The three spiritual seeds—Tier 3 Low-Level Moonlight Tree, Tier 3 Intermediate Starwood Tree, and Tier 3 Low-Level Dark Iron Tree—cost Qi Ping a total of 31,000 low-grade spirit stones and 3,100 Black Market points.
After this expenditure, Qi Ping’s current assets shrank once again.
【Black Market Spirit Stones: 7200】
【Black Market Points: 1600】
He now had only a little over 19,000 spirit stones on him. Adding some odds and ends, he had roughly 20,000 in total.
Honestly, this number of spirit stones isn’t too shabby for a Foundation Establishment cultivator, but it felt a bit low for Qi Ping.
Especially when it came to the Star-Moon Twin Beasts he was most excited about!
128,000 spirit stones + 12,800 Black Market points!
And earning Black Market points carried the highest risk and difficulty. To get those points, Qi Ping would have to confront that mysterious organization that refines children with special physiques and talents into spiritual artifacts.
“Unless I have at least 5,000 Second-Tier combat bees and Crow Crow breaks through to late or peak Second-Tier, I absolutely cannot take on another Mysterious Black Market mission!”
This was the bottom line Qi Ping set for himself. Otherwise, facing such a colossal force would leave him far too uneasy.
Three to five hundred Second-Tier bees could stall or even handle an ordinary early Foundation Establishment cultivator, so 5,000 Second-Tier bees would be incredibly powerful.
If it were just a tenfold increase in numbers, that might still be within reason. But forming a battle formation with 5,000 bees would cause their combat power to skyrocket, which would also greatly benefit Qi Ping if he needed to transform and escape.
As for Crow Crow, it had the Tier 3 Intermediate Blazing Sun Tree, which condenses solar essence to support its cultivation. And since the Blazing Sun Tree was Qi Ping’s top priority for cultivation, with it around, Crow Crow’s rate of advancement definitely wouldn’t be slow!
Qi Ping had strong confidence in Crow Crow.
After returning to the Cloud Mist Mountain Range, Qi Ping didn’t rush into training.
Instead, he first went to see Old Man Zhou, shared a couple of drinks with him, and only then returned to his own territory.
“I didn’t expect this trip to take over four months!” Qi Ping sighed as he returned to his territory.
Then he lazily lay down on the ground, enjoying some long-lost peace.
The long periods of rushing, killing, and constant vigilance had left his mind utterly exhausted.
Cultivators get tired too, especially mentally. That’s why so many cultivators end up going mad or losing their minds on the path of cultivation.
This is one of the major hurdles on the road to immortality.
Cultivators who haven’t honed their mental fortitude enough can become insane, perverted, or fall into frenzied killing sprees on this long journey.
In fact, countless cultivators are suppressed or killed every year for exactly this reason!
Even many seemingly normal cultivators can have twisted minds, especially when they can no longer advance but have long lifespans. They often develop extreme, deviant personalities.
Only those with an unwavering Dao-heart can truly charge forward on the path of immortality without looking back!
Otherwise, no matter how talented, they will ultimately fail on this long road!
Although Qi Ping had condensed his own unique [Farming Domain], it was still just the first stage of Dao-heart cultivation. He still needed to keep honing and improving it.
The killing during this trip had also deeply affected Qi Ping.
Even now, whenever Qi Ping closes his eyes, he still sees those rows upon rows of infant corpses, radiating bizarre colors and spiritual light, displayed in special containers, emitting an aura that was extremely tempting to the body.
It was as if an alluring voice was urging Qi Ping to eat them.
But whenever that happened, Qi Ping’s [Natural Perception] would trigger a sense of danger.
Qi Ping knew that if he ever touched those things, it would definitely bring unpredictable disaster upon himself!
So in the end, he only had some of his bees destroy those items. After wiping out so many organizations, Qi Ping finally got a glimpse of just the tip of the iceberg beneath the surface of the cultivation world.
But even that single glimpse sent chills down his spine! It turned out that the prosperity and peace of the cultivation world were merely a facade.
So when he returned, saw Old Man Zhou, stepped back into his own territory—a paradise—and heard the busy sounds of his bees, Qi Ping felt an immense sense of peace.
For Qi Ping, this was the only truly trustworthy sanctuary in the entire cultivation world.
After experiencing these things out in the world, Qi Ping’s determination to build a powerful territory only grew stronger.
Listening to the busy sounds of the bees, Qi Ping slowly drifted off to sleep. And during this time, his [Farming Domain] grew increasingly solid and powerful.
When Qi Ping woke up again, he found that ten days had passed.
The little Three-Colored Deer and the small spirit fox were playing not far away.
Over these ten days, the little spirit fox had taken on the role of a caring guardian, responsible for looking after the Three-Colored Deer.
Crow Crow had initially offered to take care of it, but the little fox volunteered instead, arguing that its diet was the most similar to the deer’s.
So, for those ten days, the little fox had taken care of the Three-Colored Deer.
Because the territory lacked spiritual energy and didn’t have many spiritual fruits, the little fox had dug out many of its own treasured stash of spiritual fruits and herbs.
The fruits and herbs it had been hoarding over time finally came in handy!
“Chirp chirp? (How’s that? Pretty impressive, right, Fox? I’ve taken great care of the little deer!)”
The little fox proudly raised its head as it told Qi Ping about it.
Not only had its stored spiritual fruits and herbs been useful, but it had also taken on the role of the big guardian. It was now a little big fox!
Qi Ping listened to the little fox recount the events of the past ten days, feeling both amused and touched.
They were just small matters around the territory, but the little fox described them so vividly. Because for the little fox, this place, though small, was its whole world. And it loved it here. It had personally arranged so many things here with Tongtong.
“You did great! Once I’m done with my tasks for a while, I’ll get you lots of delicious spiritual fruits!” Qi Ping praised the little fox, stroking its head.
Then Qi Ping let the little fox take the Three-Colored Deer off to play.
Because when Qi Ping had just woken up, he had noticed something unusual about himself.
He realized that his [Farming Domain] talent had become much more solid. Not only was its protective power stronger, but the amount of natural energy he could borrow within his territory had also increased significantly.
“How did the Farming Domain strengthen so much?”
“Could it be because of this ten-day sleep and the transformation of my Dao-heart?”
Normally, if he just slept, Qi Ping would probably only be out for a day or two at most.
But he had slept for a full ten days. Sometimes his thoughts had been especially clear, continuously reflecting on, processing, and analyzing what he had encountered this time, as well as everything he had experienced in the cultivation world.
When he woke up this time, he felt like he had changed a lot.
His body felt strangely light, and his control over his spiritual power and soul force had directly improved by a whole level!
