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

“Slow!”

“It’s just far too slow!”

Having experienced that rocket-like speed of breakthrough before, Qi Ping now found his current cultivation speed dreadfully slow by comparison.

“No wonder so many people in Qingshi County stagnate at the late Qi Refinement stage. The difficulty of progressing in the late stage is multiple times greater than in the middle stage…”

And this was his speed with the bonuses from Fire Ginseng Honey, his Yang Fire Constitution, his Forest Druid abilities, and other advantages.

It was understandable, then, why the average person stuck at late Qi Refinement might waste ten or even decades without progress.

“At this rate, I estimate it will take me at least a year or two to break through to the eighth level of Qi Refinement…”

To be fair, this speed was actually quite fast, faster than many disciples of the Qingyuan Sect could achieve.

But Qi Ping wasn’t very satisfied.

Because if his cultivation speed stayed like this, his own progress wouldn’t be able to keep up with the growth rate of his animal companions.

Just like how his current speed of cultivating Blood Ginseng couldn’t keep up with the resource demands of his rapidly expanding bee swarm.

Fortunately, his Plant Growth skill had broken through to the third level a few days prior, giving a significant boost to his herb cultivation speed.

lv2 Plant Growth (161/200) → lv3 Plant Growth (5/400)

But to fully meet the demand and have enough extra resources for both himself and the Yang Fire Crow, Qi Ping felt he needed to reach at least the ninth level of Qi Refinement.

So advancing his realm was an urgent matter. Plus, in these turbulent times, the faster one could improve their strength, the better.

“So, the next step is to find suitable fire-attribute and wood-attribute spiritual herbs for me, and ideally, a high-grade Tier 1 fire-attribute pill recipe too…”

“That way, both the crow and I can use them.”

“I wonder if there are any suitable high-grade Tier 1 spiritual herbs in the Qingshi Market…”

The difficulty of obtaining high-grade Tier 1 cultivation resources increased sharply, and their prices were much higher, making them inaccessible to the average cultivator.

It was even worse at the Foundation Establishment stage. To get resources of that level, you either had to be an ‘insider’ of a major faction or pay an exorbitant amount of spirit stones.

“Luckily, I have the [Plant Growth] skill to accelerate herb growth, and the Spirit Stone Monolith to cultivate high-grade herbs. I just need to get my hands on a live specimen or seeds. Even a single plant would be enough; I could just take a small cutting each time I need it and let it keep growing…”

This significantly reduced the limitations he faced. Otherwise, relying solely on buying or chancing upon all his cultivation resources would be nearly impossible.

The severe restriction on resource acquisition channels was a major problem for rogue cultivators.

However, no matter how anxious he was, there wasn’t much he could do immediately. He only had about five hundred and seventy spirit stones on him. That was probably enough to buy a suitable high-grade Tier 1 spiritual herb, but it fell far short of what he’d need for a suitable pill recipe and the corresponding knowledge about herbs and alchemy.

So, it all came down to a lack of money.

Therefore, Qi Ping could only wait until a suitable Hundred Spirit Honey formula was successfully developed and he could start earning large amounts of spirit stones.

Based on previous sales estimates, he could make over a thousand spirit stones a month. Since Hundred Spirit Grass matured quarterly, that meant roughly three thousand spirit stones per quarter.

He just needed to wait a while longer, and a large influx of spirit stones would come his way.

“Be patient. I shouldn’t rush this too much. For now, I need to calm down and focus on cultivation.”

And so, Qi Ping settled into a routine of diligent cultivation and herb farming, striving to comprehend the power of the Plant Growth skill, hoping to increase its proficiency faster.

He also used these tasks to temper his state of mind.

Gradually, Qi Ping entered a very serene and steady cultivation state.

Let the outside world be turbulent; all he needed to do was lay low and cultivate properly.

Perhaps it was due to his tranquil mind, or maybe this state was simply more suitable for comprehending the nuances of natural laws, but his cultivation speed actually increased slightly.

After about a week of this, the fifty different experimental formulations for Hundred Spirit Honey were all successfully brewed by his Master Brewer, the Pot-bellied Bees.

“They’re all finally brewed!”

“I wonder if they can perfectly erase any trace of the Hundred Spirit Grass.”

If even his Master Brewer talent couldn’t detect the signature of Hundred Spirit Grass, then the risk would be minimized to the lowest level.

If he, actively looking for traces, couldn’t find any, then it would be pure fantasy for anyone else to discern anything amiss.

Then he could confidently use it to earn spirit stones!

“As long as this test is successful, my spirit stone shortage problem will basically be solved.”

With this hopeful anticipation, Qi Ping carefully analyzed the properties of each batch of honey…

“Batch one, the trace of Hundred Spirit Grass is obvious. No good.”
“Batch two, no good.”
“Batch three, failure.”
“Batch twenty-seven… success.”
“Batch fifty, failure.”

After testing all fifty different formula variations, Qi Ping’s brow furrowed tightly.

Out of fifty formulas, only one was successful!

This particular batch of honey showed no discernible trace of Hundred Spirit Grass whatsoever. Qi Ping tested it several times with the same result.

So, the risk of selling honey based on this formula should be very low.

However, this formula presented a problem: it used a significant amount of Spirit Nurturing Fruit.

The amount used was about one-fifth the quantity of the Hundred Spirit Grass.

“If that’s the case, while the potency is slightly enhanced—almost reaching the level of a mid Tier-1 spirit item—factoring in the cost of the Spirit Nurturing Fruit, the final profit would probably be reduced by about one-fifth…”

A one-fifth reduction in profit wasn’t the end of the world. His cost for Hundred Spirit Grass was so low that it would still be immensely profitable.

The real reason for his frown was that this meant he needed to procure large quantities of Spirit Nurturing Fruit. He couldn’t yet cultivate it on a large scale naturally, and Sister Nan’s output certainly couldn’t meet his demand either.

Thinking of this, Qi Ping couldn’t help but fall into deep, contemplative thought…

However, before long, his furrowed brow gradually smoothed, and a faint smile appeared on his face.

“Actually, this might work out well. The Spirit Nurturing Fruit can perfectly mask the presence of the Hundred Spirit Grass.”

“Anyone with a basic knowledge of herb properties would detect the Spirit Nurturing Fruit’s signature. They’d be even less likely to suspect anything else, because using Spirit Nurturing Fruit to produce honey of this grade isn’t remarkable at all. If they couldn’t identify anything, that would actually raise suspicions…”

After all, who would cause trouble over a low-tier honey, not even quite reaching mid Tier-1 potency, that was fairly priced?

Even if it attracted unwanted attention, it would at most be from petty Qi Refinement stage ruffians, posing no threat to him!

“Still, I’ve almost used up the Spirit Nurturing Fruit I bought from Sister Nan. I need to find a stable supply channel for it. That’s the only way I can maintain a steady output of Hundred Spirit Honey and earn a substantial amount of spirit stones.”