Chapter 522 - 459: Hatching
Chapter 522: Chapter 459: Hatching
"Li Yuanyou..."
Zhao Lin called out twice. The figure of a "jellyfish" flashed in front of the cave before retreating again.
Soon, a cultivator with a proper, handsome face appeared out of thin air. It was Li Yuanyou.
"Fellow Daoist Zhao, what brings you here?"
There was a hint of pleasant surprise in Li Yuanyou’s voice.
"I came to see how you were doing."
Zhao Lin said gently, "Fellow Daoist Li, how have you been these past few years?"
Hearing this question, Li Yuanyou fell silent for a moment. "In all these years, only my little sister has come to see me twice. No one else has."
"The world is cold and people are fickle. I suppose I’ve truly seen it all now."
Zhao Lin had expected as much. Not one to beat around the bush, he recounted his story: how he had gone to the Li family to deliver a message, only to be hunted by both the Li and Tao families, and how he subsequently killed their cultivators in Yanmen County.
Li Yuanyou was stunned for a long moment before bowing deeply. "To think my affairs have implicated Fellow Daoist Zhao... I am deeply sorry. Whether you want to kill me or torture me, I am at your disposal."
As he spoke, the true form of his Yin Soul drifted out of the cave, presenting its neck as if for execution.
Zhao Lin stared at him and asked, "You’re not afraid to die?"
Li Yuanyou gave a wretched smile. "This little world is sunless and bleak. Being alive here is like being a walking corpse. What’s there to be afraid of?"
Zhao Lin waved his hand dismissively. "I didn’t come for revenge. Let me ask you, do you want to get out?"
"Of course I do, but I’m a Yin Soul now. I’ll die if I see the light."
"I might have a way."
"What is it?"
Li Yuanyou’s head shot up, but then his expression dimmed again. "To guide a soul, you need a Soul Nourishing Stone and a soulless body. Both are incredibly rare. Even a Golden Core Cultivator might not be able to acquire them. Are you joking with me, Fellow Daoist Zhao?"
"I don’t have the ability to get you out of the Yinfeng Realm in human form, but there is an unorthodox method."
Zhao Lin’s expression turned serious as he explained his plan: to use a beast-taming technique to have Li Yuanyou’s soul inhabit the body of a Red Queen Bee.
Li Yuanyou was stunned, utterly dumbfounded by the incredible idea.
"Fellow Daoist Zhao, are you saying you want me to become a Red Queen Bee?"
"Yes. I don’t know if you’re willing."
"I am!"
Li Yuanyou agreed without a second thought.
"Are you sure? This path is uncharted. There’s no prior experience to draw from, the risks are considerable, and once you do this, there’s no turning back."
Zhao Lin warned.
"I’m willing! I’ve had enough of this life!"
Li Yuanyou said firmly, "Rather than live in a daze every day, I’d rather become a Red Queen Bee. At least I can get out and see the wider world! If my luck runs out and I lose my life, so be it."
Zhao Lin nodded, took the White-Spotted Wood Spider’s corpse from his beast pouch, and parted its thorax to reveal the bee egg inside.
"For your soul to move into the Red Queen Bee’s body, you must sign a binding magical contract with me!"
"Fine!"
Li Yuanyou retracted his humanoid projection and reverted to his jellyfish-like form. His massive, umbrella-shaped head flickered with white light, illuminating rings of luminescence.
In the span of a few finger-snaps, the rings coalesced into a beam of white light that shot out and tightly enveloped the bee egg.
Seeing the time was right, Zhao Lin used his Moon-Cutting Saber to slice his finger, letting his blood drip onto the bee egg.
He activated the beast-taming Heart Method taught by Liang Song, his hands forming seals and his fingers moving like lightning.
A point of white light appeared at his fingertip, and he began to "paint" in the air above the bee egg as if with a brush.
With every stroke, a silvery gash appeared in the void, lingering without dissipating.
As the strokes multiplied, a complex talisman gradually took shape.
