Yuanen Yehui strongly nodded her head with a bright expression. "Absolutely sure. If we can get our hands on that honey, and split it between us, we might be able to jump up more than 5 ranks each."

A hint of greed flashed across Sheng Feilong's face, while Huang Jialong's breathing quickened visibly. For Soul Masters, increasing their Soul Rank has always been the most arduous part of their existence. While combat techniques, Soul Bones and Spirit Souls could enable them to fight above their own rank, there was ultimately a limit to that.

The Soul Rank, on the other hand, is the foundation of their very strength. There was no way any Soul Master would reject a Soul Treasure that would enable them to advance five or possibly even more ranks without any drawback.

Huang Jialong's swallowed hard, then looked at Sheng Feilong and Yuanen Yehui with a solemn expression. "How do we get our hands on it?" The other two remained quiet for a moment before Yuanen Yehui asked Sheng Feilong to explain the line-up of the Soul Beasts in more detail.

"There's a total of about 160 beasts, the strongest of which are the nine 10.000-years-old Soul Beasts. But it's strange; They're not standing at the front. Most of them are surrounded by other Soul Beasts, moreover, they're all waiting patiently and in peace." Sheng Feilong was spreading his Spirit Power through the area again, still using both, his mental Detection and metal Amplification, Soul Skills.

Yuanen Yehui frowned for a moment, then asked another question. "Is there no apparent leader? Or at least a Soul Beast that is considerably stronger than the rest?" Sheng Feilong focused for a moment before lightly shaking his head. "No, there doesn't appear to be a leader. But 6 out of the 9 10.000-years-old Soul Beasts are bear type beasts."

He frowned, staring into the direction of the gathering of beasts for a while. "...There's one who's definitely the strongest, no questions asked." Huang Jialong frowned, looking into the direction as well. "Which one?"

"I don't know how strong it is exactly, but the aura it gives off is much stronger than the other Soul Beasts. Moreover, it's the only 10.000-years-old Soul Beasts that's not surrounded by weaker ones.... It's a Dreadclaw Bear..." Sheng Feilong's tone wasn't too grave; Though concerned about the existence of the Dreadclaw Bear, he was certain is was unable to notice them considering how far away they were.

Huang Jialong's and Yuanen Yehui's faces tensed up, worry painting their faces; The Dreadclaw Bear was a type of Soul Beast nearly every Soul Master was more than familiar with. It stood on the top of the food chain among Soul Beasts, renown for its monstrous strength and frightening ferociousness.

Its name came from its ma.s.sive right arm and claw; Muscular and as thick as an adult man's waist, with long claws that can easily crush steel. Moreover, its combat ability was just as terrifying; A 10.000-years-old Dreadclaw Bear was already stronger than some 100.000-years-old Soul Beasts. Among the bear type Soul Beasts, it placed second overall, standing only below the Duskgold Dreadclaw Bear; An even stronger variant of its own race.

Sheng Feilong looked at his two companions, a calm expression on his face, though he was also frowning lightly. "Don't worry, it can't notice us here. Moreover, while the other Soul beasts don't surround it, they don't seem to fear it, either; They're just giving it some s.p.a.ce. Other than that, the Dreadclaw Bear seems just as docile as the other beasts, patiently waiting and not making any move whatsoever."

"Still, with that beast present, how do we get our hands on the hive?" Huang Jialong questioned with a slightly frustrated expression. All of them quieted down, not knowing of any plan. A few minutes later, Sheng Feilong opened his mouth. "I might have a plan... We'll wait for the hive to fall. Once it does..."

----------------

A few more hours pa.s.sed, with dozens of new groups of Soul Beasts appearing, driving the total of their number to a whopping 420 beasts. Thankfully, the newcomers weren't too strong; 4 more 10.000-years-old beasts joined the crowd, all surrounded by their own entourage of lower level Soul Beasts, but none of them were quite on the level of the Dreadclaw Bear.

A while later, just as all beasts seemed to have arrived, the stronger ones among them seemed to become more impatient and agitated. Sheng Feilong and the others guessed that those beasts were able to guess the time the Crystal Spirit Bee's hive would fall, getting more agitated as that time approached.

