23: Emperor Bee

The Azurewave carried the Lin Family members, eager to return home, cutting through the dark green waves as it sailed towards Azure Wave Island.

Inside the cabin, Lin Feng sat cross-legged, seemingly meditating, but his thoughts had long since flown back to the mist-shrouded world of Black Reef Island.

The prosperity of Huangsha Market and the Family's predicament intertwined in his heart, further solidifying his resolve to develop discreetly and accumulate strength.

Several days later, Azure Wave Island was in sight.

Lin Feng handed over hisGarrison mission (garrison duty), politely declined Lin Jianghe's request for him to stay, and only briefly stopped to visit his parents.

Seeing his mother's increasingly obvious pregnant belly and his father's relieved smile, he left the ordinary Spirit Medicine he had carefully selected in the market, which could strengthen the Foundation and cultivate the origin, along with dozens of Spirit Stones, before quietly boarding the dilapidated Lin Family flying boat and setting off again towards the isolated Black Reef Island overseas.

When the jagged black reef outline once again appeared menacingly in the mist, a strange sense of belonging actually arose in Lin Feng's heart.

Although this place was barren and desolate, it was the Foundation of his long life Dao.

Returning to the stone house, he activated the Water Mist Maze Formation and the Dust Repelling Array, isolating the inside from the outside. Lin Feng immediately went to the Spiritual Field behind the house.

In the ten-acre Spiritual Field, the fire pattern peppers were as red as flames, the jade marrow mushrooms were as warm and smooth as jade, the frigid mist grass leaves had ice patterns flowing, the crimson flame jujube pear trees were lush with branches and leaves, and the Azure Jade Spirit Peach Trees were even laden with heavy, Spiritual Qi-filled fruits, emitting an enticing fragrance.

In the central area, the crimson flame jujube pear tree, which had been cultivated with twenty points of Divine Power, had a main trunk as thick as an arm, with faint fire patterns visible on its reddish bark, full of vitality.

Lin Feng took out the Jade Emperor Beehive he had acquired at the auction.

The beehive was shaped like an inverted jade bell, warm to the touch, and through its translucent walls, one could vaguely see dense bee shadows and a Jade Emperor Bee Queen, noticeably larger, entirely ice-blue, and emitting a faint chill.

Following the instructions in the Jade Slip of the 《Bee Control Art》, he bit his fingertip, forced out a drop of essence blood, mixed with a faint Divine Sense imprint, and carefully infused it into the Jade Emperor Bee Queen's body.

The Jade Emperor Bee Queen trembled slightly, a hint of confusion flashing in her ice-blue compound eyes, and then a faint but clear connection was established with Lin Feng.

Through this connection, Lin Feng could vaguely perceive the Jade Emperor Bee Queen's simple emotions and the restlessness of the entire bee colony—they desperately needed a habitat rich in Spiritual Qi and abundant in flowers.

“This is it.” Lin Feng's gaze fell upon the tallest crimson flame jujube pear tree. Although the jujube pear tree had not yet bloomed, the rich fire-wood Spiritual Qi it contained was inherently highly attractive to the Jade Emperor Bees, which feed on nectar and contain ice-spirit Qi, and the opposing yet complementary attributes might even promote a mutation?

He carefully placed the Jade Emperor Beehive in the bifurcation of the thickest branch of the jujube pear tree and set up a small protective Restriction around the hive with Spiritual Power to prevent accidental falls.

After settling the beehive, Lin Feng took out the second-tier Spiritual Plants he had purchased at the market: azure thunder bamboo saplings, thunder pattern grass seeds, and azure edge sword grass seeds.

He carefully planted the azure thunder bamboo saplings on the other side of the Spiritual Field, far from other Spiritual Plants, to prevent their contained thunder power from harming other things. The thunder pattern grass and azure edge sword grass seeds were scattered in the reserved empty space.

Finally, he specifically set aside half an acre of land to sow the most common first-tier hemostatic grass, Qi Gathering grass, and other Spiritual Plant seeds brought from the Family. These were for the “surface” output prepared for the Family's offerings and needed to maintain a “normal” growth cycle.

