“Next up, I should dig a tunnel!”
“Otherwise, it’s not ideal to just keep disappearing suddenly every time I walk to the center of the gorge.”
“Dig a tunnel leading to a hidden cliff face, set up another small illusion array at the other end, and then use the tunnel to get here normally. That would be much better!”
After thinking it over, Qi Ping felt this was quite necessary. He immediately gave the bees an order to dig the tunnel.
When it came to digging, the bees were quite skilled.
Buzz buzz… (Got it, boss! We’ll get it done for sure!)
“Alright, I appreciate the hard work!”
After entrusting the tunnel-digging task to the bees, Qi Ping immediately set out to search all over the Cloud Mist Mountains. He needed to find the best soil for his territory.
He was very particular about his own place.
Since he was going to build, he had to find excellent soil first.
On this matter, Qi Ping and part of the swarm searched for half a day before finally finding an abundance of fertile black soil in a lush, bird-song-filled area.
After spending some time, Qi Ping filled several storage bags with black soil and returned to his territory.
After several such trips back and forth, a small mountain of black soil, almost like a hill, had piled up inside the illusion array’s area.
“I should have cleared away these messy rocks first. What a miscalculation!”
He almost ran out of space for the black soil.
So, Qi Ping had to empty a few more storage bags and started huffing and puffing as he moved the rocks.
He kept removing layer after layer until he finally hit bottom—a very large, solid stone slab. If Qi Ping wanted to go further, he’d have to start breaking up the bedrock.
“This should do. It’s about enough here. Later, I’ll set up a defensive formation to prevent spiritual energy leakage while also serving as protection.”
Originally, Qi Ping also considered setting up a Spirit Gathering Array, but after careful thought, he decided against it.
Because a Spirit Gathering Array would cause abnormal flows of spiritual energy in the area. If a cultivator passed by, they might detect something off.
And since the ambient spiritual energy here was already very thin, exposing the location of his territory for the sake of such sparse energy had far too low a cost-benefit ratio. So, Qi Ping ultimately abandoned the idea of a Spirit Gathering Array.
After a great deal of effort clearing the jumbled rocks from within the illusion array, Qi Ping began spreading the black soil.
It was only after using up all the black soil he had transported that he barely managed to cover the entire area within the illusion array.
However, after inspecting it, Qi Ping’s brow furrowed slightly.
“Seems like there’s still not enough black soil. Need to get more.”
He didn’t want to be sloppy with his own territory. So, after a few more trips back and forth, he finally built up a thick layer of black soil here!
Looking at this plot of fertile land surrounded by rocky debris, Qi Ping finally showed a satisfied smile.
“Looks like I still need to visit Sister Nan once to get that Spirit Fertilizer production technique from her. It would also be a good excuse to give her more honey to help her break through to the late Qi Refinement stage sooner.”
“I can also ask Brother Meng to help look for Spirit Fertilizer techniques. The Qingyuan Sect should have some good knowledge about spirit fertilizer. Maybe these production methods could offer some pleasant surprises…”
Given the current state of his territory, it was necessary for Qi Ping to enhance the foundation of his spirit land using Spirit Fertilizer techniques, especially ones that could create spirit land from low-value materials.
Combining Starwood and Spirit Fertilizer techniques would allow Qi Ping to develop his advanced spirit land more effectively.
“It’s a bit troublesome, but it’s safe!”
Qi Ping felt it was completely worth it. Nothing was more important than staying alive!
Here in this place, Qi Ping had never felt so at ease before—a feeling he never experienced in areas ruled by others.
With the black soil laid out, Qi Ping buried all four of his Spirit Origin Stone Pillars underground and then planted the various spirit herbs he had acquired.
This included the Starwood seed, which Qi Ping also planted now.
Only the two spirit herbs given to him by the Ning Shan family’s Red Carp were still waiting in some burrow. Qi Ping planned to bring them back after the safety period had passed.
As Qi Ping planted spirit herb after spirit herb, the once-empty black soil plot became vibrant with life.
The air gradually carried a faint, unique fragrance of spirit herbs mixed with the scent of earth, making Qi Ping feel incredibly comfortable.
After finishing all this, Qi Ping finally released Little Spirit Fox and Little Flower Sprite.
As for that restless fellow Crow, Qi Ping had long since told it to go find a place to cultivate.
Chirp chirp… (Boss, is this our new home?) Little Spirit Fox looked around the still somewhat rudimentary place and asked curiously.
“Yes, this is our new home, our real home. We’ll be staying here for a long, long time to come!” Qi Ping answered with a beaming smile.
Chirp chirp! (Yay! Fox finally has a new home!)
Chirp chirp! (Can Tongtong and I make this place really pretty? It’s too simple right now!)
“Of course you can!” Qi Ping affirmed.
Chirp chirp… (I also want to build a little wooden house for myself. But first, Fox will build one for the boss…)
Afterwards, Little Flower Sprite and Little Spirit Fox discussed things with Qi Ping. With his approval, the two little ones began bustling about, decorating and arranging things.
Qi Ping watched for a while but then left them to it. Having some liveliness was quite nice!
“Though, a little over a hundred square meters is still a bit too small. It’s still far from the real Druid Sanctuary I want to create. I need to encompass at least half of this gorge.”
“But that would probably require a third-grade illusion array. Right now, I can only set up first-grade low-level arrays. I’m far from capable…”
Moreover, to build a Druid Sanctuary, Qi Ping needed to plant and cultivate many spirit trees.
To achieve this goal, Qi Ping had to search for and purchase spiritual materials to turn this place into a true advanced spirit land, and then acquire various spirit trees.
Although it was troublesome, it was completely worthwhile for Qi Ping.
Because the more spirit trees in a Druid Sanctuary and the higher their grade, the stronger the Druid Sanctuary would become.
And a Druid within their own Druid Sanctuary could also enjoy combat power and attribute boosts. For Qi Ping, this could effectively enhance his combat strength and cultivation speed within his territory. It might even have a positive effect on his array formations.
Mentioning the Druid Sanctuary reminded Qi Ping of his Dao Heart Concept, [Field of Cultivation], which also allowed him to receive the support of the world’s power within his territory.
With all this, he was practically born to be a cultivator-farmer!
“Take it slow. For now, I should focus on researching the first-grade intermediate illusion array. Ideally, I should research the first-grade advanced one too!”
The primary arrays were crude, not to mention covering a very small area. After planting the spirit herbs, there wasn’t much space left…
