Wait… I’m a Druid in a Cultivation World?! - Chapter 131

Having simultaneously acquired two Divine Soul Talents and comprehended the True Meaning of Fire, Qi Ping’s subsequent cultivation speed and his rate of nurturing spiritual herbs received a massive boost.

Qi Ping seized this hard-won opportunity, diligently improving his own strength and that of his animal companions.

The current cultivation speed he enjoyed was the result of tremendous effort and step-by-step striving to create these very conditions.

Therefore, Qi Ping’s only thought now was to cherish this opportunity and quickly develop second-tier combat capabilities here.

In this state of focused effort, three months passed in the blink of an eye.

During this period, Qi Ping sold all the Spirit-Nourishing Honey produced by the Brewer Big-Bellied Bees through Boss Gao, earning five thousand three hundred and sixteen spirit stones.

For convenience, Qi Ping repaid five thousand of those spirit stones, along with the large hammer (which still contained about ninety percent of its Fire True Meaning essence), to Meng Yan.

Having shed more than half of his debt lifted a significant psychological burden off Qi Ping’s shoulders. Carrying such a large spirit stone debt had always made him feel somewhat uneasy.

After repaying most of the debt, Qi Ping discovered that the conceptual aura surrounding his Dao Heart had grown even more concentrated. He estimated it wasn’t far from truly taking form.

However, returning the items gave Meng Yan quite a scare.

It wasn’t because Qi Ping kept his promise to return the spirit stones and hammer. Meng Yan, possessing keen insight and intuition since childhood, had already judged and perceived Qi Ping’s character. Through further interactions with Ya Ya (the crow) and conversations about the Dao Heart, he had gained an even deeper understanding of Qi Ping. So, he was not at all surprised that Qi Ping returned the items on time.

What truly shocked Meng Yan was that Qi Ping had only consumed ten percent of the hammer’s essence and yet had successfully comprehended the True Meaning of Fire.

During their last battle together, Meng Yan had clearly sensed that Qi Ping was still some distance away from comprehending the Fire True Meaning. He had estimated Qi Ping would need to consume at least fifty percent of the essence to fully grasp it.

Yet now, Qi Ping had succeeded with only a ten percent consumption!
This indicated that Qi Ping’s aptitude for comprehension was even better than Meng Yan had estimated.

For a lone cultivator to reach his current level, Meng Yan couldn’t help but feel admiration.

Actually, this was even better for Meng Yan, as he had recently begun to have a vague premonition that someone might be planning to move against him.

Over the past six months, he had successively eliminated several groups of disciples from hostile sects, drawing increasing attention.

Now, with Qi Ping’s increased cultivation and his comprehension of the Fire True Meaning, his combat power was bound to skyrocket. Combined with Qi Ping’s hidden cards, even if targeted, Meng Yan could potentially use Qi Ping’s help to break the situation early.

Lately, he hadn’t even been staying at his residence, lest he be surrounded and attacked someday.

Even Qi Ping could only learn Meng Yan’s location through messenger talismans.

Meng Yan had specifically discussed this matter with Qi Ping, who naturally expressed his willingness to offer full assistance. As long as the enemies weren’t at the Foundation Establishment stage, there was no need to worry.

Qi Ping’s confident words alleviated much of Meng Yan’s concern.

During this same period, with the help of Qi Ping’s resources, Sister Nan’s cultivation had long since broken through to the sixth layer of Qi Refining. She wasn’t far from the late Qi Refining stage either.

After returning from Meng Yan’s place following the spirit stone repayment, Qi Ping recalled what Meng Yan had told him about the situation in the Qingtian Region and couldn’t help but sigh.

In short, as the conflicts between sects intensified, some battlefields had become veritable meat grinders. Occasionally, those once awe-inspiring, talented sect disciples, whom lone cultivators looked up to, would perish.

Although some disciples did rise to prominence in such intense life-and-death battles, they were ultimately the minority; most perished.

Meng Yan had even heard rumors that someone from the three major families of Greenrock County might have been persuaded by another sect to switch sides and stir up trouble, which could potentially ignite full-blown chaos in Greenrock County.

It wasn’t even impossible that Foundation Establishment cultivators might join the Greenrock County battlefield in the future.

