In a surprising, and rather preferred twist, in my opinion, my and Mei Wu's stay was rather calm and relaxed even under the Queen Bee's reign, even if it was a bit of an anticlimactic routine.
Waking up, we both are given some food; me, a bunch of corpses of random animals, while Mei Wu was given some fruits and vegetables along with some honey and a bit of my healing nectar to throw the tiredness out of her body, if only for a while.
We both are then brougt to a chamber where I start making my nectars, mostly the highly sweet one and the healing one, with a small portion of the poisonous nectar, as Mei Wu put them into containers using the thin membranes the Worker Bees created the night before.
The process would continue until either the room was too full, or two hours passed, and we then would have some free time of around four hours to either explore the hive which was freaking large, and talk with our "seniors," the Worker Bees, Drone Bees or Protector Bees, and if our new boss allowed it, we can leave the hive's area for a bit to get some fresh air but we should have a Protector Bee to go with us, as 'safety,' which felt both true and false for me. though Mei Wu wasn't exactly amused about having a 'guard' around her, not that I don't understand her. I fully do, in fact.
A couple of hours more of making and containing nectars after, and possibly having to watch Worker Bees being born from the honeycombs then we are basically done, and we can sleep or whatever, as long we don't sabotage the other workers or attempt to harm them.
So, yeah. That was my new routine, more or less.
To be honest, it was far better than I had expected, and I had a lot more freedom than I thought I would. So, I wasn't as sad as one would expect me to be. If anything, this was rather tame both by xianxia standards, and my previous world's standards as far as I was concerned, far better than these poor guys having to work in black companies, goddess bless their souls and I hope they have better lives in their next lives.
Having to work for only four hours a day, and a bunch of activities that don't even tire me that much? That's basically a jackpot in my mind! And me making nectar was no big deal at all, with me having that much qi in reserve to use.
And it became even less taxing after I fully digested the coprses of Xie Li and his Demonic Hound, along with the many Normal-ranked Level 1 or 2 beasts and animals I was given on a daily basis.
I didn't evolve this time, and instead, my level just increased, so now, I am a Silver-ranked Level 2 Large Rainblossom Alraune, instead of a Level 1.
Admittedly, it wasn't that massive of a power increase, all things considered. My power didn't double or increase by two or three times, but instead by something like a quarter of how strong I was before. My form didn't even change from that.
It seems that I now need to consume much stronger beings than him if I wanted to actually evolve into into a Gold-ranked beast, which was a shame, really, but what can I do? My evolution process as a Thorny Alraune required that.
"And done!" Mei Wu sighed with exhaustion as she finished putting the nectars where they should, dropping on the ground seemingly tired.
Very much unlike me, while she knew very well that our working conditions were far from the worst, and rather pleasant even to her, she clearly didn't like the work given to her regardless.
It wasn't that she was being literally tortured just by doing what the Queen Bee told us to, but to her, it was just so degrading and humiliating.
"Here, some water." I told her and using the ability of that Frose plant beast I ate before, I created large droplets of water from my vines that she gladly drank, clearly feeling thirsty.
While she was the equivalent to a Level 1 [Apprentice] as a warrior or Ranker, that level was still pretty much close to being a mortal when it came to bodily functions, even if the limits were much higher than that of a normal human. Feeling thirst after long work is still very much possible when one did a lot of work, even for a Level 1 [Apprentice].
"Thanks." she breathed as we decided to leave the room and return to our 'living chamber'.
I was planning to try more of my Floral Creation, since even though I am now strong enough to use that [Parasitic Spores] skill, I can't exactly use it on my allies, now, can I? Thus, the best thing I decided to do was to see how many of the plants and plant-type beasts I consumed that I can create copies of.
Natural flowers and plants were practically costless for me, and I would only feel a dent on my qi reserves if I tried to create enough to fill a rather small garden.
Magical flowers and plant-type beasts though, were rather way more draining. I attempted to create a Normal-ranked Level 1 Thorny Flower a couple of days ago, and it took nearly a fiftieth of my reserves to do so. The same could be said to the Flowerhood Group that consisted of the flower-like beasts I ate before I got visited by the late young master.
The biggest drain on my reserves though was when I tried to test my [Division Propagation] skill, the one that would create lower-ranked or lower-leveled versions of myself. I was able to create nearly ten Bronze-ranked Level 2 Large Bloody Tongued Thorny Alraunes before dropping from sheer exhaustion, and even at full energy, I couldn't create a single Silver-ranked version of myself, which made sense since I am still 'only' Silver-ranked, and only Level 2 as well.
