"Clansmen."
"I have found a better place. There, we need neither fight humans nor cooperate with sea demons. There is enough ore for you to eat and abundant vital energy for you to cultivate. I have seen it with my own eyes."
A buzz of discussion rose from the Gold-Eating Ants below.
Several larger Gold-Eating Ants crawled forward, touching Chijin's shattered carapace with their jointed limbs. Concerned hisses came from their mouthparts. "Clan Chief, who is this human? Your wounds..."
Chijin gently patted the ant's head with a claw. "Rest assured, this human will not harm us. He has already taken me there and let me see its mineral veins for myself. The conditions there are ten times better than here."
"Now, I ask you this—those willing to come with me, stand over here. Those unwilling may stay."
Without the slightest hesitation, the Gold-Eating Ants crawled toward Chijin.
They surrounded their chief, touching Chijin's body with their jointed limbs as though confirming their chief's presence and safety.
After Chijin said, "Those willing to come, stand over here," nearly all the thousand Gold-Eating Ants in the nest surged toward the platform. Their densely packed black carapaces gathered into a dark tide beneath the dim light.
Watching this, Li Bufan felt something stir within him.
The Gold-Eating Ants' loyalty to their chief far exceeded his expectations. Chijin's authority was deeply rooted in the clan.
All the better. With a chief whose clan obeys without question, managing them will be much easier.
Seeing this, Li Bufan summoned Small Cauldron. "All right. Begin."
Small Cauldron formed hand seals, and the Creation Cauldron rose from Li Bufan's spirit sea, manifesting outside him as a cauldron over ten feet tall.
Its lid flew open, and a white pillar of light extended from its mouth. Upon touching