Lead by Yuanen Yehui, Sheng Feilong and Huang Jialong ran through the forest at top speed, carrying the Crystal Spirit Bee"s hive in their arms as it was too big to fit into one of their s.p.a.cial Rings.Yuanen Yehui had scouted the way for them before, leading them forward without a problem, while the frenzied Soul Beasts in the distance were fighting among themselves, roaring and screeching as more and more bursts of Soul Power exploded out from their direction.
Half an hour later, Sheng Feilong and the others finally came to a rest, hiding by the side of a mossy cliff, barely five or six metres high. Sheng Feilong and Huang Jialong carefully put the bee hive down, still sealing it up with their Soul Power to stop the sweet aroma from wafting out.
All of them were breathing heavily, their hearts pounding like crazy. They looked at each others ecstatic expressions, filled with adrenaline and suddenly burst out laughing as all the pressure got washed away. "We really did it!"
"This is so ridiculous!" Yuanen Yehui couldn"t help from blurting out. She stared at Sheng Feilong with a equally disbelieving and excited expression. "You"re crazy! How did you get that Blazing Timber Turtle to attack the others?"
Sheng Feilong faintly smiled, then spoke with a smug tone. "Apparently, it doesn"t like being insulted by Dreadclaw Bears, especially not when its told to go hide in its sh.e.l.l lest it gets killed for coveting what belongs to the Dreadclaw Bear. The "Blazing" part of its name doesn"t only refer to its fire element, but also its temperament, as seen when the "other beasts" chimed in on the insults."
"You really know how to infuriate others!" Huang Jialong could hold back his laughter and blurted out. The others also started to laugh again, before Huang Jialong opened his mouth again after a while. "Anyways, what do we do with the hive now?"
The others got more serious as well. All of them were aware that it was too big to fit into any of their s.p.a.cial Rings. Sheng Feilong turned to Yuanen Yehui before speaking up. "Can we cut it up and store it?"
"It"s more like a jug holding the nectar. Cutting it up would just cause it all to spill out." Yuanen Yehui shook her head, also not really knowing how to proceed now. Huang Jialong came up with an unusual idea a few moments later. "What if we just take the nectar?"
The other two turned towards him with questioningly gazes, waiting for him to explain what he meant. "We don"t need the hive itself. So what if one of us empties out their s.p.a.cial Ring and we pour all of the nectar in it instead?"
Sheng Feilong turned back to Yuanen Yehui as she knew the most about the Crystal Spirit Bee"s hive. The latter nodded her head with a thoughtful expression. "That should work. If we only take the nectar, we can save a lot of s.p.a.ce."
Her answer cased the other two to smile, after which Sheng Feilong asked another question. "So, who"s got the biggest s.p.a.cial Ring?" They checked their s.p.a.cial Rings" sizes, learning that Huang Jialong"s was, in fact, the most s.p.a.cious one.
The latter began emptying out his s.p.a.cial Ring, giving his provisions and other stuff to Sheng Feilong for safekeeping. Yuanen Yehui also took a few of his things, once Sheng Feilong"s s.p.a.cial Ring was getting rather full.
Afterwards, Sheng Feilong took one of his shortswords out of his s.p.a.cial Ring and fuelled his Soul Power into it to sharpen the edge. Huang Jialong was already standing ready when Yuanen Yehui tilted the hive to the side. With one swift slash, Sheng Feilong cut off the top part of the hive, causing the nectar to flow out, which Huang Jialong quickly rerouted into his s.p.a.cial Ring.
Their plan worked perfectly and Huang Jialong managed to catch all of the nectar and transfer it into his s.p.a.cial ring. Yuanen Yehui and Sheng Feilong were carefully tilting the hive so that a constant amount of nectar was flowing out. Sheng Feilong couldn"t stop the nectar"s aroma from wafting out of the hive, though.
"Oh, this smell... It is the honey!" A rumbling voice echoed through the forest, originating from somewhere near to where Sheng Feilong and the others were, causing a cold shiver to run down their spines.
Huang Jialong and Sheng Feilong spotted the origin of the voice near immediately, the latter grabbing the hive harshly with one hand and Yuanen Yehui"s shoulder with the other as he jumped away from the mossy cliff, the former jumping back even before Sheng Feilong, causing some of the Crystal Spirit Bee nectar to drop to the ground.
The looked up the cliff, only to see no one standing there, but froze completely not even a second later. Their hearts started pounding much more violently than compared to when they just escaped the Soul Beasts and their spit got stuck in their throats.
