Chapter 9: Wang Ke’er (Part 2)

Qi Wu Zhen let out a soft hum: “That’s still too weak!”
Wang Ke cried out, “I don’t believe it!” Although she couldn’t gauge Qi Wu Zhen’s strength, she guessed the woman was at most one or two levels above her on the altar. She was convinced that if it weren’t for their large number of Black Armored Bees, she would have long fled and never been surrounded by them.
Guo Shier and the others wore strange smiles. Luo Zhan whispered, “She’s in for a tough time.”
Qi Wu Zhen smiled. It had to be said—her beauty was extraordinary. When she smiled, even women couldn’t help but stare in awe.
“You don’t believe it? Hehe, want me to prove it to you?”
Her tone was somewhat cold. Wang Ke widened her delicate eyes and said, “With so many Black Armored Bees, of course I can’t win… If you’re brave, don’t use them to surround me.” She even resorted to provocation, trying to get rid of the threat posed by the bees. She felt confident she could dodge Qi Wu Zhen’s attacks as long as the bees didn’t interfere.
Guo Shier couldn’t help but laugh. He said, “Don’t worry. We’re just watching. We won’t step in, and the Black Armored Bees won’t attack either. You can try attacking…”
Eagle Demon whispered, “Shier, you’re really mean!”
Guo Shier replied, “Actually, she has every right to be arrogant. It’s just unfortunate she ran into Sister Zhen—a master at the fourth-tier altar and a beauty too. It’s normal for her to be overconfident. None of us find it strange, but it’s amusing to see her act arrogantly in front of Qi Wu Zhen.”
Though Wang Ke spoke boldly, she remained cautious and didn’t dare attack first. She said, “If you’re brave, move those Black Armored Bees away. Otherwise… if I attack and you then order them to surround me, I’ll suffer greatly…”
Qi Wu Zhen said, “What a hassle… Decide already!”
A overwhelming soul pressure surged forth, pressing down on Wang Ke. Qi Wu Zhen wasn’t even bothered to use her hands—she simply used soul pressure to bully her.
“Mommy…”
Wang Ke could only utter that phrase before freezing stiff on the altar. At that moment, she didn’t even feel fear; her entire soul seemed to have frozen, devoid of thought. Thankfully, Qi Wu Zhen had no intention of killing her; otherwise, her soul would have completely collapsed.
Guo Shier and the others nearby were also affected, their faces pale as they tried to resist.
It was only a few seconds, but to Wang Ke, it felt like thousands of years. Finally, Qi Wu Zhen lifted the soul pressure and asked, “Will you attack?”

Wang Ke covered her chest and gasped for breath. After a while, she said, “You… you… which level of altar are you from? Ugh, it’s so scary. You… aren’t human, are you?”
Qi Wu Zhen sneered, “You’re not human either! Hand over the materials quickly, or I’ll really get angry.”
Wang Ke was clever. She realized Qi Wu Zhen had no intention of killing her and immediately said, “I… I’ll hand over the materials. You can’t kill me!”
Qi Wu Zhen replied, “It’s easy to kill you. If I wanted to kill you, would I wait until now?”
Wang Ke surrendered. She had no way to resist someone so powerful. If there had been even a sliver of hope, she would have fought, but with no hope at all, fighting was foolish. She threw out the pouch containing the talismans, which Qi Wu Zhen grabbed with her virtual talisman chains. After taking a quick look, she nodded in satisfaction and said, “Not bad. Everything’s here.”
Wang Ke pleaded pitifully, “I’ve given you the things. Can I go now?”
Qi Wu Zhen smiled and said, “No!”
Wang Ke’s face changed drastically as she asked, “You… you changed your mind?”
Guo Shier couldn’t help but laugh. “Sister Zhen hasn’t changed her mind. She only promised not to kill you, not that she’d let you go.”
“Huh?”
Wang Ke was at a loss. Someone usually so clever was now in trouble. With a pained expression, she said, “Don’t play around like this… Why keep me? I… I don’t know anything… I’m clumsy…” Her appearance was no less striking than Qi Wu Zhen’s, and she had a delicate look, like a little cat that had gotten into trouble, making it hard to bear to bully her.
Qi Wu Zhen said with a smirk, “Clumsy? Yet you managed to steal so many materials from the Guji Family?”
Wang Ke whispered, “I like stealing… but I’m still clumsy… Please let me go…” she begged.
Everyone was stunned by her words. Qi Wu Zhen grinned and said, “Go ahead and try.”
Wang Ke immediately lost her spirit. She said, “I’m just unlucky.” After thinking for a moment, she added, “I’m an expert from the fourth-level altar. I’m not some little girl. I… won’t serve people!”
Qi Wu Zhen ignored that topic and asked, “Your name is fake, right?”
Wang Ke blurted out, “Obviously! It’s fake…” As soon as she said it, she realized she’d made a mistake.
Qi Wu Zhen said calmly, “Being so rude to a senior like this—let me teach you a lesson so you can learn proper manners!”

