At this moment, Qi Ping could clearly feel the dark green energy in his palm, which contained a remarkably powerful vitality.
As he gradually infused this vitality into a blood ginseng, the plant, which had been slightly wrinkled before, immediately became plump. The damage caused by the golden marrow bees during collection quickly healed and disappeared.
Additionally, the blood ginseng began to grow at a rate visible to the naked eye. The growth wasn't enormous, but it was undeniably extraordinary.
"Buzz—(Wow, Boss, what did you do?)"
"Buzz—(It's amazing!)"
"Buzz—(Boss, how did you do it!)"
Seeing this magical sight, all the golden marrow bees were astonished.
They had just collected the juice from the blood ginseng, but under Qi Ping's power, the plant had been restored and became even fuller.
This power was incredible! It was completely beyond their understanding.
Qi Ping patiently explained that it was his special talent. There was no need to hide anything from his animal companions.
"The overall effect is good, though this is just the first level of plant growth. When the level increases, the effects will improve," Qi Ping thought to himself.
"It uses up a certain amount of spiritual and mental energy, but it's still manageable. My mental energy should be able to handle it up to ten times a day, though my spiritual power might not keep up."
"If I were in the mountains or forests, the recovery speed would be faster, but no matter what, my cultivation at the first level of Qi Refining is still somewhat weak. I need to refine some golden marrow honey soon to improve my cultivation."
Golden marrow honey, made with so many blood ginsengs as raw materials, would surely be extraordinary in effect.
Overall, Qi Ping was quite satisfied with the outcome of the plant growth skill.
It didn't look impressive, but the long-term benefits were likely to be tremendous. All Qi Ping had to do was continue steadily working.
As a seasoned player of the "liver emperor" type, Qi Ping didn't mind this and even liked it.
So, Qi Ping immediately cast plant growth again, producing more blood ginsengs. The effect was exactly the same as the first time.
When Qi Ping cast plant growth for the fourth time, a message appeared in his mind:
[Druid Level Experience +1]
When Qi Ping cast plant growth for the fifth time, another message appeared:
[Plant Growth Skill Experience +1]
"Level experience and skill experience have finally increased!" Qi Ping let out a relieved breath at the sight of his progress in both level and skill.
In the modified version of DND, as long as the skills were continuously used, a little experience would accumulate after reaching certain thresholds.
The increase in Druid level experience depended on the profession chosen. For example, if Qi Ping's profession was Beastmaster Druid or Jungle Druid, actions like cultivating animal companions and enhancing plant growth would raise the Druid's experience level.
"Cultivating bee colonies and growing blood ginseng can be done at the same time, which should make the leveling experience increase faster."
With this upgrade speed, Qi Ping estimated that within one or two months, he'd be able to reach level 2 as a Druid.
At that point, he'd not only unlock new professional skills, but also be able to contract another animal companion and share new talents with them.
His strength would experience a significant boost.
One or two months was not too slow for Qi Ping.
He'd been in the world of immortal cultivation for five years, and it had taken him several years to reach and stabilize the first level of Qi Refining.
Compared to that, one or two months was incredibly fast.
After performing plant growth for the fifth time, Qi Ping cast it once more. By now, the spiritual energy in his body was nearly depleted, and his head began to feel a little dizzy.
It was likely due to the excessive consumption of mental energy.
Qi Ping decided to stop for now and took out a jade bottle from his storage bag.
This jade bottle was used for storing honey from black bees, and it came in handy at this moment.
"Put some honey in here for me. You can collect the blood ginsengs now. Try not to damage the roots. As long as I have time, I'll come back to cultivate these blood ginsengs every day."
"Buzz—(Okay, Boss!)"
"Buzz—(Yes, Boss!)"
Soon, at the golden marrow bee cave, the bees were busy, and the jade bottle in Qi Ping's hand was quickly filled with golden honey.
The honey in the bottle was a rich golden color, purer than the honey from black bees, almost like nectar.
Qi Ping inhaled deeply, the fragrance wafting from the bottle, and noticed that his body and spiritual power seemed to resonate slightly with it.
"Just the aroma is so good... I can only imagine how potent the honey brewed by the golden marrow bees must be."
The honey, made from blood ginseng and brewed by craftsmen, combined with other precious spiritual herbs and flowers, was no less than a panacea for Qi Ping.
He could hardly wait to test the effects of the golden marrow honey.
Carefully placing the honey into his storage bag, Qi Ping let dozens of golden marrow bees into his sleeves, in case they encountered danger.
Since he now had an animal companion with extraordinary combat power, Qi Ping made sure to carry a few of them with him. After all, he couldn't guarantee he wouldn't face danger.
Qi Ping relied on his "Go" strategy to survive in the dangerous world of cultivation despite his low strength. He rarely ventured out and didn't often get involved in disputes with others.
If not for this, he might have perished long ago.
Just as Qi Ping was about to leave, he encountered Old Man Zhou, who was preparing to enter the forest with an ordinary knife.
At this moment, Old Man Zhou's hair was still disheveled, and his wrinkled face was filled with anxiety and worry. He only held an ordinary sword in his hand.
His storage bag and lower-grade magic sword had already been given to Qi Ping. The sword in his hand was now his best weapon.
"Old Man Zhou, what happened?"
Looking at Old Man Zhou's anxious expression, Qi Ping couldn't help but feel nervous.
He had never seen Old Man Zhou like this. Based on his usual demeanor, Old Man Zhou would never flinch, even if the sky were to fall.
Old Man Zhou didn't respond immediately. Instead, he grabbed Qi Ping, turned him around to check that he was unharmed, and then breathed a huge sigh of relief before quickly saying:
"Follow me!"
Clearly displeased with Qi Ping's slower pace, he used his spiritual power to pull Qi Ping along, dashing down the mountain at full speed. Once they reached safety, he finally took a deep breath.
"What happened?" Qi Ping asked.
Old Man Zhou gasped for breath before answering, his voice tight with urgency. "There's danger in the forest!"
"According to the records in the classics, the state of the black bees means there's a high probability that black-armored killer bees or underground golden marrow bees have appeared nearby!"
"These two types of bee colonies have the combat power to kill mid-stage Qi Refining cultivators. Do you understand why I'm worried?"
(End of this chapter)