Chapter 369 - Chapter 369: Chapter 362: Grade Five Demon Ant_1

Chapter 369: Chapter 362: Grade Five Demon Ant_1

Under normal circumstances, when Gu insects are cultivated, their master can control them.

The extreme case of them backfiring on their master rarely happens.

This Black Spider Gu couldn’t be controlled because Elder Mei cultivated it as a semi-finished product, with flaws.

Upon his demise, the problem was completely resolved.

With the issue now transferred onto Qin Niu, it was his turn to suffer the headache.

He read through “Mei Qing’s Insect Control Experience” overnight and gained a lot from it in terms of knowledge on controlling, cultivating, breeding, and managing Gu insects.

He compared it with Elder Jiu Yin’s notes, and there was quite an overlap in their knowledge of controlling Gu.

However, their methods of cultivating and controlling Gu were completely different.

People always have their own agendas.

They probably often shared their experience in controlling Gu, but the techniques of cultivating and controlling were considered core skills and were never disclosed lightly.

Qin Niu, now in possession of the cultivation and control techniques from both elders, began to merge their Gu techniques to find a way to deal with the Black Spider Gu in his body as soon as possible.

…

As the days passed, Qin Niu practiced diligently every day, earnestly cultivating the insects.

The Black Spider Gu that had burrowed into his body seemed to vanish like the air, without a trace.

It did not flare up at all.

This slightly relaxed Qin Niu’s extremely tense nerves.

Even so, he was still proactively preparing for the worst.

These days, apart from practicing and cultivating the insects, he also consciously learned and practiced the techniques of cultivating and controlling Gu.

After killing Elder Jiu Yin, he found a crystal tube on his body.

It contained more than a dozen insect eggs.

These were the Gu that Elder Jiu Yin had not yet successfully cultivated.

They were half insect, half Gu.

Qin Niu had always been afraid to touch them before, but now, he was consciously trying to hatch them.

However, for the sake of safety, he initially took only one insect egg to hatch.

The most common method of cultivating Gu is to feed them blood or poison.

There are also some special Gu insects that prefer certain peculiar ‘foods’. For example, Moonlight Gu, which not only feeds on fresh blood but also draws on moonlight.

Today, like any other day, Qin Niu went to the mountain to check on the Termites.

Just as he arrived at the Ant Nest, he discovered a very special Termite that had emerged. It was small and extremely agile.

Its body shined with a faint metallic luster, displaying a light pinkish hue.

It was the Gold Devouring Ant that had been continuously evolving since it had consumed Ancient Banyan Tree Blood.

Today, it had finally completed its evolution.

“Little one, let me check your attributes first,” Qin Niu said.

He extended his right hand, and the ant promptly climbed onto his palm, waving its two antennae and looking up at him.

One Grade Five Gold Devouring Ant (extremely rare variety), lifespan 9 years, special abilities (Flash Strike, Advanced Armor Break, Gold Devouring, moderate intelligence +, possesses intermediate carapace and self-healing capabilities).

He felt that its abilities had improved, but the change was not as significant as he had imagined—it was more of a steady enhancement.

The most notable improvements were probably the Advanced Armor Break and an increase in intelligence.

Its lifespan had increased from 3 days to 9 years.

Not bad, he thought.

At least he did not need to worry about its lifespan for the time being.

Ancient Banyan Tree Blood truly was a magnificent thing; regardless of which variety of Termite ate it, their lifespan increased by a few years.

Some even gained a few decades.

The Ant Queen’s lifespan had increased by thousands of years, a special case, impossible for other Termites to replicate.

Even Fourth couldn’t compare to it.

The Gold Devouring Ant had a high starting point as a Grade Four Termite at birth, and after consuming Ancient Banyan Tree Blood, it was promoted directly to Grade Five.

With a bit more fortuity in the future, advancing to Grade Six would be effortless.

“Not bad. From now on, you’ll follow me and be ready to serve at any time,” Qin Niu said.

Qin Niu was definitely not raising insects for fun.

At critical moments, he needed the insects to help him, their master, deal with formidable enemies or capture other powerful insects.

“Master, I’m hungry!”

