Xi Ye seemed quite pleased with the plump bee nestled obediently in its palm, its antennae drooping submissively. The aura of killing intent around it dissipated abruptly, and a delicate smile graced its exquisite face as it coaxed softly, “Don’t worry, as long as you behave, I won’t harm you.”

Shen Yi could no longer appreciate the beauty of that delicate face. This sprite, meticulously sculpted by the creator in his favorite shade of green, had now transformed into a little demon with sharp horns on its head and a swaying tail.

In his daze, Shen Yi was lifted by the little demon onto the cliff face, facing the spiritual flower. Its tone brooked no refusal: “Can you conceal this flower too?”

Shen Yi was jolted by the ethereal voice, suddenly realizing that he had been so terrified by its casually emitted killing intent that his whole body went numb. Was this the pressure of a higher rank?

Shen Yi fully grasped the danger of this little demon, shedding the unconscious underestimation and ease in his heart. He looked at the lush, towering plant that seemed enormous to him.

Thinking of the flower dew within the blossom that could boost spiritual power, and the little demon’s high regard for this flower, Shen Yi vaguely guessed its intention.

The little demon was temperamental. To survive in its hands, he had to prove his worth.

The more useful he was to it, the less willing it would be to kill him.

“Can you let me touch that flower? It’ll conserve energy.”

Xi Ye obligingly lifted him to the Destiny Flower and tossed him onto a leaf. “Begin.”

This time, Shen Yi didn’t hold back, exerting almost all his strength. He channeled his spiritual energy, flowing it toward the leaf beneath him, surging like water through the entire plant, spreading over the leaves like a cicada-wing-thin membrane, tightly enveloping it.

The flower standing on the cliff face, along with the chubby bee on its leaves, vanished simultaneously.

Xi Ye, being one with its Destiny Flower, could naturally sense that the flower remained unharmed in its original spot.

Shen Yi quickly exhausted his energy and reappeared, lying on the leaf, his stomach growling loudly.

“This flower is too big. I can’t hold it for long, and,” Shen Yi uttered weakly, looking at the satisfied little demon, “if I don’t eat soon, I’ll starve to death.”

Xi Ye certainly couldn’t let its newly discovered treasure starve. It swiftly burrowed into the flower bud and emerged moments later with a plump, green drop of flower dew hovering on its fingertip. It pushed the dew toward the chubby bee and urged, “Eat quickly.”

Shen Yi stared in shock at the flower dew before him, extending his proboscis to taste it. It was the same dew he had drunk before, and the amount was exactly one full drop from that flower—it had given him all of it.

He looked up again at the expressionless little demon, whose eyes still sparkled with delight. Could it really be so casually giving him Spirit Nectar to drink?

But since it was willing to give him flower dew, it probably wouldn’t kill him easily.

Yet, this damned creature had leveled the valley, threatened to strangle him the moment it caught him—he had thought this flower dew was something extremely precious to it!

Shen Yi took a deep breath, pushed aside his thoughts, and focused on drinking the dew. The system kept popping up experience gain notifications.

“Experience +10, Experience +8, Experience +11…”

With every swallow, his experience fluctuated, though he didn’t understand why it was less than what he’d gained earlier.

He tugged on the slender thread around his waist and asked calmly, “Can this be untied? I won’t run.”

Xi Ye didn’t speak, its gaze made him feel like an idiot.

Shen Yi hadn’t expected it to untie him anyway. “I need to eat every half hour. There are no flowers in the valley, so I have nowhere to find food. I’ll starve.”

“That’s ordinary flower dew,” Xi Ye retorted dismissively. “Drinking my dew will sustain you for a full day.”

Shen Yi was surprised. “You’ll give me this kind of flower dew every day from now on?”

Xi Ye gave a nod, speaking in a matter-of-fact tone. “As long as you behave, of course I’ll keep you fed.”

“…”

It should have been good news, but for some reason, he just wanted to pin this damned creature down and give it a good thrashing.

Still, if he could have flower dew every day, was there even a need to think about escaping?

Shen Yi mused inwardly, asking the system assistant distractedly: “System, can I cultivate like this sprite?”

The system quickly responded: “No. The host’s path of cultivation is the Path of the Sovereign. The strength of the swarm is your strength. If the swarm is powerful, you are powerful.”

“What does that mean?”

The system provided a lengthy explanation. Shen Yi roughly understood that his path of cultivation was different from most spiritual beings in this world. He only needed to continuously expand his swarm, and his level would naturally rise.

Simply put, he could lure his fellow Earthlings to play the game. When they gained experience by fighting monsters, he would also receive a certain percentage of experience points, like a sales commission. One or two contributors would yield pitiful gains, but what about thousands or tens of thousands?

Couldn’t he just level up while lying back?

Shen Yi was so excited by this bright future that his heart raced, and his breathing grew rapid.

Noticing his distraction, Xi Ye tugged impatiently on the Thousand Vine Thread in its hand. “What’s your name?”

All spiritual beings receive a heaven-given name at the moment their spirituality is born.

