Qingshi County, Cloud Mist Mountain Range.
Early spring, birds are singing, flowers are fragrant, and a hundred flowers are blooming.
This is the best season for bees, as the abundance of flowers provides ample nectar for their foraging and honey production.
At this moment, atop Peak 007 of Zone D in the Cloud Mist Mountain Range, stands a lush ancient pine. The warm sunlight gently sprinkles upon it, casting a golden hue.
Hanging from the lowest branch is a pinewood beehive, not too short, roughly about five feet long.
A swarm of bees is flying disorderly around the beehive, seemingly encountering trouble.
This scene was noticed by a handsome young man who had just walked up to the base of the pine tree.
The young man wore a straw hat, and his face was somewhat tanned, likely from excessive sun exposure.
"Huh... What's wrong with this beehive?"
The straw-hatted young man looked at the disorganized bees with some confusion.
His name was Qi Ping, a young beekeeper in the Cloud Mist Mountain Range, and this beehive was his.
"Could it be an attack from the striped tigerhead wasps?" Qi Ping speculated.
Nearby, there was a swarm of Tier One striped tigerhead wasps, which loved to feed on bees. They would occasionally attack his precious bees, causing him great headaches.
However, upon careful inspection, Qi Ping didn't find any trace of the tigerhead wasps.
"There seems to be no sign of tigerhead wasps? Strange..."
Then, Qi Ping meticulously examined the situation again, but still found nothing.
Logically, even if the tigerhead wasps completed their attack and left, they should have left some traces behind, and the bees should have returned to normal by now.
"Something doesn't seem right... What's happening?"
Under Qi Ping's careful observation, he noticed that the flight patterns of the bees were irregular and erratic, unlike the patterns during enemy reconnaissance.
They were flying too chaotically, without any order.
"Could the swarm be preparing to abscond?"
Thinking of this, Qi Ping's expression suddenly changed.
The frenetic and agitated flight of the bees could be a sign of them preparing to abscond.
This is unacceptable!
This bee colony is one of Qi Ping's few assets, and losing a swarm would severely worsen his already impoverished life.
To prevent this from happening, Qi Ping quickly opened the beehive, clipped the wings of the Bee King, and placed a queen excluder to prevent the Bee King from escaping.
However, this was just treating the symptoms, not the root cause; he must find the reason for the bees' agitation or potential absconding.
"Bees usually abscond when they encounter survival threats, such as insufficient nectar sources, disturbances from predators, or overheated hives..."
Drawing from the beekeeping knowledge he had acquired over the past two to three years, the young beekeeper Qi Ping began his careful inspection.
"The hive temperature is normal..."
So the possibility of the hive being overheated could be ruled out.
"Although many Tier One flowers have wilted, ordinary flowers are still plentiful, so it shouldn't be an issue of insufficient nectar sources..."
This bee species was the most common Tier One black little bees, much weaker than First-Layer of Qi Refining cultivators, with low nectar requirements that ordinary flowers could satisfy.
Especially since it's still spring, with many flowers in the Cloud Mist Mountain Range; it shouldn't be a nectar source issue.
"The recent occurrences of tigerhead wasps have been few, so they shouldn't cause the bees to abscond..."
"Could it be varroa mites and wax moths?"
With this thought, Qi Ping carefully opened the hive again and started inspecting closely.
Generally, hives shouldn't be opened frequently, as it can affect the bees' normal activities and collection efficiency, possibly even leading to absconding, but now it was necessary.
However, Qi Ping found no trace of varroa mites or wax moths.
"The honeycomb is plentiful, and the honey as food is also enough, so this isn't the reason either..."
In the next half-hour, Qi Ping meticulously inspected inside and out, up and down, multiple times, yet still didn't find the root cause of the bees' agitation.
"It's strange, what exactly is the problem?" Qi Ping was a bit puzzled.
Another half-hour later, Qi Ping still didn't find any clues.
At this point, he could only blame his lack of skill.
"Ah, it seems my skills are not yet honed..."
"Better to ask that lazy old man to take a look!"
With a sigh, Qi Ping went down the mountain to seek help.
…
That lazy old man was known as Old Man Zhou, from whom Qi Ping inherited his beekeeping skills.
Five years ago, Qi Ping transmigrated from Blue Star, into the body of a gravely injured beggar.
Seeing Qi Ping on the brink of death, Old Man Zhou rescued him in passing.
After healing Qi Ping's injuries, Old Man Zhou imparted his own Immortal Cultivation Technique to him.
Over the following years, after a period of evaluation, Old Man Zhou finally passed down his entire beekeeping knowledge to Qi Ping.
Qi Ping once asked Old Man Zhou why he chose him as the inheritor.
Old Man Zhou replied to Qi Ping:
"Because you have the lowest grade wood spirit root aptitude."
"Because of that? You just liked my low talent?"
"What else then?"
"What good is low talent? There's no hope of advancing to late-stage Qi Refining, and a lifetime of no success!"
"What's the use of having so much ambition? Even if you make it big in cultivation, you won't come back to see this old man once in a lifetime. When I'm old, there's no one to buy me wine!"
