txolops Chapter 136 Iron Fire Ants! The Metamorphosis of the Gold-Eating Insect!
Chapter 136 Iron Fire Ants! The Metamorphosis of the Gold-Eating Insect!
The next day, the scene ahead suddenly changed.
The ground was no longer red rocks, but had been replaced by a patch of dark sand.
Black sand grains, black dunes, undulating and stretching as far as the eye can see.
Black Desert.
Lin Chuan extended his divine sense, and although it was severely suppressed by the restrictions of this place, it could still cover a wide area of dozens of miles—this was already a very good range, far exceeding that of ordinary Core Formation cultivators.
This black desert is simply paved with iron ore, and its area is astonishingly large. Taking a detour would waste at least two more days, and there's no guarantee of finding the correct path.
Without hesitation, Lin Chuan stepped into the black desert.
……
Shortly afterward, a piercing buzzing sound came from ahead.
Lin Chuan's gaze sharpened, and as he scanned the area with his divine sense, he spotted a swarm of iron fire ants.
This group is quite large, numbering over a thousand.
In front of them, a cultivator at the early stage of Core Formation was surrounded by a swarm of iron fire ants.
It was a swarm of flying ants, each the size of a fist, jet black with a metallic sheen, with menacing mouthparts, and emitting a piercing buzzing sound when their wings vibrated.
The fire ant, ranked thirty-seventh on the list of unusual insects, is one of the most formidable flying ants.
They are not only impervious to swords and spears, but also immune to most magical attacks.
Apart from mid-level and above water and ice spells, and a few other spells of other attributes, they possess almost the same abnormal defensive capabilities as the Gold-Eating Insects.
Of course, they don't have the ability to devour spiritual energy like the Gold-Eating Insects.
However, as compensation, they possess the terrifying ability to spew black flames and to transform in groups.
With these abilities, the Ironfire Ant swarm is, in a sense, a fire-attribute magical artifact that can freely change shape. Due to their terrifying aggression, ordinary cultivators' defensive artifacts and spells are utterly incapable of withstanding their full-force attack.
The cultivator was surrounded and struggling to hold on. The light of his protective magic treasure grew dimmer and dimmer, and the protective barrier was on the verge of collapse.
Finally, with a desperate scream, the protective shield shattered, and countless fire ants swarmed up, instantly engulfing him.
A moment later, only a skeleton remained on the spot, along with scattered storage bags and magical artifacts.
After eliminating their target, the swarm of fire ants immediately changed direction and charged towards Lin Chuan!
Thousands of fire ants swarmed at the same time, a dark, overwhelming mass that blotted out the sky and created a terrifying spectacle!
Lin Chuan, however, remained expressionless.
With a thought, tens of thousands of gold-devouring insects flew out of his spirit beast pouch, transforming into a silver cloud of insects that hovered above his head.
However, he also knew that his batch of gold-eating insects had been cultivated for many years, but he had not found suitable evolutionary nutrients, so their combat power might not be comparable to the iron fire ants in front of him.
If they are allowed to fight head-on, they will likely suffer heavy losses.
I'd better do it myself.
Within Lin Chuan's divine consciousness, ten sharp spikes of divine consciousness suddenly split apart!
The seventh level of the Awakening Insect Divine Sword can not only condense sixty-three divine consciousness spikes, but also has another wonderful use—divine consciousness transforming into needles.
A single divine sense spike can instantly split into hundreds of extremely fine divine sense needles, specifically targeting low-level demonic beasts that have not yet developed intelligence!
The ten sharp spikes transformed into thousands of needles of divine consciousness, shooting out silently!
Although those fire ants have amazing defensive capabilities, being impervious to swords and spears, and immune to water and fire, their souls are very fragile.
Faced with this overwhelming attack of divine sense, there was simply no way to resist!
hum-
An invisible shockwave swept across the swarm of insects!
Those menacing fire ants instantly seemed to have their bones removed, and they all fell from the sky!
Some were still convulsing, some had fainted, and some were struggling to fly but were too weak to do so.
In the blink of an eye, thousands of fire ants were completely rendered unable to resist!
"go!"
At Lin Chuan's command, the swarm of gold-devouring insects above his head rushed up and attacked the immobilized iron fire ants.
The devouring began.
……
Next, Lin Chuan used the same method every time he encountered a wave of fire ants.
He used his divine sense to create needles, which knocked down the swarm of insects. The gold-devouring insects swarmed forward and devoured them en masse.
Along the way, the Gold-Eating Insects devoured countless Fire Ants, each one with a round belly, showing faint signs of evolution.
