Chapter 392: Chapter 384: Cavern, Fire Bees_1

This lazy cow, when asked to work, it shows eight hundred kinds of reluctance.

But when taken out for fun, it never complains of being tired.

It would always cheerfully follow behind Qin Niu or run ahead of him, and whenever it spotted leaves or tender grass it liked, it would eat without hesitation.

Perhaps it was just a young cow, like a child, playful and carefree.

With it, Qin Niu spent nearly half an hour and finally succeeded in climbing to the top of the mountain.

It was five or six hundred meters shorter than the main peak.

Standing on the summit, one could see some of the conditions of the opposite main peak.

Moreover, inside this mountain, Qin Niu saw many bird nests and various bird droppings everywhere.

Birds have a rather special digestive system, they only have a rectum.

After eating, they quickly excrete.

They cannot, like humans, be content with excreting once or twice a day.

They have to evacuate many times a day, and they simply cannot hold back. They could defecate at any time and place.

It’s daytime now; although it’s raining, most of the birds have gone out to forage for food.

Qin Niu could only occasionally see one or two birds active atop the trees.

They appeared extremely vigilant, and upon seeing Qin Niu and Green Ox approaching, they would hurriedly take off from afar.

Qin Niu stood on the peak, scanning his eyes all around.

Not far from the west side of the mountain, he quickly found some exhilarating conditions.

There lay patches and patches of grey-black rocks.

Even after many years of weathering, one could still tell that these rocks were formed from magma that had flowed out and solidified.

“Could there really be a volcano here?”

Qin Niu quickly rushed to that place.

However, he didn’t let down his guard, sending out dozens of bees to scout ahead.

In fact, before he began his ascent, he had the bees explore in front of him.

Bees lack night vision, but being scouts during the day is no problem at all.

The queen bee’s reproductive capacity is quite good; in the case of danger, even if ten or a hundred bees were sacrificed, Qin Niu wouldn’t feel too heartbroken.

But Green Demon Bees and Green-Head Summoning Bees were each incredibly precious, one might say irreplaceable.

If they died, they were gone for good.

He wouldn’t dare send them on risky ventures lightly.

Especially the Green Demon Bee, its venom could even kill an Immortal Master.

And possessing a near-immortal ability, with a bit of nurturing, it was more reliable than a Spirit Qi Realm expert.

Soon, he was at the extensive area where the magma rocks were located.

Upon careful observation, he realized the magma seemed to have flowed down from halfway up the mountain.

Following the magma rocks upward, he soon discovered a massive cave.

The surrounding area was bare, not a blade of grass to be seen.

Standing at the entrance, one could still feel waves of heat rushing out from inside the cave.

“That firebird must have come here to cultivate!”

Living in Shuangfeng Village for over ten years, Qin Niu never knew about such a large cavern here.

He had also never heard the villagers talk about a volcanic eruption.

Such scorching hot waves coming out of the cave indicated that there must be underground fire, or boiling magma inside.

He entered the cavern with Green Ox without hesitation.

Not far into the cave, he saw a piece of demon feather fallen on the ground.

It was very similar to the one Termite had dragged down from the main peak; also fiery red but slightly larger.

Qin Niu joyfully picked it up and tucked it into his bosom.

It indeed matched his guess; the firebird really had been cultivating in this cave.

The fallen demon feather was the best proof.

Its color was exactly the same as the ones on its body.

He continued to explore deeper into the cave, with the bees scouting ahead, playing the role of vanguard.

However, as the temperature inside the cave grew hotter and hotter, the bees gradually became unable to withstand it and began sending signals to Qin Niu to escape.

“Trash!”

Qin Niu cursed.

While he cursed, he didn’t force them to continue deeper.

These Green Ring Bees had undergone one round of breeding, but their vitality was still very fragile.

If the temperature was too high, they would quickly be burnt to death.

Fortunately, the four War Bees had much stronger resistance.

They could still hold on.

The cave was irregularly shaped, with relatively smooth walls. It seemed to be naturally formed, with no signs of artificial excavation.

“Buzz buzz buzz!”

Qin Niu’s ears caught a series of familiar wing-beating sounds.

Right after that, the four War Bees scouting ahead were attacked.

These were a swarm of peculiar bees with a dark red body.

Their size looked quite similar to that of bumblebees, except that they were entirely dark red.

Even their wings were dark red.

Their six legs, however, were black.

“What kind of bees are these?”

Qin Niu had seen his fair share of the world and encountered many formidable insects.

But this was the first time he had seen such strange bees living in a hot cave.

The Demon Bird often entered this cave to cultivate; did these strange bees not attack it?

Though the four War Bees appeared weak, they were quite capable fighters.

Engaged in a fierce battle with the strange bees, they were not at a disadvantage.

Qin Niu simply stood there, observing, with no immediate intention to intervene.

War Bees were among the strongest bee breeds in the bee hierarchy.

Their combat prowess, flight capability, and defense were all quite impressive.

The attacks of those dark red Fire Bees were incredibly fierce, but their defensive abilities were not strong. Furthermore, their agility in the air was much inferior to the War Bees.

This resulted in them, despite having the advantage in numbers, being beaten by the four War Bees into a hasty retreat.

More than twenty Fire Bees had already fallen to the ground.

Many had their wings bitten and could no longer fly.

Since the War Bees were smaller in size, it was almost impossible for them to bite through the Fire Bees’ bodies completely.

Due to the enemy’s superior numbers, the War Bees dared not engage in close combat; instead, they relied on superior flying abilities, dodging flexibly and attacking swiftly. They aimed not to kill their enemies but to bite through their wings or legs, causing them to fall and be unable to rejoin the battle.

“Let me collect a few to take back for research and breeding.”

Qin Niu immediately took out an Insect Jar, captured a few injured Fire Bees that had fallen to the ground, and locked them in the jar.

They continued to buzz nonstop.

Even with damaged wings, they desperately tried to flap them, hoping to fly.

This caused even more severe damage to their wings, and some even snapped entirely.

These Fire Bees reminded him of Zhang Feiniao, impulsive and quick-tempered.

This was also evident in the way they launched their attacks.

They were extremely fierce when attacking, as if fighting for their very lives.

Looking at their stingers, they were quite long and seemed very strong when extending and retracting. This indicated that their stingers had great penetration power and could quickly inject venom into their enemies.

If they didn’t have strong venom sacs and muscles in their tails, their stingers wouldn’t be able to retract so quickly.

“Alright, that’s enough, come back! Don’t kill all these Fire Bees. Leaving them to live in these mountains will add one more species of poisonous bee.”

Qin Niu gave the order for the War Bees to retreat.

These Fire Bees had no way to harm Qin Niu, let alone breach the defense of his King Pig Leather Armor.

Just as Qin Niu was calling the War Bees back, several Giant Fire Bees flew out from the depths of the cave. They were several times larger than the regular Fire Bees.

The average Fire Bee was about twice the size of a bumblebee, but the seven or eight Giant Fire Bees that emerged were at least the size of a knife handle.

As they vibrated their wings, a faint explosive sound could be heard.

“Are these the elite enforcers of the Fire Bee family?”

Seeing the Giant Fire Bees, Qin Niu’s eyes lit up slightly.