Chapter 373 - 371: Cao Cao’s Planning Ahead

Chapter 373: Chapter 371: Cao Cao’s Planning Ahead

"So you’re saying you also want me to take it as a Beast Pet?"

Gu Nuan Nuan glanced at Cao Cao. Since Cao Cao had brought the creature to her, it must also want her to take this Bee King. ’But what am I going to do with a honeybee for a Beast Pet?’ She frowned in distaste. "It’s enormous. What use is a fat honeybee that I can’t even show to anyone? If I take it as a Beast Pet, do you expect me to carry it around all day like a burden? We’re better off leaving things as they are. It’s much more useful to maintain our trade relationship and let it keep making honey for us here."

"Master, don’t just look at how big it is now. Once it eats some more Spirit Beast Pills, gets a Cultivation Method for beasts, and cultivates here for a while, it’ll become a true spirit beast. Its body will immediately shrink to the size of a normal worker bee. Then, we can have it pick strong bees from its colony to also consume the Hundred Herbs Rejuvenating Ointment, eat Spirit Beast Pills, and practice the Cultivation Technique. Little by little, we’ll be able to raise a whole swarm of genuine Spirit Bees that can both fight and gather nectar, and will eventually produce Spiritual Honey."

Cao Cao’s gaze was serious and full of yearning. It had spent the last two years putting a great deal of thought into getting this Bee King to willingly pledge its allegiance. It said, a little proudly, "Even though my personal space hasn’t been upgraded yet, it will be sooner or later. Once it is, I’ll be able to grow spirit plants inside, and the Spirit Bees will be able to produce Spiritual Honey. By that time, we might have already raised a huge swarm of the Spirit Bees we’re cultivating. Master, don’t underestimate the combat power of Spirit Bees. They’re more than capable of dealing with low-level Cultivators. And in a critical moment, if you suddenly unleash a huge swarm in a sneak attack, even High Level Cultivators could get caught off guard."

Gu Nuan Nuan raised an eyebrow. "Planning ahead, are we?"

"Yep! Just planning ahead." Cao Cao nodded vigorously.

Gu Nuan Nuan turned her attention back to the Bee King, studying it for a moment before nodding. "Since you think it’s a good idea, we’ll take it." As she spoke, she briefly recalled the process for a Cultivator to accept a Beast Pet, something she had learned from a Jade Scroll. First, she squeezed a drop of blood from her fingertip. Then, she took a drop from the Bee King’s head and formed a hand formula. She watched as her blood enveloped the Bee King’s, and the two drops quickly merged. The merged drop then flew directly into the spot between her eyebrows. Instantly, she felt a familiar sort of connection to the Bee King, just like the one she had with Cao Cao. A moment later, a strange, trembling female voice echoed in her sea of consciousness, calling out to her in a fawning tone, "Master."

"Mm," Gu Nuan Nuan replied, looking at the Bee King. She knew it could communicate with her because it had eaten a Wisdom Opening Pill and accepted her as its master. She was quite pleased. "Do you have a name?"

"A name?" The Bee King looked confused.

"You’re so dumb. How do you not even know what a name is? A name is just what you’re called. For instance, my name is Cao Cao." Cao Cao leaned in and tapped the Bee King on the head without ceremony.

"I don’t have a name. Master, please give me one."

The Bee King didn’t dare make a sound in protest of Cao Cao tapping it on the head. After the contract with Gu Nuan Nuan was formed, it clearly felt that not only could it not defy Gu Nuan Nuan’s will, but by extension, it couldn’t defy Cao Cao’s either. It immediately understood its place in the hierarchy: Gu Nuan Nuan was first, followed closely by Cao Cao, and then itself. Therefore, not only did it not dare object to Cao Cao’s action, it even offered Cao Cao a fawning smile.

"It’s inconvenient if you don’t have a name. We already have a Cao Cao, so how about you be Hua Hua? Bees gather nectar from flowers, so Hua Hua is a pretty good name for you," Gu Nuan Nuan said with a mischievous smile.

"No, no! I’m Cao Cao, and it would be Hua Hua. The common phrase is ’hua hua cao cao’—that would mean it comes before me!" The Bee King hadn’t yet voiced an opinion, but Cao Cao was already shaking its head vehemently in distaste, giving Gu Nuan Nuan an unhappy look. "There’s an order to things! First come, first served! How can it get to be ahead of me? Not even in name!"

Gu Nuan Nuan: "..."

Her face darkened as she glared at Cao Cao. "What’s wrong with Hua Hua? Who says calling it Hua Hua puts it ahead of you? What kind of logic is that? Hua Hua itself hasn’t even complained, so why are you making a fuss? Don’t you know how hard it is to think of a good name?"

Cao Cao puffed out its cheeks, looking aggrieved. It looked down and fiddled with its fingers for a moment before its eyes lit up. It looked up at Gu Nuan Nuan and said, "Master, ’Hua Hua’ is just too tacky. I’m worried that if you call it that and other people hear, it’ll tarnish your brilliant reputation!"

"Heh." Gu Nuan Nuan grunted twice, eyeing Cao Cao. "You’re certainly getting better with words these days, aren’t you?"

"It’s only because I have such a good teacher in you, Master," Cao Cao replied, shamelessly sucking up to her.

Gu Nuan Nuan couldn’t help but laugh. "I suppose you have a point. Hmm... how about Duoduo, then?"

"Duoduo thanks you, Master."

The Bee King had been watching Gu Nuan Nuan and Cao Cao bicker with curiosity. When it saw Gu Nuan Nuan finally give in to Cao Cao, it shot Cao Cao an envious glance before sensibly thanking its new master.

Gu Nuan Nuan nodded. "Now that you’re with me, you can move your swarm here. The Spiritual Energy is abundant, which will be good for your future Cultivation." She then rummaged through her storage ring, found the Spirit Beast Pill and the beast Cultivation Method that Cao Cao had mentioned, and tossed them over. "You figure out how it should take this and how it should practice the Cultivation Technique. I’m leaving it all to you. Just teach it directly. How long do you think it will take to teach it everything?"

"Don’t worry, Master. I’ll look these over and do my best to teach it as quickly as possible. It shouldn’t take more than three days." Cao Cao put away the items Gu Nuan Nuan had tossed it, gave her the time frame, and then added, "Master, I’ll also need some of the Hundred Herbs Rejuvenating Ointment. Oh, and I’ll need to help Duoduo’s swarm move soon. Its current swarm is enormous and the hive is especially large. You’ll have to lend me that storage bag, otherwise its hive won’t fit in my personal space."

"Here you go. I’ll leave all this to you. Three days? Hmm, that’s enough time. I might as well use this time to concoct some more Hundred Herbs Rejuvenating Ointment to keep in reserve."

As she spoke, Gu Nuan Nuan found a number of jars of Hundred Herbs Rejuvenating Ointment and the unclaimed storage bag, tossing them all to Cao Cao. "Is this enough Hundred Herbs Rejuvenating Ointment?"

"It’s enough." Cao Cao nodded, stowing everything away.