Chapter 38: Flying Magical Artifact (Please Follow and Collect!)

I didn't expect it to still be only a First Stage Middle bee queen.

Outside the beekeeping area, before the black-ring hornet nest.

Seeing the black-ring hornet queen surrounded by fewer than thirty black-ring hornets, Yunhe was somewhat surprised.

He had exterminated so many black-ring hornet nests, yet this was truly the first time he encountered a bee queen whose demonic power had already reached First Stage Middle.

From this, one can see how large the original scale of this black-ring hornet nest must have been.

But after his repeated cleanups, only this much remains now.

This strong nest that once helped him deal with the Shi-surname cultivator now also stands on the brink of annihilation.

Facing the bee swarm he once feared, Yunhe merely gave a faint smile.

He swept his hand over the spirit insect pouch at his waist, and instantly a large swarm of reddish-red pattern spirit bees flew out, like a red cloud, rather eerie.

Upon seeing this swarm of red pattern spirit bees, the opposing black-ring hornets, even their queen, froze in their movements.

Go!

He formed a seal with one hand.

The red cloud then pressed forward with absolute superiority.

When the red cloud swept past, only a sturdy black-ring hornet queen remained, falling from the air.

Not even a single black-ring hornet corpse fragment was left behind.

The current bee swarm is stronger than when I faced Wei Qingfei before, by an entire level.

Yunhe was very satisfied with this result.

If one looks closely, within this buzzing red cloud, some spirit bees have abdominal stripes of red, while many more have bodies dark red like the queen's, and a few even bear conspicuous metallic patterns, quite strange.

If he were to face Wei Qingfei again now, the opponent likely wouldn't even have time to unleash the Black Water Banner before his protective golden light would be crushed in an instant.

The new bees hatched by the queen, after cultivation, are smaller than the previous red pattern spirit bees but stronger and faster.

Most importantly, their aggressiveness has increased by more than a notch.

Yunhe estimates that with the current swarm forming an Insect Battle Formation, unless one possesses a middle-grade or higher defensive magical artifact, even a Qi Refining Middle-Stage cultivator would be instantly devoured.

Their ferocity has already been cultivated.

He collected the black-ring hornet queen's corpse, skillfully dug out the nest, and stuffed the queen's jelly, eggs, spleen, and so on into his storage bag.

If all goes well, with this black-ring hornet queen and this batch of queen's jelly, the queen should be able to attempt a breakthrough to a First Stage Middle demon beast.

Watching the eager red pattern spirit bee queen, Yunhe chuckled to himself.

Just after returning to his residence in the Shanty District,

he found a Sound Transmission Talisman drifting outside his door.

Yunhe, somewhat curious, took the spirit talisman and infused a thread of magical power into it.

Immediately, a somewhat cold female voice sounded in his ear.

"Fellow Daoist Yunhe, I am Wang Molan; please meet me at the Agricultural Management Office in the market town."

As the words fell, the spirit talisman in his hand puffed and self-ignited.

He waved his hand to dispel the smoke and ash, revealing a hint of doubt.

"Someone from the Wang Clan? What do they want with a spirit bee farmer like me?"

After pausing at the doorway for a moment, Yunhe still decided to go take a look.

No matter what the Wang Clan intends, it's unlikely they'd surround him the moment he arrives.

After all, he's just an obscure little spirit bee farmer; he wouldn't receive such treatment.

Having made his decision, he no longer hesitated and headed for the market town.

Soon,

the bustling market town came into view.

The so-called Agricultural Management Office is actually that small hut where they, the spirit bee farmers and spirit farmers, pay their taxes.

However, the Wang Clan steward who once lay in a rocking chair collecting taxes now stood respectfully to the side, holding a piece of white cloth and occasionally wiping his sweat.

And the person he faced was a female cultivator.

She wore a yellow long dress, had willow-leaf eyebrows and light makeup, her skin was snow-white, her features delicate and bearing a hint of fairy aura.

Besides these two, there were three others inside, all dressed like Yunhe as spirit bee farmers.

Among them was even an "acquaintance".

The former deputy of the Extermination Team's Wei Qingfei, Zhou Shouxin!

As for the other two, he had seen them before, but only exchanged nods; they were not familiar.

