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*Shennong, the legendary "Divine Farmer" and father of Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM), is renowned for tasting hundreds of herbs to identify their medicinal properties, often risking his life to cure his people. Legend holds that he had a transparent body, allowing him to monitor the effects of herbs.
Ling Qingxue's face darkened.
"I was asking if your spiritual power is strong enough to withstand the venom of the Poisonous Soul Bee Queen..."
Wu Liang scratched his head. "Of course! It's just a little bee. I can stand here and let it sting me without any problem. My 'Damage Reduction' and reflected damage skills will be more than enough to give it a hard time."
"Hurry up and attack! The Poisonous Soul Bee Queen is out!"
The ordinary Poisonous Soul Bees inside the hive all bypassed Wu Liang, unable to withstand the terrifying devouring force from the center of the domain.
Only some Poisonous Soul Bees at the Fourth Rank or higher dared to hover in front of Wu Liang and Ling Qingxue to block their way.
Behind them, the Poisonous Soul Bee Queen, several times larger than ordinary Poisonous Soul Bees, flew out, its Fifth Rank mid-stage aura dissipating into the air.
Wu Liang smiled faintly. "Tsk tsk, only Fifth Rank mid-stage? I thought it was something special. This little guy's ugly as hell."
Even without activating his bloodline divine skill, he could already fight ordinary Fifth Rank mid-stage magical beasts. This Poisonous Soul Bee Queen was no match for him.
"It's up to you. You'd better kill it quickly. Don't let it escape."
Wu Liang smirked. "Three minutes!"
With a sudden flap of his phoenix wings, Wu Liang shot forward like a black streak of light, instantly blasting away two Fourth Rank Poisonous Soul Bees, their fates unknown.
The Poisonous Soul Bee Queen's brown compound eyes stared intently at Wu Liang, and a sharp stinger emerged from its abdomen.
A claw-like light slashed down, the 'Fiery Dragon Claw' whistling through the air like a dragon's roar.
Buzz!
Its transparent wings vibrated rapidly as the Poisonous Soul Bee burst forth faster than Wu Liang, raising its abdominal stinger to stab him.
Wu Liang swung his claw again, but it was easily dodged.
"Hiss, this little thing is really agile, like a tiny electric motor!"
Wu Liang stopped trying to reason with it and instantly activated the 'Spatial Lock'.
Several spatial chains descended, locking the Poisonous Soul Bee Queen in mid-air. It struggled desperately but found it couldn't budge an inch, finally letting out sharp hisses to express its fury.
Wu Liang raised his claw and unleashed 'Ink Annihilation Dragon Strike', his dark dragon horns slamming into the Poisonous Soul Bee Queen's head.
This strike instantly shattered its head into a pulp.
Wu Liang swallowed it whole, then began to devour the other Fourth Rank Poisonous Soul Bees.
Ling Qingxue gathered the power of the five elements into her fist, and a deafening strike slammed upwards, shattering the entire hive. All the Poisonous Soul Bees were thrown into chaos.
The Sky-Sealing Formation began to slowly shrink towards the hive, finally trapping all the Poisonous Soul Bees in a small corner, where Wu Liang swallowed them all.
Everyone cheered, their eyes filled with joy, even forgetting the large, swollen welts covering their bodies.
"That was so satisfying! I almost got hyped! Is the venom of these Poisonous Soul Bees some kind of stimulant? I feel like I could take on ten right now!"
"I could take on a hundred! I just killed at least three hundred Poisonous Soul Bees!"
"Damn, you guys are really bragging. I killed five hundred Poisonous Soul Bees, and I'm not bragging! Those lying on the ground are all from my kills!"
Beiming Yan rubbed the large welts on her face, sighing repeatedly.
"Qingxue, is this stuff really not poisonous? We're covered in stings!"
