“Quickly, tell us, quickly!” Azure Phoenix’s phoenix eyes gleamed with joy.
“I’ve been thinking,” Yu Yixiang mused for a moment, “none of us can get into the Ant Mound, so the first step is to break through it. If we attack directly, even Cang Jie can’t do it, let alone us. But—”
Yu Yixiang paused.
“But what, little girl, don’t keep us in suspense.” Cang Jie was impatient.
“But, Heaven can. For example, this rain—”
“Exactly. Senior Sister is smart!” Qian Duoduo said happily, “Let’s flood the Ant Mound.”
“Flooding the Ant Mound? Easier said than done,” Azure Phoenix poured cold water on the idea, “This idea isn’t new. I’ve waited through even bigger rains than this, and even thrown huge rocks onto the Ant Mound during the rain, but the effect was mediocre. At best, it drowned one or two thousand Devouring Gold Ants.”
“Cang Jie, this young man next to you, who is good at roasting top-grade Spirit Chicken legs, is also an Artifact Refiner, a fourth-grade initial stage. Think about it again,” Yu Yixiang pointed at Qian Duoduo and continued.
“A fourth-grade initial stage, that’s quite impressive.” Azure Phoenix re-examined Qian Duoduo, “You want to use Spirit Chicken legs to lure the Ant Queen out. But it’s not like me; it doesn’t like Spirit Chicken legs. It only likes golden honey, and only eats golden honey.”
Azure Phoenix still didn’t understand Yu Yixiang’s idea.
“If he refines a batch of Magic Treasures and, during a heavy rain, shoots them into the Ant Mound, then detonates them all at once—Cang Jie, how many Devouring Gold Ants do you think would drown?”
Azure Phoenix’s body trembled, “In that case, a large section of this Ant Mound could be blown apart, and then countless Devouring Gold Ants would die.”
“Our cultivation is not at Foundation Establishment, so we can’t shoot many Magic Treasures into this Ant Mound, but Cang Jie is a Nascent Soul Cultivator. If she were to— ”
Azure Phoenix became excited, “I still have some Manli, believe me. How about we do it now?”
For a stone mountain like the Ant Mound, even if Qian Duoduo threw with all his might, he could only penetrate three to five zhang. But if a Nascent Soul Great Perfection Cultivator threw it, it would be at least thirty to fifty zhang.
“No,” Yu Yixiang shook her head. “Now, please, Cang Jie, release your Spiritual Awareness and penetrate this Ant Mound to map out the structure of these tunnels. Once you understand the structure, we’ll wait for an even bigger rain, and then—”
“Little girl, you’re not simple, truly a strategist. If this were normal times, if I used my Spiritual Awareness to explore the tunnels, these Devouring Gold Ants would definitely come out and fight me. But it’s raining now, so I doubt they’ll dare to come out.”
After Azure Phoenix finished speaking, she closed her eyes, and a powerful Spiritual Awareness extended from the tent, reaching towards the Ant Mound.
Qian Duoduo took the opportunity to also activate the Eternal Wealth and Nobility cultivation method, extending his Spiritual Awareness towards the Ant Mound.
“You two wait here. I’ll circle this Ant Mound and then go up to take a look.” After Azure Phoenix finished speaking, she exited the tent and rushed into the rain.
As Azure Phoenix flew near the Ant Mound, in Qian Duoduo’s Spiritual Awareness, Qian Duoduo saw that the tunnels began to stir violently. Countless Devouring Gold Ants rushed towards the entrances, baring their fangs and claws at Azure Phoenix from a distance, eager to rush out and tear at her. These Devouring Gold Ants were a size larger than those that had emerged earlier, belonging to the soldier ants that protected the nest.
“Clang,” Azure Phoenix flew in the air, occasionally letting out a cry, constantly provoking the Devouring Gold Ants. Her Spiritual Awareness drilled down the tunnels with all its might.
An incense stick later, Azure Phoenix flew back. “Let’s go.” She carried Qian Duoduo and Yu Yixiang back to Azure Phoenix’s mountain forest.
Opening the tent, Qian Duoduo quickly roasted dozens of Spirit Chicken legs for Azure Phoenix to eat. Azure Phoenix warmed up, then took the Jade Slip Qian Duoduo handed her and drew the tunnel structure she had explored.
