Chapter 456: Rakshasa Ant Beast

“Xianling Mirror!”

Shui Miao suddenly thought of the Xianling Mirror and quickly channeled spiritual energy into it.

Xiaocaidie had told Shui Miao how to use the Xianling Mirror, but to truly control it with ease, he needed to subdue the core’s artifact spirit using his spiritual energy. When Shui Miao infused his spiritual energy into the mirror, he discovered that the Xianling Mirror was essentially a vast, self-contained paradise, complete with sunlight, plants, water sources, and even a small golden mountain.

Why is there a mountain inside this mirror?

Inside this artifact spirit-controlled Xianling Mirror, Shui Miao needed to circulate spiritual energy to sense the environment, but the space was simply too vast to perceive fully in a short time.

The reality was harsh; there was no time for Shui Miao to slowly locate and subdue the artifact spirit.

The monsters were drawing closer, and within two minutes, hordes of them would rush right in front of him.

The monster surrounded by ghost generals was gradually immobilized after being ravaged by the illusory divine beasts conjured by the Five Elements Formation. It began emitting thick waves of dark negative spiritual energy, spreading outward.

“Shui Miao, what should we do?”

Bai Feng had never seen such a scene before and, at a loss, anxiously turned to Shui Miao for guidance.

I should have subdued the artifact spirit of the Xianling Mirror first before setting out with everyone, Shui Miao immediately withdrew his spiritual energy from the mirror and spread out his divine consciousness to sense the surroundings.

Possibly because of his abundant negative spiritual energy, he suddenly realized he could sense a vast area. About ten miles east was a large mountain, with many cracks and crevices suitable for hiding.

“Everyone head east, retreat into the mountain crevices, quickly…”

Shui Miao immediately shouted out orders.

Upon hearing this, Zhuge Suopan and Sima Zongheng blew their horn signals. All the demons and monsters instantly transformed into black mist and sped toward the eastern mountain.

Shui Miao himself also activated the Wind Riding Technique and flew away.

The huge monsters in the desert immediately split into two groups—one attacked the fish monsters emerging from the Lake of Asura, while the other chased after Shui Miao’s horde of demons and monsters.

These monsters had no eyes or ears, yet they could locate their enemies by sensing their spiritual energy.

The escape speed of the demons and monsters was three times faster than Shui Miao’s.

Left behind, Shui Miao watched helplessly as the monsters drew closer…

“Spiritual energy!”

Pondering how the monsters could sense him, Shui Miao suddenly had an idea—spiritual energy.

Instantly, Shui Miao wrapped his body with Devouring Spirit Energy.

The monsters sensed Shui Miao’s change in spiritual energy and suddenly changed direction, fearfully bypassing him to chase the other demons and monsters.

“Ha! Opportunity!”

Excited, Shui Miao stopped fleeing and instead charged toward one of the monsters.

The monster, seeing Shui Miao approach, opened its large mouth, revealing pitch-black sharp teeth, and directly bit toward him.

Suddenly, Shui Miao understood…

Earlier, it was his Devouring Spirit Energy that had forced the monsters out!

In fact, they feared him.

When escape was impossible, these monsters would fight back fiercely!

Originally planning to ride the monster and kill it using Devouring Spirit Energy, Shui Miao hesitated upon seeing the monster’s desperate attack. He certainly didn’t want a mutual destruction scenario.

Shui Miao changed direction again, continuing to flee toward the mountain.

The monster didn’t pursue him further and instead redirected its chase toward the other demons and monsters.

The others were escaping fast enough without his concern.

Since the monsters no longer targeted him, why should he keep running?

For the demons and monsters, ten miles was merely the span of seven or eight breaths.

However, just as they were about to reach the mountain, all the monsters suddenly stopped.

Seeing this, Shui Miao immediately sensed something was wrong.

Heigueshe, the fastest demon, had just approached the mountain when the entire mountain began to tremble, as if thousands of troops were galloping out from within.

“Boom! Boom! Boom!”

The earth shook violently with deafening roars.

The monsters in the desert turned and fled in panic.

Heigueshe turned pale with fear and immediately reversed direction.

Seeing this, Zhuge Suopan and Sima Zongheng simultaneously blew their horns again, and everyone hastily retreated in the opposite direction.

“What exactly is inside the mountain?”

Shui Miao quickly spread out his divine consciousness to sense deep into the mountain.

“Oh my god, what the hell is this?”

Upon sensing with his consciousness, Shui Miao was immediately shocked. These monsters were pitch-black and shiny, each as large as an adult bull. Yet they weren’t bulls—they had eight legs, bodies resembling ants, and heads like humans, but with long mosquito-like proboscises sticking out from their heads!

They were literally grotesque hybrids of bulls, ants, humans, and mosquitoes!

“Form the formation!”

“Defend immediately!”

Bai Feng also sensed the presence of these bizarre monsters and urgently shouted.

Zhuge Suopan and Sima Zongheng had also sensed the monsters’ appearance, but they were stunned. If not for Bai Feng’s urgent reminder, they would have remained frozen in shock.

