Two months later.
Qin Ming stood under a large tree near the Spirit Field.
He looked up at a clay-yellow beehive on the tree, which was as large as a pot lid.
"Buzz buzz buzz buzz~~"
Tens of thousands of bees densely swarmed around the hive, ceaselessly flying.
It was enough to make one’s scalp tingle.
Each bee was as large as a little finger, completely snow-white, with two pairs of wings, and a tail with an almost transparent sting that concealed a hard-to-defend-against poison.
If one didn’t observe carefully, it would truly be hard to detect.
This was the four-winged frost bee unique to Yunhuang Marsh, though not of any grade, it couldn’t be held back due to the vast numbers.
If attacked by the swarm, the sting’s venom could even temporarily paralyze a cultivator’s mana flow.
Of course.
Qin Ming was now fearless of these insects.
He was merely observing where the Queen Bee was, to facilitate using the ’Bee Control Technique.’
As long as he controlled the Queen Bee, he could instruct the swarm.
"Found it!"
Qin Ming’s eyes brightened.
He fashioned a strange spell with his hand and cast it towards the lower right corner inside the hive.
The ’Bee Control Technique’ entry in his Sea of Consciousness was used.
A frost bee, five times larger than an ordinary bee, was sleeping.
Suddenly, it felt a dizziness in its head.
A trace of confusion appeared in its eyes.
Qin Ming successfully cast the spell, smiling with delight.
He could clearly feel he had established a mysterious connection with that frost bee Queen Bee.
Immediately, Qin Ming issued a command to the Queen Bee.
The swarm of bees suddenly flew out of the hive, heading towards the three acres of Yin Condensing Flower Spirit Field planted by Qin Ming.
"It really works!"
Qin Ming was elated.
He then promptly gave an order to the frost bee Queen Bee for the swarm to pollinate the Yin Condensing flowers.
Very soon.
The frost bee swarm busied themselves around the three acres of Yin Condensing Flower Spirit Field.
Qin Ming looked at the Spirit Field, nodding with satisfaction.
Originally, Master Su only required him to successfully cultivate one-tenth.
Now the survival rate had reached a terrifying ninety percent.
Moreover, once the seven-day flowering period and pollination ended, the quality of the spirit herbs would presumably not be too poor.
Qin Ming was quite confident in this.
In the three acres of Yin Condensing Flower Spirit Field, each acre had nearly a hundred mature plants, totaling about three hundred Yin Condensing Flowers to be harvested.
If calculated according to Master Su’s offer of five Spirit Stones per plant back then, it was already over a thousand Spirit Stones.
Qin Ming pondered, maybe he should develop in the direction of planting spirit herbs and medicines.
...
Seven days later.
The continuous seven days of pollination came to an end.
The Yin Condensing Flowers emitted a rich fragrance and could be harvested.
Qin Ming sent a Communication Talisman to Master Su.
Soon.
Master Su, in a white robe, leisurely came up carrying a small bamboo basket.
But when he saw the scene of three acres of blooming Yin Condensing Flowers, his expression was quite marvelous.
"Did you... grow all this?!" Master Su pointed at the Spirit Field, looking at Qin Ming, his tone filled with disbelief.
Qin Ming chuckled, "Lucky! Just purely lucky to grow it."
Master Su glared at him, "Who are you kidding? Luck that all seven days of consecutive pollination could be entirely successful?"
Then, he carefully picked one Yin Condensing Flower and observed it closely.
"Hmm... Not bad, the quality of the Yin Condensing Flower is top-notch, suitable for medicine and alchemy."
Afterward, Master Su turned and assessed Qin Ming, slowly saying: "Hard to believe, Fellow Daoist Qin has such high Spirit Plant Talent."
"Being a Spirit Farmer here is truly a bit of a waste of talent."
Qin Ming waved his hand, smiling bitterly: "Master Su overpraises me, it’s just good luck."
"But with such a large number of Yin Condensing Flowers, I owe you quite a favor." Master Su then slowly said.
"I don’t like owing people favors."
"How about this, normally when I make pills, I’ll allow you to observe on the side, but I won’t teach you hand-in-hand, how much you learn depends on you, how’s that?"
