Divine Tang Era

Arrive at the cliff where the beehive is located.

The three men discovered a pile of rotten rope, likely left by previous honey gatherers. The presence of these traces suggests that their decision to gather honey in this area was correct.

Xu Dan divided the vine into three parts: one for tying people up, one for holding onto, and one for lowering down—three layers of insurance, three layers of guarantee, all for safety. After dealing with the vine, Xu Dan looked at his companions and said to Wan Zhen, "You're small and light, suitable for harvesting honey. Otherwise, you go down."

"it is good."

Xu Dan tied one end of a vine to the trunk of a large tree on the mountain and the other end to Wan Zhen's waist; another vine was also tied on as a safety rope, and Xu Dan held the other end himself; the remaining vine was tied to a rock on the side and hung vertically down to prevent accidents.

"After you finish harvesting the honey, when you need to move it, remember to grab this hanging rope and call out so I can pull you up a little and let Liu Xuan and the others help you move the vine."

"Okay."

"Hold the basket to your chest. When it's full of honey, call out and we'll pull it up, then lower it back down empty. Remember, if you encounter any danger, shout loudly and we'll pull you up. Please remember, honey is good, but our safety is more important."

"clear."

Although Xu Dan seemed a bit nagging, Wan Zhen knew it was all for his own good.

My mother was the same way; she would carefully instruct me on everything before I went out.

Looking at the prepared items, Xu Dan realized that there was no torch to smoke out the bees. He quickly found some dry grass, tied it together, and then secretly took out a fire tumbler from his storage bag and gave it to Wan Zhen, telling him to go down and light it to smoke out the bees so they wouldn't get stung.

Upon hearing that he had been stung by a bee, Liu Xuancai remembered the insect repellent his mother had bought for him and quickly took it out to apply to Wanzhen.

None of the four had any experience in honey harvesting, and they were caught off guard and confused.

Seeing that everything was ready, Xu Dan, Liu Xuan, and Fan Meng slowly lowered Wan Zhen down. Wan Zhen had been running around since he was a child, picking wild fruits in the mountains, catching snakes, hunting pheasants, and raiding bird nests in trees taller than city walls, so he wasn't afraid at all.

Furthermore, children are more carefree and don't understand what fear is.

Only after experiencing certain things and reaching a certain age do people begin to become timid.

As the vine lowered and he slowly descended, Wan Zhen gradually saw the beehive. The golden-yellow honey looked so tempting. Wan Zhen felt his mouth watering. Once the vine reached the beehive, he quickly called out, "We're here!"

Xu Dan and the others stopped when they heard this.

Wanzhen started using torches to smoke out the bees. The bees, which were originally lying in the hive, were blown away by the smoke and flew up in all directions, densely packed, like dark clouds drifting by.

Although Wanzhen applied insect repellent, he still got stung a few times, but fortunately nothing serious happened.

Soon, the bees dispersed, and Wanzhen began harvesting honey. He first cut off a piece and tasted it himself. A natural, sweet flavor permeated his heart and lungs; every pore and every cell in his body seemed to be groaning in comfort. It was so wonderful, so delicious.

Wanzhen quickly started cutting, and soon the basket was full. He then had a rope lowered down to pull it up and change the basket.

Their baskets had already been emptied earlier.

The martial arts brothers who were protecting their junior brother while he gathered herbs saw the plume of smoke rising from the cliff and rushed over. Upon seeing Wan Zhen and the others dangling precariously above the cliff, they shook their heads, remarking on the junior brother's incredible courage, before running back down. Only one brother remained to watch over him, lest an accident occur.

After a while, the four baskets were full, and Xu Dan and the others helped Wan Zhen up.

Wan Zhen said regretfully, "There's still a lot of honey down there."

"A lot?" Xu Dan asked.

"So many." Wan Zhen had only cut a few pieces, but the beehives below the cliff were densely packed; there was no way he could cut them all.

Xu Dan picked up a basket full of honey and weighed it in his hand; it wasn't very heavy. After thinking for a moment, he said, "Wait for me, I'll go think of something." Since he was going to harvest honey, he might as well harvest to his heart's content. So Xu Dan ran to the woods, secretly took out his Eight-Degree Sword, which could cut through iron like mud, from his storage bag, chopped down a tree, cut it into sections, hollowed out the heartwood, and made primitive wooden barrels.

