Xie Zhaolin's pupils constricted, and she instantly held her breath, pressing herself against the rock wall. Not far away in the black mist, dozens of Yinsha Bees hovered, their tail stingers glinting with a deadly chill, seemingly searching for something.
"They're still here…" she muttered under her breath.
These Yinsha Bees were extremely sensitive to cultivator energy, especially toward prey that had harmed them before. Her escape last time had clearly left a grudge in their minds.
She carefully stepped backward, running her cultivation technique to fully suppress her presence, trying to slip past this area unnoticed.
But then…
Buzz!
A single Yinsha Bee suddenly changed course, heading straight for her hiding spot. Xie Zhaolin tensed, black qi flickering at her fingertips.
"Spotted?"
Her heart tightened. She'd clearly suppressed all her energy—how could this bee still sense her?
The bee circled overhead a few times, its stinger trembling as if it were hesitating.
Crack—
A loose rock tumbled down from the cliff with a sharp clatter.
Buzzz—!
The bee's stinger shot straight, emitting a piercing warning. The entire swarm erupted at once, dozens of venomous bees shooting toward her like arrows!
"Damn it!"
Xie Zhaolin's right hand surged with black qi, forming a three-foot blade that slashed at the nearest bee.
"Pfft!"
The bee split in half, dark green ichor splattering, but the swarm had already formed a deadly encirclement.
"If I can't dodge them!" A cold gleam lit her eyes as she quickly formed hand seals. "Then I'll end this fast!"
This time, her protective barrier wasn't just a simple black shield—it was etched with dense black patterns, a new defensive technique she'd devised over the past half month.
Bang!
The first bee slammed into the barrier. When its stinger met the black patterns, it bounced off with a violent recoil, rolling through the air before stabilizing. Seizing the moment, Xie Zhaolin condensed black qi into three fine needles and pierced the compound eyes of three bees with deadly precision.
"Hiss—"
The bees screamed in pain, writhing frantically. Xie Zhaolin rolled and ducked behind a protruding rock. She knew that while she could handle a few Yinsha Bees with her current strength, the entire swarm was beyond her. Retreating into the crevice was only a temporary measure; sooner or later, they'd find her. She had to find another way out.
Her gaze swept the surroundings, and a patch of low, black shrubs caught her attention. Crystals of baleful qi glimmered on the leaves.
"Heisha Thorns!"
Her eyes lit up. The plants emitted a special aura that could interfere with the Yinsha Bees' senses. She immediately shifted her strategy, moving toward the shrubs while maintaining her defenses.
Buzzzzz—
The swarm pressed closely behind her. Just as she neared the shrubs, a larger queen bee shot forward with a blinding gleam on its stinger, aiming straight for her back!
A cold light flared in Xie Zhaolin's eyes. She flicked her sleeve, and a bronze ancient mirror shot out.
The mirror's surface blazed with a ghostly blue light. When the stinger was just inches from her, a shimmering barrier instantly sprang up.
"Dark Shadow Mirror, activate!"
Clang—
The queen's stinger struck the light wall with a metallic clang. Xie Zhaolin flipped her wrist, and three chains of blue light shot from the mirror, wrapping tightly around the queen's wings and stinger.
"Hiss!!"
The queen screamed and thrashed violently, and the surrounding worker bees went berserk, charging forward like maniacs.
Xie Zhaolin remained calm, a streak of black qi flicking across the mirror's edge. A drop of crimson blood struck the center, and the mirror flared even brighter.
"Seal!"
With a sharp command, the three chains contracted, pinning the queen midair. It struggled fiercely, but the chains only tightened. The remaining Yinsha Bees scattered in chaos, buzzing angrily but no longer daring to attack, hovering tensely at a distance.
Xie Zhaolin smiled faintly.
Though the Dark Shadow Mirror was only a mid-grade artifact, it specialized in countering Yin-type beasts. Even at half its potential, it was more than enough for a second-rank queen.
She stepped forward, cold eyes on the trapped queen.
The beast was the size of a palm, ink-black, still radiating fierce light from its compound eyes, thrashing its six legs and vibrating its stinger with unyielding defiance.
"Quite the temper…"
She remembered an ancient text from her previous life: Yinsha Bees were fiery by nature. If forcibly contracted, they might self-detonate their monster core. Only by making them submit willingly could they truly be tamed.
She didn't have that kind of patience now.
Xie Zhaolin's gaze turned icy. The queen thrashed wildly, its eyes blazing with rage, stinger spitting venom that sizzled against the rocks.
"Submit, or die."
In an instant, a terrifying divine perception, comparable to a Golden Core-level cultivator, burst from her mind! The queen froze, its eyes switching from fury to terror.
Yet instinct still screamed at it; even under such pressure, it hesitated to obey a human cultivator.
"Stubborn little thing."
Xie Zhaolin snorted, flicking a drop of her own blood onto the mirror.
Buzz—
The Dark Shadow Mirror flared with blue light, a blood-red sigil appearing—an absolute master-servant contract!
The queen's wings thrashed, its monster core trembling violently, threatening to self-destruct.
"Want to die?"
Three tendrils of black qi shot from her fingertips into the queen, locking its monster core while the mirror's blue light pierced directly into its mind.
Buzzz—
A shriek echoed in the queen's consciousness. Xie Zhaolin's divine sense morphed into countless fine needles, raking through its mind in the cruelest soul-refining technique. In her previous life, she'd used this on many stubborn beasts.
The queen convulsed violently, its eyes dimming. Just as its mind neared collapse, she stopped. The sigil on the Dark Shadow Mirror flared again.
"One last chance."
The blood sigil lit up on the queen's forehead. Trembling, it lowered its stinger and gave up resistance.
The contract's blood light merged fully into its mind, sealing the master-servant bond. A faint link immediately appeared in Xie Zhaolin's divine sense. She retrieved the mirror, and with a thought, the queen obediently landed in her palm, calm and docile.
"Should've been like this from the start."
She flicked a wisp of black qi. The queen understood, buzzing softly. After circling once, it returned with the swarm, which now behaved obediently, stingers retracted.
Xie Zhaolin's lips curved slightly. Individually, the Yinsha Bees weren't strong, but their numbers and senses made them invaluable. With them scouting ahead, the journey would be far safer.
A thought passed through her mind. The queen immediately dispatched over ten workers in different directions.
In moments, through the master-servant link, she received clear terrain feedback.
"Northeast has a baleful qi vortex… due west is a swamp… southwest…"
Suddenly, her brow furrowed. To the south, the energy from three worker bees vanished abruptly!
That direction, of course, was exactly where the cultivator's dwelling lay.