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

Chapter 506: Chapter 498: Imperial Wood

Qin Niu fed it many insects and some special medicinal herbs. Yet, it still remained at Grade Six, unable to advance in level.

This caused Qin Niu great distress.

Because the Ant Queen’s level could not increase, the offspring it produced were basically only able to reach Grade Four or Five. This was no longer keeping pace with Qin Niu’s cultivation.

You see, his true self had now reached the Double Spirit Qi Realm; if his Insect Pet were to keep up with its master, it needed to be at least Grade Eight. If things went well, reaching Ninth Level would be more ideal.

Just like the Nine Insects Gang Leader, whose Tyrant Demon Spider was already a tenth-level Insect Pet.

Having tried many methods and expended tremendous resources on it, Qin Niu still couldn’t help the Ant Queen advance, leaving a trace of impatience and anxiety in his heart.

According to his previous plan, before participating in the Water and Land Dharma Assembly, the Ant Queen should at least reach the Ninth Level to be considered ideal.

He was a full three levels away from this goal he had set.

The Queen Bee of the Green Demon Bee was now Grade Eight, barely sufficient.

But, according to Qin Niu’s character, those he encountered at the Water and Land Dharma Assembly would not only be Spirit Qi Realm Experts but also terrifying entities at the Immortal Master level. To seize a chance at immortality, he needed several cards in his hand capable of eliminating an Immortal Master.

The Green Demon Bee should have an easier time eliminating those in the Spirit Qi Realm, but the chance of defeating Immortal Master level experts was not great.

However, now that he had the swarm and had mastered the All-Heaven Myriad Insects Formation, he might have a slight chance against less capable Immortal Masters.

Qin Niu had never fought an Immortal Master before.

That day on the battlefield, however, he did witness the Magical Combat between the Black Tiger Gang Leader and the Nine Insects Gang Leader, both Immortal Masters. These two must have advanced to Immortal Master status not long ago.

Even so, their combat power was still so formidable that it left everyone feeling uneasy.

Spirit Qi Realm Experts in front of an Immortal Master were as vulnerable as chickens and dogs made of clay.

Even the wife of the Shennong Sect Leader, as formidable as she was, failed to withstand a full-powered strike from the Black Tiger Gang Leader.

Whether Qin Niu’s Green Demon Bee, coupled with the All-Heaven Myriad Insects Formation, could eliminate an Immortal Master was truly hard to say.

“Perhaps setting up an Insect Formation outside the valley and luring out that Scorpion Demon, then using the formation and many pets to take it down together would be more secure,” he thought.

He would certainly not summon the Fire Phoenix unless absolutely necessary.

As a master, he naturally held dignity.

If he were to frequently call upon the Fire Phoenix for help, it would cause the Fire Phoenix to look down on him.

He also would not get over that psychological barrier within himself.

For a man, pride outweighs life.

Although many people, worn down by society, think that so-called pride is worthless, throughout history, every emperor or general who has achieved greatness has held onto their dignity.

Han Xin endured the humiliation of crawling between another’s legs and later strived to become a general. Gou Jian slept on sticks and tasted gall, never forgetting his humiliation, eventually building an empire.

Their success was not accidental; they shared a common trait: valuing their dignity more than life itself.

The essence of humiliation is the trampling of self-respect.

This became the driving force behind their determination to succeed.

Although Qin Niu came from humble origins, there was pride and self-respect in his bones.

When he subdued the Fire Phoenix, he signed a contract of equality, indicating that the Fire Phoenix inwardly looked down on him.

He still had a long way to go to truly subdue the Fire Phoenix.

Of course, if he could thoroughly subdue a supreme being like the Fire Phoenix, he would surely benefit from it for life.

Since ancient times, dragons, phoenixes, kylins, and fenghuang have been revered as holy beasts and supreme beings.

Today, Qin Niu sought to rely on his strength alone, without using the Fire Phoenix, to capture the Scorpion Spirit. It was a good opportunity to test his and his pets’ combat abilities.

Once the Scorpion Spirit was captured, there was hope for the Ant Queen’s advancement.

