A flash of white blade-light flickered past. Ran Yuming brought his hand down, cutting the entire hive free in one stroke. After removing the larvae, eggs, and other inedible parts, he stowed the rest away.
He hadn't wasted the discarded parts of the hive, either. He'd collected them in containers as well.
They would be counting on them when it was time to hunt a Soul Ring for Little Luo Heng. And as for the twenty bottles of Royal Jelly they'd just collected, how could they waste such a precious resource?
After gathering everything up, Ran Yuming didn't linger.
The folded wings of the Level Seven Flying Soul Tool on his back spread open. He touched his toes to the ground, and two blue jets of flame burst from the wings, propelling him rapidly into the sky.
"..."
Ran Yuming's figure grew smaller and smaller, soon disappearing into the distance.
The Blood Flame Bees that had ruled the treetops had suffered utter devastation. Even their entire hive had been carried off, leaving only the thousand-year-old tree standing firm where it had always stood.
A breeze passed through, rustling the leaves before they drifted gracefully down.
They covered the hundreds of Blood Flame Bee corpses below. As time passed, the bodies would become nourishment for the ancient tree.
Every gift had its price.
In years past, the ancient tree had sheltered them from wind and rain and hidden them from their natural enemies.
Now it was their turn to repay the thousand-year-old tree. The arrival of the human Soul Master had merely sped up the process.
It would have happened the same way even without a human Soul Master.
Scenes like this played out in the forest every day.
Falling leaves buried all the corpses.
Peace and tranquility returned to the area around the ancient tree. No one could have guessed that a slaughter had just taken place there.
Meanwhile.
With Blood Flame Bee honey in hand, Ran Yuming finally met up with Su Luoheng.
Ran Yuming wore a broad smile. It was obvious he'd returned with a full haul.
Though he'd said not to worry, Su Luoheng had still grown anxious after he'd been gone so long.
Luckily, everything had gone smoothly...
Now that his teacher had returned safe and sound, Su Luoheng could finally let out the breath he'd been holding.
With the Blood Flame Bee honey secured, the master and disciple could finally begin planning for his Second Soul Ring.
But Ran Yuming wasn't in a hurry. Before anything else, he wanted Su Luoheng to take the Royal Jelly they'd collected.
It was the concentrated essence of a thousand-year Blood Flame Bee King. Taking it would greatly benefit a human Soul Engineer, improving his Soul Power, physical strength, and more.
Most importantly, it could strengthen a Soul Master's constitution!
Put more simply, it could raise the limit of the Soul Ring a Soul Master could absorb. For example, if your body could originally withstand a five-hundred-year Soul Ring, Royal Jelly might raise that limit to seven hundred years.
Of course, that was just an example. The actual increase depended on the Soul Master: those with weaker constitutions could gain relatively more, while those with stronger constitutions gained less. The stronger your constitution, the harder it was to improve. In this respect, its effects were rather like pills that increased Soul Power.
Overall, Royal Jelly worked much like Whale Rubber, which was formed by whales in the sea.
The thousand-year Blood Flame Bee Royal Jelly Ran Yuming had was a little less potent than thousand-year Whale Rubber, but both were treasures worth a fortune. And in terms of rarity, they were on par.
That was why he'd been so careful while collecting it. Every drop was money...
Now that they had the Royal Jelly, Ran Yuming naturally wanted Su Luoheng to take it first. This was the time to build a foundation. In general, the higher the Soul Ring's level, the more it would benefit a Soul Master's future. Since they had the chance, they naturally had to raise Su Luoheng's Second Soul Ring to his limit.
It took Su Luoheng half a day to absorb the Royal Jelly.
After taking a bottle and a half, he could already feel that he'd reached his personal limit.
Ran Yuming was clearly surprised.
By his estimate, his disciple should have needed at least three bottles to reach his limit.
In reality, he'd used only half the amount Ran Yuming had expected.
So he examined the matter closely.
He discovered that this thousand-year Royal Jelly was remarkably effective—so much so that it didn't seem like something from a thousand-year Soul Beast.
But the thousand-year Blood Flame Bee King had been killed by his own hand, and there was no way to investigate further. He could only chalk it up to the Blood Flame Bee's unique nature.
Ran Yuming tested Su Luoheng's physical strength.
An ordinary Soul Master could withstand a Second Soul Ring of a little over seven hundred years. Su Luoheng's limit was now probably over nine hundred years, though certainly still under a thousand.
That was because a thousand-year Soul Ring and a hundred-year Soul Ring belonged to different ranks.
Even a nine-hundred-and-ninety-nine-year Soul Ring was still quite different from a true thousand-year Soul Ring.
After improving Su Luoheng's constitution, Ran Yuming and Su Luoheng wasted no more time.
They headed to the southeastern part of the Jingyang Mountain Range, where reports had recorded the greatest number of Red Gold Bears.
They hadn't encountered any there before...
But this time was different. With Blood Flame Bee honey, nothing would be a problem.
The master and disciple found a relatively open area where it would be easy to surround their prey. Then they began setting out the pieces of hive they'd stripped away as bait, hoping to lure a Red Gold Bear into a trap. To increase their chances, Ran Yuming even drizzled a little honey over the abandoned hive.
