Qi Ping is cultivating two types of Spirit Flowers in the Cloud Mist Mountain Range, specifically Moon Sleep Flowers and Sun Essence Flowers.
The reason for choosing these two types of flowers is that they are relatively easy to seed, have long flowering periods, and are not restricted by seasons, making them ideal for long-term honey collection by bees.
Additionally, these Spirit Flowers have relatively low requirements for Spiritual Qi and growing environment.
Generally, Tier One Spirit Flowers require either Tier One Spiritual Land or Tier One Spirit Veins to grow normally; otherwise, they cannot grow properly.
However, the peak of Zone D, 007, which Qi Ping currently rents, is at the edge of the Cloud Mist Mountain Range and does not have the rich Spiritual Qi of Tier One Spiritual Land.
Only a small area on this peak has Spiritual Qi levels barely reaching a quarter of the lowest level of Tier One Spiritual Land.
Therefore, given the limitation of Spiritual Qi density, Qi Ping doesn't have many choices for Spirit Flowers to cultivate.
Moon Sleep Flowers and Sun Essence Flowers are the most cost-effective options.
Nonetheless, quite a few Moon Sleep Flowers and Sun Essence Flowers still wither due to insufficient Spiritual Qi.
When the withering is severe, even the flower seeds preserved from last year's harvest aren't enough for replanting, requiring additional purchases from the Cyan Stone Marketplace.
Fortunately, the seeds of Moon Sleep Flowers and Sun Essence Flowers are not expensive and can be bought with a few Spirit Stones.
The limitations without good Spirit Veins and Spiritual Land are indeed significant.
Qi Ping had considered renting a plot with denser Spiritual Qi, like those in Zone B and some in Zone C, but after learning the rent, he immediately gave up.
Such plots are not something that a loose cultivator of his level can handle.
With such high rent, only by raising higher-level bees and cultivating more Spirit Flowers can one ensure earning Spirit Stones.
If everything goes well, the Spirit Stone income is naturally significant, but if it doesn't, such as facing disease, pest infestations, beast attacks, or tribulation cultivators, any one of these could bankrupt an ordinary cultivator, unable to even pay rent.
Not being able to pay rent isn't just about owing Spirit Stones; if the Cyan Origin Sect confirms the debtor can't pay back in the short term, they might be taken as slaves.
Like medicine slaves or miner slaves, these are dangerous occupations, and even if one survives, it's highly likely their foundation will be half-destroyed.
So, considering such many risks, Qi Ping feels staying on the mountain peak in Zone D is more secure; even if he has no income for a year or two, he can still scrape together the rent, not risking becoming a slave.
As long as he carefully tends to his bees, he can still earn some Spirit Stones each year.
In years of good harvest, after covering living expenses, he can even save some Spirit Stones!
...
So, overall, it's concluded that Cloud Mist Zone D is the most suitable place for an ordinary cultivator like Qi Ping.
Moon Sleep Flowers and Sun Essence Flowers are also the best cost-effective choice, although they still have certain withering risks.
But this problem is completely solved due to one skill of the druid!
This skill is Plant Growth!
[Plant Growth: Can increase the growth speed of plants by consuming energy.]
Qi Ping discovered through trials that using Plant Growth on Moon Sleep Flowers and Sun Essence Flowers not only accelerates their growth but also ensures that the plants won't show signs of withering for quite a long period.
And if the flowers do show signs of withering, they can be revived through the Plant Growth skill!
The reason these Spirit Flowers wither is due to a lack of Spiritual Qi!
The principle of the Plant Growth skill is to produce an energy that plants can absorb in the short term; when these plants lacking Spiritual Qi receive this energy, they naturally won't wither.
This discovery greatly delighted Qi Ping!
The problem of withering Moon Sleep Flowers and Sun Essence Flowers had troubled him and Old Man Zhou for a long time!
After racking their brains for solutions with no success, it was directly solved by this skill of Plant Growth!
After Qi Ping managed the planting area of the Moon Sleep Flowers and Sun Essence Flowers for some time, the symptoms of withering completely disappeared, and the yield of the flowers increased significantly.
This delighted the Black Bee colony very much!
After Qi Ping's management, the honey yield increased by more than twice!
With the Black Bee King having consumed Golden Marrow Honey, its bloodline had already slightly improved, and now with the increased Spirit Flower Honey production, it's like a double blessing for the Black Bees!
This made the Black Bees admire Qi Ping immensely, trusting him even more.
Qi Ping gradually gained over ten thousand loyal little fans!
Qi Ping thought it was quite nice this way, even though these Black Bees have negligible combat power enhancement, they're excellent as sentinels.
After all, these are more than ten thousand pairs of eyes!
Besides the Black Bees, the Golden Marrow Bees also benefited somewhat from this.
Because after adding Moon Sleep Flower Honey and Sun Essence Flower Honey, the overall quality and effect of the honey indeed improved slightly.
...
In the Cloud Mist Mountain Range, on that tall ancient fir wood, Qi Ping sat cross-legged, slowly absorbing the spiritual qi of heaven and earth and comprehending the cultivation technique of the Wood Shield Technique.
As night gradually faded, a ray of warm sunlight shone through the treetops onto Qi Ping's face, revealing a delicate countenance.
At that moment, Qi Ping slowly opened his eyes, revealing a pair of jet-black pupils.
"It's dawn…"
After a night's rest, the spiritual power and spiritual energy that Qi Ping had consumed to accelerate the growth of Blood Ginseng had fully recovered, making him feel remarkably comfortable.
Qi Ping also found that each time his spiritual power was restored after consumption, it increased a little; over time, this cumulative increase was quite impressive.
Thanks to the Jungle Druid's bonus to recovery speed in the forest, Qi Ping can now leave a part of his consciousness to absorbing heaven and earth's spiritual power and comprehending the mental realm of the Wood Shield Technique while resting.
This significantly improved Qi Ping's cultivation efficiency; his control over spiritual power and proficiency in the Wood Shield Technique were continuously enhancing.
As Qi Ping awoke, the Golden Marrow Bees, which were either guarding or dozing on various treetops, also flew over.
Some landed in front of Qi Ping, while others landed on his shoulders...
Qi Ping had long gotten used to this, as it had been like this for over a month.
"Without realizing it, it's already been over a month since awakening the Druid profession..."
"It's almost time to pay the rent..."
"The day after tomorrow is the Fusheng Association's gathering day; I can first inquire about the recent situation, then sell the Black Bee Honey collected during this period to prepare the Spirit Stones for rent…"
"I also need to purchase some living supplies like Spirit Rice and the liquors Old Man Zhou likes…"
Qi Ping began planning the tasks he needed to do next…
Over the past month, Qi Ping diligently tended to the bees, collected honey, cultivated, nurtured Blood Ginseng, and Moon Sleep Flowers, and occasionally planted some ordinary flowers, leading a very fulfilling life.
During this time, led by the Golden Marrow Bees, Qi Ping discovered two Spiritual Medicines, one being a Tier One low-level Concentration Grass and the other a Tier One low-level Water Crystal Flower.
However, due to the lack of spiritual qi in their growing area, the growth condition of these two Spiritual Medicines wasn't too good.