True Man Ganyang

"Gold-Eating Ants! Ranked one thousand and eight? That ranking's far too low!"

Ye Yuqing said.

"It is a little low, but Gold-Eating Ants are still Spirit Insects on the Heaven and Earth Exotic Insect Ranking. Their divine abilities are far stronger than those of ordinary Spirit Insects. Raising a batch of Gold-Eating Ants can help mine ore, and when they condense into weapon forms, their attacks are very powerful."

As Su Tianchen spoke, he patted the Spirit Beast Bag at his waist. More than a hundred golden ants flew out. Each had a pair of golden wings on its back, and their entire bodies gleamed as if forged from gold.

Su Tianyue formed a hand seal, and the Yellow Jade Lock before her chest lit up with a dazzling yellow glow. A thick Yellow Light Screen appeared, shielding her entire body.

Su Tianchen formed a hand seal. The hundred-plus Gold-Eating Ants spun in circles and condensed into a Golden Arrow, which struck the Yellow Light Screen with a muffled bang.

His hand seal changed, and the Golden Arrow scattered into over a hundred Gold-Eating Ants. The ants reassembled, turning into a Golden Flying Knife that slashed against the Yellow Light Screen.

"Insect Control Technique!"

Shen Long found it immensely novel. This was his first time seeing a Qi Refining Cultivator use the Insect Control Technique!

"This is only the simplest transformation. The higher the rank of the Gold-Eating Ants, the greater the power of the weapons they condense into."

After saying this, Su Tianchen put away the Gold-Eating Ants.

"What does Fellow Daoist Su want in exchange for the Insect Eggs?"

Ye Yuqing asked.

"Some rarer materials. I don't lack ordinary things."

Su Tianchen said.

"Rare materials? If they were Green Flame Ants, Golden-Winged Fire Ants, Cold Crystal Ants, Spirit-Devouring Ants, or Soul-Devouring Ants, they might be worth it. Gold-Eating Ants are ranked too low."

Ye Yuqing spoke with a regretful tone.

Su Tianchen smiled awkwardly. "Fairy Ye, you must be joking. If they were those kinds of Spirit Ants, how could I possibly take them out to trade? Especially Soul-Devouring Ants—they're Spirit Insects ranked seventh on the Heaven and Earth Exotic Insect Ranking."

Ye Yuqing was uninterested, but Shen Long and the others were quite interested.

Shen Long took out a piece of pitch-black wood and handed it to Su Tianchen. "Fellow Daoist Su, how about I trade this Mystic Yin Wood for them?"

This Mystic Yin Wood had been stored together with the Spirit Control Token. Shen Long had not recognized it, and only after taking it to ask Sun Yousheng did he learn that it was century-old Mystic Yin Wood. This type of Spirit Wood usually grew in places thick with Yin Qi.

The Qin Kingdom had no suitable places for Mystic Yin Wood to grow, so Mystic Yin Wood was relatively rare there. He had heard that it was not uncommon in the Zhao Kingdom.

Sun Yousheng had been willing to purchase it at a high price, but Shen Long had refused.

Su Tianchen inspected it carefully, delight appearing on his face. "No problem."

He gave Shen Long ten Gold-Eating Ant Insect Eggs. Shen Long secretly rejoiced and put away the eggs. He had not expected Mystic Yin Wood to be able to exchange for ten Insect Eggs.

Of course, this was also because Gold-Eating Ants ranked relatively low. If they had been higher-ranked Spirit Insects, they would not have been so easy to obtain.

After the time it took to drink a cup of tea, the exchange ended. Everyone left one after another and returned to their homes.

When Shen Long passed a general store, he bought some Mystic Iron Ore.

After returning to his residence, Shen Long took out the Spirit Control Tower and infused it with spiritual power.

The Spirit Control Tower lit up with a dazzling blue light and drew him inside.

After a while, Shen Long flew out of the Spirit Control Tower. With a flick of his sleeve, ten ants the size of fingernails flew out. Their bodies were pale gold, and they each had a pair of pale golden wings on their backs.

Shen Long took out a black ore the size of a pigeon egg. It was Mystic Iron Ore.

The ten Gold-Eating Ants flew onto the Mystic Iron Ore and began gnawing on it.

Shen Long watched them eat. Their jaws were excellent; before them, Mystic Iron Ore was like crumbling tofu.

