Qi Ping had considered the codename “Bee Daoist” for a long time before finally deciding on it. Because in the future, when he accepts and participates in Mysterious Black Market missions, his use of the swarm would inevitably be exposed.
If that was the case, he might as well directly use the bees as his ability’s codename, thereby downplaying his other characteristics and hiding his true strength.
[You think I’m only good at controlling bees? That’s just the tip of the iceberg! You’re not even qualified to see how many bees I have or how many types there are.]
Anyway, Qi Ping would never truly reveal the actual number of bees in his swarm or the variety of species. His other powerful animal companions, like the Stone Essence and Crow, or his own personal strength, were his real trump cards.
Later on, after Qi Ping successfully transitioned to cultivating the Five Elements techniques and completed the Five Elements Scale Armor plus formation inscription, that would be his greatest source of confidence.
Of course, a key factor was that currently, no one knew Qi Ping had the ability to control a second-level swarm. Only a few people closest to him knew he possessed Gold-Marrow Bees.
But Gold-Marrow Bees were incredibly common in the cultivation world, and there were countless ordinary Black Little Bee keepers. So no matter what, it couldn’t be traced back to him.
Unless someone investigated every single beekeeper across the entire Qingtian Domain. If such a widespread manhunt were to happen, it would cause too much chaos, and the orthodox sects would probably intervene directly.
“But most importantly, my territory has long been hidden away. Even if someone wanted to investigate, they wouldn’t be able to find me.”
“Plus, I can use this ‘Bee Daoist’ identity to sell higher-grade honey to earn spirit stones. It makes perfect sense to sell honey under this persona.”
“The Pharmacist Bees should also be able to develop some low-cost, high-value honey later on.”
Whether it was purchasing the Essence of the Spirit Vein, high-grade spiritual wood, or a comprehensive collection of techniques and spells, Qi Ping would need more spirit stones for everything moving forward. So, he had to earn more.
Furthermore, for new animal companions, he would also need more spirit stones to acquire stronger ones.
With his plant growth ability barely supporting himself and his animal companions, relying on the swarm was his only option to earn more spirit stones.
Along with using [Tree Spirit Contract] to cultivate more productive trees.
Otherwise, Qi Ping simply couldn’t afford the massive amount of spirit stones his future cultivation would require.
“Bee Daoist, codename recorded.”
“The token can be used to accept and complete missions, initiate transaction information… Other functions and information are recorded in the token. You can check the rest yourself.”
“Thank you!” Qi Ping replied.
The box puppet lightly nodded its boxy head, left the token on the ground, and then left directly.
The sight of the box-shaped puppet nodding surprised Qi Ping.
“What a lively and remarkable puppet!”
This was the first time he had witnessed the art of puppetry.
As a unique skill in the cultivation world, puppetry indeed seemed quite extraordinary!
“Does this puppet carry the will of some entity? Or does it possess its own will?”
There was no clear answer circulating in the cultivation world. The only known fact was that anyone who tried to scheme against these puppets seemed to end up dead, regardless of their cultivation level.
That meant even the Sect Leader of the Qingyuan Sect would likely meet a grisly end if they tried to mess with this puppet.
“I wonder if a puppet body can house a soul?”
Qi Ping had always wanted a clone technique to make it easier for him to navigate the cultivation world, trade for items and techniques, and experience a broader view of it. Otherwise, staying cooped up in the Misty Mountains, while not boring to him personally, would leave his knowledge and experience lacking.
So, if he had a clone to act on his behalf in the cultivation world, things would become much more convenient.
However, external incarnation and clone techniques were not accessible to cultivators below the Nascent Soul stage.
But Qi Ping had thought of some potential workarounds. Some spirit beasts possessed the innate talent of Soul Division, where the divided soul would retain part of the main soul’s abilities.
If he could share such a talent, he could start building his own clone.
But while he had an idea for the soul aspect, the body to house the soul was a problem. Possession was too difficult for this type of soul division method; success was nearly impossible.
However, after seeing the box-shaped puppet today, an idea suddenly struck Qi Ping.
“Could I combine puppetry with the [Tree Spirit Contract]?”
“If I could create a Treant clone this way, moving around the cultivation world would be much easier. With my plant growth ability, enhancing a tree-based clone would also be relatively convenient.”
After thinking it over, Qi Ping felt it was quite feasible.
“Alright, I’ll do it. Once I get the Essence of the Spirit Vein, I’ll use the black market to acquire the puppetry technique and a spirit beast with the Soul Division talent.”
After that, Qi Ping left the area with his Mysterious Black Market token.
Stopping once he found a safe place, Qi Ping probed the token with his spiritual sense and quickly understood how to use it.
The token’s functions were very simple, only having two: Missions and Trading.
In the mission section, Qi Ping could spend spirit stones to randomly refresh the available missions. Missions were refreshed based on the region; the higher his membership level, the wider the range.
Once he found a mission he liked, he could go do it directly. After completing the mission, he would submit it immediately.
The Mysterious Black Market would verify the mission’s completion on its own and, upon confirmation, issue the black market points.
In the trading section, Qi Ping could specify an item’s name or requirements, spend spirit stones to search, but the search results were limited to things he could actually afford with his current black market points.
“Refreshing missions and searching for items both cost spirit stones? It’s like a pay-to-play game.”
Qi Ping wondered which genius from the cultivation world came up with this exploitative, money-grubbing system.
His token currently had ten thousand spirit stone points, meaning if he used them all up refreshing, he would have to recharge more.
He couldn’t even imagine how much wealth the Mysterious Black Market had amassed across the world through this method.
But even though it felt exploitative, Qi Ping couldn’t refuse.
Their reputation was solid, and as long as you had enough black market points and spirit stones, they could truly procure all sorts of rare resources and techniques!
These were things you couldn’t buy with spirit stones anywhere else.
For this reason alone, the Mysterious Black Market was the brightest beacon of hope for countless rogue cultivators and those constrained by their class.
“But one good thing is that the token can be used without refining it. It doesn’t care about identity.”
Qi Ping really liked this respect for privacy.
If refining were required, the risk of exposing his location would be high. But as it was, Qi Ping could use it by simply manipulating the surrounding spiritual energy, not even needing his own cultivated spiritual power.
After understanding this, Qi Ping didn’t hesitate and immediately checked the missions.
[Mission: Blank]
Tap to refresh once… Spirit Stones -200.
[Foundation Establishment Mission: Assassinate Qin Shengyun, a core disciple of the Qingyuan Sect. Late Foundation Establishment cultivation. Practices the Infant Devouring Art…]
Qi Ping: “…”
He’d have to have a hole in his head to take this mission.
Qi Ping tapped refresh again. Spirit Stones -200.
