After Qi Ping finalized his future plans based on the Treant Warden's abilities and the requirements of the Soul Transformation demon insect bloodlines, two special decrees were quickly promulgated.
Because the planting of spirit trees involved industry adjustments and had a very wide reach—affecting the entire domain—it was not an easy task to execute, even with Lin Yue's exceptional administrative skills, especially since it had to be done without hindering the overall development of the Azure Heaven Domain.
Consequently, the "Soul Transformation Demon Insect Search Decree" was the first to be issued.
When the search decree for Soul Transformation demon insect corpses was first announced, it met with considerable skepticism.
"The corpse of a Soul Transformation demon insect? Every single one of those possesses a noble bloodline! Who would just give that away?"
"Exactly! If you had one, you'd be better off using it yourself!"
However, when they saw the rewards offered, they instantly went wild!
"Holy shit! Usage rights for the core locations of a 4th-grade spirit vein! And it comes with a 4th-grade high-tier Spirit Gathering Array!"
"They can even provide any attribute of Nascent Soul or Soul Transformation cultivation manuals? They're giving those away?"
"The most ridiculous part is this—Soul Transformation-grade cultivation resources! Heavens! Never mind the old monsters at the Nascent Soul stage; even those at the Soul Transformation stage are going to lose their minds!"
"Soul Transformation resources... there's only a tiny amount in the entire Star-Sea Continent, and most of it has to be imported from elsewhere. Where did Daoist Bee get Soul Transformation-level resources?"
"This Daoist Bee is too hardcore!"
Ever since news of Daoist Bee began to circulate on the Star-Sea Continent, every piece of news was explosive. Nowadays, whenever the transmission talismans of the continent began to flash incessantly and the information hubs in various places were in an uproar, people knew there was a high probability that Daoist Bee was stirring things up again. This time was no exception.
"Is Daoist Bee planning to nurture Soul Transformation-level spirit bees?"
"A brother of mine is from the Beast Taming Sect. He said that demon insects become harder to nurture the further they go. Especially starting from the Nascent Soul level, the difficulty of raising them rises exponentially!"
"But anyone who succeeds becomes a powerhouse capable of intimidating an entire region!"
Hearing this, many people nodded in deep agreement!
The memory of Daoist Bee leading that swarm of Nascent Soul-grade spirit bees to slaughter marauders and wreak havoc in the Cloud-Mountain Heaven Domain was still fresh in their minds...
"It's hard to imagine how powerful Senior Daoist Bee's swarm will become if it's nurtured to the Soul Transformation stage. Could it possibly be so terrifying that even Soul Transformation seniors would tremble?"
"Is there even a question? They're already this incredible at the Nascent Soul stage. They'll only be more monstrous at the Soul Transformation stage!"
"I believe that with the conditions Senior Daoist Bee has offered this time, plenty of precious Soul Transformation demon insect corpses will be brought out..."
Their guesses were correct. Once the authenticity of the decree was confirmed, several people immediately began their preparations. Whether it was the usage rights for the core of a 4th-grade spirit vein, Soul Transformation techniques, or Soul Transformation resources, these were all things they desperately craved.
These people were mostly at the Nascent Soul stage, with a few Soul Transformation cultivators, and even some low-cultivation individuals who had happened upon Soul Transformation demon insects by a stroke of luck!
Not long after Qi Ping sent out the information, trading requests began to flow into his hands. These requests detailed the insects they possessed, the condition of the corpses, and the resources they wished to trade for. However, these messages were anonymous; once Qi Ping decided which to trade, he would contact them directly.
This was Lin Yue's idea, suggesting that protecting privacy would result in more trade requests. The results proved him right!
As Qi Ping looked at the list of nearly double-digit trade offers and the various types of Soul Transformation demon insects within them, his smile nearly split his face.
"It's in the bag!"
What was originally a seller's market that Qi Ping worried about had instantly become a buyer's market!
"The Star-Sea Continent still has some hidden depths!"
Previously, he had worried about how to obtain Soul Transformation demon insect bloodlines, but now he wasn't concerned at all. Initially, Qi Ping had even considered destroying the Immortal Alliance Altar within Azure Heaven and using the mysterious Black Market to buy Soul Transformation insects. Now, he felt the Black Market might not even have as many offers as he currently held! And he didn't have to bother grinding for Black Market points.
"It seems that at my current stage, as long as I develop my territory well, have enough resources and techniques, and possess powerful spirit veins, what can't I trade for?"
Qi Ping's mindset suddenly expanded!
Before, he had stayed stuck in the mindset of an ordinary spirit farmer, bitterly earning spirit stones and saving Black Market merit points to exchange for good items. But now, he was an Earth Immortal Druid. As long as his territory wasn't destroyed, he was nearly invincible.
