Cultivation begins with ice harvesters

Chapter 135: An Unexpected Joy

Suddenly, an idea instantly occupied Tong Bingfeng's mind and lingered for a long time.

There are two reasons for this. First, spirit bees are quite delicate insects, and in addition to needing enough spirit honey, they also need a sufficient supply of spiritual energy to grow. Second, since a bee colony can be cultivated here, there must be an area within a thousand miles of the Ice Domain that is suitable for the growth of various plants and has relatively abundant resources.

If we can seize this place and patiently invest resources to develop it into a genuine cave dwelling, we can establish a foothold in the Bitter Sea Ice Domain.

Once their cultivation level improves and they become fully capable, with spiritual honey as the core and various carefully cultivated spiritual fields and herb gardens as branches and leaves, they will surely make a name for themselves here.

Tong Bingfeng acted swiftly, and while guarding the hive, he immediately began to explore the basic geological conditions beneath the ice layer of this ice region.

Only with stable geological conditions and islands protruding from the bottom of the ice field as the core can there be the possibility of initial transformation and accumulation in the future.

A cultivator at the eighth level of Qi Refining still has their divine sense residing in the spiritual platform of their mind. The amount of divine sense is limited, and they have not yet waited for the crucial moment of transformation. Even if they manage to use it, it can only roam within the physical body and cannot provide effective assistance in this kind of exploration.

"Fortunately, before leaving Ice Spirit Island, we had a clear destination and prepared all the spiritual items needed to open up the cave, otherwise how could we have broken through this predicament?"

With a slightly smug look on his face, Tong Bingfeng took out a specially made folding probe from his storage bag, which was specifically used to explore the geological conditions at the bottom of the ice layer.

This probe is renowned for its ability to transmit magical power over long distances with minimal loss during transmission. Over a long historical period, its detection accuracy has proven to be virtually unambiguous.

A cultivator in the Qi Refining stage can gain a basic understanding of the geological conditions deep within the ice layer by using their magic power to create varying degrees of vibrations at the bottom of the probe.

If this place is silt and gravel, even if one were to accumulate spiritual techniques to drive away mountains and islands in the future, the basic conditions would still not be met.

The cave dwelling that Tong Bingfeng is preparing to build this time is based on a time frame of one hundred years. Even if he builds a foundation for the Dao and becomes a Foundation Establishment cultivator in the future, he will choose to cultivate at a deeper level rather than leave. Naturally, he will need to invest enough time and energy at the beginning.

"The ice breaks, the probe extends, magic enters, command is given."

Tong Bingfeng poured his magical power into the probe without reservation. This thing, which was only as thick as a thumb and gleaming with a metallic luster, was a real power devourer. It drained a third of the magical power of this Qi Refining Level 8 cultivator with a solid foundation before stopping.

The probe's color also changed with the change in magical power, from its original metallic color to a deep blue representing the water element.

With a command from the cultivator, the vertical probe in his hand plunged straight into the ice layer. The ice layer, formed over thousands of years, shattered like tofu, and a hole the same thickness as the probe quickly appeared, continuing to penetrate rapidly into the ice layer.

This probe may not seem long, but it keeps increasing in length as the ice depth increases. This is the magic of this valuable folding probe.

This deep penetration lasted for a full fifteen minutes. Once the probe stopped and continued to penetrate, the entire probe immediately began to vibrate at high speed.

However, under the control of magic, the frequency of the vibration is obviously different, which is caused by the specific geological conditions that the bottom of the probe contacts.

It was through the vibrations transmitted by this magical power that Tong Bingfeng was able to gain a basic understanding of the specific conditions at the bottom of the ice layer.

The probe, which appears to be vertical, can indeed bend and explore in different directions beneath the ice, thus allowing for a rough determination of its area.

"The area within a radius of three hundred feet is made of small island material. Although the area is not large, it is more than enough to serve as the foundation for future upgrades."

With excitement radiating from his face, the results of this exploration undoubtedly met Tong Bingfeng's basic requirements.

A nest of spirit bees, and a piece of land that can be developed as the foundation for a future cave dwelling—the latter being an unexpected and delightful surprise. The combination of the two is not a simple one plus one; for a rogue cultivator, this is the true foundation.

Of course, establishing a stable foundation on this desolate and boundless ice field is no easy task. Starting from scratch requires investing a considerable amount of spiritual resources.

There is a nest of spirit bees in this ice forest. Perhaps the cultivators in the Bitter Sea Ice Domain have not yet discovered it, but the demon beasts within a hundred miles must have noticed it.

It's possible that some tough-skinned, love-devouring monsters often come to steal the spiritual honey, and these are the first wave of opponents he needs to face.

In addition, the spiritual energy here is abundant, which naturally attracts demonic beasts. If a cultivator wants to dominate and establish a foothold, he also needs to kill enough demonic beasts, using the heads of demonic beasts as a price to firmly imprint them in the minds of other demonic beasts.

"The few thousand spirit stones gathered from the spirit ice mine are probably far from enough to build a true cave dwelling connected to the spirit vein here. We can only slowly fill this huge hole in the future."

Tong Bingfeng calculated the spirit stones in his storage bag and the basic necessities he had prepared in advance, and ultimately found that there was still a huge shortage.

However, he was not in a hurry, since building a true cave dwelling from scratch would also take a long time.

As your cultivation level improves in the future, the amount of spirit stones you earn will naturally increase as well. At present, a swarm of spirit bees that has already been subdued is the most stable source of spirit stones.

"I wonder if the queen bee has called the worker bees back?"

After making some initial plans in his mind, Tong Bingfeng managed to suppress his excitement and turned his attention back to the beehive.

Although the worker bees were still in a state of panic, they returned in an orderly manner through the pre-reserved holes at the bee queen's call.

These worker bees only need to rest for one night. Soothed by the queen's scent, they can return to their previous state the next day, go out to collect pollen, and make honey.

"Unfortunately, even a top-grade first-level queen bee is not enough to make royal jelly. Compared to ordinary spirit honey, these things are truly luxuries."

Looking at the worker bees that had begun to return, Tong Bingfeng felt satisfied, but at the same time, an even more greedy thought arose in his heart.

Royal jelly is brewed by a second-tier queen bee. It is based on spiritual honey, which has purer spiritual energy and a sweeter and more delicious taste. A small amount of special factors unique to queen bees are added during the brewing process, which can effectively alleviate the hidden injuries of cultivators. Most importantly, large doses can prolong the lifespan of Foundation Establishment cultivators.

Although each Foundation Establishment cultivator spends at most three years, they are still highly sought-after spiritual objects.