A tree spirit that has not yet awakened its sapience possesses no conscious mind, but if one senses it with their own consciousness, they can find the techniques that resonate with the tree spirit. For instance, the spirit of the Star-Spirit Wood craved spiritual energy above all else.
In this scenario, techniques that gathered energy were exactly what the tree desired. The Spirit-Gathering Art was the purest form of such a technique, perfectly matching the tree's innate abilities. This ensured that the Tree Spirit Imprint would merge perfectly and maximize the spell's effectiveness.
Once he confirmed there were no issues, Qi Ping condensed a blank Tree Spirit Imprint. As the blank mark floated before him, he immersed his consciousness into it. He then carved his entire comprehension of the Spirit-Gathering Art into the imprint. This was why he had waited until the technique reached Small Accomplishment; the deeper his understanding, the stronger the tree would be after learning it.
When Qi Ping's consciousness withdrew, a mysterious glow began to radiate from the imprint.
"Go."
As he moved the imprint toward the Star-Spirit Wood, a powerful burst of longing erupted from the tree spirit.
'I want it... I want it...'
Because it was a Tree Spirit Imprint, the tree could sense that the spell within was exactly what it hungered for. The moment the mark touched the spirit, the Star-Spirit Wood eagerly absorbed the imprint containing Qi Ping's insights. Immediately, a wave of intense joy radiated from the tree.
'So good... so good... it's a spell to gather energy!'
Perhaps because the Spirit-Gathering Art was such a perfect match, it wasn't long after the merger that a powerful suction force erupted from the Star-Spirit Wood.
"It learned it already?" Qi Ping's face showed his surprise.
Logically, even though he had infused his Small Accomplishment level of insight into the imprint, the tree shouldn't have mastered it so quickly. Even according to the rules of the games he remembered, it took a significant amount of time for a tree to learn a spell from an imprint, especially if the compatibility was low. Yet this tree had mastered it almost instantly. It was far faster than the speed at which Qi Ping himself had learned the art.
'Could it be because the compatibility is just that high? Or perhaps because the Spirit-Gathering Art isn't an overly profound spell?' Qi Ping could only guess. 'But either way, this is a good thing!'
When a spell was engraved into a contracted tree, its power was not fixed. If compatibility was low, the power would be greatly reduced, or the tree might never learn it at all. But if the compatibility was high, the spell could even surpass its original limits! As the tree grew and became more proficient, it would continuously refine and strengthen the engraved technique. Because of a tree's unique structure and its ability to cast a single spell day and night without ceasing, it could push a technique to unimaginable heights.
"Looking at the Star-Spirit Wood now, it seems to be heading in that direction. At this rate, it might even become more effective than a Spirit-Gathering Array, and it doesn't even require spirit stones to maintain..."
Qi Ping wasn't in a hurry. He would observe it for a while.
Before returning to his own cultivation, Qi Ping cast the Rain-Making Art over his territory within the illusion array, mixing spiritual energy with water to irrigate the black soil he had brought back. This would further enrich the spiritual energy of the land.
The Rain-Making Art came from the Encyclopedia of Basic Cultivation Spells: Advanced Version that Meng Yan had given him. It contained many basic and intermediate spells for cultivators. Though none were exceptionally powerful, the variety was immense. Qi Ping had learned many useful skills from it; the Rain-Making Art was a standard technique used by sects for their spiritual fields. Now that he had mastered it, he no longer needed the little bees to help him water the plants.
Another month passed. During this time, Qi Ping spent his days cultivating and nurturing herbs while observing the growth of the Star-Spirit Wood. By today, the tree had actually pushed the Spirit-Gathering Art to the level of Small Accomplishment itself!
"Small Accomplishment in just a month! This is absurd!"
Looking at the Star-Spirit Wood, which had grown to the height of two men, it was hard to believe it had mastered the technique so quickly. Under the tree's command, the spiritual energy between heaven and earth rushed toward it with incredible speed. Qi Ping estimated that its current ability to gather energy was no weaker than a small Spirit-Gathering Array! He could only describe it as "incredible."
'At this rate, it won't be long before it reaches Great Accomplishment... and as the tree continues to grow, it will refine the spell even further. Its power will only increase!'
One tree was truly becoming a Spirit-Gathering Array unto itself.
'When it breaks through to Rank 2, will it be even more ridiculous than a Rank 2 formation? With the help of the Spirit-Gathering Art, the wood might even be able to break through its own grade limits.'
The more Qi Ping saw the effects, the more stunned he became. 'It seems the abilities of a Shepherd of Trees are even more potent in this cultivation world than I predicted!'
The practicality of the Tree Spirit Contract had far exceeded his expectations. 'If this is the case, the heights I can reach will depend entirely on my imagination.'
In a way, the Tree Spirit Imprint was even more versatile than the Animal Companion feature. After all, this was the signature talent of the advanced Shepherd of Trees profession. Furthermore, a tree could eventually hold more than one imprint. Once it had mastered one spell completely, another could be engraved, provided the spells were compatible with the tree's nature and did not conflict with one another. Combining different spells with the tree's innate traits could create a truly powerful entity.
This was the real reason Qi Ping had chosen this path. The variety of spiritual trees in the cultivation world was as vast as the sea, and the number of spells was countless! If he could find the ultimate combinations, he could create not only the most productive spiritual trees but also ones with extraordinary offensive capabilities.
From this perspective, the ceiling for the Tree Spirit Contract in this world was unimaginably high! Of course, the floor was also low—if handled poorly, it could become a useless talent. But Qi Ping was confident. Even if he couldn't find the "god-tier" combinations immediately, creating productive trees based on the Star-Spirit Wood template was well within his reach.
With honey production capped and his magically-accelerated herbs unsuitable for public sale, Qi Ping's hopes for purchasing resources, manuals, and future animal companions rested largely on the potential of his Tree Spirit Contract.