Chapter 449: Royal Jelly, Essence of a Hundred Flowers

Chapter 449 Royal Jelly, Essence of a Hundred Flowers

Levi and Alice arrived at the subterranean beehive.

This underground nest was where the flower-gathering bees lived, brewed honey, and extracted the Essence of a Hundred Flowers.

Guarding the entrance were several robust combat bees.

These sentinels were all third-rank, high-grade magical beasts.

Should an ordinary person approach, they would be immediately set upon by these fierce defenders.

Only under Alice's guidance could Levi safely enter the subterranean hive, spared from the wrath of the combat bees.

Levi glanced around at his surroundings and asked, "Was all of this built after you arrived?"

Alice shook her head and replied, "No, I merely subdued the queen of this hive, which allowed me to command the flower-gathering bees to work for me."

"This underground hive has actually existed for a very long time."

Perplexed, Levi asked, "A hive of this scale shouldn't contain just a few hundred flower-gathering bees, right?"

Alice cast a sidelong glance at him and said, "Only those few hundred flower-gathering bees are capable of purifying the Essence of a Hundred Flowers. If you count the ordinary bees that don't qualify as magical beasts, there are at least tens of thousands."

"Ah, I see," Levi said, nodding in understanding.

Not every bee within a subterranean hive was a magical beast.

Among the tens of thousands of residents, only a few hundred flower-gathering bees had matured into the first or second rank; the vast majority could not even be considered zero-rank magical beasts.

At best, they were simply larger, more venomous bees.

Yet, to ordinary humans, they remained exceedingly dangerous.

Consequently, before Alice subdued the queen of this underground hive, few dared to venture anywhere near this place.

The moment Levi stepped inside the subterranean hive, a swarm of flower-gathering bees caught his scent and emitted a low, buzzing alarm.

This commotion drew a host of combat bee guards, who quickly surrounded Levi and Alice.

Because of Alice’s presence, the combat bees did not launch an immediate assault, choosing instead to merely encircle the pair.

Otherwise, they would have driven the intruder out by force without hesitation.

Sootheing the combat bees and the flower-gatherers alike, Alice led Levi through the subterranean hive to its deepest recesses, where the honey and the Essence of a Hundred Flowers were produced.

It was here that Levi finally beheld the queen bee.

Fair and tender, she resembled a massive, fleshy grub rather than a bee.

Upon spotting Alice, the queen let out a low, gurgling sound and attempted to wriggle closer to rub affectionately against her.

Gently calming the excited queen, Alice pointed toward a nearby rock wall, from which pink droplets were slowly weeping.

"That is the Essence of a Hundred Flowers. As for how exactly it is made, I am not entirely certain myself."

"The flower-gathering bees collect the blossoms and hoard them in the grottoes above, and after some time, the flowers transform and drip down as this essence."

"Aside from serving as a material for the ritual sacrifice to the Goddess of a Hundred Flowers, this essence is also a vital resource for the advancement of the queen, the flower-gatherers, and the combat bees."

Hearing this, Levi nodded and said, "I will go up and take a look."

Alice communicated briefly with the queen, who then regurgitated a mass of golden, viscous substance.

Alice caught it in her hand and offered it to Levi.

"Eat this, and the bees within the subterranean hive will no longer view you with hostility."

Seeing that the substance had come directly from the queen's mouth, Levi instantly felt an immense wave of revulsion.

"Ah, this... is it alright if I don't eat it?" Levi muttered, thoroughly reluctant.

Alice smiled and said, "This is something others could only dream of tasting. It is top-tier royal jelly reserved exclusively for the queen bee. Consuming it brings immense benefits to the body and can even enhance your mana."

Levi hesitated for a moment, glancing back at the pale, fleshy queen.

Steeling his resolve, he snatched the jelly-like, premium royal jelly from Alice's hand and stuffed it into his mouth in one motion.

"Hmm, it actually tastes quite delicious."

The flavor was exceptionally rich and sweet; even when swallowed in a single large mouthful, it did not feel cloyingly bitter.

The level of sweetness was just right.

Alice remarked, "Now that you have eaten the royal jelly, you carry the scent of the queen. Every bee in this subterranean hive will treat you as though you were the queen herself."

Levi nodded. "Alright, excellent. I shall head up then." He walked alone toward the stone cavern where the blossoms were stored.

As the surrounding bees caught sight of him, they dropped to the ground one after another, bowing their heads in submission.

Levi swept his gaze over the insects, a look of surprise crossing his face; he had not expected the royal jelly to be so potent.

The effect was astonishingly potent.

Even the third-rank combat bees instinctively halted upon seeing Levi, bowing their heads to acknowledge him as their master.

Bees identified others through scent.

With the queen’s aroma now clinging to Levi, to the rest of the hive, he was the queen.

His path was entirely unimpeded.

Arriving at the stone cavern where the flowers were kept, Levi saw the remaining few dozen flower-gathering bees busily transporting fresh blossoms into the cave.

The industrious bees paid no mind to Levi's arrival.

They had received higher orders dictating that they need not salute the queen while at work.

Their sole duty was to focus on their labors.

Stepping further into the cavern, Levi noticed a peculiar odor hanging heavily in the air.

It was reminiscent of decaying flowers, yet it possessed a faint, aromatic sweetness that prevented it from being a purely foul stench of rot.

He released his spiritual perception to scan the depths of the grotto.

Before long, Levi located the source of the scent.

At the absolute bottom of the stone cave lay the gradually decomposing flowers.

He noticed that after the flower-gathering bees deposited the blossoms into the cavern, they would also secrete a small amount of transparent liquid over them.

It was this very liquid that caused the flowers to ferment, generating the initial state of the essence, which then percolated and filtered through the rock strata, gradually condensing into the pink Essence of a Hundred Flowers found in the queen's chamber.

"Isn't this just using microbial fermentation to produce the Essence of a Hundred Flowers?"

"So, is the essence actually a type of wine?"

Levi shook his head, realizing he could not use the logic of his past world to deduce the laws of an alien realm.

The Essence of a Hundred Flowers was generated through microbial fermentation.

Having grasped this underlying principle, Levi collected the microorganisms from the transparent liquid and the flowers to conduct an experiment.

In reality, he did not possess the luxury of time required for such testing.

Instead, Levi entered the dream world directly.

By simulating the birth process of the Essence of a Hundred Flowers, Levi quickly confirmed his hypothesis.

After more than ten simulations, Li Wei found the optimal temperature, proportions, and filtration method.

Li Wei exited the dream realm, returning to the Queen Bee's cavern with some transparent liquid and fresh flowers.

Seeing Li Wei return, Alice said, "It's alright even if there's no way. I've discussed with the Queen Bee—by consuming some Essence of Hundred Flowers, we can force-grow a batch of zero-grade flower-gathering bees, which would barely suffice."

Li Wei shook his head and said, "No need. I've already found a better solution."

"I have a way to increase the yield of Essence of Hundred Flowers. Twenty-some flower-gathering bees will be enough."

Leaving flower-gathering bees to produce Essence of Hundred Flowers through natural fermentation was an extremely slow and inefficient process.

Li Wei had already found the most suitable production conditions within the dream realm.

Through artificial intervention, the production efficiency of Essence of Hundred Flowers could be dramatically increased.

Boosting efficiency by dozens of times, even a hundredfold.

Having twenty-some flower-gathering bees responsible for collecting fresh flowers would be sufficient.

As for collecting fresh flowers, humans could do that too. If truly necessary, they could hire some workers to help.

Hearing Li Wei speak with such confidence, Alice looked at him in great astonishment.

"You really have a way?"

(End of Chapter)