Cultivation begins with ice harvesters

Chapter 134: The Queen Bee

The damage caused by spirit bee venom to a cultivator's body is not a one-time fatal event, but a slow accumulation that only truly erupts when it exceeds the body's tolerance limit.

As a qualified cultivator, as long as one refines some antidote pills in time afterward and uses magical power to alleviate the damage caused by bee venom during the Great Circulation, the harm is not a concern.

Under Tong Bingfeng's high-frequency and frenzied counterattacks, the remaining hundred or so guard bees fell dead one by one, and their numbers decreased at a visible rate.

After a short while, when Tong Bingfeng's eyes were so swollen from the bee venom that he could barely open them, the last guardian bee fell on the water-controlling fork, and this meticulously planned battle finally came to an end.

"These guardian bees are really troublesome. Even with all my strength, I still ended up with a pig's head. Ouch."

After the battle, Tong Bingfeng felt the fist-sized bumps all over his body, especially his head, which was completely swollen and deformed, making him gasp in horror.

After refining a first-grade superior antidote pill, a cool sensation gently caressed the bumps caused by the poison needle's erosion, slightly relieving the pain.

Tong Bingfeng mobilized the magical power in his dantian, using it as a guide to pull out the remaining poison needles from some of the more critically located poisonous nodules.

This buffer time was obviously limited. Fifteen minutes later, Tong Bingfeng immediately strode towards the location of the beehive.

At this moment, the worker bees, startled, scattered in a panic and had not yet returned to the hive. The guard bees were almost all killed or injured, leaving only a few old, weak, sick, and disabled bees in the hive who could not fly for various reasons. Naturally, they were powerless to stop the approaching clutches of evil.

In no time, Tong Bingfeng slapped away the old, weak, sick, and disabled bees that were trying to resist and barely manage to fly, and then used his water-controlling fork to open the entire hive.

Instantly, the unique fragrance of the honey filled the area within several feet. Apart from some eggs that were still hatching and young bees that were growing, the queen bee, who was only the size of a fist, covered in fat, and had only a pair of tiny wings, was extremely conspicuous. She could barely move and could only wriggle.

"Queen Bee, where are you going?"

Upon seeing the queen bee, a strange excitement appeared on his face, which was already swollen and deformed from the bee venom.

With swift movements of his hands, enveloped in a layer of rich, pure water-attribute magic, he decisively wrapped the queen bee in layers of magic.

The moment the queen bee loses her freedom, she naturally struggles desperately, constantly releasing bursts of pheromones, but after losing the protection of the hive, all her efforts are destined to be in vain.

The layer of water-attribute magic that Tong Bingfeng wrapped around his hands served two purposes: firstly, to provide necessary mental comfort to the queen bee, and secondly, to prevent her from being injured during her struggles.

The queen bee herself has no fighting ability; her only task is to lay eggs and nurture the bee colony. Although her body is nourished by honey, it is still relatively weak. Once she suffers substantial damage, the difficulty and cost of repairing it are extremely high.

"Little fellow, why struggle here? Although I am ugly now, it is because of the bee venom. My heart is still kind. With my protection in the future, you will no longer have to worry about other cultivators causing trouble."

"You just need to open your mind and let me leave a small spiritual imprint. In the future, I will only collect some spiritual honey without affecting the reproduction of the spirit bee colony."

Tong Bingfeng proactively released an unprecedentedly gentle kindness, trying his best to soothe the queen bee in his hands. At the same time, he actively covered her with his pure water-attribute magic power, providing necessary support to the queen bee so that she could relax effectively.

Although the queen bee does not possess combat power, since she is able to lead and control a colony, her intelligence is naturally superior to that of ordinary monsters.

Under Tong Bingfeng's reassurance, and considering their current desperate situation with no way to retreat, they finally relaxed their mental defenses, allowing the cultivator to control a tiny, weak spiritual imprint on them.

The moment the brand was applied, a certain resonance occurred between Tong Bingfeng and the Queen Bee. As the cultivator's divine sense was invested into it, he could even take the Queen Bee's perspective to survey the area, creating an unprecedented and wondrous sensation.

"Queen Bee, quickly summon the worker bees back to the hive, stabilize the colony's emotions, breed guard bees as soon as possible, and rebuild the colony's three-dimensional defense system."

With the mental imprint locked, the roles between the two parties were naturally determined, and Tong Bingfeng immediately issued the first effective command.

The sooner the bee colony recovers, the more normal the honey production can return to. Worker bees are the most basic and indispensable members of a bee colony, so they naturally need to return to their positions as soon as possible.

Worker bees returning to the hive is not difficult when there is a queen bee. As long as the appropriate pheromones are left behind, the worker bees will be soothed and return to the hive immediately.

As for the guard bees that have been completely slaughtered, there is no other way but for the queen bee to start laying eggs and raising them from scratch until they grow up. With the support of sufficient honey, the first round of guard bee raising can be completed in about a month.

During this period, with Tong Bingfeng, a Qi Refining Level 8 cultivator, acting as a guardian, the hive's safety could be guaranteed as long as no Foundation Establishment cultivator intervened.

The recovery of the bee colony can only be accomplished by the queen bee, whose attention has already shifted to the rich and sweet honey in the hive.

The honey in the hive was originally more than enough to feed the entire colony, but now that most of the colony has died, there is naturally some surplus honey that can be taken away.

These spiritual honeys are not only delicious, but also contain pure spiritual energy. After cultivators refine them, they can not only help with their cultivation advancement, but the pleasure of advancing in level brought by their delicious taste is also irreplaceable.

"This honey is the first generous reward after harvesting the queen bee. The honey in the hive is sufficient to maintain the normal operation of the bee colony."

Tong Bingfeng took out several specially made jade bottles and, with the help of his magic, extracted drops of pure spiritual honey from the honeycomb.

The golden honey exudes a unique and refreshing sweet aroma that invigorates the spirit and eliminates fatigue from the cultivator's body with its immediate effect.

After collecting five bottles of spirit honey, Tong Bingfeng estimated the amount of remaining spirit honey before putting the beehive back in place. The withered tree, which had been cut in two, was naturally stitched back together with his magic.

To ensure the secrecy and safety of the hive, Tong Bingfeng also made certain arrangements around the dead tree, successively forming layers of soil, rocks, and ice to create effective defense and cover without affecting the safety of the hive.

He had absolutely no intention of moving the hive. If such a treasure were to appear in Honglan Market, it would surely attract waves of onlookers. Rather than going through all that trouble, it would be better to place the hive here and move it later once he had a foothold.

"There's a beehive here; perhaps we could try developing it?"