After witnessing the potential of the Shepherd of Trees in the cultivation world, Qi Ping felt increasingly certain that he could forge his own path to immortality without relying on sects or great powers. Could one not become an immortal without powerful spirit veins or massive factions? Qi Ping didn't think so. Despite the many difficulties, he believed he could walk a path to invincible longevity by relying on his two professions: Beast King Druid and Shepherd of Trees. And these were not the end—there were still opportunities for further advancement!
Turning his attention back to the Star-Spirit Wood, he saw that under the pull of the Small Accomplishment Spirit-Gathering Art, spiritual energy was constantly being drawn in. At the base of the tree, several drops of liquid Spirit Liquid had already formed. This liquid was a rare treasure for cultivation. Once he had collected enough, it could be sold for a significant sum of spirit stones.
However, Qi Ping had no intention of selling it yet. 'These drops can be saved. They are high-grade spiritual items that can rapidly restore spiritual energy during breakthroughs or when my energy is depleted in battle.' If he collected a massive surplus later, he might consider selling some.
In the vicinity of the Star-Spirit Wood, the soil had slowly reached the standard of a Rank 1, low-grade spiritual land. The earth closest to the trunk was even approaching the mid-grade. Qi Ping was certain that once the wood fully matured, a vast expanse of spiritual fields would be born because of it.
'But even the spiritual energy outside the illusion array is being drawn in...' Thinking of the potential risks, Qi Ping frowned slightly. He cast the Art of Wind-Riding Flight and flew outside the array.
The Art of Wind-Riding Flight was one of the intermediate spells he had learned. Out of an interest in flight, he had taken the time to study it. Who hasn't dreamed of soaring through the clouds? Once he found the spell in the manual, he naturally wouldn't let it go. Although he wasn't yet proficient, simple flight was no longer an issue.
Outside the array, Qi Ping carefully sensed the surroundings from several positions. After a long while, his frown finally relaxed.
'Based on the current fluctuations, unless someone is very close, they shouldn't notice anything unusual—let alone anyone in Qingshi County, which is extremely far away.'
'I was being too worried. To cause a truly massive disturbance, one would need something nearing a Rank 3 Spirit-Gathering Array. The Star-Spirit Wood is still a long way from that!'
After some thought, he decided to let the tree continue gathering energy. This would allow him to accumulate Spirit Liquid and turn more black soil into spiritual land over time. It cost him nothing and resulted in no loss.
'In that case, I can plant the Spirit-Condensing Fruit trees I brought from Sister Nan's place. It would be a waste to use the energy from the Spirit-Source Stone Pillar on them.' After all, the energy in the pillar was limited—it was the foundation for his breakthrough to Foundation Establishment and shouldn't be wasted on unimportant things. The Star-Spirit Wood had solved this problem perfectly.
'However, even if the risk is small, I must remain vigilant. The bee swarm must monitor the surroundings at all times. If there is any anomaly, I will immediately use the formation to block the tree's connection to the outside.'
'I should also prepare several hidden escape tunnels. If things get truly desperate, I can use them to flee.'
Though he would never abandon his territory unless absolutely necessary—especially since he planned to place his future Natural Sanctuary here—he needed a fallback. If he knew how to set up teleportation arrays, he would have done so immediately. He was certain that in the future, such arrays would be the foundation of his safety and his means of reaching other domains to search for high-grade treasures. But teleportation was still too far away; for now, he had to grow steadily, one step at a time.
Returning to the array, Qi Ping looked at the Star-Spirit Wood, which was performing even better than a standard array, and a look of satisfaction appeared on his face. After casting Plant Growth on the tree a few more times, he returned to his cultivation.
His primary goal now was to break through to Foundation Establishment and then nurture a Rank 2 bee swarm. As for the little flower spirit, he continued to nurture it daily, but there were still no signs of it breaking through to the second rank.
'To reach Foundation Establishment, the only condition I lack is reaching the peak of Qi Refinement. Since I have already comprehended the True Meaning of Fire and the Farming Domain, there is no bottleneck for me. I don't even need a Foundation Establishment Pill like others.'
The fact that he didn't need the pill saved him a massive amount of trouble. Obtaining such a pill was several times harder than finding a Foundation Establishment manual; they were rare resources strictly controlled by the Qingyuan Sect. Especially in a time of war, the price and difficulty of obtaining one had reached astronomical levels. If he had to find a way to get a pill, his breakthrough would have been delayed significantly.
Fortunately, he could bypass that restriction entirely!
'Now, I just need to prepare high-year fire-attribute honey for the breakthrough and study the Golden Flame Manual.'
He had thought long and hard about his choice of technique. He had considered pure fire, wood-fire dual attributes, or even five-element techniques. Ultimately, he discarded the latter two. The five-element manual was the strongest but also the hardest to obtain and cultivate; he estimated it would take him at least ten years just to reach the threshold, which was a delay he couldn't accept. As for the dual wood-fire path, while he had a good grasp of it, his talent in fire was far superior to wood.
Thus, he decided to build his foundation through the path of fire. Once he gained five-element talent and higher comprehension in the future, he could switch techniques then. For him, this was the better choice.
'I'll start researching the Golden Flame Manual now! Once I reach the peak of Qi Refinement, I can break through immediately!'