Of the five cocoons that had originally formed, the two belonging to the Sky-Flame Midge bloodline both successfully hatched. However, of the three cocoons belonging to the Demon Insect King bloodline, only one was successful!
Qi Ping found this a great pity, as the abilities of the Demon Insect King were truly enviable.
However, the failure was within the realm of understanding. The difference between the Demon Insect King's bloodline and that of the Golden Marrow Bee was simply too large. In the final stage of transformation and fusion, problems had inevitably occurred.
The single successful bee carried the most pure attribute: Netherworld Yin power.
Nonetheless, a single success was enough to reward all the efforts Qi Ping and the bees had put in, because the attributes of the successful bee were simply explosive!
Qi Ping's attribute panel now displayed the stats of his animal companions.
[Species: Netherworld Bee]
[Bloodline: Royal-Grade Demon Insect]
[Talents: Netherworld Spirit Body, Immunity to All Methods, Netherworld Soul Form]
Netherworld Spirit Body: An Extreme Yin constitution type. Capable of absorbing Extreme Yin power and converting it into Netherworld power. Can grow and mature rapidly by devouring Extreme Yin energy. Possesses an extremely strong self-healing ability after taking damage.
Immunity to All Methods: When facing spell attacks, it can weaken the magical damage it receives. Among various spells, it has the highest weakening effect against the Five Elements and the weakest against Extreme Yang power.
Netherworld Soul Form: Possesses an extremely unique talent regarding the soul. The soul has indestructible and restorative traits. Excels at attacking with soul-based spells.
[Evaluation: A royal-grade demon insect born after a Golden Marrow Bee devoured the Demon Insect King's bloodline. A terrifying existence capable of forming a demon insect calamity. The only case of its kind in the cultivation world!]
Seeing the Netherworld Bee's attributes, only one word remained in Qi Ping's mind: 'Incredible!'
In fact, 'incredible' was not enough to describe these stats!
"As expected of a bee born from swallowing the bloodline essence of the Demon Insect King. Although its strength is somewhat weakened compared to the King itself, it is still quite outrageous..."
Among these three talents, the Netherworld Spirit Body was quite strong, with high recovery and the ability to grow by devouring Extreme Yin power, which would greatly increase the Netherworld Bee's maturation speed.
However, that talent was still within normal bounds. The remaining two, Immunity to All Methods and Netherworld Soul Form, were truly absurd. Even Qi Ping looked at them with envy!
With these two talents, it was essentially impossible to kill the Netherworld Bee in a short period unless one's strength reached an overwhelming, crushing level.
"In other words, the true counters to the Netherworld Bee are Extreme Yang attributes or powerful fire-attribute forces, as well as pure physical attacks."
However, even with these two weaknesses, it was still stronger than any ordinary spirit beast. Netherworld power and Extreme Yang power complemented and countered each other; the recovery of the Netherworld Spirit Body was also excellent. Without absolute raw strength in those areas, it was impossible to cause high damage to the Netherworld Bee.
"And what's even more ridiculous is that the two weaknesses of the Netherworld Bee are compensated for by the Sky-Flame Bee..."
The Sky-Flame Bee was the bee that had perfectly awakened the Sky-Flame Midge bloodline. The midge's terrifying physical traits and Extreme Yang attribute had all been inherited.
[Species: Sky-Flame Bee]
[Bloodline: Royal-Grade Demon Insect]
[Talents: Sky-Flame War Body, Sky-Flame Demon Wings, Sky-Flame Demon Fire]
Sky-Flame War Body: An Extreme Yang constitution type. The physical body is peerlessly robust, possessing indestructible traits and extremely strong self-healing. Capable of absorbing Extreme Yang power and converting it into Sky-Flame Fire to strengthen and temper the body.
Sky-Flame Demon Wings: Thin as a cicada's wing yet possessing extraordinary resilience. Has extremely strong sharpness and cutting traits. The wings carry solar fire attribute divine runes, possessing searing and burning characteristics.
Sky-Flame Demon Fire: A special demon fire born from a royal-grade bloodline. Can be used for tempering the body or attacking enemies.
[Evaluation: A royal-grade demon insect born after a Golden Marrow Bee devoured the Sky-Flame Midge's bloodline. Physicality is peerless; one must never engage it in close combat!]
Seeing the Sky-Flame Bee's stats, four words rose in Qi Ping's heart: 'Peerless physical body!'
The Sky-Flame Bee had indeed perfectly inherited the traits of the Sky-Flame Midge.
In the records regarding the royal-grade Sky-Flame Midge, it was described as a demon insect that was terrifying in close-quarters combat. It had once slaughtered cultivators of the same rank until they were terrified. Faced with a truly mature Rank 4 Sky-Flame Midge, even a Nascent Soul cultivator would retreat.
It was precisely because of its power that a single corpse sold for over a million spirit stones, and even within the Qingyuan Sect, not even core disciples had the qualification to exchange for it.
However, the cultivation world eventually discovered a way to deal with the Sky-Flame Midge: soul spells!
The Sky-Flame Midge's soul was not weak, but compared to cultivators who specialized in soul arts, it fell short. An entire, legendary colony of Sky-Flame Midges had once been wiped out by a monstrous soul-specialist cultivator.
"It seems the Sky-Flame Bee and the Netherworld Bee are the same; their strengths are very prominent, but they are also easily targeted. A soul-specialist cultivator wiping out a powerful Sky-Flame Midge colony is a perfect example."
"But what if the Sky-Flame Bee and the Netherworld Bee are combined?"
At this thought, Qi Ping's mouth stretched into a wide grin!
If an enemy used soul attacks against the Sky-Flame Bee, would the Netherworld Bee's Netherworld Soul Form just sit there? That powerful indestructible trait and formidable soul spells would be enough to make any same-rank cultivator despair.
If an enemy used Extreme Yang or physical attacks against the Netherworld Bee, the Sky-Flame Bee's terrifying speed and its war body's indestructible trait would likewise drive a same-rank cultivator to despair.
"This combination of Sky-Flame and Netherworld bees is simply too outrageous!"
Furthermore, if an enemy wanted to separate the two to defeat them individually, Qi Ping felt it was unlikely. If these two types of bees belonged to different swarms, it might be possible, but they belonged to the same colony. Who could tear them apart?
"If I specifically research a Yin-Yang Combined Strike Formation for them, linking all their defense and offense into one, then their combination will be truly perfect!"
Upon discovering the power of this combination, Qi Ping's excitement was nearly impossible to describe.
However, after the excitement passed, the headache-inducing problems followed.
Nurturing these two types of bees required resources far beyond the minor skirmishes of the Wind-Blade Bees. Each one needed the most precious Extreme Yang and Extreme Yin resources; otherwise, their combat power would never reach its peak.
"It seems I'll need to plant more Yin and Yang attribute spiritual trees. The second base and the Yellow Spring Tree must also be nurtured as quickly as possible. Aside from that, I'll have to find a way to sell all the low-level resources produced by the territory to earn money for the bees..."
"I hope the spiritual vein can promote quickly with the assistance of the Earth-Vein Ants; otherwise, the current amount of spiritual energy will be hard-pressed to support royal-grade bees."
Unconsciously, Qi Ping had once again reached the point where he lacked spirit stones. Thinking of this, he turned his gaze toward the final bee that had carved out a path unique to the Golden Marrow Bee. As the only high-level production bee among his animal companions, most of the pressure to earn spirit stones in the future would fall on its shoulders...