The sun rises and sets, time flies, and soon more than half a year has passed.

During this period, the group in Qingshi County, who hoped Qi Ping would show up voluntarily, went from being full of confidence to becoming utterly desperate.

They have gained almost nothing in Qingshi County during this time.

The only known secret realm turned out to be nothing more than a massive breeding ground for demonic insects. After everyone fled that secret realm back then, it was completely emptied, leaving nothing of value behind.

What they could never have guessed was that the person they were hoping for and searching for would hide in a godforsaken spot in the Cloud Mist Mountain Range for more than half a year!

This is nothing a normal cultivator would do, even those who abandoned their duties wouldn't choose to enter such a place.

...

While these sect cultivators opposing the Cyan Origin Sect were furious, Qi Ping spent this past half year rather comfortably and pleasantly.

Every day he cultivates, studies arrays, and tends to spiritual medicine; when tired, he plays with the little flower demon and the little spirit fox; he lived a fulfilling and carefree life.

Qi Ping also enjoyed immersing himself in such a cultivation life.

For him, this was the immortal cultivation life he longed for. Enlightenment need not only come from slaughter; by understanding the laws of heaven and earth and studying nature's laws, one can also approach the essence of the path.

During this half-year, Qi Ping cultivated Fire Spirit Grass and Fire Crystal Fruit, each five hundred years old, which have now been turned into honey by the brewer Big Belly Bee.

This was the spiritual medicine resource he prepared for himself to break through Foundation Establishment.

The Star Spirit Wood has also condensed five bottles of Spiritual Liquid that Qi Ping plans to use if he lacks spiritual qi when breaking through Foundation Establishment.

Another event that made Qi Ping happy during this period was that the two Soul Nourishing Grass plants given to him by the Ning Mountain family turned out to be male and female!

After they matured and pollinated each other, they brought him many new Soul Nourishing Grass seeds.

With the nurturing of Plant Growth, Qi Ping naturally wouldn't lack for Soul Nourishing Grass, especially after the Plant Growth skill leveled up to four. With Qi Ping's current divine soul strength, the speed of cultivating Qi Refining Stage spiritual medicine became extremely fast, and cultivating spiritual medicine within the Tier One range no longer took much time for him.

At least the cultivated spiritual medicine was enough to support not only Qi Ping but also his other animal companions except Yaya.

Because Yaya has already broken through to Tier Two, the spiritual medicine required isn't something Qi Ping can easily cultivate at present. Fortunately, Yaya can satisfy its needs just by basking in the sun, not requiring Qi Ping to spend extra effort cultivating it.

With ample Soul Nourishing Grass, Qi Ping combined them using his Comprehensive Guide to the Properties of Spiritual Herbs and Pill Notes to make a pretty effective honey that can enhance divine soul strength significantly, which expanded Qi Ping's divine soul strength greatly.

Thus, after Qi Ping's physical body, his divine soul also reached a formidable state. The only pity is that Qi Ping doesn't have an appropriate method for divine soul cultivation.

The greatest beneficiaries of the Soul Nourishing Grass were the little spirit fox and the little flower demon.

They're currently Tier One divine soul system pet beasts, so with enough Soul Nourishing Honey, their divine soul strength soared.

Up until now, the little spirit fox has broken through from Tier One mid-stage to Tier One late-stage. Although it looks small, its divine soul attack is formidable, and a typical Seventh-Layer Qi Refining cultivator would probably struggle against the little spirit fox's attack.

However, the one that increased its strength the most is the little flower demon. With the role of Plant Growth, it directly shot from Tier One early stage to Tier One Perfection.

But after reaching Tier One Perfection, it hasn't found the opportunity to break through to Tier Two. The little flower demon has been stuck at this realm for over half a year, with her divine soul strength likely exceeding a typical Tier One Perfection Hundred Eyes Flower Demon by far, yet showing no signs of breaking through.

Qi Ping felt a bit disappointed by this; Plant Growth couldn't help the little flower demon overcome major tier limits—it still relied on its own efforts.

Yet, Qi Ping gradually understood why breaking through to Foundation Establishment is so difficult for cultivators; even spirit beasts with emphasis on bloodlines find it hard to overcome major level barriers despite abundant spiritual power and resources.

Qi Ping realized he needed to find appropriate methods for nurturing spirit beasts because the little spirit fox and the little flower demon are still juveniles, and improper methods might hinder their final step regardless of resources.

Cultivation is tough for both humans and spirit beasts.

But Qi Ping remains confident about the breakthroughs of Yaya and the bees.

For Yaya, its own cultivation will and determination are extremely firm, having gone through life and death reincarnations; its cultivation is diligent, constantly engaging in cultivation and enlightenment, seemingly tireless.

Thus, Qi Ping believes Yaya will certainly prevail on the path of cultivation.

As for the bees, after the Bee King successfully transformed, the overall quality of the swarm dramatically improved. Supported by Qi Ping's spiritual medicine and the Beast King's Blessing, which boosts transformation success rate, Qi Ping has no doubt that the swarm will succeed in transforming.

Once he successfully breaks through to Foundation Establishment, the speed at which he can perform Plant Growth will drastically increase. At that point, once he's able to cultivate enough Centennial Blood Ginsengs to create Bloodline Mutation Potions, transforming the bee swarm to Tier Two will be only a matter of time.

For the Tier Two bee swarm cultivation, Qi Ping planned to select the best, aiming to cultivate multiple Tier Two mutations, then pick the top three to five strongest bee species based on the situation.

Controlling this number ensures the Bee King receives the best possible transformation.

And prioritizing selections when letting spirit insects break through to Tier Two is something only Qi Ping and a few others would dare to do.

Because Centennial Blood Ginseng's efficacy makes it rarer and more expensive than many ordinary Foundation Establishment spiritual medicines, most insect-controlling cultivators consider it good if they can transform two or three spirit insects to Tier Two. However, it's impossible for them to engage in Qi Ping's kind of selection process.

But such losses are completely worthwhile in Qi Ping's view, since the Bee King's self-transformation has proven its potential. He must then facilitate the emergence of the strongest bees, allowing the Bee King to continue growing.

The Demon Insect King's corpse is Qi Ping's trump card!

Qi Ping is certain that once the swarm successfully absorbs part of the Demon Insect King's bloodline, their bloodline grade will reach an unprecedented level!

It might even surpass the bloodline strength of Qi Ping's other three animal companions!

But the Demon Insect King's corpse is limited. The difficulty of bloodline absorption is tremendous, and to ensure transformation success, Qi Ping must cultivate the strongest base transforming swarm.

Hence, this selection plan is crucial to Qi Ping, ensuring the nurturing of the best-qualified swarm.

For Qi Ping, the cost of this was merely two or three additional months, which he found completely worthwhile.

...

Of course, the most important thing for Qi Ping during this period was reaching Qi Refining Perfection with the ample honey supply!

At this moment, sitting within the Illusion Array, as the sense of perfection emanated from Qi Ping, his realm finally reached Qi Refining Perfection!

"It wasn't easy at all; it's been over a year since I broke through the Ninth-Layer of Qi Refining!"

Qi Ping could hardly calculate how many resources he spent over this year to arduously cultivate his realm to Qi Refining Perfection!

This was with his extremely high fire element talent and understanding. Given this perspective, it's not hard to understand why those lacking talent and resources remain stuck at the Seventh or Eighth Layer of Qi Refining, because it's indeed challenging to advance!

Qi Ping has a faint premonition of how tough Foundation Establishment cultivation will be.

But for now, the priority is to break through to Foundation Establishment, because once he does, he will gain a lifespan exceeding five hundred years!

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