Immortality: Raising an Ant Queen to Cultivate by increasing stat points - Chapter 268

Chapter 268: Chapter 261: Luxurious Enemy Formation_1
 

Even in the black of night, Fourth’s ability to discern direction had not diminished.

He was like a compass one carried with oneself.

A group of people entered the river fog, proceeding along the riverbank.

Splash!

The river suddenly exploded as a giant snake surged out of the water.

It lunged directly at Qin Niu and Master He Shan, striking with an overwhelming fury as water kept dripping from its body.

The threat of death compelled everyone to instinctively draw their weapons, ready to confront the massive serpent.

“It seems fake!”

Qin Niu said.

“No one attack.”

Having suffered greatly from the Mirror Frog Insect’s illusions before, Master He Shan immediately shouted loudly for his personal troops not to attack.

He rode his stout lion at the forefront, shielding the others.

A string of Golden Armored Centipedes had been released by him.

Splash!

The giant snake instantly dissipated.

Indeed, it was fake, an illusion created by the Mirror Frog Insect. If Qin Niu hadn’t seen through it, everyone would surely have combined their forces to attack the serpent that had ambushed them.

The consequences of that would have been unimaginable.

The combined attack energy of so many people would have instantly made the illusion terrifyingly powerful.

Master He Shan released a large number of Golden Armored Centipedes, allowing them to spread out and press forward steadily.

This tactic was quite effective.

The Mirror Frog Insect was particularly afraid of such swarm attacks because its illusions could not simultaneously confuse all the insects.

Thus, the likelihood of exposing its true form greatly increased.

It was easily killed.

It specialized in creating illusions to terrify others, but in reality, it was also afraid of death, even more cowardly than the average insect.

As the group advanced, they could faintly make out by the light of the fires the shadows of moored boats not far off by the riverside.

“Burn those boats, and we will have won. Warriors, give it all you’ve got.”

Master He Shan became excited upon seeing the enemy boats.

But behind him came strange noises as a scorpion larger than a grinding disk quickly emerged from the river fog.

Its long scorpion tail arched high and bent forward above its back.

One could clearly see the joints on the tail, as well as the venomous Poison Stinger at its end.

It was closing in on two personal soldiers at the rear of the group.

“Since when are scorpions this huge? It must be another illusion by that wretched Mirror Frog Insect. Brothers, don’t be fooled, watch me break it.”

The last of the personal soldiers, having been frustrated for so long, was eager to have his moment of glory.

Facing the rapidly approaching giant scorpion, he made no move to defend but instead spit at it.

“Come on, come at me, kill me!”

Spurt!

The giant scorpion reached the soldier, its tail stabbing out swiftly and viciously.

The Poison Stinger pierced the soldier’s armor, boring straight through it.

Its stinger was actually capable of penetrating armor.

Too strong.

“Ah… it’s real, damn it!”

Fear and regret quickly spread across the face of the soldier.

Then, his lips turned black at an alarming speed, and black blood oozed from his mouth where his heart had been pierced by the stinger.

He convulsed and fell to the ground shortly after.

The giant scorpion easily dispatched a Grade One Acquired Realm expert and swiftly moved to attack the other personal soldier.

“You bastard, I’ll kill you!”

The remaining soldier, enraged by his comrade’s death, charged ahead.

He swung his cleaving sword fiercely at the giant scorpion.

This soldier’s cultivation was also at the Acquired Realm, but a bit stronger, at the peak of Grade One, nearly breaking through to Grade Two.

A blade strike sliced through the air, with a faint whistling of the blade, fierce in its momentum.

“Be careful!”

Master He Shan leapt down from the lion’s back, then rapidly charged toward the guardsman.

He was determined to save this soldier.

At that moment, the unexpected occurred; strands of invisible spider silk shot out from the darkness.

The target was the hurriedly rescuing Master He Shan.

Not just that, swarms of flying poisonous bees also attacked Master He Shan like lightning. Each one as thick as a grown man’s forearm, numbering over a hundred.

