Chapter 7: Black Armored Bees (Part 2)

The handsome old man couldn’t help but stick half of his head out and say, “Kid, I love hearing that! Ah, it’s better to leave early. Spending time together every day puts too much pressure on an old man…”
Guo Shier burst into laughter and said, “Handsome old man, don’t be jealous. True Sister is indeed amazing.”
The handsome old man cursed, “You brat, you little scoundrel! I don’t need you to remind me—don’t I know that guy’s freakish abilities? Even in our era, someone with such strength would be a top-tier expert. I’ve never even seen someone like that… Damn it, she’s even a woman… It makes this old man feel ashamed…”
Guo Shier had no prejudice against women. He had seen many strong women in his past life, so he wasn’t surprised by Qi Wuzhen’s strength. Especially among professionals, many reached the pinnacle through luck, unique traditions, and their own experiments. Once they found their own path, they could easily reach the top of this world—there was no difference between men and women.
Boom!
The sound of flapping wings turned into a deafening roar as countless Black Armored Bees fled frantically, forming two huge black clouds that drifted in the wind like mist, filled with incessant buzzing. Qi Wuzhen hovered proudly in the air, flames rising from her body amid the fierce wind, like a fire god descending from heaven.
Guo Shier exclaimed in envy, “Damn, she’s invincible!”
Nan You said, “I never thought the Fire Temple could reach such extremes. What else could stop her? It’s terrifying.”
The Eagle Demon suddenly turned around, his pupils constricting rapidly, and said, “There’s another group… Black Armored Bees! Shier, hurry up and leave!” On their other side, another group of Black Armored Bees took to the air—over a hundred thousand in number—scaring Guo Shier and the others into quickly approaching Qi Wuzhen. Even though they were all Temple-level experts, they didn’t dare fight the Black Armored Bees, as there was no chance of winning.
Qi Wuzhen also saw them. With a slight movement, she arrived beside Guo Shier and the others and said, “Don’t run around. Follow me.” She tossed Guo Shier a talisman bag and added, “These are the Spirit Soul Beads I just collected. Share them among yourselves.”
It was a large talisman bag, containing over thirty thousand Spirit Soul Beads from Black Armored Bees, which could be used directly as sacrifices for Spirit Soul Worms. Guo Shier was utterly impressed. In just a short while, Qi Wuzhen had collected tens of thousands of Spirit Soul Beads.

Guo Shier and the others didn’t dare run around recklessly and followed Qi Wu Zhen obediently. Even if a level-15 Abnormal Talisman Beast appeared now, Guo Shier would dare to engage it, but when faced with swarms of Black-Clad Bees, he didn’t dare attack—there were too many of them. Unless one had an attack method like Qi Wu Zhen’s that ignored numbers, it was better to stay cautious.

Qi Wu Zhen said, “Follow me and don’t move around… I’m going to catch the mother bee.”

Several invisible chains wrapped around them, dragging Guo Shier and the others along. Qi Wu Zhen charged forward, plunging back into the swarm of Black-Clad Bees. In an instant, countless bees were set ablaze.

Eagle Demon whispered, “Impressive!”

Qi Wu Zhen said, “Gather the souls of the Black-Clad Bees yourselves.”

Guo Shier said, “Everyone, go to my altar! I’ll collect their souls.” Eagle Demon retracted the altar, and they rushed onto Guo Shier’s altar. Countless tentacles extended from the middle and lower parts of Guo Shier’s altar, reaching out into the sky to capture the souls of the flying bees.

Qi Wu Zhen glanced at it in surprise and said, “Huh? Guxi Bi? Great stuff… There’s actually a Guxi Bi…”

Guo Shier pointed at the swarm and shouted, “Look! There’s a huge Black-Clad Bee over there!”

A Black-Clad Bee over ten meters long was hiding among the swarm. Eagle Demon said, “It must be level 10… A level-10 mutated Talisman Worm…”

Qi Wu Zhen said, “A level-10 mutated Talisman Worm? How poor of judgment… This is an Abnormal Black-Clad Bee of level 11!” She charged headlong forward, dragging Guo Shier’s altar behind her. From a distance, she looked like a flaming meteor, rushing toward the Abnormal Black-Clad Bee with a howl.

