After seeing off his five Dao companions, Yang Hong felt a pang of loss for a while.
In the past twenty-odd years, he had neglected the five women by his side in his pursuit of the reincarnated forms of the last two Dao companions, causing problems in their cultivation that he had only noticed at the last moment.
After half a year of low spirits on Purple Jade Mountain, he entered the mountain again and exhumed the bodies of Li Lizhi, Zhou Fengzhi, and Jia Yuanchun for cremation.
Now that the memories of the three had been recovered, their corpses could no longer be kept indefinitely, as it would hinder the completeness of their souls.
As for Li Xuefeng, his best companion, Yang Hong decided to put her aside for now, and only search for her when he felt the urge again.
Otherwise, searching in a daze would be utterly futile.
Then there was Mu Xiuhui, who was even harder to find. Although the seed Mu Xiuhui had left behind had long since sprouted and even advanced to a ninth-rank spirit plant, Yang Hong's repeated attempts to enlighten it, even using the new "System," had failed, leaving him even more helpless.
"Alas, everything will depend on fate and opportunity.
I will focus on cultivating as quickly as possible and ascending."
With a goal and determination, Yang Hong began to cultivate wholeheartedly.
And the fastest way for him to cultivate rapidly was by planting spirit plants.
...
The Mengyang Plain, in the cold winter wind, was still a verdant expanse. A purple spirit plant spell covered an area of a thousand li. The fifth-rank Fierce Sparrow Flame Flower, under the illumination of the purple halo, slowly grew, resembling clusters of red flames blooming in the desert.
Time seemed to accelerate. The fifth-rank spirit flowers within a thousand li began to evolve rapidly and synchronously. When the golden sun rose for the third time, the silver spiritual plant spell’s light dissipated.
A sixth-rank spirit plant appeared in the desert. Specks of green light floated into the air, where a young man stood, with an elegant bearing, a handsome face like jade, and an ethereal, transcendent aura.
"Phew—finally at the Tribulation Passing Realm. It wasn't easy."
He sighed lightly and landed on the ground.
In just three years, after experiencing one karmic fire tribulation, his cultivation realm had successfully broken through to the eighth-tier Tribulation Passing Realm.
"The Heavenly Dao rules of the Taiyuan Continent are becoming more and more interesting. Accelerating the growth of spirit plants and increasing the karma attached to them has not been as effective as accelerating the growth of ordinary plants."
"Is this the Heavenly Dao urging all living beings to evolve and improve?"
While murmuring to himself, Yang Hong landed in the desert, collecting the seeds that had just matured and fallen, preparing for the next round of planting.
However, his activity was interrupted by a silver streak of light that sliced through the blue sky and rushed towards him at high speed!
"Sect Master, the Gold-Devouring Ants have appeared in the Li Fire Desert, and they have already formed an ant tide."
Gu Boji, who was already in the Nascent Soul realm, looked somewhat pale. He was frightened, having just escaped from the jaws of the Gold-Devouring Ant swarm.
Yang Hong was not overly worried and first inquired about the strength of the Gold-Devouring Ants.
"An ant tide? How many are there? What is their strength?"
"The number of Gold-Devouring Ants in the Li Fire Desert is uncountable. The worker ants are basically third-tier, but their strength is only one-fifth of that of a third-tier Integration realm cultivator; a small number of fourth-tier ants are equivalent to Integration realm cultivators.
The soldier ants are all fourth-tier, with a strength of about one-eighth of a fourth-tier Golden Core realm cultivator. So far, no soldier ants above fourth-tier have appeared.
Above them are the general ants, which come in two types: flying and non-flying. Both are fifth-tier, possessing about one-tenth of the combat power of a typical Nascent Soul cultivator.
A small number of special general ants have reached the sixth-tier, possessing half the strength of a Spirit Severing realm cultivator, but these ants are very rare."
"Then there are the King Ants, whose size is comparable to a calf and possess seventh-tier Body Integration realm strength. They are even rarer."
"Finally, there is the Queen Ant, which has not yet appeared. Everyone speculates that she should be of the seventh-tier Body Integration realm strength."
Upon hearing this, Yang Hong couldn't help but frown. Weren't they told before that the highest cultivation of the Gold-Devouring Ants was only third-tier, and the Queen Ant was fourth-tier?
How had they suddenly increased by three major realms?
"Have there been reports of Gold-Devouring Ant swarms breaking out in the outside world?"