In less than half an hour, the ten Gold-Eating Ants had eaten the entire piece of Mystic Iron Ore.

He took out a handful of Golden Pearl Spirit Rice, but the Gold-Eating Ants showed no interest at all.

Shen Long took out another piece of Mystic Iron Ore and fed it to the ten Gold-Eating Ants before storing them in the Spirit Beast Bag.

Shen Long put away the Spirit Control Tower, sat cross-legged on the wooden bed, and began cultivating.

A large number of blue motes emerged inside the room, water vapor filling the air as the blue motes poured toward Shen Long's nose and mouth.

A five-story Cyan Pavilion stood there, its cyan plaque bearing three large golden characters: "Plum Blossom Pavilion."

A green-skirted woman in her early forties sat in the seat of honor. Her features were lovely, her figure full, and her hair was arranged in cloud-reaching coils, secured with a cyan jade hairpin.

Su Tianchen and Su Tianyue stood nearby, reporting to the green-skirted woman.

"The Immortal Ascension Assembly is drawing near. Attend more gatherings of Qi Refining Cultivators and make as many acquaintances among them as possible. It would be best if you could recruit some promising seedlings into the Purple Firmament Gate. Joining the Purple Firmament Gate would also give you a few more friends."

The green-skirted woman instructed them.

Su Yujiao, Foundation Establishment Early Stage.

The Su Family was an affiliated cultivation lineage of the Purple Firmament Gate and had several Foundation Establishment Cultivators. Whenever an Immortal Ascension Assembly was held, the Su Family would send clan members to participate and strive to join the Purple Firmament Gate.

"Yes, Fifth Aunt."

Su Tianchen and Su Tianyue readily agreed.

"See whether there are any rogue Qi Refining Cultivators with Dual Spirit Roots or Heavenly Spirit Roots. If you can persuade them to join the Purple Firmament Gate, it will be a great merit indeed."

Su Yujiao reminded them.

Mystic Yang Sect had recruited a rogue cultivator with Heavenly Spirit Roots last time, making the other Factions green with envy. With Mystic Yang Sect's strength, it was only a matter of time before that Heavenly Spirit Root cultivator entered the Golden Core Realm.

"Yes, Fifth Aunt."

Su Tianchen agreed. Remembering something, he said, "We attended a gathering tonight. One rogue Qi Refining Cultivator had cultivated four first-tier spells to Great Perfection, while one female cultivator was a talisman maker. Her standards were rather high. I took out Gold-Eating Ant Insect Eggs for trade, yet she actually looked down on them."

"Tell me about them in detail."

Su Yujiao instructed.

Su Tianchen acknowledged her and gave a detailed account of that evening's gathering.

"You should interact more with those two and do your best to persuade them to join the Purple Firmament Gate. Especially Ye Yuqing and Ye Yutang—they do not seem like rogue cultivators and likely come from a fallen cultivation lineage."

Su Yujiao instructed.

"Yes, Fifth Aunt."

Su Tianchen and Su Tianyue readily agreed.

Two months passed in the blink of an eye. Shen Long left the Gathering Immortals Inn and strolled along the street.

A group of cultivators approached from ahead. Their robes all bore the emblem of a golden sun. At their head was a golden-robed elder with a ruddy complexion and an aura as vast as the sea, followed by several dozen cultivators.

They held their heads high and puffed out their chests, their faces brimming with confidence.

"Mystic Yang Sect!"

Shen Long recognized the golden sun as the emblem of Mystic Yang Sect.

The Immortal Ascension Assembly was about to begin, and the cultivators of Mystic Yang Sect had arrived.

Shen Long stepped aside and yielded the road.

After the golden-robed elder and the other Mystic Yang Sect cultivators had gone far away, the cultivators on the street began discussing them.

"The one in front is True Man Ganyang, right? His elder self is actually leading the group this time. It would be wonderful if I could join Mystic Yang Sect."

"At every Immortal Ascension Assembly, Mystic Yang Sect's requirements are the highest. It won't be so easy to join Mystic Yang Sect."

"Anyway, the five Factions of the Qin Kingdom are recruiting disciples. If we can't join Mystic Yang Sect, joining another sect would still be good. We have to give it a try."

"True Man Ganyang!"

Shen Long nodded to himself, committing the golden-robed elder to memory as he continued strolling along the street.