It was now the 15th day since they entered the Beast Valley.
The Reaper Mantis who was cultivating under the waterfall, flashed a burst of colorful brilliance.
The beam of energy that was rising above her head made an impact with the waterfall, making it go backwards. The water splashes were turned upside down and shot back toward the sky, forming an incredible sight.
The shockwave spreaded towards the surroundings.
This energy circle spreaded extremely fast, but surprisingly, the surrounding flowers and trees were not hurt, whereas the grazing deer, sheep, cattle, and horses were not surprised either. They just raised their heads in unison, looking at the energy beam that rose to the sky with awe-inspiring eyes. Sickle Weasel and Ryoma, who were resting under the shade of the trees, awakened from their sleep and leaped to the top of the tree together, looking at the golden energy beam on the other side of the hill pointing to the sky. The golden beam of light even exceeded the height of the peak of the hill that had a cascading waterfall.
Although they were separated by more than ten kilometers, the energy fluctuations and intimidating will greatly shocked the hearts of Sickle Weasel and Ryoma.
After a long time, they saw the golden beam of light disappear.
The sickle swallowed a mouthful of saliva with difficulty, "In ten days, the newborn beast grew into a Quasi-Holy Beast; With just only 5 days later, she was promoted to a Holy Beast t! The five Beast Kings will never be able to reach the realm of the Holy Beast even if they trained for their entire lifetime. Yet, she managed to do so just by using half a month's time. W-what kind of potential was this?"
Ryoma's voice trembled a little before he guessed, "Maybe she was originally a Holy Beast!"
"Impossible, no one would take the risk of using a Holy Beast. Letting a Holy Beast walk into the Gates of Reincarnation? What if it was eliminated at its initial stage…?" Sickle Weasel waved its hand again and again.
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"He has Pandora's Box, which is protected by the Divine Power of Calamity; there's nothing he could lose. Plus, a person like him wouldn't just own a Holy Beast. I actually think that he might still have a Divine Beast. Otherwise, it would be impossible for him to be this familiar with cultivating Holy Beasts!"
The Sickle Weasel became silent after hearing Ryoma's words.
It seemed like that was really the case!
That kid was not as simplistic as merely cultivating a Holy Beast to pass the Level. If his goal was just wanting to clear the Beast Valley, he could have left five days ago. With the wisdom of that newborn beast and the various trials that remain up ahead, it wouldn't pose a problem for that Holy Beast. He wasn't satisfied with the Quasi-Holy Tier, so he trained her to the point where she became a Holy Beast. With just half a month into his plans, he wouldn't ever dream of stopping the progress.
The tier of the Divine Beast was the ultimate goal of the newcomer.
In the Beast Valley, was any challenger able to cultivate a Divine Beast?
The Sickle Weasel looked at Ryoma with a puzzled expression, but Ryoma kept shaking his head. He had been trapped in the Beast Valley for thousands of years, and within that time, he had never heard of anyone who could cultivate a Divine Beast in the Beast Valley!
If this newcomer could really cultivate a Divine Beast, what will happen to the Beast Valley?
All the residents and failed challengers would probably turn into Demonic Beast, right? Adding everyone's energies together, how could it not be sufficient to nurture a Divine Beast?
"Hmm?"
Ryoma motioned for the Sickle Weasel to hold its breath.
This was to watch out for the vulture that often circulates in the sky to spy as an intelligence report. Although that guy was scouting information on behalf of the Lion King, it never dared to get too close, mostly soaring across the sky. As long as its target on the ground was still there, it would return immediately. The Sickle Weasel slid into the canopy of the tree, not only blending with nature, but also wearing a cloak of invisibility outside its body.
An afterimage crossed the sky as fast as a meteor.
With the eyesight of Ryoma and the Sickle Weasel, it was actually very difficult to capture this shadow.
However, Ryoma found that the huge target in the shadow's hands…was a stiff vulture.
Human head, butterfly wings on the frame of a bee— this was the ‘Poisonous Bee King’, one of the five Kings of the Beast Regiments.
But why did the Poisonous Bee capture the vulture alive?
Ignoring the fact that it had captured the vulture alive, the Sickle Weasel and Ryoma were more confused about why it brought the vulture as it flew towards the waterfall near the hill. Wasn't it afraid of the curse of the Divine Power of Calamity?
