Creating a paradise in an ant nest

Chapter 34 Ten Thousand Ant Soldiers, One Year After Becoming Regular Employees

a few days later.

That night, Liu He used a single thought to travel into the ant nest and appear inside the spirit artifact cave.

In reality, it was a small square box, three inches long and wide and two inches high, but from Liu He's perspective, it was a vast cavern, several dozen feet high.

The ceiling and floor of the cave were flat, intact, and exceptionally sturdy.

Each of the two opposing sides has an "opening," just large enough for specialized soldier ants to pass through; anything larger would be impossible. Several pinhole-sized ventilation holes are also made in the container walls.

Liu He divided the space inside the cave in two, using a thin wooden board to separate his area from the Queen Ant's.

Liu He and the Queen Ant each have their own entrances and exits.

"This sense of security is just too strong."

He had previously worried that the ant nest would be damaged and collapsed by rats, burying him inside.

Now, let alone rats digging holes, even if an earthquake breaks out, he will be safe and sound inside the magical artifact.

In his spacious cave, there was an Earth Element Pearl.

The magical artifact wall on his side could be opened like a single door, a design he had specifically created to store objects inside the magical artifact cave.

The square box artifact has six sides, but only this one side can be opened.

"It's a pity that spirit stones are limited, otherwise I would have made more spirit artifacts, so I wouldn't have to share one with the Queen Ant."

Liu He thought to himself.

There was only this one magical artifact, so he and the queen ant were protected.

The queen ant inside the artifact is the original queen ant.

To distinguish between the original queen ant and the second-generation queen ant, Liu He called the reddish original queen ant "Red Queen" and the darker brown second-generation queen ant "Black Queen".

"Ants are coming."

He gave a command, and a large ant appeared.

He rode on the back of an ant, inspecting his ant colony kingdom.

In the past few days, the ants have been busy transforming their nest, digging numerous chambers and tunnels around the Spirit Artifact Cave.

"The queen ant's egg-laying capacity is still increasing, and the colony size will expand rapidly."

The Black Queen demonstrated her formidable reproductive ability from the very beginning, laying three hundred eggs every day.

She is a very young new queen ant, and her egg-laying ability will steadily increase as she grows and develops.

"Next, it's just a matter of following the steps to cultivate, practice spells, refine the Earth Element Pearl... and also, collect spirit stones."

In order to forge the magical weapon, Liu He not only spent all of his savings of twenty spirit stones, but also incurred a debt of ten spirit stones.

He will be in dire straits for some time afterward.

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.

Qianyuan Mountain, with its underground spiritual veins, has no distinction between spring, summer, autumn, and winter; it is spring all year round.

The sun and moon revolve.

Time flies like an arrow.

Several months later, Liu He was officially promoted to a regular handyman for a full year.

According to the date of entry into the clan, it was one year and four months.

night.

Liu He first practiced the "Gathering Spirit and Qi Technique" in his room, and then traveled to the spirit artifact cave to refine the Earth Element Pearl.

After this period of development, his ant colony has grown to 100,000!

The Black Queen can lay up to 800 eggs per day, twice that of the Red Queen.

One hundred thousand red forest ants, including many specialized soldier ants, make for a very large ant colony.

During this period, he saved up all his spirit stone monthly salary without spending it. He also gave Hong Jianxiong ten spirit stones, and saved up eleven spirit stones in total.

early morning.

He rushed to the forest farm to relieve Wang Yarong of her shift.

Good morning, Ya Rong.

As duty partners who see each other every day, the two are already very familiar with each other.

"You look great today, even more beautiful than usual."

Liu He praised casually, without a hint of flattery.

"Really? Junior Brother Liu He."

Wang Yarong's eyes held a sly smile as she emphasized the words "junior brother".

Liu He was stunned for a moment, then realized: "You've reached the second level of Qi Refining?"

No wonder he couldn't detect Wang Yarong's cultivation level.

Cultivators can sense those with cultivation levels lower than their own, but when they encounter those with higher cultivation levels, they can only sense that the level is "unfathomable" and cannot accurately perceive the other party's cultivation level.

"That's right, you should call her 'senior sister' now."

"Um... Senior Sister Ya Rong."

Although this was a rule of the sect, Liu He had no complaints. To be precise, this was an unspoken rule in the entire cultivation world: "might makes right."

But Liu He couldn't help feeling a little envious when his close friend, who had joined the sect at the same time as him, became a senior sister at the second level of Qi Refining.

"Senior sister, did you use the Qi-boosting pill?"

Liu He asked, puzzled.

He and Wang Yarong were officially admitted to the sect around the same time, both having been in the sect for four months.

A full year has passed, during which he consumed Purple Apple Spirit Fruit and Emerald Green Spirit Dates, saving him half a year of arduous cultivation. Even so, he is still far from reaching the second level of Qi Refining.

"No, I cultivate my skills using the spirit-gathering array on Qixia Peak."

Wang Yarong didn't spend a single spirit stone; she saved them all.

"..."

Liu He felt as sour as if he had swallowed a fresh lemon.

Comparing yourself to others will only make you miserable.

Is this the difference between inferior and intermediate spiritual roots?

According to Liu He's calculations, without any resources and relying solely on the Qixia Peak's spirit-gathering array, it would take him three years to break through to the second level of Qi Refining.

If this is the case for medium-grade spiritual roots, what about high-grade or even top-grade spiritual roots?

"Junior brother, if you are down-to-earth and practice diligently, you will break through sooner or later."

Liu He knew Wang Yarong was encouraging him, but her words sounded a bit like "sarcasm."

Just as Wang Yarong was about to say goodbye and leave, a figure used a lightness technique to approach her with a leap.

It is Li Liangtian.

"Liu He, Wang Yarong, Senior Brother Wu is calling us to assemble."

He came to deliver a message.

"Junior Brother Li Liangtian, from now on call me Senior Sister."

Senior sister?

Li Liangtian quickly reacted: "Congratulations, Senior Sister Wang, on advancing to the second level of Qi Refining."

"Haha, you're better at talking than Liu He."

Wang Yarong's face was full of smiles.

Liu He: "?"

The three used their lightness skills to rush into the depths of the forest.

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.

Wu Shao's ten handyman disciples gathered together.

They were all disciples who joined the sect in the same batch.

Don't underestimate them just because most of them have inferior spiritual roots; they are all extraordinary individuals who have been promoted to official menial servants.

Those who can be promoted to the official level are all outstanding individuals among those with inferior spiritual roots, one in ten cultivators.

The news of Wang Yarong's advancement to the second level of Qi Refining spread quickly.

On the surface, everyone offered their congratulations and admired his genius with "medium spiritual roots," but they couldn't help but feel competitive and eager to compare themselves to him.

This is human nature, and even monks are not exempt from it.

Then, Wang Yarong learned another piece of news: Meng Kaizhou had advanced to the second level of Qi Refining a few days earlier than her.

She thought she would be the fastest to break through among these people, but she was the second.

"How come Meng Kaizhou broke through to the next level faster than me?"

Wang Yarong was puzzled.

She didn't know Meng Kaizhou well. They met up every ten days or so. Meng Kaizhou didn't talk much and seemed to be taciturn and not good at socializing.

How could someone who keeps a low profile break through to the second level of Qi Refining so early?

Cheng Lei revealed the truth, excitedly lowering his voice to spread the gossip: "You guys don't know yet, but someone saw Meng Kaizhou coming out from the direction of Lingyun Peak several times."

Some people also saw him entering and leaving Lingzhi Peak.

They have a very powerful background…

At this point, Cheng Lei noticed Meng Kaizhou rolling his eyes and shut up sullenly.