Shi Lang smiled as he thought about how to deal with these ants. First, since these creatures loved spirit energy, he will set up a series of spirit-gathering arrays to lure them inside. Then after a considerable distance, the ants will face the terror of a killing formation.

Shi Lang smiled and then got to work. First, he set up five killing formations and placed five top-grade spirit crystals in the array's center. These crystals were all as giant as a human. After this was done, the young man moved to a safe position and controlled a few drones to lead a trail of smaller spirit stones and drop them on the opening of the mine.

The warrior ants will react upon hearing some noise. Then they will go after the spirit stones. Because when Shi Lang was scouting earlier, he did not find a trace of spirit energy inside the shafts covered by the ants. After he was done, the boy said, "Let the show begin."

A bunch of spirit stones fell before the shaft opening, and the ants were extremely sensitive to spirit stones. They all crawled over and began to pick up the rocks. It was night, and the bodies of these creatures were shining with various patterns from the spirit stones they ingested.

Shi Lang lay on a thick tree branch with a sniper rifle in the front. When he buried the spirit stones under the soil, he thought the ants would dig into the ground and disrupt the array. So, he took out a sniper rifle to prevent that from happening.

The ants crawled out of the cave, their movement pattern displayed caution, and Shi Lang noticed their antennas twitching. It was evident these bugs were communicating with someone or something.

Shi Lang had some knowledge of zoology and was aware that the commander of this swarm was the ant queen. So, his target shifted to this queen, drawing her outside the shaft. He was sure that this ant queen would not only be bigger but also be a higher-level spirit beast.

This bug could have awakened her primordial soul. That would be bad news for Shi Lang. He was not sure if he could take on a spirit beast at this moment. He decided to focus on the scenario at hand and observed the ants rushing toward the big-sized spirit stones.

These bugs did not have any spirit consciousness. Instead, they were blind and dumb, like remote-controlled toys. Nevertheless, Shi Lang was calm and patient. He did not rush to trigger the killing array until the ants were piling over each other, trying to drill their three feet long mandibles into the spirit stones.

Shi Lang gulped, imagining a frontal assault with these guys. He made a seal, and the killing formations started. The spirit stones began to glow, and then the spirit energy condensed into small blades and wreaked havoc. The beasts were supersized and let out whining sounds as they were decapitated.

The formation was very efficient, and the death count was high. Shi Lang was, however, concerned about the number of ants he had to deal with. The formations will work only for a limited time, and the number of these creatures seems endless.

He operated a drone to check the shaft opening. To his surprise, this seemed to be the last of them. The shaft was empty. Shi Lang decided to see what all this was about, and the drone moved inside. After seven hundred meters, the mine diverted into two, and Shi Lang was about to flip a coin to find where he would send the drone when he picked up the activity signal from the right.

Then he saw a flurry of ants rushing outside, which were even bigger than the ones outside. He cursed in the back of his mind but then picked up the sniper rifle, aiming for the opening of the shaft. He would engage these things before they could reach the killing formations.

He would not allow these things to cut at the array core with an iron-like mandible. It would defeat him and also be a considerable loss. The finger twitched when the first ant appeared in his scope, and a phaser beam drilled through the beast's skull. Nevertheless, the momentum of the forward charge still took the guy ahead.

Shi Lang was not yet done. His sniper rifle was an advanced technology capable of firing one round per second. Shi Lang was not a fan of barrages but precision. He decided to see through that with his gun.

The gun claimed lives, and the ground was covered with bright neon blue blood. Shi Lang fired his rifle for seven minutes before the spirit formation blade took down the last an.

The spirit formations also stopped working. Shi Lang heaved a sigh of relief and came down from the tree when he froze. A brittle whine sounded from the mine shaft, and the young man below out a mouthful of bad breath.

He looked at the mine shaft and returned his gun to the space ring. The drone inside sent him the data. It was the ant queen, and she was unlike the other ant queens. This one was a tank among beasts. She had a body covered with armor glowing with spirit energy glow. The mandibles were laced with saw-like teeth, with a length of eight feet from head to back.

Shi Lang also found that this beast might be big, but it was quick. Yes, because the beast was charging at him at full speed when he had finished taking out his sword.

The young man sighed and said, "Oh, what the fuck is wrong with my luck these days."

He was not a fool to deal with this beast bear-handed, so he charged forward with his sword. The probe earlier did not show him this queen ant's weak spot. So, he needed to get closer to the beast to scan it properly.

However, this thing was like a tank. Heavily armored and equipped with needles. Yes, the beast's entire body was covered with nine-inch long, steel-like hair. Although his body will be able to withstand it all, who knew if the hair tips were toxic?This chapter's initial release occurred on the N0v3l-B1n site.

He was not willing to risk it in this foreign spot. If something happened to him and he called for help, it would stain his pride. So he will not call for help until he has used his last resort. As he closed up with the beast, Shi Lang concentrated his sword intent and slashed the weapon horizontally.

The blade shone red before the beast collided with him, and he slid back for a few meters. Finally, however, the invisible beast fell to the ground with a perfectly spliced cross-section.

Shi Lang gawked at the scene and walked closer to the ant. Then he kicked it gently. He was sure this thing was deader than the dead, but he was checking whether what he assumed was true. His leg was tingling from the kick earlier.

The armor was good enough, but his sword was better. Some of his confidence returned as he flicked his finger on the blade. Shura sword was his weapon, and he was nurturing it to surpass the level of a holy spirit artifact. Only then will this guy be able to help him ascend in the future.

Shi Lang panted and mumbled, "To think you were all bark and no bite."

He stabbed the sword into the ground and said, "You can absorb every drop of blood here. Okay? Then we will head deeper inside the mine."

The sword vibrated, and Shi Lang sat on the ground to cultivate his spirit energy. Finally, after an hour, the blade shook, and Shi Lang opened his eyes. The bed was clear. Even the smell of the blood in the air had vanished.

The young man stood up and grabbed the sword hilt before he moved forward. Then, holding the sword, he entered the shaft with a few nanoprobes deployed to explore the post's depth and check what other beasts he needed to deal with.

As the young man vanished inside the dark mine. Amelia appeared a few meters above the ground and smiled, saying, "Godspeed, my love."

That said, she vanished from the spot. Unity appeared in the void with a faint smile on her lips. She mumbled and said, "I hope when you come out of this mine, you are stronger than before, old relic. A lot of people depend on you."

Then she vanished from the place too. The people were worried about his safety, as they knew that Shi Lang would not ask for help even if he was at his weakest. However, they decided to watch out for him from the shadows. Shi Lang will not be able to sense them with his spirit sense till he recovers.

However, what was this mine shaft held for Shi Lang inside, was something that none of them knew. (Even the author does not let alone these guys)