Chapter 85 A Desperate Gamble
Mud Spirit Ant Beasts are a type of second-tier demon beast that lives near swamps. They are about the size of an adult kangaroo.
Such a size is considered petite among demonic beasts. The Mud Spirit Ant Beast itself is not powerful in combat, but it is a very dangerous demonic beast.
There are two reasons: First, they are social monsters, and each time they come out to hunt, there are at least several hundred of them; second, they move like a well-trained army, with synchronized steps and uniform movements.
Once the queen ant issues the order to attack, every mud spirit ant will charge into battle fearlessly. Compared to the humans, who are all harboring their own agendas, their fighting spirit is almost invincible.
"Run! Run as fast as you can!" Meng Hanhai roared, trembling, after the first Mud Spirit Ant Beast emerged from the mud.
However, it was too late. Those mud spirit ant beasts were originally guarding this lotus flower. They were not ordinary lotus flowers, but a unique fourth-order pure water lotus found only in this swamp.
The monsters that have lived in this swamp for a long time have all inhaled the toxins in the swamp to varying degrees, and the lotus seeds produced by this Pure Water Lotus are the nemesis of these toxins.
This group of mud spirit ant beasts has guarded this Pure Water Lotus for generations. When they noticed that some creatures had invaded their territory, they assumed that they were there to steal the lotus seeds of the Pure Water Lotus.
The queen ant immediately issued the order to attack, and the swarm of mud spirit ants rushed towards them recklessly.
All the people saw was one mud spirit ant beast after another emerging from the mud, waving their claws as they crawled toward the bamboo raft.
They have lived in this swamp for a long time and are familiar with the environment. With each swipe of their claws, they can land on solid ground or on the roots of sturdy aquatic plants, and they will not sink.
As for Ah Chen and his group, once they left the bamboo raft, they would soon sink into the mud and sank underground.
The two sides were already in an unequal fighting situation, and the enemy's numbers far exceeded theirs, so there was no way they could fight this battle!
But the enemy was already surrounding us; if we didn't fight, we would only be waiting to die.
Ah Chen was the first to pick up a spiked club and start smashing it at the big ant that was charging at the front.
The students of the weapon crafting department specially made extended versions of spiked clubs, each over two meters long. With a full swing, they could knock down giant ants before they could even get close to the bamboo raft.
With one blow, Ah Chen smashed the head of a large ant flat.
With this good start, everyone else picked up their spiked clubs and began to fight.
It wasn't that they didn't want to use magical artifacts, but this swamp was very peculiar. Once they entered, they could no longer absorb spiritual energy from the outside world, including the spiritual energy in spirit stones.
The remaining spiritual energy in the body can be used, but it will diminish with each use. If it is not used sparingly, the spiritual energy will soon be depleted, and the person will become a true mortal.
Once here, everyone tries to avoid using spiritual power as much as possible, just in case.
Otherwise, if faced with a real life-or-death situation, they would have no choice but to obediently wait for death.
Since spiritual power cannot be used, the magical artifact cannot be activated.
Fortunately, the Mud Spirit Ant Beast was also unable to use its spiritual power in this area, so both sides could only fight with their physical bodies.
With the spiked club in hand, the mud spirit ant beasts couldn't get close to the bamboo raft for a short time.
Ni Zhiyong had initially thought that Achen was exaggerating, but now, seeing hundreds of large ants swarming towards him, he was already trembling with fear.
Seeing this, Nie Xiaoxiao kicked him hard and cursed, "Ni Zhiyong, you're supposed to be a grown man, are you really weaker than an ant?"
Feeling ashamed after being scolded by a little girl who was only eight years old, Ni Zhiyong finally picked up his spiked club and started fighting.
Of all the people, Nie Xiaoxiao actually had the worst physical fitness.
Although Ah Chen was a little younger than her, he had grown up in the wasteland and fighting mutated beasts had long been a habit for him.
Later, he went to the Central District and entered Xiangyun Academy. Close combat was a mandatory course every day, so his strength was much greater than that of Nie Xiaoxiao and other spiritual cultivators who had practiced magic since childhood.
Nie Xiaoxiao's technique in smashing the giant ants with her spiked club was quite precise; each strike cracked the head of a giant ant.
