Chapter 140 Settling the Ant Colony
The fur of the spirit-seeking rat was even shinier, shimmering with a ghostly light in the slightly dim underground.
Its body, which was originally the size of an old cat, was now as big as a stray dog, much more robust.
A demonic aura emanated from the golden hairpin. It turned its head to look at Ji An, grinning to reveal white teeth and a red mouth, its bean-sized eyes flashing with cold light.
His once adorable and ingratiating expression has changed, now revealing a hint of ferocity.
"He's gotten arrogant, his face-changing skills are impressive!"
Ji An also grinned and casually threw out an explosive fireball.
The beastly nature of monsters always emerges as their strength grows; they just need to be disciplined.
Boom!
The sound of the explosion echoed in the confined space, and the violent blast created a large hole about a foot deep in the ground.
The golden retriever poked its head out from the rock face several meters away, its eyes filled with awe, before instantly retreating and disappearing without a trace.
"Its earth-walking technique allows it to move through rocks? Junior brother, your beast tamer's bloodline foundation is quite impressive!"
Li Lingyu exclaimed in surprise, "Ordinary earth-elemental demonic beasts are already quite good at moving through the ground, but this Spirit-Seeking Rat has just advanced to the Foundation Establishment stage and can move through solid rocks. It must have an extraordinary bloodline to be able to do that."
Like begets like, and a mouse's child knows how to dig holes. Many magical spells that demonic beasts can easily master require cultivators to reach a certain level to learn.
For example, the Earth Element Technique can only be learned by Foundation Establishment cultivators who have comprehended the technique to a certain degree; it is called Earth Escape.
Generally speaking, cultivators can learn the Five Elements Escape Techniques in the late Foundation Establishment stage, at which point they have more options for both escaping and attacking.
Ji An released his divine sense and immediately sensed the golden hairy creature floating in the nearby rock strata.
A cold smile appeared on his lips as he took out the Beast Taming Token and said:
"I spent a lot of time and effort nurturing it, but it has already shown a fierce and rebellious nature as soon as it advanced. Its beastly nature is hard to get rid of, so it needs to be properly disciplined."
He began to torment the wisp of spirit sealed within the Beast Taming Token. The golden-haired creature sprang out from the ground, writhing in pain on the ground.
After a long while, Ji An withdrew his magic and shouted sternly:
"Do you even know you're wrong?!"
His cultivation level was two realms higher than that of the demon beast. The other party dared to be so arrogant now. Let it go!
"Squeak squeak".
The golden retriever supported its body with its hind legs, put its two front paws together, and kept bowing as if begging for mercy.
The fierce look in its eyes completely disappeared, replaced by a pitiful expression.
It deeply realized that its master was still its master, and it could not rebel against him.
Watching the anthropomorphic movements of the Spirit-Seeking Rat, Li Lingyu's lips curled up slightly, suppressing her laughter.
Ji An used the Beast Taming Token to give the golden retriever a stern lesson, and then said:
"Show us what you're capable of right now."
Monsters are wild and difficult to tame. Unless they are the kind of monsters that have a blood pact planted at birth, it is common for them to rebel after breaking through to a higher realm. This is why the Beast Taming Talisman exists.
Those demonic beasts that are inseparable from their masters through life and death need to be nurtured for decades or even hundreds of years to achieve this.
The golden retriever's miserable expression vanished instantly. It patted its belly with its paw; it was time to show off its talents.
A row of three rocky protrusions rose abruptly from the ground, each as tall as a person.
Previously, it could only release a single rock spike, about half a person's height, but now the spell has been greatly enhanced.
Ji An looked at the cold light shimmering on the tip of the rock and nodded slightly.
These rock spikes suddenly emerge from the ground; if they pierce the belly of a monster, they might be enough to string together a candied hawthorn.
The golden retriever continued its performance, and a stone wall, two zhang long, one person tall, and about one chi wide, appeared against the rock face. This spell had greatly exhausted it, and it leaned against the rock, panting heavily.
Finally, it condenses its demonic power on its body surface, forming an earth-yellow spiritual energy shield that can protect itself.
"It's alright."
Ji An commented that, after all, it is not a demon beast known for its fighting prowess, and with the addition of earth-walking techniques, the Golden Hair's role in battle will still be that of a ruthless character who ambushes and strikes with a blunt object.
"Squeak," the golden retriever ran to its owner's feet, opened its mouth and gently bit the hem of the Taoist robe, rubbing against him affectionately.
Three days later, Ji An arrived at Emerald Bamboo Peak, presented the certificate, and said:
"Collect the ordered fire crystal ants."
The disciple on duty quickly brought out a tray with a fist-sized oval white egg and a light red beast-taming token on it.
"Uncle-Master, the queen ant's cultivation has reached the final stage. You need to plant a blood pact with her so that you can better control and communicate with her, without having to rely on the Beast Taming Token all the time."
Ji An nodded slightly, pricked his fingertip to force out a drop of blood the size of a soybean, and then made a hand seal.
The blood formed a strange pattern in the air, swirling and slowly falling to cover the white eggs.
The white egg began to swell rhythmically, and the color of the blood pact became lighter and lighter until it completely seeped into the egg.
Ji An sensed a weak and ignorant consciousness conveying feelings of filial piety to him.
Fifteen minutes later, a tiny crack suddenly appeared on the white egg. The crack grew larger and larger, and a bright red ant crawled out.
Its two antennae twirled nimbly, like two antennas searching for signals.
Ji An stretched out his palm, and the ant quickly scurried to his palm. He pressed the ant's shell with his fingers and felt that it was still somewhat soft.
