Mortal: Fairy Song Yu has issued you a task.

Chapter 97 Golden-Winged Bees

On the mountainside of Tianquan Peak, at a stone platform amidst pine forests on sheer cliffs.

Lin Jingchu retracted the Azure Wing Boat and landed on the platform, immediately triggering the restriction. The moss-covered mountain wall in front of him silently cracked open, revealing a deep passage behind it.

Lin Jingchu straightened his robes and stepped inside. Elder Feng was already seated in the main seat, waiting.

"Disciple Lin Jingchu greets Master. Congratulations on Master's completion of seclusion."

Elder Feng nodded slightly, his gaze sweeping over him, his tone carrying a hint of understanding: "What task have you come to ask for this time?"

My disciple is indeed respectful of his teacher, but his respect is a bit peculiar. Every time he comes, he always insists on being given some simple "tasks". I don't know what kind of quirk it is.

Lin Jingchu chuckled and stepped forward: "Master, you are wise. During this trip, I hope to find something of value for the sect."

"Oh?" Elder Feng picked up the spiritual tea beside him, took a sip, and gestured for him to continue.

Lin Jingchu patted the spirit beast pouch at his waist, and a delicate little black iron cage landed on the table in front of Elder Feng.

Inside the cage, a golden bee, about the size of a fist, seemed startled, buzzing and flapping its wings as it fiercely rammed against the cage wall.

"This is a Golden-Winged Bee, which I obtained by killing a cultivator during my travels. This bee is ferocious by nature and enjoys eating flesh and blood. However, it has another wonderful property: it can collect pollen from certain spiritual flowers to make honey."

Lin Jingchu paused slightly before continuing, "This honey contains a unique spiritual essence, with a neutral and gentle spiritual power. It can be used as a medicinal guide for various pills and can also slightly improve the success rate and quality of the pills."

This golden-winged bee was obtained from that black-faced cultivator and was ranked over five hundredth on the "List of Strange Insects".

Its worker bees had already been exhausted in the secret realm, but the queen bee and some of the bee eggs were still in Lin Jingchu's hands.

It was unclear when the Queen Ant of the Heavenly Crystals would be completely tamed, and the royal jelly he had collected would eventually run out. So Lin Jingchu wondered if he could use honey as a substitute.

However, the "List of Amazing Insects" only records characteristics and does not provide methods for cultivation, and planting and maintaining the corresponding flower fields is also a troublesome matter.

Why not leverage the sect's resources to cultivate the industry, so that in the future you only need to spend spirit stones to buy royal jelly?

Elder Feng was indeed intrigued after listening to Lin Jingchu's account. He put down his teacup, picked up the iron cage, and carefully examined the restless queen bee inside.

The queen bee was not to be outdone, gnawing at the iron cage and making a creaking sound. Unfortunately, this was a specially made iron cage by Lin Jingchu, and after several bites, it didn't even leave a white mark.

"If what you say is true, this bee is indeed a good benefit to the sect." Elder Feng shifted his gaze from the queen bee to his disciple's face. "However, such a ferocious insect will probably not be easy to cultivate."

Lin Jingchu nodded: "Master is wise. This bee was branded by that tribulation cultivator from a young age and fed with his essence blood, making it difficult for it to recognize a new master. It can only be treated as a wild bee. We need to find a suitable environment to induce it to reproduce and produce honey naturally, which will require a lot of effort."

As he spoke, Lin Jingchu handed over a jade slip, "This is a record I collected about the characteristics and habits of the Golden-winged Bee, which may be of reference."

Elder Feng took the jade slip, scanned it with his divine sense, and glanced at it briefly. "The sect doesn't need to use it against enemies; simply utilizing its honey-making nature isn't too difficult. I will inform the peak to arrange manpower and resources to try breeding it. Since this bee was offered by you, if it succeeds, half of the future profits can be given to you."

Lin Jingchu was overjoyed upon hearing this. He had expected some ordinary reward, but his master was so generous, directly promising long-term benefits. He immediately bowed and thanked him, "Thank you, Master!"

Elder Feng's hand, which was stroking his beard, paused slightly...

In the days that followed, Lin Jingchu returned to his regular cultivation routine, occasionally "receiving" tasks from Elder Feng or Song Yu. As for taking care of the insect eggs and feeding the queen ant, he left it to the puppet.

Two months have passed in the blink of an eye, and the aroma of tea still wafts through the Bamboo Valley Cave.

Song Yu looked at the tiger-headed puppet pouring tea into his cup and smiled, "Junior brother always says I'm idle, but you're even better at shirking your responsibilities, even having the puppet do the pouring and serving of tea."

"I originally intended to forge a few for my senior sister as well, but since she doesn't like them, then forget it." Lin Jingchu, sitting opposite, smiled and waved his hand.

The tiger-headed puppet then made a soft clicking sound and retreated to the side in a measured manner.

Song Yu immediately replied, "Yes! Of course I want one. But he must be handsome; I won't take one who isn't."

She picked up her teacup, took a small sip, and turned her gaze to Lin Jingchu, her tone carrying a hint of emotion and a subtle, almost imperceptible undertone:

"Junior Brother's progress in cultivating the Great Evolution Technique is rapid; he has already begun the second level. Junior Brother's talent is truly astonishing."

