Chapter 8: The Mother Worm (Part 2)

Insects eggs come in various colors. Silver-white eggs are the newborn ones, about the size of a fist and somewhat soft to the touch. Mature eggs are dark and shiny, with an exceptionally hard shell. There are also many special eggs of different colors, such as pink and light blue ones.

Guo Shieru began collecting the eggs using his talisman bag. He created countless slender chains with mystical symbols to gather clusters of eggs and put them into the bag. As for the black-armored bees that had already hatched into larvae, he ignored them—he had no interest in eating them. Influenced by his past life, he felt no aversion toward eggs but was unwilling to try larvae.

Eagle Demon and Luo Zhan also started collecting eggs. Nan You shook his head, showing no interest in such things.

Qi Wu Zhen said, “Black-armored bees also like to collect certain materials. You can look for them.”

Nan You replied, “I’ll do it! I’ll look!” He had no interest in eggs but was very interested in materials.

Guo Shieru quickly collected enough eggs to fill two talisman bags and then placed them on the altar for the old man to handle. They needed to be processed; otherwise, once the eggs hatched, they would lose their value as food.

Deep in the cave, Guo Shieru discovered light golden eggs. Qi Wu Zhen explained, “These are eggs used to breed black-armored bee guards, as well as mother worms. They are the best eggs for black-armored bees.”

Guo Shieru immediately started collecting them. After a rough estimate, he realized there were only a few thousand of these light golden eggs. He used a talisman box to collect them and sealed them with runes to preserve their freshness. He said eagerly, “When can I taste them? I still don’t know how to cook these eggs.”

Seeing Guo Shieru swallowing his saliva, Eagle Demon couldn’t help but laugh. “They should be edible raw, right?”

Guo Shieru replied, “I hate eating raw food… Hmm, maybe I can give it a try.”

Eagle Demon slapped his forehead, at a loss for words. This guy must be reborn from a starving ghost.

Guo Shieru and the others quickly emptied the cave of all the eggs. However, Nan You didn’t find any materials collected by the black-armored bees. He muttered dejectedly, “There are no materials at all…”

The group returned to the surface. Qi Wu Zhen flew onto the head of the black-armored bee mother worm and cast a spell, saying, “Everyone, come on! Let’s go!” Guo Shieru and the others landed on the bee mother worm and asked, “Where are we going?”

Qi Wu Zhen smiled and said, “Just fly around!”

The black-armored bee mother worm spread its wings and took off, with the swarms of black-armored bees following. Luo Zhan couldn’t help but exclaim, “Damn, it’s really spectacular!”

Guo Shier said, “I guess this swarm of Black-Clad Bees is the dominant force in this secret realm. I doubt there’s anything that dares to confront them.”
The vast swarm of Black-Clad Bees surrounded the queen bee, as if on a great migration. Any creature on the ground that spotted them immediately started running frantically to avoid them.
Guo Shier couldn’t help but exclaim, “Impressive!”
Eagle Demon pointed downward in surprise and said, “Look, is that an Abnormal Talisman Beast or a Mutated Talisman Beast?”
Qi Wu Zhen replied, “You really lack insight. That’s a Level 12 Abnormal Talisman Beast.”
Eagle Demon said, “What a great thing! Kill it quickly…”
Qi Wu Zhen dismissed him with disdain, “What’s so great about it? It’s only Level 12—nothing special.” Eagle Demon was left speechless.
The Black-Clad Bees flew at incredible speed, soaring over the forest. Numerous Mutated Talisman Beasts and Abnormal Talisman Beasts ran frantically ahead. Gradually, more and more of these beasts gathered, forming a huge herd that fled desperately under the pursuit of the Black-Clad Bees.
Guo Shier had already guessed Qi Wu Zhen’s plan—she intended to use this method to locate the lone traveler Wang Ke. With so many Mutated Talisman Insects and Abnormal Talisman Insects, along with Mutated Talisman Beasts and Abnormal Talisman Beast herds, no one could hide, whether in the sky or on the ground. Such a terrifying sight left no one able to remain calm.
This was the so-called tactic of startling the snake by stirring the grass.
Driving the Black-Clad Bees day and night, even Guo Shier couldn’t help but envy the herd below. Among them were many advanced Mutated Talisman Beasts and Abnormal Talisman Beasts, as well as various oddly shaped Mutated Talisman Insects, all driven out by the Black-Clad Bees.
…
Lone traveler Wang Ke was unlucky. His hiding place was right on the flight path of the Black-Clad Bees—a small Talisman House next to a narrow stream. It was part of a sparsely wooded area. Wang Ke thought no one could find him here.
Wang Ke was checking the stolen Talisman Bags. He liked stealing or robbing, and this time he had obtained over a dozen of them. He never expected it to provoke the Guji family to pursue him relentlessly. He knew he must have stolen something important this time.
After examining them carefully, Wang Ke’s expression became strange, as he didn’t recognize many of the materials inside the bags. A few he did recognize were valuable, but he couldn’t use them. The materials were too advanced for his current needs. Still, he was excited because he could exchange them for what he needed.

