lengths—passing trials, paying exorbitant prices—just to obtain such techniques. But all they really earned was the privilege of becoming humanoid medicine themselves…
“Maybe this is the inevitable result of resource scarcity…”
After all, when people are starving, they’ll eat other people.
During famine years, it wasn’t uncommon for ordinary folks to exchange children for food or devour “two-legged sheep”—a grim euphemism for humans.
And in this ever-declining world, cultivators were no different from starving madmen in essence.
If there was any difference, it was that cultivators were crazier, more determined, more powerful, more knowledgeable, more cunning, more unrestrained by morals—and they had far more time to scheme and plot…
“I can hardly imagine just how far these people would go in their pursuit of cultivation… Immortal Alliance blood sacrifices, Mother-Child techniques… what else is there?”
It was precisely during this operation to wipe out the Immortal Alliance’s subsidiary forces that Qi Ping uncovered many secrets unknown to ordinary cultivators.
Piece by piece, as he assembled these hidden truths, he gradually gained a clearer picture of what the cultivation world really looked like under the overarching trend of Heaven and Earth’s decline.
That was why, the moment he obtained those spirit stones and black market points, his first thought was to contract another spirit beast with an even stronger comprehension talent!
“I want eternal life through the Dao—not to be anyone’s puppet!”
What Qi Ping needed to do now was exactly what the ancient sorcerers did: use all the knowledge he could gather from the cultivation world to study everything under the heavens—the myriad things, the laws of the world!
Only what you truly understand and master for yourself is truly yours! And only by doing so could he break through the monopoly on knowledge and resources held by those at the top.
Qi Ping had no desire to one day become someone else’s humanoid medicine…
…
“For now, I’ll leave the spoils of this operation hidden outside. Once this storm blows over, I’ll go retrieve them…”
“Right now, I’ll focus on my cultivation. I’ve still got over half of the books and spells from last time left to study—let’s finish those first.”
“As for formations—I’ve already mastered the second-tier high-level fire-attributed formations, but I should also develop the water-attributed and metal-attributed ones.”
With three second-tier high-level formations, plus the boosts from [Heaven’s Favor] and [Hearth and Home Domain], he’d feel a lot safer when the time came to collect his loot.
With a renewed sense of urgency, Qi Ping quickly sank into a state of cultivation, shutting out the chaos and conflicts of the outside world. As long as this land remained stable and didn’t continue its decline, that was enough.
Ever since [Heaven’s Favor] had been enhanced, Qi Ping could often sense a faint undercurrent of danger permeating the world—a constant reminder urging him to cultivate faster…
