This is it?
Upon hearing that the entire swarm of Golden Marrow Bees expressed their willingness to become his animal companion, Qi Ping was somewhat in disbelief.
Isn't this too easy!
The whole process was much simpler than he thought.
After seeing and communicating with Qi Ping, the Golden Marrow Bee swarm immediately agreed to become his animal companion.
If other cultivators in the Qi Refining Stage saw this, they'd probably be green with envy.
Especially other beekeepers, who know all too well the difficulty of nurturing Earth Cavity Golden Marrow Bees, let alone forming a contract.
"It seems the Beast King Druid is still quite formidable in the Immortal Cultivation Realm!" Qi Ping couldn't help but internally praise.
Other intelligent animals are still uncertain, but the performance of the Golden Marrow Bees was too impressive, indicating the effect must be good on animals similar to the Golden Marrow Bee as well.
In other words, when contracting other animal companions in the future, the identity of the Beast King Druid still holds a huge advantage!
Before becoming a Beast King Druid, contracting a swarm of Golden Marrow Bees was something Qi Ping didn't even dare to dream of.
But now, he has successfully formed a contract!
"Let's start the contract then!"
After receiving a response from the Golden Marrow Bees, Qi Ping didn't hesitate and decided to secure the contract first.
If an unforeseen mishap occurs due to hesitation, it would really mess with his mindset!
"Buzz buzz... (....Alright!)"
Following the knowledge about Druids in his mind, Qi Ping immediately channeled a mysterious energy with his consciousness, and then, a mysterious contract array began to slowly form.
"I wonder which trait of the Golden Marrow Bees I'll gain after the contract..." While anticipating, Qi Ping also felt a bit anxious.
The Golden Marrow Bees have three main talents: Brewing Artisan, Highly Poisonous Tail Needle, and Wind Speed.
Based on Qi Ping's past gaming experience, there's generally an 80% probability of gaining one of the three main talents and a 20% probability of gaining other non-main talents.
The main talents have the highest quality, while the non-main talents are usually just some inconspicuous traits of bees, so what talent one gains actually depends on luck.
Qi Ping most looks forward to the Wind Speed talent.
In the Immortal Cultivation Realm, almost every place has Wind Attribute Energy, so as long as this talent awakens, one can gain a speed boost in places with Wind Attribute Energy.
The affinity for Wind Attribute Spiritual Qi will also improve.
"Please don't give me the Highly Poisonous Tail Needle..." Qi Ping prayed internally.
Though the talents of animal companions, when shared with the Druid, will be adjusted according to the Druid's physical condition, Qi Ping couldn't really imagine what a Highly Poisonous Tail Needle would turn into on his body.
If a tail needle really grew on his butt, that scene... just thinking about it made his scalp tingle!
Approximately after dozens of breaths.
A dark green, human-sized mysterious array finally formed, and under Qi Ping's control, it merged into the swarm of bees in the blink of an eye.
In the DnD modded game, the contract position for an animal companion can contract an entire swarm of bees.
An entity like a swarm will become an animal companion of the Druid as a whole, and the reproduction, life, and death of its queen, worker bees, and drones won't affect the contract relationship.
Facing Qi Ping's contract array, the Golden Marrow Bee swarm didn't resist but allowed the power of the array to merge into their bodies.
After the array energy entered their bodies, a dark green glow erupted from them, and a similar glow rose from Qi Ping.
This process took longer than Qi Ping anticipated, lasting a full quarter of an hour before the animal companion's contract ceremony officially concluded.
During this process, Qi Ping was also immersed in the shared perception of talents with the Golden Marrow Bees.
The Golden Marrow Bees were similarly immersed, but they shared not Qi Ping's talents but the enhancement of their bloodline by the Beast King's Blessing skill.
[Beast King's Blessing: As your animal companion, you will gain increased upgrade speed and a higher success rate of transformation.]
The effect of the Beast King's Blessing doesn't appear out of thin air, but this skill will transform the bloodline of all Qi Ping's animal companions, causing a fundamental change in their bloodline.
When Qi Ping realized how much time had passed, his first reaction was a bit of fear.
The contract took longer than he expected; in the game, contracts could be completed instantly, but in the Immortal Cultivation Realm, it lasted a full quarter of an hour!
"Luckily, nothing unexpected happened. In the future, when contracting other animal companions, it must be done in a safe environment!"
Otherwise, encountering an attack would really be disastrous.
"Thankfully, the contract ceremony was completed smoothly!"
The Golden Marrow Bee swarm was successfully contracted!
Their bloodline is at the mid-stage of Tier One, enough to terrify and entice mid-stage Qi Refining cultivators, and at this moment, they have officially been successfully contracted by Qi Ping as animal companions!
This means that from now on, Qi Ping not only possesses enough power to threaten mid-stage Qi Refining but also can obtain precious honey through the Golden Marrow Bees!
A double gain!
Qi Ping is very satisfied with the Golden Marrow Bees as his first animal companion.
They can fight, make money, and conveniently hide as a trump card.
Among the spirit beasts he can obtain, he really can't find any animal that can match the Golden Marrow Bees in overall cost-performance ratio.
"It's just this shared talent... though I managed to avoid the Highly Poisonous Tail Needle, it's not Wind Speed either..."
Looking at the [Brewing Artisan] talent, Qi Ping felt a bit amused.
[Brewing Artisan: You have a keen talent for pollen and some spiritual medicine, allowing you to brew them into honey with extraordinary effects.]
"There are some slight changes compared to the talent on the bee..."
The original talent of the Golden Marrow Bees was like this:
[Brewing Artisan: You have an innate talent in honey brewing, not only able to brew pollen into honey but also able to brew some spiritual medicine into honey and enhance the special effects of the spiritual medicine.]
The major change in the entry is: having a keen talent for pollen and some spiritual medicine...
"Thinking about it, this talent actually has quite a bit of use, being able to increase the perception talent on spiritual medicine is actually not bad!"
"Anyway, the speed boost from Wind Speed probably won't enhance my strength much, having an extra money-making skill is still pretty decent..."
"As long as it's well-developed, it might become a surprising ability."
There are no useless skills, only useless players, especially in a world like the Immortal Cultivation Realm with infinite possibilities.
Although this ability definitely can't compare to Alchemy, the Brewing Artisan talent combined with Plant Growth is enough to enhance Qi Ping's cultivation during the Qi Refining Stage.
At least compared to the Highly Poisonous Tail Needle, the Brewing Artisan talent is still within Qi Ping's acceptance range.
And for now, having the Golden Marrow Bees as his animal companion, with combat power enough to threaten mid-stage Qi Refining, that little speed boost for him as a first-layer Qi Refining cultivator indeed doesn't have much effect.
Understanding this, Qi Ping no longer felt any regret; on the contrary, he felt extremely satisfied.
Farming talent also quite suits his personality.
"Furthermore, the gains may not have ended yet!"
Qi Ping hadn't forgotten a habit of the Golden Marrow Bees, that they have relatively high requirements for nectar sources.
The decision of the Golden Marrow Bees to settle here proves that nearby there may be pollen or spiritual medicine that attracts them, and the quantity is certainly not low!