Wait… I’m a Druid in a Cultivation World?! - Chapter 49

After bringing Nan Jie to the ancient fir tree, Qi Ping returned to the area where the blood ginseng grew. The medicinal herbs he had prepared earlier were placed there.

Now, the entire Seventh Peak was under his surveillance, filled with hidden forces under his command. Because of this, Qi Ping wasn’t worried about sneak attacks or unexpected incidents.

Unless the enemy was far stronger than him, this place was his domain.

Taking three deep breaths, Qi Ping steadied himself and began refining the Bloodline Mutation Elixir.

He started with extracting the essence from ordinary herbs.

It had been a while since he last concocted anything, so he had stocked up on common medicinal ingredients. Starting with these was the best way to regain his rhythm.

This step was completed effortlessly.

“Not a single mistake?”

Qi Ping was surprised. He had expected some rustiness after not refining for so long.

After successfully extracting the essence from the ordinary herbs, it was time to move on to the spiritual herbs…

To play it safe, Qi Ping decided to practice with some regular blood ginseng first.

After three or four attempts, each extraction was a complete success.

With his confidence restored, Qi Ping proceeded without hesitation, extracting the essences of the hundred-year blood ginseng and fifty-year glowgrass.

A series of smooth, practiced movements later, he had successfully extracted all ten portions of the spiritual herbs!

“A ninety percent success rate. And if not for my spiritual energy running low during the final extraction, it would’ve been a perfect hundred.”

“The talent of a Grand Brewmaster is unbelievably powerful!”

“With my experience in essence extraction, the chance of failure is practically nonexistent.”

This made Qi Ping feel a pang of regret for the Brewmaster Potbelly Bees. Their intelligence was too low—they could only instinctively produce honey, and even he couldn’t communicate with them.

Otherwise, training them as miniature alchemists could have earned him a fortune in spirit stones.

“After this matter is settled, I must focus on raising my cultivation realm. The third level of Qi Refining is still too low—I can barely sustain the spiritual energy needed for essence extraction.”

“I hope my next animal companion can share some cultivation-related talents with me. Otherwise, breaking through to Foundation Establishment will be a slow grind.”

Once the essence extraction was complete, Qi Ping absorbed spirit stones to replenish his energy.

After fully recovering, he immediately began the fusion process for the elixir.

Perhaps due to his excellent condition—or maybe because of the Grand Brewmaster talent—Qi Ping felt divinely guided during the fusion stage.

The process was not only fast and smooth but also completely error-free!

Out of nine portions of spiritual herb essence, he successfully fused all nine—a perfect hundred percent success rate.

Compared to his last attempt, where he barely managed five successes, the difference was staggering.

“Incredible!”

Having experienced both the [Brewing Artisan] and [Grand Brewmaster] talents, Qi Ping now understood the vast gap between them.

Without the Brewing Artisan talent—and without mountains of spiritual herbs to practice on—Qi Ping would never have reached a level where he could successfully refine the Bloodline Mutation Elixir.

But with the Brewing Artisan talent, even minimal training allowed him to achieve a decent success rate.

The Grand Brewmaster talent, however, elevated his refinement success rate to near perfection. Qi Ping estimated that not only could he master the Bloodline Mutation Elixir, but any first-tier elixir recipe would yield similar results after some practice!

“Now that the Bloodline Mutation Elixir is complete, the next step is transforming the Golden Marrow Bees and gaining Druid experience.”

[Druid Level: Lv.2 (138/200)] → [Druid Level: Lv.2 (179/200)]

Over the past week, Qi Ping had gained 41 Druid EXP. Now, he was only 21 points away from leveling up.

“Last time, transforming the bee swarm gave me 47 Druid EXP. This time, the experience gained should be enough to level up.”

The only surprise was the unusually high refinement success rate—he had enough elixir for over ninety drones.

However, excluding the mutated variants, Qi Ping’s Golden Marrow Bee swarm only had seventy-eight surviving drones.

From these, he selected seventy-five for the mutation, leaving three to preserve the purest Golden Marrow bloodline for future reproduction.

Once the seventy-five drones were chosen, Qi Ping wasted no time and had them ingest the elixir.

“Begin!”

“Buzz… (Yes, Boss!)” The drones responded in unison, their excitement palpable. Last time, they had missed the chance to take the elixir, but now it was finally their turn!

After witnessing the power of the High-Speed Cutter Bees and Balanced Bees that had successfully mutated, their desire for transformation had only grown stronger.

If new, powerful bee breeds emerged, the swarm would become even mightier!

“It’s starting!”

Qi Ping watched as the seventy-five drones consumed the elixir and scattered across the open ground.

As thick crimson and golden light began to envelop their bodies, a surge of intense anticipation rose in Qi Ping’s heart—even stronger than during the last transformation.

This time, it wasn’t just about how powerful the new mutations would be. It was also about whether he could gain enough experience to awaken as a Level 3 Druid and unlock the skill choice for [Wild Shape].

Stage One: Elixir Absorption

The drones had to endure the violent medicinal energy of the Bloodline Mutation Elixir.

In this stage, thirty drones failed to withstand the energy and exploded. Forty-five survived.

“The mortality rate in the first stage is nearly double that of last time. Is it because the strongest drones were already selected in the previous round?”

This was an ominous start, and Qi Ping couldn’t help but feel uneasy.

Stage Two: Physical Mutation

The surviving drones had to develop complete mutated organs or body structures.

Last time, out of thirty-six drones that passed the first stage, twenty-three died in this phase—a much higher mortality rate than the first stage.

Now, Qi Ping grew even more apprehensive.

“Thirty more dead… Only fifteen made it through the second stage!”

His expression darkened.

The mortality rate was still higher than before.

“Is this the result of weaker drone bodies?”

Stage Three: Integration and Advancement

This was the final stage—where the mutated parts had to fully integrate with the body, allowing the drones to successfully advance.

The number of successful mutations would be decided here.

“Last time, four out of thirteen drones survived the final stage. Hopefully, at least four of these fifteen can make it.”

After an anxious wait, four stable auras at the late first-tier level solidified.

“Four successful mutations—not bad!”

Qi Ping was on the verge of tears from sheer relief.

Even if only four had succeeded, it was still a victory.

Among them, two were familiar—Balanced Bees.

This mutation was average, but since Balanced Bees served as the foundation for future transformations, having more options was still beneficial.

The real surprises were the other two.

One had a slender body with a sharp, powerful stinger—undoubtedly, this was the Venomous Bee Qi Ping had been longing for!

“The Venomous Bee is finally here!”

The other was entirely shrouded in a layer of pitch-black…