……
Soon after, a familiar figure appeared ahead.
Yuan Yao.
She was currently being attacked by a swarm of fire ants and was in a sorry state.
The protective aura was teetering on the brink of collapse, and the magical artifact in his hand was also dim and lifeless, clearly unable to hold on for long.
Lin Chuan intervened, using his divine sense to create needles that knocked down the swarm of insects and saved her.
"senior!"
When Yuan Yao saw Lin Chuan, a hint of surprise flashed in her eyes, followed by a somewhat complicated expression.
She never expected that in this desperate situation, it would be this very person who would save her.
"Thank you so much for saving my life, senior," she said breathlessly.
Lin Chuan waved his hand, his gaze falling on the fallen fire ants. The gold-devouring insects pounced on them and began to feast.
Yuan Yao looked at this scene with surprise in her eyes.
She recognized the silver insects—gold-eating insects!
A terrifying creature that ranks high on the list of strange insects!
What shocked her even more was that these gold-eating insects were actually feeding on fire ants!
"Senior, please help me get through this!"
Yuan Yao suddenly spoke, her tone pleading. She had witnessed Lin Chuan's strength and knew that if she followed him, she could definitely get through this ordeal safely.
She took out several emerald green pellets from her storage bag and presented them with both hands.
"I can give you these Azure Flame Thunders! These are treasures of the Azure Sun Sect; each explosion is comparable to a full-force attack from a Nascent Soul cultivator!"
Lin Chuan took the Azure Fire Thunder, scanned it with his divine sense, and nodded slightly.
He was naturally aware of the formidable reputation of the Azure Fire Thunder. It was a rare life-saving item.
"Okay. Stay close to me."
He put away the Azure Fire Thunder and agreed to Yuan Yao's request.
Yuan Yao was overjoyed and quickly followed.
……
The two continued on their way.
Soon after, the scene ahead suddenly changed.
On the sandy ground in front of this dune, there stood a huge crystal pillar, about twenty or thirty feet tall, all alone.
This crystal pillar was extremely cold and gloomy, not only shimmering with a faint white light, but also containing an equally tall black giant.
This giant was incredibly ugly, with wide-open, angry eyes and a completely bald head. He remained motionless inside the crystal pillar, like a frozen statue.
It's incredibly bizarre!
"It's one of those flying ants!"
When they were only a dozen feet away from the crystal pillar, Yuan Yao opened her red lips and said in astonishment.
From this distance, she finally saw the giant's true form—it was formed from countless black flying ants!
From a distance, it looks so real that it's hard to believe!
However, these fire ants remained motionless inside the crystal pillar, and it was unclear whether they were alive or dead.
"Don't worry, these things are already dead."
Lin Chuan remained calm.
He had read the original work and knew that this was caused by the famous ancient treasure of the Myriad Dharma Sect, the "Mysterious Yellow Mirror".
Any living being touched by this treasure will immediately have its soul scattered, and crystal pillars will appear around its body. After a few days, the body inside the crystal pillars will also vanish into nothingness.
These flying ants must have been killed by Wan Tianming using the Xuanhuang Mirror.
Seeing so many densely packed flying ant corpses here, how could Lin Chuan bear to waste them?
With a thought, the cloud of gold-devouring insects flew out again, rushing towards the huge crystal pillar.
"Click-clack-clack-clack—"
A sickening gnawing sound rang out. The gold-devouring insects frantically gnawed at the crystal pillar, devouring it bit by bit, along with the giant iron fire ants inside.
Moments later, the enormous crystal pillar, along with the giant inside, was completely devoured by the gold-eating insects, leaving only an egg-sized sphere-shaped object on the ground, gleaming with a mysterious black light.
Upon seeing this item, Lin Chuan smiled slightly.
He walked over in a few steps and scooped the crystal ball into his hand.
Crystal refining.
This is a rare material that the Queen Fire Ant regurgitates after feeding on minerals each day.
This item is the best auxiliary material for enhancing magical artifacts!
Adding this material to any magical artifact will not only increase its power significantly, but also instantly enhance its durability to an unimaginable level, making it extremely difficult for anything to cut it easily.
If we give him some time to refine the Green Bamboo Bee Cloud Sword again, the power of this magic weapon will surely be even greater.
"Let's go."
Lin Chuan put away the refining crystal and continued on his way.
"Um!"
Yuan Yao followed closely behind, her eyes filled with relief.
With Lin Chuan by her side, passing the second lava passage should be no problem for her.