The Beast Herd Species have two characteristics.

First, all life forms and all individuals that compose the Beast Herd Species must belong to a single species.

"Soldier ants," "worker ants," and "ant queens," although highly differentiated with significant differences in appearance, all belong to the same species and possess highly similar bloodlines.

However, "blue algae" and "chlorella" do not.

According to biological definitions, the Beast Herd Species is the intelligence of a "species," whereas the Sea God Type are "communities."

Additionally, each individual within the Beast Herd Species carries a part of the memory and even part of the processing circuits of the species. Losing an individual means the Beast Herd Species loses a portion of its memory. If the number of deaths of individuals within the Beast Herd Species exceeds one-third, the species might even lose its thinking ability altogether.

This is completely inconsistent with the Sea God Type. Mihe and Xi, along with other Sea God Types, abandoned over ninety-nine percent of their physical bodies and compressed their memories into small bodies to reach Shenzhou. If they were the Beast Herd Species, Mihe right now wouldn't have enough intelligence to be Feng Luoyi's assistant.

The memories of the Sea God Type do not exist in any single cell but circulate within them in the form of a "Cultivation Technique." The reduction in the amount of mana does not matter as long as the circulation continues uninterrupted, they will not suffer memory loss.

After learning that there is such a thing as the "Beast Herd Species" that can become Immortals in this universe, Wang Qi had two lingering questions in his mind.

The first question: Is the Blade Queen Kerrigan from Blizzard's latest expansion considered a Daluo Immortal...

The second question: Given that swarm intelligence can become Immortals, why has there never been a legend of Immortal Ascension in Mihe's Sea Sky?

The first question is just my personal idle curiosity and can be set aside, but the second question seems rather important.

Yue Luo and Liu Li answered Wang Qi's doubts succinctly in two sentences.

There are differences between swarm intelligence and swarm intelligence.

The average Beast Herd Species is the aggregate of all its individuals. Each individual is a part of the self-awareness of the Beast Herd Species and carries its memory. It is the accumulation of these individuals.

As for the Sea God Type... they might be better compared to Xi Baiche's ideal "mathematics." For the Sea God Type, each individual is meaningless. Their true essence lies in the arrangement of these "individuals" and the flow of Spirit Element among them.

Yue Luo sighed, "Who would've thought... a billion years... I never expected the existence of the Primordial Sea God in this universe. But is this the Human Clan's trump card against the Sea Demons and the Dragon Clan?"

Wang Qi merely smiled in response. The Primordial Sea God and the Sea God Type are not species from the same planet; they only resemble each other closely in terms of life form. Naturally, there was no need to point all this out to Yue Luo in detail.

Moreover, Yue Luo's earlier words can also indicate a lot of problems.

The Dragon Clan is a well-versed civilization. They are familiar with multiple realms and evolutionary trees. Otherwise, they could not pinpoint the key differences between the Beast Herd Species and the Sea God Type so readily.

No wonder they can develop the Transformation stage of Divine Skills and master it to perfection.

At this moment, Yue Luo ceased dwelling on these issues and suggested, "Considering the recent self-detonating attacks of the Demon Bees, this Parasitic Beast must wield some extraordinary refining techniques, capable of refining life forms into extensions of itself... which you humans commonly refer to as Gu Refining, correct? If my guess is right, its next step is likely to enslave the core individual of this Beast Herd Species, the Queen Bee, to gain the force of this species."

Wang Qi pondered, "Establishing order... this is most likely the Dao of the Innate Five Virtues, right?"

"Maybe not."

"If not, then why would he gather so many Demon Insects?" Wang Qi gestured to the surrounding Demon Bees, "Even in my case, with enough effort, I can easily annihilate all these Demon Insects."

For Wang Qi, Golden Core Stage Demon Beasts pose no threat and can even be defeated in one strike in masses; even against Transformation Stage, he can handle multiple foes at once.

"This Beast Herd Species is not so simple." Yue Luo remarked, "This particular species has never communicated with the outside world, possessing the ability for thought but lacking true wisdom, having power yet not knowing how to wield it. It is not surprising it was defeated by you. But what if it falls into the hands of that Banished Immortal? Suppose he uses these Demon Bees to deploy arrays..."

A peerless divine weapon yields entirely different results in the hands of a master than in a brute.

Wang Qi also considered this possibility. At this very moment, he looked up into the distance and said, "I can feel it, his mana is surging... at an astonishing speed. If we confront him now, it seems we will lose."

When Mei Gemu could only use Demon Blood, he could match Wang Qi and Yue Luo combined. Now with his mana surging, who knows how powerful he will become.

"Shall we go now and interrupt his advance?" Yue Luo suggested.