According to his experience in insect cultivation, the reason the Ant Queen did not advance, despite consuming so many insects and medicinal herbs, was ultimately that its diet was too ‘trashy’.

To ascend to Grade Six, the Ant Queen had eaten a ninth-level insect carcass as well as several from seventh level.

Thus, for it to ascend to Grade Seven, it had to eat at least a ninth-level insect.

If the Scorpion Spirit turned into a demon, it would be a tenth-level insect.

The Ant Queen, if she ate it, could advance to at least Grade Seven.

There’s also a good chance that she could accidentally reach Grade Eight.

After arranging the All-Heaven Myriad Insects Formation outside the valley and checking for errors, he once again turned his attention to the valley.

It was still eerily quiet, so quiet that it was frightening.

He had yet to see any yellow fog appear.

“Could it be that the scorpion spirit has cozied up inside its cave to sleep in today? Or perhaps it’s just stepped out?”

Qin Niu decided to sneak into the valley first to have a look.

Gently descending into the valley along the rope that Liu Shengli had secured.

The rope was only about thirty meters long, hardly enough to reach the bottom of the valley. The landing spot was a mixture of rock and soil, with some low-growing plants.

Liu Shengli had chosen the location well, as there was a sloping path perfect for climbing.

As Qin Niu’s cultivation was far superior to Liu Shengli’s, he did not need to rely much on external support and swiftly made his way down to the valley floor.

Indeed, as Liu Shengli had described, the place was overrun with hook vines.

They climbed everywhere, their long hook-shaped tendrils stretching out.

The leaves resembled those of the mouse vine, but the two plants were definitely not the same.

He decided to look for that fruit tree first.

The light inside the valley was extremely poor, casting a very dark shadow. Sunlight had difficulty penetrating from outside.

Qin Niu’s Medicine King Sutra had advanced to the mid-stage of the Spirit Qi Realm, allowing him to easily sense the energy inside these plants and the strength of their medicinal aura.

“These hook vines are a bit strange!”

He found that the medicinal aura of the hook vines was continuous and considerable. It was even stronger than that of the Ancient Banyan Tree.

Yet the energy inside them was separate.

Turning to inspect the tall ancient trees, he spotted several valuable Phoebe zhennan trees at a glance.

The largest one had a trunk so thick that it could be embraced by a single person.

This was not the deepest part of the valley, at most it was the middle section.

One could foresee that deeper into the valley there might be even larger Phoebe zhennan trees.

With the Scorpion Spirit guarding this valley, all the woodcutters who wanted to enter and cut down the Phoebe zhennan trees had all met with King Yama. It was for this reason that so many Phoebe zhennan trees could exist within the valley.

Besides that, there were also many camphor trees and red-leaf trees.

Qin Niu also discovered something interesting: the medicinal aura of these Phoebe zhennan trees carried a hint of purple.

This wood was known as Imperial Wood in ancient times, considered exclusively for royal use, truly having some extraordinary aspects.

He tried to run the Medicine King Sutra to absorb the medicinal aura from the largest Phoebe zhennan tree.

No sooner had he absorbed a small amount than he felt the alchemy stove within him spin rapidly, with a wisp of purple aura rising within the stove. He could perceive changes occurring within the alchemy stove, although he couldn’t describe them precisely.

Perhaps it was because he had absorbed too little of the medicinal aura from the Phoebe zhennan tree.

Suddenly, his expression changed slightly, and he felt a sudden tightness in his heart. One of the Green Ring Worker Bees he had sent out to scout the valley had just died.

It had been killed just moments ago.

It must have been located in the depths of the valley.

Qin Niu had no time to absorb more of the Phoebe zhennan tree’s medicinal aura; instead, he quickly gripped the Ink Blade and tensed, ready for the Scorpion Demon to approach.

His Green Ring Worker Bees weren’t especially strong, about Grade Two at best, probably unable to defeat even a slightly more formidable Asian giant hornet.

But killing them in flight was not easy, and it presented significant difficulty. Ordinary insects couldn’t manage it.

In this valley, it was likely only the Scorpion Demon could have done so.

Suddenly, another two Green Ring Worker Bees met with trouble at the same time, both instantly killed.