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

The Hundred-Pupil Flower Demon was currently rooted at the very center of the spirit land.

Its feet were buried in the soil, with faint layers of purple energy continuously transmitting from the roots at its feet throughout its entire body. The whole creature emitted an eerie aura.

Its pair of unusual eyes were tightly closed, as if it were sound asleep.

It wasn’t until Qi Ping approached that the Hundred-Pupil Flower Demon opened its tightly shut eyes.

Within those unusual purple pupils, confusion turned to delight, and then the whole creature sprang up, swiftly leaping onto Qi Ping’s arm.

“Gurgle gurgle… (Hugs…)”

“Gurgle gurgle… (Play with you…)”

Compared to two days ago, the little Hundred-Pupil Flower Demon was now able to express relatively vague ideas.

At this rate, Qi Ping felt it wouldn’t be long before it could speak and communicate normally.

Although this was Qi Ping’s first time encountering a situation where spiritual intelligence had just awakened, he didn’t find it particularly inconvenient.

After all, the Hundred-Pupil Flower Demon was still young; this was normal.

The main thing was that it didn’t cause him much worry. When hungry, it would simply run back to the spirit land to absorb the spiritual energy and nutrients there.

Just now, while observing the Flower Demon’s aura, Qi Ping noticed it was strengthening much faster than the little spirit fox. Even though he hadn’t used Plant Growth on it these past two or three days, its aura had noticeably grown compared to before.

Qi Ping wasn’t sure of the reason for this, so he could only attribute it to the peculiarities of the Hundred-Pupil Flower Demon’s juvenile transformation.

Qi Ping smiled and pinched the little Flower Demon’s chubby cheeks, noticing for the first time that they were cool to the touch, completely different from the little spirit fox’s warm body.

After playing with the little Hundred-Pupil Flower Demon for a while, Qi Ping replanted the still somewhat simple-minded little creature back into the ground and began cultivating it again using Plant Growth.

Given that the [Plant Growth] skill was effective, the Hundred-Pupil Flower Demon currently held the most potential for rapid cultivation.

After his soul strength increased, Qi Ping now only needed to spend a portion of his focus to meet his normal cultivation needs.

With the remaining focus, which wasn’t needed for raising bees at the moment, Qi Ping planned to use part of it to prepare the spirit herb honey required for Ya Ya’s breakthrough to the second tier.

For this, he needed to cultivate both Fire Spirit Grass and Firefly Fruit to several hundred years of medicinal efficacy. Fortunately, he had preserved the honey formulas suitable for Ya Ya for both Fire Spirit Grass honey and Firefly Fruit honey, so he didn’t need to waste time testing honey formulas again.

The remaining focus Qi Ping naturally intended to use entirely on the little Hundred-Pupil Flower Demon.

The Qingtian Domain was growing increasingly chaotic now. According to Meng Yan, more and more people were dying—members of major sects, local families… Qi Ping had only avoided these troubles because he stayed deep in the mountains, farming and keeping bees.

But Qi Ping didn’t know when these matters might eventually reach him.

While Qi Ping had been cautious and careful in his external dealings, when one really thought carefully about it—renting Grade B spirit fields, spending large amounts of spirit stones, remaining safe and sound amidst a background where sixty to seventy percent of rogue cultivators had either left or died—even if Qi Ping had suitable explanations for all these, if the major sects and forces became desperate enough, it would be hard for him to avoid getting caught up in it. He might even attract the attention of Foundation Building experts.

Therefore, in this situation, being able to cultivate the Hundred-Pupil Flower Demon to the second tier as soon as possible would be a huge safeguard for Qi Ping; a second-tier Hundred-Pupil Flower Demon + ten thousand combat bee strains could definitely kill quite a few Foundation Building cultivators.

As someone who also possessed the Hundred-Pupil Demonic Realm talent, Qi Ping knew perfectly well what level a second-tier Hundred-Pupil Flower Demon could unleash with this innate skill.

Under the special energy of Plant Growth, the purple energy surrounding the Hundred-Pupil Flower Demon grew increasingly dense, and its entire aura rapidly intensified.

