Chapter 721: Black Jade Bee

Yan Buji is still stationed in the capital city and hasn't gone to the sect's mining area; he spends the whole day in the city trading resources with all manner of demonic cultivators, and even many demonic cultivators at the Divine Transformation stage, along with some at the Refining Void stage, come to Yan Buji hoping he can act as a guide so they can purchase what they want.

Relying on this, Yan Buji has been making a fortune in the city these days.

Then why does this group want to go elsewhere instead of going straight to the Heavenly Spirit Realm?

"Heavenly Spirit Realm? We do want to go, but the demonic territories don't sell Heavenly Spirit Fruit."

"Huh?"

"Don't you know? The human race strictly controls the Heavenly Spirit Fruit; it circulates widely among humans, but it's very hard for other races to obtain and use it," Xiong Ba Tian said.

"Is that so?"

"I've heard the Heavenly Spirit Fruit is brought out of the Heavenly Spirit Realm by powerful humans, who then apply a secret technique that makes the fruit usable only by humans; other races must purchase special Heavenly Spirit Fruit from them. In any case, it depends on how pure your lineage is."

Yan Buji's expression turned odd; he truly hadn't heard of such a thing.

"No wonder. I've said there are many demonic cultivators here; how could they possibly have not a single Heavenly Spirit Fruit in hand?"

It turns out human elders discovered the advantages of the Heavenly Spirit Realm long ago, and even without benefits they would never casually let others use it.

Peers would rather see their opponents die without a burial place, let alone when they're of a different race.

After learning this, Yan Buji understood why those demonic cultivators came to him for proxy purchases.

Xiong Ba Tian looked at Yan Buji and smiled, "Good friend, what's your view on the Spiritual Materials of the Heavenly Spirit Realm for demonic races?"

"To be honest, the Spiritual Materials I sell fetch quite high profits," Yan Buji laughed.

"If that's the case, why don't we join forces?"

"Oh?" Yan Buji raised an eyebrow, "What do you have in mind, fellow Daoist Xiong?"

"My point is, since there are so many cultivators stationed in the capital city and, after a while, a large influx of demonic tribes will relocate here, they won't go without buying anything. Yet if you say they trade with your human race, there will inevitably be some… incompatibility, don't you think? So I propose that I handle the negotiations, you do the proxy purchases, and we split this line of business. How does that sound?"

Yan Buji's eyes flicked, and he nodded, "Fine, but I take seventy percent."

"Oh my friend, don't you think I'm doing all the hard work? If you're just proxy purchasing, seventy percent is too much. I believe, given our friendship, a fifty‑fifty split is the fairest."

"That may be, but traveling to the Heavenly Spirit Realm to negotiate prices and secure profit is also a laborious task. The merchants of the Heavenly Spirit Realm are notoriously cunning; to obtain more, I'd have to expend great effort." Yan Buji said.

Xiong Ba Tian frowned, "Then six to four—that's the limit I can accept!"

"Deal!"

Xiong Ba Tian chuckled, and Yan Buji turned to ask, "By the way, I have something to ask you."

"My friend, what would you like to ask?"

"Your emerald jade bees—does your hive contain a variety that's completely different, entirely black in color?"

"There is indeed, what do you intend to do?" Xiong Ba Tian asked, puzzled.

The emerald jade bee is a Threefold Transformation spiritual insect, not a Gu Worm; the biggest difference between such spiritual insects and Gu Worms lies in the method of control. Gu Worms may require refining—like refining Spiritual Materials, infiltrating the worm with one's own essence, qi, and spirit to fully dominate—whereas a spiritual insect only needs to recognize its master and can be commanded via divine consciousness.

Of course, the essence of spiritual insects and Gu Worms is similar; they can transform at any time. Strictly speaking, if the Nan Ting Mountain Region didn't have a Gu cultivation path, there would be no distinction between spiritual insects and Gu Worms.