Under him, he had exceptionally capable people like Lin Yue and Wang He. Under their management, the Qingyuan Academy had become a gathering place for talent: cultivators, administrators, business geniuses... All sorts of capable individuals were selected through proper mechanisms and placed in appropriate positions.
Compared to the policy implementation difficulties of the governing systems in his previous life, such problems were non-existent in Azure Heaven. Because here, Qi Ping was the Heavens!
If he wanted a fair mechanism, Azure Heaven would be fair. No one could stop it, and no one could question it! If he wanted economic prosperity and industrial development, countless people would rush to do it and offer suggestions! Because Qi Ping had both the strength and the resources!
Most importantly, Qi Ping's various policies were beneficial to almost every class. Compared to other regions of the Star-Sea Continent, the advantages were even more obvious. It was precisely this system that mobilized the wisdom and effort of almost everyone in Azure Heaven, causing the domain to enter a state of unimaginable hyper-growth!
This scene of prosperity and the speed at which the heavens and earth were strengthening not only left Qi Ping—the true ruler—dumbfounded, but even the architect, Lin Yue, was shocked beyond words!
Lin Yue had initially predicted that leveraging the subjective initiative of all cultivators would bring great benefits, but the scale of the effect was far beyond his expectations!
Current-day Azure Heaven exhibited a vibrant aura from top to bottom, and this vibrancy was healthy and orderly. It could be said that as long as Qi Ping did not fall, this state would continue. Of course, if he were to fall, Azure Heaven might be carved up and left in a mess instantly.
And now that Qi Ping sat atop such a region, what could he not trade for within the same rank?
"Soul Transformation demon insects, Soul Transformation spirit herb seeds, spirit tree seeds, even formation seeds... As long as I want it, with Azure Heaven's current conditions, I can basically trade for all of it!"
And those were the extremely precious resources. If it were ordinary resources, the taxes Qi Ping received daily were already a staggering figure! This was the terrifying wealth brought by industrial prosperity.
Qi Ping even felt that if he prepared enough Soul Transformation spirit herbs, he might even be able to trade for some Void Refinement knowledge, as the Star-Sea Continent certainly held many hidden foundations.
After studying the continent's history, Qi Ping knew that what the Star-Sea Continent currently lacked was merely resources. Knowledge that could be passed down, or items that ordinary cultivators couldn't use—like demon insect corpses—surely still remained in abundance.
One had to realize that Azure Heaven—or the Beast God Sect of the distant past—wasn't even among the top-ranked sects of the Star-Sea Continent, yet it already possessed a method that could potentially nurture Emperor-grade demon insects and cultivation methods at the Void Refinement level. What about the sects that were once even more powerful?
Qi Ping felt that even if they had been plundered, they certainly hadn't been picked clean. He estimated that many factions still hid various inheritances, only held back by resources or other reasons from exerting their proper influence. But without a doubt, there were many high-level cultivation secrets or special resources hidden within!
The only difficulty was how to get those hidden resources into his hands. Plundering was definitely out of the question. In a vast continent, who had them? Where were they hidden? No one knew. Moreover, easily found knowledge and resources had likely already been taken by people from other continents. What remained was hidden extremely deep; some probably wouldn't be found even if the entire continent was slaughtered.
But Qi Ping had now discovered a simple method: entice them with profit!
As long as he nurtured enough rare resources, and as long as the credit of Azure Heaven and his "Daoist Bee" persona was sufficient, at least half of the hidden knowledge and resources would be willing to trade with him!
At this moment, piece after piece of Soul Transformation demon insect information was being delivered to him, which was enough to prove that his resource appeal and reputation had gained sufficient recognition on the Star-Sea Continent. In particular, Daoist Bee's image in the hearts of rogue cultivators had already reached a divine status!
"It seems that obtaining resources in the future will be much easier. I won't need to rely on the mysterious Black Market or anything else. Now, Daoist Bee is the better brand!"
After carefully checking the incoming information on Soul Transformation demon insect corpses, Qi Ping nodded in satisfaction. Some of the insects were very powerful, and there was even an ancient remnant with spatial attributes!
Qi Ping naturally wouldn't let a trade for an insect with such special attributes pass. He immediately arranged for Lin Yue to negotiate the trade, keeping it within a reasonable range. He wouldn't let the other party take advantage of him, but he wouldn't let them suffer a loss either. After all, what Qi Ping wanted for the future was a reliable reputation; that was his foundation for acquiring rare resources!
"But a single ancient remnant with spatial attributes is far from enough. Since I'm sitting on so many resources now, anything with time traits, the Five Elements, or other powerful special attributes—like life attributes—can all be targets for bloodline devouring!"
With the terrifying physical and soul traits of the current Balanced Bees, combined with their Yin-Yang attributes that could carry and derive all things, they had a sufficient success rate to carry any special attribute!