Guo Shier wondered, “Is that the mother bee? No, that must be its guardian!”

Qi Wu Zhen replied in a hurry, “That’s right, it’s a guardian—there are seven of them… Hehe, this is one of them. It makes a good sacrifice for you; you can use it to control the other souls.”

It functioned somewhat like a spirit sacrifice, though not a true one. It could be used to manage similar souls, with the handsome old man in charge. Otherwise, with so many Black-Clad Bee souls as sacrifices, it would be difficult to manage them, requiring a long time to sort out their relationships.

A flame, like a fire serpent, shot out from Qi Wu Zhen’s palm—only a foot long and as thin as a finger, with deep purple flames. In the wind, it stretched into flames dozens of meters long. Upon closer inspection, countless runes flashed within the flames, moving as fast as lightning and as agile as fire dragons, swiftly attacking the Abnormal Black-Clad Bee.

The mutated black-armored bees couldn’t dodge at all—the flame was too fast, wrapping around them in an instant. A shrill screeching sound came from the mutated black-armored bees, extremely unpleasant, like knives scraping against glass, causing one’s soul to tremble. Guo Shier didn’t help but roar, while Nan You covered his mouth in disgust, saying, “Damn it, that sound… It makes me want to vomit!”

With those brief screeches, countless black-armored bees, no longer fearing the flame, rushed frantically at Qi Wu Zhen—all summoned by the mutated black-armored bees. Qi Wu Zhen wasn’t someone who could be defeated just by sheer numbers. Guo Shier, watching from behind, saw Qi Wu Zhen form a strange spell with his hands and calmly say, “Fire Sacrifice!”

Instantly, everyone around Guo Shier stood on end in terror.

The entire sky seemed to ignite, and in an instant, the swarm of black-armored bees turned into a sea of flames—at least hundreds of thousands of them burning up.

Guo Shier exclaimed, “Damn…” He still didn’t realize that Qi Wu Zhen had deliberately narrowed the scope of the Fire Sacrifice. If a larger-scale sacrifice were used, it would trigger the underground fires in the surrounding area—a truly devastating fire sacrifice. Right now, it was targeted only at the swarm of black-armored bees.

The burning black-armored bees scurried around wildly, and the forests on the ground also caught fire. The old man hid inside the altar, directing Gu Xi Bi to greedily absorb the souls of the dead black-armored bees. Fortunately, since Qi Wu Zhen’s attack was aimed at the black-armored bees, Gu Xi Bi wasn’t affected by the Fire Sacrifice. Moreover, during their time in the Red Golden Mountain Range, the old man had blessed Gu Xi Bi with Fire Evil and Gold Evil, greatly enhancing its resistance to fire.

The old man laughed maniacally inside the altar. Where else could he find so many souls? It was practically free—just by controlling Gu Xi Bi, he could obtain them, and Gu Xi Bi could even swallow some, thereby boosting its strength. The old man hoped for as many such opportunities as possible.

Under the Fire Sacrifice, the swarm of black-armored bees finally collapsed completely.

This time, it was Qi Wu Zhen chasing after the swarm. That Fire Sacrifice move had killed at least half of the black-armored bees—so powerful it was astonishing.

The swarm fled toward the west, while Qi Wu Zhen followed at a leisurely pace. She didn’t attack again but simply stayed behind. Guo Shier rode on the altar, not far behind, smiling joyfully. This time, by using Gu Xi Bi, he had obtained over twenty thousand souls, and there were even more residual souls, most of which had been swallowed by Gu Xi Bi.

There were still about two hundred thousand black-armored bees left. Although their numbers were still large, they were already terrified by Qi Wu Zhen. Black-armored bees lacked intelligence, but they understood that approaching this person meant certain death.

