In the end, he still couldn’t come up with a good solution. He glanced at the sky and realized it was already afternoon.

Qin Fang thought for a moment and decided to leave for the day. He would figure something out when he got back.

On the way back, Qin Fang ran at full tilt, moving with incredible speed. A journey that would normally take half an hour, he completed in just over ten minutes.

Back home, he washed his face and let out a long sigh of relief.

He hadn’t eaten all day, so he started a fire to cook some more of the wild boar meat. As he cooked, his mind was already working on his next move.

’That Treasure Plant is clearly no ordinary thing; it’s miraculous. This has to be kept secret.’

...’Right now, I probably can’t handle those bees. But that might not be the case forever.’

’Thankfully, the cave is well-hidden... Still, I should go back tomorrow and take care of a few things.’

’There are plenty of hunters from Li Family Ao. And with such a massive Pig King found at the foot of Old Ox Back Mountain, it’s only a matter of time before some of them head up the slopes.’

’Those men are experts at tracking animal signs. If they find the Wild Boar King’s lair and stumble upon the Treasure Plant, it would be disastrous for me...’

’With my current strength, if that thing is discovered, I’ll lose any claim to it.’

’Hiding the tracks is also for the hunters’ own good... If they foolishly wander into the cave and disturb the Giant Bees, they wouldn’t have enough lives to lose.’

’Those Giant Bees... their stingers are longer than my Iron Nails! And they glint blue in the light, a sure sign of deadly venom.’

...’It might even be more potent than the Jiejie Wu poison I have.’

"Such a huge hive, but I didn’t see any sign of them outside today... What do they eat? Do they survive solely on the nectar of that Treasure Plant?"

Qin Fang frowned.

’Bees that large don’t look like they’d only eat nectar. Perhaps they’re carnivorous.’

But there were no legends of Giant Bees attacking people in the area.

’It seems they really don’t come out often.’

And now, Qin Fang had to find a way to lure one out...

’Not too many. Just one, two at most.’

’Otherwise, I’ll be in grave danger.’

’...Actually, even one is incredibly dangerous.’

’I haven’t even seen a Giant Bee in attack mode. God knows how fast they are.’

’Something mutated like that defies all logic. You can’t judge it by common sense.’

"The usual way to attract bees is with something sweet, like honey... but the Treasure Plant beneath the hive constantly gives off a cloyingly sweet scent. I wonder if that method would even work?"

"Then there are carnivorous bees, which are drawn to meat... But these Giant Bees have been nesting there for who knows how many years, and there’s never been a single story about them attacking people... Could it be that they don’t eat meat?"

"There’s also smoking them out... Ordinary bees fear smoke, so it might force the Giant Bees from their nest... But that’s too dangerous. I can’t do that. Otherwise... the people living at the foot of the mountain could face a catastrophe."

Qin Fang was ruthless, but he wasn’t so wicked as to do something like that.

He was merciless toward his enemies, not a crazed killer.

Before he knew it, the meal was ready. Qin Fang let out a soft breath and decided he would try all the methods for luring bees.

’What if one of them works?’

After eating, Qin Fang began his daily Training Method.

He had left right after his morning Pile-standing exercises and hadn’t done his main training for the day.

Even with his panel, it wasn’t as if he’d regress if he missed a day of training, but he was addicted to the feeling of improvement it brought.

Training, followed by a bath, left his entire body feeling relaxed and comfortable.

Just then, Monkey came running over, a look of excitement on his face. 𝓯𝓻𝓮𝙚𝙬𝓮𝙗𝒏𝙤𝒗𝙚𝙡.𝒄𝒐𝓶

"Master Qin, I heard some news today!"

Qin Fang was a little confused. "What is it?"

"Weren’t you just worrying about how expensive Qi Blood Pills are? Well, today I heard that there are cheap ones available now!"

Qin Fang was taken aback. "Cheap Qi Blood Pills?"

"Mhm!"

Monkey nodded and grinned. "They’re being sold by Ganlu Hall! Their Qi Blood Pills are only eight taels of silver each. That’s almost half the price of the ones at Huichun Hall!"

Qin Fang looked surprised. "Eight taels? ...Didn’t you say before that Ganlu Hall’s Qi Blood Pills were twenty taels?"

"Yeah, they suddenly dropped the price! Ganlu Hall claims they’ve acquired a more valuable Elixir Recipe that lets them drastically cut the cost of Qi Blood Pills while also improving their effectiveness!"

"And it’s not just the Qi Blood Pills! The people at Ganlu Hall also said that to thank the townspeople for their support over the years and to give back to the community, they’re introducing several new elixirs. They said they know how hard Martial Cultivation is and that Qi Blood Pills are too expensive for anyone but the rich. So, these new ones are meant to be affordable substitutes... While they’re not as effective as a real Qi Blood Pill, they’re more than enough for Ordinary People starting their Martial Cultivation. It’s much better than just training without any aid!"

"That elixir is called a ’Qi Blood Pill’—the name is spelled just a little differently from the original. Naturally, its effect is nowhere near as good... but I heard it’s still quite miraculous. It’s supposed to greatly increase the efficiency for those just starting their Martial Cultivation, and it only costs one hundred wen a piece!"

"One hundred wen a piece! Even if the effect is much weaker than a Qi Blood Pill, that’s still an incredible value!"

"A single Qi Blood Pill costs seven taels of silver—and that’s for the cheapest ones! With that much money, you could buy a full 70 of these new ’Qi Blood Pills’!"

"...The effect of seventy of those new pills has to be way better than one original Qi Blood Pill, right?"

Monkey was ecstatic.

He had always wanted to pursue Martial Cultivation but knew how expensive it was. In the time he had been with Master Qin, however, his master had been very generous, and he had managed to save up nearly seventy or eighty taels of silver.

...For the man he used to be, this was an astronomical sum.

So, the idea of Martial Cultivation had started to stir in him again.

But seventy or eighty taels of silver... once truly invested in Martial Cultivation, after paying the teacher’s gift, would only be enough for five or six Qi Blood Pills.