Cultivation begins with forming a bond with a spirit bee.

A moment later, the cocoon cracked open, and an antenna emerged from the crack, swaying gently.

Then, with a tremor inside the cocoon, the cocoon shell was pushed open from the inside, and a brand new queen bee crawled out.

It was a size larger than before, the patterns on its abdomen were more dense, and there were several fine golden lines on its wings.

The queen bee lay on the honeycomb, her antennae swaying gently, as if adapting to the changes in her body.

Qu Ye reached out and tried to get closer to the queen bee.

After noticing that the queen bee was still as affectionate as usual, he took out some medicinal powder and fed it to her.

Watching it happily eat the medicine powder, Qu Ye couldn't help but ponder:

"Why does it feel like I still don't have much offensive capability even after advancing?"

After the queen bee finished eating, he tried to communicate with her using his divine sense to make her display her attack methods.

But the queen bee stared blankly at Qu Ye, without any reaction.

"Uh, okay."

Qu Ye had no choice but to abandon the idea.

He then took out a large amount of medicinal powder. The queen bee had not yet condensed her spiritual essence this month, so he decided to see how much she could condense at once.

After the queen bee had consumed all the medicinal powder, she instinctively darted back into the hive and began to condense the spiritual essence.

Just one hour later, half as fast as usual, Qu Ye sensed the fluctuations in spiritual energy.

He opened the beehive and looked inside.

The eight pieces of spirit essence lay quietly, and in the small compartment beside them, there was a small puddle of milky white liquid.

"This is?"

Qu Ye took out the liquid with a puzzled look and floated it in mid-air to observe it carefully.

As the liquid was removed, a delicate fragrance wafted through the air.

"Could it be bee jelly?"

Qu Ye's heart skipped a beat.

He had seen Bee Spirit Elixir before at the Heavenly Fragrance Pavilion; a bottle of it cost six spirit stones.

It is said that this substance is not only beneficial for the recovery of injuries and is an essential ingredient in many healing elixirs, but it can also slightly nourish the body.

The liquid was rich in spiritual energy and had a faint warmth, unlike the icy coolness of the spiritual essence.

Qu Ye took out an empty porcelain bottle from the storage bag and carefully filled it with liquid.

Shake it once, and it's about half full.

In other words, the queen bee can now produce an extra half bottle of bee spirit jelly after condensing one essence.

After deducting the spirit tax to be paid to the Hou family, I can have an additional six spirit stones as a stable income each month, which is twelve spirit stones a month.

Based on this calculation, I can earn about 160 spirit stones a year, including my wages.

After calming his excited emotions, Qu Ye carefully put away the spirit essence and the spirit stone he had placed there.

We now understand the queen bee's resource output. Next, we wait for her to stabilize her realm, lay her eggs, and see how much the new worker bees have improved in strength.

"This spirit worm was truly worth it."

After sighing, Qu Ye left the woods.

……

Three days later, the day arrived for the Hou family to distribute the new horse.

Although Qu Ye had to wait until Chitu was fully grown before he could receive the new foal, he still came to the center of the horse farm to watch.

The Sun family is still under investigation, so it's best not to do anything unconventional.

Not all the people had arrived yet. Hou Youde held a roster in his hand, with two Hou family disciples standing beside him, leading many small, bright red ponies.

The foals huddled together, their coats glossy and their spirits high.

Zhao Haiqiong seemed to have a good relationship with one of the Hou family disciples, chatting with a smile on her face.

He greeted Qu Ye when he saw him.

Qu Ye nodded, then stood aside and observed silently.

After a while, several more spirit contract workers arrived one after another, including Hu Si, who was looking down and whose expression was not visible.

"Where's Zhang Xiaodong? Why isn't he here?"

Hou Youde looked around and asked the crowd.

One of the spiritual workers, who had a good relationship with Zhang Xiaodong, replied, "He went out to explore some cave with someone about half a month ago, and it seems he died outside."

Hou Youde frowned, turned around and said something to the two Hou family disciples, then didn't ask any more questions.

"Whoever's name is called, come and claim your foal!"

