Chapter 7: Black Armored Bee (Part 1)

After issuing a warning, the Dark-Winged Demon Scorpion quickly retreated, stopping only beside the Giant Nesting Dragon, clearly uneasy. Nurtured within the altar, it had reached level 10, retaining its original size but with a darker shell surface. Glowing runes flickered on it, occasionally emitting deep blue lights that made it appear extremely terrifying.
The Giant Nesting Dragon had also reached level 12. Though it had originally been the highest-ranked, it was now one level below the Ancient Flame Sparrow due to Qi Wu Zhen’s intervention. Seeing the Dark-Winged Demon Scorpion retreat, it too became uneasy—indicating that the mutated rune beasts ahead must be formidable.
Qi Wu Zhen sat lazily on the Giant Nesting Dragon’s back. Already knowing what was coming, she said, “Don’t worry. You all can handle it.”
Guo Shier asked, “What is it?”
Qi Wu Zhen smiled and said, “You’ll see it soon…”
Several mutated Iron-Clad Bullen rushed out of the forest at levels 7 or 8. Guo Shier wondered, “Iron-Clad Bullen? They’re not very impressive… Huh, a level 9 Silver Leopard… a level 10 Blood Dragon… Damn, where did so many mutated rune beasts come from…” All sorts of mutated rune beasts charged toward them.
Eagle Demon said, “That’s wrong. They’re not coming for us… They’re fleeing!”
At that moment, Guo Shier’s soul trembled slightly—a sense of unease, instinctive. It wasn’t that he saw danger, but his soul sensed some threat and instinctively issued a warning.
Guo Shier quickly recalled the Giant Nesting Dragon, Ancient Flame Sparrow, Dark-Winged Demon Scorpion, and Blade Shadow Mantis. These were all his treasures. From the start, he hadn’t intended to sacrifice them and had kept them in beast runes and insect runes. The moment he sensed something wrong, he would retrieve them immediately.
Everyone sat down on their respective altars. Only Qi Wu Zhen’s figure flashed slightly as she stepped onto Guo Shier’s altar.
Buzzing…
A faint vibrating sound came through, gradually growing louder. Guo Shier said, “It seems like the vibration of wings.”
A dark mass rose from afar in the forest and rushed swiftly toward Guo Shier and the others. Guo Shier asked in confusion, “What is that?”
Qi Wu Zhen chuckled, “What else could it be… Mutated rune insects! Hehe.”
When Guo Shier saw what it was, he screamed in terror, “Run!” Out of habit, he tried to escape danger, completely forgetting that there was a super-skilled expert right beside him.

Countless black beetles flew over, at least a hundred thousand in number, each with a strength of level seven to eight, including some large beetles at level ten or higher. Guo Shier recognized what kind of beetles they were—ranked fourth on the Secret Insect List, they were called Black Armor Bees, a very precious type of secret insect.

When mature, Black Armor Bees reached the size of an adult; if they reached level nine, their length could reach three meters. They had a slender shape, with their wings folded under their black armor. When flying, the two pieces of black armor would rise and their wings would extend, emitting a buzzing vibration.

From time to time, groups of Black Armor Bees would descend before taking off again. With each descent, one mutated talisman beast disappeared from the ground. Guo Shier drove his altar at full speed to escape. Glancing back, he said, “Damn it! How did I run into such terrifying things? There are at least a hundred thousand Black Armor Bees!”

Qi Wu Zhen replied, “It’s not just a hundred thousand. This is a large swarm—I estimate over three hundred thousand. Hehe, if we get surrounded by them, it’ll be terrible…” she said in a threatening tone.

Guo Shier was well aware of the danger posed by talisman insects. Having dealt with them before, he knew exactly how formidable mutated talisman insects could be. He himself owned two rare insects from the Secret Insect List, making him an expert among professionals in handling insects. Hearing this, he accelerated his escape even more on his altar.

Qi Wu Zhen giggled and said, “The souls of Black Armor Bees are quite good, especially those in groups. If you could obtain the souls of tens of thousands of them as sacrifices, hehe, your altar would be truly unique.”

Guo Shier, who was usually calm, replied, “No matter how good something is, you need a life to use it. I wouldn’t dare fight against so many Black Armor Bees… It’s not worth it if I lose my life but don’t get their souls!”

The Eagle Demon’s altar shone with golden light, appearing to be made of gold—something Guo Shier had never seen before. It was a single-layer altar with a strange shape: a narrow triangle, resembling the tip of a sword. At first glance, it might have been mistaken for the broken front end of a giant sword. Such an unusual-shaped altar was rarely chosen by professionals.

