Shui Miao killed the queen ant and obtained her memories. He learned that normally, if two ant queens appeared in the same nest, the ants would split into factions and fight until one queen was killed, restoring peace. Moreover, these young ant creatures were not hatched from the eggs of the two small queens, so whether they would obey the queens was still uncertain.
Furthermore, Shui Miao had implanted his thoughts into the two queens. Judging from the current situation, they got along well. Logically, there should be no factional division or battles.
Nevertheless, unpredictable things could happen, so Shui Miao decided to wait and see.
Countless young ant creatures crawled over. The ant queens stopped feeding and tapped their antennae, sending out waves of messages only the ant creatures could understand. Shui Miao recalled the queen’s memories and deciphered the meaning of the messages, instantly understanding what the two small queens were saying.
They were actually teaching the young ant creatures the ways of survival—principles like living harmoniously and uniting for strength.
Shui Miao was deeply shocked. He hadn’t expected the young queens to be so intelligent and similar to himself.
Given this situation, there was no possibility of them turning against each other.
Shui Miao exhaled in relief and couldn’t help but approach to stroke them, even though they looked quite repulsive.
The small ant queens sensed Shui Miao’s kindness and felt delighted, snuggling up to him like little puppies.
At the same time, they instilled thoughts into the young ant creatures, telling them that all the monsters in the mountains were their kin.
At that moment, flying ants approached, protecting the small ant queens and serving them.
Feeling all this, Shui Miao was deeply pleased.
He summoned Bai Feng and others to witness this incredible sight.
Bai Feng was ecstatic and immediately called for Sima Zongheng and Zhuge Suapan. Everyone was overjoyed, as this was like gaining an incredibly powerful new force.
The young ant creatures needed to absorb more yin energy, then sleep and grow.
Shui Miao and the others left, waiting outside.
Not long after, the crimson sun rose, and waves of cold, bloody energy seeped into the cave.
Suddenly remembering the crimson sun, Shui Miao quickly led everyone to gather stones and seal the cave entrance to avoid the icy, malevolent energy. Then he shared the information he had acquired, helping everyone quickly adapt to the environment. Next came the reorganization of living arrangements in the mountains, with Shui Miao reallocating more space for the small ant queens to familiarize themselves with the area and develop their own forces.
The following days were dedicated to cultivation, with everyone focusing on their training.
Day after day passed quickly, and before long, half a month had gone by.
One day, shortly after the crimson sun sank into the abyss, the rocks at the mountain entrance shifted aside. One by one, ant creatures the size of dogs crawled out of the cave, beginning to explore the environment and search for food.
The two small ant queens had also grown larger, though they had not yet laid eggs.
Shui Miao and the others exited the mountain as well. After more than half a month of cultivation, everyone was eager to get out and stretch their legs. It was also a good opportunity to guide the ant creatures, preventing them from falling into the traps of the giant white ape monsters. Many giant white apes still lurked in the desert, emerging every night to battle the sea monsters. Overall, the sea monsters were numerous, but not as powerful as the giant white apes.
Shui Miao had no immediate plans to confront the white apes or sea monsters. Since they wouldn’t come to the mountains, their presence actually provided an extra layer of security.
In recent days, the ant creatures had been infused with new thoughts. They did not head west but instead crawled eastward from the mountains.
Not far east of the mountains, sparse but enormous black trees stood. Their leaves were also black, long and narrow like spears.
From a distance, Shui Miao saw rabbit-like monsters the size of cars hopping about among the trees, seemingly unafraid of others and paying little attention to the small ant creatures.
Suddenly, two black birds the size of ducks landed on a tree branch and let out a series of “ai” sounds toward Shui Miao’s group. The sounds were annoying, like someone sighing bitterly at them—extremely ominous.
“What kind of annoying bird is that?”
Bai Feng frowned, extending her hand toward the black birds. She manipulated the yin energy around them with her mind. After about ten seconds, she suddenly clenched her fist. From over a hundred meters away, the black birds flapped violently before falling to the ground.
Seeing this, Shui Miao suddenly realized something—he had been too focused on figuring out how to crush opponents by compressing energy, while Bai Feng had directly condensed a small amount of energy to crush the birds’ hearts. Compared to his method, Bai Feng’s technique was not only effective but also effortless.
Let me try too…
Shui Miao concentrated, looking at the hopping rabbit monster. He controlled the blood energy in its body, suddenly compressing it. The rabbit collapsed, convulsing for a while before dying.
This proved that Shui Miao’s spiritual power was sufficient, lacking only the skill to wield it.