Ling Qingxue smiled slightly. "Don't worry, it's not poisonous. It's just that the Spiritual Resistance Potion interacts with the bee venom, causing a temporary feeling of excitement. It will return to normal by tomorrow. Now, everyone, clean up this island. We'll use this as our base from now on!"
Wu Liang began devouring all the slain Poisonous Soul Bees on the ground, his evolution value and attributes rapidly increasing.
The others worked together to destroy the beehive.
The beehive occupied too much space, severely hindering their movement. Since there was a lake nearby, dismantling the beehive and throwing it into the water would quickly finish the job.
Zhou Weiwei was also helping when her hand accidentally came into contact with the sticky substance inside the beehive.
She cautiously smelled it; it had a slightly sweet fragrance.
"Brother Ma, is this honey?"
Ma Rendong examined it carefully, even dipping his finger in and tasting it. A sweet flavor filled his mouth.
"With my expertise as a descendant of a family of physicians, this is honey. And since the Poisonous Soul Bee is a magical beast, the honey it produces seems to enhance spiritual power. This is definitely a good thing!"
Upon hearing this, the group immediately broke off a small piece and began to wolf it down.
A thing that enhances spiritual power—they certainly couldn't let this good thing pass them by!
Zhou Weiwei couldn't resist the temptation either and tasted a little. Instantly, a cool sensation spread through her mind, making her feel light and airy, as if her feet were stepping on cotton.
When Ling Qingxue and the others arrived, they saw the group staggering around like they'd eaten undercooked mushrooms, some even clinging to rocks and calling out "Grandma!"
"Grandma, it's me, Xiaoze! Why aren't you smiling when you see me? Grandma, why are you so cold? It's snowing! Let's go have a snowball fight!"
"Grandpa, don't take that medicine! It's expired. You'll die if you take it. I brought you honey, have some!"
Ma Rendong was lying on the ground, crying with snot and tears streaming down his face, constantly stuffing honey into the ground. Everyone who saw him called him a filial grandson.
Zhou Weiwei was clinging to Qin Hongyan, calling him "Dad."
Beiming Yan's lips twitched. "This honey is poisonous too??"
"It's mildly toxic. Eating it directly will cause hallucinations. It needs to be roasted over a fire to remove the side effects. After eating it, it can slightly enhance spiritual power," Ling Qingxue explained.
"The Ma family really does sell fake medicine. They don't even know that Poisonous Soul Bee honey is slightly toxic..."
The group tied them up with rope to prevent them from accidentally falling into the lake and drowning.
After three or four hours of grogginess, Ma Rendong and the others finally woke up, their faces flushed with shame.
"Hey guys, don't tell anyone. You can have a laugh, but leave us some face."
"Hey, isn't this Brother Ma? He was just kneeling on the ground letting his grandpa eat some honey, so filial."
Ma Rendong's face turned bright red.
"Ingesting poison is perfectly normal for a family of traditional Chinese medicine practitioners like mine. My Ma family embodies the spirit of Shennong* tasting hundreds of herbs. I can tell if honey is poisonous just by tasting it!
Besides, frequent poisoning allows the body to develop resistance. It's a unique cultivation method of my family!"
"Dude, you're really stubborn!"
After this little incident, the group finally cleaned up the island before evening.
They dumped all the clutter on the island into the lake and set up camping tents.
Someone even brought out a barbecue grill.
Qin Hongyan chuckled awkwardly. "I stayed up late cultivating last night, so maybe this barbecue will help me stay alert. We had a great time working together today, so let's celebrate with some barbecue. Tomorrow, we can go hunt beasts for training!"
As he spoke, he pulled out various barbecue seasonings, showing great thoughtfulness.
"I think we should keep a low profile. I seriously suspect Instructor Feng is secretly watching us. If he sees us having such a comfortable time, he'll probably try to put a damper on us!"
"Right, right, I heard Instructor Feng has truly inherited Director Han's skills. He comes up with all sorts of ideas on the spot. We need to put some pressure on ourselves, otherwise we'll definitely be targeted!"