Cultivation begins with forming a bond with a spirit bee.

Chapter 59 Ning Changxia

Qu Ye sensed the other party's cultivation level but found that he couldn't see through it at all. So he held the Cold Pattern Sword in his hand and bowed to the straw-cloaked cultivator behind him: "Fellow Daoist, please understand. I have no connection with this person. I was just passing by and was used as a shield by him."

The monk in the straw raincoat remained silent for a moment.

Just when Qu Ye thought a battle was inevitable, the cultivator in the straw raincoat nodded, sheathed his bamboo sword, and returned the greeting: "Fellow Daoist, don't panic. I'm not a fool. This cunning cultivator is extremely treacherous. He must be using you to trick me and then take the opportunity to escape."

After speaking, the cultivator in the straw raincoat looked at Wu Yong's corpse, paused, and said with a hint of surprise, "However, fellow Daoist's fighting style is quite fierce, with every move aimed at killing."

"If I hadn't sensed your magical power fluctuations, I would have thought you were a body cultivator."

Qu Ye smiled but didn't reply.

The monk in the straw raincoat thought for a moment, then raised his hand and took off his straw hat, revealing his true face.

This man appeared to be in his thirties, with a short beard, and was quite well-mannered.

Seeing Qu Ye's puzzled look, the cultivator in the straw raincoat smiled.

"I was quite pleased with how you dealt with that thieving cultivator, and that's why I've decided to befriend you."

"Let me introduce myself first. My surname is Ning, and my given name is Changxia. What do you say, friend?"

Qu Ye narrowed his eyes slightly, but not wanting to offend someone who was smiling, he clasped his hands in greeting and gave a fake name.

"Fellow Daoist Ning, my name is Zhang Mingyue."

"So it's Fellow Daoist Zhang."

Ning Changxia cupped his hands in greeting, seemingly knowing that Qu Ye did not trust him, and did not rush forward.

At this moment, as if remembering something, he took the storage bag next to Wu Yong's corpse into his palm.

Immediately afterwards, he probed into the bag with his divine sense, took out the items one by one, and neatly arranged them on the open ground.

Spirit stones, pills, talismans, three magical artifacts, and some miscellaneous spiritual materials were soon piled up on the ground in a small area.

After taking out all the items, Ning Changxia casually tossed the empty storage bag in front of Qu Ye.

"Fellow Daoist Ning, what is the meaning of this?"

Qu Ye paused for a moment, but did not reach out to take it.

Ning Changxia remained calm and explained, "Fellow Daoist also contributed to killing this person. Whatever he possessed should be divided equally between us."

"If Fellow Daoist Zhang is not at ease, he is free to check for himself to see if I have hidden anything."

He said this in a very calm tone, as if he were simply stating something perfectly ordinary.

Upon hearing this, Qu Ye felt even more puzzled.

He had only just met this person, and the other party's cultivation was far superior to his own. Logically speaking, even if the other party had taken all of Wu Yong's relics, he would have been powerless to stop him.

But this person not only didn't gain any advantage, but also took the initiative to lay out all the items and let me look at them.

Such behavior is truly unlike that of an ordinary cultivator.

He glanced at the spiritual objects on the ground, then looked at Ning Changxia, sensing that the other party didn't seem to be faking it, and nodded slightly: "I was merely caught up in this by accident. If we're really talking about who contributed more, you, Fellow Daoist, will only take a small portion; why insist on a 50/50 split?"

Ning Changxia shook his head, his tone carrying an air of unquestionable certainty.

"Once you've made a move, you've made a move. If you've done something, you should share the rewards. That's always been my principle. I never take more than what others deserve, and I'll never take less than what I'm entitled to."

At this point, he glanced at Qu Ye and smiled.

"Fellow Daoist Zhang, don't overthink it. Just take half of it."

These words sounded somewhat strange, yet they conveyed a sense of frankness.

Qu Ye pondered for a moment, then nodded.

Seeing this, Ning Changxia divided the spiritual items on the ground into two piles. Although their values ​​differed slightly, they were not significantly different.

