'The Wood Lord, Beast King, Earth Immortal, Spirit Sovereign, and Yin-Yang God—these five rare Dao-fruits are the five most brilliant fruits grown from my Nature Celestial Physique. They are the most precious power systems I could have obtained in the Star-Sea world.'
'Although as an awakened Myriad Manifestation Druid, it wouldn't be difficult for me to awaken a thousand or ten thousand more Druidic professions, doing so seems pointless. It would be a case of biting off more than I can chew.'
Too many professions wouldn't strengthen him; instead, they would scatter his focus. Dao-fruits with only a few ranks of Breaking Power brought no benefit and would only waste his time. The time and resources required to push a single Dao-fruit to Rank 7 were unimaginable.
Even the Wood Lord and Beast King Dao-fruits, which primarily served as support, had cost Qi Ping a massive amount of resources and energy. For the Wood Lord, he had planted the spiritual wood seeds accumulated by the Star-Sea world over tens of millions of years and received a sacrifice from the Azure Dragon to reach its current level. The Beast King only barely reached Rank 6 after he contracted so many powerful spirit beasts.
The Earth Immortal and Spirit Sovereign were even more specialized. He had only reached Rank 7 for those after turning the Star-Sea from decline to prosperity, resisting the demon invasion, and experiencing multiple near-death encounters. Even if he were to do it all over again, he wouldn't be confident in reaching these levels a second time; the growth difficulty for Earth Immortal and Sovereign Path power was far too high.
The final Yin-Yang God had consumed the vast majority of Qi Ping's mental energy. Currently, the only other powers Qi Ping could think of that might be useful were the Space and Time Dao-fruits, but awakening those was difficult, and their growth was even harder. Although his comprehension of spatial laws was not low, it was only a superficial understanding shared through the Void-Aether Fish. He was good at escaping, but he was a long way from forming a Dao-fruit that could rival the Yin-Yang God.
So, unless there was a greater need, he wouldn't even consider awakening a full Space Dao-fruit. In fact, Qi Ping fell into deep thought as he looked at the Dao-fruits on his panel.
'How should I distribute my focus moving forward?'
'Should I continue cultivating all five simultaneously?'
Normal experience suggested that doing too many things at once led to mediocrity. Choosing one to specialize in provided a better chance of reaching the end; otherwise, one risked being 'a jack of all trades, master of none.'
'Human energy is limited. Since ancient times, countless geniuses who shocked their eras have failed because of this.' Qi Ping was not conceited enough to think he would be the exception.
'However, these five have accompanied me to this day, and every one has played a massive role. It wouldn't be right to discard any of them...' Any one of his Dao-fruit inheritances would trigger a frenzy of competition if released to the outside world, making the choice to discard even harder.
Qi Ping fell into a long silence, his brow furrowed tightly. He was thinking about which path was the most suitable. 'This is what they call a happy problem, I suppose. If these were ordinary Dao-fruits, I would just drop them. A single Yin-Yang God is already a top-tier Dao-fruit.'
But the furrow in Qi Ping's brow soon smoothed out, and a faint smile appeared. 'Actually... it seems I don't need to make a choice.'
After analyzing the pros and cons of each, Qi Ping realized that cultivating all five simultaneously would not only not scatter his focus but would be much more effective than specializing in just one!
'The core of the Wood Lord path is comprehending wood laws and cultivating more powerful spiritual trees...' Wood laws were among the fundamental laws required for the Yin-Yang God. In other words, comprehending wood laws did not conflict with his progress on the Yin-Yang God path. Furthermore, for the cultivation of spiritual trees, he already had the entire Star-Sea world as a nursery. Occasionally searching for or cultivating spiritual trees wouldn't waste much of his time.
'From this perspective, the Wood Lord path requires very little energy to maintain. Yet, it provides immortality and the ability to cultivate spiritual medicine, and I can absorb wood law insights from the trees. It's a huge aid for both cultivation and survival. Therefore, its cost-performance ratio is very high!' This alone gave Qi Ping a reason to keep the Wood Lord. Its auxiliary and combat systems were both top-tier.
'The Beast King path is similar. While its current power is the weakest at Rank 6, that is only temporary. Once Crow and the others return and come back within the core range of the Beast King Dao-fruit, it might reach Rank 7.'
Qi Ping was currently piloting the void ship toward the world where Crow was located.
'In terms of combat, the Beast King doesn't provide direct power, but the contracted beasts are perfect for life-and-death struggle. The bloodline-strengthened Golden Marrow Bees, the Azure Dragon, the Void-Aether Fish... they all have unique combat capabilities. And raising spirit beasts doesn't require much of my direct effort; I just need to obtain enough resources. The shared talents and power from them also aid my cultivation immensely.'
Qi Ping had risen from his lowly beginnings precisely because of the power of the Beast King Druid. At every step of his journey, a breakthrough in this profession had brought about a qualitative change. Furthermore, the Beast King path was bound to many animal companions who had shared life and death with him; he wasn't willing to give up those bonds. He truly liked the Beast King profession.
Once his animal companions grew, their combat strength wouldn't necessarily be weaker than his own. After serious consideration, Qi Ping found that the Beast King and Wood Lord both offered maximum returns for minimal effort.
'So, the Beast King and Wood Lord can accompany me all the way. Continued cultivation won't slow me down; it will accelerate my progress! However, the Earth Immortal and Spirit Sovereign... their utility will be much smaller moving forward.'
'Once I leave the Star-Sea world, these two Dao-fruits—which rely on the land and people of the Star-Sea—won't be able to exert much power. Their Breaking Power Level will drop to near zero.'
At the thought, Qi Ping felt a trace of regret. 'Is there really no other way?'