23: Chapter 23 Do you have the ability?!

The Bear Demon family hadn't quite processed what happened. Flower tightly hugged the two bear cubs, her round eyes blinking repeatedly.

"G-Great King, this way."

Too excited to celebrate, he quickly bowed and led the way. He only knew that his family would live.

Inside the valley was a massive, sturdy tree. Its crown was lush, and there was a naturally formed hole in the trunk, which appeared to be where the Bear Demon family lived.

The Bear Demon led Su Mo around the giant tree, revealing a massive flower field, neatly divided by intricate cobblestone paths.

A towering beehive stood in the center of the flower field. Sweet honey continuously flowed from a small hole in its middle, dripping into a stone-lined pool in front of it.

The pool wasn't large, only about the size of Su Mo's palm, and it was filled with clear, golden-yellow honey.

"Great King, this is the Spirit Honey produced by the Spirit Bees."

Su Mo dipped a finger into the honey and tasted it, his eyes immediately lighting up.

The Spirit Honey melted instantly in his mouth, sweet but not cloying, carrying a faint floral scent. It contained a significant amount of Spiritual Power, equivalent to several Spiritual Fruits.

"Not bad, not bad~"

Su Mo nodded in satisfaction, and incidentally let Hearts Eye and Su Su down from his head.

"Is there only this much honey? What about Royal Jelly?"

The Bear Demon scratched his head and said somewhat sheepishly:

"Great King, one pool of honey can be produced per month."

"But the production of Royal Jelly is extremely low, only one small jar per month."

"A few days ago, when the Huoxin Demon King held the Immortal Food Gathering, all the reserves were used up."

"Huoxin... Demon King..."

Su Mo frowned:

"All used up, not a single bit left?"

The Bear Demon hesitated for a moment, whispered something into Flower's ear. Flower nodded and turned to run into the tree hole.

When she came out, she was carefully holding a palm-sized jar.

The Bear Demon took it and placed it in Su Mo's palm.

"Sir, I secretly saved this for my two sons to eat."

Su Mo looked at the tiny jar, no bigger than a sesame seed, in his hand, then at the Bear Demon's reluctant expression, and suddenly found it amusing.

"Old Bear, from now on, just give me one jar of Royal Jelly every two months. You can eat the rest."

He casually tossed the small jar into his mouth. As his tongue swirled, the sweet and rich flavor exploded in his mouth, and Su Mo's tail involuntarily began to wag.

As expected of Royal Jelly, not only was it sweeter than ordinary honey, but the nutrition in this small jar was comparable to a Late Stage Tier Two Yao Beast.

Su Mo licked the corner of his mouth, still wanting more:

"I wish there was a little more..."

"Great King!"

The Bear Demon wore a troubled expression, looking like he wanted to speak but couldn't.

"What is it?"

"Great King... one jar of this Royal Jelly must be offered to the Huoxin Demon King every month..."

"Even if I tried to secretly save some, I couldn't keep much."

Su Mo waved his hand, stirring up a gust of wind.

"No matter. I will go and meet this Huoxin Demon King later."

He had heard the Leopard Demon say that the Huoxin Demon King was also a Fox Demon, and he wanted to see how other Fox Demons differed from himself.

"Woo woo~"

Su Su smelled the sweet scent, trotted over, climbed to the edge of the honey pool, and licked some. A bright light flashed in her eyes, and she excitedly ran to Su Mo's feet.

"Hmm? What do you want white porridge for?"

Su Mo was a little confused, but he still asked the Bear Demon for a jar.

The Bear Demon's innate ability was Earth Manipulation, so making a jar was simple.

Su Su held the jar filled with white porridge in her mouth, wobbling step by step toward the honey pool to scoop up some honey.

Su Mo understood immediately when he saw this and laughed:

"This little fellow certainly knows how to eat."

After the honey in the pool was shared by the two foxes and the one deer, Flower brought some transparent thin slices.

