CHAPTER 349: YIN SHI

"I think we can stay a little longer." Yang Shi said.

"I agree. After all, there is nothing we need to do when we return to the continent." Feng Xue said, and Li Wenqiang nodded in agreement.

"Ayuan, what do you think?" Shen Xu finally turned to Zhen Yuan.

"We can stay a few more years." The man said, and Shen Xu nodded.

After that, the five walked along the soul river and continued exploring the forbidden zone.

However, they must have already reached some kind of limit, as they did not encounter other major opportunities over the next five years.

That said, they encountered some level six and level seven monsters, which they killed for food.

"It’s almost time for us to return." Zhen Yuan said, and the others agreed.

With that, they walked back and finally returned to the black-soil wasteland.

"Where is the teleportation formation?" Yang Shi asked, looking around.

However, no one knew.

All they knew was that the return teleportation formation was somewhere in the black-soil wasteland.

"Let’s look for it." Feng Xue said.

After searching for three days, they finally found the teleportation formation on the other side of the wasteland.

"Xiaoxu, you go with them. I will travel alone." Zhen Yuan said, recalling Shen Xu’s reaction to the previous teleportation.

However, the double shook his head.

Although he disliked the feeling of long-distance teleportation, he didn’t want Zhen Yuan to travel alone.

"It doesn’t matter. I will go with you." He said.

"Are you sure?" Zhen Yuan asked, looking at the double with a concerned expression.

"I am sure."

After that, Yang Shi, Feng Xue, and Li Wenqiang entered the space, and the remaining two walked to the teleportation formation.

"How many spirit stones?" Shen Xu asked the attendant.

"Twenty million per person." The attendant said.

Shen Xu was shocked when he heard this.

’The distance is the same, and the number of people boarding the formation is the same. Why is the fee double that of coming to the Forbidden Zone?’ He wondered, but what could he do?

In the end, they paid the fee and obediently waited for their turn.

One hour later, they arrived in Martial Tower City, and Shen Xu once again felt sick.

However, he recovered quickly and, together with Zhen Yuan, found an inn to rest for the night.

Although the Forbidden Zone and the Tianqi mainland were technically on the same continent, the two places had conflicting rules, and messages could not get through.

Because of this, Shen Xu’s communication jade had not received any messages for almost sixty years, but as soon as he returned to the mainland, his jade began buzzing.

After settling in the inn, he began checking the messages.

"Zhang Ji has already sold our goods and transferred the spirit stones to our spirit stone card. Ninety-three billion." He stated with a calm expression.

"Not bad." Zhen Yuan said.

"Mmh." The double nodded and read the next message before summarising for Zhen Yuan.

"Dongfang Jing and Chen Yi are already in the Martial Tower City. They are ready to leave at any time." He said, but soon raised an eyebrow in surprise.

"They sent another message saying there will be an auction in three years. They are asking if we want to go together."

"Three years is just before the teleportation." Zhen Yuan said with a thoughtful expression.

"Some Tianxuan continent cultivators will come down during the teleportation. They will probably bring the goods that will be sold in the auction."

After saying that, Shen Xu checked the messages and saw similar information from manager Zhang.

"Ayuan, do you want to go?" The double asked, and Zhen Yuan shrugged.

"There is no harm." He said.

After all, auctions were a good place to find leaks and precious resources.

"Let’s book a first-class invitation." Shen Xu said and immediately messaged manager Zhang.

In the same breath, he messaged Dongfang Jing and Chen Yi, informing them that they were back and also accepting the invitation to go to the auction together.

Excluding Zhang Ji and the Dongfang couple, Shen Xu received several messages from Xiao Weimin’s group, all asking if they would still be travelling together.

After thinking about it, Shen Xu confirmed the plans.

In the end, it didn’t matter.

Even if he confirmed but didn’t show up at the meeting time, the group would forget when Jingyu used her technique.

’I feel like I am invincible.’ The double smiled when he thought of this.

After all, he could practically do anything without fear that trouble would follow him to the Tianxuan continent.

