Seeing Li Deyang so resolute, Lin Qiye froze for a moment. After pondering for a while, he nodded.
Once they were ready, they used ropes to rappel down the sheer rock face, inching their way downward.
With their abilities, they had plenty of ways to reach the bottom of the fissure, whether through Baili Pangpang's Yaoguang or Lin Qiye's verses. But the situation at the bottom remained unknown to them. Rashly using their Forbidden Ruins on such a grand scale might expose them and draw an assault from the ant swarm.
From the very beginning, Lin Qiye and the others had only targeted the Queen Ant. As long as the central leader of this swarm-type "Mystery" died, the other offspring would naturally disperse. Thus, avoiding combat with the other giant ants as much as possible was the best strategy.
To avoid exposing themselves, Lin Qiye had deliberately left the iron box containing the Soldier Ant above. Otherwise, with it constantly communicating with its companions, it would have been a miracle if they could sneak in unnoticed.
After descending for quite some time, Lin Qiye's Mental Power finally reached the bottom of the fissure. His brows furrowed slightly as he raised a hand and made a signal.
Everyone immediately stopped descending.
"What's wrong?" Baili Pangpang asked softly.
"There are Worker Ants below."
"How many?"
"...The entire bottom of the fissure is covered with them." Lin Qiye swept his gaze across the dark depths, his expression grave. "Roughly speaking, there are at least four hundred."
"More than four hundred?!"
All four of their expressions changed at once.
"How could there be so many?!" Cao Yuan asked in confusion. "Even if a swarm-type Mystery at the 'Sea' realm descended, its numbers couldn't possibly be this terrifying!"
"It would indeed be impossible when it