Chapter 294: Godkiller Ants
Afterward, Ming Dong stayed behind in the shrine, and despite his begging, Jian Chen declined to stay as well. Escorted by two elders, Jian Chen was sent to the Space Gate and returned to the poisonous cloud filled mountain range.
After reorienting himself, Jian Chen began to walk out of the valley. Just as he was about to exit out from the area, Jian Chen hesitated for a moment before heading back to the valley to set up his tent in a secluded area. His plans changed so that he could cultivate in peace for a moment.
The valley was quite nice for its environment. It was elegant and quiet. Aside from a few butterflies that fluttered around from flower to flower, there was no other signs of life. All around the valley, the poisonous cloud spread throughout the sky and dyed the area pink. With the pink cloud floating around, no one entered the valley. It was as if the cloud was protecting the mountain range.
The toxicity of the poison was extremely strong and none of the competitors were able to make it through into this valley. Furthermore, this place served to hold the Space Gate that would lead to the shrine. Those who wanted to come to the shrine would need to have the permission of the shrine lord, so Jian Chen felt relaxed. No one would be able to disturb him while he cultivated so he began to delve deep into a cultivation trance.
Within Jian Chen’s dantian, the Sword Spirits continued to revolve around the Multicolored Stone. A strange amount of energy continued to radiate from the stone and blended in with the Sword Spirits. They grew larger with each passing second as the light was absorbed by the Sword Spirits. This process was extremely long, and if one didn’t pay attention to the change, then one would never notice it.
Within the mountains, Jian Chen spent almost ten months cultivating. As those few months passed by, Jian Chen spent the time cultivating in his tent and practicing with his sword among the flowers. While his strength did not make an extreme leap, his Saint Force could not be used in a more efficient manner, increasing his battle strength by several times over.
The time before the first round of the competition was about to end in less than two months. Jian Chen had been cultivating while waiting for Ming Dong to return, but by this point it was far too late for him to continue waiting. The remaining amount of time had to be spent trying to collect tokens.
Arriving at the Space Gate, he looked at the mysterious array formation on the ground before letting out a single breath. After packing up his things, he left the valley.
Jian Chen spent a day observing the array formation on the Space Gate, but because of the extremely mysterious pattern, he had given up. It contained a complex design and what might seem to be the mysteries of the world. It was almost as if each stroke of the array was pulling at the laws of the world that mystified Jian Chen with his limited comprehension of it.
After leaving the small valley, Jian Chen wandered through the poisonous cloud while following the way back to when he had first arrived here with Ming Dong.
Because of the poisonous cloud, the mountain was quite barren with very few plant life remaining. Every so often, Jian Chen would come across some poisonous plants, but those were exceptionally rare.
As he walked through the mountain range for two hours, a rustling sound could be heard coming from the distance in a concentrated amount.
Upon hearing the sound, Jian Chen stopped his movements and immediately turned toward the noise with a serious look. Because of the dense clouds, he could see less than a hundred meters away.
Quickly, a big shadow could be seen within Jian Chen’s line of sight. The shadows were like a current, with each different shadow moving along in a stream.
Looking at the black figures, Jian Chen’s face changed. There was a single thumb sized ant, and in the air, several other fist sized ants with wings were quickly flying over.
“So those are Godkiller Ants!” Jian Chen cried out before running away from them without hesitation.
The Godkiller Ants were well known within the continent, they were a strange race that weren’t exactly magical beasts. By itself, a single Godkiller Ant was not very strong.When they grouped up in large numbers, even a Heaven Saint Master would be surrounded and lose their life. So an Earth Saint Master like Jian Chen would have no chance.
Godkiller Ants were very poisonous creatures and were also immune to the vast majority of poison. Very few would be able to do damage to them, and their outer skin was extremely thick and hard like steel. Anyone lacking in strength wouldn’t be able to kill one. Furthermore, these Godkiller Ants were capable of even swallowing Saint Force. Thus, anyone using Saint Force to protect themselves would be seen as nothing more but a decorational piece to these ants.
Jian Chen remembered reading about them within his books. Each one of them agreed that the best way to deal with them was to run away as far as possible. The venom of a Godkiller Ant had an extremely strong anesthetic effect. The moment one was bit, the venom would circulate around the body and cause one to feel weak. They wouldn’t be able to run away and could only wait for the Godkiller Ants to gnaw away at their bodies until even the bones were gone.
In the case one was bitten, then the probability of survival was zero percent unless a miracle happened.
Jian Chen flew from the mountain range as fast as a wind fueled fire. He had no wish to fight against the thousands of Godkiller Ants.
