“The success rate should be around eighty-five percent, a bit higher than I estimated.” “Not bad at all!”
Looking at the Bloodline Mutation Potion before him, which emitted an enticing aura, a satisfied expression appeared on Qin Ping’s face.
Breaking through to Foundation Establishment, then working hard for over three months to nurture the Blood Ginseng – wasn’t it all for today?
Among Qin Ping’s four animal companions, the bees actually shouldered the most responsibilities.
Fighting, scouting, standing guard, brewing honey, tending and harvesting the spiritual fields on peaks twenty-eight and twenty-nine, helping distract enemies when Qin Ping needed to escape, helping him hide spoils of war… the tasks they performed daily were too numerous to count. The little bees were also the animal companions Qin Ping could least do without.
This wasn’t simply a matter of being able to both fight and produce resources; their roles were far too many. They had even become an integral part of Qin Ping’s life as a cultivator.
Qin Ping could hardly imagine how inconvenient his cultivator’s life would be without the help of the swarm, and how much more dangerous various situations would become.
The Golden Marrow Bees were also the very first animal companions to accompany Qin Ping since he awakened his Druid profession, helping him through many crises and avoiding numerous risks.
Even among the very first batch of initial first-tier mid-grade Golden Marrow Bees, over two hundred of the original thousand had already died of old age. In the next ten years or so, the remaining seven hundred-plus would also gradually age and pass away.
And until they were too old and frail to move, they would diligently work for the swarm – gathering spiritual herbs, collecting nectar, brewing honey – fulfilling their duties until the very end of their lives, until they could do nothing more. This was their honor.
As members of the swarm, their greatest wish and mission was to make the colony more prosperous and powerful.
For Qin Ping, the Golden Marrow Bee colony had long become an inseparable part of his life in the cultivation world.
Back when he first obtained his Druid profession and contracted the Golden Marrow Bee colony, he had promised them that he would definitely make their clan stronger!
For the Golden Marrow Bees, elevating them to the late first-tier and expanding the colony to over ten thousand was not the final destination it was merely the starting point!
The next step was the transformation of the Golden Marrow Bee colony to the second tier. Afterwards, they would also absorb the Demon Insect King’s bloodline, completely enabling the Golden Marrow Bee bloodline to undergo a super leap!
And in the future, Qin Ping would still find ways to continue elevating the swarm!
Wherever his path on the immortal way led, that’s where he would cultivate the swarm to!
“Are you ready?”
Qin Ping looked at this batch of the strongest drones, meticulously selected over nearly a year, and couldn’t help but nod inwardly.
After the Queen Bee completed her transformation, the overall quality of the Balanced Bees cultivated afterwards had increased significantly once again.
And this batch of drones, now preparing to take the Bloodline Mutation Potion (Enhanced Version), had been chosen as the best among those already improved bees.
In fact, for the swarm, they cared even more about this matter than Qin Ping did.
To this end, they had even sought Qin Ping’s opinion and held a grand competition and assessment. Only the victors who passed the assessment could become the seed candidates for taking the Bloodline Mutation Potion.
“Buzz buzz… (Boss, we’re ready!)”
One hundred and sixty-eight vigorous and high-spirited drones voiced in unison.
Initially, the swarm had identified two hundred drones for this, but after Qin Ping successfully refined the potion, he only had enough for one hundred and sixty-eight drones.
So, in the end, thirty-two drones were unfortunately not selected. They were currently drooping listlessly nearby, their spirits incredibly dejected.
For this glorious ceremony, they had been preparing for over six months, all for the chance to successfully transform after taking the potion, to elevate the swarm’s strength to another level, and to completely advance to a second-tier colony.
But now they couldn’t participate in this transformation ceremony, so their hearts were naturally filled with frustration. However, they harbored no jealousy.
This was because the one hundred and sixty-eight of their kin before them, ready to undergo the ceremony, were all stronger than them!
They also had a higher probability of successfully transforming! They would lead the swarm to become even stronger! This was the best choice!
As for the risk of death during the transformation, they never even considered it. Because if their deaths could make the colony stronger, they would not hesitate for a moment to give up their lives!
But since this ceremony was meant to give birth to powerful second-tier bee strains, each one of them would give their all to ensure their own successful transformation!
At this moment, aside from these drones and the bees stationed outside on guard duty, tending the spiritual fields, or looking after the Little Black Bees, all the other bees had flown back inside the illusion array to witness this ceremony.
The Queen Bee, with the largest body and the strongest aura, was also standing on Qin Ping’s shoulder, her eyes staring excitedly at everything unfolding.
This transformation ceremony, they had waited far too long for!
Besides the swarm, Little Spirit Fox and Little Flower Fairy had also come to Qin Ping’s side, their big eyes wide with curiosity as they watched.
“Chirp chirp. (So lively!)”
“Gurgle gurgle. (Yeah, yeah, it’s never been this lively here before!)”
Even Crow Crow, who had always disliked joining in the fun, had come this time. However, he was still standing in his favorite spot where he could bask in the sun…
Qin Ping hadn’t expected that a transformation ceremony for the bees would turn into a grand celebration in his territory. Describing it as all eyes on this was perfectly apt.
“Then let’s begin! Take it in order, and eat until you reach the state that feels most right to your instincts. Don’t eat too much! And don’t eat too little!” Qin Ping instructed earnestly.
Each bee was an individual with slight differences, so the optimal amount for each also varied. Bees had keen senses, so following their own intuition was the best approach.
“Buzz buzz. (Okay! Boss!)”
After acknowledging his instruction, under the gaze of the entire assembly, the one hundred and sixty-eight drones began consuming the Bloodline Mutation Potion one by one in an orderly fashion.
Each drone ate with the utmost seriousness, trying their best to consume the optimal amount while also not disturbing their kin who were also feeding.
The extremely high quality of the swarm was on full display.
Seeing this, Qin Ping couldn’t help but nod. With this kind of quality, if the swarm were combined with a formation, the power they could unleash would be unimaginable!
As long as he found the right formation, Qin Ping could use each bee as a formation base. When all the bees came together, he could activate the formation, dramatically increasing the swarm’s collective combat power!
For Qin Ping, this was the correct way to utilize beast taming cultivators and formation masters!
Soon, the one hundred and sixty-eight drones had finished consuming the potion.
Noticing there were still two doses left, Qin Ping allowed two more drones to join in.
As the last two chosen drones excitedly consumed the final two portions of the bloodline potion, a full one hundred and seventy drones began their transformation, one after another…