Xiong Ba Tian naturally knew his emerald jade bees differed from other spiritual insects; these insects can produce emerald jade honey, and after being infused with his secret technique, it rivals the premium delicacy Jade Emperor honey.

However, his hive does indeed contain some pitch‑black emerald jade bees, completely unlike the other jade‑green, crystal‑clear bees.

"I'd like a few to refine a pill; may I?" Yan Buji laughed.

"Eh, saying that," Xiong Ba Tian waved his hand, produced his custom Accumulation Device spiritual insect bag, and handed roughly a hundred black emerald jade bees of various sizes to Yan Buji.

"All yours. These emerald jade bees might have picked up some toxin while gathering nectar, making them extremely aggressive; they no longer produce honey and even spend their days fighting other little bees, so they're not exactly valuable."

Yan Buji cheerfully accepted the bees and said, "Thank you."

"You're too polite, my friend."

After chatting with Xiong Ba Tian for a while, Yan Buji returned to the Mushroom Tavern and went back to the second floor.

"Jiji ji!!"

Ni Ming Zhu Ye darted out from Yan Buji's sleeve, excitedly eyeing the black emerald jade bees in Yan Buji's hand.

"These aren't for you to eat."

"Jiji...."

Ni Ming Zhu Ye showed a forlorn expression; Yan Buji smiled, casually took some poison from his storage bag, and fed it to Ni Ming Zhu Ye.

After years of careful feeding, Ni Ming Zhu Ye has reached the Nascent Soul stage; of course, it shows no combat power, but, as always, it possesses strong resistance to toxins.

It wasn't originally for Ni Ming Zhu Ye that Yan Buji requested Xiong Ba Tian's emerald jade bees, but the creature's sharp beak and nose have become increasingly agile.

Yan Buji pulled out an ancient book salvaged from the Heavenly Spirit Realm and read carefully: "Emerald jade bee, a Threefold Transformation spiritual insect, commonly found in the Wood Spirit lands; when mature it can gather flower nectar to produce emerald jade honey… its variant, the black jade bee…"

Yan Buji meticulously compared the book's details while observing the black bees in his hand.

These bees look broadly similar to ordinary hornets, except they're entirely black, and even when surrounded by Yan Buji's aura, they continuously surge outward, showing a markedly fierce aggression.

"Sure enough, a mutated black jade bee."

Yan Buji laughed; although the black jade bee cannot produce honey, its stinger serves as the primary material for refining a deadly toxin!

"Let's give it a try; we happen to have the ingredients."

Yan Buji extracted a stinger from a black jade bee, causing that bee to die instantly from the loss of its stinger.

Then Yan Buji took out some spiritual medicine from his storage bag and began refining.

Following the ancient text, Yan Buji felt the medicine in his palm gradually transform.

Soon, a wisp of blue smoke appeared in his palm.

"Is it really that simple?"

Yan Buji watched the blue smoke disperse the surrounding flame, becoming invisible and colorless, and hurriedly captured it in a custom silver flask.

"It's reputed to be a violet smoke that can poison a Divine Transformation!"

Yan Buji looked puzzled; although his Ni Ming Zhu Ye couldn't sense how toxic the violet smoke was, the spiritual materials he used were only Fourfold or Fivefold Transformation, and the black jade bee's stinger was merely Threefold Transformation—could it truly poison a Divine Transformation?

"Jiji ji!!!!"

"Hm?"

The Fate‑Reversing Night Candle in the cuff flew out madly, pecking at the silver bottle, as if something extremely alluring were inside it.

Yan Buji thought for a moment, grabbed it with one hand, opened the silver bottle with the other, and poured it into it.

Afterwards, Yan Buji placed it on the table to observe its changes.

In the blink of an eye, the Fate‑Reversing Night Candle swayed unsteadily, toppled onto the table like a drunk, its face showing pure enjoyment.

"Looks like its toxicity isn't weak at all!" Yan Buji's eyes brightened.