From behind, the Godkiller Ants had already detected Jian Chen’s presence and began to give chase. The entire swarm began to migrate toward him in a continuous manner that would raise the hairs of anyone that heard it. In the air, fist sized winged ants traveled faster than their grounded counterparts and led the chase after Jian Chen at a speed that was far faster than what Jian Chen was traveling at.
Jian Chen’s speed was at the fastest he could travel. Flying through the mountain range, he tried to go faster, but despite getting a boost in speed after becoming an Earth Saint Master, the precipitous terrain of the mountain was far too uneven for Jian Chen to build up proper speed. This was in no way better than the ants that were flying at him.
Not too long after, Jian Chen had been overtaken by a few Godkiller Ants. Without a choice, he took out his Light Wind Sword and began to strike out at them with several thrusts.
With a series of metallic sounds, a large amount of the Godkiller Ants fell from the skies. Their bodies split in two with black blood spilling out.
Because of this delay, several other ants had already surrounded him. Several ants stepped over the dead bodies of their swarm and charged toward Jian Chen without fear.
Jian Chen’s Light Wind Sword continued to swing outward in a series of intersecting movements that not only halted the advancement of the ants, but slowly carved a way out of the encirclement.
Despite this, there were a few Godkiller Ants that broke through Jian Chen’s sword and bit down onto Jian Chen. The sharp teeth of one of the ants tore through Jian Chen’s skin that could normally prevent being slashed by a Saint’s Saint Weapon like it was tofu.
Jian Chen ignored the bite and continued to slash his way out. If he were to stay trapped here, then when more ants were to gather, he would be stuck in a dead end.
With a herculean amount of effort, Jian Chen finally broke free and charged away. His entire body flew out of the valley. At the same time, he raised a hand and completely smashed the head of the ant that had bitten him, causing black blood to splash everywhere.
As for the venom that had entered Jian Chen’s body after he was bitten, the bloodstream in his body immediately purged away the venom so that it didn’t cause him any harm.
While the venom of a Godkiller Ant was scary, it was no use against the venom of the Silver Striped Golden Snake.
Close behind, the flying Godkiller Ants still pursued.
Suddenly, just as Jian Chen passed by a small cliffside, a one meter wide hole in the cliff suddenly shot out a red colored python that flew toward Jian Chen with its mouth wide open.
However with Jian Chen’s heightened awareness, he immediately shifted his body to dodge the python. With a raised fist, he smashed it down onto the python’s head.
The snake fell to the floor with a stunned expression after the blow to the head. Before it could even regain itself, it was quickly surrounded by the ants and was immediately torn apart by dozens of sharp fangs.
“Hiss~~” The python cried out in pain before its body began to rip. In the next second, its body flew apart and filled the sky with its pieces.
Each piece of the gigantic python was quickly taken by the Godkiller Ants. Numerous ants swarmed the pieces of the python and within seconds, the python was picked clean so that even the bones were gone. Not even the spilt blood could be seen anymore.
Jian Chen had long since disappeared from this place and escaped to a place outside of the Godkiller Ant’s perception.
Outside the area of the poisonous mountains, a group of twenty were gathered there. Pointing at the place, each one began to guess what was inside.
“I say that there is definitely a treasure inside, but how do we get inside this strange place?” A person asked.
“Just how could a god-forsaken place like this have treasure? Besides, that pink mist is definitely poisonous, just who would be able to get in?”
“Such a poisonous mist wouldn’t be here for no reason. This place is definitely strange and must hide some sort of secret!”
“Could a strong expert be living here in seclusion? I’ve heard that a few of the seniors at an expert level would often times install some high leveled magical beasts and other safeguards so that they can cultivate in peace. So I’m fairly sure this is the case here…”
“I can see your reasoning, but with this type of safeguard in place, the expert here must be a poison expert. I say we should leave this place at once. In the case that we disturb the expert here, then everything will go badly…”
“Bah, how can you say such words? Who says we’ll anger the expert or suffer from it? Haven’t you heard of the words, ‘A fateful encounter’? In the case that this expert is generous, then we could possibly become his disciples and be the carps that have leaped the dragon’s gate! In my eyes, this is a monumental chance!”
TL Note: http://www.zengyotaku.com/carp_jump_dragon_gate.html
The twenty men continued to discuss among each other in front of the poisonous mist and continued to debate about just what could possibly be within.
“Hey, look! Someone’s coming out!” Someone’s voice rang out. Immediately, everyone turned their heads to look at just who could be running out from the poisonous cloud in such a miserable manner.