Eternal Life: Starting with Refreshing the Farmland

Two months later.

Qin Ming stood under a large tree near his spirit fields, gazing up at a yellowish-brown beehive the size of a pot lid.

"Buzzzzzz—"

Thousands of bees swarmed around the hive, their dense, chaotic movements enough to make one's scalp tingle.

Each bee was about the size of a thumb, snow-white in color, with two pairs of wings and a nearly transparent stinger at the end of its abdomen.

The stinger concealed a potent venom that could catch even cultivators off guard.

If not for careful observation, it would be easy to overlook these details.

These were the Four-Winged Frost Bees, unique to the Cloud Marsh.

Though they weren't classified as spirit beasts, their sheer numbers made them formidable.

If swarmed, their venom could temporarily paralyze a cultivator's ability to circulate spiritual energy.

Of course, Qin Ming no longer feared these insects.

He was simply observing the hive to locate the queen bee, making it easier to use the "Bee Control Technique."

Once he controlled the queen, he could issue commands to the entire swarm.

"Found it!"

Qin Ming's eyes lit up.

He formed a strange hand seal and directed it toward the lower right corner of the hive.

The "Bee Control Technique" fragment in his consciousness was activated.

A frost bee five times larger than the others was resting inside.

Suddenly, it felt a wave of dizziness.

Its eyes glazed over with confusion.

Qin Ming's technique had succeeded, and a smile spread across his face.

He could clearly sense that he had established a mysterious connection with the queen bee.

Immediately, Qin Ming issued a command to the queen.

The swarm of bees flew out of the hive and headed straight for the three acres of Frostbloom Flowers.

"It actually works!"

Qin Ming was thrilled.

He then ordered the queen to direct the swarm to pollinate the Frostbloom Flowers.

Soon, the frost bees were hard at work in the fields.

Qin Ming nodded in satisfaction as he watched.

Originally, Alchemist Su had only expected Qin Ming to successfully cultivate one-tenth of the Frostbloom Flowers.

Now, the survival rate had reached an astonishing ninety percent.

Moreover, once the seven-day pollination period ended, the quality of the spirit plants would undoubtedly be excellent.

Qin Ming was confident about this.

Each acre of Frostbloom Flowers yielded about a hundred mature plants, totaling around three hundred plants across the three acres.

At the price of five spirit stones per plant, as agreed with Alchemist Su, this would amount to over a thousand spirit stones.

Qin Ming began to consider shifting his focus toward cultivating spirit herbs and plants.

---

Seven days later.

The pollination period ended, and the Frostbloom Flowers emitted a rich, fragrant aroma, signaling that they were ready for harvest.

Qin Ming sent a message to Alchemist Su.

Not long after, Alchemist Su arrived, dressed in his usual white robe and carrying a small bamboo basket.

When he saw the three acres of blooming Frostbloom Flowers, his expression turned incredulous.

"Did you... grow all of this?" Alchemist Su pointed at the fields, his tone filled with disbelief.

Qin Ming chuckled awkwardly. "Just luck! Pure luck."

Alchemist Su glared at him. "Who are you trying to fool? Luck doesn't explain seven days of continuous, successful pollination."

With that, he carefully plucked one of the Frostbloom Flowers and examined it closely.

"Hmm... not bad. The quality is excellent, suitable for alchemy."

Then, Alchemist Su turned to Qin Ming, giving him a thorough once-over. "I never would have guessed you had such talent for spirit plant cultivation."

"Staying here as a spirit farmer is truly a waste of your abilities."

Qin Ming waved his hand modestly. "You flatter me, Alchemist Su. It's just luck."

"But with such a large quantity of Frostbloom Flowers, I owe you a significant favor," Alchemist Su said slowly.

"I don't like owing favors."

"How about this? When I'm refining pills, I'll allow you to observe. I won't teach you directly, but how much you learn will be up to you. What do you think?"

After a moment of thought, Alchemist Su made the offer seriously.

Qin Ming was overjoyed.

He had been waiting for this opportunity for an entire year!

He still remembered the taste of those two Spirit Gathering Pills Alchemist Su had given him.

He had even dreamed of one day being able to refine such pills himself.

"Then I'll gratefully accept," Qin Ming said, bowing slightly in thanks.

The two then began harvesting the Frostbloom Flowers.

"A total of three hundred and twenty plants. As agreed, I'll take ninety percent, and you'll get ten percent."

Alchemist Su took out thirty-two plants from his basket and handed them to Qin Ming.

"Remember to store these in a jade box to preserve their medicinal properties."

Qin Ming carefully stored the Frostbloom Flowers.

Afterward, Alchemist Su bid farewell, promising to notify Qin Ming via message talisman when he began refining pills.

Qin Ming didn't leave immediately.

Instead, he returned the swarm of Four-Winged Frost Bees to their original location.

After days of pollination, the bees showed no signs of fatigue.

In fact, they seemed more energetic than ever.

'These bees might come in handy for future spirit plant cultivation. I'll leave them here for now and come back with a spirit beast pouch later.'

---

Two days later.

The spirit rice in the fields had also fully matured.

Elder Gu from the Spirit Feather Sect arrived with his disciples, as usual, to collect the spirit rice.

This season, Qin Ming's Spirit Tusk Rice had fully matured, making it a focal point of the collection.

Soon, the four acres of Golden Spirit Rice and one acre of Spirit Tusk Rice were harvested.

Du Haifu, the overseer, used a measuring tool to weigh the rice and announced, "A total of twelve bushels and eighty pounds of Golden Spirit Rice."

"And four bushels and ten pounds of Spirit Tusk Rice."

After reporting the numbers, Du Haifu smiled and approached Qin Ming. "Congratulations, Fellow Qin. With the successful cultivation of Spirit Tusk Rice, you'll now enjoy a fifty percent reduction in spirit rice taxes."

Qin Ming was momentarily taken aback.

Du Haifu, the self-proclaimed "emperor" of the spirit farmers, had even changed the way he addressed him.

Instead of calling him "Little Qin," he now used a more respectful title.

"I'll still need your guidance in the future, Overseer Du," Qin Ming replied politely.

"Fellow Qin, here's your identification token for the spirit plant cultivator assessment. You can choose a time to complete the exam at the Spirit Feather Sect's office in Brightsun Market," Du Haifu said, handing Qin Ming a wooden plaque.

"Congratulations in advance on becoming a first-grade spirit plant cultivator."

Qin Ming examined the plaque. His name was engraved on the front, and a spirit plant design adorned the back.

Using his spiritual sense, he saw that the plaque recorded his successful cultivation of the first-grade spirit plant, Spirit Tusk Rice.

The spirit plant knowledge exam remained pending.

After collecting the taxes, the Spirit Feather Sect members left, taking with them the lowest-performing spirit farmers, as usual.

After paying the taxes, Qin Ming was left with over six hundred pounds of Golden Spirit Rice and two hundred and ten pounds of Spirit Tusk Rice.

This was another substantial income for him.

"Little Qin, you promised."

"You owe me a drink at the Gathering Pavilion."

"Come on, let's celebrate your promotion to first-grade spirit plant cultivator."

Cai Laojiu approached with a grin, his envy barely concealed.

"Alright, it's on me," Qin Ming said with a smile, feeling in high spirits.

He also needed to visit Shopkeeper Liao to sell his spirit rice and inquire about moving to Brightsun Market.

Additionally, he planned to visit Fellow Daoist Ruan to obtain the remaining four layers of the "Hundred Treasures Glazed Sutra."

(End of Chapter)

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