Green-tailed Spirit Bee

They followed the sound and indeed found a beehive, three feet in diameter, hanging from the trunk of a hibiscus tree. The area was crawling with finger-sized Spirit Bees, with some entering and exiting.

The group stood under the tree, gazing upwards with greedy eyes. Spirit Honey was a precious commodity, rich in spiritual energy that was gentle and could be consumed directly, easily refined and absorbed without toxic side effects.

Moreover, it was more versatile than elixirs, usable by cultivators of any realm.

Spirit Bee Royal Jelly was even more beloved by female cultivators, known for its beautifying and anti-aging properties.

Wang Hong recalled a book from Skinny Stick's stall, "One Hundred Ways to Pursue Female Cultivators," which called Youth-Preserving Pills and Spirit Bee Royal Jelly the ultimate weapons for wooing them.

To many alchemists, however, female cultivators using Spirit Bee Royal Jelly solely for beauty was a terrible waste.

Adding a few drops to an alchemy process could increase the success rate by ten percent. Especially for valuable elixirs where spiritual herbs were already scarce, a ten percent increase in success rate held immense value.

However, despite its benefits, it was difficult to collect. The Spirit Bees wouldn't idly watch as cultivators stole the Spirit Honey they painstakingly brewed.

They certainly didn't consider themselves friends with humans, nor did they possess the noble awareness of contributing to humanity by diligently collecting honey.

The critical issue was that these Spirit Bees were extremely difficult to deal with. Although a single bee was weaker than a Qi Refining stage one cultivator, their sheer numbers and a certain resistance to spells made them formidable.

The beehive before them, only three feet wide, was considered a small colony among Spirit Bees, but it was still not something they could easily handle.

"Why don't we wait until nightfall, when they've returned to the hive, and set it on fire?" suggested the Lei cultivator.

"No, these Spirit Bees have a degree of resistance to spells, so Fireball Spells won't have much effect. Ordinary fire would be even less useful and would only enrage the swarm," Old Man Ge retorted.

The group discussed for a while longer but found no good solution. Finally, the Cultivator Ding, who usually remained quiet, proposed a crude method.

The plan was for them to lure the Spirit Bees away in batches and kill them, then collect the honey once all the bees were dead.

Unable to think of a better solution, everyone nodded in agreement. They then discussed some details and the distribution plan.

The group retreated a hundred yards. Old Man Ge took out a bow and arrow, aimed at the beehive, and shot an arrow with a "whoosh." The arrow hit the beehive, creating a small hole. Immediately, a dense swarm of bees flew out.

Seeing this, the five immediately scattered and fled. Wang Hong affixed a Swiftness Talisman to himself and ran at top speed. The swarm pursued for a short distance before a portion began to return. Ultimately, only a few hundred remained, relentlessly chasing him.

Wang Hong ran to a relatively open area and stopped, slapping an Earth Armor Talisman onto his body.

As the Spirit Bees approached, he threw a Fireball Talisman at the swarm. With a "bang," it exploded in the middle of the swarm, but it had little effect. Only four or five bees had their wings burned off and fell to the ground, while a few others sustained minor injuries.

Wang Hong then tried a Wind Blade Talisman, a Wood Thorn Talisman, an Ice Spike Talisman, a Water Arrow Talisman, and other elemental talismans, all of which were less effective than the Fireball Talisman.

All the spells cast by the talismans encountered a layer of green light emanating from the Spirit Bees' bodies. Like ice and snow meeting boiling water, the spells were rapidly dissolved.

Wang Hong marveled that such a wondrous species existed in the world. It was a pity their rank was too low; in the face of absolute power, they were still insufficient. Otherwise, he would have been completely helpless against them.

In this short time, the Spirit Bees had closed to within a few feet.

Wang Hong grabbed his spear, twirled it with a flourish, and with a few sharp cracks, smashed several Spirit Bees. Although these Spirit Bees were resistant to spells, their bodies were quite fragile. Upon contact with Wang Hong's spear, they died instantly or were injured.

The Spirit Bees fully utilized their numerical advantage, swarming from all directions. Some had already landed on the protective barrier formed by the Earth Armor Talisman.

The Spirit Bees' bodies emitted a layer of green light, which gradually merged with the defensive barrier. Then, the entire Spirit Bee passed through the defensive barrier.

The Spirit Bees that penetrated the barrier quickly burrowed into his clothes. Upon finding exposed skin, they fiercely stabbed with their tail stings. However, these forceful stabs did not pierce his skin, only leaving small red dots.

Seeing their initial attack fail, the Spirit Bees changed tactics and directly bit him. Their teeth repeatedly scraped against his skin, only managing to scrape off some dead skin.

Although Wang Hong was continuously killing Spirit Bees with his spear, his Spiritual Sense was closely monitoring everything. As expected, these Spirit Bees couldn't pierce his skin.

However, even though they couldn't pierce his skin, the venom from the Spirit Bees' stings caused local numbness. Being stung repeatedly was also extremely uncomfortable.

