Daily life of a cultivation judge
Chapter 1184 - 1184: The call that came with an unexpected find (2)

The primary means of protection dreamshade ambrosia bees relied on was the use of illusions. However, these illusions weren't lethal, they merely served to confuse intruders and keep the nest's location hidden. Meifeng's specialty also happened to lie in illusory techniques, which likely played a large role in how she even found the dreamshade ambrosia bee nest in the first place. However, unlike the bees', her illusions possessed true lethality, and she had a whole repertoire of other skills to fall back on for her safety.

The dreamshade ambrosia bees, on the other hand, lacked that kind of versatility. Illusion was all they had, and even that was limited to confusing the mind and obscuring their nest. It had no offensive or defensive application beyond that.

Their combat ability was practically nonexistent, and their docile personalities didn't help either. To survive, they often formed partnerships with stronger spirit beasts, which they relied on for protection, and in return, the spirit beast got their honey.

Of course, calling it a "partnership" was generous. In truth, the bees were more like servants working under the protection of a powerful guardian beast, given the obvious disparity in strength, and spirit beasts weren't exactly known for their altruistic nature. More often than not, dreamshade ambrosia bees are ruthlessly exploited for their honey by said 'guardian'.

While their honey is highly sought after by human cultivators, especially alchemists, it offers just as many, if not greater, benefits to spirit beasts. Some would even argue that spirit beasts gained more from it than humans did.

The reasoning behind this was simple: the honey helped spirit beasts reduce the difficulty of forming their wisdom pearls, and for those that had already formed one, it aided in refining and polishing it to a greater degree.

Any spirit beast, more so those that didn't have the inheritance of powerful bloodlines to rely on, all needed to have wisdom pearls if they wanted to have a shot at breaking through to the palace realm and or advancing into higher realms.

Wisdom pearls not only granted spirit beasts rationality and emotional control similar to that of humans, they also served as the medium through which they perceived, discerned, and comprehended the profundities, mysteries, and truths of the laws and principles of the countless Daos that governed the world.

In the early stages of cultivation, spirit beasts usually relied on instinct to cultivate. However, from the Palace Realm onwards, instinct alone was no longer sufficient to carry them forward. To cross that threshold, they needed something more, and that something more was wisdom pearls, which acted as their guide into the higher paths.

To spirit beasts, a wisdom pearl was the equivalent of a cultivation technique for human cultivators, which also meant that it carried the same difficulty as it took humans to create and or cultivate their techniques.

Those born with powerful bloodlines often came into the world with their wisdom pearls already formed. But for those without such fortune, they had to labor and struggle to form theirs. Some did so by consuming the wisdom pearls of others. Some was as a result of sudden bursts of enlightenment, while others relied on natural treasures…

…treasures like the honey of a dreamshade ambrosia bee.

Thus, it was easy to see why such a resource would be invaluable to spirit beasts. Without fail, wherever there was a nest of dreamshade ambrosia bees, a powerful spirit beast was never far behind.

"Does it have a guardian?" Yang Qing asked, getting straight to the most pertinent question.

"It doesn't have one..." Meifeng replied.

Her response made Yang Qing's brow wrinkle in confusion.

"You're sure?" he confirmed once more, thinking he'd misheard.

"There isn't," Meifeng reaffirmed, then quickly followed up with an explanation for the anomaly.

"The bees have taken up residence in a small cave filled with ghost jadeite crystals and spiritbane lichen. It's rather strange to see those two together… but the combination of them, along with the dreamshade bees' own abilities, must have been what kept their nest hidden all this time.

I only discovered it because of the familiar yet odd resonance I felt when my spores reached that area, which is something I wouldn't have sensed if not for the improvements I gained brought about by the yin spring you and that senior helped create," Meifeng explained.

"So there's no guardian?" Yang Qing asked once more, still baffled by the discovery.

But slowly his doubt evolved into acceptance and understanding, which descended into a crazy laugh of jubilation at his luck before it shifted into a frown of cautious suspicion.

Ghost jadeite crystals isolated the presence of living things, while spiritbane lichen suppressed the spiritual qi presence of both living and non-living things. While it wasn't exactly unheard of for both materials to appear in the same place, it was certainly suspicious for them to be present in a nest that just so happened to house dreamshade ambrosia bees.

It all felt deliberate rather than coincidental, not unless the bees had been the ones to discover that spot and intentionally established their nest there, taking advantage of the unique properties the two materials offered.

Just as Yang Qing was weighing the odds of it being a deliberate setup, Meifeng dropped another bombshell.

"I communicated with the queen of the nest, and she agreed to relocate to where my main body is, and Gu Xing said she'll even help with the relocation," Meifeng said, her voice brimming with excitement. "Good news, right?" she added, sounding clearly pleased with herself.

"It is..." Yang Qing replied, letting out a hollow laugh as he struggled to process the situation.

It all sounded too good to be true. He even pinched himself a few times, just to make sure he wasn't hallucinating. The pain confirmed he wasn't, but still, after years of horrid luck, it was hard for him to accept such a miraculous turn of events.

"When are they moving over?" he asked, deciding he might as well just go with the flow, even if it was a bit hard to accept.

"Mmmh, in a few hours they should be here. Gu Xing is already at their nest..."

"Good, good," Yang Qing repeated, laughing in disbelief and joy.

"So when are you coming?"

The question quickly pulled Yang Qing out of his dazed state."Let's see..." he said, rubbing his chin pensively as he tried to work out his schedule.

"I'll try to be there in a few days, or a week at most. It depends on how things play out on my end," he answered. Just as he was about to elaborate further, his expression changed when he noticed another person trying to reach him through the communication talisman.

"Meifeng, I need to go now. I'll call you later once things settle down a bit on my end," Yang Qing said quickly, moving to end the call.

"Fine," Meifeng replied, her voice sounding a bit reluctant and quieter than before. But her excitement returned almost immediately."When you come, don't forget to bring that wine... and the scallion pancakes from last time, and that osmanthus cake..." she began listing a few more dishes before she finally stopped.

"I will," Yang Qing replied with a smile. "And thanks, Meifeng," he added before ending the call and switching to the next one.

"Li Gang has agreed to meet you. He should be there in a few hours," the new voice said the moment Yang Qing picked up.

"Great... Thank you, Senior Dong Ping."