I Don't Agree to the Terms
Chapter 84 - 75: On the Size of the Ghost Bee, Both Sides Seem Unable to Reach a Consensus_2

Chapter 84: Chapter 75: On the Size of the Ghost Bee, Both Sides Seem Unable to Reach a Consensus_2

At this moment, the middle-aged man felt more and more screwed. He always felt that he had derailed far too seriously; while his neighbors were nearly ascending to the heavens, he was still struggling to survive.

"Why don’t you go there then? Instead, you’re heading towards that province." At this time, the middle-aged man also spotted the oversight.

"I don’t want to go; I just want to live here slowly—after all, it’s hard to leave one’s homeland," Gu Shanhai casually made up an excuse.

The middle-aged man couldn’t help but fall silent; he didn’t say too much, as everyone has their own thoughts.

"By the way, if you go to that province, be careful. When I came from there previously, I saw a swarm of honeybees that had become spirits. Their size hadn’t changed, but their bodies were extremely tough; I couldn’t even cut through their skin with a knife, and I don’t know how they survived without eating or drinking. They’re almost like ghosts," the middle-aged man quickly added a word of caution.

"Thanks, I’ll be careful. If it’s really that terrifying, I’ll turn back the way I came," Gu Shanhai expressed his gratitude.

It’s good to be reminded, as it could save him a lot of trouble.

After chatting for a moment, the two went their separate ways. Their destinations differed, and naturally, it wasn’t possible to go together; fleeting encounters with a brief conversation were already good enough, not to expect genuinely in-depth exchanges.

"Ghost Bee? Could it have become a supernatural beast, the Queen Bee?"

...

After several days, Gu Shanhai enhanced his Spirit Root once again; he then sped up and finally reached his destination, which was still the deserted and silent city.

"If I don’t encounter the swarm of Ghost Bees, I’ll leave them be and get the Supernatural Plant first," Gu Shanhai had no intention of confronting the Ghost Bees.

Although he was interested in the possibility of the Queen Bee having turned into a supernatural beast, if he caught it, he could temporarily store it for future Gu Refining, which might result in a formidable Gu Worm.

This kind of Ghost Bee Queen would entirely fall under the supernatural creatures category in the realms of immortals and fantasy, possessing excellent qualities.

However, it wasn’t necessary to capture it. From the middle-aged man’s description, these Ghost Bees likely manifested as a Spiritual Body, with a small chance of possessing a supernatural ability akin to an iron body.

But, regardless of which type they were, it indicated that these creatures were not to be trifled with.

So, it was best to avoid them if possible, and he would only choose to capture them if absolutely necessary.

Interest did not mean he had to obtain it.

Even if he captured it, currently he had no means to monetize it, and he might even risk his own life in the process.

"According to the map markers given to me by He Lingyun, it should be inside the urban village."

"The distance shouldn’t be far..."

Suddenly, Gu Shanhai’s heart skipped a beat, feeling a palpitation accompanied by a familiar sensation.

"Is there danger, but not significant?" This was the first time Gu Shanhai’s Qi Refining Second Layer·Perception ability had triggered, instantly allowing him to foresee a potential encounter.

"I hope I’m not so unlucky to meet that swarm of Ghost Bees now. I’ve been in this province for a long time, traveling through many towns and districts, and it’s only in the most critical place that they appear..."

"He Lingyun said there was no danger, right?"

His sixth sense and danger perception abilities flicked briefly, then calmed once again.

Therefore, he could only first find a place to hide and then subdued his aura, quietly waiting.

Soon, he saw a swarm of fist-sized wasps passing brazenly by, seemingly surveying their territory.

Their appearance was somewhat translucent, looking indeed quite ghost-like.

’They really are Ghost Bees... But are you sure they haven’t grown larger?’ Gu Shanhai felt that his understanding might slightly differ from the others.

These were fist-sized wasps, not honeybees; the level of threat could not be compared.

