Black Spirit Ginseng

Lu Heng took out a scroll from his pocket, walked to the corpse of the Insect Queen, and pressed it directly onto the scroll.

The Bronze patterns on the scroll suddenly lit up, and then the entire scroll quickly turned black, curled up, and turned to ash. Before the ashes could even hit the ground, they were sucked into the body.

Then, the corpse changed.

The flesh beneath the carapace shriveled at a visible rate, its color fading from dark gold to a deathly gray. Each of the six legs straightened, the joints making soft clicking sounds, as if someone was rewinding them inside. The pair of large pincers slowly closed and then slowly opened, the movements stiff, but the force remained undiminished.

Two breaths later, it stood up.

Two very faint gray lights appeared in the empty eye sockets.

[Bone Demon (Bronze Tier) - Insect Queen Type]

Lu Heng stared at the line of text and remained silent for a while.

The scroll is of Bronze Tier, and the items that can be made are limited to this grade. The upper limit is locked, and no rule is disregarded.

But looking at the body before him, he knew something else.

Its level is Bronze, but its base is Silver. This one would definitely crush any other Bronze Tier Bone Demon.

"... Hopefully it will last a long time."

He spoke very softly.

The first two...

Forget it, it's all just tears if I keep talking about it.

The new Bone Demon stood there quietly, waiting for his next command. Lu Heng raised his hand and moved it two steps to the side—its joints were not stuck, its six legs landed in the correct order, and the force of its pounce was not scattered.

It's alright. Better than he expected.

He left the Bone Demon at the cave entrance to guard it, then turned and walked deeper into the lair.

Clean it one last time.

Scattered eggshells, worker insect remains, and anything decomposable were all decomposed; anything that couldn't be collected was burned on the spot. Any traces on the tunnel walls that might have been attracted by the smell were also wiped away.

He cleared his way to the innermost chamber and stopped.

The soil here is different from other places.

The walls of the other caves were wet and sticky, covered with the membrane characteristic of Insect Nest. Only this patch of soil was loose, dry, and whitish, as if it had been repeatedly turned over. In the very center, there was a small mound with a thin, charcoal-black stick sticked out at an angle, protruding less than a hand's length from the soil surface. The surface was covered with fine longitudinal striations and was as hard as iron.

Lu Heng squatted down and poked the black stick with the tip of his knife.

It didn't move at all. There was something attached to it.

He started digging. The soil was loose, requiring almost no effort. When he was about half an arm's length deep, the tip of the knife hit something hard, making a dull thud. He switched hands and carefully cleared away the surrounding soil.

A grayish-white object was revealed.

It's about the size of a fist, irregularly shaped, and covered with a thin, hard shell. It doesn't feel warm to the touch; it's cool—the kind of cool that draws you in. If you touch it with your fingertips for a while, they start to feel numb. You can vaguely see concentric rings of texture under the shell, as if they were pressed together layer by layer.

[Black Spirit Ginseng (Silver Tier)]

Lu Heng stared at that line of small print for a long time.

There was only one name and one line of description. The information was incomplete, but he knew what it meant.

These are precious medicinal herbs; I don't know what they're used for, but I'm sure they'll come in handy someday.

He carefully began to dig out the Black Spirit Ginseng, making sure not to shake off the soil from the roots, to prevent any accidents.

This thing can be kept. As long as you give it the right environment—a sealed space, a constant temperature, and a strong enough scent—it can continue to grow. Every new growth is its own.

Lu Heng stood up, dusted off his hands, and already had a plan in mind.

Take it back first and plant it in the Planting Room.

After doing all this, Lu Heng finally left the cavity.

The Bronze Tier Insect Queen- type Bone Demon still stood at the cave entrance, motionless, its two gray eyes reflecting the wind outside.

The wind from the Frost Forest rushed in through the passage, carrying the scent of frost.

Lu Heng walked to its side, glanced at it, and then looked back at the passage he had hollowed out.