He thought to himself, realizing that the materials in these talisman bags must be extremely precious. If he could escape this secret realm this time, he could make a huge profit and gather the materials needed for his advancement. Just as he was putting away the talisman bags, he suddenly heard an extremely faint buzzing sound, and his expression changed instantly. He was already becoming overly cautious. This secret realm was extremely dangerous; despite his utmost care and advanced hiding skills, he had encountered peril several times. If not for his astonishing speed of escape, he would have suffered heavy losses long ago. Then, the ground began to tremble slightly. Wang Ke’s expression grew increasingly grim. He moved swiftly, leaped up, packed away his talisman house, and climbed onto a tree branch to look into the distance. On the horizon, a black line was moving rapidly toward them. Wang Ke cursed under his breath—he certainly knew what it was. In this secret realm, the most terrifying things were not the mutated talisman beasts or the aberrant talisman beasts, but the swarms of mutated talisman insects. Those creatures were especially terrifying; thanks to their massive numbers, even advanced aberrant talisman beasts would flee in panic. Without hesitation, Wang Ke immediately activated his altar and fled into the distance. … The moment Wang Ke activated his altar, Qi Wu Zhen detected his whereabouts. She giggled, “As long as you move, I can find you! Hehe.” Her laughter was cold, making Guo Shier break into cold sweat. He couldn’t help but feel sorry for Wang Ke—whom to provoke but this woman? That was truly bad luck. Guo Shier asked, “Found him? Where?” Qi Wu Zhen replied, “In that direction. He’s already fleeing—quite clever… It’s a pity he doesn’t know that if he hadn’t moved, I might not have detected him. Once he moves, he can forget about hiding.” The swarm of black-armored bees immediately turned and chased after Wang Ke. The aberrant talisman beasts and mutated talisman beasts, which had been running straight, suddenly saw the swarm change direction and thought they had been spared. They scattered in all directions. Some aberrant talisman beasts took the opportunity to hunt. After days and nights of relentless running, they were hungry and thirsty, so they began to kill and feed on others. The massive swarm of black-armored bees swept across the sky. Sitting on the head of the mother bee, Guo Shier said with a smile, “After getting the materials back, will Sister Zhen still follow us?” Qi Wu Zhen remained silent for a moment before saying, “I’ll follow you for a while longer, until my soul is completely at peace. Then… I’ll leave.” She needed Guo Shier’s soul fluctuations. It could be said that Guo Shier had saved her life. Without his soul fluctuations to stabilize her, she might have completely gone mad.

Guo Shieru no longer objected to Qi Wuzhen following him; of course, he wouldn’t stop her from leaving either. Though they hadn’t spent much time together, he understood that Qi Wuzhen wasn’t a heartless person. The frenzied killings back then were likely greatly related to the chaos in her soul.

Eagle Demon and the others remained silent. They too were unsure whether it was better for Qi Wuzhen to stay or leave. Half a year earlier, they probably wished she would leave as soon as possible, but now they felt reluctant to see her go—having someone so powerful by their side would ensure safety wherever they went.

Guo Shieru hadn’t thought about safety, but being with Qi Wuzhen was truly exciting. After some thought, he said, “Alright then, Sister Zhen, if you leave, where will you go?”

Qi Wuzhen smiled slightly and replied, “This place isn’t suitable for me to stay. I need to go to the distant Sacrificial Stars—only there can I improve my strength.”

“The Sacrificial Stars?”

Guo Shieru suddenly realized what she meant and exclaimed, “Stars? You’re talking about stars!”

Qi Wuzhen nodded. “Unlike here, there are no continents or secret realms. Instead, there are circular star continents floating in the void—those are the true homes of us professionals.”

A surge of excitement washed over Guo Shieru’s mind. The so-called Sacrificial Stars weren’t they the universe from his past life? Could this place be connected to the universe? Countless questions flooded his mind, leaving him confused.

Forcing himself to calm down, Guo Shieru asked, “How can one get to the Sacrificial Stars?”

Qi Wuzhen smiled. “When you reach the ninth-level altar… you’ll understand how to get there. I can’t explain it now; you wouldn’t understand anyway.”

Guo Shieru asked, “What’s there?”

Qi Wuzhen shook her head. “I don’t know either, which is why I need to go. My heritage records that it’s the destination for top-tier altar professionals.”

Guo Shieru asked, “Can ordinary altar professionals not go there?”

