READ NOVEL ONLINE Chapter 52: Beehive
"Alright, hahaha~~"
"..."
After a heart-to-heart conversation, the bond between master and disciple deepened, and the last barrier between them was broken.
"..."
Ran Yuming arranged things and said, "Alright, Luoheng, it's getting late. Tomorrow, you need to hunt for your spirit ring. Go back to the tent early to rest and gather your energy. I'll keep watch tonight."
"Mm."
Su Luoheng nodded, then returned to the tent to rest.
Before absorbing the spirit ring, it was essential to be in the best possible condition.
...
The next morning, in the Jingyang Mountain Range.
A layer of thin mist covered the forest, making it look hazy and mysterious.
The tall trees were lush with branches and leaves, their thick canopy blocking out the sunlight, layering the entire mountain range in shadow.
Amid the dense forest, two figures were swiftly moving through the underbrush — Su Luoheng and his master, Ran Yuming. They easily dispatched a few soul beasts they encountered along the way.
They were not searching aimlessly.
Before coming here, Ran Yuming had done his homework. The expansive Jingyang Mountain Range hosted many types of soul beasts suitable for Su Luoheng.
For example: Silver Wolf, Crystal Phantom Beast, One-Horned Crystal Snake, Mirror Jade Rhinoceros, Red Gold Bear, Thundercloud Leopard, Phantom Tiger, and more. These soul beasts, to varying degrees, possessed mental abilities, which aligned well with Su Luoheng's martial soul characteristics and could serve as options for his second spirit ring.
Of these, Ran Yuming favored two types of soul beasts the most: the Crystal Phantom Beast and the Red Gold Bear.
The Crystal Phantom Beast, a mental-type soul beast, had a slender and agile build, known for its swift and flexible movements. It excelled in using illusion-based mental attacks. However, its physical combat abilities were weak, and it was quite rare. What made it stand out was its incredible speed, and combined with its illusion attacks, even if someone were lucky enough to spot one, capturing it was nearly impossible.
Its mental abilities were highly compatible with Su Luoheng.
The Red Gold Bear, unique to the Jingyang Mountain Range, fed on a mineral known as Red Sun Gold. It was large in size, with formidable defenses and thick skin. Apart from its fierce offensive capabilities, it also had some mental attributes, disrupting enemies' minds with its battle cries during combat.
Given its traits, it was very likely to provide Su Luoheng with a strong combat ability — something crucial for someone like Su Luoheng, who needed to balance both Soul Master and Soul Engineer skills.
This was why Ran Yuming regarded these two soul beasts as the best options for Su Luoheng's second spirit ring.
He planned to search the entire area where these two beasts were known to appear in the Jingyang Mountain Range, determined not to rest until he found the perfect one for Su Luoheng.
"..."
Three days passed in a flash.
Ran Yuming and Su Luoheng had already explored about one-third of the Jingyang Mountain Range.
During this time, they encountered several suitable soul beasts, such as the Thundercloud Leopard, One-Horned Crystal Snake, and Mirror Jade Rhinoceros, all within the optimal age range for the second spirit ring.
They even came across a few Crystal Phantom Beasts and Red Gold Bears. However, either their age was too high or too low.
Adhering to a principle of not settling for less, Su Luoheng decided not to choose these.
Nevertheless, Ran Yuming made note of their locations just in case. If they couldn't find an ideal Crystal Phantom Beast or Red Gold Bear, they would choose one of these as a backup.
...
...
It was unclear whether it was bad luck or some other reason.
The master and disciple had stayed in the Jingyang Mountain Range for almost half a month. Aside from the two days at the beginning when they spotted those two types of soul beasts, they hadn't seen any sign of the Crystal Phantom Beast or the Red Gold Bear since! They began to suspect that the beasts were deliberately hiding from them.
After such a long time without any results, Su Luoheng started to consider giving up.
Ran Yuming also began to hesitate, wondering whether they should continue the search.
Although they had enough time to search for a soul beast, spending it aimlessly without any progress wasn't a good approach.
The two of them discussed the matter.
In the end, they decided to search for three more days. If they still couldn't find anything, they would have to give up.
...
Suddenly, Ran Yuming stopped in his tracks.
His eyes focused on something ahead, and a flash of excitement crossed his face.
"It's it!"
Ran Yuming tugged at his beard excitedly, mumbling to himself, "I must be getting old and forgetful. How could I forget something so important..."
"Hmm?"
Curious, Su Luoheng followed his master's gaze. In front of them was a towering ancient tree, almost a hundred meters tall. The tree stretched up into the clouds, its branches thick and gnarled, making it look like it had stood there for nearly a thousand years.
Seeing such a complete ancient tree in the mountains was truly a rare sight.
But no matter how rare, it wasn't enough to cause his teacher such amazement, was it?
Unable to hold back his curiosity, Su Luoheng asked, "Teacher, what are you talking about?"
"Luoheng, your second spirit ring has been found!" Ran Yuming pointed at the ancient tree in front of them, his tone slightly excited.
"Huh?"
Su Luoheng was stunned at first, but his mind quickly began to race. Judging from his teacher's words, could it be that this ancient tree had something to do with his second spirit ring?
He started carefully observing the tree but couldn't find anything unusual about it.
Confused, Su Luoheng couldn't make sense of it.
"Look up, at the top of the tree's crown," Ran Yuming said, exhaling deeply to calm his excitement, then raising his hand to point out the direction for Su Luoheng.
"Up there…"
Su Luoheng muttered under his breath.
Following the direction of his teacher's finger, he lifted his gaze and carefully observed the top of the tree.
Narrowing his eyes slightly, he focused intently.
At the very top of the ancient tree, he noticed dense branches and thick leaves, all intertwined. About ten meters up, a large, dark brown cylindrical beehive hung between the branches.
A swarm of red bees buzzed around it.
Previously, the massive canopy of the tree, with its crisscrossing branches, had obscured much of the hive. Without his teacher's guidance, he wouldn't have been able to spot it on his own.
"Is that... a beehive?"
Su Luoheng's mouth slightly parted, and a hint of astonishment appeared in his eyes.
"Yes."
Ran Yuming nodded and explained, "That is the hive of the Bloodflame Bees. These bees are quite special. Their venom is two to three times more potent than that of regular bees. The venom from a hundred-year-old Bloodflame Bee is equivalent to that of a three-hundred-year-old ordinary venomous bee. And when they sting, it feels like being burned by flames—excruciatingly painful."
After a brief pause, Ran Yuming's expression turned serious. "Luoheng, don't underestimate these Bloodflame Bees. Although they can only attack once in their lifetime, their venom, which they accumulate over four to five hundred years, is potent enough to bring down even a Soul Ancestor if they aren't careful!"
"Their venom is that strong?!"
Su Luoheng was startled, his eyes flashing with disbelief.
He had definitely underestimated these bees.
After all, a Soul Ancestor-level soul master was equivalent to a soul beast of over three thousand years. Yet even such powerful figures could be felled by these Bloodflame Bees' venom!
Ran Yuming turned back to the hive, his gaze flickering.
"But often, the stronger the venom, the more precious the honey they produce."