True Man Ganyang

"Gold-Eating Ant! Ranked 1,008th, isn't that ranking a bit too low?"

Ye Yuqing said.

"It is on the lower side, but the Gold-Eating Ant is, at the very least, an exotic insect on the Heaven and Earth Exotic Insect Ranking. Its innate abilities are far more formidable than ordinary spirit insects. Raising a swarm of Gold-Eating Ants can help with mining ores, and when they coalesce into the shape of a weapon, their attack power is quite strong."

As Su Tianchen spoke, he tapped the Spirit Beast Bag at his waist, and over a hundred golden ants flew out. These golden ants had a pair of golden wings on their backs, and their entire bodies were brilliant, as if they had been crafted from gold.

Su Tianyue pinched a spell, and the yellow jade locket on her chest lit up with a dazzling yellow light. A thick yellow light screen subsequently emerged, shielding her entire body.

Su Tianchen pinched a spell, and the hundred-plus Gold-Eating Ants spun around, coalescing into a golden arrow that struck the yellow light screen, producing a muffled thud.

He changed his spell, and the golden arrow dissipated, transforming back into over a hundred Gold-Eating Ants. The Gold-Eating Ants reorganized, turning into a golden flying blade that slashed against the yellow light screen.

"Insect Control Technique!"

Shen Long felt a sense of novelty; it was his first time seeing a Qi Refining cultivator perform the Insect Control Technique!

"This is just the simplest transformation. The higher the grade of the Gold-Eating Ants, the greater the power when they coalesce into weapon forms."

After Su Tianchen finished speaking, he put away the Gold-Eating Ants.

"What does Fellow Daoist Su wish to trade the insect eggs for?"

Ye Yuqing asked.

"Rare materials. I don't lack ordinary items."

Su Tianchen said.

"Rare materials? If it were the Green Flame Ant, Golden-Winged Fire Ant, Cold Crystal Ant, Spirit-Devouring Ant, or Soul-Devouring Ant, that would be worth it. The Gold-Eating Ant's ranking is too low."

Ye Yuqing said in a tone of regret.

Su Tianchen gave a sheepish smile and said, "Fairy Ye, you jest. If it were those types of spirit ants, how could I possibly bring them out for trade? Especially the Soul-Devouring Ant; that is a spirit insect 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 wood as black as ink and handed it to Su Tianchen, saying, "Fellow Daoist Su, I will trade this piece of Mystic Yin Wood with you. How about it?"

This piece of Mystic Yin Wood had been kept together with the Spirit Control Token. Shen Long hadn't recognized it either, but after asking Sun Yousheng, he learned it was a century-old piece of Mystic Yin Wood. This type of spirit wood usually grows in places with heavy yin energy.

The Qin Kingdom did not have areas suitable for the growth of Mystic Yin Wood, so it was relatively rare in the Qin Kingdom, though he had heard it was not uncommon in the Zhao Kingdom.

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

Su Tianchen examined it carefully, his face showing joy as he said, "No problem."

He gave Shen Long ten Gold-Eating Ant eggs. Shen Long felt a surge of secret delight; he put away the eggs, never expecting that the Mystic Yin Wood could be traded for ten eggs.

Of course, this was also related to the Gold-Eating Ant's lower ranking. If it were a higher-ranked spirit insect, it wouldn't have been so easy to obtain.

After the time it takes to drink a cup of tea, the exchange ended, and everyone left one after another, returning to their respective homes.

As Shen Long passed by a grocery store, he purchased some Mystic Iron Ore.

Upon returning to his residence, Shen Long took out the Spirit Control Tower and injected his mana into it.

The Spirit Control Tower lit up with a dazzling blue light, sucking him into the tower.

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

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

The ten Gold-Eating Ants flew onto the Mystic Iron Ore and began to gnaw.

Shen Long observed them feeding; their teeth were excellent, and the Mystic Iron Ore was like bean dregs before them.

In less than half a quarter of an hour, this piece of Mystic Iron Ore had been eaten by the ten Gold-Eating Ants.

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, fed it to the ten Gold-Eating Ants, and then placed them back into his Spirit Beast Bag.

Shen Long put away the Spirit Control Tower, sat cross-legged on the wooden bed, and began to practice his cultivation.

A large amount of blue light spots emerged within the room, and water vapor permeated the air. These blue light spots surged toward Shen Long's mouth and nose.

In a five-story cyan pavilion, the words "Plum Blossom Pavilion" were written in gold on a cyan plaque.

A woman in her early forties wearing a cyan dress sat in the main seat. The woman had beautiful features, a full figure, and her hair was styled in a Lingyun bun, pinned with a cyan jade hairpin.

Su Tianchen and Su Tianyue stood to the side, reporting to the woman in the cyan dress.

"With the Immortal Ascension Assembly approaching, you should attend more gatherings of Qi Refining cultivators and get to know as many of them as possible. It would be best if you could recruit some good prospects into the Purple Firmament Gate; joining the Purple Firmament Gate will also gain you more friends."

The woman in the cyan dress instructed.

Su Yujiao was at the Foundation Establishment Early Stage.

The Su Family was an affiliated cultivation family of the Purple Firmament Gate and had several Foundation Establishment cultivators. Whenever the Immortal Ascension Assembly was held, the Su Family would send clansmen to participate, striving to join the Purple Firmament Gate.

"Yes, Fifth Aunt."

Su Tianchen and Su Tianyue readily agreed.

"See if there are any dual-spirit root or heaven-spirit root rogue cultivators in the Qi Refining stage. If you can persuade them to join the Purple Firmament Gate, it would definitely be a great merit."

Su Yujiao exhorted.

The Mystic Yang Sect had recruited a rogue cultivator with a Heaven Spirit Root last time, making all the other factions green with envy; given the strength of the Mystic Yang Sect, it was only a matter of time before this Heaven Spirit Root cultivator advanced to the Core Formation stage.

"Yes, Fifth Aunt."

Su Tianchen agreed, then remembering something, he said, "We attended a gathering tonight. There was a rogue cultivator who had mastered four first-tier spells to the Great Perfection, and a female cultivator who was a talisman maker with quite high standards; when I offered Gold-Eating Ant eggs for trade, she actually looked down on them."

"Tell me the details of their situation."

Su Yujiao instructed.

Su Tianchen acknowledged and described the situation at the gathering tonight in detail.

"You two should interact more with these people and try your best to persuade them to join the Purple Firmament Gate, especially Ye Yuqing and Ye Yutang. They don't seem like rogue cultivators; they are likely from a fallen cultivation family."

Su Yujiao ordered.

"Yes, Fifth Aunt."

Su Tianchen and Su Tianyue readily agreed.

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

A group of cultivators approached from the opposite direction, their robes all bearing a golden sun emblem. Leading them was a ruddy-faced old man in golden robes whose aura was as vast as the sea, with dozens of cultivators following behind him.

They held their heads high, their faces full of confidence.

"The Mystic Yang Sect!"

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

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

Shen Long stepped to the side to clear the path.

After the old man in golden robes and the other Mystic Yang Sect cultivators had walked far away, the cultivators on the street began to discuss them.

"That must be True Man Ganyang leading them! To think he is the one leading the team this time; if only I could join the Mystic Yang Sect."

"The Mystic Yang Sect always has the highest requirements for every Immortal Ascension Assembly; it's not that easy to join them."

"Well, the five major factions of the Qin Kingdom are all recruiting disciples. If I can't get into the Mystic Yang Sect, joining another sect wouldn't be bad either. I have to at least give it a try."

"True Man Ganyang!"

Shen Long nodded inwardly, noting the old man in golden robes, and continued his stroll down the street.