Chapter 54: Friends (Please follow and collect!)

Seven days later.

Above Qingshan, Qingzong Sect.

Amidst swirling clouds and mist, within the permeating immortal aura, pavilions, terraces, towers, and layered peaks rise, forming a magnificent view.

Moreover, many cultivators ride magical artifacts back and forth, very lively.

There is also a tract of land where spirit fields and medicine fields stretch densely, colorful, extending to the limits of sight.

Compared to Qingshan City, this place feels like another world.

And at the southwest corner of the mid-slope of Qingshan Mountain, amidst the shading bamboo grove, a thatched bamboo hut stands aloft.

Yunhe, sitting before the bamboo hut, gazes at the lush green expanse ahead and the myriad flowers dotted within, his expression filled with emotion.

He ultimately still chose to join Qingzong Sect, becoming a menial disciple.

For a rootless wandering cultivator like duckweed, such an opportunity is truly rare.

However, while menial disciples nominally hold the same status as official disciples of the sect, they are actually a step lower.

After all, menial disciples have too many tasks: harvesting spirit rice, tending spirit fruits and vegetables, chopping spirit firewood, caring for spirit timber, etc., all extremely time-consuming.

For instance, a disciple in charge of spirit rice needs at least a day just to drive pests from the spirit fields once.

And how can a menial disciple burdened with so many chores compare in cultivation time to an official disciple?

Of course, this is not to say official disciples need not work; they likewise must tend spirit plants and feed spirit beasts to complete the sect's assigned tasks.

But these tasks need not be done daily; as long as they are finished within a set period, it suffices.

Thus, menial disciples are mostly those in the sect with weaker potential and lower cultivation.

Yet even so, each year countless people rack their brains to join Qingzong Sect, even if only as a menial disciple.

Because here there is not only shelter, but also spirit veins, various techniques, all kinds of spells, lectures by Foundation Establishment Great Cultivators and even Golden Core Great Experts, etc.; all this can be summed up in two words—fate!

"This favor, I indeed owe quite a bit."

Pulling over a freshly made bamboo chair, Yunhe lets out a light sigh.

He originally couldn't quite understand why Qingzong Sect would make an exception to accept him.

Even if he is a late-stage Qi Refining cultivator, such a level is not uncommon for Qingzong Sect.

Only after entering Qingzong Sect and meeting Cao Guozheng, the Foundation Establishment Great Cultivator in charge of the sect's menial affairs, and hearing his brief explanation, did he understand the reason.

As it turns out.

That day, after Qian Dajiang left with Liu Tianhong, he went to see the current sect leader of Qingzong Sect, Kong Zhibo.

Kong Zhibo deeply understood the relationship between the Azure Cloud Temple and Qingzong Sect, so he permitted Qian Dajiang to become a disciple of Qingzong Sect.

And he was made the highest-status inner sect disciple among disciples!

But regarding Liu Tianhong's suggestion that Yunhe find a place to keep bees, he expressed refusal.

Because Qingzong Sect has no precedent of hiring outsiders to help with beekeeping.

In the end, Qian Dajiang vouched for Yunhe himself, plus Liu Tianhong contributed a bit, allowing an exception to be made for Yunhe to become a menial disciple, thus exempting him from the label of 'outsider'.

The reason, well.

Qian Dajiang said, "This time coming to Qingshan City, if Yunhe hadn't promptly warned me to flee, I would likely have died under the claws of a Second-Stage Red-backed Arrow-winged Falcon, and afterward I also received Yunhe's care along the way, allowing me to reach safely."

This favor, he must repay.

So, in the end, Qian Dajiang became an ordinary official disciple, and Yunhe became a menial disciple.

As for Qian Dajiang joining the Dan Pavilion, it was purely because he relied on his eloquence to beg for it.

"'Perhaps this just happens to suit our sect leader's wishes, after all Qian Jiang is merely an ordinary medium-grade fire spiritual root, his cultivation only mid-stage Qi Refining, far below the standard for inner sect disciples.'"