Let's go.

The Bone Demon turned around, its six legs touching the ground, and followed him.

We entered another maze-like tunnel, each one so dark you couldn't see the bottom.

"Blood Taisui."

Mycelium seeped from his body, as fine as grayish-white mist, spreading along the ground. They didn't crowd into one path, but spread in all directions at the same time, climbing up the rock walls when they encountered them, branching out at forks, probing forward layer upon layer.

Lu Heng closed his eyes.

I tried to sense it for a while, but then gave up. It was too complicated, consuming both mental energy and time. I decided to just wait.

After waiting for a while, the Blood Taisui sent a message.

Lu Heng opened his eyes and walked to the right.

The Bone Demon followed behind him, its six legs making almost no sound as they landed on the gravel.

The Mycelium begins to regenerate.

Emerging from the deepest part of the passage, he shrank back section by section, clinging to the rock walls and the ground as he flowed back. Lu Heng closed his eyes, sensing the trajectory of the Mycelium contracting—those side passages, dead ends, and empty chambers all flashed through his mind, then gradually faded into darkness.

The last few Mycelium retracted from the hole, burrowed back into his body, and quietly adhered to his bones.

The passageway is empty.

Lu Heng opened his eyes and raised his hand.

"It's sealed off."

This place is too complicated; it's easy to get in, but difficult to get out.

The Bone Demon stepped forward, its six legs sinking into the pile of rubble. Its large pincers plunged into the rock walls on either side of the cave entrance and snapped shut in the middle.

A muffled thud.

The rubble and collapsed earth blocked most of the opening. It pounced again, using its bald head to ram into the remaining gaps, once, twice, until the last crack was also sealed.

Lu Heng squatted down and touched the crack.

Strict.

From the outside, this nest looks no different from the surrounding hillside.

As we entered the woods, it was already quite dark.

There are fewer insects.

It's not that they're gone—the remains of worker insects still lie in the pile of dead leaves at my feet, egg membranes that haven't completely disintegrated hang on the tree trunk, and I can still hear rustling sounds in the distance. But that overwhelming, ubiquitous feeling is gone.

Lu Heng stood there for a while, realizing that he had only cleared out this Insect Queen and the surrounding nests of Insect Mother. The forest was so vast that there were bound to be other Insect Mother. It was impossible to completely eradicate them.

But he's dealt with the Insect Queen, that's enough.

He walked less than half a mile into the woods and saw it.

A Giant-Horned Deer, its antlers covered in frost, was gnawing on the carcass of a worker insect. Its carapace had been bitten open, and green fluid smeared around its mouth. It chewed slowly, without spitting out a single bite.

Further on, two Tusked Boar pushed aside a patch of decaying leaves, unearthing the dead insects buried beneath, and began picking them up with their tusks and feeding them to their mouths. One of them was still wounded, its old wounds scabbed over—but it was alive and eating.

Lu Heng leaned against the tree and watched for a while without moving.

These creatures used to be too afraid to enter this forest. When the Insect Swarm was around, they wouldn't even dare to approach the inside, only able to starve on the outskirts. Now they dare to come in, and they're eating so heartily—they've smelled it; the creatures here are dead.

But how did they know the Insect Queen was dead?

He looked down at the ground beneath his feet. He had his answer.

A forest?

Beneath the decaying leaves, layers upon layers of insect carcasses lay piled up, some already rotten into black liquid that seeped into the soil. That layer of mud was a dark color, soft and mushy to the touch.

These things rot and become fertilizer.

The forest will recover. Dead trees will sprout new buds, and dead ground will grow new grass. Once the grass grows, there will be more deer and pigs, and wolves, bears, and other creatures with ranks will also return.

It spins round and round, starting again.

Lu Heng patted the mud off his hands and stood up.

He didn't disturb the wild beasts.

Let's go.

The Bone Demon turned around, followed Lu Heng, and set off into the wind to go home.