Chapter Ninety-Eight: The Body That Lost Its Balance

By now, Yeda had already collected five pieces of the Black Iron Set.

They were the Black Iron Chestplate, Black Iron Gale Boots, Black Iron Helm, Black Iron Pauldrons, and the Black Iron Guardian Necklace he had already taken from Dragon One.

Just two more pieces, and he would have the full seven-piece Black Iron Set.

“All set. Time to call it a day.”

After gathering everything from the treasure chest into his storage pack, Yeda set off on the road home.

Since he had descended the cliff by rope, the stone hut was still perched halfway up the cliffside, which meant he had to retrace his steps if he wanted to get back.

And the reason he had barely left before turning back again was twofold.

First, Yeda still needed to collect the rewards dropped by the carrion wolves along the way.

Second, his pack was nearly full again, and he had to dump everything back at the hut before he could continue causing trouble.

Rotten Heart +1

Rotten Heart +1

Wolf Fang +1

Wolf Claw +1

...

Carrion wolves generally dropped only three kinds of loot: rotten hearts, wolf fangs, and wolf claws.

From his analysis glasses, Yeda learned that the fangs and claws could be used to craft equipment, such as arrowheads.

As for the rotten hearts, they could be used in medicine.

But those gains were not the biggest.

For Yeda at this moment, the greatest harvest the carrion wolves had brought him was probably the dozen or so second-tier beast cores.

Ever since he advanced to third tier, first-tier beast cores had become nearly useless to him. Their energy was too weak, and each time Yeda had to absorb a whole pile before he could gain even a sliver of stone elemental power.

But second-tier beast cores were different. As long as Yeda absorbed two or three of them, he could obtain a large amount of stone elemental power.

By the time Yeda had collected all the beast cores from the more than ten carrion wolves, his right leg had finally been completely covered in stone skin. Now his limbs were all covered except for the left leg.

That made Yeda feel somewhat unbalanced.

Especially the instant the stone skin spread across his right leg, he felt that leg grow extraordinarily powerful. Even if he stamped down with all his strength, he could leave a shallow pit in the ground.

And when he leaped with that stone-covered right leg, he could jump as high as about five feet on one leg, making one hundred single-leg squats an effortless feat.

But his left leg was utterly different. He could not even rise after lowering himself into a single-leg squat, let alone perform a hundred of them.

As for hopping on one leg...

Yeda discovered that without the enhancement of stone skin, his left leg could only manage a half-meter hop at most.

That was the difference.

Because the gap between his two legs had become so great, if he were to enter battle, his left leg would only drag him down, so he had to level up as quickly as possible.

But...

The problem was that after Yeda had fully petrified his right leg, he absorbed two more second-tier beast cores, and yet his left leg still showed no sign of new stone skin.

That little bit of energy had not even been enough to force open the gate to the left leg.

Yeda suspected that the energy from second-tier beast cores might not be enough to break through the gate to fourth tier. He would either need to gather a great many more beast cores or find higher-tier ones.

Buzzz...

Buzz, buzz, buzz...

Just as Yeda was about to use his iron grappling hook to return to the stone hut on the cliff, he suddenly heard the hum of bees.

There was a hive nearby?

Yeda's eyes lit up, and he hurried toward the sound.

Then he saw them: several black bees, each the size of a fingertip, darting about among a cluster of small flowers on the cliff.

Venom Dart Bee: a highly poisonous bee capable of firing its stinger, yet the nectar it gathers is extraordinarily sweet and also has the effect of clearing toxins from the human body.

“Honey!”

Seeing the appraisal, Yeda could not help licking his lips.

Though he did not lack food, when every meal was either vegetables or meat, who would not want a little sweet dessert now and then?

And with honey, Yeda would effectively have a new seasoning.

Not only could he use it to make braised pork, he could also mix it with water and drink it as honey water. Just imagining it made his mouth water.

“Let me see where your nest is.”

Following the flight paths of those venom dart bees, Yeda soon found their lair.

But when he saw the hive hanging from a huge protruding rock at the edge of the cliff, nearly half his height in size, he immediately began to have second thoughts.

Wasn't this hive a bit too...

Huge?

And not only was it huge, but a swarm of venomous bees was flying back and forth around it, searching for food.

Yet what truly made Yeda hesitate was not merely the size of the hive, but the terror of those venom dart bees.

Patter, patter!

Yeda happened to see a small brown bird fly past near the hive. It did not even try to catch the bees; it was merely passing by.

But one of the venom dart bees suddenly raised its abdomen and shot a tiny poisonous needle straight at the bird.

Startled, the brown bird flapped its wings frantically to escape. Who would have thought it had only flown about six feet before it began to lose its balance, then went rigid all over and plunged straight into the snow.

When the bird hit the snow, the white surface sank in countless places, and Yeda only then noticed that...

The uneven mounds beneath the snow seemed to be the shapes of animal corpses, almost like the remains of a large bird.

Could it be...

That under this vast, lumpy expanse of snow were nothing but animal skeletons?

Yeda casually picked up a stone and hurled it at the snow beneath the hive.

Crash!

The snow on the ground trembled and collapsed downward in waves, revealing the skeleton of a brown bear.

“So poisonous?”

Seeing this, Yeda could not help but marvel.

After all, brown bears were the kind of creatures that were normally unafraid of bees, because their thick fur kept the stingers from getting through.

That was why bees had to build their hives high up, to keep them from being eaten by bears or by honey-loving animals such as honey badgers.

But beneath this hive lay a brown bear’s corpse.

That meant even a brown bear, with its thick fur, could not withstand the venom attack of these dart bees.

Far too dangerous.

Yeda did want something sweet, but he absolutely did not want to risk his life for a taste of sugar.

Just as he was about to retreat, however...

He suddenly remembered a survival show he had once watched, and the video in which an expert on jungle cuisine taught people how to steal a beehive.

The method was smoke.

As long as enough firewood was piled beneath the hive, with wet straw placed on top, the venom dart bees above would be smoked into a daze and lose their sense of direction.

At that point, it would naturally be the perfect time for Yeda to steal the hive.

“Back to get firewood!”

Yeda acted at once.

He hooked the iron grappling hook onto a protruding stone on the cliff, gave it a tug to make sure it was secure, and then used his mind to control the iron rope as it rose.

Swish, swish!

The hook ascended quickly, and before long Yeda had climbed onto a protruding rock about forty feet high.

Then he repeated the same trick, finding another foothold on the rocks and throwing the grappling hook upward once more.