Inner sect disciples are not merely a title; they represent the tilting of resources and the sect's investment of energy.

As sect leader, naturally I do not want another worthless connection among the inner sect disciples.

On the contrary, in his view, adding one more menial disciple is of no great consequence.

One ordinary disciple plus one menial disciple consume far fewer resources than allocating them to an inner sect disciple.

This ultimately brought about the matter.

In Qian Dajiang's view, it is repaying a favor.

But in Yunhe's view, perhaps he still owes a bit.

Just as favors go back and forth, it's hard to say who owes whom; over time it becomes two words—friends!

"Wow! Yunhe, your place is great—not just big, but big. Unlike my side, just a small room."

Far away, Qian Dajiang's voice carries over.

Yunhe's face breaks into a smile as he rolls his eyes at the fat daoist looking around.

"How can they compare? The spiritual energy in an ordinary disciple's quarters is at least twenty percent richer than here, right?"

"Hey! Spiritual energy or whatever, you here have at least the level of a first-rank spirit vein, far better than in Qingshan City."

Qian Dajiang spoke while sitting down on the edge of the bamboo hut.

His gaze swept over the bamboo grove, feeling this place more suited to him as a daoist.

Menial disciples are allowed to build temporary lodgings in the areas they oversee; this counts as one of the few benefits of being a menial disciple.

"Just now I went to the Menial Affairs Pavilion to collect disciple supplies, and brought them along for you."

He said.

He took out the items one by one, muttering:

"A menial disciple's magical robe, one Flying Leaf Sword, a set of daily sowing, tilling, and pruning tools, and a Five-direction Storage Bag."

The dark brown, unremarkable magical robe and the Flying Leaf Sword are both low-grade magical artifacts.

Although such low-grade magical artifacts are insignificant to Yunhe now, know that back at the River Creek Market, most wandering cultivators lacked magical artifacts entirely—even Zhou Shouxin, a mid-stage Qi Refining cultivator, possessed only a single low-grade magical artifact, a greatsword.

But these are merely the "miscellaneous items" of Qingzong Sect disciples.

This is still the case for menial disciples; it is naturally better for formal disciples and inner-door disciples.

Even those tools used for farming, although not magical artifacts, also carry spiritual energy and belong to low-grade magical artifacts.

And what surprised Yunhe the most was naturally the storage bag with five-direction space.

"Even if each person gets one share, the Qingzong Sect is truly rich."

"That's right."

"I just joined the Qingzong Sect; everything is still unstable. Wait a month. After a month, no one will care about me, a menial disciple. Taking advantage of this month, I can also send some things over to the Demon Beast Body."

Inside the bamboo hut.

A dim yellow flame flickered above the oil lamp, and the shadows on the wall swayed with it.

On the table.

A spirit bee with a bright red abdomen was perched on the swiftly crystallizing meat, constantly gnawing; the fine chewing sounds caused fluctuations in its demonic power.

After the battle with the red-backed arrow-winged vulture, Yunhe suffered heavy losses in his Red Pattern Spirit Bees.

Now he has fewer than thirty Red Pattern Spirit Bees left, plus a queen bee.

Fortunately, he has stored many bee larvae; with a little time to nurture them, the numbers will quickly recover.

Moreover, his cultivation base broke through to the late Qi Refining stage, increasing the number of spirit bees he can control.

"First restore the yield of Red Pattern Spirit Honey, then consider improving the bee stock quality."

He gently stroked the queen bee's wings, feeling the surging demonic power within; as he continuously fed it the flesh of second-stage red-backed arrow-winged vultures, its demonic power grew markedly.

If a steady supply of demon beast meat is provided, it will soon complete its demonic power breakthrough and reach the peak of first-stage middle demon beasts.

