Cultivation begins with forming a bond with a spirit bee.

Chapter 61 Sale of Contracts

So it seems.

The bee colony continues to reproduce in this cycle. If they are lucky enough to find a magical object, the queen bee will advance to a higher level, which is equivalent to raising the foundation of the entire colony by one level.

If they're unlucky enough to encounter a demon hunter or a powerful monster, the swarm will perish.

After all, if the queen bee is in danger, it means that all the worker bees and the guard bees have died in battle.

After figuring out all the details related to the queen bee, Qu Ye felt a little more relaxed.

Finally, I no longer have to worry about my bee colony facing extinction.

"but--"

Thinking of the information he had just gleaned from the Bewildering Killing Array, Qu Ye felt a renewed sense of urgency.

The spirit tax has been paid. The most important thing now is to go back to the spirit horse farm as soon as possible to pack up, find the farm manager to cancel the spirit contract, and leave this place of trouble as soon as possible.

With this in mind, Qu Ye didn't delay any longer. He took a step and headed straight for the Spirit Horse Farm.

When we returned to the horse farm, it was late afternoon.

Perhaps it's because he spends so much time at the horse farm and rarely returns to the market.

The spirit workers at the horse farm were as relaxed as ever, smiling as they greeted Qu Ye.

Back in my own yard.

Qu Ye pushed open the courtyard gate, and the pond shimmered with tiny ripples under the sunlight.

He took a deep breath and stepped into the house.

Just like when he moved out of Yumen Market, he packed away everything related to himself, leaving only some furniture that he had brought with him to the courtyard.

Finally, use a dust removal technique to remove Qu Ye's lingering scent from the room.

Qu Ye looked at the exact same layout as when he first arrived at Lingma Farm and felt a pang of emotion.

"I wonder who will be the next one to move in."

After thinking it over, he left the courtyard and went into the woods.

"I'm afraid I'll have to trouble you for a bit."

He put the queen bee, two guard bees, and all the worker bees into the spirit beast bag.

Then cut down a layer of beehive, dug up a dozen or so spirit flowers, and put them all into the storage bag.

After completing these steps and confirming that nothing else had been overlooked, Qu Ye walked towards the entrance of the horse farm.

A short while later, he arrived at Hou Youde's former residence and knocked on the door.

"Enter."

Qu Ye stepped inside and saw a middle-aged cultivator sitting in the room. He was dressed in a gray-blue robe, had an ordinary face, a short beard, and several account books were piled up beside him.

It is clearly an assessment of the hay and feed losses at the Lingma Ranch.

"Greetings, Steward."

The middle-aged steward nodded: "Fellow Daoist Qu, what urgent matter is it?"

Qu Ye pretended to hesitate for a moment before speaking, "Manager, my new spirit steed hasn't been issued yet, so I want to break the spirit contract and learn a skill."

Upon hearing this, the middle-aged manager paused for a moment, seemingly not expecting him to be there to handle this matter.

However, he only paused briefly before putting down the ledger in his hand: "Have you made up your mind?"

"I've thought it through."

The middle-aged manager grunted in agreement, searched his storage bag for a moment, and then took out a spirit contract that glowed with spiritual light.

He glanced down at it a few times, then pulled out a roster from the side and compared it with Qu Ye's name, entry date, and...

The condition of the Fiery Cloud Steed under their command was checked one by one.

The room fell silent for a moment, with only the rustling sound of papers turning.

A moment later, the middle-aged steward looked up: "Fellow Daoist Qu, are there any damages to the restrictions in your courtyard?"

No.

"Are the issued orders and spirit-raising manuals still there?"

"They're all here; we can return them together."

The manager nodded: "According to the rules, a spirit worker can apply to retire after raising a full cycle of spirit steeds. However, all the items that need to be returned must be returned first, and I will also check them at the horse farm."

Qu Ye cupped his hands in a respectful gesture: "Of course."

After saying that, he took out the small token used for the gate's restrictions, the booklet recording the feeding methods, and the key to the enclosure, and placed them all on the table.

The steward checked each one one by one, and after confirming that everything was correct, he spread out Qu Ye's spirit contract and gently wiped it with a special technique.

A moment later, the spiritual light on the spiritual contract slowly dissipated, and the originally intact contract marks also dimmed considerably.

This completes the sale of the contract.

The steward carefully put away the contract and looked at Qu Ye: "From today onwards, your spiritual contract with the Spirit Horse Farm is dissolved, and this matter is officially filed away."

"It's fine if you leave now."

"Thank you, steward."

