On the banks of Lingyuan Marsh, within the Yanran Mountain Range.

Inside a southern creek valley.

The creek water babbled, and echoes resonated through the empty valley. This place was rarely visited, and at this moment, it was completely deserted.

It was spring, and a few scattered Spiritual Bees flitted about in the valley.

These Spiritual Bees were only the size of a thumb, and their entire bodies were pale green.

A few small bees flew among the flower clusters in the valley, like fleeting clouds.

One of the small bees climbed onto the center of a flower, folded its wings, and leisurely collected nectar.

A moment later, having drunk its fill of nectar, it also gathered a small ball of pollen on its hind legs.

It was time to return to its nest.

The small bee began to vibrate its wings, trembling, just about to fly up from the flower.

Just then, a sudden change occurred.

A palm descended from the sky, and the small bee, darting up, was suddenly frozen by the flowing Spiritual Qi from that palm.

Below, another palm was seen, holding up a ball of Spiritual Qi, merging with the palm from above.

Two balls of Spiritual Qi circulated around the small bee, gradually forming a spherical, transparent Spiritual Qi sphere, trapping the small bee within it.

The sudden turn of events terrified the small bee. It struggled and flitted amidst the dense Spiritual Qi, but it could not Breakthroug.

The young Cultivator showed no trace of his aura; if one were to scan him with ordinary Divine Sense, he would appear no different from an average person.

"Cloud-Winged Bee, hmm... valuable," Song Yan muttered softly.

A first-tier low-grade Demon Beast, known for its speed.

He slowly lifted the small sphere of Spiritual Power, carefully examining the Spiritual Bee.

Its wings were as thin as a cicada’s, and its stinger was long and transparent.

If this small insect were to fight a Cultivator to the death, one sting could severely injure a Qi Refining Middle Stage Cultivator.

Moreover, the small bee’s wing-flapping frequency was extremely high; when flying, it was like a green streak of light, making it difficult for even an ordinary Qi Refining Late Stage Cultivator to capture it barehanded.

However, these Cloud-Winged Bees usually lived in groups of dozens, inhabiting mountain cliffs abundant with Spiritual Flowers, feeding on nectar.

If a lone small insect in the swarm were attacked... Song Yan slightly raised his gaze, only to see that the originally scattered few small bees had now gathered into a dozen or so in the air.

At this moment, they were slowly converging.

It seemed that in the next instant, they would swarm him.

"Don’t panic, little insect." Song Yan put the small insect in his hand into a special spiritual insect qiankun bag: "I know a good place, where there are endless Spiritual Flowers and precious honey to collect."

With that, he blinked slightly.

Golden eyes instantly appeared, with a golden lotus-shaped pattern suspended within them.

Above the creek valley, wisps of pale green Spiritual Qi were gathering towards the bee swarm in the air.

At a certain moment, it was about to reach its peak.

Song Yan’s gaze fixed on the bee swarm, and Sword Qi surged throughout his body.

Buzz—

Like fleeting shadows, the bee swarm attacked almost in the blink of an eye.

But strangely, Song Yan was no longer in his original spot.

Only a lingering trace of Sword Qi remained, which, instead, gently pushed the attacking bee swarm, scattering them in all directions.

At the edge of the bee swarm, a small insect was pushed too far away.

It was just about to struggle to flap its wings again when it saw a pair of large hands, covering the sky and obscuring the sun.

Spiritual Power suddenly condensed and circulated, and another poor small bee was kidnapped by him.

In that blink of an eye, the Sword Qi surrounding him had propelled him about three zhang towards the edge of the creek valley.

This was the basic movement technique recorded in the Sword Planting Technique, Cultivated by Sword Sect Disciple.

"Lingyun Intent."

Buzz—

Within the bee swarm, another small bee fluttered its wings, shooting towards his face.

Its stinger pointed directly, vowing to perish with Song Yan.

Actually, he could have used the Cloud Piercing Sword to slay these small bees one by one.

But that would be too much of a waste of Spirit Stone, and... using these guys to practice his newly mastered movement technique was also a good choice.

