Burning Down the Ant Nest

Three days after Hu Liena obtained her Fourth Soul Ring, Duanyu Fan and the others still had not found a soul beast suitable for Xie Yue and Yan. Either they found nothing at all, or the soul beasts they found were too low in age.

"It's all Yan's fault for jinxing us, saying our luck was good and that we'd quickly find suitable soul beasts. Now it's already the fourth day. Sigh! Why do I feel like I've gotten thinner? There are just too many mosquitoes in this forest." Hu Liena muttered as she ate bread.

Early in the morning, the four sat around the campfire eating breakfast. Three tents stood behind Duanyu Fan.

"Cultivation is hard enough, and even finding a soul beast is difficult. It's because Star Dou Forest is too big," Yan said helplessly.

"Enough. We've only been looking for four days. Teacher gave us a month, so there's still plenty of time. We need to make sure the soul rings are the most useful for ourselves. We can't be careless about something this important." Duanyu Fan leisurely took a sip of milk.

After Hu Liena absorbed her Fourth Soul Ring, her Soul Power had reached level 44, the rank of Soul Ancestor. The Narcissus Jade Bone Immortal Herb had probably raised her by six levels, while the soul ring had raised her by one more.

This filled Xie Yue and Yan with anticipation. They were eager to find out whether they could surpass Duanyu Fan after absorbing their Fourth Soul Rings.

"There are still over twenty days left. How about we leave markers? Otherwise, it'd be embarrassing if we ended up going in circles. We have a map, but all the terrain in this forest looks about the same," Xie Yue suggested.

"Not a bad idea. I agree. I can't tell this area apart either." Duanyu Fan felt a little dizzy from the confusion; Star Dou Forest's vegetation was simply too abundant.

From then on, they cut down a tree each day wherever they went to serve as a marker. Another ten days quickly passed.

It was now their thirteenth day in Star Dou Forest.

"Ugh! I'm numb! I'm about to become a savage." Hu Liena let out a strange, mournful cry.

"Haha! No way. Even in Star Dou Forest, Demon Fox would still be the most youthful and beautiful girl around." Duanyu Fan praised her, or who knew how much longer Hu Liena would keep grumbling.

"Really?" Hu Liena asked delightedly.

"Really!" Duanyu Fan and the other two exchanged glances before answering in unison.

"Wait! There's a soul beast not far ahead." Duanyu Fan sensed faint rustling sounds.

"What is it?" Yan hurriedly asked.

"Why not go take a look?" Xie Yue said thoughtfully.

"Let's go!" Duanyu Fan took the lead and headed toward a small rocky mound.

"This looks like an ant nest, doesn't it?" The mound was covered in dense little holes, and Hu Liena studied it.

"For an ant nest like this, there should be a powerful ant queen beneath the mound. There aren't any other soul beasts nearby, which means this is a powerful colony-type soul beast—some kind of ant." Duanyu Fan stared intently at the rocky mound ahead.

"Let's get a little closer." Xie Yue took a few more steps forward.

"How is it? Can you see clearly?" Yan stepped up beside Xie Yue.

"They're Purple Armor Devouring Gold Ants. There are at least thousands, maybe tens of thousands, in this nest, ranging from ten-year to thousand-year levels. There must be an ant queen, perhaps one close to the ten-thousand-year level." Xie Yue looked conflicted. This was one of the soul beasts suitable for him, but they could not afford to provoke it.

"Oh! You know so much about them. Is this a suitable soul beast for you?" Duanyu Fan and Hu Liena came over to Xie Yue's side and asked after hearing him.

Under the sunlight, they could see purple reflections gleaming off the ants' armor.

"Yes. These ants love hard metals, and their mouthparts are incredibly sharp—they can bite through anything. Their entire bodies are blackish purple, which is why they're called Purple Armor Devouring Gold Ants. I estimate they could grant either a powerful single strike or an ability that boosts martial soul attack power." Xie Yue explained the ant species ahead of them.

"Then what are we waiting for? Let's do it!" Yan immediately called out.