A smile appeared on his lips. Crimson Flame Peak was rich in spiritual energy, and the queen ant would mature and begin laying eggs in one or two years, at which time pine honey could be collected.
However, it is necessary to demarcate the area of the nest with the queen ant and prevent the ant colony from gnawing on the roots of the spirit tree.
The disciple then took out another thousand fire crystal ants. These ants were all at the first level of Qi Refining, and they were clustered into an ant ball.
Ji An placed the queen ant inside, packed the ant swarm into a storage bag, and left with his disciples seeing him off.
Ningcui Cliff.
Ge Ying held her teacup and listened quietly as her disciple explained his understanding of the cultivation technique and his feelings during practice.
She had been in this position for a long time, seemingly forgetting to put down the teacup. She remembered that she had only reached this level on the eve of breaking through to the late stage of Foundation Establishment.
The disciple is currently only at the third level of Foundation Establishment, which means that after the other party breaks through to the middle stage of Foundation Establishment, the speed at which they refine wood-elemental spiritual objects will be much faster than that of other cultivators at the same level, and their cultivation level will also improve much faster.
Ge Ying smiled approvingly and said:
“I have higher expectations for your future growth. To be honest, you are the disciple I have taught the least.”
If she previously thought this disciple had a slight chance of reaching the Chaoyuan stage, now she believes the probability is at least 20% to 30%.
As the opponent's understanding of the cultivation technique and its divine intent increases, the chances of breaking through to the Chaoyuan stage will further increase.
"It is my good fortune to be able to become a disciple of my master."
Ji An cupped his hands in a respectful gesture and said sincerely.
He obtained a high-quality Foundation Establishment Pill from his master, which advanced his Foundation Establishment time by five years, thus allowing him to enjoy Class B treatment.
He also received the knowledge and skills of planting and alchemy. Although he did not receive much instruction in person, his master's teachings always accompanied him on his journey.
A look of satisfaction appeared in Ge Ying's eyes, and she became increasingly pleased with her disciple's attitude.
She took out a cyan jade box with a spirit-sealing talisman affixed to its surface. Judging from the vibrant spiritual light flowing from the talisman, its grade was not low.
"There are two seeds here, the seeds of the sect's second-grade top-quality spirit peach."
Crimson Flame Peak is also suitable for planting; try planting it and see how well you can cultivate it.
These are the seeds with the most vigorous vitality that she has carefully selected over the years, and they have a high chance of being cultivated into a second-tier superior-grade spirit peach tree in the future.
Ji An stood up, accepted the jade box with both hands, and solemnly said:
"Thank you for the gift, Master. I was determined to cultivate a few high-level spirit fruit trees for the sect, let's start with spirit peaches."
After Ji An piloted the flying shuttle back to Crimson Flame Peak, he flew over the Crimson Cloud Pine Forest, searching for a suitable location.
After repeated comparisons, he decided to place the ant colony in a rock crevice near the foot of Chiyan Peak, so that the erosion of the pine tree's roots would be minimal as the colony expanded.
The formic acid secreted by fire crystal ants can corrode rocks relatively quickly without affecting their nest-building efficiency.
The queen ant reluctantly climbed off his hand, then was protected by many fire crystal ants in the center, and finally burrowed into the rock crevice.
The queen ant and Ji An are bound by a blood pact, so the queen ant is naturally closer to him than the other two beasts. Beasts bound by a blood pact almost never betray their masters.
After resolving the problem with the fire crystal ants, Ji An flew back to the Cold Pool and took out the peach seed bestowed upon him by his master.
Peach pits are made of wood, but they feel warm to the touch and are shaped like finely carved fire jade.
He probed the seeds with his divine sense and immediately sensed the vigorous fire elemental energy and dormant, vibrant life force contained within them. The potential of the two seeds was much higher than that of the spirit peaches he had planted in his early years.
Ji An released the Azure Wood Transformation Technique, and crystalline green light spots scattered down, passing through the peach pit and continuously gathering around the seed, so many that the seed could not fully absorb them.
He unleashed a fiery spell through the hand seals, and orange-red spiritual light gathered in his palm, seeping into the peach pit. He seemed to sense the seed emitting a joyful and exhilarating emotion.
As night fell and the moon rose above the treetops, Ji An cleared an area near the apricot tree and planted peach trees.
Two days later, two seedlings sprouted, their leaves emerald green and their veins as red as the sunset.
Two weeks later.
Ji An was drawing a Blazing Flame Talisman in the stone house. The sect's mission was about to expire, and the Diligent Work Hall would send someone to collect it in a few days. He had to hurry up and finish the work that was piling up.
Fortunately, he was only drawing a first-tier high-grade talisman, and his skill level was high enough. In addition, the mana of a third-level Foundation Establishment cultivator was sufficient, so he drew it very quickly.
After drawing forty or fifty talismans in one go, Ji An put down his brush and pressed his temples.
For him, drawing the Explosive Flame Talisman didn't consume much mana; the main problem was the high consumption of his spiritual energy due to the prolonged state of concentration.
The recovery of spiritual consciousness can only rely on rest and recuperation, which is the main reason why cultivators cannot continuously draw large quantities of talismans.
Liang Qiu walked in from outside, cupped his hands and said:
"Fellow Daoist, the two spirit chefs I selected have arrived today. Would you like to meet them now?"
Ji An waved his hand and said:
"It's almost noon. I'll have each of them cook four dishes as a test, and we'll taste them at noon."
By the way, are their skills in raising spirit fish up to par?
"Fellow Daoist, rest assured. They have been raising spirit fish at Biyue Lake for five years since they joined the sect. Moreover, our breeding model here is already mature. We just need to raise them step by step."
(End of this chapter)
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