Demon Insects?
How could Demon Insects appear here so quickly?
Qi Ping frowned, looking at the Demon Insect corpses and Gold Marrow Bee corpses lying on the ground.
He hadn't expected Demon Insects to appear in this place so quickly.
Was it a coincidence?
If not a coincidence, then what was it?
A faint sense of unease subtly rose in Qi Ping's heart.
However, before addressing this issue, Qi Ping still had a few things he needed the Gold Marrow Bees to do, so he immediately ordered:
"Immediately take a batch of Gold Marrow Bee army to check on Old Zhou's situation down the mountain..."
"Tell the Bee Queen to accelerate the cultivation of High-Speed Ring-Cutting Bees again, even if it consumes more Spirit Medicine and honey, it doesn't matter..."
"Also, go to the several peaks near us and see if there are any traces of these fierce insects..."
Three commands were issued in a row.
"Buzz buzz. (Yes, Boss!)"
"Buzz buzz. (That sleepy two-legged beast down the mountain is very safe, we've been watching him and have added more bees...)"
"Buzz buzz. (As for the other two matters, we will arrange them immediately...)"
It wasn't until the three commands were issued and he knew Old Zhou was fine that Qi Ping finally breathed a slight sigh of relief.
He had already consciously told the Bee Queen to speed up the cultivation of High-Speed Ring-Cutting Bees yesterday, but he hadn't expected the urgency of the situation to still exceed his expectations.
Qi Ping never thought Demon Insects would appear so quickly!
Looking at the Demon Insect corpses in front of him, Qi Ping quickly obtained the corresponding information:
"Blood Pattern Locust, First Order Intermediate Demon Insect. Its strength and ferocity are much higher than that of Gold Marrow Bees."
[Blood Pattern Locust: First Order Intermediate Demon Insect, covered in armor, fast, with astonishing biting force from its mouthparts.]
One must know that the current ordinary Gold Marrow Bees had their combat power doubled by Qi Ping using blood ginseng.
But even with such combat power, and their numbers far exceeding the Blood Pattern Locusts, they were still fought to a nearly one-to-one casualty ratio by the Blood Pattern Locusts!
Fortunately, there were only about thirty Blood Pattern Locusts; if there had been more, forming a large-scale combat formation, the consequences would have been unimaginable.
The combat power of about thirty Blood Pattern Locusts and about three hundred Blood Pattern Locusts is completely different; at that time, the casualty ratio would no longer be one-to-one, it might be one-to-three, or even higher.
Blood Pattern Locusts, Demon Insects born for combat and slaughter, their combat power is generally absolutely incomparable to Gold Marrow Bees, which live by collecting honey.
Only mutated variants like the High-Speed Ring-Cutting Bee, which exhibit super-strengthened organs, will possess combat power comparable to or even surpassing Demon Insects of the same level.
Moreover, these Blood Pattern Locusts made Qi Ping, as a Beast King Druid, feel no sense of affinity, which means it can basically be confirmed that the Beast King Druid's [Turning Beasts into Friends] skill might have no effect on Blood Pattern Locusts at all.
[Turning Beasts into Friends: You can reduce animals' hostility towards you and make them feel favorably towards you.]
However, what Qi Ping could not ignore even more was that fleeting sense of unease that had risen earlier; such intuition is by no means groundless for Cultivators.
"Why did the Blood Pattern Locusts appear here? Is it a coincidence... or is something attracting them?"
No wonder Qi Ping thought so, because according to the Gold Marrow Bees' description, the direction the Blood Pattern Locusts had just advanced was precisely the Blood Ginseng Growing Area!
Coupled with the abnormal situation underground at the blood ginseng site, and the sense of unease he had just felt, Qi Ping could not help but overthink it.
"I hope this is false."
Before the High-Speed Ring-Cutting Bee army is cultivated, the Blood Ginseng Growing Area must absolutely not be lost!
"It seems that this period must enter a state of full alert. Both Black Little Bees and Gold Marrow Bees must enter a state of super-alert to guard against Demon Insects that may appear at any time."
