Chapter 1491: Chapter 1491: The Queen Bee

The path extended all the way to the end, but a bee nest seemed to be blocking it.

If Zen wanted to proceed, he'd have to pass by it—undoubtedly, it was a great risk.

If the barbarian bees sensed danger, they'd pose great trouble.

While Zen wasn't completely certain about the barbarian bees' power, he at least knew that they weren't to be trifled with.

But since he had made it that far, he couldn't just turn back.

After making up his mind, Zen took a deep breath and began restraining his aura, slowly moving forward along the corner. His movements and footsteps turned extremely light.

As far as Zen was concerned, the bees weren't particularly aggressive creatures, so long as they weren't disturbed.

The difference between barbarian bees and honeybees was significant but their habits seemed to be the same. At the very least, the barbarian bees had built their own hive as their own territory. So long as Zen didn't attack it, he could avoid getting himself into any trouble.

As he slowly approached the beehive, he could observe everything more clearly.

The fist-sized barbarian bees flew in and out of the countless hexagonal openings on top of the hive. Upon taking a closer look, he noticed that under their stomachs, a ball of fur was growing, stained with a drop of seven-colored spring water.

The bees directly collected the seven-colored spring water and consumed it like nectar.

It was no wonder that the barbarian bees could fly. Even Zen wasn't currently able to fly. After all, he couldn't break free from the powerful attraction force. The barbarian bees fed on the strength source all year long. While flapping their wings, they could escape the place's attraction force.

The closer he got to the hive, the more cautious he became.

When he was about 80 feet away from the hive, a bad feeling overcame him, like someone was spying on him.

Zen grew alert.

Though Zen received the best treatment in the Collapsing Mountain race, that didn't mean that he was immune to danger. In the place without rules, he wouldn't let down his guard.

Stopping in his steps, he looked around. There was nothing around him other than a cave in front leading to the top, but it was empty.

After some observation, Zen finally made a discovery. There were two cracks in the middle of the giant beehive, a pair of eyes hidden within them.

These eyes were made of countless compound eyes, with countless small grids. Zen could see his own reflection in each of the grids.

He was being carefully watched by this very pair of eyes.

The feeling made Zen's hair stand on end. What was this hive?

The two eyes were at least ten times larger than those of an ordinary barbarian bee. It definitely wasn't the usual bee. Could it be the queen of the hive?

In every swarm of bees, there was usually a queen bee desperately reproducing. This one demanded 99% of the food as all the worker bees served it. But there was only one kind of food in the Sacred Spring Mountain, the strength source. Рâ₦Ó𐌱Ë𝐬

With the thought of the queen bee having been devouring most of the strength source, Zen's heart started beating rapidly. While he was already prepared to encounter some weird things in this place, the eyes fixed on him still made him shudder.

'I must restrain my breath...'

At this moment, Zen wanted to close his eyes and try to stop his emotions from fluctuating. Ideally, he would just turn into a piece of wood and pass through.

Just as Zen was about to take another step, he heard a rumbling sound.

“Boom, boom, boom...”

The sight was shocking—Zen saw a tall and sturdy figure fall from the top of the cave.

He was a Collapsing Mountain member.

He was extremely large and the walls of the cave were smooth. As he slid down from the top, he had tremendous momentum and impact.

At this moment, Zen no longer had the time to rein in his breath. Instead, he quickly retreated.

“Boom!”

Just as he was pushed back, the burly figure tumbled down and crashed into the mountain wall to Zen's right, making a deafening sound.

Fortunately, the Collapsing Mountain man's skin was tough and fleshy, allowing him to avoid any major injury. Just as the man got up and cursed, he saw Zen.

“Zen?”

The Collapsing Mountain warrior looked at him indifferently and immediately called out Zen's name. But he seemed rather unfriendly.

After the members of the Collapsing Mountain race reached adulthood, they'd undergo a coming-of-age ceremony—this entailed entering the Sacred Spring Mountain to receive the actual test before absorbing the strength source to complete a metamorphosis.

The warriors from the other races could only follow behind the Collapsing Mountain warriors and cultivate. So no matter how outstanding the other warriors were, it was no easy feat for them to surpass the Collapsing Mountain race.

Still, there were exceptions every now and then. Pascal, Laquisha's older brother, had also created miracles without being a Collapsing Mountain warrior.

But this time, the situation was different.

The Collapsing Mountain race had attached great importance to Zen, allowing him to be the first to enter the Sacred Spring Mountain. But Chapman had also instructed the other martial artists of the race to do their best to help Zen if they encountered him.

While they only had disdain for Zen, they didn't dare to disobey Chapman's orders.

Why did he get such great treatment from the Collapsing Mountain race? Was it just because he had no fear of fire?

The young warriors of the Collapsing Mountain race were left dissatisfied. It was no surprise the Collapsing Mountain warrior didn't seem particularly friendly upon bumping into Zen. It wasn't exactly possible for him to help Zen, anyway.

If he had the chance, he wanted to fight Zen.

But just then, Zen pointed at something behind the warrior. When the young man turned around, he was dumbfounded. He stood still, not daring to move or breathe.

“Buzz, buzz, buzz...”

When the man fell from the cave, he caused enough commotion to alert the barbarian bees—they had appeared in large numbers and circled in the air.

“The beehive of the barbarian bees...”

It was the first time that the warrior had entered the Sacred Spring Mountain, but compared to Zen, he better understood how terrifying the barbarian bees could be.

Once they began circling in the air, it meant one thing—it was a warning.

If the two were to come any closer, the bees would attack them.

Zen and the man were both frozen for a few minutes like statues.

The barbarian bees didn't chase them but continued circling the hive before returning inside orderly. Finally, the area had returned to its tranquility.

“Humph... You must really be stupid to have taken this path. You're basically courting death!” The young warrior glared coldly at Zen.

But Zen had no care for the man's attitude. Faintly, he replied, “There's a dead end at the back.”

“A dead end?” Even the warrior was surprised.

As he fell from the top, he wasn't feeling nervous. The paths of the Sacred Spring Mountain were complicated because of the scour of the strength source.

So there wasn't supposed to be any sort of dead end. They were all connected to each other and eventually converged into a single path.

But the hive was blocking it.

The Collapsing Mountain warrior wouldn't climb up the cave he fell from and Zen just told him about the dead end on the road behind them. There was only one way left for him to go.

But the beehive was a problem.

“What should we do?” The Collapsing Mountain warrior asked out of the blue.

Zen curled his lips in thought. Though the warrior had initially seemed hostile, now, he just looked helpless and upset with the outcome. In Zen's eyes, the warrior's character wasn't exactly pleasant.

After staying there for half a year, Zen knew that the Collapsing Mountain members didn't lie. So long as they had any reason to hate someone, they wouldn't bother hiding their hatred.

If they needed help, they would turn to others for help without hesitation. But Zen was used to this way of doing things. He didn't bother with the warrior and only said, “We can only pass through carefully. As long as we don't disturb the bees, we'll be fine.”

Even after the huge commotion, the bees gave them a warning without attacking, so they didn't seem excessively aggressive.

“There could be one problem though—the queen bee is in the hive,” Zen said.

“What?! There's a queen bee here?” The warrior almost roared, but then covered his mouth as his eyes filled with fear.

His reaction made Zen curious. “Isn't it normal to have a queen bee in the hive?”

The bees normally relied on the queen to breed and produce descendants. It seemed unlikely that the barbarian bees were an exception to the rule.

“No! It's not like that. It's definitely abnormal to have a queen bee!” The warrior looked terrified as he said it.

Seeing the expression on his face, Zen realized that he'd taken the matter too lightly.