Chapter 128 - Chapter 128: Chapter 123 Cultivating the Queen Bee t (2/2)
After several days of absence, the Queen Bee seemed much more modest compared to the first time they met.
When it had just become the Queen Bee, it ruthlessly and ostentatiously slaughtered several other backup queen bees, leaving Qin Niu with a profound impression.
This was a monarch with an iron will.
Bloody, brutal, strong.
As the Queen Bee flew out of the nest, the entire swarm became restless, feeling
uneasy.
I am willing to try!
The Queen Bee’s answer was firm and powerful; the pursuit of longevity seemed to be the instinct of all life forms.
Qin Niu did not rush to have the Worker Bees feed it the Banyan Tree Blood; instead, he conducted an extremely careful assessment of the Queen Bee first.
He repeatedly confirmed its constitution, physical strength, and endurance.
Then, based on his experience with cultivating those thirty Worker Bees, he calculated a relatively safe dosage of Banyan Tree Blood for the Queen Bee to consume.
To prevent any deviations, he only allowed one Worker Bee to feed the Queen Bee.
Watching the Queen Bee being fed, he felt somewhat uneasy as he stood by.
In his heart, he was prepared for the worst.
Although cultivating the Queen Bee was a spur-of-the-moment idea, it stemmed from multiple considerations.
As the Termite colony continued to grow stronger, the cultivation of the Ant Queen became more urgent.
Although the Ant Queen had never actively made this request to him, Qin Niu could feel its desire to grow stronger.
Whether it be the Queen Bee or the Ant Queen, their status within their respective colonies was very special. If a colony deems its queen to be unqualified, it will eliminate her.
The Termite Ant Queen was a tragic example of this.
Most Termite Ant Queens lived to about twenty-five or twenty-six years. When their breeding abilities weakened, the colony might choose a new Breeder Ant to replace the old Ant Queen.
In the end, the old Ant Queen would starve to death.
No Termite would feed it any longer.
Artificially raised colonies were somewhat unique. If Qin Niu, as the master, did not order the execution of the Ant Queen, the Worker Ants had no choice but to loyally take care of her indefinitely.
But the Ant Queen herself felt a strong sense of crisis.
If it felt that the entire colony had become much more powerful than itself, it would fear being abandoned.
Recently, Qin Niu had sensed that the Ant Queen was becoming increasingly ‘silent’ and naturally understood its worries.
Additionally, he now had an ample supply of Contractual Talismans, no longer having to skimp as he did in the past.
If this Queen Bee died, the loss would be entirely within his capacity to bear.
Lastly, if the cultivation of the Queen Bee was successful, the next step would be cultivating the Ant Queen.
After being fed a sufficient amount of Banyan Tree Blood, the Queen Bee lay there, trembling continuously, its body gradually swelling.
This was the inevitable process of evolution.
It’s probably going to take a while, so why not take another Grade Two Green Ring Worker Bee for a second round of cultivation?”
Qin Niu took out a small bottle of ‘Thousand Eyes Tree’ Blood he carried with him and chose a Worker Bee to feed.
It touched the substance with its antennae but refused to eat.
Qin Niu had no choice but to mix the ‘Thousand Eyes Tree’ Blood into some honey.
Eat up!”
This time, it finally ate a little.
But after just a taste, it refused to eat anymore.
According to Qin Niu’s experience, feeding ‘Thousand Eyes Tree’ Blood to the Termites was very safe.
Worker Ants would evolve into Puppet Ants, and Soldier Ants into Ghost Ants after consumption. Why then was this Worker Bee reluctant to eat it?
Was the taste of ‘Thousand Eyes Tree’ Blood repugnant to them?
Bees are rather picky about their food, unlike the omnivorous Termites.
After eating a bit of the ‘Thousand Eyes Tree’ Blood, the Grade Two Worker Bee’s head began to enlarge rapidly.
It then fell to the ground, writhing in pain.
Bang!
Its head split into several pieces.
Watching a Grade Two Worker Bee die in such a manner caused Qin Niu heartache.
Such a pity.
Still unconvinced, he grabbed a normal Worker Bee and forced a bit of the ‘Thousand Eyes Tree’ Blood into its mouth.
It desperately tried to spit it out.
Its stinger thrashed wildly, but it did not sting Qin Niu.
Although these older Worker Bees were not under Qin Niu’s control, they would not attack him.
After bloating up like inflating a balloon – expanding twofold – the normal Worker Bee stopped swelling. Just when Qin Niu was beginning to feel hopeful, thinking that this cultivation might be successful, its head suddenly burst open.
With no warning whatsoever.
It died instantly on the spot.
It seemed that ‘Thousand Eyes Tree’ Blood had a potent toxicity to bees, capable of killing them easily rather than assisting their evolution and strengthening them.
The loss of a Grade Two Worker Bee was a bitter regret for him.
Yet, on the road to cultivating insects or beast pets, death was unavoidable.
Some Insect Masters nurtured bugs that had already become very powerful, but the risk of experimentation could lead to the bugs’ death, or cause them to become crippled or weaker.
For example, the local cripple’s Treasure-Hunting Mouse had an exceptionally sensitive sense of smell.
If the cripple was not content with being just a certified Beast Tamer and wanted to go further,
and he tried to enhance that Treasure-Hunting Mouse, only to result in the loss of its keen sense of smell, then the cripple might be reduced back to his original state.
Whether you’re an Insect Master or a Beast Tamer, one must continually take risks to grow stronger.
Qin Niu could mass-cultivate Grade Two Worker Bees. The death of one was really insignificant in the grand scheme.
At the very least, he learned from this failure and knew that bees could not be fed ‘Thousand Eyes Tree’ Blood.
His gaze returned to the Queen Bee, which was still swelling, albeit much more slowly now.