Finally, the talisman descended and imprinted itself upon the bee egg.
The white light surrounding the egg instantly sank into it.
Zhao Lin felt a BUZZ in his sea of consciousness. He had established a faint yet extremely intimate connection with the Li Yuanyou inside the egg, and he could feel that the other’s every move was now under his control.
At the same time, he felt a portion of his Divine Sense being siphoned off—a price that had to be paid for beast taming.
"It worked!"
Zhao Lin let out a breath of relief and sent a thought via his divine sense.
"How do you feel?"
"Awkward. Uncomfortable... But I feel alive again."
Li Yuanyou quickly sent a thought back.
"That’s normal. The body structure is completely different. You’ll need to adapt slowly."
Zhao Lin placed the White-Spotted Wood Spider, along with the bee egg, back into his beast pouch and walked into the cave.
Only one Spiritual Vessel entered and exited the Yinfeng Realm each day. To leave this place, they would have to wait until tomorrow.
The next morning, Zhao Lin took out the White-Spotted Wood Spider’s corpse and sent a thought into the egg: "How are you today?"
"Much better. I can basically control the body now, but it’s stuffy as hell in this egg."
Li Yuanyou responded.
"We still have a few hours before we leave. Try to hatch."
"Alright."
Li Yuanyou agreed and began to struggle inside the egg, tearing at it with his sharp mouthparts.
A moment later, the bee’s head poked out.
Then, its body slowly wriggled free. A two-inch-long, pale red Red Queen Bee with a clumsy-looking head crawled out of the egg.
A golden talisman was visible on the Red Queen Bee’s back. Its body was wet and glistening, its wings were contracted tightly against its abdomen, and it looked extremely fragile.
"How is it?"
"Tired. Hungry. And a little cold."
"This is the Yinfeng Realm. The yin energy is quite heavy, so you’re not used to it, having just hatched."
Zhao Lin took a bottle of honey from his storage pouch, poured it on the White-Spotted Wood Spider’s corpse, then took out a Three Yang Pill, crushed it, and sprinkled it on top.
Li Yuanyou crawled over, took a few sips of honey, and swallowed the Three Yang Pill powder.
Its body grew visibly larger in an instant, its color becoming more vibrant and taking on a glossy sheen.
"Fellow Daoist Zhao, I have a request."
Li Yuanyou "said" after eating for a while.
"Go ahead."
"I’ve given myself a new name: Li Feng. Please call me that from now on. Li Yuanyou is dead."
Zhao Lin knew he wanted to cut ties with his past, so he agreed.
Li Feng finished most of the honey and pill powder, crawled off the corpse of the White-Spotted Wood Spider, and vibrated his wings, attempting to fly.
At first, he was clumsy, bumping into things like a headless fly and occasionally falling to the ground.
After about fifteen minutes, he could fly freely, even performing difficult maneuvers like diving, stopping abruptly, and hovering.
A faint mental impression reached Zhao Lin’s sea of consciousness, filled with joy and a sense of freedom.
It was the first time Zhao Lin had witnessed such a scene, and he watched from the side with great interest.
He only called Li Feng back to the beast pouch when it was nearly time to go.
He burned the White-Spotted Wood Spider’s corpse with a burst of fire and hurried to Central Yin Mountain.
There, he boarded the World Shuttle Vessel and left the Yinfeng Realm.
Within a day, he was back in Dongfu District.
"How did it go? Did the method work?"
The moment Liang Song saw Zhao Lin return, he eagerly pulled him into the backyard to ask.
"A complete success!"
Zhao Lin smiled faintly and released Li Feng from his beast pouch.
Liang Song saw the talismanic seal on the Red Queen Bee’s back and exclaimed happily, "No one has ever thought of doing something like this, but it actually worked! A Red Queen Bee needs to eat a lot in its first month. I’ll go get it some food right now."
He hurried off and returned a moment later with honey, pollen, and several bottles of beast-taming pills.