Wait… I’m a Druid in a Cultivation World?! - Chapter 115

Qi Ping was unaware that his own cautious, survival-driven action had actually raised his standing in Meng Yan’s eyes, deepening Meng Yan’s trust in him by another level.

Afterwards, the two quickly cleared the battlefield and then stepped out of the illusion array.

They walked a considerable distance before finally stopping within a dense patch of forest.

Once stopped, Meng Yan didn’t immediately begin dividing the spoils. Instead, he first took something out of his storage bag and handed it to Qi Ping.

“This is the pill formula for enhancing physical strength you asked me to find before. I’ve managed to get everything for you, including the spiritual herbs and seeds.”

“This pill is called the Firefly Glow Pill. The main ingredient is the high-grade, first-tier Firefly Glow Flower, which has potent body-tempering effects.”

“While not exactly priceless, it’s still quite good. It’s one of the better body-tempering pills that could be found on short notice.”

“This pill is extremely gentle in nurturing the body. Unlike some fiercely potent body-tempering pills that can greatly enhance physical strength but risk damaging the body, the Firefly Glow Pill doesn’t have this drawback. It can even slightly improve one’s innate affinity for the fire element, which is rather exceptional.”

“The effects are even better with continuous use, but Firefly Glow Pills aren’t cheap. Furthermore, the effectiveness diminishes with each subsequent pill, making it less cost-effective later on.”

“From a long-term perspective, the Firefly Glow Pill is still quite good…”

However, hearing Meng Yan’s words, Qi Ping was exceptionally intrigued.

Something that could enhance both physical strength and fire element aptitude? This was a great find!

With his plant growth ability allowing him to continuously accelerate the maturation of spiritual herbs, he wasn’t worried about the scarcity or value of the ingredients. He just needed to put in the work!
Then, he could hand the herbs over to the bees to brew into honey, and he just needed to refine and absorb it.

“Thank you for your trouble, Brother Meng!”

Qi Ping accepted the items with deep gratitude.

Having a powerful ally with strong backing was truly advantageous. Things that were difficult for him to obtain on his own, the other party could manage to acquire.

“It’s nothing. Actually, it’s good that you were here to help today, Brother Qi, otherwise I would have been in real danger!”

Currently, tensions were high across the entire Qingtian Domain, making it difficult even for him to find suitable combat assistance.

Now, having Qi Ping as a hidden trump card, outside the expected calculations, his chances of turning the tables when targeted were much greater.

After handing over all the items related to the Firefly Glow Pill formula to Qi Ping, Meng Yan proceeded to empty the contents of the twin demonesses’ and the Tianhuo Pavilion disciple’s storage bags onto the ground.

When the clattering pile of spirit stones appeared before Qi Ping’s eyes, he was practically dazzled.

In contrast, Meng Yan showed no reaction, even seeming slightly dismissive.

For him, he genuinely wasn’t that short on these resources. Not to mention the support from his Golden Core master, his identity as an artifact smith alone was enough to earn him plenty of spirit stones.

After Meng Yan took the lead in tallying everything up, the final spoils were as follows:
4,312 spirit stones!
Plus cultivation manuals, spell techniques, weapons, pills, spiritual herbs, sect tokens…
Additionally, there were some odd items whose purpose wasn’t immediately clear.

The rest were various miscellaneous items.

All the bits and pieces added up, their total estimated value actually exceeded ten thousand spirit stones!
Facing these items, Meng Yan spoke first:

“Brother Qi, could you let me have those items over there? They are things my sect requires me to search for. In return, you can take all the spirit stones here. Besides the stones, feel free to pick any other items you like, as many as you want…”

Meng Yan pointed towards the pile of strange objects as he spoke, his eyes looking inquiringly at Qi Ping.

Among that pile were stones with mysterious patterns, broken weapons, tokens covered in rust, and a mysterious jar.

Some of these items were specifically required by the Qingyuan Sect for their search. He hadn’t expected to find them here, which was an unexpected delight for Meng Yan.

However, since the enemies were defeated by both him and Qi Ping together, he had to seek Qi Ping’s opinion.

Qi Ping glanced at the pile of oddities and nodded his agreement without the slightest hesitation.