Song Yan remained motionless, and within his field of vision, at the moment that green streak of light flashed, he moved a foot to the front-left side like a ghost.

Turning back, his palms met.

He caught another insect.

Subsequently, the entire creek valley echoed with the buzzing of the bee swarm and the clear sound of Sword Qi.

However, the sound belonging to the bee swarm grew fainter and fainter.

A moment later.

The last small bee swayed in the air, and Song Yan slightly raised his gaze, only to see Spiritual Qi slowly condensing in the air.

But it was not coming towards him.

He raised an eyebrow: "Trying to escape?"

Urging his Spiritual Power, Song Yan’s feet were swift, and before the Spiritual Qi in the air could fully condense, he leaped up.

Sword Qi surged, and in an instant, he had already jumped into the air.

His hands met.

He easily trapped the small bee in his palm.

He quickly descended.

Song Yan sat cross-legged in the center of the creek valley, patting the qiankun bag specifically for housing spiritual insects in his hand.

A bountiful harvest, a bountiful harvest.

"Hmm... no need to find someone to auction them off, I’ll just sell them directly to the Sect."

"This spiritual insect qiankun bag should be the lowest-grade item; the small bees won’t last long."

Song Yan had forgotten where this spiritual insect qiankun bag was acquired.

"If they suffocate inside, I’ll lose a lot of Spirit Stone."

What kind of industries did a large Sect like Cave Abyss Sect not have?

Spiritual Rice, Spiritual Grains, Spiritual Flowers, Spiritual Plants.

Since there were Spiritual Flowers, there was naturally nectar; how could it operate without these small bees?

These items were always in demand for Sect missions.

There was no worry about finding a market.

However... he didn’t come to Yanran Mountain for these Cloud-Winged Bees this time.

This swarm of small bees was just an unexpected bonus.

Song Yan slowly stood up and walked out of the creek valley.

In the past six months, besides Cultivating his Spiritual Power Realm and tempering his Divine Sense, Song Yan had dedicated almost all his free time to Cultivating movement techniques and pupil techniques.

His movement technique had reached Minor Achievement, and his pupil technique was also progressing steadily.

However, recently his eyes always felt dry, sometimes itchy.

He was probably over-Cultivating and needed to take a break.

The Sword Planting Technique stated that when first Cultivating the Insightful Void Sword Eye, one could supplement it with some medicinal liquids that calm the mind and brighten the eyes.

This could alleviate a considerable portion of the uncomfortable symptoms.

After some research, Song Yan settled on a Spiritual Plant named Seven-Leaf Yang Huang.

There was no need to prepare a medicinal agent; one only needed to refine the medicinal leaves into a liquid with Spiritual Power, then remove the Impurities, and it could be directly used as medicine for the eyes.

It was a bit crude, but it was naturally effective.

And doing it himself made him feel more at ease.

After all, his eyes were his own, so it was better to be careful.

However, even among the Spirit Medicine used for Cultivating pupil techniques, Seven-Leaf Yang Huang was not a widely circulated medicinal herb.

The price was high, but the profit was too low.

Song Yan had visited several pharmacies in Lingyuan Marsh, but they were all temporarily out of stock.

It was also difficult to encounter it at an exchange meeting on such short notice.

However, the owner of one pharmacy he inquired at said that his little apprentice had once accidentally picked a few Seven-Leaf Yang Huang plants on the south side of the Yanran Mountain Range.

So, he asked the little apprentice for the general direction, informed the shopkeeper to notify him when they had stock, and then went to the Taiping Peak Mission Hall to accept a few missions and try his luck in the mountains.

If he could collect some, it would save him a sum of Spirit Stone.

Unfortunately, most of the missions were completed.

He had also caught a round of unexpected Cloud-Winged Bees, but he still hadn’t seen any trace of Seven-Leaf Yang Huang.

However, he was not discouraged; if it really came to it, the Cultivation of pupil techniques could be temporarily slowed down.

"Eh? Where is this?"

Song Yan looked up slightly; in front of him was a somewhat tall mountain peak.

Amidst the clouds and mist, a Daoist temple could be vaguely seen.