After running a considerable distance, Qi Ping found a desolate spot in the middle of nowhere. He discarded and buried all the worthless debris he had collected from the rock cave.
His actual gains this time amounted to just three items: the Demon Insect King and the largely depleted corpse of the Royal Spirit Insect, the four spirit-origin stone pillars rich with spiritual energy, and that oddly-shaped, fragmented jade pendant, which his bees had hauled off to some remote corner and hidden away in a burrow.
Nevertheless, Qi Ping was immensely satisfied. One look at his expression as he gazed upon the contents of his storage ring made that abundantly clear. Internally, he was thrilled and overjoyed.
“The corpse of a Demon Insect King is exceptionally rare. This body alone is a huge win for me. It’s just that I can’t identify what kind of spirit insect this one with the royal bloodline is,” he mused.
The corpse of a Demon Insect King was inherently valuable, especially for an insect cultivator. If his own contracted spirit insects could successfully use the Demon Insect King’s bloodline to metamorphose, their potential and innate talent would receive a massive boost. If his bee swarm could successfully integrate the Demon Insect King’s bloodline, not only would their combat power soar, but their future potential for transformation would also be greater.
“The problem is, I have to wait until I reach the Foundation Establishment stage to refine medicinal solutions using its bloodline. Moreover, my first-tier bees probably can’t withstand the process; they’ll need to undergo a secondary metamorphosis using a five-hundred-year Blood Ginsen first…”
“Before I start using the Demon Insect King’s corpse, it’s best to divide it up, store it in several different storage bags, and hide them in separate locations. So, when I go to Blue Stone Market to get spirit stones, I should buy a few cheap, small-capacity storage bags specifically for hiding risky items like this.”
Qi Ping was fairly certain the spirit-origin stone pillars were safe, but corpses or living beings like the Demon Insect King could easily have hidden tracking methods placed on them. Therefore, his first action was to transfer the Demon Insect King’s remains and the corpse of the royal-bloodline spirit insect into a small storage bag and have his black bees carry it away to be hidden.
“The spirit-origin stone pillars seem fine; I can keep them to use when cultivating spirit herbs. With these pillars, growing high-tier first-grade and ordinary second-grade spirit herbs shouldn’t be a problem in the future.”
As for that fragmented, oddly-shaped jade pendant, Qi Ping decided to let the bees keep it hidden in their unknown corner for now. If there was any risk involved, it wouldn’t affect him directly.
Qi Ping was currently in a barren, uninhabited part of the Cloudmist Mountains. This area had very weak spiritual energy; it was so worthless that even offering it to rogue cultivators for free held little appeal. Consequently, human cultivators rarely set foot here. There were quite a few such places in the Cloudmist Mountains, making them ideal for Qi Ping to hide his things.
Watching his bees carry away and hide the Demon Insect King’s corpse, the last of Qi Ping’s worries finally dissipated. With that, his venture into the secret ginseng grove was completely concluded.
“This exploration can be considered a complete success, with exceptionally rich rewards.”
“From today onward, I bid a final farewell to Peak Number Seven in District Ding. It’s time for me to embark on a new journey.”
Standing atop a mountain peak, Qi Ping gazed into the distance towards the location of that peak—invisible to the naked eye yet vivid in his heart. A complex mix of emotions washed over him.
He had lived on that mountain for five and a half years. Over five years ago, when he first set foot there, he was a dying young beggar, wracked by illness, severe cold, and injuries. The agony of that time remained etched in his memory, especially the despair and helplessness of nearing death, intertwined with physical suffering—something impossible to truly understand without having experienced it oneself.
It was at his most desperate moment that Old Man Zhou brought him back to Peak Number Seven and used healing spirit medicine to cure his wounds. Only after his body slowly recovered did Qi Ping begin to learn about and understand the world of cultivation.
It was there that he first learned what the cultivation world was like, first encountered cultivation techniques, first met a spirit beast of the cultivation world—the black bees, and first broke through to become a cultivator. Peak Number Seven was his first impression of the cultivation world.
The simple, rustic courtyard at the foot of the mountain, the ancient pine tree on the slopes, the old bee hive on that pine… all of it remained crystal clear in Qi Ping’s mind.
Later, he learned to raise bees there, read countless cultivation books, and experienced the despair of realizing his own low innate talent. After years of being worn down by reality, Qi Ping gradually accepted the fact that he likely had no future in pursuing the path of immortality and longevity. He began to slack off, much like Old Man Zhou had. Raising his black bees, growing some flowers to earn a few spirit stones, then marrying a few beautiful wives and building a nice little courtyard… that wouldn’t be so bad. At least it was much better than his previous life as an overworked drudge with no control over his fate.
This mindset persisted until not long ago… when he awakened as a Druid.
From that moment, his originally mundane life changed. He gained multiple powerful class skills, contracted his first animal companion—the Golden Marrow Bee—and broke through consecutive realms, directly reaching the third level of Qi Refining!
A desire that had once been extinguished gradually rekindled in Qi Ping’s heart: the Dao of Immortality and Longevity!
Subsequent events—the chaos caused by bandit cultivators, the disaster of the demon insects, the dangers of the blood ginseng’s location—forced him to desperately increase his strength. Under the pressure of imminent, life-threatening crises, he had no choice but to push forward relentlessly, even having to send off Old Man Zhou, to whom he had promised a comfortable retirement.
All these events only reached a conclusion today. So now, as he looked towards Peak Number Seven, his heart was filled with complex emotions, but there was no sense of reluctance. Instead, he understood his own heart more clearly than ever.
He wanted strength powerful enough to free him from anyone’s threats, allowing himself and those he cherished to live free and comfortable lives!
He wanted to pursue that seemingly distant goal… the Dao of Immortality and Longevity!
To achieve this goal, he needed to develop his skills in a larger arena, to find a place where he could leverage his strengths in farming and beekeeping to continue growing!
He would cultivate a larger bee swarm for self-protection; grow more flowers and spirit herbs to make money using his Brewer Big-Bellied Bees, aiming for self-sufficiency for the swarm and generating income for his cultivation and future animal companions.
He also needed to start producing more Fire Ginseng Honey and Fire Spirit Body Tempering Honey to enhance his physical strength while quickly breaking through to the late Qi Refining stage.
After that, he would need to find new pill recipes and high-tier first-grade spirit herbs to test new honey brewing formulas. This would help him advance his late Qi Refining cultivation more rapidly while also developing better fire-attribute honey recipes to assist Ya Ya in breaking through to the second tier.
By then, it would also be time to prepare his bee swarm for their second-tier metamorphosis…
Once he possessed battle power equivalent to the Foundation Establishment stage, it would be about time to seek a third animal companion to contract…
No matter how chaotic the outside world became, these were all necessary steps on Qi Ping’s path to immortality and longevity.
It was at this very moment that Qi Ping gradually slipped into a state of enlightenment. That familiar surge of heaven and earth spiritual energy came rushing towards him once again.
In a very short time, Qi Ping had unexpectedly experienced another episode of sudden enlightenment regarding his mental state.
Qi Ping suspected several factors were at play: the inherent advantage of the Druid class in comprehension, his own conscious efforts to temper and grow himself, and perhaps also the blessing from heaven and earth gained from slaying the Demon Insect King…
