“This is the… how many swarms of flying ants have we encountered since we set out?” Han Li gazed at the insect corpses on the ground and slowly asked.
“The seventh! Although we’ve run into ant swarms quite frequently, at least we haven’t encountered any massive swarms of over ten thousand!” Yuan Yao, standing beside Han Li, replied obediently.
It had already been half a day since the two of them set out together. Hearing her words, Han Li frowned, his expression darkening as if something weighed on his mind.
He thought for a moment, then raised his hand and beckoned toward the Gold Devouring Beetles that had swept the insect corpses clean from the ground. All the flying insects transformed into a brilliant, glowing cloud and flew back into the spirit beast pouch floating mid-air. Han Li calmly put away the spirit beast pouch.
“What’s wrong? Fellow Daoist, you seem rather displeased. We’ve already passed the most dangerous part of the desert—the rest should be much safer.” Yuan Yao blinked her beautiful eyes, looking at Han Li’s expression with some confusion.
“Safer? Do you really think so?” Han Li glanced at Yuan Yao, a trace of a cold smile in his tone.
“Could there still be danger ahead?” Yuan Yao frowned slightly, somewhat disbelieving.
“I don’t know what dangers lie ahead, but one thing I am sure of is that none of the ant swarms we encountered earlier had a queen-level presence. Either there’s only one queen in this entire desert, or we’ve been lucky enough to avoid the super swarms that contain a queen so far. We should stay cautious for the rest of the journey. Only if we travel another half-day without incident can we truly consider ourselves safe.” Han Li’s expression remained indifferent.
“Perhaps you’re overthinking it! These flying ants are so fierce—maybe there isn’t even a queen!” Yuan Yao’s face paled slightly, but she forced a smile as if nothing were wrong.
“Let’s hope so.” Han Li didn’t argue further, though he knew very well that Ironfire Ants did indeed have queen-level beings. While the queen’s individual strength might be average, its intelligence was said to be astonishingly high, making it extremely troublesome to deal with.
Influenced by their earlier conversation, the two remained silent for the next couple of hours as they traveled.
But then something even stranger happened—they didn’t encounter a single ant swarm for the rest of the journey. Even Yuan Yao began to sense that something was amiss, a faint unease showing on her face.
However, when the two inadvertently climbed a tall sand dune and looked ahead, they were stunned.
“This is…” Yuan Yao’s face was filled with horror, her red lips moving slightly without uttering a word. Though Han Li appeared calmer, he was equally astonished.
Ahead, on the sand beyond the dune, stood a solitary, enormous crystal pillar about twenty to thirty zhang tall. The pillar was extremely cold, emitting a faint white glow, and encased within it was an equally tall black giant. The giant was hideously ugly, with furious, wide-open eyes and a bald head, motionless inside the crystal pillar—an utterly bizarre sight!
Han Li stared for a moment, then immediately scanned the nearby sand. The ground was pitted with holes of various sizes, as if a great battle had taken place there.
A strange light flickered in Han Li’s eyes as he turned his gaze back to the giant. This time, when he noticed one of the giant’s eyes, he couldn’t help but let out a soft “Huh?”
“Fellow Daoist Han, did you discover something?” Yuan Yao, hearing his sound, finally snapped out of her daze and asked.
Han Li smiled slightly but didn’t answer her question. Instead, he half-closed his eyes and released his spiritual sense. After confirming that no one else was lurking nearby, he descended the sand dune and strode directly toward the crystal pillar.
“Hmph!” Annoyed by Han Li’s mysterious behavior, Yuan Yao frowned in displeasure but had no choice but to follow. After all, if she strayed beyond the range of Han Li’s Ice Pearl, she would have to expend her own spiritual power to withstand the intense heat.
“Flying ants!” When they reached within ten zhang of the crystal pillar, Yuan Yao gasped, her face full of astonishment.
From this distance, she could finally see the giant’s true form—it was composed of countless black flying ants clustered together! From afar, it looked deceptively real, an unbelievable sight. However, these Ironfire Ants were completely motionless within the crystal, leaving it unclear whether they were alive or dead.