Bai Feng understood Shui Miao’s thoughts. Seeing that he had grasped the technique, she nodded with satisfaction. “Exactly like that. Keep practicing this way, and in time, you’ll be able to control spiritual energy effortlessly. The higher your cultivation, the stronger you’ll become. Physical cultivators can only control their bodies, not external energy, so as long as you avoid close combat, they are no match for you. Also, cultivators must always stay alert and prepare in advance. Once the enemy acts, it’s already too late to mobilize spiritual energy.”
“I understand.”
Shui Miao nodded and walked eastward with the group.
Meanwhile, the young ant creatures had surrounded the rabbit monster and the black birds, draining all their blood and yin energy, leaving behind only three black skeletons.
Further ahead, aside from occasionally spotting a monster or two, there was nothing else.
Shui Miao had learned from the queen ant’s memories that the area was poor in food resources, with abundance only coming in summer.
After traveling east for more than an hour, they entered the territory of the Realm of the Demon Mara. According to memory, there was a small city here, but now it was empty, with ruins scattered everywhere and black skeletal remains lying about, as if the place had been ravaged by a terrible monster.
The group carefully searched the city, finding only a large monster skeleton that seemed suspicious, with nothing else. This skeleton looked like that of a giant wolf.
Here, aside from humans, all the monsters were enormous.
Surviving here was truly difficult.
Considering the weak defenses back in the mountains, Shui Miao quickly led everyone back to strengthen the ant creature forces first.
Originally, Shui Miao had no intention of dealing with the desert’s giant apes, but now he realized that only by targeting the apes and the Mara sea monsters could the ant creatures grow stronger. Since the apes and sea monsters fought daily, eliminating the apes would allow the Mara sea monsters to come ashore. Compared to the apes, the sea monsters were much easier prey for the ant creatures.
After returning, Shui Miao asked his strategist to consider setting up a defensive and offensive formation in the mountains.
After studying the idea, Sima Zongheng and Zhuge Suapan confirmed it was feasible. They decided to use the Five Elements Formation, selecting five locations outside the mountains to build platforms for the Five Camp Ghost Generals to station. Shui Miao and his strategist would command from the central camp, activating the Five Elements Formation to protect the entire mountain.
Three days later, the formation was completed.
Shui Miao took command, transferring from his mind an illusionary formation capable of creating illusions. Concentrated spiritual energy activated the formation, making the entire mountain disappear and creating an illusion of a sunny, fragrant, bustling human town. When the monsters emerged again to fight, they were drawn to this scene and gathered around. At that moment, it was time for the young ant creatures to strike.
Trapped in illusions, the monsters unknowingly had their spiritual energy drained by the ant creatures.
In this way, Shui Miao used illusions to help the ant creatures hunt monsters.
More than half a year passed like this, and the young ant creatures grew into large ones. The two ant queens began laying eggs, and the ant empire gradually stabilized, everything proceeding in an orderly manner. However, the giant apes were eventually wiped out. Fortunately, the Mara sea monsters were endless, providing a continuous supply.
During this time, Shui Miao gradually mastered the techniques of illusion formations, understanding their principles. Without relying on formations, he could now use his spiritual power to create illusions.
One day, after finishing his cultivation, Shui Miao once again entered the Spirit Mirror.
As soon as he entered, Shui Miao immediately used his mind to control the spiritual energy over a large area.
The little boy with an axe appeared, but before he could speak, Shui Miao had already wrapped him in yin energy.
“Pfft, do you think this trick can defeat me?”
The little boy scoffed, immediately countering with yang energy against Shui Miao’s yin energy.
Suddenly, Shui Miao shifted his mind, and the boy instinctively felt his neck tighten, as if someone had grabbed him.
Startled, the boy tried to escape, but the entire area was under Shui Miao’s mental control. No matter where he fled, it was useless. In desperation, the boy struck his twin axes fiercely, releasing a loud boom and a flash of golden light, finally breaking free from Shui Miao’s suppression.
“What was that golden light?”
Shui Miao stared intently at the twin axes, instantly concluding in his mind that the pair must be extraordinary treasures.
“You don’t know the Divine Light?”
The little boy rubbed his neck, looking at Shui Miao with newfound respect. “I didn’t expect you to become even stronger in such a short time.”
“You used Divine Light to fight against a mortal like me. Haven’t you already lost?”
Shui Miao coldly stared at the boy, ignoring his chatter.
Hearing this, the boy flushed red. “Little Sister Caidie didn’t say I couldn’t use Divine Light. You—you lost! I wasn’t ready earlier, and you ambushed me. Let’s fight again now!”
“Fine!”
Shui Miao sneered. Suddenly, his mind shifted again, and the boy’s neck was gripped once more.
At the same time, Shui Miao split his focus. Not only did he unleash a massive wave of yin energy to envelop the boy, but he also directed a surge of devouring spiritual energy across the mountains inside the Spirit Mirror.
Today, Shui Miao was determined to obtain the immortal essence.
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