Still, even that was a ridiculous skill since any plant-type beast I can create via from my body could use the same skills they had before, only stronger or weaker depending on how much qi I give them.
Today though, I planned to create versions of the rainbow flowers I had on my chest and were decorating my lower half, since the Queen Bee also asked me again if I can make more of them.
As I left Mei Wu in the corner where she decided to cultivate both to get stronger and to pass time, I took a deep breath and I took my own cultivation pose.
"Natura Aeterna Nirvana." the feeling of calm breeze and flora descended on me as I spoke the name of my technique, my Qi pulsing and flowing inside my body as I moved it to unlock another one of my 108 meridians.
I originally thought that it would be better not to cultivate and have the Queen Bee ask me about it, but after thinking about it, for a couple of days, I realized that if the Worker Bees told her about my evolutions, if my questions about the subject were truthfully answered by them, they would have also told her about me being able to cultivate.
There was, of course, a chance that I am wrong and that somehow the Worker Bees didn't tell her, but I couldn't just not cultivate due to fear, not when I knew I needed to get stronger.
I didn't know how long I would have to stay and work for the queen's hive, nor if or when the Xie clan would notice the disappearance of their dead young master and start their search, and I knew very well that I was very lacking in power.
I couldn't stay as weak, that much is clear. If the heavens love throwing problems on cultivators and beasts alike, then I would end up dealing with humans and other beings who would definitely be far stronger than the current me, and maybe even stronger than the Queen Bee.
I knew that I should not take the Queen Bee's security for granted, even if she did not plan to harm me, as the dangers could appear unexpectedly, so I decided to cultivate regardless.
At this point, the Queen Bee definitely knows for certain that I can cultivate since I was doing that in her literal home, so at least, that's a good thing.
Exhaling and inhaling, I let the small amount of tiredness and worry in my mind be washed by the familiar sensation of calmness as my qi passed through my body, not leaving a single inch out of it, before I focused my attention at one of the points located right above my abdomen, and I gently moved my qi towards it, slowly loosening the barrier around it, then gently breaking it into nothing as it vanished.
Another meridian unlocked, making their number at twenty, and 88 more to go before I finish the first stage of my technique.
I took nearly a couple of hours to unlock that one, but while I could start unlocking another one, I won't have enough time to do it right now. Instead, while still in the same pose, I decided to guide my qi to try my luck at creating the rainbow flower.
From my roots and lower body to my heart and brain, from inside my blood cells to the exterior of my vines, my qi flowed like a gentle river as it obeyed my will, getting sucked into the new blooming flower that started to expand and burst from the vine.
A bit by bit, a bulb began to form before slowly unraveling itself, and I gazed at it.
The same rainbow flower I had attached below my chest was now created by me.
I gave a smile at that. Success!
"Ah~! That felt so good!" I sighed with content. I had drained a bit of my qi, but that was so worth it!
I might keep this with me for now, at least until I find out what it even is. I could consume it, but I don't know if my ability works on flora I created by my own qi.
I didn't get any sort of knowledge when eating my own self-made fruits and vegetables after all, so whether that works with magic plants is up to debate.
"Hm?" stopping that thought process, I looked around, and I noticed that Mei Wu was nowhere to be seen in the chamber.
So she left while I was mediating, huh. I can't sense her around, so she must be quite far away from here. She probably went outside the hive, since I noticed that she was a bit more relaxed there since there aren't many qi signatures to sense, in comparison to inside the Queen Bee's home.
I guess I can wait for her to return then. There's something like half an hour before we get to work out second work shift.
Soon enough, the hour quickly dwindled into a few minutes, as I prepared to go to our work room, and I saw her walking towards me, but I felt her tension.
She was always tense inside the hive, mostly due to her Qi sensing ability making it hard to truly relax unless she got a sleeping nectar from me, but this feeling that I got was rather... different.
There's something else other than the usual irritation at the task she is given, or how she feels annoyed at me due to me not exactly hating my life here.
I looked at her questioningly, and a bit of worry. The way her expression looked like she was hesitating to tell or ask me me something.
"Is everything alright?"
At my question, she tensed even further, before seemingly dropping in exhaustion.
"After we finish this... can we talk?"
Is that it? She just wanted to talk?
Still, it's clearly bothering the hell out of her, and thus I had one simple answer to that request;
"Okay."
