"Right now, there are over five hundred Hundred Spirits Grass planted here, a normal Tier One spiritual land matures once per season..."

"In places with denser spiritual qi, it matures in just over two months, while in lesser areas, it takes about four months. Generally, it takes a little over three months to mature once."

At this moment, Qi Ping was calculating the specific carrying capacity of his spiritual land.

He took two mature Hundred Spirits Grass to let the bees try making honey. After testing, the honey made from one Hundred Spirits Grass could support fifty combat bees for a month.

That means honey made from a hundred Hundred Spirits Grass could sustain five thousand combat bees for a month, so for three months, three hundred plants would be needed.

"But because there are over ten thousand ordinary flowers, plus more than a hundred Moon Sleep Flower and Sun Essence Flower, combined with the Hundred Spirits Grass, it wouldn't be a problem to double the carrying capacity of the Hundred Spirits Grass..."

"That means three hundred Hundred Spirits Grass plus the flowers from the mountain can sustain nearly ten thousand combat bees for three months, which accounts for sixty percent of the Hundred Spirits Grass..."

"Then the remaining two hundred Hundred Spirits Grass, along with some morning dew and other spiritual objects collected and brewed into honey by the bees, count as pure profit..."

"So, how many bee species should I cultivate?"

Qi Ping felt hesitant about the number of bees to cultivate.

While cultivating more bees increases combat power, it reduces the Spirit Stones earned.

After much deliberation, Qi Ping finally made a decision:

Ten thousand!

He wanted to cultivate ten thousand combat bees!

Four thousand High-speed Ring-cutting Bees!

Two thousand Ink Armor Bees!

Two thousand Highly Poisonous Bees!

Two thousand Balanced Bees!

Three thousand Big Belly Brews Bees!

Eight thousand pure combat bee species, three thousand pure honey-making bee species, two thousand versatile bee species for both combat and honey-making!

Ten thousand combat bees were the number Qi Ping wanted. They could collect pollen and spiritual medicine to give to the honey-making bees.

Five thousand honey-making bee species, fully dedicated to making honey; with this number, it was more than adequate for brewing the spiritual medicines and flower nectar of the Twenty-Ninth Spiritual Land.

However, if combined with the nearby Twenty-Eighth Spiritual Land, it must ensure over five thousand honey-making bee species to brew the large production of Hundred Spirits Grass from both lands.

Once the Twenty-Eighth Spiritual Land is acquired, the honey produced from the Hundred Spirits Grass there would be pure profit for Qi Ping!

Because currently, Qi Ping's different bee species number over ten thousand, plus the initial one thousand ordinary Golden Marrow Bees, their daily needs consume about eighty percent of the Twenty-Ninth Spiritual Land's output.

So, owning both the Twenty-Eighth and Twenty-Ninth Spiritual Lands is essential for maximizing the profits generated by the bee swarm!

"I've decided, that's the number! Thirteen thousand Tier One high-level bee species!"

Of which ten thousand possess strong combat power!

"Just not sure if ten thousand can cut down a Foundation Establishment."

This doubt arose in Qi Ping's mind...

Among these ten thousand combat bee species are the High-speed Ring-cutting Bees with ultra-sharp blade wings, whose speed rivals even that of the Ninth-Layer of Qi Refining, even surpassing some.

There's also the Ink Armor Bee, which boasts superior physical defense and strong biting power.

As well as the Highly Poisonous Bee with potent toxicity!

The Balanced Bee doesn't trail far behind in all aspects of attributes, also possessing combat power not inferior to other Tier One high-level spiritual insects.

"Judging by the current battle records, whether it's the black-robed Tribulation Cultivator who used a sword array, at the Seventh-Layer of Qi Refining, or the black-robed Talisman Cultivator at the Eighth-Layer, they had little resistance against the bee swarm's battle array, only able to fight off dozens to a hundred bees, and the difference at the Ninth-Layer of Qi Refining isn't particularly large either..."

"Although the Foundation Establishment Stage is much stronger than the Qi Refining Stage, it's still not to the extent that it can ignore cultivators at the Ninth-Layer of Qi Refining, meaning theoretically, ten thousand combat bee species do have a chance to kill an ordinary early-stage Foundation Establishment cultivator..."

After a careful comparison, Qi Ping realized the probability of sacrificing to take down a Foundation Establishment cultivator with these special combat bee species was significant; however, such action would result in enormous losses to the bee swarm.

And depending on the strength of the Foundation Establishment cultivator, thousands, or even up to ten thousand bees might be lost in the battle.

Moreover, it would take Qi Ping at least a few months to cultivate so many combat bee species.

Thus, unless the battle with a Foundation Establishment cultivator brought enormous gains to offset the bee swarm's losses, it would be best to avoid conflict, not to mention the risk of failing to kill a powerful Foundation Establishment cultivator.

"But while trump cards can be left unused, they absolutely cannot be absent!"

"With ten thousand combat bee species, not only can I resist Foundation Establishment cultivators, but if I want to escape, most ordinary Foundation Establishment cultivators definitely won't be able to stop me..."

...

Having made up his mind, Qi Ping focused his efforts on Blood Ginseng afterward.

In terms of cultivating Fire Spirit Grass, Qi Ping only planned to cultivate enough for his own use of Fire Ginseng Honey and Fire Spirit Body Tempering Honey, temporarily devoting other efforts to supporting the explosive growth of the bee army first.

Once the bee army is completed, Qi Ping estimated he would reach the late-stage Qi Refining. As his cultivation level increases, his speed in cultivating spiritual medicines could also become much faster.

Afterward, he could slowly consider having the bees evolve to Tier Two or let Yaya break through to Tier Two.

But these are not matters that could be accomplished in a short time; otherwise, the number of Foundation Establishment cultivators and Tier Two spirit beasts wouldn't be so few in Qingshi County.

Thus, increasing the number of bees is the fastest way Qi Ping could gain the strength to contend with Foundation Establishment cultivators within a few months.

The swarm size he currently planned for is also what Qi Ping considered the most appropriate number for both the Twenty-Eighth and Twenty-Ninth lands, ensuring strong combat power while allowing Qi Ping to earn abundant Spirit Stones.

As for how many Spirit Stones he could earn, it would depend on the brewing results of Hundred Spirits Grass by the Big Belly Brewer Bees.

...

Sun rises and moon sets, moon sets and sun rises again.

Time slips by unnoticed in cultivation, and before one realizes, days have passed by rapidly.

The Twenty-Ninth mountain peak also undergoes daily transformations.

Initially, apart from the trees and shrubs Qi Ping instructed to preserve, all other scrubs were cleared away by the bees, and Yaya reduced them to ash mixed into the soil.

The entire mountain, except for those trees and shrubs, was covered with soft black and yellow soil, with no trace of green visible.

Yet it didn't appear barren; instead, it seemed to brim with endless hope, like the season of sowing.

The black and yellow soil was always abuzz with many diligent bees, weeding, planting, watering...

Gradually, as time went by, small specks of green began to emerge across the black and yellow soil, covering the entire mountain peak.

These specks quickly grew into verdant young plants.

Among them, some ordinary flowers that grew rapidly, under the nourishment of rich spiritual qi, quickly developed lush foliage and blossomed into colorful blooms...

Meanwhile, in the midst of cultivation and spiritual medicine cultivation, Qi Ping also made sure to carefully observe and grasp each subtle transformation on the peak, perceiving the heaven and earth rules contained within...

On the twentieth day of entering the Fifteenth mountain, after confirming that the black-robed talisman cultivator he killed hadn't brought impending danger or powerful foes, Qi Ping had the bees retrieve the storage bag...

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