Qi Ping ran a great distance before finding a desolate, godforsaken spot. There, he discarded and buried all the worthless debris he had cleared from the cavern.
His actual harvest from this venture consisted of three things: the corpse of the Demon Insect King along with the remains of the King-Grade Spirit Insect that had lost most of its essence, the four Spirit-Origin Stone Pillars brimming with rich spiritual energy, and that fragmented, strange-shaped jade pendant which a bee had hidden away in some unknown corner.
Qi Ping was already immensely satisfied with these gains. This was evident from the look in his eyes as he peered at the contents of his storage ring. Internally, he was surging with excitement and joy.
'The corpse of a Demon Insect King is a rarity in this world. This body alone makes the entire trip a massive profit. As for this spirit insect with a King-Grade bloodline... it has been mutilated beyond recognition.'
The corpse of a Demon Insect King was inherently valuable, but for an insect cultivator, its worth was incalculable. If his contracted spirit insects could successfully use the bloodline of the Demon Insect King to undergo a mutation, their potential and talent would receive a massive boost. If Qi Ping's bee colony could successfully integrate this bloodline, not only would their combat power soar, but their future potential for evolution would also be far greater.
'However, I will have to wait until I reach the Foundation Establishment stage before I can use the Demon Insect King's bloodline to refine a mutagenic potion. Moreover, first-rank bees would find it difficult to withstand the process; they would need a second evolution using five-hundred-year-old Blood Ginseng as a base.'
'Before I even think about using the Demon Insect King's remains, I should distribute them into multiple storage bags and hide them in different locations. When I head to the Qingshi Market to acquire spirit stones, I should buy a few small-capacity, low-priced storage bags specifically for hiding risky items.'
Qi Ping was certain the Spirit-Origin Stone Pillars were safe to keep, but a corpse or living entity like the Demon Insect King could easily have hidden tracking methods placed upon it. Thus, his first action was to switch to a small storage bag, handing the pieces of the Demon Insect King and the King-Grade spirit insect corpse to a Black Little Bee to be hidden away.
'The Spirit-Origin Stone Pillars are fine. I can use them when cultivating spirit herbs.'
'With these pillars, cultivating high-grade first-rank spirit herbs or ordinary second-rank spirit herbs will be no problem in the future.'
As for that fragmented, strange-shaped jade pendant, Qi Ping planned to have a bee keep it hidden in an anonymous corner for now. If there was any risk associated with it, it wouldn't affect him personally.
Qi Ping was currently in a desolate stretch of forest within the Cloud-Mist Mountain Range. The spiritual energy here was incredibly weak. Even if it were offered for free to rogue cultivators, it would have little value, meaning almost no human cultivators ever set foot here. There were many such places in the mountain range, making them perfect for hiding his treasures.
Watching the bees fly off to stash the Demon Insect King's remains, the last of the worries in Qi Ping's heart dissipated. To this point, his exploration of the secret underground Blood Ginseng site had officially come to a close.
"This exploration can be considered a complete success. The harvest was exceptionally bountiful."
"From today onward, I bid a final farewell to Peak 007 of District D. It is time for me to embark on a new journey."
Standing at the summit of a hill, Qi Ping gazed toward that distant peak—invisible to the naked eye but etched into his heart. For a moment, his emotions were a complex tangle. He had lived on that mountain for five and a half years.
Over five years ago, when he first stepped onto that peak, he was a dying beggar boy, his body ravaged by illness, cold, and injuries. That bone-deep pain remained vivid in his memory even now. Especially that despair and helplessness of being on the brink of death, mixed with physical agony—no one who had not experienced it could truly understand.
It was in his moment of deepest despair that Old Man Zhou brought him back to Peak 007 and healed his wounds with spirit medicine. As his body slowly recovered, Qi Ping began to learn about the world of cultivation. It was there that he first saw what the cultivation world looked like, first touched a cultivation manual, first met the Black Little Bee spirit insects, and first broke through to become a cultivator.
Peak 007 was his first impression of the cultivation world. The simple courtyard at the foot of the hill, the ancient pine on the ridge, the old beehive atop that pine... everything existed with perfect clarity in his mind.
Later, he had learned to raise bees there, read countless cultivation books, and experienced the despair of having mediocre talent. After years of being ground down by reality, Qi Ping had gradually accepted the fact that he was fated to never achieve immortality. He had begun to drift along, much like Old Man Zhou.
Raising some Black Little Bees, planting flowers to earn a few spirit stones, perhaps marrying a few beautiful wives and building a lovely courtyard—that life wouldn't have been bad. At the very least, it would have been more comfortable than being a beast of burden in his previous life.
That mindset had persisted until recently... until he awakened the Druid class!
From that moment, his mundane life changed. From obtaining powerful class skills to contracting his first animal companion, the Golden Marrow Bee, to breaking through his cultivation levels in rapid succession until he reached the third level of Qi Refinement!
A desire that had once been extinguished slowly reignited in his heart—the pursuit of the Great Dao and immortality!
As for the subsequent marauder chaos, the demon insect plague, and the risks of the Blood Ginseng site... they had forced him to desperately increase his strength. Under the pressure of imminent, fatal crises, he was compelled to push forward. He had even sent away Old Man Zhou, the man he had promised to care for in his old age.
All of these events had finally reached a stopping point today.
As Qi Ping looked toward Peak 007, though his heart was filled with complex emotions, there was no lingering attachment. Instead, he gained a clearer understanding of his own heart!
He wanted to be strong enough to be free from anyone's threats, to allow himself and those he cherished to live a free and pleasant life! He wanted to chase that seemingly unreachable goal... immortality!
To achieve this, he had to move to a larger stage, finding a place where he could utilize his farming and bee colony advantages to continue growing! He needed to cultivate a larger bee legion for self-protection, plant more flowers and spirit herbs to earn spirit stones through the Brewer Pot-bellied Bee, and achieve self-sufficiency for the colony. His goal was to make them earn enough to fund his cultivation and the training of other animal companions.
He also needed to start producing more Sun-Ginseng Honey and Fire Spirit Tempering Honey. While increasing his physical strength, he needed to break through to the late stage of Qi Refinement as quickly as possible. Afterward, he would search for new pill formulas and high-grade first-rank spirit herbs to test new honey recipes. This would help him advance his late-stage Qi Refinement cultivation while using better fire-attribute honey recipes to help the Crow break through to the second rank.
By then, the bee colony should also be ready to evolve to the second rank. Once he possessed combat power equivalent to the Foundation Establishment stage, it would be time to find a third animal companion to contract.
Regardless of how chaotic the outside world became, these were the things Qi Ping had to do on his path to immortality.
In that moment, Qi Ping gradually slipped into a state of profound realization. That familiar spiritual energy of heaven and earth surged toward him once again. In a short span of time, he had encountered a state of enlightenment once more!
Qi Ping suspected this was partly due to the Druid's advantage in comprehension, partly due to his own conscious tempering and growth, and perhaps partly due to the benefit of slaying the Demon Insect King and receiving the blessing of heaven and earth.