"I've finally reclaimed all the resources from that last trip and liquidated them!"
Returning to his sanctuary, Qi Ping was in high spirits. Although he had technically acquired these things seven or eight years ago, only now were they truly in his hands. Only now did they truly belong to him.
"Next is to use these resources to quickly increase my strength!"
With abundant resources and everything prepared, he would now use them to push his cultivation to the late stage of Foundation Establishment and fully nurture his animal companions. After that, he could control his Treant Clone to head to the Qingyuan Sect to obtain more knowledge and look for an opportunity to break through to the Golden Core stage. At the same time, he needed to find a way to spend those five million spirit stones on high-value resources.
"The first task is to plant the spirit herbs and seeds I bought, especially the Ripple Wondrous Wood and Dark Moon Soul Wood. I need to contract them, engrave suitable spells, and nurture them as quickly as possible to accelerate the growth of the Cloud-Dream Immortal Tiger and the other companions."
The cultivation of these trees was not just about the companions' growth; it was also key to Qi Ping raising his Druid experience. He felt that as he reached later stages, the difficulty of leveling up as a Druid increased. However, it seemed that as his cultivation rose and his mastery of Laws and spiritual energy deepened, the difficulty of gaining Druid experience decreased slightly. Therefore, faster cultivation would also speed up his Druid leveling.
"Then, while nurturing the trees and herbs, I'll reach level 8 as a Druid and contract the Clear-Manifestation Green Snake to gain the Clear-Manifestation Mirror talent. Using that talent's special abilities and super comprehension, I'll study the captured manuals and finally create a technique that is entirely my own."
"Once I break through to late-stage Foundation Establishment and my understanding of Water-Fire harmony deepens, along with my insights into the Laws of Water and Fire, I should be able to combine more arrays. If I can achieve the perfect fusion of six arrays, I might even be able to fight an ordinary Golden Core cultivator..."
Reaching that step would allow Qi Ping to set foot in the Qingyuan Sect without any worries. No matter what happened, he would have the confidence to handle it.
But doing so wouldn't be easy. Just raising the Water-Fire harmony to a high level required deep insights into the Laws of Water and Fire as a foundation, which then had to be integrated with his array mastery. With his current comprehension, he wasn't sure he could do it in the short term. This was why he needed to stack the comprehension from the snake's talent with the Tri-Color Spirit talent of the Three-Colored Deer. Only then would he have the confidence to achieve this goal quickly.
This was the most important objective for Qi Ping—the foundation of his pursuit of immortality and the safety of his sanctuary.
Additionally, Qi Ping had two secondary goals. First, refining the potions to evolve the bees to the late stage of Rank 2. Once the swarm reached that stage, the title of Bee Daoist would be truly deserved, and the swarm's battle formation would finally be qualified as a high-end combat force of the Foundation Establishment stage.
However, for the swarm to truly leap forward, he had to wait until they successfully swallowed the bloodline of the Demon Insect King. At that time, the swarm's bloodline would surpass all of Qi Ping's current animal companions! With their terrifying numbers, they would possess incomparable combat power.
The second goal was to have his Treant Clone take the Small Stone Spirit out to swallow all the ores and weapons he had acquired. Qi Ping estimated that after devouring these resources, the Small Stone Spirit would definitely have the combat power of a Rank 2 Perfection level, and might even have a chance to touch the Rank 3 level.
He was very much looking forward to the changes that would occur. After all, the tiger's divination for this endeavor had been "Great Luck!"
Thinking of this, Qi Ping immediately dug out the "Coal Ball" Small Stone Spirit, which was sleeping soundly near the spirit vein.
"Ding-Ding... (Boss! I was sleeping so well! Why did you wake me up?)"
The Small Stone Spirit rubbed its eyes and looked at Qi Ping with confusion. Suddenly, it realized there were many companion ores around it, along with a lot of high-quality Ghost-Iron.
"Ding-Ding... (Eh? Why are there so many stones? They look much tastier than the old ones!)"
As it spoke, it directly manipulated several pieces of Ghost-Iron and companion ore into its mouth. Immediately, a satisfying "crunch" echoed from the Small Stone Spirit's mouth. At that moment, the creature's eyes widened!
"Ding-Ding... (Wow! This is so delicious, Boss!)" the spirit exclaimed.
Then, using its Golden Stone Physique's ability to control minerals, it scooped up a large pile of ore and ran happily to Qi Ping, saying excitedly:
"Ding-Ding... (Boss! You should come eat some too! It's really good!)"
It had said it would share this with Qi Ping, and it had remembered that promise!
Facing the Small Stone Spirit's eager and hopeful gaze, Qi Ping found it hard to refuse, but he still shook his head firmly.
Small Stone Spirit, your Boss doesn't eat rocks!
"Small Stone Spirit, I am of the human race. I don't eat rocks..." Qi Ping said as gently as possible.
"Ding-Ding... (Ah? Is that so... okay then...)" the spirit said dejectedly, its head slowly drooping.
But then it noticed the Three-Colored Deer and the Spirit Fox nearby, who were staring at it with wide eyes. It looked up happily again. However, before the spirit could speak, the deer and fox immediately shook their heads frantically.
They didn't eat rocks either! They didn't know if it tasted good, but they knew for sure their teeth would shatter!
Such a firm rejection made the light in the Small Stone Spirit's eyes dim once more. It seemed no one liked the things it wanted to share...
Seeing the spirit looking like it was about to cry, Qi Ping quickly stepped forward and rubbed its head to comfort it. "Every race has its own food. They aren't rejecting you personally. We know you like ore, so we've prepared a lot for you. I'll take you over in a bit."
"Ding-Ding... (Really?)" The light in the spirit's eyes began to return.
"Of course! Eat these first, and I'll take you there later!" Qi Ping nodded affirmatively.
"Ding-Ding... (Mhm!)"
Receiving a definite answer, the Small Stone Spirit nodded happily and began devouring its meal with reckless abandon. Its eyes and face were full of satisfaction and overflowing joy.
Soon, a large pile of ore was eaten by the fist-sized Stone Spirit. Strangely, even after stuffing so much ore into its body, its size didn't change at all.
However, when Qi Ping's Treant Clone appeared nearby, a large question mark popped up over the Small Stone Spirit's head.
Eh? Why has Boss turned into two people?