"Today is really a good day, there are guests here again," By the side of the waterfall, Yue Yang comfortably washed his feet with cool water while lying lazily on the rocks. He basked in the sun as he relished in the Reaper Mantis's light massage on his shoulders. Occasionally, he also opened his mouth to eat a crystal grape that the Reaper Mantis had fed into his mouth.
"There are many kinds of guests," The Poisonous Bee King threw the stiff vulture on the ground.
"Then which one do you belong to?" Yue Yang asked with a smile.
"I'm different from the guests who met their deaths and were made into nutrients to upgrade your newborn beast. I belong to the one that can be trusted, the one that proposes a cooperation," The Poisonous Bee King landed on the rock beside Yue Yang and laid a finger on the stunned but very much alive vulture, chuckling softly, "Consider this my meeting gift for you.. If you are willing to believe me, I will show you more of my sincerity. You can trust me— before your beast evolves into a Holy Beast, I will do my utmost best to fulfill that wish of yours!"
"Okay, but can you tell me the reason?" Yue Yang chuckled and said, "You probably aren't going to tell me that you're a good Samaritan, born to enjoy doing good deeds for others, are you?"
"I only need one thing," The Poisonous Bee King's expression suddenly became serious.
"And what is that?" Yue Yang asked rhetorically.
At this time, Ryoma and the Sickle Weasel had closed the distance to a mere three kilometers with their ears sharpened.
They want to know what kind of deal would the Poisonous Bee King make with this young man. Was it to assassinate the Lion King and seize the position of being on top among the five Beast Kings? Or was it to defeat the double-headed Black Dragon that was guarding the Wisdom Fruit before it itself would take the fruit to enhance its wisdom?
No matter what the conditions are, they believe that it will be a huge deal that will shake the balance of the Beast Valley, bringing change to the whole situation!
The Poisonous Bee King groaned slightly.
In the end, it uttered a word that made the Sickle Weasel and Ryoma almost scream, "I want to be free! I don't want anything else, I just want to be free!"
Freedom!
This was something that the Heaven Realm never lacked, as even those ant-like subsidiary races below the normal level have their fair share of freedom. Perhaps the freedom of those people were cut short and was not considered true freedom, but even that discounted freedom was a luxury that all the lives in the Beast Valley couldn't obtain!
The Beast Valley had everything; nothing was scarce.
Except for the fact that there was no freedom!
Ryoma and the Sickle Weasel had the opinion that they had forgotten this word, but now they can't help but burst into tears when they heard it.
When one has freedom, they will never know of its preciousness; but when that same person loses their freedom, only then will they realise its meaning!
Freedom… This is something that anyone can have, but once lost, even the whole world cannot be exchanged for it. It is precious, something that no treasure in the world could exchange with, something that couldn't be replaced. Only those who have lost their freedom will understand that one can have nothing— no money, house, a comfortable life, the wealth of the enemy country or a famous name. Sometimes, there may even be none of the romantic relationships that everyone desires, but nothing would be as uniquely important as freedom!
People who have freedom will never understand the pain of losing it.
Those who lost their freedom were outcasts of fate.
It is the elimination of time, the silt of the long river of history and the most painfully desperate existence in the world. That type of torment could only be described as a dark abyss!
Yue Yang smiled, "Do you think I will agree to this? Even if I do agree, do you think I can give you freedom? This is the Beast Valley!"
The Poisonous Bee covered its face with its hands and sobbed very softly, "You, the proud son of Heaven, will never understand how hard I have been struggling these years. For six thousand years, I have tried to survive. From a kind-hearted woman who never kills, I have turned into a Poisonous Queen Bee in Beast Valley. The number of people I have killed over the years have been several times greater than the people I knew in the first half of my life. But, even in my most desperate times, the thirst for freedom has never left in my heart for even a second. It is the light that illuminated my difficult path of advancement… In order for me to be free, my father and husband both collapsed in front of me. They used their lives to open a bloody path for me, where at the same time, they pinned their hopes on me. In order for me to move forward smoothly towards the path of freedom, my mother sacrificed her chastity for decades. It wasn't until I grew up and had the power to protect myself that she could bear to kill herself in front of my eyes."