Chasing away large swarms of Black Armored Bees, everyone flew forward.
Luo Zhan said, “Damn, that’s really impressive.”
Eagle Demon shouted, “Look! There’s a mountain ahead… uh, it’s not a mountain—it’s the lair of the Black Armored Bees.”
It was a mountain a thousand meters high, bare and pyramid-shaped, with countless holes as thick as water jars, from which numerous Black Armored Bees could be seen coming in and out. Guo Shier said, “That’s right, this is their lair…”
Eagle Demon said, “Wow, they seem determined to wipe them out completely.”
Nan You muttered quietly, “Don’t provoke her under any circumstances. Truly worthy of the title ‘Fire That Burns Heaven’—someone who dares to burn even the sky. It’s better to stay away from her.”
The Black Armored Bees frantically rushed into the cave; even though they were insects, they felt fear.
Qi Wu Zhen hovered in front of the mountain. There wasn’t a single Black Armored Bee around—they had all gone inside the lair, leaving complete silence.
Guo Shier remained silent for a long time. Qi Wu Zhen said, “Inside is a Level 14 Abnormal Black Armored Bee. It must be the queen of this colony. Does it think hiding underground will keep it safe? Hehe.” She couldn’t help but laugh, but Guo Shier and the others shuddered. Back at the Red Gold Mine, just a hint of Qi Wu Zhen’s soul pressure had scared them into fleeing.
Eagle Demon said, “Sister Zhen is so mighty…” He really couldn’t think of any better words.
Guo Shier found it amusing that Uncle Eagle Demon had also learned to flatter people. He asked, “Sister Zhen, do you plan to kill this queen?”
Qi Wu Zhen smiled and said, “Why would I kill it? Hehe, I want to capture it alive.”
Guo Shier was speechless. Capturing a Level 14 Abnormal Black Armored Bee alive—this wasn’t just a mutated Sigil Worm; it was an Abnormal Sigil Worm, one of the rarest and most powerful types. But Qi Wu Zhen always preferred to scare people into submission rather than kill them outright, so it wasn’t surprising she said such a thing—she indeed had the strength.
Abnormal Sigil Worms were more troublesome than Abnormal Sigil Beasts, especially the advanced ones.
Qi Wu Zhen threw a few Soul Beads at Guo Shier and said, “These are the souls of the queen’s guards I killed just now—Level 11 Abnormal Black Armored Bee Souls. Their quality is passable.”
Guo Shier stretched out his hand, and three Soul Beads landed in it. He didn’t even know when Qi Wu Zhen had killed those Level 11 Abnormal Black Armored Bees. After thanking her, he placed the Soul Beads on the altar. Having a master like her by his side brought many advantages. The handsome old man in the altar was overjoyed—so many sacrifices would be enough to improve its quality.
Qi Wu Zhen said, “Fly up into the air.”

Guo Shier replied with a nod and flew upward with Eagle Demon and the others. However, he didn’t fly too high—only a few hundred meters above the Black Armor Bee’s nest—hovering there, waiting for Qi Wu Zhen to take action.
Eagle Demon said, “I already have a career goal!”
Guo Shier asked, “What goal?”
Eagle Demon replied, “To reach her level… It’s unlikely, but I still want to try. She’s so amazing—I really envy her. I have no idea how she managed to reach such a level.”
Nan You kept shaking his head. Eagle Demon asked, “What? Do you think I can’t do it?”
Guo Shier smiled and said, “A man must never say he can’t.”
Nan You said, “That’s doubtful. You’re only on the first level of the altar. To reach her level, you’d need to be at least on the eighth level… Is that possible?”
Eagle Demon declared bravely, “Why not? I’m still young…”
This statement left everyone speechless. Among those at the altar level, he was indeed young, but there was someone even younger here. Nan You said, “If Shier said this, I’d believe it. You… it’s doubtful.”
Luo Zhan said, “Not necessarily. I always thought I could at most reach the level of a Great Sage. Hehe, now I’m at the Virtual Form Altar level and can build the first layer of an altar soon—still a lightning-type altar. Nothing is impossible. It depends on whether you have the opportunity and luck.”
Eagle Demon said proudly, “Exactly! When I was wandering in the great plains, I never thought I could reach this level.”
Guo Shier said, “Sister Zhen is about to act!” Everyone’s attention immediately turned downward.