Now the queen bee's demonic power is roughly equivalent to that of a cultivator at the fifth layer of Qi Refining.

It is believed that it will soon reach the peak of first-stage middle, and a further breakthrough will bring it to first-stage late.

"Just."

Yunhe let out a soft sigh, feeling the pattern on the wings with his fingertips.

This is pretty much the talent limit of the Red Pattern Spirit Bee Queen.

Originally a spirit bee, it mutated after devouring the black-ringed wasp via the "Source Refinement Method".

After all, its foundation is still too weak.

He waved his hand.

Another Red Pattern Spirit Bee flew out from the spirit insect bag.

But this Red Pattern Spirit Bee clearly differs greatly from the queen bee: it is smaller in size but more compact, and its wings, stinger, and body proportions give it a more ferocious appearance.

Especially, although it has a bright red abdomen like the queen bee, a golden pattern on it is strikingly conspicuous.

This is the offspring of the queen bee, possessing stronger attack power than the original Red Pattern Spirit Bee, and it is especially fond of metal objects.

Through this period of breeding and observation, Yunhe also noticed that the more prominent the golden pattern on a Red Pattern Spirit Bee, the stronger its ferocity, and its talent, ability, lethality, etc., are all more advantageous.

"In fragments of the Blood Insect Sacrifice Technique, it is mentioned that to 'selectively breed' exceptional insects, one must first identify their special traits, then supplement with secret arts, elixirs, formations, etc., and find a way through reproduction to 'purify' those traits, ultimately cultivating a unique insect."

And the special trait of the current Red Pattern Spirit Bee is this golden filament.

"It seems indeed necessary to select a new queen bee."

"Once this Red Pattern Spirit Bee Queen officially enters first-stage late, the quality of the bee larvae it produces will be higher."

"Then, from the many bee larvae, select the finest one, feed it with the Red Pattern Spirit Bee's 'queen jelly,' supplement with other nutritious substances, and cultivate a new queen bee."

"Then, using the new queen bee to mate with Red Pattern Spirit Bees bearing the golden pattern, the third-generation bee larvae will certainly contain more and richer golden-patterned spirit bees."

"By repeatedly selecting, cultivating, and evolving with this method,"

"to obtain spirit bees that truly satisfy him."

"He had this idea before, but lacked the resources to raise the bee colony."

"Now his ability to interact with his two bodies is becoming more usual and effortless; it seems the Demon Beast Body side should be able to provide plenty of 'nourishment'."

"Still lacking secret arts for cultivating insects."

"According to his plan, as long as he is willing to invest time, even if each generation improves only a little, he will eventually be able to breed the bee strain he wants."

"But if secret arts are combined, perhaps this time could be reduced by more than half."

"Although he has abundant lifespan, saving time is still good."

"However, before the queen bee breaks through to first-stage late, we should still maintain the number of Red Pattern Spirit Bees to keep the spirit honey output."

"With a wave of his hand, he released all the Red Pattern Spirit Bees from the spirit insect bag."

"They scattered inside the bamboo hut."

"He sat cross-legged on the bamboo bed and entered meditation."

"Hum—"

"The two-direction storage bag he had placed on his knees vanished into thin air."

"One month later."

"Yao Shou Shijie, Huanhu Dao."

"A huge turtle stretched lazily, its body emitting crackling sounds like bursting beans."

"At the recessed joint where its right claw meets the shell, a storage bag was tied with vines."

"Inside were placed many healing elixirs, restorative elixirs, various talismans, and even low-grade magical artifacts."

"This expedition must clearly investigate the source of the Tuo Shan Giant Ao Skull and the source of spirit stones!"

"The turtle's mouth opened wide, actually drawing in a surging airflow with a howl; its first-stage late demon beast aura was inwardly restrained to the extreme."

"With heavy steps, it slowly entered the vast lake."

"Under the gaze of the junior disciples, it disappeared into the somewhat dim lake bottom."

"(End of chapter)"