Chapter 494: Deeply Abhorred

Chapter 494: Deep Hatred

Li Wei handed the roasted meat to Sainte, whose face was full of eager anticipation.

"Eat up, we're about to set off."

Sainte swallowed the meat in one bite and looked at Li Wei with confusion. "Where are we going?"

"Back to Ice City."

Li Wei gazed toward the distant horizon, where a dark silhouette was gradually growing larger.

It seemed that the Ice Emperor's path of advance wouldn't change much.

Even if he left for a while, there was no need to worry about not finding the Ice Emperor upon return.

Sainte transformed into a giant dragon and carried Li Wei as they swiftly flew back toward Ice City.

The flight speed of a legendary dragon could easily exceed ten Mach.

As a sacred dragon of royal blood among dragons, Sainte flew even faster, reaching fifteen Mach without even exerting her full strength.

This was far less strenuous than flying by himself.

To maintain a flight speed of fifteen Mach, Li Wei would consume an enormous amount of mana every second.

He couldn't sustain high-speed flight for long periods.

But Sainte could do it effortlessly, flying for several hours or even days in one breath.

This was the racial ability of dragons.

Before long, Li Wei and Sainte returned outside Ice City.

Li Wei had her stop outside the city and didn't enter.

He took bee eggs from his spatial ring, infused them with mana, and summoned the honey bees.

After being filled with mana, the bee egg transformed into a white light orb that rapidly expanded, revealing a thirty-centimeter-long honey bee before Li Wei.

The honey bee seemed unaccustomed to the cold climate of the Far North ice fields and appeared somewhat lethargic.

Li Wei cast a spell to envelop it in a fire-element magic shield that maintained constant temperature.

Only then did the honey bee become spirited again, its two huge compound eyes looking at Li Wei as it awaited his command.

Li Wei said, "Search for plants nearby."

Upon hearing this, the honey bee immediately vibrated its wings, turned around, and flew down toward the snowy ground below.

Alice had told Li Wei that honey bees possessed a very magical ability - they could easily locate the positions of plants and flowers.

Li Wei was precisely utilizing this ability, using the honey bee to search for traces of the orc forces.

The orc army was hiding outside Ice City, and they certainly couldn't survive without food or water.

There must be food and fodder within their camp.

Li Wei was gambling that the honey bee could find where the orc forces stored their provisions.

If it couldn't be found, it didn't matter.

After all, he had told the Ice Queen that this was just a trial, with no guarantee of success.

Li Wei and Sainte followed the descending honey bee, with Sainte stepping on the snow and leaving two small footprints.

She watched the honey bee flying around everywhere and said, "So that thing can be used like this. I remember you ate some before - was it delicious?"

Sainte looked up at Li Wei.

Li Wei glanced at the nearby honey bee and whispered, "I'll let you eat some later."

It wouldn't be good to eat its kind while the hardworking honey bee was watching.

Before long, the honey bee stopped and hovered over a patch of snow.

Li Wei and Sainte quickly approached and dug through the loose snow, discovering dark green plants hidden beneath.

Li Wei glanced at the honey bee and said, "Continue searching."

Seeing this, the honey bee continued seeking traces of plants.

Going round and round, the honey bee led Li Wei to find numerous plants hidden in the snow.

All these plants were buried under the white snow, extremely difficult to discover under normal circumstances.

He really wondered how the honey bee managed to find them.

Following the honey bee, Li Wei and Sainte suddenly entered a valley.

Seeing the surrounding environment change, Li Wei showed a trace of contemplation.

Hearing the buzzing sound ahead intensify, he knew they had found new plants.

Li Wei hurriedly quickened his pace to catch up with the honey bee.

Suddenly, the buzzing disappeared. Li Wei's eyes narrowed as he slowed his steps.

His mental perception spread outward.

"Hehehe, actually found a magical beast - perfect for an extra meal."

"Why would there be bees here?"

"Who knows? Who cares? Do you want some?"

Li Wei and Sainte hid behind a rock as he peeked out to see two orcs not far ahead feasting heartily, eating the honey bee Li Wei had released.

The two orcs devoured the honey bee raw, chewing and swallowing both flesh and shell together.

They looked as if they hadn't eaten meat in hundreds of years.

"The honey bee was killed by the orcs," Li Wei thought.

But its mission was also completed.

The honey bee had led Li Wei to the orc forces' base.

The orc army was hiding in a snowy valley valley a hundred miles from Ice City.

They seemed to have found a natural cave and were all hiding inside to avoid the wind and snow, as well as escaping Ice City's searches.

Only a few orcs were outside keeping watch.

Li Wei had already thoroughly investigated the situation here with his mental perception.

The orc forces weren't numerous, only a few hundred soldiers.

But all were powerful, with the weakest being at the first-level professional standard.

Most had reached the second and third levels.

Clearly, they were an elite orc force.

Their ability to traverse the vast Far North snowfields to reach here also demonstrated their formidable strength.

Ordinary orcs would have frozen to death halfway.

Deep within the cave seemed to be several powerful orc professionals.

Leo did not dare to probe deeper with his senses, fearing that he might alert the powerful beastkin within. If there were sixth-tier professionals among them, they could easily detect his psychic probing.

Just as Leo was about to turn and leave, a group of beastkin soldiers appeared behind him. Some were wounded and bleeding, while others carried spoils of war as they returned.

The beastkin soldiers were still quite far away when Leo spotted them.

Leo took out his invisibility cloak, wrapped it around Saint Xi to conceal her as well, and vanished from sight.

The beastkin did not notice the invisible Leo and Saint Xi. As they walked, they chatted amongst themselves, discussing the battle that had just taken place.

"Wuwuwu, let me go."

"Kill me."

"I don't want to die."

...

Leo discovered that among the captives brought back by the beastkin soldiers, there were still survivors. It seemed that one of them was actually a valkyrie from the City of Ice and Snow.

The words of the beastkin soldiers made Leo's heart sink halfway.

"Ahhaha, don't be in such a hurry. We enjoyed that last tender-skinned woman for quite some time."

"Human flesh is delicious indeed. That kobold meat we ate last time was so smelly and tough, it nearly made me vomit."

Hearing the conversation between the beastkin, the captured valkyrie showed an expression of utter despair. They would rather die in battle than be humiliated and devoured by beastkin.

The thought that their companions had already experienced such desperate torment sent shivers through their souls from the depths of their being.

Leo now understood why this beastkin force was so diminished in numbers. During their crossing of the Arctic ice plains, the beastkin troops had suffered tremendous losses. In the absence of food, they had survived by feeding on the corpses of their own comrades until they reached the City of Ice and Snow.

Saint Xi trembled uncontrollably upon hearing this.

"Leo, these beastkin are absolutely disgusting. I'm going to kill them."

Having said that, she charged out directly.

(End of Chapter)