Who is truly the genius that the sect has only seen once every few centuries? He held his breath and secluded himself for several months to perfect the first level of cultivation, only to find upon emerging that the other party had already begun cultivating the second level.

Lin Jingchu laughed and said, "Senior sister, you flatter me. I am only slightly better in terms of spiritual sense. How can I compare to your talent?"

Song Yu glanced at him lightly, then turned her gaze to the Heavenly Crystal Ant Queen crawling all over the tea table.

The woman seemed to have an innate weakness for such shiny little things. This wasn't the first time she'd seen them, but she always couldn't resist teasing and admiring them each time.

The amethyst-like queen ant appeared even more translucent against her fair palm. Although unwilling, the queen ant was quite obedient under the suppression transmitted by Lin Jingchu through the restriction.

Just as Song Yu lightly touched the ant queen's carapace with his fingertip, a sound transmission talisman flew into the cave.

Lin Jingchu scanned the area with his divine sense, then turned to Song Yu and said, "Senior Sister, the first batch of honey from the Golden-Winged Bees has been successfully harvested."

Upon hearing this, Song Yu carefully placed the Heavenly Crystal Ant Queen back on the tea table and asked curiously, "Is this the kind of spirit bee you mentioned that you offered to the sect? Is it really done?"

"Whether it succeeds or not, we'll find out by going together."

The two boarded the Azure Winged Boat and soon flew to a newly opened valley behind Tianquan Peak.

There used to be a small medicinal herb garden here, but it has now been expanded into a whole flower field.

Apart from the few wooden houses and stone chambers in the center of the valley, several kinds of spiritual flowers favored by golden-winged bees, such as "Ink Jade Orchid", are planted throughout the valley.

These spiritual flowers are all varieties with long flowering periods specially selected by the sect, which is why they were able to grow to such a large scale so quickly.

If Lin Jingchu were to rely on his own efforts, he probably wouldn't achieve anything even in a year. This is the advantage of having a sect to rely on.

The two landed in front of the stone houses, where several golden-winged worker bees were busily going in and out of the specially opened windows. These stone houses were the beehives.

Sensing the presence of a stranger, several golden-winged bees buzzed and prepared to pounce. Lin Jingchu flicked his sleeve, and a layer of pale yellow dust enveloped himself and Song Yu.

This is a specially made bee-repelling dust that bees dislike. As long as you don't provoke them, it won't trigger an attack.

A Qi Refining disciple who was busy nearby noticed the two and quickly went to greet them, respectfully handing them a small jade bottle: "Uncle Lin, Uncle Song."

Lin Jingchu took the jade bottle, and with a slight channeling of his magic, a drop of thick, amber-colored honey, shimmering with spiritual light, was drawn out, suspended in the air, emitting a unique fragrance.

Then, under Song Yu's curious gaze, the Heavenly Crystal Ant Queen flew out of Lin Jingchu's spirit beast pouch on its own, circling around the drop of golden royal jelly, looking somewhat hesitant.

After Lin Jingchu conveyed his clear intention through the restriction, he waited patiently. The Heavenly Crystal Ant Queen finally approached and reluctantly inhaled the drop of royal jelly.

Lin Jingchu smiled – Success! This honey is ready to use!

Song Yu was also delighted for him: "In this way, you will have no worries about cultivating the Heavenly Crystal Ant Queen. However..."

She looked at the golden-winged bees that still exuded a fierce aura even while collecting nectar, and instructed the Qi Refining disciple, "These bees are ferocious, so you must be extra careful when taking care of them."

"Thank you for your concern, Uncle-Master." The disciple bowed and said, "The sect has issued strict regulations, and we are all equipped with special protective measures and bee-repelling drugs. We will definitely act with caution."

The two exchanged a few more words with the disciple in charge of the area, and then strolled around the valley admiring the lush flower field.

Just as Luoyun Sect was busy developing new industries, Panlong Perilous Beach was far away in Yuanwu Kingdom.

With a splash, a disheveled red figure broke through the water and leaped onto the mudflats.

This man, dressed in tattered red robes with a sinister expression, was one of the Foundation Establishment disciples who had followed the Core Formation cultivator from the Demon Flame Sect into the secret realm.

While being chased by a level-four demonic beast, he panicked and stumbled upon a secret realm exit, which allowed him to escape by sheer luck.

"Finally... out!" The sinister man panted heavily, his face still showing shock, but more so a mixture of fear and relief.

Without daring to rest for long, he determined the direction, immediately mounted his magical artifact, and sped towards the Demon Flame Sect's main altar, eager to report the true situation within the secret realm to his sect as soon as possible.

In the past few months, the Demon Flame Sect and the Spirit Control Sect have clashed several times over this matter. If it weren't for the difference in strength between the two sides, they would have almost come to blows.

The fact that the Yuling Sect claimed that the anomaly in the secret realm had nothing to do with them was hard for the Demon Flame Sect, which had suffered heavy losses, to believe.

Liu Yu and the others from the Yu Ling Sect were equally unlucky, having been repeatedly interrogated after returning to the sect. If it weren't for the fact that the man surnamed He had some connections within the sect, their situation would likely have been even more difficult.

Liu Yu was even more surprised and uncertain. She had not expected that the seemingly insignificant "uncle and nephew" would have such ability to wipe out the entire Demon Flame Sect team led by a Core Formation cultivator.

She became increasingly curious about the identities and origins of the two men.