Creating a paradise in an ant nest

Chapter 6 The Army of Ten Thousand Ants

Two months have passed in the blink of an eye.

Qixia Peak.

In Liu He's room.

He sat cross-legged in meditation, his chest rising and falling, breathing in and out, absorbing the spiritual energy from the surrounding air into himself.

A moment later, he opened his eyes.

"The Foot Shaoyang Meridian is open!"

With ample spiritual rice, Liu He's cultivation progressed by leaps and bounds.

In the first month, he only managed to open thirty acupoints.

In the past two months, he has opened up about fifty acupoints each month.

Breaking through to the Qi Refining stage requires opening up the Ren and Du meridians and the twelve regular meridians, a total of fourteen meridians. He has now opened up six meridians.

"There are still three months left. My current cultivation progress is a little short of breaking through to the Qi Refining stage within three months."

"I'll get another spirit stone tomorrow. Three spirit stones should be enough to buy some good stuff."

On a whim, he slipped into the ant nest.

Sigrún has taught at the Iceland University of the Arts as a part-time lecturer since and was Dean of the Department of Fine Art from -. In – she held a research position at Reykjavík Art Museum focusing on the role of women in Icelandic art. She studied fine art at the Icelandic College of Arts and Crafts and at Pratt Institute, New York, and holds BA and MA degrees in art history and philosophy from the University of Iceland. Sigrún lives and works in Iceland.

Two enormous spirit stones emitted a fluorescent glow, illuminating the cave.

Liu He walked out of the cave, where two large worker ants were guarding the entrance.

To ensure their own safety, Liu He dug several worker ant colonies next to his cave, which were filled with worker ants.

If they encounter danger, they will protect Liu He without fear of death.

"Let's go see the queen ant."

He rode a worker ant to the queen's nest chamber and saw the queen eating spirit rice.

In the past two months, Liu He has been feeding the ants with Lingmi rice every day, which has greatly increased the queen ant's reproductive capacity and doubled the number of eggs laid.

The queen ant's ability to lay eggs determines the size of the ant colony.

The lifespan of ordinary worker ants is short, ranging from two to three months to half a year. Combined with casualties from hunting, the number of ant colonies has an upper limit.

Even with ample food, Liu He's red forest ant colony can only maintain a population of several thousand ants.

After being fed with spirit rice, the queen ant doubled her daily egg production, causing the ant colony to explode in number.

According to Liu He's estimate, his ant colony already numbered over 10,000, much larger than that of ordinary redwood ant colonies.

In addition, worker ants often eat spirit rice, which makes their bodies darker and their individual strength greater.

Especially the newly hatched worker ants, which eat spirit rice from the larval stage, and their color darkens significantly when they pupate into queen ants.

As the number of ants surged, the area of ​​the ant nest also expanded.

Beneath the ant mounds on the surface lies a complex and deep underground kingdom of ant colonies.

"Let's go look around elsewhere."

He rode on a worker ant mount, like a king inspecting his territory.

Near the anthill, a huge locust inadvertently approached and was spotted by the ants.

Without Liu He giving any orders, the ants swarmed forward.

The locusts' struggle lasted only a short time before they were overwhelmed by the ant swarm. Soon, only empty shells remained.

"The ant colony's fighting power has increased."

"It's not enough; there's a lot of room for improvement."

Ten thousand ants are not many.

The red imported fire ant colony, despised by everyone, consists of 100,000 to 500,000 ants.

The infamous and feared army ant colony consists of more than a million ants.

Liu He has resources in the cultivation world, and he believes he can cultivate a truly invincible ant colony.

Sigrún has taught at the Iceland University of the Arts as a part-time lecturer since and was Dean of the Department of Fine Art from -. In – she held a research position at Reykjavík Art Museum focusing on the role of women in Icelandic art. She studied fine art at the Icelandic College of Arts and Crafts and at Pratt Institute, New York, and holds BA and MA degrees in art history and philosophy from the University of Iceland. Sigrún lives and works in Iceland.

The next morning.

Liu He first collected a spirit stone, and then, as usual, collected a bowl of rice from the dining hall and took it to the forest farm.

"Liu He, Senior Brother Wu has summoned us to go."

"Okay. You go ahead, I'll be there shortly."

"Then hurry up, don't keep everyone waiting."

Liu He fed the ants with the spirit rice and hurriedly headed deeper into the forest.