It only takes two blows to kill a big ant.
Unfortunately, her stamina was limited; after killing seven or eight large ants, she was already panting heavily.
Fortunately, the students in the weapon forging department swung sledgehammers every day, and they all developed strong physiques. The students in the combat department swung swords every day, and their physical fitness was also quite good.
Only in this way could everyone barely hold on, but they couldn't withstand the sheer number of these Mud Spirit Ant Beasts. Even after more than two hundred were killed, they continued to surge forward.
"Captain Meng, wheezing! They're trying to wear us down with a war of attrition, what should we do?" Ni Zhiyong said, panting heavily.
As a plant cultivation major, his physical abilities are no match for those of the combat major, let alone those of the weapon crafting major.
Meng Hanhai had already cursed this guy to the bone in his heart. How could he possibly know what to do in this situation?
No matter how superb his swordsmanship is, he can't use it in this desolate place.
Ah Chen misses his Uncle Xiao Bao terribly right now. If he were here, he would definitely swat these stinky ants flat with one swipe each!
Thinking of Xiaobao, a sudden inspiration struck him!
These stinky ants are born and grow up in filthy muddy water, so it is clear that their species are soil-based and water-based.
If he can find the queen ant and use his spiritual power to draw a whirlwind talisman in the air, he can capture the queen ant and put her on a bamboo raft, thus holding the emperor hostage to command the feudal lords.
Then the swarm of mud spirit ants will surely be hesitant to attack them and will no longer dare to do so.
After having this idea, Achen quickly found the queen ant hiding among a dozen mud spirit ant beasts.
Although most of its body was hidden in the mud and water, with only its head and a small part of its body showing, its head was much bigger than that of other ants, so it couldn't hide at all!
Upon seeing this, Achen immediately perked up and, at top speed, drew a whirlwind talisman in mid-air, then precisely locked onto the queen ant.
The whirlwind talisman was activated, enveloping the object within it and dragging it directly from the muddy water into mid-air.
The queen ant, who had always lived in a muddy and watery environment, was suddenly lifted off the ground and into the air. She panicked and didn't know what to do. She just twisted her body desperately and completely forgot to resist.
Ah Chen manipulated the whirlwind talisman and brought it onto the bamboo raft.
Then, using up his last bit of spiritual power, he launched a soul attack on Houzi face-to-face.
The queen ant was already terrified and didn't know how to resist the soul attack, so she fainted immediately.
The queen ant controls her colony by releasing different kinds of pheromones. When she faints, she can no longer release pheromones.
Without its control, the large ants started spinning in circles.
The attack finally stopped, and everyone worked together to paddle the bamboo raft across the center of the swamp as quickly as possible.
Actually, there were other monsters in this area, but the queen ant's aura was on the bamboo raft, so the other monsters didn't dare to make any moves.
After all, none of them could afford to offend the Mud Spirit Ant Beast clan. No one had as many members as them. They were not afraid of fighting alone, but they were afraid of ganging up on each other, whether it was humans or monsters. Thus, the bamboo raft sailed out of the swamp without any major incident.
Ah Chen is going all in this time. After all, if he fails, he will be completely powerless to resist in the subsequent battles, and if he encounters danger again, he will not even be able to protect himself.
Meng Hanhai never expected that the team would actually cross the treacherous swamp like this.
To summarize this success, it is surprisingly similar to the previous victory over the one-horned rhinoceros; both involved capturing the leader of the pack.
Looking at himself as the team captain, he suddenly lost his confidence.
Because of these two successful escapes, he, as the team leader, was unable to play any role whatsoever.
If driving the One-Horned Rhinoceros King mad was a fluke for Ah Chen, then this time, he saw things clearly.
It was by exhausting his spiritual power and using special methods that he found the queen ant, captured her, and finally knocked her unconscious, allowing everyone to pass the test smoothly.
He couldn't even figure out what special method he had used.
At this moment, Meng Hanhai felt a deep sense of defeat and could no longer shamelessly continue to be the team leader.
He looked at Ah Chen and said, "Junior Brother Zuo Chen, please take over as the captain of this sixteen-person team!"
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