Chapter 631 435: Destiny (2)

"Master, Ruoxi has deduced and summarized thirteen reasons for failure in the daily refining process of the Blood Life Pill. First, the timing for opening the furnace needs to be adjusted up by forty-seven thousandths of a breath. Second..."

Fang Qingyuan listened intently to Fang Ruoxi's summary. In just the past few minutes, Fang Ruoxi had identified thirteen shortcomings in their previous methods for refining the Blood Life Pill.

In the past, for Fang Ruoxi to discover such flaws, she would have needed to run at least a hundred experiments, consuming thousands of Spirit Stones, just to reach the same conclusions.

And that wasn't even the most impressive part.

The Talent she had just demonstrated was merely deduction; other Talents like analysis and manipulation had yet to be revealed.

Fang Qingyuan had named this Divine Technique Talent of Fang Ruoxi's "Heaven's Mandate." This was because, when the time was right, the collective consciousness she could gather was capable, to a certain extent, of supplanting the Heaven and Earth Law Will itself. This was the principle of "replacing the will of Heaven with one's own."

As for to what degree it could supplant the will of Heaven, and what proportion of the Heaven and Earth Law Will it could occupy, that would depend on the upper limit of the collective consciousness Fang Ruoxi could gather at the time.

And the hundred Queen Bees she currently had were definitely not enough.

Having observed Fang Ruoxi's Lifebound Talent for just a moment, Fang Qingyuan's mind was already racing with numerous applications for it.

This included, but was not limited to, optimizing Cultivation Techniques, improving brewing and planting methods, and refining the breeding techniques for various insectoid beasts. It could even preemptively analyze his newly acquired *Liu Yu Celestial Demon Transformation* and *True Scripture of the Mirage Dragon's Illusory Sword*, allowing him to cultivate them better, faster, and with fewer pitfalls.

Fang Qingyuan never considered himself a peerless genius. When it came to cultivation, he could only follow the established steps, relying on slow, grinding effort to make progress.

'But with the Bee Queen's new Divine Technique,' Fang Qingyuan thought, 'I can have her tailor-make a cultivation method just for me. Then I can appear to be a peerless prodigy in that technique.'

Of course, this was all theoretical. The exact extent of the Bee Queen's capabilities was still unknown. However, the fundamental principle of this Lifebound Divine Technique Talent was clear: as long as she had enough processing power, none of this would be a problem.

'One good thing after another,' he mused. 'Not only did I gain a Golden Core-level Companion Beast, but I also acquired a new Lifebound Talent of immense strategic value. At this rate, it'll be difficult for the Qingyuan Sect *not* to rise.'

There was just one small problem: there were far too few "nodes" available for the Bee Queen's calculations.

"Is there a way to increase the number of these Queen Bees? For your new Lifebound Talent to operate at full capacity, a hundred of them just isn't enough."

The hundred-odd Queen Bees were already the maximum the entire Immortal Mansion could support. While a seventy-li expanse of land might seem vast, it was a rare feat for it to sustain millions of honeybees and over a hundred Qi Cultivation Level Queen Bees.

This was only possible because of the abundance of Spirit Plants and the lack of natural predators within the Immortal Mansion. Out in the wild, a dozen Queen Bees would be enough to claim such a large territory.

"These Queen Bees need to lay eggs to receive sustenance from their hives," Fang Ruoxi explained. "I can hatch more Queen Bees that neither need to lay eggs nor require a hive's support. As long as Master can provide a stable food source, I can try raising more of them."

Fang Ruoxi quickly deduced a solution: cultivate captive Queen Bees that didn't require hives.

In a normal hive, only one Queen Bee can receive sustenance. This is because a Queen Bee's consumption is too high; supporting a second one is completely unnecessary. This is a matter of instinct and follows the laws of nature.

But as long as Fang Qingyuan provided the food, he could raise ten thousand Queen Bees if he wanted. They wouldn't need to lay eggs; they would only need to offer their bodies as nodes for her calculations.

"Excellent. You'll be in charge of this. I will prepare all kinds of Flower Nectar Spirit Sugar. As for the initial number... let's start with one thousand."

After giving his instructions to Fang Ruoxi, Fang Qingyuan's consciousness quickly returned to his physical body. He opened his eyes and saw Jinbao crouching before him.

Outside the restrictive seals of his abode, several people were arguing.

"I'm awake, Jinbao. Thank you for standing guard."

Fang Qingyuan gently stroked Jinbao's head. The creature had been acting as his guardian.

Jinbao purred in contentment at Fang Qingyuan's touch, squinting his eyes. He then conveyed what had just transpired directly to Fang Qingyuan's mind.

"It's nothing, just a small matter. I'll go out and see what they want."

Fang Qingyuan rose decisively, deactivated the restrictive seals on his abode, and stepped out to face the arguing group.

The moment Fang Qingyuan appeared, there was a sudden silence, followed by several people bowing in greeting.

"Greetings, Sect Leader."

"What's going on, Tianfang?"

Jiang Tianfang and his companions moved to Fang Qingyuan's side, then pointed at the people opposite them.

"These Cultivators from Qi Yun specifically demanded to see you. Knowing you have a duel coming up soon, I thought you shouldn't be disturbed, so I tried to send them away. I never expected them to be so relentless. They even bribed the local innkeeper to make a scene right at your door. It is this disciple's dereliction of duty. I ask for your punishment, Sect Leader."

Seeing Jiang Tianfang's ashamed expression, Fang Qingyuan paid it no mind. This was the Qi Yun Territory, and the men before them were Qi Yun Cultivators—the local power. Their leader was even a Golden Core Cultivator; what more could he have expected Jiang Tianfang to do?

There were three Cultivators opposite them: two at Foundation Establishment and one at the Golden Core realm. Their robes were very similar, suggesting they were from the same sect.

Seeing Fang Qingyuan emerge, the Golden Core Cultivator in the lead gave a slight bow.

"He Yu, a disciple from Qimeng Mountain, greets Sect Leader Fang."

"From Qimeng Mountain?" Fang Qingyuan's eyes narrowed slightly. "Your surname isn't Meng, and you're only an Early-stage Golden Core Cultivator. Why are you seeking me out at a time like this?"