After all this, Lin Feng unhesitatingly activated the Divine Power he had recovered today.

“Rain Prayer!”

Divine Power -1!

Dense green cloud Qi gathered, and the Spiritual Liquid sweet dew, full of creation and vitality, once again sprinkled over the ten-acre Spiritual Field.

A miracle unfolded before his eyes: the newly sown seeds quickly broke through the soil and sprouted; the azure thunder bamboo saplings visibly grew taller, and the electrical arcs on their tender leaves became more active; the thunder pattern grass unfurled its purple leaves, with thunder patterns faintly visible; and the tender shoots of the azure edge sword grass were straight as swords, with their sharpness just beginning to show.

What surprised Lin Feng the most was that the first-tier mid-grade Azure Jade Spirit Peach Tree, under the nourishment of the sweet dew, had all its peach blossoms bloom simultaneously in an instant! The pinkish-white flowers layered one upon another, like clouds falling on the branches, and a rich floral fragrance mixed with pure Yi Wood Spiritual Qi permeated the air!

Almost at the moment the peach blossoms bloomed, a soft “buzz” sound came from the Jade Emperor Beehive placed on the crimson flame jujube pear tree! Hundreds of Jade Emperor Bees, with entirely jade-white bodies and tail stingers gleaming with icy blue light, surged out of the beehive as if given a charge command, eagerly rushing towards the pinkish-white sea of flowers!

They gracefully flitted through the flowers, greedily absorbing nectar, their busy figures forming a vibrant scene.

“It really works!” Lin Feng's eyes flashed with brilliance. Although the crimson flame jujube pear tree had not yet bloomed, the blooming of the azure jade spiritual peach blossoms was enough to temporarily satisfy the bee colony's needs! The possibility of his conjecture about “jade emperor nectar” greatly increased!

As long as he performed Rain Prayer again tomorrow to ripen the crimson flame jujube pear tree to bloom… the jujube pear flower nectar containing fire spirit essence, combined with the Jade Emperor Bee Queen's ice spirit Qi, was very likely to produce even more precious jade emperor nectar! Although the quantity would certainly be extremely small, its value was incomparable to ordinary jade emperor honey!

The next day, his Divine Power was fully restored. Lin Feng, filled with anticipation, once again performed Rain Prayer.

Divine Power -1!

The green sweet dew sprinkled, and the ten-acre Spiritual Field became even more vibrant.

The crimson flame jujube pear tree, obtained at great cost, under the impetus of abundant vitality, rapidly formed countless crimson flower buds on its branches, which then bloomed as fervently as flames! The crimson flowers adorned the verdant branches and leaves, emitting a unique exotic fragrance that blended sweetness and fire, intertwining with the fresh scent of the azure jade peach blossoms next to them, refreshing the heart.

The Jade Emperor Bee colony, which had been waiting for a long time, boiled over again!

Some continued to labor among the peach blossoms, while others, as if they had discovered an unparalleled treasure, frantically surged towards the crimson jujube pear flower sea. Especially the ice-blue Jade Emperor Bee Queen herself, she even personally left the hive and landed on the largest jujube pear flower, gently tapping her abdomen to absorb the nectar containing fire spirit essence.

Lin Feng held his breath, his Divine Sense carefully perceiving.

He could “see” that after the Jade Emperor Bee Queen absorbed the jujube pear flower nectar, the ice-blue Spiritual Power within her body seemed to become more active and condensed, and extremely faint traces of a unique energy containing the essence of fire, wood, and ice elements were slowly being secreted by her and integrated into the depths of the beehive. Although the quantity was negligible, that pure and unique energy fluctuation was the characteristic of jade emperor nectar!

“It's done!” Lin Feng was ecstatic. Although the quantity was small, as long as he continued to ripen and bloom, under the principle of continuous flow, small amounts would accumulate into large ones!

This would be an even harder currency than Spirit Stones, and an unparalleled aid for him to Break through his Bottleneck and nourish his Divine Sense!

...