"Finally leveled up!"
[Level: lv1 (99/100)] → [Level: lv2 (0/200)]
Qi Ping looked at his Druid Level, now raised to level two, and couldn't help but feel a bit excited.
After more than a month, he finally reached level two!
Over the past month, he raised bees, farmed, cultivated spiritual medicine... and even connected with the forest. He never slacked off.
"It took so long to grind to level two, it wasn't easy at all!"
Sweet success after bitter struggles!
After the level up, Qi Ping could finally choose the two Druid skills he had been eagerly anticipating!
[Level 2 Druid skills generating...]
[Please choose a professional skill...]
[Beast King Druid (Choose one of two): Beast Mastery, Wild Heart]
lv1 Beast Mastery: Force an animal to fight alongside you. (High-intelligence animals have a chance of resisting)
lv1 Wild Heart: As a Beast King Druid, you can awaken the resilient will and powerful fury within animal companions, enhancing their will, attack power, and attack speed. (Active, cannot be upgraded)
[Jungle Druid (Choose one of two): Tree Skin Technique, Greed Vine]
lv1 Tree Skin Technique: Consume energy to form a tree-like skin with high defense on your body. (Active, can be upgraded)
lv1 Greed Vine: Consume energy to summon a giant vine to attack the enemy. (Active, can be upgraded)
"Beast Mastery, Wild Heart, Tree Skin Technique, Greed Vine... choose two out of four skills..."
"For the Jungle Druid choice, let's directly choose Tree Skin Technique. Greed Vine can be temporarily excluded..."
Because Qi Ping currently has the Golden Marrow Bee and will soon contract a second animal companion, he doesn't lack in attack.
On the other hand, due to his low talent, it's difficult for him to quickly improve his strength, which is a weakness he cannot ignore now.
His encounter with a Tribulation Cultivator during his last outing precisely proved this point.
Survival ability is what Qi Ping values most right now. The attack power of Greed Vine is far less than the combat power of the Golden Marrow Bee.
While the entangling effect of Greed Vine is decent, its necessity is not high.
But Tree Skin Technique is different; it can be combined with the Wood Shield Technique cultivation, and with double protection, Qi Ping's survival ability can greatly increase.
"But how should I choose between Beast Mastery and Wild Heart?"
Faced with these two skills, Qi Ping hesitated.
Wild Heart is a skill that boosts animal companions, simply put, it increases their mental defenses and enhances their power through rage.
This is an all-purpose skill, useful both now and in the future, and the more animal companions you have, the more noticeable the benefits.
For example, if in a disadvantageous situation or if an animal companion is attacked by a soul attack, invoking Wild Heart might just turn the tides.
But Beast Mastery is also good, allowing you to command an animal to fight alongside you.
For example, if you encounter a Blood Fiend Worm, using Beast Mastery might successfully bring it to your side.
Though the higher the animal's intelligence, the higher the chance of failure.
But with recent events, Qi Ping suspects that a legacy from a Beast Taming Sect might soon emerge.
Creatures like Blood Fiend Worms or even more terrifying Demon Beasts and Demon Insects might appear and pose great danger.
If such a situation arises, the Beast Mastery skill could potentially reverse fortunes.
At least in this context, the Beast Mastery skill will be very useful.
...
So Qi Ping wanted both Wild Heart and Beast Mastery.
"Unfortunately, I can only choose one..."
After much hesitation, Qi Ping finally made a decision.
"I'll choose Wild Heart. The success-rate-dependent skill Beast Mastery is too unstable..."
After thinking it through, Qi Ping realized he dislikes skills with a high level of uncertainty.
In a game, if he dies, he can respawn, so he could use the skill in various ways, sometimes even commanding beasts far stronger than himself.
Failure was just a matter of respawning.
But here, Qi Ping only has one life!
Even with a 99% success rate, Qi Ping doesn't want to gamble, especially when the success rate surely isn't that high.
Instead of gambling on probability, it's better to cultivate his animal companions.
Next, quickly accelerate the Flowing Light Grass to fifty years of potency, then attempt the Bloodline Mutation Potion.
The talent "Brewing Artisan" shared by the Golden Marrow Bee can enhance Qi Ping's sensitivity to spiritual medicine, giving him greater confidence in formulating the Bloodline Mutation Potion successfully in a short time.
[Brewing Artisan: You have a keen talent for pollen and some spiritual medicine, able to brew them into honey with extraordinary effects.]
Reflecting now, it's quite fortunate to have shared this talent.
Once the Bloodline Mutation Potion is successfully formulated, he can attempt to enhance and nurture the Golden Marrow Bee.
According to the description of the Bloodline Mutation Potion, successfully cultivated demon insect bloodlines can generally advance at least one minor tier.
Therefore, a successfully enhanced Golden Marrow Bee would certainly have a Tier One high-level bloodline, and with luck, could even become one of the top!
And under the boost of Wild Heart, the upgraded Golden Marrow Bee should be able to handle many situations.
This is far more stable than choosing Beast Mastery.
"Choose Wild Heart and Tree Skin Technique!"
Once determined, Qi Ping hesitated no longer.
[Skill selection complete, generating data panel...]
[Name: Qi Ping]
[Level: lv2 (0/200)]
[Profession: Beast King Druid (main), Jungle Druid (sub)]
[Talent: Animal Companions, Natural Affinity]
[Animal Companions: (1/2) Golden Marrow Bee]
[Shared Talent: Brewing Artisan]
[Skills: lv1 Plant Growth (58/100), lv1 Beast King's Blessing (8/100), lv1 Tree Skin Technique (0/100)]
[Skills (constant): Animal Communication, Beast Friend, Wild Heart]
[You've acquired a new spot for an animal companion contract...]
"Not bad!"
Looking at these ever-growing stats, Qi Ping felt an unspeakable joy and satisfaction in his heart.
In fact, every bit of level or skill experience gained fills Qi Ping with motivation.
With this motivation, Qi Ping becomes increasingly earnest in executing skills and contemplating nature, and the more dedicated and attentive he is, the easier it becomes to gain experience.
Qi Ping discovered that experience doesn't increase through mechanical repetition, but only improves when certain insights are reached.
Yet, this didn't frustrate him; instead, he liked it, as every gain was earned through sincere effort and comprehension.
This experience, achieved through true effort and understanding, gave him an unparalleled sense of solidity.
...
After reaching level two as a Druid, Qi Ping wasn't satisfied or complacent. Instead, he became more motivated.
Besides daily beekeeping, farming, and cultivating spiritual medicine, Qi Ping added the task of training the Tree Skin Technique:
To not only familiarize himself with the Tree Skin Technique battle mode but also simultaneously level it up, enhancing its defensive power.
Qi Ping places great emphasis on this survival skill.
A little over a week later, through Qi Ping's relentless efforts, one of the Flowing Light Grass finally reached fifty years of potency!