Then, they cut some vines to make a bag, put the wooden bucket inside, and carried it.

After they finished making them and carried them up the cliff, Liu Xuan and the others couldn't believe that he had made so many wooden buckets in just a short time.

Xu Dan, regardless of whether they believed him or not, directed them to transfer the honey from their baskets to the wooden barrels, and then had Wan Zhen take empty baskets down to harvest the honey. In the end, they harvested four baskets and fourteen barrels of honey. That was exactly one basket and three barrels for each person.

With this honey, Xu Dan and the others stopped collecting herbs and happily carried the honey on their backs as they headed out.

"Help!"

"roar"

Suddenly, cries for help and the roar of a wild beast came from the nearby woods. Xu Dan and the others exchanged glances and ran over quickly. Passing through a grove of trees, they saw a huge bear perched on a large tree in the grassy area, shaking it and roaring angrily. A martial arts disciple sat on a branch, clinging tightly to the trunk, repeatedly calling for help.

Suddenly, the bear seemed to smell something and turned to run towards Xu Dan and the others.

Xu Dan frowned as he watched. Seeing the bear running towards him, he quickly put down the honey on his body, went forward to meet it, and threw a punch.

"Haa"

The sound of punches thundered, the force of the punches surged, and the intent of the punches soared to the sky.

With unwavering power and indomitable spirit, the Behemoth Emperor unleashed a wild and unrestrained strike, wielding his double-edged axe. "I will not let the sky obscure my vision; I will not let the earth bury my heart. I will make all living beings understand my will; I will make all the gods vanish into thin air!"

Heaven and earth will remember my name. My name will surely be known throughout the world. Bedbugs, die!

"You beast, you're asking for death."

Suddenly, a sharp shout rang out from the side. A flash of white light appeared, and a long sword pierced the bear's neck, emerging from it. The bear, which had been ferocious and invincible just a moment ago, was now dead.

The bear died without anyone noticing, but its body continued to move forward due to inertia.

Xu Dan's punch had already been thrown and was difficult to retract.

In an instant, the supreme fist intent, like a raging torrent, fiercely slammed into the bear. The bear flew backward powerlessly, crashing into the large tree where the martial arts school disciples were. The residual force of the fist, combined with the bear's own weight, snapped the tree in two.

A martial arts student fell from a tree, screaming in terror, "Help!"

A figure flashed and caught the martial arts school disciple who fell from the tree.

Xu Dan stepped forward and breathed a sigh of relief when he saw that he was alright.

Xu Youqi looked at Xu Dan and nodded, saying, "Your Demon-Slaying Fist is quite good. If you have any questions when you go to the inner courtyard, you can come and ask me."

"Thank you, senior brother."

The Mo Family Martial Arts School doesn't actually have an inner or outer division, but the disciples there habitually refer to those learning foundational fist techniques as outer disciples, while those practicing swordsmanship call themselves inner disciples. People like Xu Dan are destined for the inner courtyard, hence this distinction.

Seeing that they were alright, Xu Youqi stopped paying attention to them, waved his hand, put the bear into his storage bag, and left.

"Zhang Fengxiang, how did you get chased by a bear?" Wan Zhen recognized the martial arts school disciple who was half-dead with fright.

"How should I know? I just took a dump up front of it and it ran out," Zhang Fengxiang said, feeling wronged.

Wan Zhen went over to take a look and found that the guy had defecated right in front of the bear's den. Who else would he chase but him? After this incident, Zhang Fengxiang dared not stay in the forest any longer, and seeing them about to leave, he followed them out of the woods.

Once outside, Xu Dan and the others found that there were already quite a few people there.

However, these were all unlucky souls; they were either bitten by snakes and insects, chased by wild animals, or accidentally pricked, twisted, or scratched. The person who actually found the medicinal herb hadn't emerged yet.

Xu Dan and his friends had a great time and didn't care about any of that.

The group found a secluded spot and began to tally up their spoils from the trip.