Chapter 36: Arrival
Cold air slowly rose as a tiger-eye bee, half an arm in length, was cleaved in two. Its body was covered in black-and-yellow striped carapace, and its venomous stinger was nearly ten centimeters long.
Compared to the tiger-eye bees controlled by Bee Queen Afra, the ones Su Xiao encountered here seemed like a completely different species.
More importantly, after Amu killed the enemy, the kill prompt read: "Killed Tiger-Eye Bee," and it was classified as the Tiger Bee Clan. Earlier, Su Xiao had received a notification: "You are now being watched by the Tiger Bee Clan."
If Su Xiao's guess was correct, there was a significant difference between tiger-eye bees and the Tiger Bee Clan. As for the specifics, he had just arrived in this unknown region and couldn't make a judgment yet.
[Prompt: Due to the act of killing a tiger-eye bee, your reputation with the Tiger Bee Faction has dropped to -275/0 (Hostile).]
[Warning: If you continue to stay in this area, there is a certain chance of being attacked by the Tiger Bee Clan.]
Seeing this prompt, Su Xiao didn't immediately leave. Baha was scouting the surrounding terrain. Whether the plan could continue depended on the situation within this world.
The trial zone was only a small part of this world. There were plenty of supernatural creatures there, but only relatively speaking. Su Xiao was certain that after leaving the trial zone, the area he was currently in had numerous supernatural creatures.
A faint, elusive aura appeared. The owner of this aura seemed to be watching Su Xiao from a distance. After about ten minutes, the aura disappeared.
Joining the Tiger Bee Faction would certainly be a good choice, but there was one thing: Su Xiao had come into contact with the Tiger Bee Faction through Bee Queen Afra.
The power structure of the Tiger Bee Faction was simple, shaped like a pyramid. At the tip was Tiger Bee Lord Tamisha, and below her were three Bee Queens, with Afra being one of them.
If Su Xiao joined the Tiger Bee Faction, his initial status wouldn't be high. Even if his personal strength was sufficient, upon entry, his status would never surpass that of a Bee Queen.
After joining the Tiger Bee Faction, Su Xiao would most likely be placed under Afra. That was a dead end, and there was even a chance that Tiger Bee Lord Tamisha would send him back to the trial zone.
This wasn't just Su Xiao's one-sided speculation. Just now, because of Afra, Su Xiao's reputation with the Tiger Bee Faction had plummeted significantly, which already said a lot.
Today was the afternoon of the third day of the survival trial. The seventh day was when the purple supply crate would be dropped. Before that, Su Xiao planned to deal with the threat from the Survivor Alliance, or at least ensure he could seize the purple supply crate.
Rapidly increasing his own combat power in a short time was temporarily impossible, so he had to find another way. Originally, Su Xiao's idea was to join the Tiger Bee Faction and use their power to deal with the Survivor Alliance.
Now, it seemed this plan was no longer viable. It was unclear what Tiger Bee Lord Tamisha's attitude was, but the other Bee Queens and the Tiger Bee Clan would definitely not welcome Su Xiao, and might even be hostile or contemptuous.
Su Xiao waited for about two hours before Baha returned. It looked somewhat tired. During those two hours, it had lost count of how many times it had used its spatial abilities, just to explore more areas.
From a high altitude, Baha had roughly scouted an area of 3.5 million square kilometers. According to its observations, the vast region they were in was still in a primitive state, with landscapes like mountains, forests, and grasslands.
Baha also noticed something: within a certain area, there was a peculiarly shaped forest. Actually, calling it a forest was somewhat inaccurate. It was a horizontally winding forest belt stretching dozens of kilometers. Viewed from above, it looked like a green ribbon separating a plain.
This kind of scene couldn't be natural. It should be a border—the boundary between two factions.
Su Xiao knew of two native factions: the Tiger Bee Faction and the Dia Tribe. The border Baha saw should be the dividing line between their territories.
When disguised as a perception-type contractor, Su Xiao had heard other contractors discussing how they planned to join the Dia Tribe. Nagi Ga had already joined the Dia Tribe and even gained a high status there through the secrets of the Ancient Elves.