"Zhao Haiqiong!"

Zhao Haiqiong stepped forward, selected three horses with the tallest and most spirited shoulders, and led them to the side.

"Li Weibao!"

...

"Hu Si!"

Hu Si was the last to be called. He stepped forward and glanced at the remaining foals.

Because of Zhang Xiaodong's death, only four spirit horses remain.

Three of the horses were of average quality, while the last one was thin and huddled in a corner, its coat dull, clearly a premature baby.

He reached out to take the three fine horses.

Unexpectedly, one of the disciples stopped him, pointed to the thin foal in the corner, and said to Hu Si, "This one is yours."

Hu Si was stunned: "What...does this mean?"

The disciple frowned: "The first two horses belonged to Zhang Xiaodong. He's dead now, so we need to take them back."

The disciple's reasons were sound and irrefutable, and no one could find fault with them.

Hou Youde glanced in this direction twice, then turned his head away as if he hadn't seen anything.

Hu Si opened his mouth as if to say something, but seeing the expressionless face of the Hou family disciple, he swallowed his words back.

He bent down and led away the thin foal and another foal of average quality, stepping aside.

Qu Ye stood to the side and witnessed the whole scene.

He glanced at Zhao Haiqiong.

The disciple who stopped Hu Si was the same person who had been chatting happily with Zhao Haiqiong earlier.

Unlike before, Qu Ye now has some understanding of the conflict between Hu Si and Zhao Haiqiong.

A few days ago, when he was inquiring about news in the market, those spirit contract workers also talked about the gossip about Hu Si and Zhao Haiqiong.

It is said that the two were once good fellow cultivators. During one of their adventures together, they encountered a mid-grade first-rank spiritual herb. They fought over the unequal distribution of the spoils, and later parted ways, their feud lasting to this day.

"It's not unusual for something like this to happen in the cultivation world."

Qu Ye shook his head, deciding to stop thinking about it.

With the distribution of the spirit horses complete, everyone dispersed and headed to their respective horse farms.

Just as Qu Ye was about to leave, he heard Hou Youde call out to him.

He turned around and saw Hou Youde walking towards him with a smile: "Fellow Daoist Qu, how have you been these past few days?"

Ok?

Wait, Hou Youde!

What was originally just a casual greeting stirred up a huge storm in Qu Ye's heart.

He then suddenly realized that Hou Youde knew he had gone out with Wang Meng and had even helped him look after Red Hare for a few days.

Even if the Sun family is searching for Qi Refining Level 5 and above, who knows if they might secretly search for Qi Refining Level 4 as well?

Who can guarantee that Hou Youde won't let something slip?

Qu Ye forced himself to calm down, smiled, and cupped his hands in a respectful gesture: "Uncle De, you jest. I was merely attending a banquet organized by my uncle. As for what I gained, does eating a few extra bites of spirit fish count?"

"Hahahaha." Hou Youde laughed loudly, "How can it not count? If it were me, I would drink a few more sips of spirit wine."

Qu Ye also smiled and echoed Hou Youde.

After Hou Youde finished laughing, he spoke again:

"Speaking of spirit wine, how did the spirit wine I gave Fellow Daoist Qu last time taste? If you liked it, I still have two more bottles."

Qu Ye pretended to savor the moment for a moment.

"Hmm... It's refreshingly crisp on the palate, with a wonderful aroma. It's truly a rare and exquisite wine. However, I haven't finished that bottle yet. May I trouble Uncle De again after I've finished it?"

Hou Youde was just being polite; he himself didn't even have enough to drink, so he readily agreed.

"Of course! Come to my courtyard then, and I'll give you plenty of spirit wine."

The two chatted for a few more minutes before Qu Ye mentioned that he had other important matters to attend to and left first.

After walking a distance, a cold glint flashed in Qu Ye's eyes.

He planned to visit Hou Youde tomorrow to find out as soon as possible who else knew he was away from the horse farm those days, and then make plans accordingly.

At the same time, we should closely monitor Hou Youde's movements, and pay attention to any unusual activity from him.

He wouldn't mind actually becoming an insect demon for once.