Master Su pondered for a while before earnestly saying to Qin Ming.
Upon hearing this, Qin Ming was instantly overjoyed.
He had worked hard for a whole year, waiting just for this sentence!
Qin Ming still couldn’t forget the taste of those two Spirit Gathering Pills from Master Su.
He even dreamt of one day being able to make pills to enhance his cultivation.
"Then I won’t be polite." Qin Ming cupped his fist thanking Master Su.
Soon after, the two began to harvest the Yin Condensing Flowers.
"A total of three hundred and twenty Yin Condensing Flowers harvested; as agreed before, nine for me, one for you."
Master Su immediately took out thirty-two flowers from the bamboo basket and handed them to Qin Ming.
"Remember to store these Yin Condensing Flowers in a jade box to preserve them, or their medicinal properties will be lost."
Qin Ming took the Yin Condensing Flowers, carefully storing them away.
Then, Master Su bid farewell and left, informing Qin Ming that he would notify him through a Communication Talisman when he was making pills.
Qin Ming did not rush to leave.
Instead, he returned the swarm of four-winged frost bees to their original place.
After so many days of pollination, these frost bees were not exhausted; instead, each appeared very lively.
’These bees might be useful someday for planting spirit herbs, let them be for now, and I’ll buy a Spirit Beast Bag another day to take them.’
...
Two days later.
The spirit rice in the Spirit Field was also fully mature.
Steward Gue of the Spirit Feather Sect brought disciples, as usual, to collect the spirit rice.
During this season, Qin Ming’s Beast Fang Rice was fully mature.
Naturally, it became the focal point for this spirit rice collection.
Soon.
Four acres of Golden Spirit Rice and one acre of Beast Fang Rice were all harvested.
Du Haifu took out the Great Dipper Spiritual Artifact to weigh, then said to Qin Ming: "A total of twelve stone and eighty pounds of Golden Spirit Rice harvested."
"Beast Fang Rice... a total of four stone and ten pounds harvested."
After reporting the numbers, Du Haifu approached Qin Ming with a grin and said: "Congratulations, Fellow Daoist Qin, on completing the Beast Fang Rice harvest, from now on, you can enjoy half the spirit rice tax reduction."
Qin Ming was quite puzzled, this time Du Haifu, the local ruler of the Spirit Farmers, even changed how he addressed him.
He didn’t call him "Little Qin," and Qin Ming was momentarily unresponsive.
"I hope Supervisor Du will continue to take care of me in the future," Qin Ming replied.
"Fellow Daoist Qin, here’s the identity plaque for the Spirit Plant Master evaluation exam, you can choose the time to go to the Qingyang Market to complete the exam at the Spirit Feather Sect Steward Hall." Du Haifu took out a wooden plaque and handed it to Qin Ming.
"Haha, I want to congratulate Fellow Daoist Qin in advance for stepping into the ranks of a Tier One Spirit Plant Master."
Qin Ming looked at the wooden plaque; his name was engraved on the front, and the back had a spirit plant pattern.
He checked it with his Spiritual Sense, and saw it recorded that his planting of Tier One Spirit Plant ’Beast Fang Rice’ was completed.
Spirit Plant knowledge exam, pending completion.
The people from the Spirit Feather Sect finished collecting taxes and left, taking away the lowest-ranking Spirit Farmers as usual.
After paying the taxes, this season Qin Ming was left with over six hundred pounds of Golden Spirit Rice and two hundred and ten pounds of Beast Fang Rice.
This was quite an income for him.
"Little Qin, remember you promised."
"You should invite me to Juxuan Pavilion for a drink."
"Come on, let’s celebrate your becoming a Tier One Spirit Plant Master."
Cai the Ninth chuckled as he came over, filled with envy.
"Alright, I’ll treat you." Qin Ming was in a good mood, chuckled awkwardly, and nodded.
Coincidentally, he also had to go to Shopkeeper Liao to sell the spirit rice and inquire about moving to live in Qingyang Market.
Additionally, he needed to visit Fellow Daoist Ruan to obtain the later four layers of the ’Hundred Treasures Glaze Scripture’."