"That's why I'm conflicted! The mound may not be big, but there are at least ten thousand Purple Armor Devouring Gold Ants underground. Most are only around the hundred-year level, but there are simply too many of them. We can't withstand being swarmed by that many." Xie Yue hurriedly explained.

"Ten thousand? That's a little difficult. Flame, how large an area can your Third Soul Skill cover?" Duanyu Fan asked Yan beside him.

"If I fully channel my Soul Power, it can cover more than twenty square meters." Yan estimated before replying.

"What about you, Demon Fox? Can your charm work on soul beasts?" Duanyu Fan turned to Hu Liena again.

"Soul beasts have consciousness, so of course it can. What are you planning?" Hu Liena replied.

"Good! I say we take a gamble. Flame will unleash his Third Soul Skill, and Demon Fox, you'll control the Purple Armor Devouring Gold Ants and drive them into the Hell Flames created by Flame's soul skill. We'll have ourselves an ant barbecue feast." Duanyu Fan laid out his idea.

"This could work. With your support skills boosting us, even if we can't win, we can still run, right?" Xie Yue voiced his agreement.

"Then let's begin! Moon Blade, you cut open the rocky mound first and draw the ants out. Then Flame follows up with his soul skill. Finally, Demon Fox controls the ants and makes them jump into the fire pit. Perfect! I wonder what ants taste like." Duanyu Fan laid out the order.

"Second Soul Skill, Courage Blessing. Third Soul Skill, Holy Light Guard." As soon as Duanyu Fan finished speaking, he took the lead in applying buffs to the three of them.

"Got it! First Soul Skill, Slash." Xie Yue received Duanyu Fan's support boost, and his two Moon Blades swiftly sliced open the rocky mound.

Purple Armor Devouring Gold Ants crawled out one after another. Before long, the area around the mound was packed densely with them, ranging from several centimeters to over a dozen centimeters, even dozens of centimeters in size.

"Third Soul Skill, Hell Flames." Yan followed with his area-of-effect soul skill, and flames instantly spread across the area around the rocky mound.

The smaller Purple Armor Devouring Gold Ants turned to ash the instant they touched Yan's Hell Flames. Even the older ones could not resist for long before being burned into charred ash. The remaining Purple Armor Devouring Gold Ants that had not yet been burned scurried about in every direction.

"First Soul Skill, Charm Power." Hu Liena summoned Demon Fox. A pink fox appeared behind her, releasing pink Charm Power from its entire body and controlling the Purple Armor Devouring Gold Ants, forcing them to crawl toward Yan's Hell Flames.

Immediately, the air filled with crackling sounds as ant shells burst apart, accompanied by a rich, mouthwatering scent of roasted meat.

No one knew how many had died, but countless Purple Armor Devouring Gold Ant soul rings hovered above the Hell Flames. White, yellow, and pale purple soul rings clustered together, glowing brightly and illuminating the surroundings.

"Smells so good!" Xie Yue, standing nearby, could not help swallowing.

"Uh, it really does. But we've made quite a commotion this time. I hope the Purple Armor Devouring Gold Ant Queen appears soon. Otherwise, if we attract nearby soul beasts with all this noise, we'll have no choice but to run." Duanyu Fan instead watched the surroundings for any approaching soul beasts.

"Stay alert! Demon Fox!" Xie Yue hurriedly called out.

"It's fine. Demon Fox, keep controlling the ants. I'll watch the surroundings. Be ready to run at the first sign of trouble." Duanyu Fan quickly continued.

After another ten minutes or so of burning, hundreds upon thousands of soul rings had gathered together, their intense Soul Power fluctuations sweeping through the surroundings.

"The ant queen is coming out. Moon Blade, be ready to strike at any moment." Sensing movement, Duanyu Fan hurriedly warned Xie Yue.

Before long, an ant head as large as Duanyu Fan's own emerged from the middle of the rockery.

Then its entire body appeared—a giant Purple Armor Devouring Gold Ant roughly eighty centimeters long.

Xie Yue immediately unleashed his First Soul Skill and attacked, but with a clang, the ant queen clamped down on the Moon Blade Spirit.

If you spot any typos, please let me know so I can fix them!

Thank you all for following the story.