“The effect is really not bad!”

Watching the little Hundred-Pupil Flower Demon grow stronger so quickly, Qi Ping felt naturally very pleased.

The only thing that bothered Qi Ping a bit was that his recently enhanced soul strength was starting to feel insufficient again.

Originally, after obtaining the [Fairy-Bewildering God Seal] talent and the subsequent boost in soul strength, it had been more than enough to cultivate the spirit herbs he and Ya Ya needed, with plenty of focus left for cultivation.

But now, with the added task of cultivating the Hundred-Pupil Flower Demon, his soul power suddenly felt stretched thin.

“Still need to budget carefully!”

“Like before, without affecting my own cultivation and comprehension, I must try to use Plant Growth to consume more soul power. Then, after my soul power recovers, use Plant Growth again, maximizing efficiency and avoiding waste of soul power…”

Qi Ping had previously considered whether to contract more plant-type spirit beasts in the future, but now it seemed he still needed to think it over.

If the advantages weren’t significant, it might be better to decide based on his innate talent needs and the strength and talents of the spirit beasts he could find.

“Enough, no use complaining. Actually, things are already pretty good!”

“The spirit herbs cultivated with Plant Growth now can not only meet my needs but also, depending on the situation, cultivate the specific herbs most needed by my animal companions. Compared to other cultivators, my advantages are already very high…”

It was like spirit stones—no amount ever seemed enough.

Back when Qi Ping calculated that the two spirit fields he rented could earn him over ten thousand spirit stones, he had been overjoyed.

But now, purchasing the little spirit fox and the little Hundred-Pupil Flower Demon had directly cost seventeen thousand spirit stones. He still owed ten thousand in debt. Even with the help of his Plant Growth skill, he estimated it would take half a year to pay it off.

That meant for the next six months, Qi Ping would have no personal savings at all.

But in over half a year, Qi Ping’s Druid level would be about to upgrade, and his cultivation would likely reach the ninth level of Qi Refining. By then, he would need to purchase new spirit beasts, find a way to buy Foundation Building techniques, knowledge on breaking through to Foundation Building, etc. Figuring out how to safely earn spirit stones would become a huge challenge again.

Desires are endless. Once you reach a new stage, you always want more!

“That’s why it’s important to calm your mind, make steady and practical use of the resources in hand, wait for your strength to improve, slowly find ways to accumulate more… it will come eventually!”

“The path of cultivation is long. You will always encounter various difficulties. The most important thing is to understand your own Dao Heart and take each step steadily and surely on the path that suits you best!”

Thinking of this, the slight frustration that had arisen in Qi Ping’s heart disappeared, replaced by determination and calmness.

The concept of immortality and eternal life was still a distant, illusory idea for Qi Ping. For now, the most important thing was to plan and properly handle every matter right in front of him.

Beekeeping and honey production, cultivating the spirit herbs needed by his animal companions, mastering the Flame Blast spell and the Wood Flame Art to perfection, raising his cultivation to Qi Refining perfection, safely earning spirit stones… many tasks required Qi Ping’s serious attention.

“My main goals for the near future are to prepare the fire-attribute honey needed for Ya Ya’s breakthrough to the second tier, and to use Plant Growth to cultivate the little Hundred-Pupil Flower Demon to the second tier as soon as possible.”

“Aside from that, I need to fully comprehend and cultivate both the Flame Blast spell and the Wood Flame Art to perfection. That way, I’ll have greater confidence when attempting the Foundation Building breakthrough. Now that I’ve comprehended the essence of fire and my soul has strengthened significantly, reaching perfection in the Flame Blast spell and Wood Flame Art shouldn’t take too long.”

“Finally, we need to wait for the [Plant Growth] skill to break through to level four. Then we can cultivate blood ginseng with a medicinal effect of five hundred years. The bee colony has been at the first tier for so long, it’s about time for it to transform and break through to the second tier. The best balanced drones can also be selected and bred by the queen bee starting now.”