Cultivation begins with forming a bond with a spirit bee.

Qu Ye did not immediately step forward, but instead slashed at the scholar's heart again. After a moment, feeling that it was still not safe, he used another sword technique to cut off the scholar's head.

Only after doing all this did he feel relieved. He picked up the longsword and turned back.

When he returned to the woods, he saw a burly man lying on the ground not far away, blood gushing from his right leg.

Qu Ye slowly approached, his footsteps rustling softly on the leaves.

The burly man trembled, turned around and saw Qu Ye approaching with a sword. He gritted his teeth, ignoring the excruciating pain in his right leg and neck, and knelt down facing Qu Ye.

"Fellow Daoist, spare my life! I was dragged here by that... that tribulation cultivator. I have elderly parents and young children to support. Please spare my life, fellow Daoist. I am willing to serve you as my master..."

There was no reply from Qu Ye; instead, the footsteps stopped.

Overjoyed, he thought Qu Ye had taken pity on him and quickly raised his head to continue expressing his loyalty.

"My lord, I..."

Before he could finish speaking, Qu Ye interrupted him.

Qu Ye stood five meters away from the burly man, holding his sword, and coldly said, "No need to beg for mercy. I can give you a definite answer: you will not leave here alive today."

The burly man froze, his face ashen.

"But I'll ask you a few questions. If you answer them properly, I'll give you a quick death. If you resist, then..."

After speaking, Qu Ye raised an eyebrow, and the Jade Spirit Bees swarmed around, sealing off the burly man's surroundings. The implication was clear.

The burly man trembled all over, his lips turning white.

Looking at the dense swarms of bees around him, and then at Qu Ye's expressionless face, he finally gave up all hope of survival.

"Ask away..." he said in a muffled voice.

"Who are you people?"

"Random cultivators all make a living in the market." The burly man swallowed. "Brother... that scholar is called Liu Wenyuan. We grew up together and did a few jobs together."

"How many jobs did you pull off?" Qu Ye frowned. "Who else besides me?"

"There are three more... one of them is also a rogue cultivator, and the other two are spirit contract workers like you."

Does that mean there were two more before me? Qu Ye didn't press for details, but changed the subject: "You stole the Hou family's spirit beasts too, didn't you?"

The burly man hesitated for a moment, then nodded.

Qu Ye pressed further, "What kind of spirit beast? And how did you steal it?"

The burly man recalled for a moment, "It seems to be called something like Earth Rock Turtle, and its bloodline is quite extraordinary."

He paused for a moment, then continued, "At first, neither my older brother nor I had considered doing this. It was a mysterious person who approached my older brother, and after they discussed something, my older brother took me to steal the spirit beast."

Huh? Qu Ye, who was initially disappointed to hear that it was a turtle-type monster, became interested.

Do you know who that person is?

"I don't know." The burly man shook his head. Seeing that Qu Ye seemed unconvinced, he quickly added, "I really don't know! That person never showed his face from beginning to end. Even my brother didn't get a clear look at what he looked like."

"However... my elder brother said that this person came to us to test the Hou family, and it is most likely that one of the other two major families is behind this."

Qu Ye's mind stirred. Of the three major families, apart from the Hou family, there must be the Sun and Yang families.

However, the possibility that the Hou family orchestrated this whole thing cannot be ruled out.

"One last question: Does that mysterious person know your plans? And where is the spirit beast?"

"They probably don't know. The person who brought us back only provided information, not any instructions. As for the Earth Rock Turtle, we handed it over to that mysterious person as soon as we stole it."

"That's all, fellow Daoist. You promised me, so give me a quick death."

After saying this, the burly man closed his eyes and quietly awaited death.

Qu Ye nodded, said no more, and stepped forward with his longsword, slashing down.

The burly man's body twitched a few times, then he collapsed to the ground, lifeless.

After checking, Qu Ye put the longsword into his storage bag, searched the burly man for several spirit stones, and then returned to the scholar's corpse, putting away the scholar's storage bag as well.

They then gathered together, sensing the number of remaining connections in their minds.

