Chapter 449: Chapter 449: Royal Jelly, Essence of Hundred Flowers
Li Wei and Alice arrived at the Underground Beehive.
The Underground Beehive was where the Flower-Picking Bees lived, brewed honey, and extracted the Essence of Hundred Flowers.
Several sturdy Combat Bees stood guard at the entrance.
These Combat Bees were all Tier Three High Level Magic Beasts.
Any ordinary person who got close would be attacked immediately by the Combat Bees.
Only under Alice’s guidance could Li Wei safely enter the Underground Beehive without being attacked.
Li Wei looked around and asked, "Did you build all this after you arrived?"
Alice shook her head. "No, I just subdued this hive’s Queen Bee. That’s how I can command the Flower-Picking Bees to work for me."
"This Underground Beehive has been here for a very long time."
Li Wei asked, puzzled, "A hive like this should have more than just a few hundred Flower-Picking Bees, right?"
Alice glanced at Li Wei and said, "There are only a few hundred Flower-Picking Bees capable of purifying the Essence of Hundred Flowers. If you count the regular bees that aren’t Magic Beasts, there are at least tens of thousands."
"Oh, I see," Li Wei said with a nod.
Not all the bees in an Underground Beehive were Magic Beasts.
Out of tens of thousands of bees, only a few hundred Flower-Picking Bees had grown to Tiers One and Two. Most of the others didn’t even qualify as Tier Zero Magical Beasts.
At best, they were just bees with larger bodies and more potent venom.
But even they were extremely dangerous to ordinary people.
That was why, before Alice subdued the hive’s Queen Bee, few people dared to come near this place.
As soon as Li Wei stepped into the Underground Beehive, a swarm of Flower-Picking Bees detected his scent and let out an alarming BUZZ.
This attracted many Combat Bee guards, who surrounded Li Wei and Alice.
Because Alice was with him, the Combat Bees didn’t attack directly, merely surrounding the two of them.
Otherwise, the Combat Bees would have already driven them away.
Alice soothed the Combat Bees and Flower-Picking Bees, then led Li Wei through the Underground Beehive to its deepest part, where the honey and Essence of Hundred Flowers were produced.
It was here that Li Wei saw the Queen Bee.
It was pale and soft, like a giant grub, and looked nothing like a bee.
Upon seeing Alice, the Queen Bee made a gurgling sound and tried to wriggle over to nuzzle her.
Alice gently calmed the excited Queen Bee, then pointed to the pink droplets dripping from a nearby rock.
"That is the Essence of Hundred Flowers. I’m not entirely sure how it’s made, either."
"The Flower-Picking Bees gather flowers and store them in the caves above. After some time, the flowers transform into the Essence of Hundred Flowers and drip down."
"Besides being used as a material for the Hundred Flowers God’s sacrificial ritual, the Essence of Hundred Flowers is also a vital resource for the advancement of the Queen Bee, Flower-Picking Bees, and Combat Bees."
Hearing this, Li Wei nodded and said, "I’ll go up and take a look."
Alice communicated with the Queen Bee for a moment, and the Queen Bee spat out a glob of a viscous, golden substance.
Alice caught it in her hand and offered it to Li Wei.
"Eat this, and the bees in the Underground Beehive won’t be hostile to you anymore."
Seeing that the thing came from the Queen Bee’s mouth, Li Wei felt incredibly repulsed.
"Uh... do I have to eat it?" Li Wei was reluctant.
Alice smiled. "Other people can’t get their hands on this even if they wanted to. This is top-grade Royal Jelly, meant only for the Queen Bee. Eating it is incredibly beneficial for your body, and it can even increase your Mana."
Li Wei hesitated for a moment after hearing that, glancing at the pale, fleshy Queen Bee.
He steeled himself, grabbed the jelly-like, top-grade Royal Jelly from Alice’s hand, and shoved it into his mouth.
"Mm, it’s actually delicious."
The flavor was exceptionally rich and sweet, but even after shoving the whole thing in his mouth, it wasn’t cloyingly so.
The sweetness was just right.
Alice said, "Now that you’ve eaten the Royal Jelly, you carry the Queen Bee’s scent. All the bees in the Underground Beehive will treat you as their queen."
Li Wei nodded. "Okay, then I’m heading up."
He walked alone toward the stone cave where the flowers were stored.
When the surrounding bees saw him, they all landed on the ground and bowed their heads in submission.
Li Wei glanced at the surrounding bees, surprised. He hadn’t expected the Royal Jelly to be so effective; the results were almost unbelievably good.
Even the Tier Three Combat Bees instinctively stopped and bowed their heads in submission upon seeing him.
Bees identify each other by scent.
Li Wei carried the Queen Bee’s scent, so to the other bees, he *was* the Queen Bee.
His path was completely unobstructed.
Li Wei reached the stone cave used for storing flowers and saw the last few dozen Flower-Picking Bees busy at work, carrying flowers into the cave.
The busy Flower-Picking Bees paid no mind to his arrival.
They had received a higher command: there was no need to bow to the Queen Bee while working.
Their duty was to work diligently.
Li Wei walked into the stone cave and noticed a strange smell permeating the air.
It smelled a bit like rotting flowers, but there was also a hint of fragrance; it wasn’t a pure stench of decay.
He released his Spiritual Power to perceive the situation inside the cave.
Soon, Li Wei found the source of the smell.
It was the flowers gradually decomposing at the very bottom of the stone cave.
He discovered that after tossing the flowers into the cave, the Flower-Picking Bees would also sprinkle a transparent liquid over them.
This liquid caused the flowers to ferment, producing the initial Essence of Hundred Flowers. This diluted essence then seeped through and was filtered by the rock layers, eventually concentrating into the pink Essence of Hundred Flowers found in the Queen Bee’s cavern.
’Isn’t this just producing Essence of Hundred Flowers through microbial fermentation?’
’So, is the Essence of Hundred Flowers a type of alcohol?’
Li Wei shook his head. ’I can’t use my old world’s logic to figure out the rules of this Otherworld.’
The Essence of Hundred Flowers was produced through microbial fermentation.
Now that he understood the principle, Li Wei collected some of the transparent liquid, its microbes, and some flowers to experiment.
He didn’t have enough time to run experiments in the real world.
So, Li Wei directly entered the Dream World.
By simulating the creation process of the Essence of Hundred Flowers, Li Wei quickly confirmed his hypothesis.
After more than ten simulations, Li Wei found the optimal temperature, ratios, and filtration method.
Li Wei exited the dream and returned to the Queen Bee’s cavern, carrying some of the transparent liquid and flowers.
Alice saw Li Wei return and said, "It’s okay if you couldn’t find a solution. I discussed it with the Queen Bee, and we can consume some Essence of Hundred Flowers to nurture a new batch of Tier Zero Flower-Picking Bees. It should be barely enough."
Li Wei shook his head. "No need. I’ve already found a better solution."
"I have a way to increase the production of the Essence of Hundred Flowers. Twenty-odd Flower-Picking Bees will be enough."
Allowing the Flower-Picking Bees to produce the Essence of Hundred Flowers through natural fermentation was a very slow and inefficient process.
Li Wei had already found the optimal production conditions in his dream.
With human intervention, he could drastically increase the production efficiency of the Essence of Hundred Flowers.
He could increase the efficiency by dozens, or even a hundred times.
Just twenty-something Flower-Picking Bees would be enough to gather the flowers.
Humans could also gather flowers. If that wasn’t enough, he could just hire some workers to help.
Hearing Li Wei’s confidence, Alice looked at him in amazement.
"You really have a solution?"
Comments