"Great King, this is a Sugar Biscuit made from honey. Every time the honey pool is filled, my wife bakes the excess honey into Sugar Biscuits. They are easy to store and also very tasty."

Su Mo took the Sugar Biscuit. The sugar slice, thin as a cicada's wing, was crystal clear under the sunlight. He tossed it into his mouth, and his eyes immediately lit up.

It was crispy and delicious, with a faint floral scent, possessing a unique flavor distinct from liquid honey.

It was a good thing he hadn't eaten the Bear Demon; otherwise, it would truly have been killing the goose that lays the golden eggs.

"Give me some to eat!"

A clear voice rang out. The voice was unfamiliar, seemingly belonging to a young maiden.

Su Mo followed the sound and looked down, only to see Hearts Eye looking up at him.

"Hearts Eye? You can talk now?"

"Hurry up and give me a slice, and smear some white porridge on top."

Hearts Eye urged.

"You've advanced to Tier Three!"

Su Mo thought back, realizing the timing was indeed about right.

A few days ago, after Hearts Eye drank Old Turtle's Spirit Wine, she was only one step away from Breakthrough to Tier Three. Now, having eaten so much honey rich in Spiritual Power, it was a natural progression.

"Also, the name Hearts Eye doesn't sound good at all. From now on, please call me Blue Heart."

Su Mo was stunned for a moment:

"Blue Heart? The name you chose isn't great either. Hearts Eye sounds better."

Blue Heart pouted, snatched the Sugar Biscuit smeared with white porridge, took a big bite, and mumbled:

"Mind your own business!"

"Fine, fine."

Su Mo looked toward Su Su again. He hadn't observed her closely for a few days, but the little fellow was now roughly the size of an adult fox, and the bulge at the base of her tail had grown considerably.

"I wonder when Su Su will be able to Advance to Tier Two."

"It should be soon. After all, the little fellow has been eating well these past few days—Tier Three Peak meat, Spiritual Fruits, honey—all good stuff."

...After nearly clearing out the Bear Demon family's reserves, the group departed under the Bear Demon's reluctant gaze.

Su Mo made a few leaps and arrived at the mountain forest not far from the Bear Demon's home.

The Monkey Demon mentioned by the Leopard Demon lived here. There were many fruit trees in this forest, but unfortunately, none of them were Spiritual Fruits, so eating them was useless.

Su Mo's arrival startled many Low Tier Monkey Demons, who ran in one direction. Judging by the moisture in the air, there should be a water source there, and the Monkey Demon's lair must be nearby.

Licking his dry lips, Su Mo remembered the taste of Old Turtle's Spirit Wine.

"I wonder what this monkey wine tastes like..."

Su Mo chased in the direction the monkey troop fled. Soon, he heard the sound of rushing water, and a waterfall plunging hundreds of meters came into view.

Dozens of Monkey Demons were running up the stone steps on the cliff face toward the cave behind the waterfall.

"Water Curtain Cave?!"

"Damn! A Great Sage Equal to Heaven isn't going to jump out of there, is he!"

As if answering Su Mo's question, shortly after the Monkey Demons entered, a figure leaped out of the cave, passing through the waterfall and appearing before him.

"Where did this Fox Demon come from? Did you come to your Monkey Grandpa's place to seek death?"

Hearing this, Su Mo's eyelids twitched. He immediately reached out, ignoring the Monkey Demon's pleas, twisted its neck, and tossed it into his mouth.

"You want to imitate the Great Sage Sun? Do you have the damn strength for that?!"

When he was human before, eating monkeys might have bothered him.

But now that he was a fox, he ate them one bite at a time—crunchy, with a chicken-like flavor.

The Tier Three Peak Monkey King was dead. The rest were monkeys below Tier Three, hiding in the cave and refusing to come out.

The monkey wine should be in the cave. Su Mo didn't want to rip open the cave and destroy the monkey wine in the process.

And so...