“Brother Meng, if you need anything, just take it. I’ve already received so much from you!”

In fact, even if Meng Yan hadn’t made this request, Qi Ping wouldn’t have wanted those strange items.
While they might potentially hold astonishing value, it was just a possibility. Qi Ping felt it was more likely they concealed some hidden risk, potentially bringing disaster upon himself.

If they fell into Qi Ping’s hands, at most, he would have the bees bury them deep in a hole somewhere.

He wouldn’t even consider carrying them on his person, let alone keeping them around to study their secrets.

How could those things compare to solid, tangible spirit stones?

Rather than chasing after potentially heaven-defying opportunities, Qi Ping preferred to cultivate step by step, building his foundation steadily!

“In that case, thank you, Brother Qi. These items are quite valuable, but I’m truly not at liberty to explain further… So you must take all the spirit stones, and please, select more from the other items as well!”

Having received Qi Ping’s assent, Meng Yan cupped his hands in gratitude towards Qi Ping.

He felt that Qi Ping was an absolutely excellent ally, never causing him any undue difficulty!
And Qi Ping, feeling that Meng Yan had already insisted to this extent, decided not to stand on ceremony any further.

“Brother Meng, in that case, I’ll gladly accept the spirit stones. I’m still short on funds for purchasing a spirit beast soon.”

“Please, take more, Brother Qi, otherwise I truly won’t feel at ease. Regarding information on soul-type spirit beasts, I’ve gathered some leads. I’ve also heard that a certain senior brother possesses a rather rare soul-type spirit beast. I’m currently working on getting more details and making contact. I estimate I’ll have more concrete information within a month.”

“Excellent! I have no channels for this matter myself, so I can only trouble you with it, Brother Meng!”

“It’s the least I can do! Besides the spirit stones, please, pick more from the other items, Brother Qi!”

“Alright!”

Although Qi Ping agreed, he only selected the portion of spiritual herbs and two bottles of Qi Restoration Pills from the remaining loot. Compared to the total share of other items, his take was quite modest.

Truth be told, among the remaining items, only the spiritual herbs were particularly useful to Qi Ping, along with the Qi Restoration Pills.

As for the other things, Meng Yan could make copies of the cultivation manuals and spell techniques for him.

Weapons and other valuable items would be difficult for Qi Ping to sell off even if he took them.

He was even more wary of using the assorted, unidentifiable pills.

So, while the total value of all these miscellaneous items was considerable, only someone like Meng Yan had the means to actually realize their value.

“Is that all you’re taking? Brother Qi, you’re being far too courteous!” Meng Yan said, somewhat amused and exasperated.

Even though Qi Ping didn’t seem particularly wealthy, he really wasn’t greedy at all. This instead made Meng Yan feel a bit indebted to him.

However, he didn’t realize that this was precisely the kind of reaction Qi Ping hoped to elicit.

Because only then, when Qi Ping later asked Meng Yan for other things he needed, would it be less likely to cause any resentment.

Qi Ping understood deeply that even if Meng Yan was willing to provide him with many things unconditionally now, such patience would inevitably wear thin if his requests kept increasing.

But Meng Yan was currently Qi Ping’s best channel for obtaining the cultivation techniques, spiritual herbs, and various rare items he needed. Therefore, Qi Ping absolutely could not allow that to happen.

Under these circumstances, the best approach was exactly this: take less of what wasn’t important to himself. Then, the next time he needed to ask for a favor, the other party would be even more willing to help.

After all, mutually beneficial cooperation was the most sustainable path in the long run.

Of course, the prerequisite for all this was that Qi Ping, through their previous philosophical discussions and his understanding of Meng Yan’s character during this time, had basically confirmed Meng Yan’s temperament. He believed that acting this way would surely yield returns in the future.

However, what Qi Ping didn’t expect was for the return to come so quickly.

Meng Yan took out a high-grade artifact hammer and presented it to Qi Ping, saying:
“Brother Qi, this is the hammer I used when I comprehended the Fire Intent through artifact forging. It still retains some of the conceptual essence of that Fire Intent. Take it for now to aid your comprehension. You can return it to me after you’ve successfully grasped the Fire Intent yourself…”