In an instant, Wang Ke was unable to move at all. She saw Qi Wu Zhen appear beside her altar, which began to tremble violently. In the blink of an eye, it shrank to the size of an egg and was grabbed by Qi Wu Zhen. Soon after, she felt her body floating upward until it was in front of Qi Wu Zhen, lying horizontally as if on an invisible surface.

Guo Shier and the others watched curiously. Ying Mo asked in a low voice, “What’s going on?”

Smack!

Qi Wu Zhen slapped Wang Ke on the buttocks once, then twice more, saying as she struck, “So naughty! You deserve a spanking!”

Guo Shier and the others were stunned, their mouths hanging open. After a long while, Guo Shier finally managed to say, “Damn!” A master at the fourth-level altar being spanked in midair was beyond his imagination.

Wang Ke’s face turned red, but her limbs were bound by invisible forces, preventing her from even speaking. The slaps didn’t hurt much, but being spanked like this was utterly embarrassing, especially with several men watching. She tried to speak through sobs.

After seven or eight slaps, Qi Wu Zhen seemed satisfied. She struck the altar in her hand against Wang Ke’s head, and Wang Ke retrieved it. Only then was she freed. She rushed backward and burst into tears.

Nan You sighed, “Ah, it’s heartbreaking to see her cry… Now she should know that some words shouldn’t be spoken carelessly.”

Guo Shier was more shocked. A master at the fourth-level altar, whether male or female, was extremely powerful, yet here she was treated like a child and spanked by Qi Wu Zhen. He found it terrifying, not funny at all.

Qi Wu Zhen said calmly, “Come here!”

Wang Ke was truly scared—not of death, but of being spanked again, which would be utterly humiliating. With a pitiful expression, she flew over to Qi Wu Zhen and sobbed, “You… you… ugh… what… what else are you going to do…?”

Qi Wu Zhen smiled, took out a handkerchief, and wiped away her tears. “That’s enough. What’s your name?”

Wang Ke replied, “Wang Ke’er. My name is Wang Ke’er.”

Qi Wu Zhen smiled and said, “Why didn’t you say so earlier? You’re such a naughty child.” She even pinched Wang Ke’er’s cheeks.

Guo Shier said, “Sister Zhen is really domineering…” Thinking of how she would climb into his arms whenever chanting time came, he admitted she was indeed unreasonable. Though he wasn’t disgusted—holding a beautiful woman wasn’t unpleasant after all.

Wang Ke’er was both ashamed and angry, but there was nothing she could do.

