After consuming the honey, the aura of the Golden Marrow Bees gradually recovered. The first-generation High-speed Ring-cutter, unaffected by the drain of Heart of the Wild, was merely exhausted from the continuous slaughter. It was fine after a short rest.
Qi Ping breathed a sigh of relief. Currently, fewer than two hundred bees remained in peak condition; the swarm's overall combat power was severely diminished. However, with the first-generation Ring-cutter present, he still had a small trump card. Its recent performance was proof enough of its might.
During the final day of waiting, Qi Ping was exceptionally cautious. He repeatedly ordered the Golden Marrow and Black Little Bees to monitor every corner of the mountain.
He spent that last day in a state of restless anxiety. To ease his worry, he buried himself in work, immersing his consciousness into the insights of the Plant Growth skill. Although Plant Growth was a skill, the special laws governing the acceleration of plant life were real in this cultivation world. To level up the skill, Qi Ping had to truly comprehend these laws. This state of meditation on the rules allowed him to find some peace.
Often, the closer one was to success, the more one feared an accident. Failure at this stage would be far more agonizing than failing at the beginning or middle. Fortunately, after a full day... nothing happened.
This allowed Qi Ping to let out a massive sigh of relief while feeling incredibly lucky. He had finally made it.
"The High-speed Ring-cutters are ready!"
Gazing at the batch of Ring-cutters with their blade-like wings, Qi Ping felt a surge of intense joy—the feeling of finally reaping the rewards of his hardship. Today, thirty-two mature second-generation Ring-cutters were born. Over the next week, roughly thirty would mature every day. Starting from the second week, more than fifty would mature daily, as Qi Ping had only decided to focus on "Explosive Colony Growth" in the second week of their cultivation.
Every Ring-cutter before him radiated a powerful and dangerous aura. While they were slightly weaker than the first-generation specimen, as second-generation variants, the difference was minimal; they could almost perfectly replicate the combat power of the original. This was why Qi Ping had protected the first-generation drone so fiercely.
'Thirty-two second-generation Ring-cutters, plus the original stronger one. For now, I don't have to worry about Demon Insect attacks.'
'Given the strength of the previous waves, this many Ring-cutters combined with the remaining Golden Marrow Bees can easily slaughter any intruders.'
'Now, let the other bees lead the Ring-cutters to practice battle formations. The combat power they can unleash in an array is far superior to mindless brawling.'
'Finally, I can focus on growing my herbs in peace!'
This was what made him the happiest—the ability to grow herbs and increase his strength steadily. During this period, his only sleep had been during the brief gaps when his spiritual energy was recovering. His mind was frayed from the high-intensity use of Plant Growth. If he weren't a cultivator, he probably would have died of exhaustion by now!
Such a lifestyle was fine for a short burst—it was almost thrilling in a way, like grinding in a game—but over a long period, it was pure torture. He suspected that if it continued, he would have collapsed.
By the Blood Ginseng plot, Qi Ping was carefully tallying the items in his storage bag while communicating with a large golden bee.
"We've accumulated quite a bit of Blood Ginseng. It's enough to support the explosive growth for at least half a month."
"So, the next step is to raise a fifty-year-old Streaming Light Grass, refine the mutation potion, evolve the hive, and reach Druid Level 3 in the process."
At this point, Qi Ping felt much more at ease. His herb-growing pace returned to a level that didn't harm his health. When refining the mutation potion, he had to be in peak condition; otherwise, given his current exhaustion, the failure rate would exceed fifty percent. And if he failed, it would take another half a month to gather the ingredients again. He could not afford such a delay.
Notably, the other common medicinal herbs needed for the potion had been gathered for him by the Golden Marrow Bees, saving him a lot of effort—one of the perks of his contract.
"Good work!" he praised as he took the last herb from a bee.
"Buzz buzz... (If Boss is happy, we are happy!)"
With the materials gathered, Qi Ping lay down on the grass under the protection of the Ring-cutters and fell into a deep sleep. He hadn't slept properly in nearly half a month. Even on the cold, hard ground, he drifted off instantly.
However, his sleep was fitful. He dreamed of being surrounded by endless Demon Insects and elusive marauders. Behind them were Tier-2 Foundation Establishment and Tier-3 Golden Core experts who slaughtered the loose cultivators of the Qingtian Domain without mercy, leaving mountains of corpses and rivers of blood. He saw Old Man Zhou, Sister Nan, Wang Shan, Fatty Zhou, sallow Li Peng... even Manager Gao and Meng Shanshan. All of them lay in pools of blood, their corpses mangled.
The despair of the scene and the deaths of his friends jolted him awake.
"Whew."
Realizing it was just a dream, his tension eased. 'Has my mind been too tightly wound? Why would I have such a dream?'
'Luckily, my spirit has recovered a bit. I need to get back to the Streaming Light Grass. Raising it to fifty years is the priority!'
He skillfully activated Plant Growth, channeling the energy into the grass. Watching it grow visibly larger, his heart found its anchor. Everything else was an illusion; only the steady accumulation of resources and strength was real. Peaceful farming and gradual growth would eventually make him a powerful cultivator with a long life!
Over the following week, the Demon Insects continued to arrive every three days. However, under the encirclement of the trained Ring-cutters, none of them could cause a ripple. Instead, they provided Qi Ping with a steady harvest of corpses. This gave him more capital to eventually purchase higher-grade spirit beasts.
A week later...
As Qi Ping channeled the energy into the Streaming Light Grass, dark-golden light rippled across its leaves. It was finished! He finally had all the ingredients for the mutation potion once again.
"Now, let's see if the new talent is effective..."
[Shared Talent: Brewing Artisan] -> [Shared Talent: Grand Brewer]