It vigorously waved its two antennae, and its abdomen lifted slightly, resembling a little dog that wanted to please its master, desperately wagging its tail.

“What would you like to eat?”

Qin Niu took out the corpse of a bee general for it to eat.

It touched the bee general’s corpse with its antennae but surprisingly didn’t eat it.

“This isn’t the food I like.”

It continued to wag its two antennae at Qin Niu, begging for food.

“Your brothers and sisters usually aren’t picky eaters, but you are rather particular. This is the corpse of a Steel-winged Wild Bee general, which I wouldn’t normally even think of feeding to the common termite. Only the Ant Queen, Fourth, and several dozen Demon Ants are qualified to eat it.”

Qin Niu looked at the little thing in his palm, genuinely unsure of what it wanted to eat.

Its name was Gold Devouring Ant, and among its special abilities was gold devouring.

Could it be that it liked to eat metal?

But that was not its sole prerogative.

For instance, among Rock-Biting Rats, the top-grade variety known as Gold-Biting Rats enjoyed consuming metal.

At first, they ate ores containing metal.

Such as iron ore, gold ore, and so on.

Later, as their abilities grew stronger and stronger, they became pickier about their food. They stopped eating metal ores and started directly consuming processed metals like iron ingots and silver bars.

Qin Niu felt around on himself, and this was a copper coin.

As he became richer, he rarely carried copper coins on him anymore. At most, he would carry some silver pieces.

“Come on, have a copper coin! I’m just afraid you won’t be able to bite through it.”

Qin Niu placed the copper coin in front of it.

The little guy touched it with its antennae and immediately became excited.

It started gnawing on the edge of the copper coin.

Crunch, crunch!

The hard copper coin before it was like a crisply baked cookie. It ate mouthful after mouthful, and a notch quickly appeared on the edge.

As it continued to feed, its originally pinkish body gradually turned brass in color.

“Go enjoy your feast in the Insect Bag! If you like eating metal, from now on I’ll feed you metal blocks every day. Feel free to eat to your heart’s content without worrying that I can’t afford to keep you,” Qin Niu told it.

The Gold Devouring Ant belonged to a very rare species; he believed that with proper grooming, the stronger its abilities would become as time passed.

After securing the Gold Devouring Ant, Qin Niu turned his attention to the Demon Ants that had consumed the Blood Gu.

They had already completed their devouring and evolution two days earlier.

The results were quite encouraging, with a total of ten Demon Ants turning out to be the lucky ones, each getting the chance to devour a Blood Gu.

Qin Niu had obtained a total of twelve Blood Gus at that time. Fourth and the Green Silk Worm each devoured one, and the remaining ten were given to ten Demon Ants by Qin Niu.

Grade Five Demon Ants, 10 individuals, lifespan 270 years, special abilities (Flash Strike, Moderate Intelligence+, Advanced Carapace, Intermediate Self-healing, Advanced Armor Break, Venom Attack; developed a poison sting and sac in the abdomen, the venom possessing strong paralytic, heart corroding, and soul eroding toxicity. The poison sting has a very strong armor-piercing capability. Illusion form. Demonization+, with speed increasing fourfold, attack power sixfold, and defense threefold when demonized.)

Quite impressive.

The venom of the Demon Ants was very special, capable of attacking the enemy’s body and possessing soul-eroding toxicity.

It felt, however, that their soul-eroding toxicity should be weaker than Fourth’s.

But their ability to have compound toxicity would catch enemies off guard in actual combat.

If bitten by a Dark Poison Ant, one could still take a Detoxification Pill to neutralize the poison.

If bitten by a Demon Ant, it was estimated that a regular Detoxification Pill would be ineffective.

Elder Mei had a Black Spider Gu in his body, which specialized in devouring various venoms. The more poisonous the toxin, the more it enjoyed consuming it. Bitten by over a hundred Dark Poison Ants, Elder Mei was fine.

On the contrary, it greatly satisfied the Black Spider Gu within him.

But after being bitten by Fourth, within about a day, Elder Mei eventually started showing symptoms of soul erosion.

This was enough to indicate that Fourth’s venom was of a very high grade, even beyond what the Black Spider Gu could absorb.