Cultivation begins with forming a bond with a spirit bee.

After obtaining the items he wanted, Qu Ye purchased some necessities such as pills and did not choose to linger in the black market.

Firstly, he had gained a great deal this time and needed to quickly return to digest what he had learned and transform it into combat power.

Secondly, he never considered himself to be the kind of chosen one who could stumble upon hidden treasures wherever he went.

Other cultivators aren't stupid; they don't give him that many opportunities to scramble for.

Shaking his head, Qu Ye didn't even glance at those strange and unusual items, and returned to the ground along the original passage.

He walked through the dimly lit alley, removed his veil, circled around twice to make sure no one was following him, and then quickly left the market.

……

The night was as dark as ink, and the distant mountains were shrouded in mist, indistinct in the distance.

Qu Ye concealed his aura and, while traveling, controlled four worker bees to explore his surroundings.

Once someone is spotted, they can immediately send a signal to Qu Ye.

Fortunately, nothing happened along the way.

Back at the horse farm, Red Hare was already dozing off. Hearing Qu Ye's footsteps, it pricked up its ears, stood up, and called out affectionately.

"What's wrong? Are you hungry?"

Qu Ye glanced at it and smiled.

He then took out a handful of fodder from his storage bag, moistened it with his spiritual power, and placed it in Red Hare's feeding trough.

Red Hare came closer, its nose twitching, and buried its head in its food, its tail swaying gently.

Qu Ye raised his hand and patted the side of its neck twice. Red Hare paused in its eating, turned its head and licked the back of Qu Ye's hand.

It's become more and more familiar with us the longer we raise it.

He didn't linger any longer, turned around and went back to the cultivation room, sat down cross-legged, and took out his gains one by one.

Adding the spirit stones in Hou Youde's storage bag, and counting all the miscellaneous items, he now has forty-eight spirit stones left.

These spirit stones can be stored away and used when needed.

After putting away the spirit stones, Qu Ye picked up the jade slip with the sharp gold thorn, pressed it to his forehead, and examined it intently.

A moment later, he put down the jade slip and raised his eyebrows slightly.

This spell emphasizes the high concentration of magical power in a short period of time, compressing it into fine, needle-like golden spikes, and then shooting them out at an extremely high speed.

Moreover, it requires a high degree of control over magical power; if one is not careful, the golden thorns will not only fail to injure anyone, but will also dissipate halfway through their journey.

"Why does it feel even more difficult than the Golden罡 Technique?"

Qu Ye shook his head and picked up the Bewildering Killing Array that the Hou family elder had given him.

The array plate was no bigger than the palm of my hand, grayish-black in color, with fine engravings on it. Several small flags were rolled up together, their spiritual light contained, and they were not particularly eye-catching at first glance.

He probed it with his divine sense and slowly explored it for a while before he roughly figured out how to use it.

This formation has both the effect of confusing and killing enemies. If set up properly, it is enough to trap a cultivator at the fifth level of Qi Refining for a short time.

With the addition of the swarm of bees and the sharp metal spikes, Qu Ye's combat abilities will be greatly enhanced.

Of course, setting up an array takes time and consumes spirit stones. If you try to set it up on the spot when you encounter it head-on, you may be killed in close combat before you can even finish setting it up.

However, if one can choose a location in advance to ambush the enemy, or set up a defensive formation around the residence to guard against unforeseen events, the value of this formation goes far beyond what is apparent on the surface.

Thinking of this, Qu Ye's expression showed a hint of satisfaction. He carefully placed the array plate and array flags separately, preparing to find a secluded place to test them carefully in a few days.

Finally, he picked up the book on taming spirits.

Quickly flip to the page you haven't read yet and continue reading from there.

"A batch of worker bees accidentally ingested gold dust. Only nine out of a hundred survived. One of them had a sharp stinger that could break through the spiritual light of the mid-stage of Qi Refining. It died three days later."

"...Bee eggs placed in the corner of the nest where the fire elemental energy is slightly stronger will fly faster after emerging from the nest, but they are also more restless and prone to backlash."

...

"Worker bees that are injured but do not die should be fed small amounts of mineral powder. Occasionally, they may show unusual color changes."

Upon seeing this, Qu Ye's fingers immediately stopped.

A change of color.

