“It is nothing but arrogance when one is in the wrong, to begin with.”

Qai's contracted Spirit Beast was back in his shadows.

Forthwith, the Queen Ant let him know what actually transpired, in the shortest amount of time possible, while it was in the Valley of Death.

First, the reason why there was strong black-colored spiritual Qi energy present in the valley was that there existed a sealed entrance to a place called the Netherworld.

And apparently, the spiritual Qi energy was simply leaking from the said seal.

But with just that leak alone, the black spiritual Qi energy was rich enough for the Queen Ant to save plenty of years of arduous cultivation.

Secondly, Qai’s contracted Spirit Beast, in consonance with his conjecture, did indeed achieve a breakthrough when it absorbed a ‘Black Flame’—which was another variation of Soulflame—that the Queen Ant actually discovered deep in the fissure.

The Black Flame served as the catalyst for it to advance to level 6.

And in addition—though its strength wasn’t much—the Ant colony gained another form of attack, as a result.

Just like the undying skeletons, all of the members of the colony, including the Ant Workers—to the delight of Qai—can now spit tongues of black flame from a certain distance.

And because the Queen Ant advanced a level, the rest of the colony advanced a level as well.

Apparently, while everything was taking place, the 2 enemy Devil Dao cultivators saw the sudden change of composure in Qai’s eyes. And although they were surprised, they were not really shaken even by a bit.

“So an ant can even be confident in front of me.”

When the last restriction covering the hill broke, Qai immediately summoned his Spirit Beast Eland and sat on top of it.

When the enemies saw it, they sneered at Qai.

“Trying to run!?”

Qai looked at them deeply in a mocking fashion.

“Who says I'm running?”

When the Queen Ant returned, Qai immediately revised the initial plan of strike in his mind.

“I may be an ‘ant’ but I am still the Lord of this hill. This is my territory, so none of you shall leave alive.”

The two Devil Dao wanted to laugh at Qai’s nonsensical provocation but they immediately held back their breath when suddenly in front of Qai, a dozen level 5 giant Ant formed in a two-line formation appeared.

They were the Ant Soldiers of course.

Behind the line, another giant Ant—much bigger and much fiercer than the rest—standing like a leader also appeared.

It was the now level 6 Ant General.

The 2 enemy Devil Dao cultivators’ faces suddenly turned pale.

They definitely were not expecting such development.

In truth, they were not real followers of their so-called ‘young master.’ They were simply rogue Devil Dao cultivators apparently hired by that late Foundation Establishment stage disciple.

In fact, it was already of great achievement as rogue cultivators for them to reach their current level and realm.

And apparently, the price offered to them was lucrative enough to give in to the request. After all, the task was supposedly a walk in the park.

They heard Qai’s unbelievable Intent ability to slay a Foundation Establishment stage—which to their standard, would not really cause them any harm.

But never did they expect that Qai had a more powerful trump card.

Those giant Ants all had cultivation bases stronger than them.

From afar, the ‘young master’ was watching everything. And when he saw the giant Ants for himself, a mixed feeling of fear and relief reigned in him.

Somehow, he felt fortunate that when he faced Qai before, he didn't have to face such a number of Spirit Beasts.

It was practically an army!

“If you think ants are so-so, then why don't you have a go with them?”

Dang!

Qai continued to ridicule back at them with the ‘ant’ association.

In the minds of the two, they didn't sign up for such a task. In fact, they even started cursing the so-called ‘young master’ in their hearts for sending them to death.

And when they saw Qai tossed the formation plate, 10 undying skeletons immediately surrounded them.

In addition to that, the entire area suddenly became also surrounded by some 80 or so Ant Workers—leaving the 2 Core Formation rogue cultivators in the midst of it all.

In truth, the Ant Soldiers were already enough to put the enemies in deep danger but Qai wanted to make sure that none of the 2 Devil Dao cultivators could escape.

Meanwhile, Qai sat mightily on his Spirit Beast Eland at the top of the hill.

And with a wave of his Guandao, all the undying skeletons and giant Ants simultaneously attacked.

“Kill!”

The 2 enemies went wild in unleashing abilities after abilities just to defend themselves from multiple attacks coming from all directions.

Baam. Baam. Baam.

Surprisingly, the Devil Dao cultivators were holding their own.

Qai saw it clearly but he was unmoved.

With base power comparable only to the great circle of Qi Condensation stage cultivators, the undying skeletons were expectedly the first to fall.

Consequent to that, the formation plate shattered.

Qai were not bothered with such a loss, his poor little life was of utmost importance.

But the giant Ants were different, they were respectively comparable to the levels of Core Formation stage cultivators.

And as the Ant Workers attacked with a barrage of tongues of Dark flames, the 12 Ant Soldiers subsequently dived to bite the Devil Dao cultivators.

“Nooooo!”

On the other hand, Qai could not feel any safe with the flow of the battle so he joined the fray by unleashing his Grandmaster knight Intent ability.

He chose to attack the noisy middle-aged Devil Dao cultivator first.

‘Meteor Slash!’

Instantly, a huge silver-colored Guandao made from pure Intent appeared above Qai hurling towards the targeted cultivator in a speed of light.

Booom!

It didn't kill the middle aged Devil Dao cultivator but the Ant Soldiers’ mandibles apparently did.

In truth, immediately after Qai’s attack landed, he commanded half of the Ant Soldiers to finish the enemy off.

And with their shadow movements on top of their level 5 cultivation bases, there was nothing that the wounded Core Formation stage enemy could do.

However, the giant Ants did not touch the dead body further since they reserved it for their Queen. The core of a Core Formation stage cultivator would be a good source of spiritual Qi energy for Spirit Beasts.

Meanwhile, the short but old Devil Dao cultivator was not faring well either. After his companion fell down, all of the giant Ants turned their focus on him.

Seeing that he was now alone, the enemy summoned a corpse puppet.

The puppet was made out of cultivators body with the strength comparable to a cultivator in the great. It emitted rich spiritual Qi energy aura but it was definitely lifeless.

On the other hand, throughout the fight, a third of the Ant Workers were already sent to their destruction.

Apparently, the 2 enemies did have some ability for rogue cultivators to be able to eliminate around 30 level 4 Ant Workers.

However, the loss of the giant Ants barely weakened Qai’s overall strength.

It may take a while, but the Queen Ant would just have to produce eggs to replenish the number of its colony

Baam. Baam. Baam.

The tongues of Dark flames were annoying at most, but they were enough to keep the enemy at bay and to block the latter’s escape.

Qai did not change his approach and simply waved his Guandao to unleash another Grandmaster rank Intent ability.

‘Meteor Slash.’

Booom!

Surprisingly, the enemy commanded the corpse puppet to shield the sudden assault. The puppet was eventually cut into half, and the Ant Soldiers crazily munched it into pieces.

The enemy summoned another corpse puppet but this time it was refined from a dead body of a level 5 Spirit Beast Ape.

Qai’s face slightly twitched at how many tricks the old man had up in his sleeves.

‘Just how many puppets does this old devil have!?’

While the 2 consecutive ‘Meteor Slash’ did not drain his spiritual Qi energy, it however drained his physical strength.

Seeing this, Qai finally called up the Ant General to finally make its move.