Their superior, Wu Shao, was an outer disciple at the fifth level of Qi Refining, who managed more than twenty of them as trial cultivators.

Every ten days or so, Wu Shao would convene them to discuss matters and assign tasks.

When Liu He arrived at their usual meeting place, Wu Shao had not yet arrived, and more than twenty people were chatting idly.

They surrounded Li Liangtian, each with an envious look on their face.

"Li Liangtian, how did you find the ginseng? You're incredibly lucky!"

"Our outer mountain forest is so devoid of spiritual energy that spiritual plants can still grow here?"

"..."

Li Liangtian scratched his head, his face full of honesty, and said, "Just lucky, just lucky."

What's going on?

Liu He was puzzled, so he went closer and asked Sun Yan, who was standing next to him.

Sun Yan couldn't hide his envy: "This guy has incredible luck. A couple of days ago, he found a ginseng plant buried deep underground in the forest. It's a spiritual plant. Senior Brother Wu said he'd reward him with spirit stones."

After saying this, he muttered in a voice barely audible, "That's incredibly stupid, actually handing it over to the sect."

A spiritual plant has been discovered?

Liu He was equally envious.

He had heard that the Waishan Forest Farm had existed for many years, and that there might be spiritual plants and herbs buried in some corner.

The forest farm is located on the outer edge of the Qianyuan Mountain spiritual vein, where spiritual energy exists. If the medicinal herbs have grown for a long enough period of time, they may be upgraded to spiritual plants.

According to the sect's regulations, any spiritual plants discovered in the forest must be handed over.

The sect will provide rewards as appropriate.

If embezzlement is discovered, the person will be expelled from the sect.

As everyone was talking, a figure drifted over from a distance.

He was dressed in a blue robe, and with his toes lightly touching the ground, he flew dozens of feet away as lightly as a cotton ball.

"Senior Brother Wu."

"Senior Brother Wu~"

"..."

Everyone greeted each other in unison.

Wu Shao nodded slightly in response and assigned tasks: "Wanqi Peak needs a batch of timber. People will come to cut down trees, and I'll assign them to your forest area..."

Then he talked about Li Liangtian.

"You've all heard about Li Liangtian discovering a ginseng that's over a hundred years old in our forest area the day before yesterday."

The sect rewarded him with two spirit stones, which he could collect later.

You need not envy or imitate this; it was purely accidental. Do not dig recklessly in the forest to avoid damaging the trees.

Wu Shao had seen something similar. Back then, a group of trial repairmen were envious and dug around the forest farm, but they found nothing and instead made a mess of the forest farm.

"Of course, I want to emphasize that all the forest resources belong to the sect, and any spiritual plants discovered must be handed over."

Anyone found embezzling will be expelled from the sect!

"That's all I have to say. Everyone, you can all leave now."

After finishing his business, Wu Shao waved his hand, signaling everyone to disperse.

"Senior Brother Wu~~"

A charming female voice rang out, and a beautifully dressed young woman approached Wu Shao: "Senior Brother Wu, I have some questions I'd like to ask you. May I speak with you in private?"

Her name was Song Qian. Among all the trial repairmen present, she was the most beautiful.

"Of course, come with me."

Wu Shao smiled, his eyes narrowed.

Since he was promoted to the outer sect, many female servant disciples have tried to seduce him.

It's nothing more than for spirit stones or other benefits.

A few spirit stones might not be much to him, but for a trial cultivator, they could be the key to purchasing a Meridian Opening Pill, breaking through to the Qi Refining stage, and staying in the sect.

Sigrún has taught at the Iceland University of the Arts as a part-time lecturer since and was Dean of the Department of Fine Art from -. In – she held a research position at Reykjavík Art Museum focusing on the role of women in Icelandic art. She studied fine art at the Icelandic College of Arts and Crafts and at Pratt Institute, New York, and holds BA and MA degrees in art history and philosophy from the University of Iceland. Sigrún lives and works in Iceland.

"Pah, what a vixen. All she does is rely on her looks."

Sun Yan watched the two figures disappear into the distance and muttered curses under his breath.

He tried to talk to Song Qian, but she ignored him.

I never expected Song Qian to act like this in front of her senior brothers from the outer sect, who have higher cultivation levels. It's truly infuriating to compare oneself to others.

"Go back and cultivate diligently! Sooner or later, I will also be able to advance to the outer sect."

He made a silent vow in his heart.