Wait… I’m a Druid in a Cultivation World?! - Chapter 92

One batch of Hundred Spirit Grass had been planted by Qi Ping in an area with spiritual energy concentration close to the intermediate first-grade level. Their growth cycle was only about two months.

One month had already passed.

Therefore, Qi Ping had to develop a version of Hundred Spirit Honey that completely erased all traces of the Hundred Spirit Grass within one month, so he could sell this honey with complete peace of mind.

Otherwise, if certain clan cultivators found out he could produce Hundred Spirit Honey at such low cost, and if its effects were very good, he might attract covetous eyes.

With Qi Ping’s current strength within the Misty Cloud Mountains, even facing the three major families, he might have a chance to escape, but that’s all it would be—escape. The most he could do is retaliate; he couldn’t protect his business assets.

So, it was best to avoid trouble where possible.

After returning to the mountain peak, Qi Ping took out a portion of Hundred Spirit Honey and carefully began brewing experiments.

“This honey, brewed solely from Hundred Spirit Grass, removes the impure, chaotic medicinal properties and disordered spiritual energy within the grass, essentially turning it into pure spiritual power, retaining only a slight characteristic of nurturing spiritual power. It’s somewhat similar to Spirit Nurturing Fruits…”

“Judging by the effect, this level of purification is probably on par with that of some ordinary first-grade alchemists or apothecaries.”

“This pure form of Hundred Spirit Honey, purified from one plant’s worth, would probably have a market price of five to six spirit stones.”

Freshly matured Hundred Spirit Grass had a market price of about half a spirit stone per plant.

His Spirit Land No. 29 could only produce less than two thousand plants of Hundred Spirit Grass per year. In terms of the value of the grass itself, that was less than a thousand spirit stones.

After deducting the rent, and just looking at the Hundred Spirit Grass alone, Qi Ping might only make a profit of about three hundred spirit stones. And that was without factoring in labor costs, seed costs, or cultivation risks.

This showed just how low the cultivation value of Hundred Spirit Grass was.

If market prices fluctuated and dropped below half a spirit stone per plant, he probably wouldn’t even make back the rent, and would have to rely solely on that small patch of intermediate first-grade spirit land to earn money.

“But after the Brewer Big-Belly Bees work their magic, the estimated annual output of about eighteen hundred plants would be worth between nine thousand and ten thousand eight hundred spirit stones!”

“Now that I’ve rented both No. 28 and No. 29, if I plant No. 28 entirely with Hundred Spirit Grass, the preliminary estimate is an annual output of over two thousand plants. Combined, the two plots should yield around four thousand plants.”

“Out of these, twelve hundred plants will be used as food for the bee colony. That leaves twenty-eight hundred plants available for sale. If all are brewed into Hundred Spirit Honey, the value would be between fourteen thousand and sixteen thousand eight hundred spirit stones…”

Averaging it out, that’s about fifteen thousand spirit stones!
Even if we subtract the rent and other various costs, generously estimated at two thousand spirit stones, Qi Ping could still make a profit of thirteen thousand spirit stones!

“Thirteen thousand spirit stones a year! One year! Thirteen thousand spirit stones!”

“That’s over a thousand spirit stones per month!”

“Isn’t this way more comfortable than robbing people?”

Qi Ping was truly shocked by his own calculations!
This really was more comfortable than robbery!

Just think about the last two times he obtained spoils from counter-kills—weren’t they both nerve-wracking?

The black-robed insect-controlling cultivator brought the trouble of the green-clothed woman and the unknown risks of the Sinister Devotees Alliance behind her; the black-robed talisman cultivator was connected to the Tianhuo Pavilion, which was comparable to the Qing Yuan Sect.

Either one of these made Qi Ping anxious.

Compared to that kind of constant worry, just staying on his own spirit land, farming and keeping bees, to earn over a thousand spirit stones a month felt incredibly satisfying to Qi Ping!
Could anything be better than lying back and earning over a thousand spirit stones a month?

Thinking of this, Qi Ping just wanted to say: Brewer Big-Belly Bees, you’re amazing!
Even though the Brewer Big-Belly Bees seemed a bit simple, their money-making ability was truly undeniable.

“So, low-end products really are the best way to utilize the Brewer Big-Belly Bees!”

In terms of purifying Hundred Spirit Grass, any alchemist of normal first-grade standard could do it, but no alchemist would bother.

Because Hundred Spirit Grass grew very quickly and had a short cycle, its medicinal properties were impure and unremarkable, and its spiritual power was unclean, making the purification process extremely difficult.

Purifying a single plant required immense effort. No alchemist would be foolish enough to try earning money this way. Wasn’t pill refining better?
But the Brewer Big-Belly Bees were different! They might not match alchemists in high-end products, but they weren’t inferior in low-end operations.

Most importantly, the number of Brewer Big-Belly Bees was something no group of alchemists could match! And crucially, Qi Ping didn’t need to pay them!

It was all profit!
“This is what you call a true ‘Bee Dividend’!”

“The low-end industry that others look down on is precisely where one can make a fortune quietly.”

On this point, Qi Ping had to thank Boss Gao properly. If he hadn’t mentioned Hundred Spirit Grass, Qi Ping would never have thought of this money-making combination of Hundred Spirit Grass and Brewer Big-Belly Bees!

And even more crucially, thirteen thousand spirit stones wasn’t the limit of the bee colony’s ability, but rather the limit of these two spirit lands.

If Qi Ping could rent more spirit lands, or even the entire Misty Cloud Mountains, the annual earnings could reach a terrifying figure!

But that would be too ostentatious, a classic case of having the life to earn the money, but not the life to spend it!
Thirteen thousand spirit stones should be just the right range for Qi Ping. As long as he can completely cover up the traces of the Bai Ling Grass, he won’t attract any powerful enemies.

He would develop slowly like this, first raising his strength. Later, when his power was greater and he needed more spirit stones, it wouldn’t be too late to rent more land for more income.

He had a clear sense of what level of strength could earn what level of spirit stones.

Sometimes, greed was the deadliest thing.

“In that case, some future plans can be adjusted…”

“Especially regarding the choice of my third animal companion…”

“This is my greatest asset in cultivating immortality. Now I can absolutely aim for the best spirit beasts available in Qing Shi County.”

The difficulty of increasing his Druid level grew higher the further he progressed, so each animal companion slot was precious. Therefore, if he could choose a better spirit beast, he absolutely shouldn’t settle for less.

He was still very satisfied with his current two animal companions.

The bee colony excelled in both combat and production capabilities, and Little Crow also had the potential to become a super raptor.
“But the exact amount of spirit stones I can earn still depends on successfully developing that version of Hundred Spirit Honey that removes the traces of the grass.”

“Overall, it should be roughly similar. After all, the foundation is there with Hundred Spirit Grass as the main material. Whether the final effect is slightly better or worse won’t impact me much…”

Filled with anticipation for the large sums of spirit stones soon to fill his pockets, Qi Ping enthusiastically continued his research.

“First, I can try a few ‘hodgepodge’ recipes, combining all types of flower nectars together. Some common, ordinary medicinal herbs could also be added to obscure the medicinal composition without affecting the basic effect of the Hundred Spirit Honey.”

“Then, for the hodgepodge recipes, add one portion of Spirit Nurturing Fruit to mask and confuse the body-nurturing effect of the Hundred Spirit Honey…”

“And the Qi-Ji Grass, known as the ‘medicinal property contaminator’, can also be added for testing.”