In a surprising, and rather preferred twist, in my opinion, my and Mei Wu's stay was rather calm and relaxed even under the Queen Bee's reign, even if it was a bit of an anticlimactic routine.
Waking up, we both are given some food; me, a bunch of corpses of random animals, while Mei Wu was given some fruits and vegetables along with some honey and a bit of my healing nectar to throw the tiredness out of her body, if only for a while.
We both are then brougt to a chamber where I start making my nectars, mostly the highly sweet one and the healing one, with a small portion of the poisonous nectar, as Mei Wu put them into containers using the thin membranes the Worker Bees created the night before.
The process would continue until either the room was too full, or two hours passed, and we then would have some free time of around four hours to either explore the hive which was freaking large, and talk with our "seniors," the Worker Bees, Drone Bees or Protector Bees, and if our new boss allowed it, we can leave the hive's area for a bit to get some fresh air but we should have a Protector Bee to go with us, as 'safety,' which felt both true and false for me. though Mei Wu wasn't exactly amused about having a 'guard' around her, not that I don't understand her. I fully do, in fact.
A couple of hours more of making and containing nectars after, and possibly having to watch Worker Bees being born from the honeycombs then we are basically done, and we can sleep or whatever, as long we don't sabotage the other workers or attempt to harm them.
So, yeah. That was my new routine, more or less.
To be honest, it was far better than I had expected, and I had a lot more freedom than I thought I would. So, I wasn't as sad as one would expect me to be. If anything, this was rather tame both by xianxia standards, and my previous world's standards as far as I was concerned, far better than these poor guys having to work in black companies, goddess bless their souls and I hope they have better lives in their next lives.
Having to work for only four hours a day, and a bunch of activities that don't even tire me that much? That's basically a jackpot in my mind! And me making nectar was no big deal at all, with me having that much qi in reserve to use.
And it became even less taxing after I fully digested the coprses of Xie Li and his Demonic Hound, along with the many Normal-ranked Level 1 or 2 beasts and animals I was given on a daily basis.
I didn't evolve this time, and instead, my level just increased, so now, I am a Silver-ranked Level 2 Large Rainblossom Alraune, instead of a Level 1.
Admittedly, it wasn't that massive of a power increase, all things considered. My power didn't double or increase by two or three times, but instead by something like a quarter of how strong I was before. My form didn't even change from that.
It seems that I now need to consume much stronger beings than him if I wanted to actually evolve into into a Gold-ranked beast, which was a shame, really, but what can I do? My evolution process as a Thorny Alraune required that.
"And done!" Mei Wu sighed with exhaustion as she finished putting the nectars where they should, dropping on the ground seemingly tired.
Very much unlike me, while she knew very well that our working conditions were far from the worst, and rather pleasant even to her, she clearly didn't like the work given to her regardless.
It wasn't that she was being literally tortured just by doing what the Queen Bee told us to, but to her, it was just so degrading and humiliating.
"Here, some water." I told her and using the ability of that Frose plant beast I ate before, I created large droplets of water from my vines that she gladly drank, clearly feeling thirsty.
While she was the equivalent to a Level 1 [Apprentice] as a warrior or Ranker, that level was still pretty much close to being a mortal when it came to bodily functions, even if the limits were much higher than that of a normal human. Feeling thirst after long work is still very much possible when one did a lot of work, even for a Level 1 [Apprentice].
"Thanks." she breathed as we decided to leave the room and return to our 'living chamber'.
I was planning to try more of my Floral Creation, since even though I am now strong enough to use that [Parasitic Spores] skill, I can't exactly use it on my allies, now, can I? Thus, the best thing I decided to do was to see how many of the plants and plant-type beasts I consumed that I can create copies of.
Natural flowers and plants were practically costless for me, and I would only feel a dent on my qi reserves if I tried to create enough to fill a rather small garden.
Magical flowers and plant-type beasts though, were rather way more draining. I attempted to create a Normal-ranked Level 1 Thorny Flower a couple of days ago, and it took nearly a fiftieth of my reserves to do so. The same could be said to the Flowerhood Group that consisted of the flower-like beasts I ate before I got visited by the late young master.
The biggest drain on my reserves though was when I tried to test my [Division Propagation] skill, the one that would create lower-ranked or lower-leveled versions of myself. I was able to create nearly ten Bronze-ranked Level 2 Large Bloody Tongued Thorny Alraunes before dropping from sheer exhaustion, and even at full energy, I couldn't create a single Silver-ranked version of myself, which made sense since I am still 'only' Silver-ranked, and only Level 2 as well.