Carrying his doubts, he stepped forward and hastily bowed.

"I have met Fellow Daoist Wang."

"Fellow Daoist Yun, no need for politeness."

Wang Molan gave a slight nod, her voice cool, yet she did not come across as arrogant.

It didn't inspire fondness, but neither did it provoke aversion.

"I believe you all wonder why I summoned you." After saying that, Wang Molan glanced at the fat man beside her and said, "Manager Wang, please explain the circumstances to everyone."

"Yes, Miss."

Manager Wang hastily performed a salute.

Then Manager Wang explained things to Yunhe and the three others; his attitude was who knows how much better than when Yunhe came to pay taxes before.

After listening, several people suddenly understood.

It turned out that the Wang Clan's recent shortage of spirit bee larvae was due to the death of their spirit bee queen from old age.

Originally, this wasn't a problem; the Wang Clan surely had prepared more than one queen bee.

But for some reasons that cannot be elaborated, the backup bee queens actually lost their reproductive ability one after another.

In order to continue the bee lineage, the Wang Clan sent people out to inquire and search; after many attempts, they finally found a place where a large beehive might exist.

So please Yunhe and the other spirit beekeepers who are skilled at raising bees and understand spirit bees to accompany us, so we can together pinpoint the hive's location.

After hearing the explanation, Yunhe couldn't help but feel doubtful.

"The Wang Clan should also have people who know how to raise spirit bees, so why are you looking for us?"

"Moreover, all the spirit bee queens losing their reproductive ability at once—this also"

He thought it over carefully and actually came up with a possibility.

It is said that the current head of the Wang Clan is a Foundation Establishment Great Cultivator who was amorous in his youth and has many offspring.

The number of children necessarily equals the number of branches.

Although the Wang Clan appears united to outsiders, internally it may not be monolithic.

Yunhe still remembers Old He's daughter, who once warned him to avoid dealing with the market steward; now the market is controlled by the second branch.

Although the Wang Clan claims to be vast and prosperous, in reality its main business is just the River Gully market; how much can each branch get after dividing it among the sub-branches?

The spirit bee queens losing their reproductive ability is very likely due to internal causes.

Wang Jinglan's summoning them today might also be out of necessity.

How the Wang Clan's internal affairs are is not his concern.

What he truly cares about is that this expedition surely involves danger—why would so many spirit beekeepers, against all odds, end up seeking him?

He looked toward the market steward.

But he saw him with eyes on nose, nose on heart—an air of utter indifference.

Seeing this, Yunhe couldn't help but curse silently.

"Damn it, I shoved all those spirit crystals into you for nothing—don't let me see you outside the market again!"

He still wanted to struggle a bit, after a brief hesitation he bowed and said:

"Fellow Daoist Wang, my cultivation base is low; I fear I would hinder the Wang Clan's great undertaking, so perhaps"

Wang Jinglan glanced at him and interrupted in a flat tone:

"It's fine; as long as you all give me your full support, I will naturally protect you completely."

After a pause, she swept her gaze over Yunhe and the three others and added:

"Regardless of success or failure, upon returning the four fellow Daoists will be exempt from five years of taxes, and each may choose a beekeeping site, plus receive five low-grade spirit stones."

Hearing this, besides Yunhe's three companions—including Zhou Shouxin—were all energized, showing delight and hastily replied:

"We will surely exert our utmost effort!"

Yunhe felt rather helpless inside.

Objectively speaking, such treatment is excellent for any spirit beekeeper.

But he understood even more clearly.

The better the treatment, the greater the danger might be.

But by now, it's not something he can simply refuse.

Otherwise, not only would he fail to save face for the Wang Clan, he might not even be able to leave the market.

"If it really can't be done, and the danger exceeds what we can bear, we'll have no choice but to flee midway."

He immediately responded in agreement.

Only then did Wang Jinglan nod satisfactorily and walk toward the door.

"Please follow me."

Yunhe and the four others followed slowly.

After they left, the market steward's bent waist straightened immediately, and he gave a slight, disdainful curl of his lips.

He sat back in the rocking chair.

He recovered his usual old‑god composure, as if the earlier tension had been feigned.

