"Either way, we will find out once we find his remains." Huang Jialong glanced at Sheng Feilong and Yuanen Yehui, then continued to look around in the forest. "For now, we should keep moving. We"re inside the territory of the Bull-Horned Green Bear. While it"s not aggressive per se, it"s protective of it"s territory."The 100.000-years-old Bull-Horned Green Bear was one of the first Soul Beast Song Weihan and She Meixiao had warned them about. Though not aggressive, it"s known to drive out anyone who dares to disturb its territory, killing those that refuse to leave, be they human or Soul Beast.
"He"s right; Master said its not that intelligent and even less patient. If it notices us, we"ll be in a lot of trouble." Sheng Feilong said with a serious expression. Moments later the three of them continued on on their way.
However, Sheng Feilong and Huang Jialong still couldn"t help but feel weirded out by the strange change in the area"s origin energy; The farther through they travelled through the Bull-Horned Green Bear"s territory and into the forest of red leafed trees, the stronger the fire element in the origin energy became.
A few more kilometres in was enough for Yuanen Yehui to feel the change in the origin energy as well, causing her to look as confused as Sheng Feilong and Huang Jialong. By the time the sun began to set, the three of them had left the Bull-Horned Green Bear"s territory, entering a quasi-neutral zone between two 100.000-years-old Soul Beats" territories.
They had been carefully avoiding any Soul Beasts they encountered on their journey, while also making sure to cover up their own trail, using their own Soul Power to seal off their own scent; A technique She Meixiao taught them to avoid dangers as the senses of Soul Beasts were much superior to humans".
"We"ll have to set camp soon. The less of the night we stay active, the better." Sheng Feilong said shortly after the sun set. Their vision would be heavily restricted during the night while many dangerous Soul Beasts were active during that time; Especially those more malicious ones and poisonous ones like spiders and small predators.
They found a relatively save spot in the middle of the forest, set up camp and made sure that at least one of them was awake at all times to watch their surroundings. Luckily for them, the night pa.s.sed in peace, with nothing out of the ordinary or dangerous happening.
The next day, they made their way through the neutral territory, still travelling into the same direction as on the previous day. A few hours pa.s.sed with Sheng Feilong and the others still avoiding as many Soul Beasts as possible. After being forced to kill another, relatively weak 1.000-years-old Soul Beast, Sheng Feilong frowned. "There"s more and more Soul Beast appearing here and they"re completely crazed for some reason."
"Something must be up." Huang Jialong said, causing Yuanen Yehui to nod while she continued. "All those Soul Beasts, they"re of different species. They shouldn"t be bunched up so close together... Usually, each kind of them should have their own, small territory somewhere around the area."
They were about to continued to talk, but Sheng Feilong hushed them and told them to hide behind a tall tree. Yuanen Yehui and Huang Jialong quickly did as he told them and, following Sheng Feilong"s example, suppressed their aura to not be discovered.
A few moments later, another batch of Soul Beasts could be seen roaming around between the tree, heading eastward, as did the beasts they encountered before. The Soul Beasts noticed their dead brethren in the vicinity, but only glanced at them before continuing.
Once they were out of sight, Sheng Feilong and the others came out of their hiding spots, the former with a deep frown on his face. "They even ignored the dead Soul Beasts?" All of the Soul beasts that just wandered off were carnivores; With no other predator in sight, they should have feasted upon the weak Soul Beasts Sheng Feilong and the others just killed.
Huang Jialong crouched down next to the dead Soul Beast, examining it briefly before shaking his head lightly. "There"s nothing wrong with it; No apparent illness or something similar, it wasn"t injured before, nor sick and killed off cleanly." In his opinion, there was no reason for the previous Soul Beasts to ignore such an easy meal.
"...I think we should follow them." Yuanen Yehui said after a short silence. The other two turned to her, thinking she might have some more insights into the matter, which caused her to shrug. "It"s just a hunch. As we"ve said, something must be up. And all of them seem to head east."
"I think we shouldn"t." Huang Jialong said with a thoughtful expression and a frown on his face. He looked at Yuanen Yehui, then continued. "We don"t know where they"re headed, nor how many or how strong the ones that are there will be. We might land in a death trap."
Yuanen Yehui hesitated for a moment, agreeing that what Huang Jialong said made sense. Both of them looked at Sheng Feilong, waiting for him to make a decision. The latter stayed silent for a while, using his Spirit Power to probe for anything in the far east. "...I agree with Yehui. Something"s up, and I want to know what. The Soul Beasts don"t act normal."