"How could that be, who could be so heartless?"
"Who knows..."
...
Later, Qi Ping learned that Old Zhou once took in a remarkably talented disciple when he was younger.
But one day, after this disciple joined a powerful sect, he never came back again, nor did he ever send any word to Old Zhou.
Just that every now and then, news of this disciple making a name for himself would occasionally spread back to Qingshi County.
As for more of the past events, Qi Ping didn't know.
He only knew that Old Zhou had completely turned into a laid-back old geezer who didn't care much about anything in the outside world anymore.
Daily, aside from drinking and flipping through travels, his greatest hobby was sleeping.
In Old Zhou's words, there weren't many days left, so he had to enjoy the last moments of leisure in life.
Indeed, as Qi Ping entered the courtyard, he saw a casually dressed, kindly-faced, white-haired old man snoring away on a purple bamboo recliner.
Not far from him, on a purple sandalwood table, was a plate of fresh fruits and a pot of fruit-scented light wine.
"Old Zhou, wake up, something happened!" Qi Ping shouted in his ear.
The name "Old Zhou" was his own choice, saying it sounded lighter, and being called master made him uncomfortable.
"Something happened? What could possibly happen?"
A drowsy Old Zhou woke up and said with a face full of comfort and ease; it seemed like he had just had a really nice nap.
Upon hearing Qi Ping say something happened, there was not a hint of tension on his face, as if he wouldn't care if the sky fell.
"The beehive on the pine tree is having issues, the bee colony is somewhat agitated, and it seems like there's a sign of them escaping."
"Escaping, huh? Usually, in this season, it's because of natural enemies or hive beetles. Just handle it yourself..."
"Oh, right, after you've paid the rent with the Spirit Stones from the honey sales, just keep the rest for yourself. Stop giving it all to me..."
After he finished speaking, Old Zhou lay back down, ready to take another nap.
Seeing this, Qi Ping hastily said:
"But I've checked many times already, couldn't find the reason, hornet, varroa mite, nest beetle, nectar source... all have been ruled out, everything seems normal."
These words from Qi Ping successfully grabbed Old Zhou's attention. He had been beekeeping for half his life, yet he encountered a situation he hadn't seen before?
"You've covered everything, are you sure you've checked thoroughly?"
"I've checked four or five times!" Qi Ping face was full of helplessness.
"This is interesting! Well then, this old man will go take a look..."
...
Shortly after, beneath the lush ancient pine.
The white-haired Old Zhou stood in front of the beehive, his eyebrows furrowed into a deep frown, muttering to himself:
"Shouldn't be, shouldn't be..."
"Where is the problem?"
He had been raising bees for nearly half his life, and he had never seen such a situation.
Half an hour later.
Old Zhou's originally neat hair had been turned into a messy tuft of weeds by his own hands.
Not long after, he hurriedly rushed down the mountain to check the records.
This scene seemed quite novel to Qi Ping.
Such a hurried appearance of this old man was rare, as there were few things left in the world that could pique his interest.
Last time Qi Ping gave Old Zhou a bag of Spirit Stones, he just pushed it away disdainfully, saying too much wealth brings trouble.
"Even Old Zhou, who's been beekeeping for half a lifetime, couldn't find the reason; this is real trouble!"
Qi Ping now felt a bit troubled, for if the problem wasn't solved, he'd be the one suffering.
He, a first-layer Qi Refining lower-grade Wood Spirit Root Cultivator, with no talent or crafting skills, if he lost this beehive, he'd really be in trouble.
With these tier-one small black bees, the Spirit Stones earned couldn't buy much cultivation resources, and immortality was out of reach, but at least it ensured a worry-free life.
Save up some money for a few years, marry a few well-read, voluptuous, gentle, and virtuous mortal women, build a big mansion, or something like that.
This life goal seemed quite attainable.
Over the years, Qi Ping had long realized a fact that without any golden finger, the Qi Refining second and third Cultivator was his peak.
In such a situation, taking over Old Zhou's business, peacefully beekeeping to ensure a worry-free life, marrying a few beautiful wives was the best choice.
Compared to adventuring (death probability 99.999%, success probability 0.001%), Qi Ping preferred to stay on this small mountain peak in the Cloud Mist Mountain Range, lying comfortably all his life just like Old Zhou.
"Heavens, are you going to break my only rice bowl?" Qi Ping felt a bit upset.
With things going like this, if the bees stop collecting nectar, where would his capitalist income come from? He might even be unable to pay the rent to the Cyan Origin Sect.
The Cloud Mist Mountain Range was the territory of the Cyan Origin Sect, and renting this small mountain cost quite a few Spirit Stones a year.
Fortunately, while Qi Ping was troubled, a surprising voice suddenly echoed in his mind...
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[Please choose your career...]
A light screen appeared in Qi Ping's mind, displaying twelve available career templates:
Barbarian, Bard, Priest, Druid, Warrior, Martial Monk, Holy Knight, Ranger, Wanderer, Bloodline Mage, Evil Mage, Mage...