Amidst the five to six metres tall cliff, a gigantic eye, about the size of an adults upper body, had opened up, tiredly staring at the three of them with a hint of eagerness in its depths. However, this eagerness slowly vanished, turning into confusion upon inspecting Sheng Feilong and the others closely. "Brothers, why do you have the honey? Where are my brethren?"
The voice echoed through the forest, causing Sheng Feilong"s and the others" ears to ring from the sheer volume of it as the supposed cliff slowly rose from the ground, revealing it as what it truly is;A humongous head, full of mossy green fur. Two ma.s.sive, bull-like horns protruded from the sides of the head – two horns which Sheng Feilong previously thought to be tree roots on the ground.
Sheng Feilong"s face paled as he recognized just who this humongous head belonged to; Green fur and two bull-like horns – These were the traits of the sovereign of this territory inside the Great Star Dou Forest, the 100.000-years-old Bull-Horned Green Bear!
With another cold shiver running down his spine, Sheng Feilong"s head whipped around to the pale faced Huang Jialong and Yuanen Yehui, shouting on top of his lungs. "Run!" He pushed the Crystal Spirit Bee"s hive away, madly dashing away from the breast, fleeing towards the north with Huang Jialong and Yuanen Yehui running behind him.
For a moment, the Bull-Horned Green Bear seemed surprised, then looked at the Crystal Spirit Bee"s hive with a confused expression. By now, the hive was already 95 percent empty, leaving just a little splash of nectar behind in the lowest part of the hive. The tiredness in the Soul Beast"s eyes vanished without a trace, replaced by an unadulterated fury as its ma.s.sive body lifted itself up from the ground.
Standing on all four legs, the green furred head that Sheng Feilong believed to be a mossy cliff and the nearly 30 metres tall, lush green hill beyond it were now standing amidst the trees, as the Soul Beast released an unG.o.dly roar, speaking in a tone that Sheng Feilong and the others understood. It"s voice echoed through the whole forest, causing all of the Soul Beasts at the gathering spot, kilometres away from their position, to instantly quiet down. "Brother! They have stolen our honey!"
Within seconds dozens of furious roars from Soul Beasts all around the forest echoed back while the 100.000-years-old Bull-Horned Green Bear started frenziedly chasing Sheng Feilong and the others, its every step causing the ground to quake as it knocked down tree after tree, leaving a trail of destruction behind it.
Sheng Feilong, Huang Jialong and Yuanen Yehui were running at breakneck speed, fleeing for their lives with the humongous Soul Beast chasing after them. Sheng Feilong suddenly turned around, grabbing Yuanen Yehui by the shoulder and dragging her to the side, causing her to trip, while he himself barely managed to block the frenzied strike of a seven metres tall brown bear type Soul Beast.
He groaned from the impact and Yuanen Yehui"s eyes widened when she recognized the Soul Beast as a 1.000-years-old Dreadclaw Bear. Sheng Feilong"s Soul Power exploded out of him, forcing the Dreadclaw Bear back, while he jumped away, back to Yuanen Yehui"s side, grabbing her by her arm once more before dragging her along while he fled. "Don"t stop! Run!"
Over an hour pa.s.sed with the three of them fleeing towards the north, dodging and breaking through the blockages of stray Soul Beasts alike, all the while the frenzied Bull-Horned Green Bear was high on their heels, constantly roaring in rage again and again. After a while, they came across a clearing with only a few spa.r.s.e trees standing here and their.
Still, Sheng Feilong and the others didn"t have the time to rest, instead diving into the forest beyond the clearing. Just as they were about to step back into the forest, another unG.o.dly roar came from the front, radiating just as much – if not even more – power than the Bull-Horned Green Bears.
The three, comparatively weak humans, stopped in their tracks, expressions of despair on their faces as a gigantic feline Soul Beast with a crimson mane stepped out of the forest, viciously staring at the Bull-Horned Green Bear that came rushing at them from behind. "Bull-Horned Green Bear! You dare step upon my King"s lands?!"
The crimson-maned lion roared in anger, causing the air around it to explode in waves from the power behind its voice. Another roar came from the back; A frenzied tone, filled to the brim with anger, and belonging to the 100.000-years-old Bull-Horned Green Bear. "They have stolen my brother"s honey!"
The Bull-Horned Green Bear stepped into the clearing, displaying its towering body in full view for Sheng Feilong and the others for the first time. It didn"t back down from the crimson-maned lion in the slightest, causing the latter to roar once more in displeasure.
A surreal amount of energy burst out of the lion"s body, causing the temperature in the surrounding area to spike by more than a few hundred degrees, causing Sheng Feilong and the others to have to shield themselves with all of their Soul Power, while the tree around them and the gra.s.s beneath their feet started to burn and incinerate.