Cultivation begins with forming a bond with a spirit bee.

The scholar-looking man clasped his hands in a respectful greeting and spoke first:

"Fellow Daoist, please forgive us. My brother and I were traveling when we suddenly sensed fluctuations in spiritual energy. Fearing we might encounter cultivators undergoing tribulation, we hid ourselves. We hope you will forgive any disturbance."

Qu Ye remained vigilant, maintaining her hand-gripping stance.

Seeing that he seemed unconvinced, another burly man grew impatient and began to shout:

"You're so petty. If we wanted to ambush you, why would we show ourselves first? We could have waited until you were on edge..."

Before he could finish speaking, he was interrupted by the scholar and cultivator beside him, who gave Qu Ye an apologetic smile.

"Fellow Daoist, your reaction is perfectly reasonable; anyone would have done the same in this situation."

"Since you don't trust us, we'll leave first. You can leave once you've confirmed it's safe, is that alright?"

He spoke gently, adopted a humble posture, and appeared to be understanding, as if he were genuinely discussing the matter with Qu Ye.

Little did they know that at that moment, the scholar and the monk were cursing inwardly.

He and the burly man were lying in ambush when they saw Qu Ye. Just as they were about to make a move, they realized that the other party was not at the early stage of Qi Refining, but at the fourth level of Qi Refining.

The mid-stage and early-stage of a raid are completely different concepts. Even if the opponent cannot defeat you, they are very likely to escape, at which point you two will be exposed prematurely.

This time, there's no one to cover for us!

He exchanged a glance with the burly man. Since there were other spirit contract workers around, the two decided to let Qu Ye leave and remained still.

But you said you're not even at the early stage of Qi Refining, so why are you being so vigilant? What's going on?

With no other option, the two quickly grabbed a handful of mud and smeared it on their faces to prevent the other party from seeing their portraits, and pretended to be wandering monks on their way out.

"Hmph! I was planning to spare your life, but since you've seen the two of us, to ensure everything goes smoothly, you'll die here today," the scholar thought angrily.

But he maintained a gentle smile on his face, waiting for Qu Ye's reply.

Qu Ye looked at the two people in front of him, seemingly lost in thought.

After a moment, he smiled and said, his left hand still on the storage bag, "What are you saying, fellow Daoist? Of course I believe you."

As he spoke, he communicated with the bee swarm using his spiritual sense, issuing urgent commands.

The worker bees not far away suddenly stirred. One hundred worker bees trained by Qu Ye flapped their wings at the same time and took off into the air in a dark mass.

Guided by divine consciousness, they surged out of the forest like a yellow torrent, flying swiftly towards Qu Ye's location.

"Haha, fellow Daoist, you truly have discerning eyes. We won't disturb you any longer and will take our leave now." The scholar laughed loudly, pulled up the burly man's clothes, and seemed to be preparing to depart.

"Please, please."

The misunderstanding seemed to have been cleared up.

Once both sides had turned around, a fierce glint flashed across the scholar's face. He gave the burly man a wink, and magical power surged from his hand, unleashing a sword light that pierced towards Qu Ye.

Almost simultaneously, Qu Ye turned around, golden light flashed in his hand, and he slashed at the scholar with a Gengjin sword technique.

boom!

The two collided, the Gengjin Sword Technique dissipated, and the longsword was deflected.

"Good lad!" The scholar's fierce gaze intensified, and he continued to pull the longsword back without stopping.

"I was prepared for this." Qu Ye sneered, his eyes fixed on the two's movements. He then took out the Flame Serpent Talisman and the protective talisman, holding them in his palm, ready to strike.

Although he had little experience in combat, he knew that he absolutely could not turn around and run away at this moment, as exposing his back to the enemy might play right into their hands.

"Brother, why are you wasting your breath talking to him? Just kill him!" The burly man, who had been holding back for a long time, was now getting impatient.

He pulled a long sword from behind his back, kicked off with both feet, and charged down like a tiger descending a mountain, slashing down with the long sword.

Although the blade was not a legal weapon, it carried enormous force and even produced a whistling sound.

Without hesitation, Qu Ye raised his right hand, sending a golden light slashing towards the burly man. He gathered his magic power in his left hand, activated the protective talisman, and instantly enveloped his entire body in a light shield.

Seeing the formidable power of the Gengjin Sword Technique, the burly man withdrew his strength and sidestepped the golden light.

clang!

At the same time, Qu Ye's longsword struck from the left, crashing hard into the light barrier with a loud thud.

That was really sneaky. Luckily, I didn't choose to save this talisman. Qu Ye secretly breathed a sigh of relief.

The attack had no effect, so the scholar stepped back a few paces, brought the magic weapon back to his side, and held it in his hand.

He shouted at the burly man, "This kid has a protective charm, don't try to fight him head-on, keep him occupied!"

The burly man responded, and using some kind of magic, his body swelled up, and he roared as he charged towards Qu Ye.

