“An immortal who speaks mere portions of truth in order to deceive is a craftsman of destruction.”

The revelation was soul-crippling.

Qai's immediate thought was to flee from Old Bu's cave. But somehow he could not. It was not because he still pretended to be calm, but because something was apparently restricting his body to move.

‘No!’

Unaware, the stone chair Qai was seated on was actually covered by an array formation.

His mind was already spinning from thinking of what was going on.

Qai was about to say something but it was then that Old Bu further revealed why he became the centerpiece of the old cultivator’s scheme.

“But the cultivator required should practice a body refinement himself and you just fit the bill, boy!”

Dang!

All along, it was the fact that Qai had that knight physique that Old Bu helped him to cultivate.

‘What a patient old fox!’

“Haha, I was already running out of options but then you appeared on this island. I watched you grow and saw to it that you the would become a cultivator in time.”

Upon hearing Old Bu’s ruse, Qai could no longer pretend composed and tried to break free.

He exerted his Master rank Knight physical strength to unbind himself from whatever it was that forced him to stay still—but it was to no avail.

The old cultivator, on the other hand, started to perform a hand motion.

“Do not resist. I'll be sure to give you a painless death and send compensation to your family since you're so willing to sacrifice for me.”

Old Bu was evidently about to begin the malevolent cultivation method he spoke of—and this did not go unnoticed.

Qai who was earlier freaking out with Old Bu's unexpected scheme tried his best to collect himself.

He had been in the same helpless situation before. But he was no longer willing to simply succumb to his foe just like before.

‘I cannot die twice! I have to calm down.’

Qai took a deep breath and inadvertently turned his gaze below and saw his shadow.

As he regained his composure, he sarcastically cursed being 15 years of age.

Qai had been at the same age when he first died as a noble. But he thought he had to do something despite being physically restrained.

It was then that he recalled that he still had a trump card which he had been keeping from Old Bu's knowledge.

Dark giant Ants!

Without second thoughts, Qai summoned his Ant colony without hesitation.

Dark mists immediately streaked from the dark shaded area under his feet.

Right there and then, a giant Ant General and five other Ant Soldiers emerged in a Beeline army formation.

Old Bu was stunned.

Surprisingly, the Ant General’s size alone could make it suitable as a beast mount. And the total number of giant Ants that Qai assembled instantly made the entire hall packed.

But what made Old Bu horrified was that the Spirit Beasts were emitting spiritual Qi energy aura much higher than his.

"C.. Core Formation..!?"

In his panic, Old Bu even inaccurately blurted out the Spirit Beasts’ cultivation base.

The Ant General was actually a level 5 Spirit Beast while the Ant Soldiers were a lower level. In some sense though, the mistake may still be considered correct since they were really comparable to Core Formation stage cultivators.

But Qai took Old Bu’s words as a piece of welcomed news.

He had not been able to guess his beast companion's true strength but now he had just unintentionally received an evaluation.

However, it was not time to celebrate.

The fallout between him and Old Bu was already unavoidable. If he could not kill the old cultivator right there and then, there was no place on the Kamaria Island he could hide.

Old Bu had earlier revealed that he was himself a Foundation Establishment stage cultivator while his giant Ants were comparable to Core Formation stage cultivators—and Qai even summoned 6 of them.

Qai felt relieved.

But Old Bu was grief-stricken.

“Misunderstanding..”

Old Bu was just about to give an excuse but Qai planned to give him none.

He had been schemed and plotted against before; and he learned his lesson never to give an inch to someone so calculative and skilled in deception, or else, the latter would opportunely take a meter.

Qai could just imagine how long must Old Bu have endured his greed to wait for this moment and how obviously the latter had masterfully never shown any hint.

“Kill!”

Qai’s command was loud and clear. He certainly would have none of Old Bu's plot.

The 5 Ant Soldiers responded and moved like a shadow as they began to pound on Old Bu.

Old Bu, on the other hand, quickly retaliated by releasing talisman after talisman.

He seemed to be aware that ordinary treasures were evidently incapable of harming Spirit Beasts comparable to Core Formation stage cultivators so he immediately relied on his well kept life-saving treasures.

Metal element spiritual Qi energy in the appearance of shields, as well as, fire element spiritual Qi energy in the form of a Phoenix immediately faced the Ant Soldiers.

Boom. Boom. Boom.

To some degree, Old Bu's talismans did their work and kept a distance between him and the Spirit Beasts.

Since the giant Ants could only rely on their mandibles to attack, they could not properly approach as powerful Qi blasts kept going at them.

Surprisingly, Old Bu was not done yet as he controlled his flying sword to continuously circle around him and make it attack the Ant Soldiers occasionally. It didn't do much harm, but it was enough to confuse the giant Ants’ momentum.

It was the first time Qai saw Old Bu fight, and the first time he saw talismans as well. He was awed by the sight of such treasures.

Old Bu was clearly disadvantaged in terms of cultivation level, but his treasures prevented him from getting hurt either.

‘No wonder Old Bu told me before that even if I could kill level 2 Spirit Beasts as Gold rank Knight, I would not be certain to win against elite Qi Condensation stage cultivators.’

Cultivation base was one thing, but a prized treasure in one's possession is quite another.

Qai, however, did not want to stay in a deadlock situation. The more he delayed, he reckoned that Old Bu would be able to find a chance to turn the tide of the battle.

Thus, he decisively commanded the Ant General to make its move.

The giant Ants heeded Qai’s call and quickly regrouped into Wedge army formation with the Ant General at the very front.

“Attack!”

The Ant General had the hardest carapace among them and thereby easily absorbed the pressure from the flaming ‘Phoenix.’

With that, the rest of the Ant Soldiers were able to close in.

Old Bu tried to flee, but the shadow movement of the giant Ants was unexpectedly swift.

“Nooooooo!”

The Ant Soldiers’ mandibles were too much for Old Bu—just a few bites and he already found himself severely wounded and struggling for breath.

Limping on the ground, Old Bu wanted to plead for his life as he attempted to offer Qai some treasures useful for the latter’s cultivation.

But just as he was about to pull something from his pouch, another dark colored mist streaked from Qai’s shadow.

Dark Queen Ant!

Even Qai was surprised by the queen’s initiative. He didn't know why so he just watched as the things unfolded.

The Ant Soldiers gave way as the Queen Ant approached.

And when it appeared in front of Old Bu, it’s eyes seemed enticed. Suddenly, it opened its mandible and gobbled Old Bu whole.

Qai’s jaw dropped and his eyes wide as he watched the scene.

As Old Bu died, Qai was finally released from the restrictive effect of the array formation.

It was definitely unexpected but there was a bit of understanding in his mind. If human cultivators could nourish themselves through Spirit Beasts, then why couldn't Spirit Beast do same with cultivators.

He shook his head as he cleared his thoughts then saw nothing from the remains of Old Bu but his robe, flying sword, two paper talismans and a brown colored pouch.

Qai paused for a moment before hesitantly picked Old Bu’s things up.