Chapter 463

"How many ant swarms have we encountered since we set out?" Han Li gazed at the insect corpses on the ground and asked slowly.

"The seventh! Though we've met ant swarms more frequently, at least we haven't run into another swarm of ten thousand or more!" Yuan Yao replied obediently, standing beside Han Li.

It had been half a day since the two had begun their journey together.

Hearing her words, Han Li frowned, his expression darkening as if burdened by some thought.

After a moment's consideration, he gestured toward the swarm of Golden Chitin Beetles that had devoured the corpses; the flying insects transformed into a glittering cloud of light and flew back into the spiritual beast pouch hovering in midair.

Han Li calmly retrieved the spiritual beast pouch.

"What's wrong? Your expression seems troubled. We've already passed the most dangerous stretch of the desert. The path ahead should be far safer." Yuan Yao studied his face, blinking her beautiful eyes in confusion.

"Safer? Do you truly believe that?" Han Li glanced at her, a faint sneer on his lips.

"Is there still danger ahead?" Yuan Yao frowned slightly, her tone skeptical.

"I don't know what dangers lie ahead. But I'm certain one thing: none of the ant swarms we've encountered so far contained a queen. Either there's only one queen in the entire desert, or we've been lucky—none of the super swarms containing a queen have crossed our path yet. Proceed with caution. If we travel another half day without incident, only then can we truly consider ourselves safe." Han Li's expression remained calm.

"Perhaps you're overthinking it! These flying ants are already so fierce—maybe they don't even have a queen!" Yuan Yao's face paled for a moment, then she forced a smile, pretending indifference.

"I hope so," Han Li said without arguing further. He knew well that Ironfire Ants did have queens—and though individually weak, their intelligence was said to be terrifyingly high. Encountering one would be extremely troublesome.

Influenced by this conversation, the next two hours of travel passed in silence.

But something stranger occurred: not a single ant swarm appeared along the remainder of the path.

Even Yuan Yao now sensed something was amiss, a faint unease creeping onto her face.

Then, as the two accidentally climbed a towering dune and looked ahead, they froze in shock.

"This is…" Yuan Yao's lips moved, her face filled with horror, but no words came out.

Han Li's expression was slightly more composed, yet his astonishment was no less profound.

Before them on the sandy ground stood a solitary crystal pillar, twenty to thirty zhang tall.

The pillar was bitterly cold, glowing with a faint white light, and within it was encased a towering black giant—ugly beyond measure, eyes bulging, bald head gleaming, utterly motionless. It was profoundly eerie.

Han Li stared for a moment, then swept his gaze across the surrounding sand.

The ground was pitted with craters and holes of varying sizes, as if a great battle had taken place there.

Han Li's eyes flickered with strange light as he turned his gaze back to the giant.

This time, as he focused on one of the giant's eyes, he let out a soft "Hm?"

"Han Dao, what did you notice?" Yuan Yao, finally snapping out of her shock, asked.

Han Li smiled faintly, ignoring her question, and instead half-closed his eyes as he extended his spiritual sense.

Once he confirmed no one else was lurking nearby, he stepped down the dune and strode directly toward the crystal pillar.

"Hmph!" Seeing Han Li's mysterious behavior, Yuan Yao grew annoyed, her expression darkening—but she followed him down anyway.

After all, beyond the range of his Cold Ice Pearl, she would have to expend her own magic power to withstand the heat.

"Flying ants!"

As they approached within ten zhang of the crystal pillar, Yuan Yao gasped, her lips parted in astonishment.

At this distance, she finally saw the giant's true form—it was composed of countless black flying ants.

From afar, it looked perfectly real—utterly unbelievable.

Yet the Ironfire Ants within the pillar remained utterly motionless; no one could tell if they were alive or dead.

Han Li halted, staring at the crystal pillar in thought.

"If these ants are already dead, let's go. Don't waste time here," Yuan Yao said after a few glances.

"How do you know they're dead? They might still be alive," Han Li replied, puzzled.

"Alive? That's impossible!"

Yuan Yao stared at Han Li in disbelief, then continued:

"Don't you know about the famed ancient treasure of the Wanfa Sect—the Xuan Huang Mirror? Any living being caught in its light instantly loses its soul and dissipates, while its body becomes encased in such crystal pillars. After several days, the body inside dissolves completely."

"I've never heard of it," Han Li answered honestly. Yuan Yao's eyes widened in disbelief, speechless.

"So these insects must have been destroyed by Wan Wan Tianming," Han Li circled the giant pillar, musing aloud.

"Who else could it be? What are you planning? These crystals can't be destroyed by ordinary magic treasures—they only dissolve naturally after a certain time. Otherwise, the Xuan Huang Mirror wouldn't be so renowned," Yuan Yao glanced at him, as if guessing his intent, and smiled lightly.

Han Li listened quietly, then looked at her calmly. He reached to his waist, summoned all his spiritual beast pouches, and released them into the air—suddenly, a massive cloud of Golden Chitin Beetles appeared above them.

"Go."

Han Li pointed his finger at the crystal pillar without hesitation. Instantly, the golden-silver insect cloud descended, swarming over the pillar's peak, dense and impenetrable.

"You really intend to target the remains of these ants? Your insects may be powerful, but they can't possibly chew through this…" Yuan Yao's voice cut off abruptly.

For before her eyes, the crystal pillar encasing the giant rapidly shrank from top to bottom—in moments, the giant's head vanished entirely.

Yuan Yao's mouth hung open, unable to close.

Under her stunned gaze, the Golden Chitin Beetles devoured the entire pillar—crystal and giant alike—leaving behind only a single egg-sized crystal orb on the ground, glowing with mysterious black light.

Seeing this object, Han Li smiled faintly, stepped forward, and picked it up.

This object was called "Refined Crystal"—a rare material secreted by the Ironfire Ant Queen after consuming ore.

Few cultivators knew of it; Han Li had only read about it in a very ancient text, unsure if the legend was true.

Only when he saw the Ironfire Ant Queen as the giant's eye did he suddenly recall this, and out of curiosity, he tried it.

To his surprise, he had indeed obtained one such Refined Crystal.

It was the finest auxiliary material for enhancing magic treasures.

Any magic treasure infused with even a small amount of this material would see its power greatly increased, and its physical durability would rise to an unimaginable level, making it nearly impossible to break or shatter.

No one knew whether Wan Wan Tianming was unaware of this substance—or simply overlooked it—leaving it to Han Li.

Now, if he could find some time to reforge the Green Bamboo Bee Cloud Sword, its power would surely rise another notch.

Yuan Yao clearly did not know what a "Refined Crystal" was. But seeing Han Li's delighted expression, she knew it was something valuable.

Yet she wisely refrained from asking any inappropriate questions.

Without another word, the two resumed their journey.

…

This was an extremely crude stone hall, fifty to sixty zhang wide and seven or eight zhang high. In the center stood a teleportation array; on each of the four sides stood a massive stone door, several zhang tall.

All doors were now sealed, turning the hall into a large prison.

Inside the hall stood dozens of stone tables and stools, each uniquely shaped.

On these stools sat five or six cultivators, their expressions varied.

Ji Yin Ancestor, the Confucian-robed elder, and Wan Wan Tianming were all seated here; the others were all late Core Formation cultivators—not one weaker.

Yet now, all wore grim expressions, none inclined to speak.

The hall was thick with oppressive energy.

Ji Yin Ancestor's face was especially dark, his complexion utterly pale with rage, glaring at the central teleportation array, his eyes blazing with murderous intent.

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