Creating a paradise in an ant nest

Chapter 18 Termite Outbreak

Many people know that Feng Zhe is a bad person.

But he had never been mocked so openly before.

He never expected that Wang Yarong, this seemingly pure and beautiful female cultivator with an ethereal air, could say such hurtful words that pierced his very soul.

He felt humiliated and his face turned bright red with shame.

Not only did he not expect it, but Liu He, who was standing next to him, also did not expect it.

Liu He felt a surge of satisfaction; that's exactly how he should be scolded. He had originally intended to warn Wang Yarong that Feng Zhe was a bad person and to be careful not to be fooled.

He was actually overthinking it.

Seeing Feng Zhe standing there dumbfounded, Wang Yarong continued sarcastically, "What are you standing there for? Waiting to be carried away in a sedan chair? Get lost and don't bother me again."

"I…"

Feng Zhe was both angry and annoyed, unable to utter a word, and quickly turned around and walked away.

Sigrún has taught at the Iceland University of the Arts as a part-time lecturer since and was Dean of the Department of Fine Art from -. In – she held a research position at Reykjavík Art Museum focusing on the role of women in Icelandic art. She studied fine art at the Icelandic College of Arts and Crafts and at Pratt Institute, New York, and holds BA and MA degrees in art history and philosophy from the University of Iceland. Sigrún lives and works in Iceland.

"Haha, that was awesome!"

Liu He chuckled softly, his gaze towards Wang Yarong filled with surprise.

She has a gentle appearance and a soft, sweet voice. But her words are like swords, piercing straight to the heart.

"I spoke too bluntly just now, haha. I can't help it, I don't even have enough time for cultivation, how can I deal with those guys who want to live off women? I had to be a little harsh to prevent them from coming again."

Wang Yarong didn't care at all about her ladylike image.

To be precise, that's just her personality.

Judging personality by appearance is wrong.

"Hmm, that makes sense."

Liu He agreed with her statement.

"Let's get back to business. I'm used to working the day shift, is it feasible for you to work the night shift?"

"Okay. If either of us has something to take care of, we can discuss switching shifts in advance."

I'm telling you this upfront: no lateness or early departures are allowed, and no slacking off while on duty.

If you take up my cultivation time or hold me back, don't blame me for being rude.

"Of course, it's fair and reasonable."

Liu He thought to himself, "She really is straightforward."

As a "colleague," he liked this kind of personality; it was good for everyone.

Sigrún has taught at the Iceland University of the Arts as a part-time lecturer since and was Dean of the Department of Fine Art from -. In – she held a research position at Reykjavík Art Museum focusing on the role of women in Icelandic art. She studied fine art at the Icelandic College of Arts and Crafts and at Pratt Institute, New York, and holds BA and MA degrees in art history and philosophy from the University of Iceland. Sigrún lives and works in Iceland.

Liu He has been in the clan for five months.

He received three spirit stones for his first month as a formal handyman.

night.

He practiced the "Gathering Spirit and Accumulating Qi Technique" in his room on Qixia Peak.

These basic spiritual energy techniques are only effective when practiced within a spirit-gathering array.

The spiritual energy in the outer mountain forest is extremely thin, so he does not cultivate or practice his skills in the ant nest.

As he circulated his cultivation technique and breathed, the spiritual energy in the surrounding space was absorbed into his body and refined into his own spiritual energy.

The spiritual energy circulates within the body, nourishing the meridians and replenishing the dantian (lower abdomen).

The initial stage of Qi cultivation is a process of laying a solid foundation and nurturing and expanding the Dantian (lower abdomen) and Qi Sea (lower abdomen).

Having just entered the Qi Refining stage, the dantian and sea of ​​qi are still small.

Expand the dantian (energy center) to three inches by nourishing it with spiritual energy, and combine it with the nine orifices and eight apertures; this is the completion of the third level of Qi cultivation.