Qi Wuzhen replied, “I don’t know. All I know is… I can go.”

Finally, Guo Shieru couldn’t help asking, “Where we are now…” He pointed at the ground beneath his feet and asked, “What place is this? Is it also part of the Sacrificial Stars?”

Qi Wuzhen answered bluntly, “I don’t know.” As she spoke, she cast a spell. Immediately, the Black Armored Bee Mother Insect let out two sharp cries, and part of the swarm dispersed into smaller groups, spreading out rapidly in all directions. About a hundred thousand Black Armored Bees continued flying forward.

Guo Shier expected Qi Wu Zhen to answer in that way, so he wasn’t disappointed. He said, “If we can find out where we are… how big is it roughly?” So far, he still had no clear idea of the geography of this talisman world, which is why he kept wandering around various continents and secret realms.

Qi Wu Zhen gave him a strange look and said, “Who would care about that? I don’t know how big it is either. It’s just like a labyrinth—continents within secret realms, secret realms connected to continents, endless and without an end.”

Guo Shier sighed. The complexity of this world exceeded his imagination. But when he thought of sacrificing to the stars, his heart burned again, with countless possibilities drifting through his mind. Then he felt frustrated again. Reaching the ninth-level altar would take forever—perhaps he might never succeed in his lifetime.

There was a buzzing sound all around the Black Armored Bee Queen, with thousands of Black Armored Bees guarding her. Most of them were mutated Black Armored Bees of level nine or above, along with a few abnormal ones. Guo Shier couldn’t see ahead. He asked, “Sister Zhen, is that guy still there?”

Qi Wu Zhen smiled and said, “A sneaky little guy. Hehe, he even tried to hide underground just now, but was driven out by the Black Armored Bee squad. I guess he’s in a mess now.”

Wang Ke was not just in a mess—he had already realized something was wrong. These mutated talisman insects were chasing after him, and they seemed determined to encircle him. He couldn’t help cursing, “With my tiny frame… is it worth it for you bugs to chase after me? Even if you eat me, it won’t be enough to feed a few insects… Damn it, so many insects chasing me…”

“Why am I so unlucky… Um, no, if this continues, I’m definitely doomed. I need to find a place…”

A strange smile appeared on Wang Ke’s face. He suddenly changed direction and began circling in the air, quickly flying toward the south.

Qi Wu Zhen said, “He actually turned south…”

Guo Shier asked, “Sister Zhen, you can catch him with a teleportation. Why use a swarm of Black Armored Bees to chase him?”

Qi Wu Zhen smiled and said, “It’s fun. I like to make my opponents afraid.”

It was a typical cat-and-mouse game. The cat wouldn’t stop until it played around a bit. Qi Wu Zhen said cheerfully, “Don’t worry. He can’t escape. Even if he runs to the ends of the world, I can still catch him.”

Guo Shier thought, “Damn, just teasing people… Using such a large swarm of insects to tease people—only she has the boldness and ability to do that.” He said, “He can’t even leave this secret realm, let alone escape to the ends of the world. Sister Zhen, will you kill him?”

Qi Wuzhen smiled and said, “Young man, don’t kill people so easily… It’s not good.”
Guo Shier was so choked he couldn’t speak, inwardly cursing, “Haven’t you killed enough people? With just one fire sacrifice, you wiped out hundreds of thousands. Killing one person is easier than killing an ant, right?”
Wang Ke desperately drove the altar and fled frantically. By intuition, he knew he was being watched. Though he didn’t know if it wasartificial manipulation, the sense of unease grew stronger by the moment.
“I remember there’s a bug nest in the south. If I can provoke those mutated symbol bugs in it, I can take advantage of the chaos to escape. Hmph, thinking of eating me… that’s not so easy!”
As he thought this, Wang Ke kept teleporting. After several teleportations, he had to keep flying. Teleporting consumed soul energy, and he didn’t dare exhaust himself, so after gaining some distance, he continued flying. From time to time, he looked back—the overwhelming swarm of black-armored bees was terrifying.
For two whole days, Wang Ke was on the verge of crying. The swarm of black-armored bees pursued him relentlessly. No matter what he did, they always found his hiding place, leading to chaotic escapes. Though he managed to get away each time, he was in a terrible state.
Furious, Wang Ke roared to the sky, “I have no grudges against you…” But he still had to keep running.
Even Guo Shier heard Wang Ke’s roar—a high-pitched, shrill sound that reached everyone’s ears, making Qi Wuzhen laugh heartily.
A nest mountain appeared in the distance. Wang Ke was overjoyed; he knew he wasn’t going in the wrong direction. Turning back, he spat angrily, “Come on, come on! I’ll let you chase me! You’ll see what happens!” He cursed with full resentment.