In a matter of breaths, every mole cricket had its eyes and rear punctured. The Golden Marrow Bees pumped their venom in without mercy. The potency of their poison was high; a large dose could kill a Mid-tier Qi Refinement cultivator in short order, let alone a small insect. The venom began to wreak havoc inside the mole crickets' bodies.
The crickets tried to thrash in pain, but their limbs were pinned by six bees. Their lethal front legs were held in a death-grip by the bait bee, who was sacrificing its life to maintain the hold. Within seconds, all fifty-six mole crickets were dead.
A mole cricket's strength lay in its defense and its front legs. Even a cultivator's spells struggled to crack the shell, while the cricket could tear through spiritual energy and flesh. However, their internal organs were not nearly as resistant to toxins.
The battle looked complex, but it lasted only seconds. From the initial charge to the baiting, the pinning, and the final lethal injection—everything happened in a flash.
The Golden Marrow Bees had shown incredible execution. Had they failed to kill within those few seconds, their casualties would have multiplied. If the group coordination was broken, the crickets could have picked them off one by one.
Fortunately, the training held. But the price was still fifty-six Golden Marrow Bees. The "bait" bees that had faced the front legs had their shells cracked and their spiritual energy defenses shredded. Some were cut in half but held on until the very end to ensure their sisters succeeded.
It was a heavy cost, but considering the ferocity of the foe, it was a masterful victory. Without the formations, the casualties would have been several times higher.
'The formations are effective. Achieving such a ratio against mole crickets is a sign of strength.'
'If only I had a defensive species like the mole crickets! Then I could minimize casualties, perhaps even achieve a zero-loss victory.'
The battle proved that formations multiplied the hive's lethality.
'If I refine these arrays further, they will be effective for High-speed Ring-cutters and even Tier-2 swarms.'
'I wonder if there are specialized insect-taming formations in the cultivation world?'
Qi Ping guessed there were. If humans could form battle arrays, bees certainly could. He just lacked access to that knowledge. However, the seed was planted; he would eventually find arrays for defense, interference, or offense. His ability to communicate with every individual bee was his greatest advantage—the very foundation of complex arrays.
'If I have more species, the advantage will grow. Armored bees for defense, toxic bees for lethality, interference bees to disrupt the enemy...'
He realized that a diverse swarm could counter different enemies—Demon Insects, human cultivators, or beasts—using specific tactics. The importance of the hive rose another level in his heart. They were lethal combatants and a source of cultivation resources. He couldn't think of a better companion for this stage of his journey.
With the Demon Insect Chapter as a guide, he wasn't sure if he could reach Tier 3, but he was certain he could reach Tier 2. Once he had a Tier 2 swarm and could Wild Shape into a bee himself, who in Qingshi County could kill him? The Cloud-Mist Mountains would be his domain.
'But first, I must survive this crisis.'
'I've lost about sixty bees in this fight. Combined with the locusts, my numbers have dropped from fifteen hundred to just over fourteen hundred.'
'And it will take another ten days for the first batch of two hundred Ring-cutters to mature.'
Ten days was the absolute limit, even with double herb consumption. He wasn't sure if fourteen hundred bees could hold out that long. Based on the waves so far, the enemies were getting stronger. If a High-tier Demon Insect appeared, or a massive swarm of Mid-tier ones, a single battle could wipe him out.
'If I can hold, I will hold. If not, I'll take the bees and the herbs and run. Once the Ring-cutters are mature, I'll come back to see if the spirit land is still usable.'
'The formation tactics are established. If we keep practicing, we might stand a chance. At this rate, I'll probably face three or four more waves in the next ten days.'
He gathered the mole cricket corpses—they were worth spirit stones! Then he returned to growing herbs. He couldn't leave the plot; he had to be ready to pack everything and flee at a moment's notice.
He returned to his frantic cultivation, working day and night to accumulate resources and Druid experience.
Three days later, the third wave arrived.
"Mole crickets again?"
This time, there were one hundred and thirty-two of them. But this was not enough to make him abandon the plot. The bees used the same tactics, finishing the battle even more efficiently than before. However, the one-to-one casualty ratio was unavoidable. His numbers dropped to less than thirteen hundred. His mood grew heavier.
On the sixth day, with four days left until the Ring-cutters matured, the fourth wave arrived.
"Every three days..." Qi Ping realized. It wasn't a coincidence.
"First-tier Mid-grade Thorn Demon Spiders. Two hundred and sixteen of them. Their numbers are high, but they have a glaring weakness. Once we bait out the initial silk spray, we can move in for the kill."
Using a five-bee-per-group formation, the bees managed to wipe out the spiders with only three casualties! The bees that were webbed were safely rescued afterward. This wave cost them almost nothing and yielded over two hundred spider corpses. A small profit!
On the ninth day—the day before the Ring-cutters were ready—the fifth wave appeared.
"Another three days!"
But when he saw the enemy, his heart sank. It was a group of First-tier High-grade Ossified Bone Bees.