Once internal strife completely erupted in Greenrock County, it wouldn’t be a matter of just one or two Foundation Establishment cultivators. Therefore, Meng Yan also urged Qi Ping to prepare, ideally achieving a breakthrough to Foundation Establishment before that happened.

Learning this news made Qi Ping feel immensely relieved.
“Thank goodness I didn’t immediately choose to join the Qingyuan Sect after acquiring the Fiery Body of Departure talent.”

“Otherwise, even if I wasn’t discovered by some old monster, captured, and dissected, I’d probably be sent as cannon fodder to various dangerous areas. After all, even a core disciple like Meng Yan can’t avoid it.”

Compared to that, farming here in the depths of the Misty Cloud Mountains was far more comfortable.

Currently, those who appeared here with hostile intentions towards Qi Ping were only some Qi Refining stage cultivators, posing no threat to him now.

This feeling of “calmly observing the chaos in the Qingtian Region while I secure my foundation in the immortal path” was actually somewhat thrilling for Qi Ping.

For Qi Ping, lying low was indeed the supreme principle!

In the following time, Qi Ping didn’t do anything particularly special. He continued as before: cultivating, nurturing spiritual herbs, and raising his animal companions.

He just felt a stronger sense of urgency.

After about another month—the fourth month since Qi Ping contracted the Spirit Fox and the Hundred-Eyed Flower Demon—both his Explosive Flame spell and his Wood-Flame Technique successively reached perfection!
Even his cultivation gradually approached the ninth layer of Qi Refining!
“The higher the Qi Refining cultivation goes, the more difficult it becomes. Even with ample resources for cultivation, it still requires a long time to break through again.”

Qi Ping had lost count of how many spiritual herbs he had nurtured, only knowing that if sold, the number would be absolutely staggering.

“No wonder so many people get stuck at the late Qi Refining stage. Relying on one or two spiritual herbs to break through a realm is simply impossible. You either pile on a massive amount of herbs or grind away slowly.”

“But my Explosive Flame spell and Wood-Flame Technique have finally reached perfection!”

After these two techniques were perfected, Qi Ping couldn’t wait to test them at the previous pile of rubble.

“Fiery Body of Yang… Beast King’s Blaze… True Meaning of Fire… Explosive Flame Movement Technique!”

Powerful auras surged from Qi Ping’s body one after another. Then, with a terrifying roar, his figure shot forward like a rocket.

Under Qi Ping’s terrifying power, the ground was blasted with large, deep pits and massive cracks!
His speed reached an extreme level. An ordinary late Qi Refining expert wouldn’t even have a chance to match this speed.

After testing it out, Qi Ping looked at the numerous cracks and pits behind him, also stunned by the powerful effect.

“This is too insane!”

“Stacking the True Meaning of Fire and the Beast King’s Blaze, the Explosive Flame Movement Technique is terrifyingly strong!”

No wonder Lin Qingshu was able to kill a cultivator of the same level with a single sword strike from over a hundred meters away back then. Having comprehended Sword Intent and reached an extreme level in swordsmanship, what could an ordinary cultivator use to block it?

It was just like Qi Ping now. Not only had he comprehended the True Meaning of Fire, but he had also cultivated the Explosive Flame spell to perfection, with the added boost of the Beast King’s Blaze. The power was simply frightening!
Especially since fire attribute power is known for its explosive nature. The Explosive Flame spell maximized all the fire attribute power within Qi Ping to its limit, making it impossible for the result not to be terrifying.

“It’s just this body of mine is a bit of a pain…”

Feeling his body injured once again, Qi Ping could only helplessly heal it with the Healing Art once more.

During this period, he had consumed a lot of Fiery Glow Honey, greatly increasing his physical strength. However, the boost from the Explosive Flame Movement Technique was clearly even more monstrous.

Without a formidable physique, one truly lacked the qualifications to unleash this spell technique at full power.

“I’ll have to think of another solution for the physique issue. For now, using the Healing Art isn’t a big problem; it’s just inconvenient for prolonged battles.”

“Let’s test the power of the perfected Explosive Flame Net and Explosive Flame Fireball next.”