Still, even that was a ridiculous skill since any plant-type beast I can create via from my body could use the same skills they had before, only stronger or weaker depending on how much qi I give them.
Today though, I planned to create versions of the rainbow flowers I had on my chest and were decorating my lower half, since the Queen Bee also asked me again if I can make more of them.
As I left Mei Wu in the corner where she decided to cultivate both to get stronger and to pass time, I took a deep breath and I took my own cultivation pose.
"Natura Aeterna Nirvana." the feeling of calm breeze and flora descended on me as I spoke the name of my technique, my Qi pulsing and flowing inside my body as I moved it to unlock another one of my 108 meridians.
I originally thought that it would be better not to cultivate and have the Queen Bee ask me about it, but after thinking about it, for a couple of days, I realized that if the Worker Bees told her about my evolutions, if my questions about the subject were truthfully answered by them, they would have also told her about me being able to cultivate.
There was, of course, a chance that I am wrong and that somehow the Worker Bees didn't tell her, but I couldn't just not cultivate due to fear, not when I knew I needed to get stronger.
I didn't know how long I would have to stay and work for the queen's hive, nor if or when the Xie clan would notice the disappearance of their dead young master and start their search, and I knew very well that I was very lacking in power.
I couldn't stay as weak, that much is clear. If the heavens love throwing problems on cultivators and beasts alike, then I would end up dealing with humans and other beings who would definitely be far stronger than the current me, and maybe even stronger than the Queen Bee.
I knew that I should not take the Queen Bee's security for granted, even if she did not plan to harm me, as the dangers could appear unexpectedly, so I decided to cultivate regardless.
At this point, the Queen Bee definitely knows for certain that I can cultivate since I was doing that in her literal home, so at least, that's a good thing.
Exhaling and inhaling, I let the small amount of tiredness and worry in my mind be washed by the familiar sensation of calmness as my qi passed through my body, not leaving a single inch out of it, before I focused my attention at one of the points located right above my abdomen, and I gently moved my qi towards it, slowly loosening the barrier around it, then gently breaking it into nothing as it vanished.
Another meridian unlocked, making their number at twenty, and 88 more to go before I finish the first stage of my technique.
I took nearly a couple of hours to unlock that one, but while I could start unlocking another one, I won't have enough time to do it right now. Instead, while still in the same pose, I decided to guide my qi to try my luck at creating the rainbow flower.
From my roots and lower body to my heart and brain, from inside my blood cells to the exterior of my vines, my qi flowed like a gentle river as it obeyed my will, getting sucked into the new blooming flower that started to expand and burst from the vine.
A bit by bit, a bulb began to form before slowly unraveling itself, and I gazed at it.
The same rainbow flower I had attached below my chest was now created by me.
I gave a smile at that. Success!
"Ah~! That felt so good!" I sighed with content. I had drained a bit of my qi, but that was so worth it!
I might keep this with me for now, at least until I find out what it even is. I could consume it, but I don't know if my ability works on flora I created by my own qi.
I didn't get any sort of knowledge when eating my own self-made fruits and vegetables after all, so whether that works with magic plants is up to debate.
"Hm?" stopping that thought process, I looked around, and I noticed that Mei Wu was nowhere to be seen in the chamber.
So she left while I was mediating, huh. I can't sense her around, so she must be quite far away from here. She probably went outside the hive, since I noticed that she was a bit more relaxed there since there aren't many qi signatures to sense, in comparison to inside the Queen Bee's home.
I guess I can wait for her to return then. There's something like half an hour before we get to work out second work shift.
Soon enough, the hour quickly dwindled into a few minutes, as I prepared to go to our work room, and I saw her walking towards me, but I felt her tension.
She was always tense inside the hive, mostly due to her Qi sensing ability making it hard to truly relax unless she got a sleeping nectar from me, but this feeling that I got was rather... different.
There's something else other than the usual irritation at the task she is given, or how she feels annoyed at me due to me not exactly hating my life here.
I looked at her questioningly, and a bit of worry. The way her expression looked like she was hesitating to tell or ask me me something.
"Is everything alright?"
At my question, she tensed even further, before seemingly dropping in exhaustion.
"After we finish this... can we talk?"
Is that it? She just wanted to talk?
Still, it's clearly bothering the hell out of her, and thus I had one simple answer to that request;
"Okay."