Meanwhile, Sheng Feilong and the others themselves were slowly drawing closer to the hive and crowd of beasts. Yuanen Yehui remained the furthest behind, securing a road for them to retreat onto. Huang Jialong kept his distance from the crowd, in a line between Yuanen Yehui and Sheng Feilong, who was still drawing closer to the hive.

Most of the beasts kept a distance away from the cliff side where the hive was hanging from as they couldn't get a good view on it from there, but that spot was perfect for Sheng Feilong; He could keep an eye on the crowd of beasts while still being able to see when the Crystal Spirit bee's hive would fall.

By now, even the weaker beasts got more agitated and Sheng Feilong finally understood how they guessed the remaining time before the hive fell; The sweet smell in the air got more intense by the minute. Before, this change was too shallow for his human nose to catch on, but this wasn't the case for Soul Beasts and their sharp senses.

The 10.000-years-old Soul Beasts got more agitated as well, however, only a few of them slowly drew closer to the hive. Sheng Feilong frowned ever so slightly from confusing when he saw that the ones making a move were all bear type Soul Beasts, but just attributed it to the fact that bears were known to love honey and other sweet things.

By the time even the Dreadclaw Bear was moving, slight cracking sounds could be heard coming from the hive for a short moment before the weaker Soul Beasts started roaring, getting more excited, some even with traces of frenzy on their faces.

Sheng Feilong started stealthily circulating his Soul Power, stopped spreading his Spirit Power and instead focused on only two things; The hive, that was about to fall off, as well as a specific 10.000-years-old Soul Beast among the midst of the crowd of Soul Beasts.

Moments later, another, louder crack came from the hive and its sh.e.l.l was now visibly broken near the top, with the crack widening, ready to break off the hive completely; A heavenly, sweet aroma wafted out of it, causing Sheng Feilong's eyes to constrict as he mouth started watering.

Not wasting any time, Sheng Feilong chose this exact moment to start the execution of his plan; His Soul Power fiercely circulating inside his body shot into three of his Soul Rings at the same time, releasing three Soul Skills; His first one, Toad Prison, the third, Mental Amplification and finally, the fourth one he obtained - Spirit Infestation.

These attacks, all compressed into a single, mental strike, hit the 10.000-years-old Soul Beast in the midst of the crowd. The sole beast – the 10.000-years-old Blazing Timber Turtle – roared fiercely, shaking its head before roaring again, this time at the other 10.000-years-old Soul Beasts surrounding it and stomped onto the ground multiple times.

It whipped its head around, spewing a ma.s.sive ball of flame towards the Dreadclaw Bear. The latter, not expecting an attack and still focused on the Crystal Spirit Bee's hive, got hit squarely in the chest. The ball exploded into a ma.s.sive inferno, sweeping up nearly a hundred other Soul Beasts in its radius, including 6 other 10.000-years-old Soul Beasts in the immediate surroundings.

The Blazing Timber Turtle didn't bother with them, preparing and spitting out another ball of flame into the other direction – Towards another powerful 10.000-years-old Soul Beast. Another explosion shook the area as a second inferno engulfed the Soul Beasts on the other side.

All Soul Beasts were shocked, their instincts forcing them to focus on the Blazing Timber Turtle instead of the Crystal Spirit Bee's hive. Sheng Feilong didn't bother hiding his Soul Power any longer. He shot forth explosively, sprinting towards the hive, that had been swept off the cliff by the shockwaves of the Blazing Timber Turtle's attacks.

Jumping through the flames while coating himself in a barrier of Soul Power, he caught the bee hive in its fall. Madly kicking off the ground as soon as he landed and propelling himself into the opposite direction, back through the flames, his Soul Power now protecting and sealing off the hive he was dragging with him.

When he came out of the flames, Huang Jialong was already standing at attention, grabbing at the hive together with Sheng Feilong as both of them madly ran north-westward towards Yuanen Yehui. The latter came into view just moments later and also started das.h.i.+ng down the route she had scouted beforehand.

Her job during this had been to secure a route where they could pa.s.s through while Sheng Feilong and Huang Jialong were carrying the nearly 8 metres tall bee hive. Within all the chaos going on at the Soul Beasts' gathering spot and a few, tall bushes being thrown onto the path behind them, Sheng Feilong and the others vanished from view, the treasure all the Soul Beasts sought out – the 10.000-years-old Crystal Spirit Bee's abandoned hive – in hand!