If Qi Ping was going to nurture them, he was going to go big. If he could nurture a super swarm at the Emperor-grade that possessed Yin-Yang, the Five Elements, and Space-Time attributes, Daoist Bee's name would resound through the entire cultivation world!
After one trade for a Soul Transformation-grade insect succeeded, even more information on Soul Transformation corpses appeared in Qi Ping's hands. These true treasures left behind from ancient times were finally being drawn out by him!
Shortly thereafter, the Qingyuan Academy announced a new policy:
[Azure Heaven Domain Spirit Tree Industry Development Plan]
[Anyone who develops the spirit tree industry can enjoy policy subsidies...]
[Dean Daoist Bee will select a small number of spirit trees from those being nurtured (probability approximately 1 in several hundred to 1 in a thousand). Those selected can receive extra rewards. The reward rules are as follows...]
Once this policy was announced, it immediately caused a massive sensation within Azure Heaven!
However, what caused the stir wasn't the modest industrial subsidies, but the fact that Dean Daoist Bee would personally select some spirit trees. Anyone selected could go to the Qingyuan Academy to collect extra rewards!
The Qingyuan Academy already had high public trust, and adding Daoist Bee's name only magnified it! Almost everyone was moved!
In just a few days, the majority of people in Azure Heaven were in motion. Even those who didn't farm spirit fields began to plant spirit trees in their cultivation dwellings or anywhere with spiritual energy. After all, the policy details stated that whether it was a high-grade spirit tree or the most ordinary one, all had a chance to gain Daoist Bee's favor.
Planting a dozen or twenty ordinary spirit trees in the corners of their property wouldn't affect them. What if Senior Daoist Bee happened to take a liking to one? Wouldn't that be a massive windfall?
It was like buying a lottery ticket, but the most important thing was that this was a genuine possibility. For the three words "Daoist Bee," no one had any doubts!
Suddenly, countless spirit tree seeds from all over the Star-Sea Continent were shipped to Azure Heaven!
The streets, alleys, mountains, and fields of Azure Heaven were filled with all sorts of trees planted in every available nook and cranny!
When the specific data was submitted to Qi Ping, even with his temperament, he was shocked.
"Did I poke a spirit tree nest? How are there so many?"
Qi Ping hadn't expected such terrifying numbers!
Calculated this way, with a one-in-a-thousand chance for spirituality—even if the probability for lower-grade trees was lower—the final number of trees possessing spirituality would still be terrifying.
His initial shock turned into joy! Under these circumstances, the probability of him selecting spirit trees with Immortal-grade potential was much higher!
Previously, he had worried about not encountering enough high-potential trees. Now, Qi Ping had to worry if he had enough contract slots. But that wasn't much of a problem; he just needed to raise the contract standards!
Furthermore, having so many spirit trees planted was excellent news for a Treant Warden! At the same time, it would make the vitality of Azure Heaven even more exuberant!
Overall, the effects of both the Soul Transformation insect acquisition and the spirit tree promotion policies were better than Qi Ping expected. A large part of this success was due to Daoist Bee's gold-standard reputation.
In a remote little house in Azure Heaven, a young boy and girl, about eight years old, sat facing each other. The boy's expression was serious and earnest, and a hideous scar ran from his chest upward. The little girl also had a terrifying scar on her hand, and her eyes held an unmaskable look of worry.
"Brother, do you really plan to resign from Senior Zhou's place?" the little girl asked.
Senior Zhou was known as Old Man Zhou, a famous Foundation Establishment cultivator in Qingshi County and an expert at raising bees. Moreover, he was a very kind man and highly respected!
"Yes, I've already decided! The policy Senior Daoist Bee issued this time is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for me. We have a talent for planting spirit trees and can select high-quality seeds from the lot... This might be our only chance, and your injuries can't wait much longer!"
"But if we do this, won't exposing this ability bring disaster? Our family was destroyed exactly because our abilities were leaked..." As she spoke, the little girl was already in tears.
It was precisely because their ability to nurture spirit trees was exposed that their family met its doom. If they hadn't fled to Azure Heaven, the two siblings would have long since become slaves! Thus, the girl had a lingering shadow in her heart regarding exposure...
"I believe in the Qingyuan Academy and Senior Daoist Bee. Since we entered Azure Heaven over two years ago, I've been investigating. There definitely won't be a problem. Besides, we can't wait any longer..."
Looking at her brother's determined eyes, the little girl finally nodded in agreement after a long pause. But she still asked, "Then what about Senior Zhou? He's been so good to us..."
"I've already spoken with Senior Zhou. He also helped us find a spirit field. Once we gain recognition and resources to get you out of danger, I will repay Senior Zhou's kindness even if I have to work like an ox or a horse!"