Chapter 204 - Chapter 204: Chapter 199: Elixir Success i

Chapter 204: Chapter 199: Elixir Success i

Translator: 549690339 |

After he finished cultivating, he emerged from the Ancient Banyan Tree Maze and went to check on the ant nest.

The thousand termites he had cultivated the day before yesterday were still evolving.

The evolution time of an ordinary Grade One termite is about two days, but these newly cultivated thousand termites were at least ordinary Grade Two. Cultivating them consumed even more Ancient Banyan Tree Blood.

Their evolution time was evidently much longer.

Since it was Qin Niu’s first time cultivating these Grade Two ordinary termites, he did not have a clear idea of how long it would take.

He remembered that the first time he cultivated a Queen Bee, it took seven days for the Grade Two War Bees to evolve, and the two Grade Two honey bees took five days.

He estimated that cultivating Grade Two termites would take about the same amount of time.

As for how long it would take for the Grade Three Demon Ant to complete its evolution, he could only wait patiently.

Now that there were Grade Three giant locusts appearing among the locusts, if his ant colony could not expand and strengthen quickly, they might struggle when confronted with them.

“I really hope that you can finish evolving quickly so that I can have a large army of ants at my disposal.”

The thought of adding a thousand termites in one day was exciting.

It had taken him several months to accumulate just under three thousand termites of Grade Two and above.

Now, being able to add a thousand termites of Grade Three and above in a single day, he could be considered a very top-notch Insect Master within Black Tiger City.

Tonight, Qin Niu still had to help the Yan Family with pest elimination.

Taking a batch of termites, he hurried down the mountain.

Just as he reached the foot of the mountain, he saw Yan Qi, accompanied by the anxious Young Master Yan, waiting at the mountain’s entrance.

Young Master Yan was as anxious as ants on a hot pan, frequently glancing into the mountainside.

When he saw Qin Niu coming down from the mountain, he immediately hurried forward as if he had seen a savior.

“Master Qin, I finally waited foryou to come out.”

Young Master Yan was nearly in tears.

“Young Master Yan, what has happened?” Qin Niu was somewhat surprised.

Even though he had been cultivating in the mountains, if there were any anomalies with the termites he had placed in the Yan Family’s fields, he would have definitely sensed it.

The termites showed no abnormalities, which indicated that the defensive line was holding strong.

As a person of esteemed status and dignity in the region, what could make Yan Qi condescend to wait at the foot of the mountain?

“Last night, Master Qin helped my Yan Family eliminate three giant locusts, and I was only willing to pay fifty coins for each one. After my father learned of this, he severely scolded me. This is ten Silver Money in apology; I hope Master Qin doesn’t find it too meager.”

Young Master Yan took out ten Silver Money and presented it with both hands, his demeanor extremely respectful.

“I eliminated those three giant locusts for the Yan Family for free, Young Master Yan needn’t pay.”

Qin Niu silently noted that at least there was someone sensible in the Yan Family.

Yan Ruohai was much more magnanimous in his actions than his son.

“No, no, no, Master Qin eliminated three formidable locusts for my Yan Family at no charge, that was your kindness. Please, you must accept this ten Silver Money, otherwise I won’t be able to explain it to my father when I go back.” Young Master Yan was not yet in charge of the Yan Family.

He was only being groomed as the successor, and if he did not perform adequately, for the sake of family interests, they might replace him with another son to take control of the Yan Family.

His handling of the situation with Qin Niu today was indeed a significant demerit.

“Alright then, thank you very much.”

Qin Niu happily accepted the ten Silver Money.

The Yan Family eldest heir visibly relaxed.

“It was fortunate that Master Qin was there last night, otherwise our Yan Family’s crops would have been devastated. According to reliable information, last night Jade Stream Town’s Pang Family and He Family both suffered. The He Family has three Insect Masters, one of whom is even stronger than Master Mo Sang. These days, the other families’ crops have mostly been destroyed by the locust plague, but the He Family remained unscathed.

Last night, the He Family was attacked by a giant locust, their defenses immediately collapsed, and most of the locusts poured in. The He Family’s tea garden was devastated, more than half destroyed overnight. It is said that one of the He Family’s Insect Masters fell to the ground. Industry insiders speculate that the Insect Master’s pet might have met with an accident.”

The tea garden is of the utmost importance, and for assurance, major families generally adopt double protection measures.

The He Family is also an old and influential clan in the area, established much earlier than the Yan Family.

Their defenses for the tea garden would certainly not be weak.

That they were still breached indicates the ferocity of the locusts.

As for the Insect Master collapsing on the ground, it was likely due to his pet being killed, which severely impacted him as the owner.

Typically, the longer the insects are cultivated, the closer their connection with their master’s soul.

The greater the damage to the master’s soul when they die.

Qin Niu only needed to kill one of Old Master Huang’s bee generals to drive him mad, which was for this very reason.

Are Grade Three locusts just big in size? Could their combat power be that strong?

Qin Niu couldn’t help but be curious.

It was not easy to kill an Insect Master’s pet.

To become an Insect Master, one must have at least one obedient Grade Three insect.

The giant locusts were at about Grade Three, not yet reaching Grade Four.

And yet, it could bite to death insects of the same level?

In Qin Niu’s view, the combat power of the giant locusts was very weak.