The middle-aged manager waved his hand, seemingly unconcerned about the matter, and casually said, "We're just following the rules, there's no need for thanks. Since you don't intend to continue raising the spirit horse, leaving sooner will save us both time."

At this point, the middle-aged steward paused, thinking of the strange atmosphere that had been brewing within the clan recently.

"Fellow Daoist Qu, have you heard any rumors lately?"

Qu Ye looked puzzled: "What rumor?"

The middle-aged manager stared at Qu Ye for a few moments, then shook his head: "It's nothing, I was just asking casually."

He inwardly mocked himself, realizing he was grasping at straws in his desperation. What could this ordinary spirit contract worker possibly know if even the supervisor didn't know?

"In that case, I shall take my leave."

Qu Ye responded and left the courtyard without further formalities.

"After dissolving the spirit contract, we will proceed to the market as planned."

As he walked out of the basin where the Spirit Horse Farm was located, he looked back and pondered to himself.

In fact, Qu Ye had considered many things over the past two years.

Although he was bound by the spiritual contract and could not leave in advance like Wang Meng's family, he could not do nothing and wait for something big to happen.

It would be best to have a general understanding of the progress between the Sun and Hou families in order to ensure one's own safety.

But just as the middle-aged manager thought, how could he, a mere spiritual covenant worker, possibly know the exact progress?

Qu Ye's first consideration was the timeframe in which the Sun family and the Hou family would likely clash.

First of all, the two families have been living peacefully for many years. The sudden occurrence of this situation is most likely due to something happening to one of their foundational cultivators.

So Qu Ye went to the black market, not to inquire about specific information, but to learn about the special events that had happened between the two families over the years.

At this point, he discovered that, according to the records in the message, the Hou family patriarch was already fifty years old when he held the foundation-building ceremony, which was exactly one hundred and sixty years ago.

He had seen this kind of knowledge in the miscellaneous books in the Hou family's library.

Foundation Establishment cultivators are said to live to 240, but in reality, due to hidden injuries and various reasons such as cultivation techniques, their lifespan is generally around 220.

Based on this calculation, the Hou family patriarch's lifespan was nearing its end, which was clearly the trigger for the conflict between the two families.

If he were the patriarch of the Hou family, what would be the most urgent thing for him to do?

Support a new Foundation Establisher!

Combined with the scene of Hou Zhilan forcefully purchasing the Earth Fire Mystic Fiend at a high price during her first Tianxiang Pavilion auction.

The cultivator who was supported was most likely Hou Zhilan.

Even if it wasn't Hou Zhilan, at least the general direction was correct.

Although it's unclear what gives the Sun family their confidence, it's unlikely they'll allow the Hou family to produce another Foundation Establishment cultivator.

In that case, the timing of the conflict will most likely coincide with the time when that person from the Hou family breaks through to the Foundation Establishment stage.

However, how can I know the progress of that person's cultivation?

It's fine if it takes a long time, but if I can break through quickly, I'll just be stuck in a rut if I stay.

Qu Ye racked his brains for a long time and finally came up with a solution.

He didn't need to resort to unconventional methods like sounding out people or even infiltrating to find out what was going on.

All you need is one thing: the illusionary killing formation.

When he paid the spirit tax, he observed that the back of Cicada Singing Mountain was shrouded in clouds and mist all year round, which was obviously not a normal natural landscape and was probably related to the Hou family's grand formation.

Then, thinking back to the old woman who gave Qu Ye the array plate, as an elder of the Hou family and a rare array master in the Hou family, what kind of array would she have studied more deeply?

It must be their own protective mountain formation!

Although this illusionary killing formation is far inferior in grade to the Hou family's grand formation, if there are some commonalities, one can probably understand the degree to which the grand formation is activated.

The higher the level of opening, the closer it is to the day that person breaks through to the Foundation Establishment stage.

Do it when you think of it.

Taking advantage of the opportunity to pay the spirit tax and visit Hou Yanke, Qu Ye secretly tested the connection between the illusionary killing array and the Hou family's grand array on several occasions.

Even if they are discovered, it doesn't matter, after all, this killing formation was a gift from the clan elders.

Ultimately, he discovered...

Once you get close to the Hou family's grand formation, injecting magical power into the array plate of the Bewildering Killing Array will attract a tiny bit of spiritual energy, forming a very faint cloud on the array plate.

The more clouds and mist there are, the higher the degree to which the grand formation is activated.

By the time the spirit tax was paid, the wisps of mist had almost solidified, indicating that the opening process was already quite advanced.

That's why Qu Ye was so eager to run away.

He wouldn't do something so foolish as to get inexplicably caught up in the conflict between the two families.