"The Power of Living Beings... can be used for combat, breaking through cultivation barriers..."
"And resurrection!"
Qi Ping was already delighted upon seeing that it could be used for combat and cultivation breakthroughs, but when he saw the third piece of information, his eyes lit up completely!
Resurrection!
For someone with Qi Ping's cautious and death-fearing personality, was there anything more attractive than resurrection?
In a sense, this was equivalent to having an extra life!
"Now that I've obtained the Power of Living Beings which allows for resurrection, once my new base is completed, my life-preserving capabilities will suddenly increase by two!"
Qi Ping's vision for the new base was as follows: currently, his Life-Binding Covenant was linked to the Radiant Sun Ancient Wood within the Natural Sanctuary. However, Qi Ping's true body usually did not leave his territory.
This meant that if the territory were ever exposed due to some unpredictable reason, the Radiant Sun Ancient Wood would also be exposed. In such a case, the effectiveness of the Life-Binding Covenant's resurrection would be greatly diminished. If the wood were destroyed, the resurrection ability would vanish.
Therefore, to ensure that the Life-Binding Covenant could truly serve as his second life, Qi Ping intended to construct a second base.
Since this base was solely for nurturing the spirit tree linked to the covenant, it only required formations and spirit land.
Formations were no challenge for Qi Ping. As for the spirit land, he didn't plan to go through the trouble of nurturing a new spirit vein. He didn't have the energy or time to cultivate a second one; he intended to simply stack resources and Spirit Stones!
He would use spirit liquids and Spirit Stones to saturate an area until it became a Rank 2 or Rank 3 territory. As long as it could support the growth of a single spirit tree, it would suffice. Although the cost would be significant, Qi Ping was willing to pay it for a chance at resurrection.
Most importantly, Qi Ping currently had ample resources and Spirit Stones. Building a base to support one spirit tree was within his means.
As for the location, Qi Ping planned to choose a spot deep within the earth's crust, a place where Golden Core or even Nascent Soul cultivators would find it difficult to reach!
However, to open a base at such a depth, Qi Ping had to wait for the Little Stone Essence to break through to Rank 3. He also needed to find an extreme-yin spirit tree suitable for living underground.
Once a tree capable of providing resurrection was nurtured in such a deep base, Qi Ping's survival abilities would skyrocket again. Combined with the resurrection effect of the Power of Living Beings, his life-preserving capability would be a true trump card.
"The time for the Little Stone Essence's breakthrough is near!"
His true body, along with the Cloud-Dream Immortal Tiger, Ya-Ya, and the Little Flower Spirit, had already arrived at a secret location calculated by the tiger to prepare for the tribulation. Now, he only needed to control his Treant Clone to draw the attention of all the Golden Core cultivators of the Qingyuan Sect toward Starfall City. Then, the breakthrough could begin.
"It's just that the resurrection from the Power of Living Beings has a success rate; it's not a hundred percent..."
Thinking of this, Qi Ping closed his eyes to carefully sense and test it. He discovered that this special power could indeed be converted into a startling amount of vitality!
"This must be the essence of how the Power of Living Beings can be used for resurrection. However, to fully resurrect me, it seems a bit insufficient..."
Qi Ping's brow furrowed.
"According to the description, the reason I obtained the Power of Living Beings is that I am practicing the philosophy of the Druid, while simultaneously gaining the recognition of heaven, earth, and living beings..."
Qi Ping understood the part about gaining recognition. He could clearly perceive that the Power of Living Beings surrounding him originated from the crowd below that had just bowed to him. Each person had contributed a unique wisp of the Power of Living Beings.
Furthermore, he could feel that the strength of these powers was closely related to the cultivation level of the contributors. The stronger the individual, the stronger the Power of Living Beings.
"Moreover, even if the Power of Living Beings is consumed, it will continuously recover as long as these people remain alive. As they grow stronger, the power I wield will also increase!"
"It seems I must do my best to keep this group of people alive and help them become stronger. I also need to find ways to obtain the Power of Living Beings from even more people!"
"In the future, I must find a way to make this Qingtian Domain more prosperous and powerful. As long as the heaven and earth spirit veins grow stronger and more numerous, and the living beings on this land become more powerful, the Power of Living Beings I control will increase..."
This aligned perfectly with Qi Ping's long-term goals.
"But what does it mean to 'practice the Druid philosophy'?"
"From past experience, the philosophy of the Jungle Druid is about nurturing plants and sensing the power of nature. The Beast King Druid's philosophy is about nurturing animal companions and sensing nature. But what does my act of purging the city today have to do with being a Druid?"
Qi Ping fell into deep thought.
Purging the city to remove the tumors that hindered the growth of the Qingtian Domain and its inhabitants... clearing the obstacles for the strength of the human race in the Qingtian Domain...
"Could it be... that this is a precursor to the awakening of the Civilization Druid?"
A wave of pleasant surprise surged in Qi Ping's heart. The power of a Civilization Druid was beyond doubt, but he had never been able to find a clue on how to awaken that profession. He only had a faint intuition telling him what would be appropriate.
"That's it... a cultivation civilization... the cultivator tumors... a cultivation civilization is not made of knowledge, but a special existence composed of countless cultivators..."
"If put that way, it makes sense. This indeed aligns with the philosophy of a Civilization Druid!"
"I see!"
"If the 'Power of Living Beings' talent is an ability that awakens before the Civilization Druid profession itself, then everything falls into place!"
This filled Qi Ping with intense anticipation!
If an ability awakened before the profession was even fully realized was already this powerful, how strong would he be once the Civilization Druid was fully awakened?
"Could it be that after awakening as a Civilization Druid and growing stronger, the Power of Living Beings talent will evolve into: 'As long as living beings do not die, I shall never perish'?"
Looking at the current effects of the talent, Qi Ping felt the possibility was very high!
This hypothesis made him even more excited. Nothing was more attractive to him than immortality!
"But those are matters for the future. For now, I must continue with this current layout!"
With that thought, Qi Ping opened his eyes and scanned the entirety of Starfall City. Then, a loud and dignified voice rang out from his mouth:
"A more terrifying battle will occur here shortly. Everyone must evacuate Starfall City within three hours. You may return in two days!"
According to Qi Ping's estimation, if the coming Golden Core cultivators were fast, they might reach Starfall City in less than half a day. He wasn't even sure about the outcome of the impending battle himself. These people were the ones providing him with the Power of Living Beings; he didn't want anything to happen to them.
If possible, he even wanted to give them extra benefits to help them grow stronger.
"We obey the Warden's command! We shall evacuate immediately!"
The people in Starfall City heard Qi Ping's words and began to pack up efficiently. Figures began to leave the city one after another.
In just over two hours, Starfall City became an empty city!
After everyone had left, Qi Ping sat alone cross-legged amidst the corpses littering Starfall City, calmly awaiting his true targets and enemies...