Chapter 1831: Chapter 1831: The Ant Swarm Mobilizes
Li Feng stepped into the Death Valley of the Valley of Life and Death, walking on the white Bone River for more than a thousand meters. The entire Death Valley was dead silent; not to mention the sound of birds and beasts, there wasn’t even the slightest insect chirping.
He didn’t know how many corpses were piled under the Bone River, which for some reason had turned into grain-sized bone particles, covering the entire valley like sand on a beach.
Li Feng was extremely cautious, after all, a person’s name casts a shadow. The Valley of Life and Death was well-known, and even the Sikong family had to take a detour around it, clearly indicating some great terror within.
Li Feng slowed his pace, watching and listening carefully.
Eventually, his gaze fell on the cliffs on both sides of the valley. These walls were filled with fist-sized holes, densely packed, making one’s scalp tingle. These seemed to be Fire Ant nests, yet on a closer look, there were no Fire Ants in sight.
Quiet.
The whole valley was too quiet.
In the distance, Sikong Yu and the others hiding at the connection of the Valley of Life and Death did not immediately follow when Li Feng stepped into the Death Valley.
"Everyone retreat, hide behind that ridge."
With Li Feng absent, Sikong Yu directly ordered Lei Ba and the others. However, Lei Ba and the others only glanced at Sikong Yu without taking action, leaving Sikong Yu somewhat embarrassed.
Seeing this, Ouyang Qiuhai also spoke up for Sikong Yu: "Sister Yu, why bother with them, this group is just like their master."
"If they insist on courting death, let them."
Having said this, Ouyang Qiuhai grabbed Sikong Yu’s arm. She naturally believed what Sikong Yu had previously said. Despite the current quiet ahead, the quiet made her feel that something terrible would happen.
Sikong Yu took a deep breath but didn’t leave. Instead, she looked at Ran Yue, Lei Ba, and the others with patience: "I know you don’t want to listen to me, but aren’t you listening to Li Feng?"
"Moreover, he went to such lengths, willing to give up the relatively safe path and chose this Valley of Life and Death for your sake."
"Entering the Molten Lava Land to search for Vermilion Bird, although fraught with crises, truly finding the Vermilion Bird Holy Beast would be a great opportunity. To you, being a bunch of cannon fodder or burdens isn’t unfounded."
"However, are you really going to rely on him to protect you all the way? You must know that you will encounter various dangers along the way. Even if you can’t help, at the very least, do not add chaos."
"I understand what he wants. He wants a Personal Guard Camp he can use, not a group needing protection."
"For you now, surviving and keeping up with him is your greatest repayment to him."
"As for what to do, choose for yourselves."
After speaking, Sikong Yu said no more. Lei Ba and the others exchanged glances, then Lei Ba turned around, bellowing: "Retreat behind the ridge to rest, ready for orders at any time."
The three Lei Ba were appointed as Colonels by Li Feng and could command these trusted aides. Over three hundred people turned and retreated to the previous ridge, constituting the boundary junction of the Valley of Life and Death, though whether it was safe was uncertain.
At least the demon plants on the Life Valley side dared not cross the Thunder Pond, and the Death Valley ahead remained silent.
The main force retreated behind the ridge, but Lei Ba and others stood guard in the front.
"Miss Sikong, is the Fire Ant Beast really that difficult to deal with?"
Lei Ba asked.
Sikong Yu glanced at Lei Ba with a raised eye, then looked ahead: "A single Fire Ant Beast is only as strong as an ordinary first-level Spiritual Beast, not very strong. It’s about the size of an adult and can spray a Molten Lava Acid Liquid that can melt flesh and bone."
"As long as you are a bit careful, even a Qi Refinement Realm can easily kill a lone Fire Ant Beast."
"However, ant colonies, like bee swarms, are social creatures. A bee swarm might be at most at the level of a million, but ant colonies are different; as long as there is enough food, they can appear in numbers of billions."
"Moreover, the Fire Ant colony is far from being just single Fire Ant Beasts. The colony is mostly composed of Fire Soldier Ants, highly aggressive and the main battle unit of the colony, aside from the flying Fire Ants, which can fly and are about as strong as Fire Soldier Ants."
"Additionally, there are a few King Ants in the Fire Ant group, much stronger, reaching our Foundation Establishment Stage’s strength, with low combat ability yet capable of leading countless ant colonies. This Fire Ant group isn’t just a scatter of sand."
"Once Fire Ants number thousands or tens of thousands, even the Molten Lava Acid Liquid sprayed by small Fire Soldier Ants is enough to form a lake, and even Foundation Establishment Stage’s Gang Qi can’t withstand it because the Molten Lava Acid Liquid corrodes Gang Qi."
"The most critical aspect is that the number of these Fire Ants is unknown, and you can’t kill them all."
Sikong Yu said, looking at the Death Valley ahead.
Gah.
A harsh bird cry suddenly came from above the Valley of Life and Death, causing everyone to look up. A Three-eyed Crow flapped its wings and flew into the Death Valley, landing not far in front of Li Feng, its three black pupils seemingly directed at Li Feng.
Although it was just a bird, Li Feng seemed to notice a hint of mockery in its eyes.
The next second, the Three-eyed Crow spat out an egg-sized oval bead from its mouth and then crushed it with its sharp beak.
The oval bead burst instantly, splattering liquid everywhere. The Three-eyed Crow dropped the broken bead, flapped its wings, and flew up.
And as soon as the Three-eyed Crow took flight, rustling sounds emerged from beneath the white snowy bones, a red figure appeared from the river of bones.
This red figure wasn’t even the size of a baby’s fist, resembling a large locust, with a large mouth clamping towards the air.
The next second, the Fire Ant Beast leaped up, but was blown away by the wind from the Three-eyed Crow’s wings.
The Three-eyed Crow again let out a harsh cry, as if slightly triumphant, but in the next moment, where the bead had burst, bone sand frequently surged, and Fire Ants spewed out like a volcano.
In an instant, several meters around were covered, rapidly spreading, like the poem, ’as if overnight, a sudden spring breeze comes, bringing thousands of pear trees in bloom’. But what bloomed here was not pear flowers, but a massive red sea.
Swarms of Fire Ant Beasts gathered, jumping from all directions at the flying Three-eyed Crow, which thought it could escape by flying, but was evidently mistaken. The leaping Fire Ant Beasts sprayed Molten Lava Acid Liquid at the Three-eyed Crow.
The Three-eyed Crow, hit, seemed panicked; the acid’s corrosiveness was frightening, accompanied by the heat, burning holes into its feathers.
Yet, it still managed to fly to a certain height, unreachable by the soldier ants. But as it thought it could escape, some ants in the Bone Sea vibrated the two pairs of wings on their backs.
The next second.
A cloud of fire rose, surging towards the Three-eyed Crow. In the blink of an eye, the crow let out a wretched scream, then dropped into the ant swarm, quickly forming a small mound.
In no time.
The swarm dispersed, leaving nothing but bone fragments.
The Three-eyed Crow perished instantly, and the alerted Fire Ant swarm showed no sign of quieting down. The entire Bone River was turning into a red sea at a speed visible to the naked eye.