Only needing the antennae of Fourth to twitch, and the giant locusts would immediately turn into obedient puppets. Just send a few more Grade Two termites, and they could easily annihilate them. As for the Golden Toad, there was even less need to mention, he could eat them one by one as if snacking with ease.

“The Pang Family had one of their own Insect Masters, and also hired three others, but they were still unable to hold their defenses and were breached.

However, the situation of the Pang Family was much better; it is said they soon stabilized the situation and the losses were not significant.

Both families only discovered one giant locust, but my Yan Family had the misfortune of facing three. Fortunately, Master Qin was there, otherwise our Yan Family’s crops would have surely been in ruins.”

Only after learning about the other two major families’ experiences did the Yan Family eldest heir realize how difficult it was for Qin Niu to single-handedly eliminate three giant locusts last night.

The Insect Masters of the Pang Family were evidently stronger.

The fact that they were initially overwhelmed indicated their regular strength was no match for the extraordinarily large locusts.

Likely resorting to their trump cards thereafter, they managed to reverse the situation.

This also indirectly suggests that the Pang Family now has the capacity to deal with Grade Three oversized locusts.

Qin Niu had gained a thorough understanding of the Insect Master capabilities of these two families.

Another piece of information filled him with vigilance.

The other two families had only encountered a single oversized locust attack, just like the Yan Family at the start.

It was only after Qin Niu instantaneously captured that one that three more appeared.

This could hardly be a coincidence.

It was very likely that the puppeteer behind the scenes noticed something amiss and sent three more oversized locusts to either rescue or probe.

If that was the case, Qin Niu’s current predicament was very dangerous.

The mastermind controlling the insects was almost certainly a member of the Nine Insect Gang.

If they discovered that a formidable Insect Master was hiding in the small Shuangfeng Village, they would definitely begin an in-depth investigation in secret. Once they connected Old Master Huang’s disappearance with him, he would be in big trouble.

Old Master Huang’s master was an elder of the Nine Insect Gang.

If his beloved pupil was killed, that elder would surely be enraged.

With this thought, Qin Niu’s back broke out in cold sweats.

“Young Master Yan, to be honest, to deal with those oversized locusts last night, I have already laid all my cards on the table, exhausting the strength I had gathered with great difficulty. If such oversized locusts appear again today, I simply cannot cope. This is also why I reminded you this morning that you must make early preparations.”

Qin Niu put on a distressed face.

When talking about exhausting his accumulated strength, his face was especially filled with a pained and distressed expression.

“Alt… what shall we do now? If even Master Qin cannot hold the line, my Yan Family’s crops will definitely be ruined,” said Young Master Yan, turning pale with shock.

” When the time comes, we’ll save whatever we can! Corn, wheat, rice—harvest them quickly if possible. As for the mulberry fields and tea gardens, if you want to protect them, I’m afraid you’ll need to call in an even more powerful Insect Master.”

Qin Niu was prepared to take strategic retreat.

Having assisted the Yan Family for so many days, he felt he had done his duty.

Now aware of the danger, Qin Niu absolutely refused to remain in the forefront.

During the Yan Family’s dinner, Masters Mo and Shi both had low spirits, even finding no joy in the beautiful servants they were holding.

They must have also heard the news about how an Insect Master from the He Family lost all his insects.

For an Insect Master, their insects are their lifeblood.

If the insects die, the Insect Master is virtually left with a name but no substance, especially for lower-ranked Insect Masters who often rely on just one skilled insect and have a very weak ability to withstand risks.

The gloomy mood not only spread among the two Insect Masters but Young Master Yan was also troubled and full of worry.

After having dinner at the Yan Family’s, Qin Niu went to inspect the defenses.

The termites were still performing strongly, capturing a total of seventy-six special locusts.

But no Grade Three oversized locusts were discovered.

The number of special locusts they captured was also noticeably less than the day before.

This made Qin Niu even more uneasy.

He acted even more cautiously and unobtrusively.

If Grade Three oversized locusts came again, he would definitely let them pass.

In the blink of an eye, four more days passed.

The defensive line Qin Niu was guarding remained stable—not to mention Grade Three giant locusts, even the number of Grade Two special locusts was dwindling.

The locust plague seemed to be abating.

In the past few days, the Yan Family had been on tenterhooks, with Young Master Yan running around the fields everyday, his eyes ringed with dark circles.

Any grain that could be salvaged was being hastily gathered by family servants and workers.

Qin Niu seized every day to practice cultivation and nurture his insects.

He was very aware that these days of peace could very well be the calm before a storm.

One day, while he was nurturing his newly hatched bees at home, he heard someone asking to see him outside.

The visitor was an employee from the Miaodan Pavilion.

He had been too busy to follow up after handing the beast core over to Master Zi Zhou.

“Master Qin Niu, this is the elixir you entrusted us at Miaodan Pavilion to refine. The pill is now ready; congratulations,” said the visitor, who came in a pair, handing Qin Niu a box.

“Excellent! You’ve worked hard! Please convey my thanks to Master Zi Zhou.”

This was truly a timely rain; he had been waiting for it.

Accepting the box, Qin Niu opened it to take a look.

Inside was a green pill, about the size of an egg yolk.

Next to it were two similarly wax-sealed yellow pills.

They looked just like two mud pills.

They were also significantly smaller than the green pill.

At most, they were the size of a pigeon egg.

“Are these two extra pills gifted to me?”

Qin Niu asked curiously.