Wang Hong shifted his spear techniques, dancing it around him like a blur of light, impenetrable and forming a protective sphere. This was a defensive spear technique he had honed as a mortal.

The approaching Spirit Bees crashed against the curtain of light formed by his dancing spear and were shattered. Wang Hong, wielding his spear like a pulverizer, charged into the swarm.

The Spirit Bees, with their extremely low intelligence, did not dodge but continued to swarm him fearlessly.

The sound of "crackling" was incessant. In the time it took an incense stick to burn, a large swarm was reduced to just over a dozen, and they then flew away.

After eliminating a small group of Spirit Bees, Wang Hong had expended over half of his spiritual energy. He drank a few mouthfuls of Spirit Wine and meditated briefly to recover before heading back. Sustained use of his spear techniques was very draining.

Wang Hong returned to the base of the Spirit Beehive and waited for a while until the others, looking somewhat disheveled, returned one after another.

The five continued with their previous method, luring small groups of Spirit Bees and killing them in batches.

A day later, the five stood under the small tree again. All of them bore minor injuries. Most noticeably, each of their faces had swollen significantly.

Cultivator Shi's once delicate and pretty face was now swollen, with one side larger than the other and her mouth askew. This was a considerable blow to a female cultivator who naturally valued her beauty.

The group hadn't anticipated that these Spirit Bees could not only resist spell attacks but also ignore magical defenses, easily passing through various defensive spiritual shields.

With Wang Hong's body refinement cultivation, these Spirit Bees were naturally unable to harm him. However, his face was an illusion created by the Mist Illusion Mask, so he also conjured several red, swollen bumps on his face.

Only a few scattered Spirit Bees were still flying around the beehive. Old Man Ge summoned a Flying Sword and cut down the entire beehive.

They harvested a total of only ten drops of Royal Jelly, exactly two drops per person.

With a few swift movements, the beehive and its honey were divided equally into five portions. This operation had been a near-equal effort from all five of them, so they distributed it evenly. Each took a portion and put it into their storage bags. Wang Hong casually stored his in his Spatial artifact.

As night fell, the five decided to spend the night in Hundred Flowers Valley, deeming the area relatively safe.

Having fought continuously for nearly two days, they were all exhausted and their spiritual energy was depleted, urgently needing rest and recovery. They didn't have Wang Hong's wealth, drinking Spirit Wine like water.

A bottle of Spirit Wine cost at least dozens of Spirit Stones. The others had also prepared some, but they were reluctant to drink it unless absolutely necessary.

Wang Hong found a relatively flat stone to sit on. He took out a ceramic pot from his storage bag. The pot was about the size of a human head and sealed with a type of leaf.

This was a Spirit Meal Wang Hong had recently devised. It involved taking three hundred jin of Demonic Beast meat, discarding the dross, refining its essence, and then adding several spiritual herbs. Finally, it was concentrated into this small pot of meat broth.

He sealed them in small jars, preserving them for a long time. Wang Hong made some and kept them in his storage bag, using them instead of Grain Abstinence Pills.

Grain Abstinence Pills tasted like chewing wax, and their effect only lasted a few days, preventing starvation but offering no other benefits beyond convenience and saving time for cultivation.

For Wang Hong, who had known hunger since childhood, the thought of being unable to eat even after achieving immortality was unbearable. Weren't all things in nature meant to be eaten?

The Lei cultivator sat cross-legged and took out a Grain Abstinence Pill, about to swallow it, when he suddenly smelled a peculiar aroma.

Following the scent, he saw Wang Hong holding a ceramic jar in his left hand, filled with milky white liquid, topped with some chopped green scallions. It looked like some kind of meat soup. In his right hand, he held a large flatbread, which he was biting into. The bread seemed quite chewy.

Wang Hong was also hungry. After a few bites of the bread and a large gulp of soup, he felt utterly comfortable.

"Fellow Daoist Wang certainly knows how to enjoy himself!" the Lei cultivator said with a smile, looking at Wang Hong. "Seeing you eat so heartily has made me hungry. I wonder if you'd be willing to sell me a portion?"

The Lei cultivator's words also drew the attention of the others. They thought that if the price wasn't too high, they'd buy a portion too. Faced with such delicious-looking food, who would want to eat those wretched Grain Abstinence Pills?

Wang Hong pondered for a moment. He had only just met these people and had no prior relationship with them. Being too generous might easily lead them to see him as an easy target. He said, "I can, but it will cost twenty Spirit Stones per jar. I can give you the flatbread for free."

Everyone was startled by the price. A single Grain Abstinence Pill cost only one Spirit Stone, and a portion of Spirit Meal in Qingxu City usually cost only a few Spirit Stones. Fifteen to twenty Spirit Stones was already the price for signature dishes in many restaurants. They couldn't help but lament Wang Hong's greed.

The Lei cultivator was considered well-off among rogue cultivators. Coupled with his good harvest today, he was in a good mood and decided to buy a portion to try, curious to see why Wang Hong dared to charge twenty Spirit Stones for it.