The runes on the altar were either golden or silver, standing out sharply. The Eagle Demon’s altar was extremely fast, moving like a sword slicing through the sky. With a flash of golden light, it would fly far away, on par with Guo Shier’s altar.

This time, the Eagle Demon truly experienced the advantages of a pure attribute altar and seemed quite excited.

Luo Zhan and Nan You, however, were much slower. They simply went to the Eagle Demon’s altar. Initially, they planned to use Guo Shier’s altar, but seeing Qi Wu Zhen sitting on it, they both chose the Eagle Demon’s altar instead.

In just over ten minutes, the Black-Plated Bees began to close in. After all, the altar moved at an extremely fast speed, and the Black-Plated Bees couldn’t keep up. Moreover, their target wasn’t Guo Shier and the others but those mutated and aberrant talisman beasts on the ground—those massive creatures were their food. In comparison, Guo Shier and his group were far too insignificant; if given to them, they wouldn’t even qualify as snacks.

Guo Shier said, “I hate swarms of insects.”

Qi Wu Zhen smiled and said, “These are great creatures. It’s a shame I can’t use them.”

Guo Shier shook his head. “I can’t defeat them… uh…” Then he remembered that although he couldn’t defeat them, Qi Wu Zhen might be able to defeat the Black-Plated Bees. She was an extremely skilled master with abnormally powerful strength.

Qi Wu Zhen said playfully, “Hey! Why are you staring at me?”

Guo Shier grinned and said, “Sister Zhen, you go fight them… There should be no problem, right?”

Qi Wu Zhen puffed out her chest and said, “Of course!”

Guo Shier said, “Sister Zhen, you know, I’m short on spiritual essence… That’s why I only reached the third level of the altar. I need a lot of spiritual essence… The Black-Plated Bees are great sources. As you said…”

Qi Wu Zhen said, “Fighting the Black-Plated Bees is exhausting.”

Guo Shier knew what she wanted and immediately said, “Half an hour a day!”

Qi Wu Zhen said, “One hour!”

Guo Shier said, “Okay, one hour. But I need at least 20,000 units of spiritual essence from them.”

Qi Wu Zhen smiled and said, “Pretty big appetite. Alright, deal!” With that, she disappeared. Guo Shier said helplessly, “Handsome old man, she’s on the altar. Don’t you feel anything?”

The handsome old man carefully poked his head out and whispered, “She’s gone? Sigh, you shouldn’t have let her go on the altar. It’s fucking terrifying. An old man like me can’t afford to mess with her.”

The altars of Guo Shier and Eagle Demon stopped and hovered in the air. Everyone saw Qi Wu Zhen emerging from among the Black-Plated Bees. Eagle Demon exclaimed in horror, “What… what is she going to do?”

Nan You said, “What else? Kill the insects, of course.”

Luo Zhan said, “With her strength, she probably doesn’t even care about those insects.”

What happened next shocked everyone greatly. Their only thought was: This woman isn’t human. She’s too terrifying.

Qi Wu Zhen appeared among the Black-Plated Bees. She neither used the altar’s protective barrier nor any sacred treasures. She simply walked straight through the void, as if walking on an invisible path. Immediately, a loud buzzing sound arose as hundreds of Black-Plated Bees swarmed around her.

A flame rose from her body, and soon, fierce flames spread within a radius of 300 meters around her. The flames were translucent purple and continued to expand outward. The hundreds of black-armored bees that approached were immediately engulfed in flames. They let out terrified screeches before turning to ashes. Though their bodies turned to ash, their souls formed black beads. In an instant, Qi Wu Zhen gathered hundreds of these soul beads. With a loud cry, she charged straight into the swarm of black-armored bees. Boom! Instantly, flames filled the sky, accompanied by sharp screeches. Countless flames danced in the air, and tens of thousands of black-armored bees were burned to ashes, releasing a foul smell. Guo Shier smiled bitterly and said, “She’s really amazing. I don’t know how she does it, but she can make those black-armored bees burn on their own.” No matter how fierce or fearless the black-armored bees were, they were doomed whenever they encountered Qi Wu Zhen. They simply couldn’t get close—once they reached 1,000 meters away from her, their entire bodies would start burning; at 800 meters, their bodies would ignite; and by 300 meters, they would be almost completely reduced to ashes. By then, it would be impossible for them to escape. In just a few minutes, seventy to eighty thousand black-armored bees were killed. And this was without Qi Wu Zhen launching an active attack. If she used her Fire Sacrifice technique, almost all living things within hundreds of miles would perish. Guo Shier slapped his forehead and said, “Every time Sister Zhen takes action, I’m terrified. Thankfully, we’re not her enemies.” Eagle Demon looked at the distant flames and shook his head. “Such a master… is beyond our imagination. She won’t stay with us for long. She’ll definitely leave.”