As the unique energy of Plant Growth slowly seeped into the Hundred-Eyed Flower Demon's body, Qi Ping felt a trace of trepidation in his heart.
'I hope this works!'
If Plant Growth could accelerate the development of the Hundred-Eyed Flower Demon, nurturing it in the future would be significantly easier. Otherwise, if he had to rely solely on precious soul-attribute spiritual materials, the difficulty of raising it would climb by several tiers.
The most pressing issue was that the Flower Demon's intelligence had not yet fully awakened. Until its consciousness truly stirred, Qi Ping would be unable to complete the contract ritual.
'The moment of awakening should be near... I just hope the skill can hasten its formation...'
Under Qi Ping's expectant gaze, the Flower Demon's frame grew visibly sturdier under the influence of the verdant energy.
'It's effective!'
Qi Ping's heart swelled with joy. Once he confirmed that Plant Growth was beneficial, he continued to channel the skill, infusing the special energy into the creature's body without pause.
Sensing the influx of energy, the Hundred-Eyed Flower Demon instinctively began to absorb it. With this aid, its growth rate accelerated drastically.
Qi Ping did not stop for a single moment.
'After sharing the Fairy-Trance Divine Seal talent from the little fox, the number of times I can cast Plant Growth has more than doubled...'
'Moreover, as I continue to train, this capacity should increase even further.'
'It's a pity I lack a soul-attribute cultivation manual. I haven't been able to truly unleash the full potential of the Fairy-Trance Divine Seal yet...'
...
The path to immortality was fraught with hardship. For now, Qi Ping's only option was to maximize his existing resources, raise his strength, and then slowly find ways to obtain the necessary manuals and materials.
During this time, as he came into contact with higher-level concepts, Qi Ping gradually came to a very important realization.
In the world of cultivation, the top-tier manuals, resources, spiritual lands, and treasures were all held in the hands of the major powers. The Qingyuan Sect was merely the beginning.
Qi Ping understood that the only thing he could do to secure these resources was to keep a low profile, manage his own spiritual land, and earn spirit stones with his feet firmly on the ground. Then, he would find channels to purchase the knowledge and materials he needed without drawing attention to himself.
Killing people for their loot or diving into secret realms and ruins were not the proper paths; the risks were simply too high.
Operating his territory quietly and surreptitiously trading with the factions of the cultivation world was the best choice for someone like him.
After observing the sect during this period, Qi Ping felt more and more that such organizations were not places he could navigate safely. The internal factions of any long-established sect were a tangled mess of relationships. In the current Qingyuan Sect, disciples without backing were essentially sent to the most dangerous zones to perform suicide missions.
According to Meng Yan, a vast number of disciples had died in the past six months. Had he not been under his master's protection, he might have fallen as well.
The senior brother who sold the Hundred-Eyed Flower Demon, for instance, had been forced to sell his life-saving treasures just to survive.
Why on earth would anyone want to join such a place?
Qi Ping suspected that other sects were likely of the same nature. Just look at how well the Qingyuan Sect used to manage its industries; now, it was being backed into a corner where it couldn't even protect its own disciples.
Qi Ping did not want to become a pawn that could be discarded at any moment.
More importantly, he realized he had too many secrets!
If he joined a sect and worked under the watchful eyes of Golden Core or Nascent Soul cultivators, could he guarantee he wouldn't be exposed?
No! He had no confidence in that whatsoever!
If those high-level cultivators developed wicked intentions, he might have a chance to flee in the wilderness, but within a sect, he would be a sitting duck. There would be no escape!
Qi Ping had read many accounts in the "Records of Cultivation Marvels" about great cultivators plundering the opportunities of their disciples. It wasn't rare; it was just usually done in secret.
Some sects even specifically targeted disciples with low aptitude who suddenly made rapid progress. If there wasn't a logical explanation, they would simply seize whatever the disciple had.
Whenever Qi Ping read those stories and thought about the "counter-attack" tropes in novels where the protagonist slaps the faces of the sect's higher-ups, he felt embarrassed enough to curl his toes. It sounded satisfying on paper, but in reality, it was a one-way ticket to the grave!
Did people really think the sect elders would say: 'This disciple's talent and luck are extraordinary! We must nurture him with all our resources!'?
In truth, many would think: 'This brat has trash talent. How did he reach this level? He must have stumbled upon an incredible treasure! Heaven is helping me! This opportunity was meant for me to discover...'
The more you showed off, the faster you died!
Did people really take those old monsters who had lived for centuries as fools? Some of them loved nothing more than watching for their disciples' luck; the disciples were effectively their "treasure hunters."
While there were surely good sects and kind masters, the Qingyuan Sect clearly wasn't one of them, and Qi Ping wasn't confident he could avoid the traps of those old foxes.
Especially since his own "talent" changed frequently, he was practically a walking target. Any anomaly was a path to death. Those old monsters limited by their own talent would certainly be tempted by someone like Qi Ping, whose potential was constantly rising.
At least half of them would secretly kidnap him for "research."
Qi Ping admitted that some sects were decent for talented, normal disciples, but for someone like him, almost any old monster would want to slice him open and search his soul.
Thus, he made up his mind to stay hidden in the mountains. Here, he could flee at any moment. It would be even better once he had formations to assist him.
A mountain sanctuary was the path that suited him best!
Furthermore, he intended to only acquaint himself with people he could handle in future transactions.
...
After two days of focused cultivation, the Hundred-Eyed Flower Demon finally reached the threshold of transformation. A green cocoon of energy, etched with strange eye-like patterns, gradually enveloped it.
The Flower Demon stopped absorbing Qi Ping's Plant Growth energy.
Two days later, Qi Ping was jolted awake from his meditation by a sharp cracking sound. Immediately afterward, he saw a sprite-like figure emerge from the energy cocoon...