The previous day.

Senior Han was in a bad mood.

After Xiuying asked him to help chaperone the next trip, he readily agreed thinking it would be easy.

...

Until Qiao Shun assigned him another task.

Yang Ning had gone missing.

Several days ago, the blind shopkeeper teleported out of the sect. Several hours later, the signal from his sect token was lost, along with the tracking seals placed on every disciple.

It was absolutely inconceivable.

As for the possibility of the token breaking, that was even more absurd. Even the elders would have to expend a fair amount of effort to break those.

Han Yun knew the blind man was very exceptional with seals and formations, but ultimately, he was but a Foundational cultivator! How was it possible he broke the tier 9 formation engraved in the token, let alone so quickly?

There were 6 cultivation tiers of difference. It would be as if an ordinary ant had somehow defeated an elephant... no, a spirit elephant.

It reeked of foul play.

A powerful third party must have been involved.

And yet, in the 6th belt of the universe, no cultivators above the 5th stage: Nascent Soul would be allowed, lest they face tribulations from the heavens. The only exception would be if they had vast amounts of karma and prior agreement with heavenly spirits...

Was Yang Ning trying to break off ties from the sect? Or had he been kidnapped for unknown reasons?

Either way, Han Yun was worried for one of his closest friends.

...

Several hours later, he received a message that Hong Ling had escaped as well.

"#@$%!"

He threw his sect token violently, pulverising a tree and creating a smoking crater in the ground.

Great. Just great.

His days were just getting better and better.

Filled with indignance, he dug the sect token back up angrily. Naturally, it was perfectly unharmed.

"So... so strong..." an ant said with soulsense weakly.

Around the glassy orb, dozens of ants were left unconscious.

Most of the smaller workers had already fled, only those with the giant heads staring at them warily.

Mei was rather afraid at first, but after realising the ants could do absolutely no harm, actually began to get excited.

As the ants charged over, Shi Xin summons arms of rock to punch them around, smashing them into the walls and leaving ant-shaped craters everywhere. It was like... watching a puppet show... but real! So cool!

Xiuying and the others stared at her weirdly. Who but Mei could get excited while seeing horrifying monsters lunge at them? Even if they knew it was safe, it didn't make it any less terrifying! Those crazy ants could even use magic!

The big-headed ants didn't use magic, but on their backs, many smaller ants had clamoured on, unleashing waves of spells, using the giant ants as mobile fortresses.

On the glassy ball, black residue and water droplets still remained... Those ants had been pelting them with fireballs, frost blasts, lightning bolts and even flying artefacts!

Mei didn't expect even giant insects to have intelligence, so she was fairly surprised when she saw them using magic and weapons.

"Intruders... what are you here for?"

Finally, realising they couldn't beat the "invincible hamster ball", one of the ants tried to negotiate, realising none of its brethren had actually been killed.

"We were tracking down a demonic fungus, but accidentally came across your nest." Tu Teng said. "Have you done anything to it?"

"W-what!" a big-headed ant suddenly stuttered. "You- What demonic mushroom? We've never seen any mushrooms!"

On its back, one of the smaller ants smacked its head.

"Sorry, our friend here is a bit of a meathead! Are you perchance talking about the fungal gardens we have? If that's all you want, we can take you there." the ant said. "But don't take it too far. You might have beaten us, but the Queen's elite troops will take you down in an instant!"

"Yes! A single one of them is capable of taking down 10 peak Nascent Soul humans!" another ant added. "And we have a whole army of them!"

"Wait, 33 is considered an army?" the big-headed ant below asked. "I thought-"

"Shut up! Don't sprout nonsense at times like this!"

"Sorry..."

Mei: ...

Well, not that the elder spirits would lose to them, right?

"Fungal gardens? Sure, we'll take a look." Shi Xin said.

And with that, one of the giant ants plopped the glassy ball onto its back, carrying them as it marched down the corridor. Tu Teng seemed deep in thought, qi pulsing around him the entire time.

...

"Wang Wei, are you okay?" Xiuying asked.

"No."

Indeed, his face was very pale. Well, paler than it already was. He had lived a rather sedentary lifestyle, rarely exposed to the outside sun.

"Here, let me try something." Liu Qiang said, grinning faintly.

"You still can smile in this situation?" Wang Wei grimaced.

"Well, a least he didn't get excited about the fight like her over there," Yingyi said.

"And what's wrong with that?" Mei frowned.

Urgh. That boy was so annoying...

Liu Qiang pulled out a shirt from his bag and draped it around Wang Wei's head.

"Hey! What are you doing?"

The chubby boy laughed, trying to tie a knot as his "victim" struggled.

"It's less scary if you can't see the ants!"

"What? No, that makes it even scarier! Take it off!"

Wang Wei finally slapped the shirt away, pouting.

"Alright, sheesh." Liu Qiang said.

In a huge cavern, vines covered in luminous lichen hung from the ceiling.

Massive logs reached from the ground to the ceiling, acting as both pillars and farming vessels, their surface covered in masses of bracket fungus.

On the ground, all sorts of strange glowing mushrooms grew from smaller logs and plots of dark soil, worker ants as small as house cats tending to them.

"If any of the fungi catch your interest, feel free you consult our workers. Our Queen respects strength, so we will sell it to you at a discounted price." the ant said. "What? Did you think we'd give them to you for free?"

...

The ants left, leaving the hamster ball to roll around. The small ants glanced at them warily.

In the centre of the chamber, a lone big-headed ant stood, slenderer than the usual ones and covered in shiny grey armour entirely. From the intense aura it gave off, Mei had a feeling it was one of the elites.

"I've decrypted their Sense Halting formation. It won't hinder me anymore." Tu Teng suddenly said.

"So now you can find the mushroom?" Liu Qiang asked.

"Yes. I have located it, deeper in the ant nest, unharmed." the green spirit said. "That said, I sense hundreds of similar souls."

"The ants are kidnapping these mushrooms?"

"No, I don't think that's the case, judging from how some are wandering through the nest freely. It would seem like... the mushroom village is within the nest itself."