"No!"
When Yang Hong asked, Gu Boji answered immediately and definitively.
He had specifically investigated this matter.
"Damn it!
Who is behind this, the Buddhist or the Immortal sects? They are using us for experiments!"
Upon hearing Gu Boji's firm reply, Zhang Zhengyan, who had brought Gu Boji over, cursed angrily.
"Sect Master, allow this disciple to lead the disciples to set up formations to intercept the Gold-Devouring Ants."
"Alright, you may go."
Seeing Zhang Zhengyan's eagerness, Yang Hong nodded and allowed him to go into battle. He then turned to Gu Boji and said,
"Recall all disciples except those on sentry duty; also send people to other cultivation worlds to see if there are any Gold-Devouring Ant outbreaks."
"Yes!"
Seeing that Yang Hong had no further instructions, Gu Boji immediately turned and flew away. Time was of the essence.
"I'd like to see just how powerful these Gold-Devouring Ants are."
He then summoned the main combat forces of Qingfeng Villa, including the tree demon Yu Kewei and others, as well as the demon bird Jin Jialin.
The army quickly gathered at the borderland, Qingxun Plain, via teleportation arrays.
Then, two battle formations were arranged, and they advanced into the desert.
At first, the desert was just the same desert. The yellow sand looked somewhat like gold under the sun, which was quite enticing.
However, after they had advanced over fifty thousand li, the heavens and earth suddenly lit up, as if the entire world was paved with gold. The dazzling golden color was almost blinding!
The [Gold-Devouring Ants] were indeed true to their name, as if their entire bodies were cast from gold.
But this gold did not bring comfort; instead, it was deeply unsettling.
Beneath the golden hue was fiery red.
Miles, even tens of miles deep, fiery red—lava!
These Gold-Devouring Ants had actually gnawed away all the yellow sand, soil, rocks, ores, and metals above the lava layer!
They were even more thorough than the Li Fire Locusts.
The Li Fire Locusts only ate plants and animals, and unless they were starving, they wouldn't gnaw at the soil.
The Gold-Devouring Ants, on the other hand, didn't eat plants and didn't actively attack animals, but they had smashed the pot altogether, cutting off the roots by eating the very earth that nurtured all life.
Upon seeing the Gold-Devouring Ants clearly, Yang Hong's expression changed again.
"Holy hell! Weren't they said to be thumb-sized? Whose thumb is bigger than a person's head?"
Ye Yudong, standing beside him, exclaimed, "Sect Master, we need to deal with these ants quickly. I've discovered they are laying eggs in the lava!"
"Mm..."
Yang Hong focused his gaze on the lava, which was over ten miles deep, and gasped again. Inside were billiard-ball-sized ant eggs, so numerous they were uncountable!
The appetite of the Gold-Devouring Ants was already enormous. If they were to evolve the ability to swallow flames, wouldn't they become even more terrifying?
"Everyone, attack freely for one hour, using as many different attack methods as possible against these ants, and keep records. After one hour, officials from the two divisions and three halls will compile the attack effects."
"Yes!"
Following Yang Hong's command, the human and demon disciples quickly spread out, forming teams of two or three, and began to attack the Gold-Devouring Ant swarm, which was happily consuming the lava, from a distance with spells and magic treasures.
Crackle—Rumble—
The low-level disciples of Qingfeng Villa, both human and demon, first used gourds to pour out lightning beads. For a time, colorful lightning illuminated the heavens and earth, brighter than the sun's rays.
Unfortunately, the lightning had limited damage to the Gold-Devouring Ants. Fourth-tier lightning couldn't even instantly kill a third-tier ant. It took at least three fourth-tier lightning beads to kill a third-tier ant.
This surprised everyone in Qingfeng Villa. Five-elemental spells, sword qi, saber qi, magic treasures, talismans—they unleashed their power relentlessly, as if without any need for spiritual energy.
Yang Hong stopped attacking and began to observe carefully.
The more he observed, the more Yang Hong was alarmed. The Gold-Devouring Ants, for reasons unknown, had at least 60% spell immunity. Their carapaces, from consuming so much metal, could perfectly resist physical attacks that surpassed their own level by one tier!
Although the Gold-Devouring Ants were not fast-moving, their physical strength was exceptionally powerful, at least eight times that of human cultivators of the same tier!
These were simply perfect creatures!