“Excellent, I’ve finally welcomed my first class advancement.”
Seeing the notification for his level-up, Qi Ping couldn’t help but let his inner joy overflow onto his face. Nothing could make him happier. No matter how chaotic the world outside became, it couldn’t dampen the happiness he found in hiding away and grinding experience to level up.
[Druid Level has increased to 5. Initiating first Class Advancement…]
[Please choose your Advanced Class: Beastmaster Druid, Sylvan Druid]
“Choose Sylvan Druid!”
At level five, the opportunity for class advancement only allowed a choice between Sylvan Druid and Beastmaster Druid. Qi Ping had been unable to decide until now which class was better; neither advancement path was lacking.
The Beastmaster Druid path held an advanced class that was very appealing to Qi Ping, but the Sylvan Druid’s advanced class wasn’t inferior either.
However, after obtaining the Starwood Seed, Qi Ping suddenly reached a realization: the Sylvan Druid’s advanced class, the Treeherd!
This class was most suited for his covert development in the mountain forests, best able to evade those terrifying, millennia-old cultivator powerhouses of the cultivation world.
Compared to the Treeherd, the advanced skills of the Beastmaster Druid, while powerful, didn’t align with Qi Ping’s current predicament. What he needed most right now was a safe and private environment, something the Beastmaster Druid’s advanced class couldn’t provide.
Moreover, for Qi Ping, the most fundamental talent of the Beastmaster Druid lay in the 【Animal Companion】 talent. This talent allowed Qi Ping to share his animal companion’s talents, solving his own problem of insufficient innate gifts.
As long as this condition was met, the subsequent advanced classes primarily made the animal companion stronger, offering less direct benefit to Qi Ping himself. It was far less important than having a safe environment and a secure means of producing resources.
[Advanced Class selection complete… Advancing to Sylvan Druid…]
[Please choose your Advanced Class: Sea of Trees Sage, Lifebond Pledgemaster, Plant Dominator, Treeherd, Corruptor…]
“Choose Treeherd!” Qi Ping made his choice without a moment’s hesitation.
The decision to choose Treeherd had been settled the moment Qi Ping obtained the Starwood Seed.
The Treeherd’s role as a “production machine” was an ability Qi Ping urgently needed right now.
Just its ability to efficiently create spirit lands alone could help Qi Ping solve his most pressing issue: the spirit land problem.
And this was only a minor manifestation of the Treeherd’s capabilities. This class had enormous potential for development within the cultivation world.
As for the other advanced classes, while decent, compared to the Treeherd, Qi Ping still felt they fell short.
Take the Corruptor, for example. This class’s core talent was 【Heart of Corruption】, allowing one to gain experience and enhance abilities by destroying forests and trees. It was the fastest among all advanced classes in terms of progression speed.
And one thing the cultivation world certainly didn’t lack was ancient, old-growth forests. Boosting strength would undoubtedly be extremely fast.
Yet, while it seemed appealing, it was fraught with pitfalls.
For instance, the Corruptor’s upper limit was the lowest among the five advanced classes.
Another example: spirit-rich forests in the cultivation world were largely controlled by major sects or beast kings. Short-term destruction might not cause much of a stir, but consistently doing so would inevitably draw the hostility and pursuit of powerful cultivators.
Even if Qi Ping were exceptionally careful and erased all traces, there was always a chance of a slip-up. One small mistake could lead to utter ruin and death.
Worse, if he provoked those cultivators capable of divining heavenly secrets and karma, being hunted by such individuals would mean Qi Ping could be found and killed even if he hid to the ends of the earth.
Therefore, without a life-or-death crisis looming, Qi Ping would absolutely never choose this class.
Being able to develop steadily and independently, with minimal karmic entanglement, was the most appropriate choice. What Qi Ping sought was immortality and invincibility on the path of immortality, not a brief thrill followed by death.
Then there was a class like the Lifebond Pledgemaster. Its advantages were very prominent, but compared to the Treeherd, it was still slightly lacking.
The Lifebond Pledgemaster’s most prominent feature was its life-preserving ability.
Its core talent, 【Lifebond Pact】, allowed Qi Ping to form a lifebond pact with a tree.
Once this pact was formed, even if Qi Ping died, as long as the lifebond tree lived, Qi Ping could be resurrected!
Furthermore, as his level increased, the number of trees he could form lifebond pacts with could also increase. Its life-preserving ability was terrifying!
It possessed the strongest survivability among the five advanced classes.
However, this advanced class also had significant weaknesses in the cultivation world.
One was the issue of finding suitable spirit seeds or spirit trees, a problem Qi Ping currently faced. How could he find appropriate spirit seeds or trees?
As Qi Ping grew stronger, only a sufficiently powerful pact tree could fully resurrect him. Yet, once the spirit tree became powerful, how could Qi Ping ensure his lifebond tree remained undiscovered?
This was a rather difficult problem to circumvent.
But the most important reason was that this class offered little in terms of production capability. This was the fundamental reason Qi Ping decided to abandon it.
In terms of survival, Qi Ping currently had the combination of 【Wild Shape】 and 【Nature Sense】, two god-tier survival skills, which were basically sufficient for his life-preserving needs. Therefore, overall, the Treeherd was still more suitable for Qi Ping.
As for 【Plant Dominator】 and 【Sea of Trees Sage】, these two advanced classes were similar to the previous ones, each with their own advantages. But upon synthesis, the 【Treeherd】 advanced class remained the most suitable for Qi Ping.
[Advanced Class selection complete… Treeherd class selection finalized. Generating Advanced Class Talent…]
[Advanced Class Talent: Tree Spirit Contract has been generated…]
[Natural Affinity talent has evolved into Heart of Nature]
[Tree Spirit Contract: As a Treeherd, you can form contracts with trees and imprint Tree Spirit Marks on the trees under contract. (The number of trees under Tree Spirit Contract is related to mental strength. Greater mental strength allows for more contracted trees.)]
[Heart of Nature: You possess an exceptionally high affinity for plant-based energies.]
The Tree Spirit Contract was the core talent of the Treeherd.
Any spirit trees Qi Ping wished to cultivate, whether for special production capabilities or combat abilities, had to be based on this Tree Spirit Contract talent.
Regarding the future application of this talent, Qi Ping had already thought it through many times, so he had no reservations.
“It’s just this Heart of Nature…”
After obtaining the Heart of Nature talent, Qi Ping suddenly closed his eyes. He began to slowly draw upon the energy within the spirit herbs, carefully contemplating and sensing it.
A good while later, Qi Ping opened his eyes again. When he did, his eyes were filled with astonishment and delight!
“This is… the Five Elements of Heaven and Earth!”