In today's battle, the swarm lost more than thirty bees, and several others suffered bodily damage. Although they did not die immediately, they were no longer of any use.

The degree of damage is acceptable.

Aside from the bee swarm, I've already used up the amulets and serpent talismans I just bought.

I hope the scholar's storage bag will bring me some surprises.

Using his divine sense, Qu Ye directed the swarm of bees to patrol the surroundings. Standing still, he looked at the corpses of the two thieves and cultivators, and some thoughts arose in his mind.

According to what the burly man just said, they had previously robbed and killed two spirit contract workers, most of whom were from the Hou family.

Once the truth comes out, the Hou family will definitely start investigating.

Even if he destroyed the body to cover up the crime, this is the world of cultivation. Who can guarantee that the Hou family doesn't have any means of investigation?

Although the probability is very small, if the investigation finds it near your own bee farm, it's like getting mud into your pants...

Therefore, instead of waiting passively, it is better to take the initiative to inform them.

Moreover, since the two wanted to kill more Spirit Contract Workers to avoid being blocked by the Hou family, they would not have much time to recover along the way.

With his cultivation at the fourth level of Qi Refining, having exhausted all his trump cards, it was perfectly reasonable for him to barely kill two cultivators who were "insufficient in mana".

This is a good opportunity to offer to raise the Fierce Cloud Steed as a reward.

Of course, there are risks involved, but they are still within a controllable range.

Having made up his mind, Qu Ye didn't rush to leave.

He first had the worker bees disperse to look around for any traces of other people.

After confirming that no one was around, he let the swarm continue patrolling, while he cleaned up all the fallen bee carcasses and remains on the ground.

He then sat down cross-legged and began to recover his depleted mana and spiritual energy.

Once the recovery was complete, he rubbed his hands together with great interest and took out the scholar-cultivator's storage bag.

This was the first time he had ever experienced the feeling of opening a blind box in the world of cultivation!

With his divine sense probing in, Qu Ye perceived a space that was only one cubic meter in size.

In the middle of the space were fifteen spirit stones, some bottles and jars, and half a talisman. Clothes were piled up haphazardly, and two jade slips were placed quietly next to the clothes.

"This is…"

Qu Ye retrieved the half of the talisman and examined it repeatedly in his hand.

"Why does it look like some kind of communication symbol?"

This half of the talisman is somewhat similar to a common first-tier low-grade communication talisman, but its spiritual patterns are more complex.

But by this time, all inspiration had vanished, and the piece of paper had become worthless, making it impossible to trace back in reverse.

"This is most likely how the mysterious person contacted the scholar; they are quite cautious."

Qu Ye shook his head, put the talisman away, and prepared to find a secluded place to throw it away when he had the chance.

He then looked at other things.

First, I picked up the pile of bottles and jars, held my breath, opened the lids, and carefully examined them.

"Hmm... One bottle of fasting pills, but it's quite poisonous; it's a substandard product."

"These are Rejuvenation Pills? There are only two left, so some must have been used."

"One Qi-boosting pill, not bad."

The Rejuvenation Pill can restore magical power, while the Qi-Boosting Pill is a pill suitable for improving magical power in the early stages of Qi Refining.

After searching for a long time, I only found three useful bottles; the others were either volatile oils or empty bottles.

The income from the pills was meager, but it was just enough for my own use.

After carefully putting away the useful pills, Qu Ye picked up the two jade slips and examined the lighter one first.

He placed the jade slip against his forehead and probed it with his divine sense; several large characters appeared:

Nine Revolutions Golden Body Technique!

Qu Ye was dumbfounded. Had they really shipped a large quantity of goods?

He quickly looked down and, after a short while, put the jade slip down with a slight sense of helplessness.

This technique has a grand name, but in reality it's just a low-quality cultivation method that consumes the body's potential in order to quickly learn the basics and form combat power.

Anyone aspiring to build a foundation would not choose to cultivate.

Moreover, this technique can only be cultivated to the level of mid-stage Qi Refining, after which there is no further path to advancement.

The worst of the worst.

Qu Ye put down the jade slip, picked up another one, and pressed it against his forehead to examine it.

"what?"