Cultivation begins with forming a bond with a spirit bee.

After leaving the street, Qu Ye continued walking towards Xifang District.

His destination was Tianxiang Pavilion, located in Xifang District.

Tianxiang Pavilion has been operating in Yumen Market for over a hundred years. It is said that a Foundation Establishment cultivator is backing it up, which is why its business is booming and many cultivators come here to buy items.

A few quarters of an hour later, a three-story pavilion appeared before him, with a vermilion door and a gleaming gold signboard above the door.

Qu Ye pushed open the door and entered, and a sandalwood scent mixed with the bitter smell of medicinal herbs wafted towards him.

The lobby wasn't crowded. A waiter in a blue robe approached, smiling and bowing, "What would you like to order, fellow Daoist?"

"Storage bag," Qu Ye said. "A low-grade one."

"Fellow Daoist, please follow me."

The waiter led him to a wooden shelf against the wall, where several cloth bags of different sizes were hanging, with prices clearly marked.

Qu Ye glanced at it and saw that the low-grade storage bag was priced at five spirit stones.

He took out the spirit stones from his pocket, counted them out one by one, and pushed them onto the counter. The shop assistant accepted them and took a blue cloth bag from the shelf, handing it to him.

Qu Ye took it, infused it with a wisp of magic power, and probed it with his divine sense. It was pitch black inside, about one square meter in size.

He nodded and tied it around his waist.

Now that I have a stable source of resources, I need a storage bag to store the spiritual essence, so as not to let others notice anything amiss.

"And this too." He placed the extra piece of spirit essence on the counter. "Will you take it?"

The shopkeeper picked it up and examined it: "Jade Spirit Bee's essence? Not bad quality, one spirit stone."

The price is reasonable.

Qu Ye nodded, and the shopkeeper took the spiritual essence and handed him a spirit stone. After checking it, he put it into the storage bag he had just bought and turned to leave.

Just then, the curtain was lifted, and an old man in a gray robe walked in from outside.

Qu Ye paused, recognizing the man.

It was Hou Fangping, the steward of the Hou family who had signed the spiritual contract with him, who was at the sixth level of Qi Refining.

Qu Ye stepped aside and cupped his hands in greeting: "Steward Hou."

Hou Fangping didn't stop walking. He glanced at Hou Fangping's face, hummed in response, and headed towards the counter.

After taking two steps, he stopped and looked back at Qu Ye.

"I remember you signed the spirit contract three years ago. How is the Jade Spirit Bee Queen doing?"

"He passed away yesterday," Qu Ye said. "His lifespan came to an end."

Hou Fangping nodded, as if he had expected this. He took out a booklet from his pocket, flipped through it, and closed it: "The body must be returned for examination. That's the rule."

Qu Ye knew this rule: the spirit beasts assigned to spirit contract workers by the Hou family had to be returned for autopsy after they died, to prevent anyone from deliberately killing them and embezzling the spirit beasts.

Moreover, although the queen bee is only the size of a palm, it is still an entry-level spirit insect, and eating it will be somewhat beneficial to cultivation.

He nodded: "Understood, it will be sent over on the day the funeral tax is paid."

"If there are no problems after the inspection," Hou Fangping smiled, "pay two spirit stones, and you can take the body back and eat it yourself."

Qu Ye nodded again. Seeing this, Hou Fangping didn't say anything more and turned to talk to the waiter.

As Qu Ye stepped out of Tianxiang Pavilion, he touched the storage bag at his waist, his eyes filled with contemplation.

He did the math in his head: after three years, the wages paid by the Hou family plus the spirit stones from the extra spirit essence sold, minus the medicinal powder and losses, left only ten yuan.

I just bought a storage bag for five coins, sold some spirit essence for one coin, and now I have to spend two more coins to exchange for bee corpses. In the end, I can only keep four spirit stones.

My sense of security has greatly diminished!

Taking a deep breath, Qu Ye dispelled the slight unease in his heart. Those two spirit stones were necessary expenses. The Queen Bee had been kind to him, so how could he let others devour her flesh?