Huang Jialong frowned lightly, though he still nodded his head. "Alright. But we gotta be careful." Yuanen Yehui and Sheng Feilong agreed, before the latter spoke up again. "Let"s not wait; we don"t know when or if another batch will appear. I"ve already locked on to the previous Soul Beasts."
With a respectable distance between themselves and the Soul Beasts, Sheng Feilong and the others tailed them, Sheng Feilong keeping his Spirit Power locked on to them without them noticing. The Soul Beasts headed towards the east, not bothering with the groups of other Soul Beasts they met on the way. Every beast was peaceful, heading towards the same direction as if in trance.
Over an hour later, they still hadn"t reached their destination, causing Sheng Feilong and the others to frown. However, a few moments later, Sheng Feilong"s expression turned weird. "Do you guys smell that? It"s... sweet?"
A strange aroma lingered in the air, not really fragrant, but strong enough for Sheng Feilong and the others to discern it as a weird sweetness. The Soul Beasts seemed to have smelled it as well, speeding up as they continued to headed further east, into the direction of the smell.
A little while later, they came to a halt, joining a crowd made up of tens – if not hundreds – of other Soul Beasts; 100-years-old Soul Beasts and 1.000-years-old Soul Beasts made up the most of the crowd, while Sheng Feilong could even spot a number of powerful 10.000-years-old Soul Beasts.
He carefully activated his second and third Soul Skills, Mental Detection and Mental Amplification, while making sure to not leak any Soul Power. With his now enhanced Spirit Power and perception, he carefully spread it over the crowd and beyond them to find out what was going on.
"...A beehive?" Sheng Feilong couldn"t help but mutter at the strange sight, causing Huang Jialong and Yuanen Yehui to look at him curiously. "There"s a huge, light-blue beehive hanging from the cliff. It"s at least 7 or 8 metres tall. The beasts seem to wait for something, all of them staring at the hive with impatience."
"Light-blue? Can you describe it in more detail? Does it look like its reflecting the sunlight ever so slightly?" Yuanen Yehui pitched in with a surprised expression. At her question, Sheng Feilong inspected the beehive more closely, nodding his head at her after seeing that it indeed reflected light, like it was sparkling on its own.
"That"s a Crystal Spirit Bee"s hive!" Yuanen Yehui"s eyes widened as she exclaimed in a bout of excitement. "You said it"s 7 or 8 metres tall? Are you sure?" Once again, Sheng Feilong nodded, though unsure why she was so excited.
His answer caused Yuanen Yehui to look even more feverish. "One of that size, that means- wait, there"s no bees around it, is there?" Sheng Feilong tilted his head, but still answered. "No. Only the crowd of Soul Beasts."
"This- Incredible! The hive"s about to fall off; Abandoned. That"s why all these Soul Beasts came here." Yuanen Yehui spoke with a huge smile on her face, excitement glimmering in her eyes. Sheng Feilong and Huang Jialong glanced at each other before the latter spoke up. "What"s so great about that?"
"The Crystal Spirit Bee Queen resides in those huge hives. Normal bees only have a lifespan of about a hundred years, while the queen bee can become a 100.000-years-old Soul Beast like an other. The size of the hive means it"s at least a 10.000-years-old Queen"s hive." Yuanen Yehui said, slowly calming down.
Sheng Feilong and Huang Jialong still looked as confused as before, their looks beckoning for her to continue. "If the Queen abandons the hive, the normal bees follow her. However, they leave the nectar behind. Normally, it"s encased into the hive, but it"s seep out over time, making the hive less resilient. Once all of it has seeped out into the chambers of the hive, the hive will slowly die."
Yuanen Yehui stared at the two of them, her excitement once again flaring up. "That"s what"s happening there; The hive"s dying and about to fall off." Sheng Feilong finally couldn"t help it any more. "And? Why do all the Soul Beast come here, then?"
Yuanen Yehui smiled in response. "The Crystal Spirit Bee"s nectar condenses into honey. That honey, while germinating in the hive"s chambers, becomes a Soul Treasure of the highest quality. A spoonful of 10.000-years-old Crystal Spirit Honey is worth more than a regular 100.000-years-old Soul Treasure, and even more potent in terms of of cultivation a.s.sistance."