Chapter 16 - Chapter 16: White Jade Bees

The spiritual rice was ripe. As Zhang Zhixuan and Qingchan picked the grains, he took out a black paper crane over two cun long from the house. He used cinnabar to write dozens of characters on the paper crane, then infused it with a trace of mana—the black paper crane fluttered lightly into the sky, drifting slowly toward the mountain gate.This was a Communication Paper Crane, sealed with the Thousand-Li Communication Spell—capable of transmitting messages up to a thousand li. Beyond that distance, the mana stored in the crane would be exhausted. The mountain gate was only about five or six hundred li from Lushan County—well within the crane's range for reliable communication.The two split up—one east, one west—to pick the spiritual rice. Zhang Zhixuan had just stretched his back when he heard Qingchan let out a scream; the grains she had picked spilled onto the ground. Jade Marrow Rice could not touch the soil—once it did, it would immediately take root and germinate, becoming inedible. Zhang Zhixuan was about to scold her when he saw her face swollen and tearful, running toward him. Unable to speak, she could only whimper softly.Seeing her like this, Zhang Zhixuan's anger softened. He picked her up and examined her gently: "What happened? Stung by a spiritual insect?"The spiritual fields were often infested with pests. Because the fields contained spiritual energy and the herbs were infused with spirituality, these pests gradually mutated into all kinds of strange spiritual insects. Some were quite dangerous, carrying potent toxins—even immortal cultivators could die if poisoned. However, all things in nature balance each other: within thirty paces of a poisonous insect, one could usually find an antidote.Qingchan held back her tears, pulled Zhang Zhixuan by the corner of his clothes, and ran back—pointing at seven or eight white jade-colored bees flying around, whimpering and gesturing."I see—it's these bees that stung you. Don't worry, I'll deal with them to avenge you," Zhang Zhixuan said, pointing at the beehive with a smile. He first checked Qingchan carefully and confirmed she was not in life-threatening danger. After observing the white bees' size, shape, and habits for a moment, he hurried into the house and flipped through several books on a shelf.Having just come down the mountain, Zhang Zhixuan was still unfamiliar with spiritual field work. Thus, elderly spiritual field cultivators like his Seventh Uncle and Second Elder had given him many of their notes and insights to study at his leisure. Moreover, Zhang Zhixuan was eager to learn—over his ten years of cultivation, he had often read various immortal cultivation miscellanies and copied many of the clan's books to read during his time at the foot of the mountain.After flipping through several books, Zhang Zhixuan excitedly opened a volume titled Spiritual Insect Compendium and pointed to a page: "They really are White Jade Bees! How could White Jade Bees appear here? This type of spiritual insect is only found in the depths of the Southern Wilderness or kept in the mountain gates of major sects. Why would they appear here for no reason?"Zhang Zhixuan suppressed his confusion, ran into the courtyard, and examined the White Jade Bee hive carefully. He noticed that the hive also contained many ordinary bees—only a dozen or so White Jade Bees were mixed among them. "So they evolved from wild bees that absorbed spiritual energy," Zhang Zhixuan realized, a surge of joy rising in his heart.White Jade Bees are extremely beneficial to immortal cultivators. The honey they produce is a High-Grade Rank 2 spiritual herb. Once the White Jade Bee Queen advances to Rank 3, the royal jelly it produces becomes a Middle-Grade Rank 3 treasure—capable of boosting cultivation, nourishing the physical body, and serving as the main ingredient for refining Middle-Grade Rank 3 Jade Bee Pills. This type of spiritual insect typically builds its hive near rare flowers and exotic herbs."I've never heard of any cultivator near here successfully raising White Jade Bees except the Qingxuan Sect. But even if another clan had raised them, they would never reveal it casually. After all, Rank 3 Middle-Grade royal jelly is extremely precious—even if not used for pill-refining, it's a rare spiritual object," Zhang Zhixuan thought anxiously."White Jade Bee hives cannot be easily moved. If removed from their familiar environment, they will stop producing honey and may even go berserk and attack each other. These are lessons learned through the blood and tears of countless cultivators over the years. This hive has only a dozen White Jade Bees—they seem to have just evolved. It will take decades, even a hundred years, to raise a Rank 3 White Jade Bee Queen."Zhang Zhixuan used the Object Control Spell to gently cut off a piece of the hive, collected a little honey, crushed the hive, and applied it to Qingchan's swollen face. White Jade Bee venom was not highly toxic—though Qingchan had been stung several times, her life was not in danger. The hive itself was also a spiritual object: when applied externally, it could counteract the bee venom and was even used to refine Middle-Grade Rank 2 Antidote Pills."Do you want to drink honey water every day? If you do, you'll have to keep an eye on this beehive every day. If new white bees appear, tell me right away. If you see any strange bees, notify me immediately. Otherwise, once the white bees die, the honey won't be this sweet anymore," Zhang Zhixuan said, patting Qingchan's head and narrowing his eyes.Qingchan glared at the "culprit" bees, then took a sip of the sweet, fragrant honey water. After a moment of thought, she finally nodded. To avoid disturbing the White Jade Bees, Zhang Zhixuan and Qingchan did not pick the spiritual rice within ten paces of the hive.When they finished harvesting, they weighed the rice. This year's harvest was good—even with three to four tenths of the rice unharvested and several jin spilled by Qingchan, the total yield was no lower than last year. The twenty-five mu of spiritual rice had produced over five thousand jin. The Zhang Clan never sold a single jin of this Jade Marrow Rice—it was all used to support the clan's cultivators in their cultivation.The day after sending the Communication Paper Crane, clan cultivators arrived at the foot of the mountain. The cultivators sent to transport the spiritual rice were his Seventh Uncle Zhang Mengyuan and Seventeenth Uncle Zhang Menglian, followed by seven or eight young cultivators around twenty years old. The highest-ranked among them had only reached the Third Layer of Qi Refining, while the lowest had not yet broken through to the Innate Realm.They drove three large carriages, pulled by horses nine chi tall—majestic and powerful, clearly not ordinary mortal horses. "Did they even bring Cloud-Stepping Beasts?" Zhang Zhixuan wondered aloud, looking at the giant horses.Cloud-Stepping Beasts are spirit beasts tamed by the Zhang Clan. Two hundred years ago, the Zhang Clan's talented cultivator Zhang Chuyun obtained a High-Grade Rank 3 demonic beast—the Blazing Flame Horse. Through his connections as a direct clan member, the Zhang Clan spent a fortune to buy fine horses for crossbreeding. After over a thousand failed attempts, they finally succeeded in developing a new horse breed. Compared to common horse-type demonic beasts, Cloud-Stepping Beasts are much gentler-tempered; at full speed, they can outrun late-stage Qi Refining cultivators. Moreover, these spirit beasts have excellent stamina—able to run two thousand li in a day and night.Regrettably, Cloud-Stepping Beasts are low-ranked: newborn foals are only Low-Grade Rank 1, and even when fully grown, they only reach High-Grade Rank 1. Additionally, they are difficult to breed—despite two hundred years of effort, the clan has only successfully raised over a dozen Cloud-Stepping Beasts, with only seven still alive today."Taicheng County hasn't been peaceful in recent decades. For safety, your Nineteenth Uncle asked us to bring the Cloud-Stepping Beasts. Even if we can't defeat our enemies, we can outrun them and bring the spiritual rice back to the mountain safely," his Seventh Uncle explained with a smile.