However, now that I have the talent to gather spiritual energy, I can return to my previous savings in just one month, so there is no need to be too anxious.

He shook his head, stopped thinking about it, and walked back along the street.

Back at his residence, Qu Ye found Zhou Ming's courtyard next door still locked. He pushed open his own door and unlocked the barrier.

He first put the remaining spirit stones, the collected spirit essence, several bottles of medicinal powder, and the manual of the Gold Sharpening Technique into his storage bag, and then put the bee corpse into it as well.

Looking at the many items in the storage bag, Qu Ye smiled with satisfaction. At least he no longer had to worry about thieves stealing his savings.

He then went to the meditation room and sat down cross-legged.

With eyes closed, I circulated my spiritual energy through my meridians. The Spirit Gathering Talent acted like an invisible pocket, catching some of the dissipated spiritual energy and slowly accumulating it.

As darkness fell outside the window, Qu Ye got up and went to the kitchen, steamed a bowl of spiritual rice, ate it with pickled vegetables, and then returned to continue his cultivation.

At night, the faint sound of a door opening could be heard from the neighboring yard; Zhou Ming had returned.

The next morning, Qu Ye opened the door, preparing to go to the Spirit Bee Farm to check on the worker bees. The queen bee had died, and the new queen bee had not yet been delivered; he had to go and keep an eye on it.

As soon as I stepped outside, I saw Zhou Ming leaning against the opposite wall, his clothes wrinkled and his face weary.

He saw Qu Ye come out and grinned, "Brother Qu, up so early?"

"Go check on the bees." Qu Ye locked the door. "Has Fellow Daoist Zhou returned from his Daoist sparring?"

"Hey, stop talking." Zhou Ming waved his hand. "Last night, I was discussing the method of meridian circulation with Fairy Feiyu. We had just reached a profound point when we were interrupted by a few disciples of the Hou family."

"Hmm? What's the reason for this?" Qu Ye became interested.

Zhou Ming looked around, gesturing for Qu Ye to come closer, and then whispered in Qu Ye's ear:

"I'm only telling you this, Brother Qu, please don't spread it around. It's said that two cultivators stole a precious spirit beast from the Hou family. The Hou family steward was so angry that he slammed his fist on the table, saying he would investigate thoroughly. Now the entire spirit beast arena has been sealed off by Hou family disciples."

"Losing a spirit beast?"

"That's right." Zhou Ming lowered his voice again. "I don't know what kind of spirit beast they lost, but the Hou family's reaction is definitely unusual. If they catch those two, they might have to hang them at the market gate again."

Qu Ye nodded, understanding dawning on his mind.

Similar incidents have occurred before. A rogue cultivator stole a Fiery Cloud Steed from the Hou family, but was quickly caught by the enforcement team, had his dantian destroyed, and was hanged at the entrance of the market as a warning to others.

However, Qu Ye still had some questions: "Sealing off the spirit beast arena is normal, but why would the Hou family disciples search the Miaoyin Pavilion?"

"Ahem." Zhou Ming coughed lightly upon hearing the question. "To be honest, according to the Hou family's investigation, these two are actually like-minded people of mine, which is why..."

Qu Ye was speechless.

Are you saying something with a double meaning?

Seeing Qu Ye speechless, Zhou Ming laughed and waved his hand, "Alright, Brother Qu, I won't talk to you anymore. I need to go back and get some sleep to recharge for another day's battle."

After saying that, he supported his back and swayed back to his own yard.

Qu Ye stood at the door, thought for a moment, then turned and went back inside.

Since the Spirit Beast Arena is blocked, the Spirit Bees probably can't get through either; we can only wait.

Qu Ye returned to the cultivation room and sat down, letting out a soft sigh.

"Hopefully this won't affect my payment of the spirit money..."

Since we can't go to the bee farm, let's use this time to hone our spells.

It just so happens that the Gengjin Sword Technique that I exchanged at the Hou family has been stuck at the minor completion stage for more than half a year.

As he pondered, the method of the Gengjin Sword Technique appeared in Qu Ye's mind, and a light golden light slowly took shape in his hand.