Qi Wu Zhen seemed to enjoy teasing Wang Ke’er. She patted Wang Ke’er’s head and said, “You’re now the sixth member of the team. Come, meet Team Leader Guo Shier.”
Wang Ke’er replied listlessly, “Hello… uh, Team Leader?” She couldn’t believe it—Guo Shier’s strength should be even weaker than hers. How could he be the team leader?
Guo Shier couldn’t help but laugh. The current Wang Ke’er had none of her arrogance; she was like a defeated kitten, not only too afraid to show its claws or fangs but also looking dazed, with a hint of confusion in her eyes.
“Hello, I’m Guo Shier. These are Uncle Eagle Demon, Uncle Luo Zhan, and Nan You.”
After briefly introducing the members, Guo Shier asked, “Sis Zhen, where are we going?”
Qi Wu Zhen said, “We need to find a quiet place. I need to refine a special sacrificial artifact.” By extorting the Guji family, she had finally gathered all the materials needed to craft the sacrificial artifact, so she was eager to find a peaceful location.
Guo Shier asked, “Right here in this secret realm?”
Qi Wu Zhen nodded. “No need to go far. This secret realm is perfect. Wang Ke’er, do you know any quiet places around here?”
Wang Ke’er no longer dared to talk nonsense to Qi Wu Zhen. She was terrified and said, “There’s a large lake to the east. There’s a nice island there—very quiet. There aren’t many powerful mutated rune beasts in the lake either. That would be a good choice.”
Guo Shier glanced back at the Black-Plated Bee Mother Worm—a level-14 mutated rune beast, far more powerful than ordinary mutated rune beasts. Guo Shier knew that even if she reached the third level of the altar, she wouldn’t be able to defeat a level-14 mutated rune beast. Maybe she could fight a level-13 one.
“Sis Zhen, what should we do with these Black-Plated Bees?”
Qi Wu Zhen said, “I don’t need them anymore. Well, if you want them, divide them among yourselves. Ignore the lower-level ones. For the higher-level Black-Plated Bees, we can extract their souls as offerings for the altar.”
Wang Ke’er’s eyes lit up immediately. Every altar-level expert lacked sacrifices. Although there were countless mutated and aberrant creatures in the world, capturing and extracting their souls wasn’t easy—especially for higher-level ones, which were even rarer. And altar-level experts needed a large amount of souls, not only for the altar but also for the sacrificial artifacts.
Guo Shier said, “Alright, let’s divide them. There are about two hundred thousand Black-Plated Bees here. Each of us can get forty thousand. After removing the lower-level ones, each of us will have around twenty thousand… Heh, that’s a big haul.”

Qi Wuzhen said, “I’ll use the mother worm to suppress the Black Armored Bee swarm; you can extract their souls by yourselves.” She controlled the mother worm, pressing the swarm to the ground and arranging them in groups. Guo Shier and the others nodded and flew toward their respective Black Armored Bee swarms. Guo Shier was decisive—he released the tentacles of Gu Xi Bi from the altar and flew a few meters above the swarm. Gu Xi Bi’s tentacles were deadly weapons; a single touch on a Black Armored Bee could extract its soul, and the quality of such souls was the best. In about half an hour, Guo Shier cleared out all the Black Armored Bees assigned to him, not even sparing their carcasses. He collected every Black Armored Bee shell of level six or higher. Eagle Demon, Luo Zhan, Nan You, and Wang Keer had a hard time—they had to use virtual talismans to extract the souls of the Black Armored Bees. Extracting one soul took at least dozens of seconds, and with tens of thousands of bees, it was unclear when they would finish. After finishing, Guo Shier flew over to Eagle Demon and said with a smile, “Uncle Eagle Demon, need some help?” Eagle Demon saw Guo Shier as a savior. He said, “Shier, you know I’m not good at this… Ugh, it’s too painful. I have to deal with them one by one.” Guo Shier replied, “Let me help you.” He controlled the altar and used Gu Xi Bi’s tentacles to extract the souls quickly—finishing the task in just over twenty minutes. He handed Eagle Demon a bag of hidden talismans and said, “Uncle Eagle Demon, the carcasses of those higher-level bees contain excellent materials. You can collect them.” Then Guo Shier helped Luo Zhan and Nan You as well. Poor Wang Keer managed to collect less than two thousand souls. Looking at the dense swarm of Black Armored Bees and then at Guo Shier and his group, she couldn’t help but shout, “I want to help!”