These were Grade Five Bee Generals… no, they were Grade Six Bee Generals.

This was a force so formidable it made one’s soul tremble.

In addition to the bee swarm, there were unseen spiders, and moths emitting a faint green luminescence, all likewise converging on Master He Shan.

On the ground, the earth cracked open, and elongated black armored insects burrowed out.

They were the feared mimic ground beetles, true subterranean predators.

These mimic ground beetles, unlike the numerous ferocious beetles before, were each about the thickness of two adult thumbs, extremely agile, and with well-developed mandibles.

As soon as they emerged from the ground, they aimed their behinds at Master He Shan all at once.

Clouds of poison were sprayed.

There were around a hundred of these mimic ground beetles, each at least a Grade Five insect.

“Mimic ground beetles, Binding Fairy Spiders, Steel-winged Green-headed Bees, Grinding Disk Scorpions, Echo Bugs, Mirror Frog Insects… Haha, Elder Jiu Yin, you truly hold me in high regard. To think you’ve directed your disciples to besiege this old man and calculated the timing so precisely, wishing to bury me here. If I’m not mistaken, there should also be Burial Beetles lying in wait for me, right?”

Faced with such an onslaught, Master He Shan’s shock and anger knew no bounds.

One could hear that his voice carried arrogance, yet it bore insufficient confidence and a hint of fear of death.

Now, his derisive laughter was nothing more than the defiant stubbornness of a dying duck, striving to retain his final dignity.

Qin Niu, witnessing such an extravagant array, felt more excitement, along with a tinge of fear.

This was the true strength of an Insect Master!

Each one, each group, powerful in its own right.

Someday, he too might command a multitude of impressive insects like these Insect Masters.

The strength of the Nine Insect Gang was truly formidable.

Merely the twelve disciples beneath Elder Jiu Yin were already so powerful.

The strength of Elder Jiu Yin himself was absolutely breathtaking.

At this moment, Qin Niu faced two choices.

The first was to immediately flee, with Fourth guiding him, the fog could not confine him.

But as the enemy was mighty, the likelihood of being caught was high.

Moreover, he had killed Elder Jiu Yin’s fourth disciple, Zhu Zhu, and severed the arm of the eldest disciple, Nie Kun, creating an irreconcilable feud. The opposition would never let him go.

If the Nine Insect Gang discovered he was responsible for killing Old Master Huang, Leader Song Zan, and others, they would be even less likely to spare him.

Also, what becomes of home when the nation falls?

If the Black Tiger Gang truly was annihilated, Qin Niu would lose his home. Afterwards, he’d face the endless pursuit of the Nine Insect Gang.

The Ancient Banyan Tree in the deep mountains couldn’t be taken with him; it was, to date, his strongest cultivation resource, as well as his most important one. Only by preserving the Black Tiger Gang, could he continue to comfortably survive within the secluded valleys.

Only then would he have sufficient time to develop and grow stronger.

With that in mind, he was left with only the second choice.

That was to stand alongside Master He Shan against powerful enemies, to win this battle.

It would be difficult.

Since confronting just the disciples of Elder Jiu Yin was already extremely challenging.

In due course, Elder Jiu Yin was sure to join the battle.

Master He Shan must be protected; once the enemy eliminated him and were free to turn their attention, Qin Niu would undoubtedly be the first to be killed.

Not to mention, capturing eight of Elder Jiu Yin’s Taiyin Yaoyao surely guaranteed they wouldn’t let him go.

“Lads, don’t forget, there’s also your Lord Qin here. With me around, it’s not your turn to run wild.”

Qin Niu abandoned his usual low profile.

To help Master He Shan draw fire, he had no choice but to be high-profile this time.

In his left hand, he gripped a horn shield; the Invisibility Talisman given by the mute Bei Bing was covertly clenched in his hand. Should he truly be overpowered, he would use it immediately.

His right hand grasped the Ink Blade, bristling with killing intent.