After a quick assessment, Gu Shanhai confirmed one thing: there indeed was danger. If this large number of Ghost Bees swarmed, they could truly break through the outer defense of his Magic Domain and then be obliterated by the Mana aura.

All the external defenses of his Magic Domain were shattered, leaving Gu Shanhai with only internal defense mechanisms. Wasn’t that dangerous enough?

Thus, Gu Shanhai wisely chose not to engage with the swarm of Ghost Bees. There was no benefit in it, since fighting the beasts didn’t grant him any experience. Why should he directly confront the Ghost Bees?

After the Ghost Bees had passed, Gu Shanhai slowly emerged and continued on his original path.

"Perhaps... the nest of the Ghost Bees is in this area. Earlier, someone else had only encountered a single Ghost Bee."

"And during this time, it seems that the Ghost Bees have undergone some changes. Isn’t that strange?"

Normally, the abilities of supernatural beasts are fixed, unless...

"This Ghost Bee’s awakened ability can absorb nutrients in a certain special way to grow."

Such abilities do exist. Take, for example, the ’Mental Black Hole.’ It belongs to the category of mental abilities, and its effect allows it to devour other people’s spiritual power to grow.

Other similar abilities include Infinite Devouring, Divisive Mark, and so forth.

Therefore, he suspected that the Queen Bee’s awakened ability could also grow autonomously after using its power, unlike most abilities which require genetic manipulation to evolve.

Abilities that can grow are mostly considered high-level abilities, unless they are utterly useless and categorized as ordinary abilities.

Of course, Gu Shanhai’s Spirit Root wasn’t a growing ability. The phenomenon of self-growth he exhibited was actually a result of his own later modifications.

"No, why have I encountered Ghost Bees again..."

This time, Gu Shanhai detected them through his five senses and thus took evasive action first.

This time there were fewer bees; they couldn’t even break through his external defense, which was handled by his aura, so naturally, he felt nothing.

"Could the nest of the Ghost Bees also be in the urban village?" Gu Shanhai frowned. This could be problematic.

A small urban village, yet it seemed to exhaust a millennium’s worth of luck by concurrently hosting two prodigies.

Within a small area, the appearance of both supernatural beasts and supernatural plants truly defied the odds.

However, this also caused him significant trouble. To acquire that supernatural plant, he had to avoid the Ghost Bees first.

With his methods, slaughtering them wasn’t a big problem, but it would undoubtedly consume a lot of mana.

"Maybe I could send the Spirit Plant General Order Illusion to fetch it for me. An illusion versus a spirit, that’s about even."

At that moment, the highly useful tool-like Spirit Plant General Order Illusion came in handy.

Such a useful item, Gu Shanhai actually thought about modifying it with a self-destruct ability upon death. But upon further thought, considering its range of one hundred meters and blast radius of one thousand meters, it could potentially harm him if detonated.

Moreover, since it also serves as a bodyguard, if someone remote detonated the Spirit Plant General Order Illusion, it would mean he, as the one being protected, would also suffer from the blast of the illusion.

The very thought of it was absurd, so he did not install the self-destruct feature.

Later, when he had more mana, he would increase the number of Spirit Plant General Order Illusions to form a battalion. Then, self-detonating would be much more impactful than blowing up just one now.

As Gu Shanhai headed towards his destination, he encountered numerous Ghost Bees along the way, each larger and more terrifying than before.

"However, their evolution seems somewhat simplistic, focusing only on increasing their size. This likely stems from the Queen Bee not possessing sufficient intelligence, which is actually good news."

For Gu Shanhai, he wasn’t afraid of an opponent with a strong and potential-filled ability, but of an opponent with intelligence.

No matter how formidable or promising an ability is, without sufficient wisdom to utilize it, it only diminishes its impact.

Humans stand at the top of the food chain not because they are powerful in combat, but because they possess overwhelming intelligence; otherwise, even if equipped with a submachine gun, one would only use it as a stick for making fire.