He then put away one of the portions, glanced at the sky, and cupped his hands, saying, "Now that the spiritual items have been distributed, I, Ning, will not stay any longer."

"It was quite a pleasant meeting with Fellow Daoist Zhang today. If we are destined to meet again in the future, I would like to share a few more drinks with you."

Upon hearing this, Qu Ye returned the greeting with clasped hands, saying, "Fellow Daoist Ning, please take care."

Ning Changxia laughed heartily, said nothing more, and lightly tapped his foot, a green bamboo-colored flying sword flashed out from his sleeve.

He rose on his sword, his robes fluttering slightly, and in a few breaths he transformed into a point of light on the horizon and disappeared.

this--

"What a strange person."

Qu Ye shook his head, waited a moment, and walked to another pile of spiritual objects.

He estimated that the pile of spiritual items in front of him was worth around forty spirit stones.

"It did replenish some of my savings."

Qu Ye nodded, controlled a worker bee to pick up the spirit object, and only after nothing unusual happened did he put the spirit object into his storage bag.

After doing all this, he looked around, cleaned up the traces, returned to the road, and headed towards Cicada's Cry Mountain.

Cicadas sing on the mountain.

As always, Hou Fangping sat upright on a stone chair, while a group of spirit contract workers lined up to hand over their spirit taxes one by one.

When Qu Ye arrived, only four people remained in the long line.

"Luckily, I made it in time."

Qu Ye breathed a sigh of relief, greeted Hou Yanke who was standing guard to the side, and then silently joined the end of the line.

A short while later, it was Qu Ye's turn.

Hou Fangping nodded to Qu Ye: "Little Qu, why are you so late this time?"

Qu Ye took out sixty pieces of spirit essence and sighed softly, "Reporting to Steward, I forgot the time while cultivating, which is why I'm a little late."

Hou Fangping smiled and didn't press further: "Don't rush, in a few days you'll be able to pick up your new foal along with the others."

As he spoke, he put the spiritual essence into the wooden box behind him.

"By the way, I remember your queen bee is three years old this year, right?"

Qu Ye nodded, already having a plan in mind.

"Yes, Steward Hou."

"After obtaining the essence, the queen bee also reached the end of her life."

After saying that, Qu Ye took out a wooden box and presented it to Hou Fangping.

Hou Fangping opened the wooden box, examined it carefully, and remained expressionless.

"This queen bee certainly died of natural causes, but how could the spiritual energy within her flesh have dissipated so completely?"

Although his tone remained kind, Qu Ye sensed something strange.

Qu Ye smiled and said, "Steward, perhaps when the queen bee condensed her spiritual essence, she condensed two extra pieces, which is why the spiritual essence was lost."

"So that's how it is."

This has happened occasionally in the past.

Hou Fangping closed the box and suddenly changed the subject.

"Can I keep those two spirit essences with me?"

Upon hearing this, Qu Ye calmly took out two spirit essences and showed them to Hou Fangping.

Hou Fangping examined the two pieces of spiritual essence and then completely put his doubts aside, instructing Qu Ye to put them away safely.

"In that case, what do you plan to do with this dead bee?"

Qu Ye pretended to think for a moment: "Steward Hou, I still want to exchange it back for myself. Ever since I tasted it last time, I've been thinking about it constantly."

"Haha, it's not your fault." Hou Fangping stroked his beard. "Even I sometimes crave the spiritual food made by the queen bee."

After saying that, he took out eight spirit stones from his storage bag and handed them to Qu Ye.

"Then we'll deduct two from the dry spirit stones as payment for the queen bee's corpse."

Qu Ye had no objection. He accepted the spirit stone, thanked the man, and did not prepare to leave.

He still had one crucial thing to do, which he needed to wait until the Hou family members had left.

Suddenly, a brilliant idea flashed into his mind.

Since I am now in a state of "no queen bee" and can no longer raise jade bees.

Why not try to get some information out of her and see if you can find out how the Jade Spirit Bee Queen reproduces?

Even if we can't get anything out of them, at least we've successfully bought time, so we're not at a loss no matter what.