However, Shen Xu didn’t plan to abuse this privilege.

First, he wasn’t a petty person and didn’t plan to do things just because he could.

When all the messages were sorted out, Shen Xu and Zhen Yuan sat together, looking out of the room window.

"It feels like just the other day when we were planning to come to the Tianqi continent, and now we are already preparing to leave." The double muttered with a faraway expression.

"Our time on each continent is transient. Our destination is far from here." Zhen Yuan said, rubbing the double’s hair to comfort him.

"I know." Shen Xu sighed and continued.

"It doesn’t matter where we go as long as we are together." He said.

"Don’t worry, we will always be together." Zhen Yuan assured.

The sun set, night came, and dawn followed.

Since they had nothing better to do, Shen Xu and Zhen Yuan roamed the city, eating at restaurants, searching for leaks, and being as lazy as they wanted.

On this day, the two were walking in the market when they heard an urgent call from Yang Shi.

Unfortunately, they were in a public place, so they hurriedly returned to the inn before entering the Chaos Flame Space.

"What is it?" Shen Xu asked, looking at Yang Shi with curious eyes.

"Master, look..." Yang Shi said, excitedly pointing at something.

Hearing this, Shen Xu and Zhen Yuan looked at where Yang Shi was pointing and soon gasped in surprise.

"Could that be..." The double stuttered with barely suppressed excitement.

"It’s not a pureblood ten-elements honey bee, but it has ten spots." Yang Shi said.

"What does that mean?"

"Ten spots represent the ten elements. Having ten spots means this honey bee has the potential to return to its roots and become a true ten-elements honey bee."

Shen Xu frowned when he heard this.

His understanding of the ten-element honey bees seemed to be different from what Yang Shi was saying.

Thinking of this, he tilted his head and began asking questions.

"Shouldn’t a pureblood ten-elements honey bee only have one colour?" He asked, but Yang Shi shook his head.

"The hive of ten-element honey bees has one queen, ten kings, and countless soldiers and workers." He started and quickly continued.

"The queen’s body has ten colours – one for each of the elements, while the kings’ bodies have one colour based on their element."

"So that’s how it is?!" Shen Xu nodded in understanding.

He always thought that ten-element honey bees meant one lineage for each of the ten elements.

Unexpectedly, his understanding was off the mark, but this was to be expected since the ten-element honey bees had long been extinct.

"Master, you should contract this honey bee before its lifespan ends." Yang Shi reminded.

"Better yet, take it out and raise it outside the space for the time being." Feng Xue said.

Shen Xu didn’t hesitate.

He took the honey bee before he and Zhen Yuan left the space.

After returning to the inn room, Zhen Yuan checked the formations and nodded.

"You can contract it here." He said, and the double nodded.

A pureblood ten-element honey bee queen was a primordial beast.

However, the one they had cultivated was far from its roots and was easy to contract.

After dripping blood on the young bee, the contract was formed, and Shen Xu immediately felt the connection with the honey bee.

"Your name is Yin Shi from now on." He said, and the little bee excitedly buzzed around him.

Seeing this, he chuckled and touched the bee.

"It seems you like the name." He said, but soon frowned.

"Something is not right." He said.

"What’s wrong?"

"Primordial beasts don’t reproduce. How can the queen of the ten-element honey bees lay eggs? Also, how were we able to cultivate a queen that has the potential to return to its roots?" The double wondered, and as if understanding his questions, the bee buzzed, and a flood of information entered Shen Xu’s mind.

"What did it say?" Zhen Yuan asked.

"It said that the queen is indeed a primordial beast, but its children are not. Its descendants are just elemental beasts."

"As for why we were able to cultivate it, it says the way of heaven must be favouring us." Shen Xu said and quickly continued.

"It says primordial beasts are born from heaven and earth. However, it’s not impossible for the way of heaven to rig the game and bend the rules."

After saying this, Shen Xu looked at Zhen Yuan with a thoughtful expression.

’I don’t have evidence, but I suspect this ’blatant rigging’ has nothing to do with me and everything to do with Ayuan.’ He thought.