This time, both master and disciple were full of confidence!
If this didn't lure a Red Gold Bear in, they might as well give up...
Perhaps they simply weren't meant to find one.
And just as they'd expected, the Blood Flame Bee honey worked like a charm. This time, the results were immediate.
In less than half a day, a Red Gold Bear took the bait!
But this one was too young, only five or six hundred years old—outside the range for Su Luoheng's Second Soul Ring.
So before it could even approach, the master and disciple drove it away.
Soul Masters generally didn't kill Soul Beasts that hadn't started a conflict with them. As time went on, more and more Soul Masters had realized that Soul Beasts were gradually disappearing. If things continued this way, with the number of Soul Masters growing, Soul Beasts would eventually become extinct.
And once that happened, Soul Masters would soon follow in their footsteps without Soul Rings to strengthen them.
So most Soul Masters tried to kill as few Soul Beasts as possible.
Of course, if a Soul Beast went looking for trouble, there was no need to hold back. Thinking about the future came after meeting one's own needs and ensuring one's safety. You had to eat your fill before you could spare a thought for anything else.
Just like with the Blood Flame Bee hive earlier.
Both Ran Yuming and Su Junran had taught him that. Their lessons were much the same, so Su Luoheng followed this principle in his conduct as well.
The first Red Gold Bear hadn't been old enough, but the master and disciple weren't discouraged. If anything, they were a little excited.
The reason was simple.
The bear's appearance was proof enough that the Blood Flame Bee honey worked. It was indeed a powerful lure for Red Gold Bears, capable of drawing them in.
In other words, their plan was viable!
All they had to do was keep waiting here. Sooner or later, a suitable Red Gold Bear would walk right into their trap.
This was no small thing...
The master and disciple had spent nearly half a month in the Jingyang Mountain Range. At last, they could see a real chance of finding a suitable Second Soul Ring!
It was only natural that their emotions ran high.
Time passed slowly.
Before they knew it, another day and night had gone by.
The Blood Flame Bee honey had begun to turn things around, and at last, fortune smiled on them.
In that time, a total of five Red Gold Bears had been lured there one after another, but none of them were within the range Su Luoheng needed.
Still, the master and disciple weren't worried.
Things were different now.
They could keep waiting, even stay another half a month if they wanted.
They'd found a way to hunt Soul Beasts, so finding a suitable Red Gold Bear was only a matter of time. Their waiting now meant something, unlike before, when it had all been a waste.
At last, perseverance paid off.
On the third day of using the Blood Flame Bee honey, another Red Gold Bear followed the scent and lumbered into the trap.
Judging by its height and build, Ran Yuming estimated that it was over nine hundred years old—right within Su Luoheng's range.
But Ran Yuming didn't rush to act.
Before long, the Red Gold Bear was less than a hundred paces from the hive.
When it saw the bait laid out on the ground, greed and longing appeared in its dark-red eyes. It seemed Blood Flame Bee honey really did have an irresistible allure for them.
Chapter 56: Hundred Years? A Thousand!
After looking around to make sure the area was safe, it bent down and began licking the hive on the ground. At first, it stayed somewhat wary, its eyes darting from side to side as its back and limbs remained tense, ready to counterattack or flee at the first sign of danger.
But the delicious honey soon made it forget all about caution.
Before long, it was lying right on the ground, gulping down the hive.
The entire scene was watched from cover by Su Luoheng and his teacher, Ran Yuming.
This was the perfect moment to strike!
"Teacher, leave it to me!" Su Luoheng's eyes gleamed as he tensed with anticipation. His slender right hand was already gripping the hilt of his sword.
"Go ahead. Don't hold back. I'll cover you."
Ran Yuming gave a slight nod. The moment had come.
With his teacher's permission, Su Luoheng leapt out from cover without hesitation, channeling Soul Power into his sword as he unleashed a fierce slash!
His very first strike was a thunderbolt.
By the time the Red Gold Bear sensed danger, the sharp blade of light was already right in front of it.
Still caught in the act of eating, the Red Gold Bear seemed stunned. But the instant it sensed danger, its body instinctively tried to dodge.
Its quick reaction saved it from a fatal blow, but a chunk of flesh was still sliced from its left shoulder.
Crimson blood poured out at once.
"ROAR—"
The Red Gold Bear bellowed in pain, its huge body twisting and trembling violently.
Its furious gaze snapped toward the source of the attack. When it saw that the attacker was a tiny human, surprise and disbelief flashed across its face. It had never imagined that such a scrawny, short Soul Master would dare challenge it—or even wound it!
Being challenged by a weakling only made it angrier!
In that instant, the Red Gold Bear flew into a full-blown rage. It reared up, roared at the sky, and glared furiously at Su Luoheng. It wouldn't be satisfied until it had crushed him to pulp!
"ROAR—"
Its furious roar shook the air.
The Red Gold Bear charged toward Su Luoheng on its thick, heavy legs, radiating a murderous aura. Its massive body sent the ground trembling beneath it as it barreled forward in a rolling cloud of dust, its momentum magnificent and fearsome.
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