Outside the market.

Just then Wang Jinglan made a hand seal, and a green bamboo boat shot straight out from the storage bag at his waist.

A flying magical artifact!

Seeing this green bamboo boat, Yunhe's eyes lit up slightly.

You know, flying magical artifacts of the same rank are far more expensive than other artifacts; this mid‑tier first‑rank green bamboo boat might cost over a hundred low-grade spirit stones.

"Come aboard."

Soon the group boarded the green bamboo boat and sailed out of the market's range.

They vanished into the boundless forest.

For the first time riding a flying magical artifact, whether for Yunhe or Zhou Shouxin and the others, besides the novelty, there was mostly unease about having their feet leave the ground.

But since they are all cultivators, they quickly grew accustomed to it.

Wang Jinglan stood at the boat's prow, controlling the magical artifact.

Yunhe, meanwhile, sat silently meditating at the stern, standing out from Zhou Shouxin and the three others.

Zhou Shouxin was originally the deputy of the Extermination Team, and naturally knew more spirit beekeepers than Yunhe; plus, Yunhe maintained a third‑layer Qi Refining cultivation base with the Turtle Breath Body Forging Technique, so Zhou Shouxin's displayed fourth‑layer Qi Refining cultivation base was the highest among the five on board, aside from Wang Jinglan.

Those two spirit beekeepers, unable to curry favor with Wang Jinglan, could only try to ingratiate themselves with Zhou Shouxin.

Meanwhile, Zhou Shouxin, while attending to his duties, would occasionally glance over at Yunhe sitting at the stern.

Initially, Wei Qingfei, before leaving, had instructed him to deal with Yunhe, but before he could find the opportunity and arrange manpower, he learned that Wei Qingfei had gone missing, so the matter ultimately came to nothing.

More than half a year later, the Extermination Team had disbanded, yet Yunhe was still doing fine, which made Zhou Shouxin unable to help but pay him more attention.

"Sixth‑layer Qi Refining?"

Yunhe placed it on the hand behind his back, and the "Manifest Spirit Talisman" gradually faded.

They had thought Wang Jinglan was a late-stage Qi Refining cultivator who could protect them, but they never expected he was only a mid-stage Qi Refining cultivator.

"Although they are clan cultivators, their foundation should be far deeper than that of loose cultivators; take this Green Bamboo Boat, for instance—it is indeed much more convenient and safer than traveling on foot."

He lightly stroked the boat's rail, and Yunhe felt a pang of envy.

"Sixth level of Qi Refining, tsk."

He nervously and secretly shook his head.

"Doing too much bandit cultivator work really becomes addictive; this is a person of the Wang Clan—must not be moved, must not be moved."

Immediately he closed his eyes and attempted to enter meditation.

As for Zhou Shouxin's occasional glances, he of course noticed them too, but didn't pay much attention.

Wei Qingfei has already been killed off; if Zhou Shouxin dares to have any malicious intent, we might as well take this opportunity to get rid of him outright.

The precondition is not to repeatedly challenge his bottom line.

The Green Bamboo Boat's flight speed isn't fast, but its advantage lies in its stability.

As the sun set in the west, Wang Jinglan piloted the Green Bamboo Boat down slowly, and Yunhe and his four companions arrived at a secluded mountain valley.

All around, weeds grew thickly, vegetation sprawled, and spiritual energy was even thinner.

Would such a place have a spirit bee hive?

After landing, Wang Jinglan's willow-leaf brows slightly furrowed; after looking around, he found a relatively clean-looking stone and sat down.

A clear, crisp voice came.

"Please, fellow Daoists, help me look after things for a while; I need to recover my spiritual power a bit."

Saying that, he took out a small milky-white pill, swallowed it, and closed his eyes.

"Where is this?"

"No matter how you look, it doesn't look like there are spirit bees."

"Fellow Daoist Zhou, do you think there might be demonic beasts?"

Upon arriving in an unknown place, the two spirit bee farmers appeared somewhat nervous and somewhat uneasy.

Yunhe simply found a secluded stone and sat down.

While observing the surroundings, he opened the spirit insect bag.

One by one, Red Pattern Spirit Bees silently slipped into the forest.

(End of Chapter)