"I must also stay at the blood ginseng location for most of the time to fully cultivate blood ginseng, so that blood ginseng production can increase by at least three times compared to before; at the same time, if an irresistible powerful enemy appears, I will also have time to immediately collect all Spirit Medicine and then fully flee."
As for exploring the underground secret, after this incident, Qi Ping will absolutely not act rashly before the High-Speed Ring-Cutting Bees are cultivated.
Because if what's underground is not a treasure, but a sealed insect nest, and he accidentally breaks the Seal, the consequences would be unimaginable.
Therefore, the priority now is to quickly cultivate a large number of blood ginseng and the High-Speed Ring-Cutting Bee army. With these two trump cards, even if he is forced to leave later, Qi Ping will have the capital to protect himself and seek other development.
Besides these, Qi Ping also planned to do two things during the intervals of recovering his Mental Energy.
One thing was to persuade Old Zhou to return to the mortal world with some resources first, and then come back to enjoy a leisurely life when things here became stable later.
Otherwise, staying here, his life and death would be uncertain.
Qi Ping felt that his own self-preservation ability was insufficient, and he had even less confidence in protecting Old Zhou.
In the mortal world, due to the lack of Spiritual Qi, there is no attraction for Demon Insects at all. Cultivators are generally relatively safe as long as they do not violate the "Cultivator Mortal World Regulations" of the Righteous Path Sect Alliance regarding the mortal world.
Only after Old Zhou left could he fully focus on acquiring resources and expanding his forces without distractions.
Qi Ping planned to bring Old Zhou back after he had thoroughly established himself here, help Old Zhou continue his Breakthrough, and extend his lifespan.
The other thing was to inform Nan Jie about the Blood Pattern Locusts and also ask her if her crisis warning Talent had reacted, in order to determine the scale of the upcoming Demon Insect attack.
Because if the scale was large, Nan Jie would basically find it difficult to stay out of it.
At the same time, he would remind her to prepare, as for whether she leaves, that was not something Qi Ping could decide.
Inside the courtyard at the foot of Peak Seven.
Old Zhou was lying on the purple bamboo reclining chair, listening to Qi Ping talk about the Demon Insects.
"Demon Insects? Is it that serious?" Old Zhou asked, somewhat surprised after listening.
"Yes, so Qing Shi County will be very dangerous next, and Gold Marrow Bees may not be able to protect us."
"Brother Shan and Brother Pang have already gone to find Hongyun Merchant Guild to take them out of Qing Shi County and back to the mortal world, so I want you to also take some Spirit Stones and golden marrow honey and go back to the mortal world with them. When the matter of robber cultivators and Demon Insects here is over, I'll pick you up again."
Qi Ping carefully spoke the words he had weighed many times. He was a little worried that Old Zhou would associate this with his Disciple who had joined a large Sect and never returned.
However, Qi Ping's worries were clearly a bit excessive.
As soon as Old Zhou heard, he understood Qi Ping's concerns and smiled, comforting him:
"Don't worry, don't worry about me. I know your temperament very well, kid..."
"It's also been many years since I returned to the mortal world. It's good to go back and see."
With that, Old Zhou nimbly jumped off the reclining chair and went back to his room to pack his things.
However, halfway there, he uncharacteristically showed a hint of worry and turned back, saying:
"You, kid, you must survive. Don't let this old man be unable to walk when I'm old, and not even have someone to buy me wine."
"How could that happen? I won't die before I marry a few beautiful wives!" Qi Ping replied with a smile.
"You, kid!"
Old Zhou shook his head and continued packing his things.
He was naturally very open-minded about such things and didn't want to make Qi Ping difficult, and he also knew this was the best choice.
As Qi Ping watched Old Zhou's back, he sighed, and the smile on his face gradually faded, replaced by determination.
Although this disaster carried great risks, if well prepared, it could also be an Opportunity. Just the Demon Insect corpses alone would be worth a lot of Spirit Stones.
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