After taking the Jade Slip and looking at it, Qian Duoduo and Yu Yixiang were stunned.
The Devouring Gold Ants’ nest was like a massive underground royal city. From top to bottom, inside to out, dozens of wide tunnels, large enough for a person to enter, ran through it, forming the main arteries of the royal city. Countless much smaller tunnels connected to the main arteries, forming the small streets and alleys of the royal city. Within the royal city, these tunnels divided different areas: food storage areas, larval chambers, egg chambers, pupa chambers, garbage dumps, and resting chambers.
Among them, different foods were stored in different storage rooms.
However, Qian Duoduo saw places for insects, for meat, for roots and stems, but he didn’t see any place for golden honey.
“Where is the Ant Queen’s palace?” Qian Duoduo glanced at Yu Yixiang and asked Azure Phoenix.
Where the Ant Queen’s palace was, that’s where its golden honey would be.
Azure Phoenix shook her head, “My Spiritual Awareness can only explore this much. Firstly, the distance is too far and the area too vast, and secondly, the Devouring Gold Ants interfere too much.”
“This structural map is incomplete,” Yu Yixiang pointed at the Jade Slip, “Judging from the main arteries, further down, there are three convergence points: upper, middle, and lower. Among these three convergence points, there must be one that is the Ant Queen’s palace.”
Qian Duoduo and Azure Phoenix nodded simultaneously—Yu Yixiang’s judgment was flawless.
“But which of these three is the palace?” Azure Phoenix’s wings drooped, still somewhat helpless.
“Don’t think that way. You have to look at it this way: how much progress have we made! Before this, we didn’t even dare to think about attacking the Ant Queen’s palace, but now, we already have a 30% chance of success,” Qian Duoduo encouraged everyone.
“Right.” Azure Phoenix nodded heavily, changing her mindset, “I’ve studied this for three hundred years and haven’t figured out a way. Whether it works or not, we have to try. I’ve wanted to taste that golden honey for a long time. After we get the golden honey, we’ll split it evenly.”
She finally revealed her intention. It seemed the deliciousness of golden honey could indeed make people obsessed. They, of course, accepted the plan to split it evenly.
The three of them studied for a long time, finding five blasting points from the structural map. These five points were positions where Azure Phoenix could throw. When the five points exploded simultaneously, they would cause the maximum destruction to the Ant Mound.
Although Qian Duoduo could refine fourth-grade initial stage Magic Treasures and had the Profound Weapon’s “Hundred Item Recipes,” he still couldn’t refine Profound Weapons because he didn’t have the necessary materials.
What Qian Duoduo had in hand was still the Senior Dan Artifact, Cold Flame Pure Snow Spear. After Cang Jie’s evaluation, the Senior Dan Artifact was barely sufficient. The spear also had its advantages; it could penetrate deep enough. Qian Duoduo conveniently modified the spear to make its explosion more powerful.
Now, all that was missing was a refreshing spring rain.
It was strange, though; when they wanted rain, it just wouldn’t come.
However, Qian Duoduo wasn’t anxious. He spent his days studying the Artifact Recipe, practicing the Turning Stone into Gold Art, and roasting Spirit Chicken legs for Yu Yixiang and Azure Phoenix. His days were happy and fulfilling.
They waited a full seven days before the sky finally changed from clear to overcast.
Seeing the light dimming and the clouds thickening, the three of them quickly flew at ultra-low altitude to the Ant Mound, to their previous hidden observation point.
A bolt of lightning streaked across the sky, and “Boom,” a huge thunderclap exploded on the mountaintop. The entire Ant Mound seemed to tremble.
This thunderclap made all three of them overjoyed.
“Rain harder, rain harder,” Qian Duoduo silently prayed for rain.
The wind blew stronger, and raindrops drummed against the tent. Rainwater flowed like rivers on the Ant Mound, much more than last time.
“It’s almost time,” Azure Phoenix was invigorated, her eyes as bright as the sun, “We can start now.”
Yu Yixiang stayed in the tent, while Azure Phoenix quietly led Qian Duoduo out of the tent and flew towards the five designated points.
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