T/L Note: Once again, the bee has her gender clarified, so yes, she'll be referred to as a ‘her' from here on.
Yue Yang still shook his head, "I sympathize with your tragedy, but the Beast Valley has its own Laws. I'm sorry, I can't help you."
The Poisonous Queen Bee quickly wiped away her tears and waved her hand, "About this, I know of a secret. About six thousand years ago, when I was not fully grown and I was very wary of everything around me, there was a God-like man who came. He told me of a condition, that as long as there was a contract under a Holy Beast, where I would become a beast used by the Holy Beast, I would be able to leave. But back then I was still a resident and I was still skeptical of the God-like man, so I rejected his kindness. At that time, I was a resident who had two chances, where I had to commit suicide and become a Beast to get a contract with him. I missed that opportunity at the time…Who knew that I had to wait for six thousand years for my second chance to arrive!"
Yue Yang asked curiously, "Then why do you dare to trust me? Do you think I am trustworthy?"
The Poisonous Queen Bee paused slightly, "If we were enemies, it would indeed be a very terrible thing. You are not a kind-hearted gentleman. On the contrary, your boldly decisive attitude and your concept of treating enemies like ants will make others shiver and tremble in their hearts. However, if I can become your friend, then I believe it would be a very lucky thing. For freedom, I am willing to take risks and believe in you once. After all, you are the most compatible one I have encountered in six thousand years."
"There is another reason why I am willing to trust you," The Poisonous Queen Bee stared into Yue Yang's eyes, "That day, that God-like man, his aura was very similar to yours… Maybe you are not relatives but you must be of a similar kind, coming from the same place."
"What's the name of the person you are talking about?" Yue Yang asked.
"That God-like man is called Zhan Feng. I have heard his enemies call him the ‘Prison Emperor’!" The Poisonous Queen Bee will never forget this name and the silhouette of the man who sighed when he had walked away.
"It's him again," Student Yue Yang was a little unhappy. How was it possible that so many people actually knew who he was? It's been six thousand years, yet, his name couldn't be forgotten and was rather long-lasting. However, since he had some relations with the Prison Emperor, Yue Yang was too embarrassed to refuse. How was he supposed to say, I used the Prison Emperor's Divine Seal to crack open chestnuts. Also, the Prison Emperor's Divine Sword in Tigress's hands and the Prison Emperor's Divine Sceptre of Wu Xia's possession, were all left behind by him.
In the face of equipment and treasures that he basically obtained for free, it didn't sit right with him if he didn't show a bit of respect to his name.
Forget it.
He just thought of it as doing good deeds to accumulate character points!
Student Yue Yang asked the last question, "Your parents and husband have died here, and you have been trapped here for six thousand years. I don't think that you would have any other relatives out there by now, so was there still any point in going out?"
A longing sliver of light flashed in the eyes of the Poisonous Queen Bee, "I promised them that I would take their ashes back home and bury them on the hilltops of my hometown. I also promised my mother that I would hand over important tokens of the family to my younger sister. From my hands, I would pass the throne to her, let her lead the Bee Clan to glory. If my sister was gone, then I would pass it on to her descendants. I not only have lived with the hopes of my relatives, but also, in my own heart, I have longed for a day where I can leave. Even if it’s just one day of freedom, just let me look at the liberating sky in the outside world and the home I used to live in. Then, I can die with no regrets…"
As long as she had one day of freedom, she was able to die without regrets?
These words shook the heart of Yue Yang's Supreme Will.
He may not be able to help with other things, but this kind of problem that could be agreed with a nod of his head, was still worth considering for the sake of the hopes and beliefs she had for six thousand years.
"Huuuuuu!" The Reaper Mantis was touched by the words of the Queen Bee to the point where she burst into a fit of tears.
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"…" Ryoma and the Sickle Weasel also started to shed tears of their own.
If it weren't for the fear of revealing their act of pursuit as they grit their teeth, they would have liked to cry out loud.
Freedom, this was the freedom that they dared not dream of! If they could regain their freedom, as long as they could live happily for one day under the skies of freedom, they could really die without regrets.
In the blurry eyes of tears, the two understood the twinkling light that reflected in each other's eyes:
I want to be free as well!