"No, it's too easy to get caught up in it." Wang Qi sighed, "The matter of the Banished Immortal must be kept secret. Not everyone is qualified to deal with these kinds of matters. Finding a team of qualified Primordial Spirit Masters is difficult. We shouldn't do that without knowing how strong the other side can become or when reinforcements will arrive."

The "Ultimate Picture" and "Eternal Class" are truly oppressive. Such cosmic truths should not be laid bare before everyone. Doing so would only cause the order sustaining human society to collapse, stripping the Modern from the soil of fresh blood.

Yue Luo Liu Li denied, "Absolutely not. Judging by the strength of these Demon Bees, this Beast Herd Species is at least equivalent to a Demon God, perhaps even Mahayana. Now, your Immortal Alliance is wary of 'a certain secret' within the Hundred Thousand Mountains and won't venture in. If this power falls into the hands of a Parasitic Beast, no one would be able to control it."

"A certain secret?"

"Even if you ask me, all I can say is I don't know. However, rumors about this Grotto Heaven do circulate among the Dragon Clan." Yue Luo Liu Li explained enigmatically and then brought the topic back, "We cannot let that Beast Herd fall into the hands of the Banished Immortal."

"That's right, that one is mine."

Yue Luo Liu Li was surprised, "What?"

"That one is mine." Wang Qi pointed at the massive swarm of bees floating nearby. Even now, scattered Demon Bees kept flying over. As they neared, they were infected by the Heart Demon Curse released by their "companions," and then the Divine Plague Curse Technique would flow through the connections between Heart Demon Curses, imprinting Wang Qi's consciousness into the bodies of these Demon Bees.

The swarm Wang Qi controlled was still growing.

"I forgot you had this spell up your sleeve," Yue Luo Liu Li still felt some concern, "But isn't this too... too risky? That Beast Herd is at least equivalent to a Demon God, but the Heart Demon Spell you used before was weak against Demon Gods..."

"As you said, that Demon God is a rather primitive thing." Wang Qi grinned wickedly, "If my Law disregards mana and essence, focusing only on the heart..."

"How long can such a mindless beast endure?"

.................................................................................

The answer is, less than a quarter of an hour.

Whether it's the Heart Demon Curse or the Divine Plague Curse Technique, their principles lie in affecting willpower from the ground up. The Heart Demon Curse, on a physical layer, twists the soul and removes divergences. Meanwhile, the Shenzhou Spell inserts additional computations into the logic layer of consciousness.

What they share is that they can be suppressed by "willpower."

Indeed, these spells are nearly unsolvable and completely irreversible. However, willpower can delay their full eruption.

Moreover, if the Caster's life level is high, their thoughts deeply intertwined with the Spirit Power System, they can also use "technical means" to gradually cleanse the influences of the Heart Demon Curse or Divine Plague Curse Technique.

For Immortals, their life level is high enough, and their heart has been tempered by thousands of years. This is why they aren't subject to the Heart Demon Curse — Zhao Qingfeng, who, due to incomplete memory and insufficient understanding, was tricked by Wang Qi into voluntarily refining the Heart Demon Curse, is an exception that cannot be replicated.

However, the mindless Beast Herd has no way to use either method.

What Wang Qi did was simply lead his conquered bee swarm straight forward.

Constantly, bee swarms frantically attacked from the direction of the beehive. But by the time they reached Wang Qi, they all switched sides, joining his ranks. By the time Wang Qi approached the hive, a quarter of the beehive's swarm had already defected.

This type of Demon Bee's hive is made of clay. Toxic sludge mixed with beeswax forms solid and poisonous walls. The main body of the hive is underground, but above ground, it resembles an enormous yurt in Wang Qi's eyes.

The hive displayed great anger at Wang Qi's intrusion. All Demon Bees were summoned back. With high density of Demon Bees and the Queen present, the beehive's essence demon energy unified once more around the hive, emitting violent waves as if to roar.

But all of this was meaningless.

The external essence demon energy was only more suitable for the Heart Demon Curse infection, serving no other purpose. Wang Qi didn't even have his subordinates fight the Demon Bees, nor did he deliberately activate the Heart Demon Curse. He simply commanded the bees he controlled to "return to the hive."

Individual infects individual, ultimately the Heart Demon Curse envelops the whole. Following that, the divine spirit Wang Qi just crafted began to replace the awareness based on essence demon energy, sound waves, gestures, and pheromones. The bee swarm, though enraged, was powerless. In the domain of consciousness and heart assault, it stood no chance against Wang Qi.

In the end, Wang Qi whistled, "Unexpected gain."

Though this Beast Herd is mindless, its life level is not low, and its consciousness and strength are well integrated. Its rage was channeled into power, merging with the Heart Demon Curse Power, triggering the wrath of the Heart Demon Curse.

The simple bee swarm's anger also derived from instinct, pure to an incredible degree.

The fifth Heart Demon Curse, the Ruyi Thunder Spell, was born.