Han Li stopped walking, gazing thoughtfully at the crystal pillar before him.
“Since these flying ants are already dead, let’s go! No point wasting time here,” Yuan Yao suggested after a moment of examination.
“How can you be sure they’re dead? What if they’re still alive?” Han Li asked, somewhat puzzled.
“Alive? How is that possible?” Yuan Yao looked at Han Li in surprise, finding it hard to believe.
“Have you not heard of the renowned ancient treasure of the Myriad Laws Sect, the Profound Yellow Mirror? Any living creature caught in its light will have its soul scattered instantly, and a crystal prism like this will form around its body. After a few days, even the body inside the crystal will vanish without a trace.”
“I’ve never heard of it,” Han Li replied honestly, causing Yuan Yao to widen her beautiful eyes in speechless disbelief.
“So, these insects must have been eliminated by that Wan Tianming,” Han Li mused after circling the giant crystal pillar a few times.
“Who else could it be? What are you planning? Aside from dissolving on its own after a certain time, this crystal can’t be damaged by ordinary magic treasures. Otherwise, the Profound Yellow Mirror wouldn’t be so famous,” Yuan Yao said, glancing at Han Li as if guessing his intentions, a light laugh escaping her lips.
Han Li calmly met her gaze. He reached for his waist and summoned all his spirit beast pouches. A massive cloud of Gold Devouring Beetles suddenly appeared in the air.
“Go!” Han Li pointed unceremoniously at the crystal pillar. Instantly, the gold and silver insect cloud descended, swarming over the top of the pillar so densely that not even wind or rain could penetrate.
“You really intend to take these flying ant remains? Your insects may be formidable, but they can’t possibly bite through this…” Yuan Yao’s words cut off abruptly.
Before her eyes, the giant encased in the white crystal pillar rapidly shrank from top to bottom. In the blink of an eye, the giant’s head had completely disappeared.
Yuan Yao’s mouth hung open, unable to close for a long time.
Under her astonished gaze, the Gold Devouring Beetles devoured the entire massive crystal pillar, along with the giant inside, leaving only an egg-sized crystalline sphere on the ground, shimmering with a mysterious black light.
Seeing this, Han Li smiled, stepped forward, and picked it up.
This object was called “Refined Crystal,” a rare material that the Ironfire Ant Queen would regurgitate after daily consumption of minerals. Very few cultivators knew of it; Han Li had only read about it in an ancient text and wasn’t sure if it was true! When he saw the Ironfire Ant Queen serving as the giant’s eye, he suddenly remembered and decided to test it out. To his surprise, he actually obtained a piece of Refined Crystal.
This was the best supplementary material for enhancing magic treasures. Any treasure infused with even a small amount would not only increase in power but also become incredibly durable, nearly impossible to break or destroy.
Whether Wan Tianming was unaware of this or simply overlooked it, Han Li had benefited. Now, given some time to refine his Emerald Bamboo Cloud-Severing Swords with this material, their power would undoubtedly reach new heights.
Yuan Yao clearly didn’t know what “Refined Crystal” was, but seeing Han Li’s delighted expression, she knew it must be valuable. However, she tactfully refrained from asking any unnecessary questions.
Without another word, the two set off again.
This was an extremely rudimentary stone hall, about fifty to sixty zhang wide and seven to eight zhang high. Aside from a teleportation formation in the center, there were massive blue stone doors on each side, each several zhang tall.
Currently, all the doors were tightly shut, sealing the place like a large prison cell. Inside the hall were numerous stone tables and stools of various designs, no two alike, numbering in the dozens.
Scattered across these stone stools were five or six cultivators with varied expressions. Patriarch Extremely Yin, the scholar-robed elder, and even Wan Tianming were among them. The rest were all at the late Core Formation stage, with not a single weaker cultivator present.
Yet, at this moment, everyone wore gloomy expressions, with no interest in conversation. The hall was filled with an overwhelmingly oppressive atmosphere!
Patriarch Extremely Yin looked particularly fearsome, his face ashen as he glared at the central teleportation formation, a vicious light flickering in his eyes.
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