Spirit Devouring Bees

Spirit Devouring Bees

That day, Shi Yue lifted the gauze covering the jar, and six yellow bees, each about the size of a fingernail, flew out and landed in his palm.

Shi Yue could feel the connection between himself and the six Spirit Devouring Bees. With a thought, they flew off his hand.

Faint spiritual energy rippled around each of the six Spirit Devouring Bees. They were undoubtedly spirit insects, capable of absorbing spiritual energy and cultivating on their own.

Scale Insects had little ability to attack, so Shi Yue wasn't worried they could hurt the six Spirit Devouring Bees.

"Go! Wipe out all those Scale Insects." Shi Yue pointed lightly toward the Spirit Field, and the six Spirit Devouring Bees beat their wings and flew toward it.

It was impossible for six Spirit Devouring Bees to kill every Scale Insect in three mu of Spirit Field. But time passed ten times faster in the Mysterious Space than in the outside world, and the Spirit Devouring Bees bred ten times faster there, too.

Shi Yue walked up to a stalk of Condensing Smoke Grass. He saw a Spirit Devouring Bee land at its roots and pluck out a transparent Scale Insect. In a few quick bites, it ate the insect, then flew off toward another stalk of Condensing Smoke Grass.

Seeing this, Shi Yue nodded with satisfaction and left the Mysterious Space.

After coming out of the basement, Shi Yue watered the Water Moon Flowers, then returned to his residence. He watered the Spirit Rice in the Spirit Field before heading out.

Shi Yue's days were full and busy. Whenever he had free time, he entered the Mysterious Space to search for and kill Scale Insects.

Thanks to Shi Yue's efforts, the Scale Insects grew fewer and fewer, while the Condensing Smoke Grass and Blazing Sun Grass flourished. He planted Spirit Rice in the vacant mu of Spirit Field and, in addition, planted five Blood Qi Fruit trees and five Purple Luo Apricot trees.

In the blink of an eye, half a month passed.

Half a month had passed in the outside world, but six months had gone by in the Mysterious Space. The Blood Qi Fruit trees and Purple Luo Apricot trees had grown over two zhang tall, their branches lush with leaves.

The six Spirit Devouring Bees had no natural enemies in the Mysterious Space, and with plenty of Scale Insects to eat, they soon grew more than a size larger. They built a hive in one of the Blood Qi Fruit trees, and it continued to expand.

What delighted Shi Yue most was that the Spirit Devouring Bees had begun laying eggs. The six bees had multiplied into several hundred, increasing nearly a hundredfold.

Shi Yue didn't need to bond with these newly born Spirit Devouring Bees. As long as he controlled the Queen Bee, he could control the rest.

Though Spirit Devouring Bees were spirit insects, apart from their longer lifespan, they were much like ordinary honeybees. They were likewise divided into three kinds: queens, workers, and drones.

Apart from eating, the Queen Bee's main duty was laying eggs and producing more offspring for the hive. Drones mated with the Queen Bee to reproduce. Each drone mated with her only once; soon after mating, it died. Worker bees were female bees with no reproductive capacity. They gathered food, fed larvae, secreted wax and cleaned the hive, built the hive, and defended it against enemies. The number of workers in a colony determined its rise or fall.

Several hundred Spirit Devouring Bees danced among the Spirit Fields. Some gathered nectar, while others searched for and killed Scale Insects, all of them busily at work.

As the Spirit Devouring Bees multiplied, the Scale Insects in the Spirit Fields dwindled until they had nearly disappeared. Shi Yue was overjoyed.

One day, after Shi Yue returned from watering his own Spirit Field, he saw the young woman who had come looking for Uncle-Master Zhou Hong last time standing outside the courtyard, looking quite anxious.

"Disciple Shi Yue pays his respects to Martial Aunt Murong." Shi Yue bowed respectfully.

The Taixu Sect had strict ranks. Qi Refining Stage disciples had to bow when they encountered cultivators at the Foundation Establishment Realm or above.

"Mm. Has Senior Brother Zhou still not returned?" Murong Xiaoxiao nodded and asked with a frown.

"No." Shi Yue shook his head.

Hearing this, Murong Xiaoxiao looked disappointed. Then she seemed to remember something and gave Shi Yue a careful once-over before asking, "Besides watching over Senior Brother Zhou's cave abode, what else do you have to do?"

"Water the Spirit Fields?" Shi Yue answered honestly.

"Water them? So you know how to grow things?" Murong Xiaoxiao's eyes lit up, and she asked with hopeful anticipation.

"I know a little," Shi Yue said, forcing himself to answer. A sense of foreboding stirred in his heart.

"Wonderful! I've run into a problem with the Spirit Herbs I'm growing. Come take a look. If you can solve it, I'll reward you generously." Murong Xiaoxiao said, delighted.

Hearing this, Shi Yue's mouth twitched and a troubled look appeared on his face. He wanted to slap himself twice. How could he possibly know how to grow Spirit Herbs? When he'd had problems growing Condensing Smoke Grass and Blazing Sun Grass, he'd only managed to solve them by consulting Uncle-Master Zhou Hong's books.

"What? You don't want to go? Or do you actually know nothing about growing plants and lied to me?" Murong Xiaoxiao saw his expression, and her face darkened as she asked coldly.

Hearing this, Shi Yue was at a loss. If he said he didn't want to go, he would surely offend Martial Aunt Murong. If he said he didn't know how to grow plants, he would be deceiving an elder—a far greater offense.

