The news was explosive: The Bee Daoist had led his swarms to slaughter hundreds of core members of the Cloud-Mountain Domain! Over ten Nascent Soul and Golden Core cultivators had fallen, and every assassination happened almost simultaneously! The reason: Retaliation for Venerable Yunshan slaying the Bee Daoist's clone and some bees!
When this news hit, the continent froze.
"Is he that brave?"
"That's the Cloud-Mountain Domain! They have a Deity Transformation Venerable! This hasn't happened in tens of thousands of years, right?"
"Exactly! He struck their home directly!"
"I wouldn't even dream of being that bold!"
"How did he do it? Killing so many at once? Even a Deity Transformation master would struggle to be that precise!"
"I heard he used King-Grade bees. They struck everywhere at once. His control over the swarms is legendary! Maybe only the ancestor of the Profound-Heaven Beast Sect could match him."
"This Bee Daoist is a savage!"
"Will Cloud-Mountain declare a domain-level war?"
"Who knows? But they're a top power; they won't swallow this insult, surely?"
"Definitely. A war might break out that could wipe a domain off the map!"
Speculation ran wild. People were awestruck by Qi Ping's guts and his bees. They eagerly awaited the next move. According to the usual domineering style of Cloud-Mountain, they should have already marched to raze the Qingtian Domain. But Qi Ping was a mystery who had already scared away one Venerable. No one could predict the winner.
The continent boiled. Meanwhile, in the Cloud-Mountain Domain, the elites were kneeling before their ancestral grounds. Almost every high-level cultivator was prostrating themselves.
"Ancestor! You must seek justice for us!"
"When has our sect ever been so humiliated? Please, Ancestor, raze the Qingtian Domain and use the Bee Daoist's head as a sacrifice for our kin!"
"Only blood can wash away this shame! We beg you to act!"
"Please act!"
Their shouts echoed through the sect. They were united in their thirst for blood. Only a few individuals stood at the front, radiating auras even more terrifying than standard Nascent Soul masters—the true foundation of the domain. They weren't as angry as the others; their brows were furrowed.
The situation was bizarre. Knowing the Venerable's personality, he should have already been on the warpath. Yet, he hadn't said a word since returning from the Qingtian Domain. He had been in seclusion ever since.
After a long silence, a black-robed figure appeared. It wasn't the Venerable, but his personal servant. The elites felt a sense of foreboding.
The servant spoke words that left them dumbfounded.
"My master says this matter was started by our domain, and it ends here! From this day forth, no one from the Cloud-Mountain Domain is to provoke the Qingtian Domain."
"Furthermore, he has ordered me to personally deliver a gift of apology to the Lord of the Bee Domain to settle this conflict..."
The silence that followed was absolute. Then came the disbelief. They looked at each other, unable to process the truth. Their invincible, majestic Ancestor... had backed down! He was ignoring the deaths of hundreds of core members and sending a gift? They couldn't believe such a humiliating decree came from the man they worshipped.
"Why, Ancestor? How can we swallow this?"
"Who is this Bee Daoist that we should—"
The questioner vanished, his body turning to dust without warning. The sudden death acted like a bucket of ice water, waking them up. They had been so angry they almost challenged the Ancestor's authority. They broke into a cold sweat. He was still the ruthless Venerable Yunshan who had reigned for ages!
This bloody lesson made them realize the truth: Venerable Yunshan was afraid! The Bee Daoist was even more terrifying than they had imagined!
In the presence of so many people, the news couldn't be kept secret. It exploded across the continent. Cultivators who had been betting on the winner were left with their jaws on the floor.
"Venerable Yunshan and his domain have backed down! They swallowed the insult and sent a lavish apology!"
This news spread alongside the Bee Daoist's name. His mystery and fame reached new heights. It gave rogue cultivators and even oppressed clan/sect members from other lands the confidence to sell everything and move to the Qingtian Domain. They saw that the domain's rise was unstoppable. High-rank cultivators who had previously worried about safety now made their decisions.
Following Cloud-Mountain's lead, the other forces that had participated in the blockade also folded. If even Cloud-Mountain backed down, what chance did they have? They all prepared lavish gifts and sent them to the Qingtian Domain.
In the Qingyuan Mountain Range, Qi Ping received the news while nurturing herbs.
'The Venerable is sensible, at least.'
He had expected a war that would paint the domain red with the blood of several Deity Transformation masters. Instead, he received apology gifts. He was quite satisfied; their sincerity was evident in the wealth they sent. Combined, these resources were enough to develop the domain and fund another massive expansion of his swarms.
He had made a massive profit and gained even more talented residents.
'This should settle things for a while. No one will dare to trouble me in the short term. I can leave the normal development to Wang He and Lin Yue.'
He returned to the Natural Sanctuary—his true secret base.
'The domain is fine, so I need to focus on my own Druid level. Although I scared them off, my weakness outside the domain is now exposed. Because of the bees, I can threaten their "nests," so they won't move recklessly. but that isn't a permanent solution. The swarms have weaknesses.'
He could think of many ways to counter the bees—trapping them, protecting core members, or forming a multi-Venerable blockade of the domain. He didn't want to be on the defensive. Moreover, his real enemies weren't these people; they were the Celestial Alliance and the entities that destroyed the Verdant Stream Domain.
He had to build a force that could fight abroad. His companions were perfect for this, but he had one major fear: they could die. He couldn't accept losing a companion or a shared talent. But death was inevitable in war.
To solve this, he could only think of one way: the special evolution of the Beast-King Druid—the Beast Sentinel!
He remembered the talent of this subclass: the Sentinel and his companions shared a Life-Link. As long as the Druid lived, a companion could choose to sacrifice themselves to be reborn later. They would be weak for a while and the Druid would suffer a significant drain, but compared to true death, it was a bargain.
But the awakening conditions were special, and he wasn't sure if he'd get the option after reaching Level 10. He hadn't played this class much in the game because it was "useless" there; companions were weak after rebirth and the Druid's stats dropped. In a game with a respawn feature, it wasn't worth the trouble.
'But in a cultivation world, this is a god-tier ability! A pet that can be resurrected? Combined with an Earth Immortal Druid, it's a perfect match!'
He tried to remember the conditions, but even after searching his memories so thoroughly he could recall the titles of movies he'd seen years ago, he found nothing.
'I'll have to rely on myself.'
He wasn't discouraged. The Chaos Inheritance Space in this world followed logic. Just as the Treant required plant-growth and environmental awareness, the other subclasses had their own patterns. He just had to fulfill the traits of a Beast Sentinel to trigger the option.
He went into action immediately.
Thirty years passed in a flash. On a sunny afternoon, Qi Ping's calm face suddenly lit up with a grin of pure joy. In his mind, his Druid level had finally reached 10, and the option he had been waiting for appeared:
Beast Sentinel!