He swung his right fist and smashed it into the spirit barrier.

As the spiritual light of the protective barrier faded, Qu Ye was swept several meters away by the immense force, his foot sinking down to deflect the impact.

Body cultivation?

His gaze sharpened, and thoughts raced through his mind.

The current situation is very clear.

The burly man held him back in front, while the scholar launched a long-range attack from behind, their aim being to wear down his magical power.

Once your magic power is exhausted, you'll be nothing more than a lamb to the slaughter!

Just as Qu Ye was constantly thinking about strategies, his divine sense suddenly fluctuated, and he sensed something, so he relaxed.

He looked at the burly man charging towards him and smiled.

Since the other side is attacking one person with two opponents, they can't blame me for fighting outnumbered!

Just as the two scholars caught a glimpse of Qu Ye's smile and were puzzled, a buzzing sound came from afar.

It grew closer and louder, like a raging storm or a massive army.

The burly man's expression changed, and he looked up.

A yellow cloud loomed over the forest, appearing at first glance to blot out the sun and cover the entire sky.

"Big brother! It's a Jade Spirit Bee swarm!"

The scholar's pupils contracted sharply. Without thinking, he swung his longsword repeatedly, unleashing several sword energies in an attempt to force the swarm of bees back.

However, the worker bees were small, and the sword energy only managed to cut off a small portion of them. More bees swarmed up and surrounded him and the burly man.

The buzzing sound was deafening, and the sharp mouthparts gleamed coldly in the sunlight.

The burly man swung his long knife wildly, killing a few bees, but more swarmed around his neck, tearing at it relentlessly.

Although he was a body cultivator, he couldn't withstand dozens of bees constantly tearing at the same spot!

"Big Brother!" the burly man roared, blood seeping from his neck. He dropped his long knife and frantically clawed at his neck with both hands.

The scholar had no time to pay attention to his opponent. He activated his protective spiritual light and swung his longsword repeatedly, slaying one worker bee after another.

But the swarm of bees was relentless. A worker bee slipped into the crack of the light and stung his arm. He groaned and swatted it dead with his backhand, but more swarmed in.

If this continues, although the two will be injured, they will be able to leave alive.

Unfortunately, Qu Ye was also there.

Qu Ye waved his right hand, and the Flame Serpent Talisman flew out of his hand, transforming into a three-foot-long fire serpent that rushed straight at the scholar.

At the same time, he subtly moved his consciousness and controlled the spirit bees to scatter.

The scholar was getting increasingly annoyed by the swarm of bees when suddenly they dispersed. Before he could react, the fire snake struck his protective aura and exploded.

The light trembled violently, cracking open in several places. The swarm of bees seized the opportunity, with more than a dozen worker bees crawling into the cracks and frantically tearing at the scholar's body.

"Ah!" The scholar screamed in agony as his protective aura collapsed. He endured the excruciating pain and swung his longsword, but the swarm of bees had already covered his face and pierced his right eye.

Unable to suppress his panic any longer, he used his magic to forcefully break free from the jade spirit bees surrounding him and ran into the depths of the forest.

Seeing his elder brother escape, the burly man ignored the worker bee biting his neck and ran in the other direction.

How could Qu Ye let the tiger return to the mountain?

He leaped forward, unleashing a flurry of Gengjin Sword Techniques, the pale golden sword light chasing after the two men's backs.

The burly man was slower and was struck in the hind leg by a flash of sword light. Blood splattered, and he stumbled and fell to the ground.

The scholar managed to dodge it. He turned back and glanced at the burly man with his remaining left eye, gritted his teeth, and without stopping, fled alone into the depths of the dense forest.

He had only run a dozen steps when a buzzing sound suddenly approached. It turned out that half of the bee swarm had split off, bypassed the tree canopy, and blocked his path from the front.

The scholar stopped abruptly and swung his sword to slay the bees, but the swarm attacked from both sides, leaving him unable to advance or retreat.

Qu Ye caught up in a few strides, golden light flickering in his hand, and sneered, "Why are you running? Weren't you going to ambush and kill me?"

The scholar, his face covered in blood and contorted in a ferocious expression, trembled slightly as he gripped his sword: "Why bother with words? I'm simply outmatched. Kill me or do whatever you want!"

He's quite a man, though.

Qu Ye stopped wasting words and unleashed the full power of the Gengjin Sword Technique.

The scholar raised his sword to parry, but was forced back two steps by the impact.

The swarm of bees seized the opportunity to attack, stinging him on the back of the neck and his wrists. His swordplay faltered, and Qu Ye's second sword light arrived, piercing through his right shoulder.

The longsword slipped from his hand, and the scholar staggered and knelt down.

Qu Ye gave him no chance, and the third sword light slashed towards his throat.

The scholar clutched his throat, his eyes wide, and slowly collapsed to the ground, the faint light of the longsword at his feet extinguishing.