"Of course not. It's just that I don't have much experience growing Spirit Herbs, and I'm afraid I won't be able to cure yours." Shi Yue thought it over briefly and explained cautiously.

"We won't know if you can cure them until you've looked. Since Senior Brother Zhou trusted you to watch over his cave abode, you must have some ability. Don't make excuses. Come with me." With that, Murong Xiaoxiao summoned her Lotus Magic Tool and stepped onto it.

"Ability? It's clearly because Uncle-Master Zhou offered too little reward and no one wanted the job. That's why it fell to me." Hearing this, Shi Yue's mouth twitched as he thought to himself.

After hearing what Murong Xiaoxiao had said, Shi Yue had no choice but to summon his Leaf Magic Tool and step onto it.

Before long, Shi Yue followed Murong Xiaoxiao to a broad valley.

A stone stele about one zhang tall stood outside the valley, with the three silver characters "Peach Blossom Valley" carved into it.

Inside the valley, a vast expanse of White Mist drifted, obscuring what lay within. A faint floral fragrance filled the air, as if many flowers and plants grew there.

"Stay close to me. If you trigger a restriction, we'll be in trouble," Murong Xiaoxiao reminded Shi Yue.

"Understood." Shi Yue nodded.

Murong Xiaoxiao produced a white Square Token with a flip of her hand and waved it lightly toward the valley. A streak of white light flew out and disappeared into the mist.

The mist roiled and churned, then dispersed, revealing a vast expanse of peach blossoms before Shi Yue's eyes.

The Peach Blossom Forest was so dense that its far end was nowhere in sight. Wherever Murong Xiaoxiao walked, the peach trees parted of their own accord to make way. Once Shi Yue passed through, they slid back into place, as if someone were controlling them.

Half a quarter of an hour later, the two of them emerged from the Peach Blossom Forest, and an ornately decorated courtyard came into view.

The courtyard covered a vast area, with pavilions, towers, gardens, and covered walkways scattered throughout.

Shi Yue stared, dumbstruck. He drew a deep breath and was surprised to find the Heaven and Earth Spiritual Energy here even denser than at Uncle-Master Zhou's residence.

Martial Aunt Murong had succeeded in Foundation Establishment at such a young age. Her cave abode was not only lavishly decorated but also spacious. She must have powerful backing.

Thinking of this, Shi Yue's expression grew solemn. Someone of such noble birth was not someone he could afford to offend.

Led by Murong Xiaoxiao, Shi Yue walked along one covered walkway after another, passed three small courtyards, and crossed five circular bridges built of white marble before finally reaching their destination: a vast Spirit Field.

Shi Yue estimated that this Spirit Field covered at least ten mu.

The Spirit Field was divided into three sections by the kinds of Spirit Herbs growing in them. On the left was a large patch of Green Small Grass, about a chi tall, covered by an enormous transparent light screen. In the middle was a large patch of blue flowers, each several cun long, covered by an enormous Blue Light Screen. On the right was a patch of golden flowers, most of which had withered.

It looked like the golden flowers were the problem.

"Junior Nephew Shi, the Golden Luo Flowers started withering for no apparent reason a month ago. Take a look and figure out what's going on. If you cure them, I'll reward you generously." Murong Xiaoxiao pointed to the golden flowers and explained.

Shi Yue nodded and walked toward them.

He came to a withered Golden Luo Flower and crouched down. He noticed bite marks on its surface.

Seven or eight black beetles, each about the size of a fingernail, flew brazenly past Shi Yue and landed on a Golden Luo Flower, tearing into it. Before long, they had eaten one of its petals.

Shi Yue circled the Spirit Field where the Golden Luo Flowers were planted and found bite marks on many of them.

He returned to Murong Xiaoxiao and, after a moment's thought, asked, "Martial Aunt Murong, is this Golden Luo Flower field usually left without protective formations?"

"Not at all. Apart from when I'm watering them, they're protected by formations." Murong Xiaoxiao shook her head and replied.

"I looked closely. The Golden Luo Flowers all have bite marks, and there are lots of black beetles in the Spirit Field. I'd guess they flew in while you had the formations down to water the plants," Shi Yue analyzed.

"I know those black beetles are to blame, but can you do anything about them? They're too small, and some even burrow into the soil. I can't kill them all. Junior Nephew Shi, do you have a way to solve this?" Murong Xiaoxiao nodded and asked with a frown.

"I have a kind of spirit insect that might be able to deal with these black beetles." Shi Yue hesitated, then spoke haltingly.

To be honest, Shi Yue wasn't sure whether the Spirit Devouring Bees could deal with the black beetles.

"Oh, wonderful! Hurry and release your spirit insects so we can try them out." Murong Xiaoxiao's eyes lit up, and she urged him on.

Shi Yue nodded and slipped his right hand into his robe. But just then, he remembered something: he didn't have a Spirit Beast Bag. He usually kept the Spirit Devouring Bees in the Mysterious Space.

He couldn't enter the Mysterious Space in front of Murong Xiaoxiao, let alone take out the Blue Pearl. Otherwise, the secret of the Blue Pearl would be exposed, and that was the last thing Shi Yue wanted.

"What's wrong? Don't tell me you didn't bring your Spirit Beast Bag!" Murong Xiaoxiao furrowed her brows, displeased.

"Uh, that's right. I left it at Uncle-Master Zhou's cave abode." Shi Yue nodded, feeling guilty.