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

Chapter 505: Chapter 497 Exploring the Valley

He was clearly making his little calculations.

The special fruit tree inside the valley held certain value, as he was the first to discover it and had been harvesting it for many years. Now, giving it up to Qin Niu, he might feel like he was getting the short end of the stick.

But he couldn’t fight against someone stronger than him, as his strength and status were nowhere near Qin Niu’s, so he dared not refuse outright.

All he could do was play little tricks, using such methods to keep the fruit tree as much as possible.

“You have this concern, and I am touched. You only have the Mortal Realm First Layer cultivation, and every year you enter the valley to pick those wild fruits, what if the Scorpion Demon discovers you, could you escape?” Qin Niu stared at him and asked.

“As long as I’m careful, it should be impossible for it to discover me. Over the years, I have sneaked into the valley no less than ten times, and it never found out.”

Liu Shengli was quick-witted and must have thought of some ways to avoid the Scorpion Demon.

“That fruit must be of some benefit to the Scorpion Demon. For you to have been able to successfully pluck the fruit under its watch for ten years and leave safely is no simple feat. Can you share your methods?”

Qin Niu was here this time specifically for the Scorpion Demon.

First, he wanted to gather some information about the Scorpion Demon’s habits from Liu Shengli. Having this knowledge would give him a better chance when the time came.

Today, he wanted both the Scorpion Demon and the wild fruit tree for himself.

The powerful naturally have the right to take and give as they please.

These important cultivation resources had no reason to be relinquished to Liu Shengli, a mere ordinary farmer.

“Don’t worry, I won’t take advantage of you for nothing. If the method you mention is of some use to me, these two ounces of Silver Money will be yours.”

Qin Niu took out two ounces of Silver Money.

Liu Shengli’s eyes instantly lit up. After glancing at the Silver Money, he looked away, smiling at Qin Niu and saying, “Master Qin, I will surely tell you everything I know, sparing no detail. No need for the reward, serving you is my honor.”

He found that Qin Niu did not like to hear such flattery; his face was already showing impatience, and he dared not waste more words.

“It’s actually quite simple; I just tie a rope above the valley and slide down. After picking the fruits, I climb up using the rope before the Scorpion Spirit arrives. There’s also a little trick; I only pick a small portion of the wild fruits each time. This way, even if the Scorpion Spirit notices some fruits are missing, it won’t get too angry. Plus, I’ve noticed a pattern; it’s less active on rainy days.

On sunny days, it moves around the valley quite frequently.

I’ve secretly observed this many times, and on sunny days, the yellow fog in the valley moves about. But if it rains, especially during thunderstorms, there’s no trace of the yellow fog to be found. I guess it fears the thunder and lightning, so it hides in its cave and doesn’t come out.”

Liu Shengli shared all the experience he had accumulated over the years.

Who could have thought that an ordinary farmer would have such a clear understanding of the Scorpion Demon’s activity patterns?

After hearing everything, Qin Niu was generous and tossed the two ounces of Silver Money over.

“Not bad at all! With your brains, work hard, and I might promote you to a steward for the Qin Family. If your performance is excellent and you’re sufficiently loyal, it’s not impossible for me to make you the butler of the Qin Residence in the future.”

“Thank you, Master Qin, for your generous reward! Rest assured, if you point east, I will not go west; I will definitely do a good job.”

Liu Shengli quickly caught the thrown Silver Money, his face beaming with joy.

He also took the opportunity to express his loyalty to Qin Niu on the spot.

Qin Niu nodded and did not say much more.

An hour later, Liu Shengli brought Qin Niu to the top of the mountain above the valley.

Standing on the mountain looking down into the valley, trees were lush and green, showing nothing out of the ordinary.

Yet, this valley was somewhat narrow and long, extending into the depths of the mountain, winding and twisting, and one couldn’t see the end of it.

The entrance to the valley was relatively spacious.

If one didn’t know the details, no one would suspect that a Scorpion Spirit was lurking inside the valley.

“`

It coiled within this mountainous region, and if a human accidentally strayed into its territory, nine out of ten would be devoured.

However, when Liu Tieniu was discovered by the Scorpion Spirit, he was only stung and not dragged into the valley to be eaten, a fact that was quite intriguing.

The vast majority of wild animals have to worry about finding food.

They only have three issues to address: first is to secure food and drink, second is to solve the problem of reproduction, and third is to avoid being discovered by predators.

Therefore, when wild animals find food, even if they can’t eat it all at once, they will find a way to drag the food back to their dwelling and hide it for the next meal.

For instance, ants will transport food into their caves, and cheetahs will hang leftover food on trees.

Why didn’t the Scorpion Spirit drag Liu Tieniu into the valley at that time?

If that question were answered, Qin Niu might be able to understand the wisdom or habits of this Scorpion Spirit.

“Master Qin, I usually attach a rope here and descend, then slide down the rope into the valley. The weather is clear today, the very time when the Scorpion Spirit is most active. Please think it over thrice before you descend!”

Liu Shengli was now tentatively tied to Qin Niu’s interest battleship.

In addition to working for Qin Niu as a long-term laborer, earning a fairly considerable fixed income, if he did well, Qin Niu promised to make him the steward of the Qin Residence.

Now with interests entwined, naturally, he did not want Qin Niu to come to harm.

“It’s okay, you go back! I’ll be careful.”

Qin Niu was worried that if he got into a fight with the Scorpion Demon, and in case he was defeated, he wouldn’t be able to protect Liu Shengli.

After all, the man had a wife and child to support. If something were to happen, Qin Niu wouldn’t know how to explain it to his family.

“Then, please be careful!”

This time, Liu Shengli didn’t dawdle, and after helping Qin Niu secure the rope, he took off with his firewood knife in a puff of smoke.

Qin Niu stood at the top of the valley, observing the situation within, and for the moment, no yellow mist was visible.

He decided to first deploy some Green Ring Worker Bees into the valley to investigate.

“Go!”

With a pat on the Insect Bag, immediately, hundreds of Green Ring Worker Bees flew out, heading straight into the valley.

After entering the valley, they scattered about, exploring the area.

Indeed, as Liu Shengli had said, even a spider was hard to find in the valley.

The Green Ring Worker Bees spent a great part of the day searching the valley and still could not locate the Scorpion Spirit. Qin Niu was calculating in his mind how he might capture the Scorpion Spirit.

The valley was the Scorpion Spirit’s domain; it was not only familiar with the terrain, but it likely also had other geographical advantages.

If it realized it couldn’t defeat Qin Niu and hid in a cave, then capturing it would become difficult.

For more than four months, Qin Niu had been focusing on cultivating a few of his most important Insect Pets, such as the Termite Ant Queen, Green Silk Worm, Green Demon Bee, and Mirage Insect. He also cultivated other Insect Pets, but they received much less of his attention and resources.

The Ant Queen was Qin Niu’s first Insect Pet and also the one with the deepest emotional bond.

No other Insect Pet could replace that special bond.

Not even Fourth could take its place.

Back then, when Qin Niu was in an extremely difficult period, without the Ant Queen, there would be no today for him.

Even now, having achieved success, when lying in bed in the deep of night, he would often remember the desperate gamble of his past.

As time went on, leveling up the Ant Queen became increasingly difficult.

“`