Horn signals sounded repeatedly, and all the ghost generals quickly returned to their positions, skillfully setting up the Five Elements Defensive Formation.

Xuehu’s sisters were terrified.

Even the Shanxiao monsters were shocked.

“Don’t panic, everyone. These monsters all fear my Devouring Spirit Energy. Try to stay close together and tighten our formation. I will disperse my Devouring Spirit Energy to create a protective barrier.”

Shui Miao flew into the formation, activating his full Devouring Spirit Energy to radiate outward.

Zhuge Suopan and Sima Zongheng landed on either side of Shui Miao. Sima Zongheng quickly said, “Leader, we will assist you in controlling the defensive formation. We will clear our minds and connect with your consciousness, allowing you to channel everyone’s spiritual energy for both offense and defense. You can also mix your Devouring Spirit Energy with our spiritual energy, making our Five Elements Formation both defensive and offensive.”

As soon as Sima Zongheng finished speaking, all the ghost generals activated their spiritual energy, merging it together.

Under the guidance of the two strategists, a massive spiritual energy shield formed around everyone, gradually transforming into a Taiji diagram, slowly rotating.

“Peng peng peng…”

Suddenly, large boulders flew from the mountain. Numerous densely packed caves dotted the mountainside, resembling a beehive. Countless black hybrid monsters crawled out from the caves, rushing toward Shui Miao and his group.

Shui Miao closed his eyes and spread his divine consciousness, discovering he could freely control everyone’s spiritual energy.

With the help of Sima Zongheng and Zhuge Suopan, Shui Miao began to familiarize himself with the Five Elements Defensive Formation.

However, at this moment, the black hybrid monsters crawled forward, using their tube-like mouths to suck the spiritual energy from within the Five Elements Formation…

While the Five Elements Defensive Formation could withstand fierce attacks, it couldn’t resist enemies siphoning spiritual energy through tubes. It was like a turtle with a shell that could resist punches and kicks but couldn’t prevent someone from drilling holes into it with a gun.

“Bad! We can’t defend against these monsters’ attacks. Leader, quickly use your Devouring Spirit Energy against them!”

Zhuge Suopan was extremely alarmed because these monsters were terrifyingly powerful. If the swarm kept coming, within the time it took to drink a cup of tea, everyone’s spiritual energy would be completely drained, and they would all perish here.

“Don’t panic. I’ve already figured out a good way to deal with them!”

After gaining a rough understanding of the Five Elements Defensive Formation and analyzing these monsters’ spiritual attributes, Shui Miao suddenly changed the formation, mobilizing all the fire-elemental spiritual energy. He infused it with his own positive spiritual energy and Devouring Spirit Energy, instantly transforming the Five Elements Defensive Formation into a new formation radiating deep red flames.

“Puchi…”

One of the hybrid monsters sucked in the flames and suddenly exploded!

Following this, one “puchi” sound after another echoed. One by one, the hybrid monsters exploded. However, due to their overwhelming numbers, as soon as one spot was vacated, another monster took its place, causing the “puchi” sounds to grow louder and louder. The exploding monsters, under the effect of the Devouring Spirit Energy, had all their spiritual energy returned to the formation, further enhancing its power.

Feeling the formation growing stronger, everyone was extremely excited, but they dared not indulge in random thoughts, so as not to interfere with Shui Miao’s control.

After about ten minutes, Shui Miao became increasingly proficient in manipulating the formation.

Meanwhile, he was delighted to discover that his Devouring Spirit Energy had grown even stronger by absorbing the monsters’ spiritual energy.

These monsters’ spiritual energy was highly corrosive. Normally, they could consume any type of spiritual energy, but this time, they encountered a nemesis they had never faced before—positive spiritual energy.

By killing the monsters and absorbing their spiritual energy, Shui Miao also gained their memories.

These monsters were called “Yishou” (Ant Beasts). Their appearance resembled humans and mosquitoes because they had consumed too many human ghosts and mosquito beasts over time, gradually transforming under their influence. In essence, they were ants—a massive colony of giant ants from the Asura Realm.

Inside the mountain, there were two other types of Yishou: one specialized in digging and moving mountains, known as “Banshan Ants,” and the other, responsible for serving the queen, known as “Flying Ants.”

The queen was an enormous, obese creature, five to six times larger than the desert monster, as large as a small mountain. Her every need—eating, drinking, excreting, sleeping—was taken care of by the Flying Ants. Her sole daily task was to lay thousands of eggs.

Sensing this, Shui Miao suddenly had an idea. He immediately channeled a surge of Devouring Spirit Energy, shooting it deep into the mountain.

The queen was the core of the entire Yishou swarm.

By using Devouring Spirit Energy to consume and refine the queen, absorbing her memories to understand how she controlled the Yishou, Shui Miao could potentially command this fearless army of Yishou. Additionally, he had another goal: to occupy this mountain, hollowed out by the Banshan Ants, as his ultimate base in the Asura Realm.

Ideally, the Yishou could become his loyal vanguard.