Caught off guard by the pull on his waist, Shen Yi glared fiercely at it—though a bee’s compound eyes couldn’t convey much expression.

He wondered how many levels he needed to rise before he could pin this damned creature down and beat it.

Grinding his mandibles, he suddenly had a mischievous idea and answered with ill intent: “My name is Boss.”

“Boss?” This world had no concept of “Boss,” but Xi Ye understood the meaning of “big.” It instinctively felt something was off, and its slightly upturned lips immediately straightened. “I don’t like it. Change it.”

This damned creature was so domineering.

Shen Yi clenched his teeth, putting on a difficult expression. “What should I change it to?”

Xi Ye glanced at him sideways with its beautiful eyes and said without hesitation, “You’re so fat. I’ve never seen such a chubby bee. Just call you Little Chubby.”

“…” This damned creature. Shen Yi gritted his teeth and told his real name. “I’m Shen Yi.”

Xi Ye widened its eyes. “Were you lying to me just now?”

The anger that had briefly flared in Shen Yi immediately died down. He hurriedly said, “Boss is also my name.”

He thought about it—this damned creature clearly had no intention of letting him go. He couldn’t escape in the short term, and to escape, he needed to increase his strength. To increase his strength, he needed to summon players to play the game. To summon players, he needed to build a nest first. But being tied up, he couldn’t build a nest, so he had to call his subordinates over.

In the dim light, Shen Yi looked up at this damned creature with nothing but a pretty face. Since it needed his help to hide plants and was even willing to provide him with flower dew daily, it probably wouldn’t randomly threaten to kill him. As long as his subordinates didn’t provoke it, bringing them over shouldn’t be dangerous.

The sky was already growing dark. Shen Yi gritted his teeth and decided to take a gamble: “I have a small bee colony. They might scatter if I’m not there. Can they move into the valley?”

“Yours? A bee colony?” Xi Ye raised an eyebrow, lifting him up and poking the golden fur on his bottom. “You’re lying to a fool. You’re clearly a drone.”

Drones held little status in a bee colony. When food was scarce, they were the first to be driven out.

The valley was full of butterflies and bees—it had seen plenty.

Did this cunning little liar think it didn’t know?

“You know I’m different from other bees,” Shen Yi condensed a strand of spiritual energy and poked the back of the damned creature’s hand. “Just like this green flower, unique things can trigger miracles.”

Xi Ye suddenly froze, its heart feeling as if something had gently poked it—fluttery and aching, a strange sensation.

It looked at the plump bee clutched in its grasp, so different from other bees, just like how it itself stood out like a sore thumb in the Spirit Valley—both of them were outsiders.

Xi Ye’s mood improved slightly, but it wouldn’t budge. “I don’t like bees flying overhead; it’s too noisy.”

Shen Yi cursed it again in his mind as a “dog-thing” but continued negotiating patiently, “Then, can I go back once daily? The hive is nearby—it won’t take long.”

Xi Ye frowned, clearly annoyed, but after a moment of silence, it shockingly agreed, “I can accompany you once a day.”

After a pause, it lowered its eyes and asked, “Need to head back today?”

The sky had almost completely darkened, and glow creatures that only appeared at night began to emerge sporadically.

Bees didn’t have night vision, but by releasing spiritual energy, Shen Yi could still see the way back.

Shen Yi fluttered his wings. “I’ll lead the way.”

After Xi Ye nodded, Shen Yi took flight, the Vine Thread tied around his waist swaying gently. Though invisible in the dark, he was keenly aware of its presence.

The mutt trailed behind, holding the thread extending from him. As Shen Yi pictured the scene in his mind, the more he thought about it, the weirder it felt.

He slowed down, intending to fly side by side with the figure behind him, but a foot shoved his butt, followed by an impatient urge: “Hurry up! Quit dawdling! Weren’t you just fed?”

“…”

Shen Yi took a deep breath, silently muttering “dog-thing” twice, and picked up the pace, grumbling.

Soon, they arrived at the location. Shen Yi led it to the giant tree where the bee colony resided. The crew, already returned to the hive, sensed their king’s presence and buzzed in welcome.

Having been unable to sense their king’s presence after returning to the hive, the workers had grown restless for quite some time.

Little Seven was the first to fly out. “Boss.”

Shen Yi patted each bee’s belly as he called roll. Behind him, Xi Ye stared darkly toward the valley, its expression darkening. “You’ve been hiding here all along?”

Xi Ye recalled the two times it had been tricked. The little thief it’d been chasing had actually been hiding right under its nose!

It suddenly remembered that while waiting for the Mist-Hidden Flower to bloom, it had sensed something wrong with its Destiny Flower and rushed back, only to see two bees flying past the valley one after the other. Their tiny wings flapped frantically, rustling the grass and buzzing like crazy.

But at the time, it hadn’t paid it much mind, merely glancing once before ignoring it.

Now, remembering it again, the unusually plump figure flying in front gradually overlapped with the one before him.

It had actually let it slip away right under its nose.

That pissed it off even more.