Both the Tiger Bee Lord and the Dia Tribe were very interested in the remnants of the Ancient Elves. Whether these two sides were enemies or allies was still unknown.
Based on Su Xiao's experience and the richness of this vast area, even if the two sides were hostile, they wouldn't easily go to war. The resources were too abundant. Each side occupying a large territory to develop would allow them to grow quickly.
Baha brought back one good and one bad piece of news. The bad news was that during its reconnaissance, it had entered the territory of the Dia Tribe. The scene there could no longer be called a tribe. There were crude but tall stone buildings, a magnificent altar, and Dia natives worshiping beneath it. Just the worshipers Baha saw numbered over a hundred thousand, which might only be a small part of the Dia Tribe's population.
Sometimes, population growth didn't require technological or medical support. In this supernatural world, even primitive natives had a high survival rate after birth. As long as they could fend off other supernatural creatures or intelligent beings, reproducing was just a matter of time and resources.
Besides this bad news, the good news Baha brought back was that during its reconnaissance, it had seen many supernatural creatures. Some herbivorous supernatural creatures were running in herds across the grasslands.
Seeing such a spectacle, Su Xiao felt it was related to the Tree of Life from thousands of years ago. After the Tree of Life was burned down, the life force and supernatural power within it erupted and spread throughout various parts of this world.
With the basic information understood, Su Xiao began the next step of his plan. He needed to find an area outside the territories of both the Tiger Bee Faction and the Dia Tribe. Ideally, it would be a valley surrounded by mountains on three sides, or a forest of towering trees.
The feeling of being watched grew stronger. Clearly, several Tiger Bee Clan members had gathered nearby.
Sensing this, Su Xiao headed toward the location Baha had found. It was a large canyon, with towering mountain ranges stretching endlessly.
After traveling quickly for over three hours, Su Xiao arrived at the place Baha had mentioned. According to Baha's observations, this was the edge of the border between the Tiger Bee Lord's and the Dia Tribe's territories. Moving within the rear area wouldn't attract the attention of either side.
Su Xiao stood atop a valley. The valley below was oval-shaped, with only a narrow, one-line-sky exit. Unless someone flew directly above to observe, it would be hard to find this place.
"Bubu, Baha, keep watch around the perimeter. Amu, guard the valley entrance."
After speaking, Su Xiao leaped down into the valley, took out numerous alchemical materials, and began laying out a formation on the ground.
The outer ring had spatial characteristics, the inner ring had isolation characteristics, and the center had biological characteristics. Ten Soul Crystals (Complete) served as the main energy output nodes, and thirty-two Soul Crystals (Medium) served as the energy transmission branch nodes.
After setting up the formation, Su Xiao placed a black fleshy sphere at the center of the formation. As Dragon-Slaying Flash returned to its sheath, a sliver of Banishment cut across Su Xiao's right palm. Blood flowed down his hand, dripping onto the black fleshy sphere at the center of the formation.
*Thump~*
A dull sound echoed. Wisps of black energy floated upward. The black fleshy sphere rapidly grew, transforming in an instant into a dark red flesh gate.
*Crack!*
A bolt of lightning streaked across the sky. An uninvited guest to this world had arrived, but under the constraints of the initial regulations, the swirling lightning vortex in the sky dissipated.
From within the dark red flesh gate came countless roars, but in the next moment, these roars abruptly ceased.
"My master... I sense you are calling me."
A spatial rift opened at the center of the flesh gate, and a large amount of biological tissue surged out from within. This ensured the success of the ultra-long-distance teleportation. The main body being teleported was protected inside this biological tissue.
*Crack, crack, crack~*
The spatial rift at the center of the flesh gate rapidly closed. This was the world's rejection reaction—it was trying to expel the incoming entity.
"Roar!"
Countless howls came from within the rift. Black, carapace-covered claws reached out, gripping the edges of the spatial crack.
With a *squelch*, a small hand emerged from the biological tissue. The summoning was successful.