Does this mean that he can actively raise a group of worker bees with different focuses?

Making worker bees faster and more stealthy allows them to act as scouts; sharper mouthparts allow them to blend into ordinary bee colonies and launch a surprise attack.

Is it even possible to grant worker bees magical abilities, enabling them to attack from a distance?

If these things can be done, bee colonies will no longer be limited to a single means of attack; they will become more comprehensive and able to cope with a variety of complex situations.

Qu Ye suppressed his inner thoughts and continued reading.

The later pages were even more damaged, and the ink had faded considerably, as if they were hastily jotted down comments.

"The queen bee showed no abnormalities, but the worker bees occasionally exhibited subtle differences, so they should not be completely disregarded."

"Bee lifespan is short, mutations are difficult to stabilize, and it takes a lot of manpower, so it's not worth the effort."

"Those who are not experts in this field should not get too deeply involved."

Qu Ye closed the book and let out a deep breath.

My own fantasies are wonderful, but they are not something I can try at this stage.

After all, he only had a little over a hundred worker bees, and he also had to keep some to take care of the queen bee, so he simply couldn't afford the cost of the experiment.

"Once you reach the later stages of Qi Refining or after Foundation Establishment, and the number of bees has increased, you can try it."

The most important thing right now is to refine the Frost Pattern Sword as soon as possible to fill the gap in combat power.

After thinking it over, he put everything else back into his storage bag, leaving only the Cold Pattern Sword. He then poured his magic power into it and began to slowly refine it.

……

Five days later, in the cultivation room.

Qu Ye opened his eyes and looked at the Cold Pattern Sword in front of him. A subtle feeling of being able to control the sword as if it were his own arm came from the sword.

He pointed his fingers, and the Cold Pattern Sword flew up silently, drawing an arc in the air and emitting a very faint hum.

"The mana transfer is smoother than with the White Light Sword, and its attack power is also much stronger."

After trying it a few more times, Qu Ye finally put away the Cold Pattern Sword with satisfaction and closed his eyes to regulate his breathing.

This sword has just been forged; whether it's any good or not will only be known in actual combat.

After adjusting his breathing, Qu Ye stretched and got up to leave the cultivation room.

These past few days, he has focused most of his attention on refining the Cold Pattern Sword. In his spare time, he would flip through other parts of "The Record of Taming Spirits" and go out to feed Red Hare and Iron Claw Crab. Now, he has finally completed the refining.

Qu Ye arrived at the horse farm and saw Red Hare frolicking in the distance. He took two steps back, put his finger to his lips, and whistled a very short whistle.

Red Hare was taken aback at first, then its ears perked up, and it almost immediately looked up in his direction.

Qu Ye raised an eyebrow and blew the whistle again. When Red Hare ran towards him, he couldn't help but smile.

"You have a good memory, Red Hare."

Two days ago, while reviewing the records of spirit taming, Qu Ye came across a note that said low-level spirit beasts tend to develop habitual responses to fixed sounds and movements.

This inertia not only increases the intimacy between the spirit beast and its master, but also has unexpected benefits in certain special circumstances.

Because first-tier spirit beasts do not possess divine sense like cultivators, they can only lock onto their opponents through their aura, which inevitably leads to situations where they cannot lock onto them.

Therefore, if a spirit beast arrives at a place with chaotic energy and complex terrain, it can sense its master's location through inertial response.

After reading it, Qu Ye seemed to be deep in thought.

Increasing intimacy is essentially another way of increasing the likelihood of forming a bond, isn't it?

So he began to test it on Red Hare.

When feeding him, he would deliberately blow a short whistle first, and then put the hay into the trough.

After a while, and given that Red Hare was naturally clever, it would look up and search for him as soon as it heard the whistle.

"Alright, eat up."

Just as Qu Ye finished feeding Red Hare and was preparing to find a place to test the tracking and killing formation, he suddenly heard the buzzing of Jade Spirit Bees in the woods.

Qu Ye probed with his divine sense and immediately sensed a fluctuation of spiritual energy.

Clearly, the queen bee has completely stabilized her first-tier mid-grade realm.

He smiled.

"Looks like today is a double celebration."

Once the queen bee's territory is stable, she can begin to lay new worker bees.

"I just don't know how much the new worker bees will grow in strength."