"Phew~~"

Liu He opened his eyes: "The spiritual energy concentration on Qixia Peak is still insufficient. It's too slow. No wonder many menial disciples struggle to break through to the mid-stage of Qi Refining even after ten years."

Qixia Peak was shrouded by a first-order spirit-gathering array.

However, there are too many miscellaneous disciples on Qixia Peak, numbering in the tens of thousands.

With so many menial disciples vying for the spiritual energy of Qixia Peak, it's easy to imagine how much each person could actually get.

"At my own cultivation speed, relying solely on the spiritual energy of Qixia Peak, it would take me three years to reach the second level of Qi Refining."

It takes longer to go from the second to the third level of Qi Refining, and it is even more difficult to break through to the fourth level of Qi Refining.

It's impossible to break through to the mid-stage of Qi Refining in ten years.

"Fortunately, I have a monthly salary of three spirit stones and an ant nest."

His greatest asset is the ant nest.

He had looked into it and found that there was a kind of elixir called "Qi-Boosting Pill" that could help in the early stages of Qi cultivation.

In the sect's Spirit Pill Pavilion, a Qi-Boosting Pill is worth thirty spirit stones.

A cultivator in the early stages of Qi Refining can save about half a year of arduous cultivation by taking Qi-Boosting Pills.

"Thirty spirit stones. My monthly salary is three spirit stones, so it will take me ten months to save up. I also need to save spirit stones to forge magical artifacts for the ant nest."

He was too poor, barely making ends meet, and never had enough spirit stones.

"Qi-boosting pills, can't we buy them together?"

He couldn't help but have this thought.

After all, half a elixir makes no difference to him; he can't even finish it all in the anthill.

He secretly made his plans.

He then traveled into the ant nest and refined the Earth Element Pearl.

Sigrún has taught at the Iceland University of the Arts as a part-time lecturer since and was Dean of the Department of Fine Art from -. In – she held a research position at Reykjavík Art Museum focusing on the role of women in Icelandic art. She studied fine art at the Icelandic College of Arts and Crafts and at Pratt Institute, New York, and holds BA and MA degrees in art history and philosophy from the University of Iceland. Sigrún lives and works in Iceland.

next morning.

Liu He arrived at the forest farm on time and relieved Wang Yarong of her shift.

Around noon, he saw that Li Liangtian looked flustered and was in a hurry.

"Li Liangtian, what happened?"

"Oh no! Termites! Termites!"

Li Liangtian, panting, stammered, "When I came in this morning, I did my routine inspection and found several small holes in a century-old white pine tree. Upon closer inspection, they were full of termites."

The situation looks serious; that white pine is ruined!

I quickly checked the woods and found termites on several trees. Oh no! Those trees are all century-old timber; we're going to be punished for this.

No wonder Li Liangtian felt so guilty.

As a forest ranger, checking the condition of the trees is his duty.

The best century-old trees in the forest were all infested with termites, and he couldn't escape responsibility.

With only one month left before his trial period for menial tasks ended, he worried that this mistake would affect his chances of staying in the sect.

"Senior Brother Liu, termites reproduce and spread very quickly. You should check your forest area immediately."

While worried about himself, Li Liangtian came specifically to remind Liu He.

Because once termites reach a certain size, they will spread from one tree to another, and from one to ten, and from ten to a hundred.

"Let me see."

Liu He frowned; the termite infestation on the trees was indeed a troublesome matter.

He carefully inspected the forest area and soon made a discovery.

"This is a camphor pine?"

He saw some scattered holes at the base of the trunk of a century-old pine tree.

"It really is termites!"

He saw several large termites gnawing at the tree.

Besides this century-old pine tree, there are at least ten other large trees with holes caused by termites.

Li Liangtian helped discover several trees that had been invaded by termites: "Senior Brother Liu, the situation here is more serious than in my forest area."

What should we do? Senior Brother Wu is definitely going to punish me; he might expel me from the sect.

"That's really strange."

Liu He's face looked very grim.

Although he was a formal handyman disciple, the sect would not expel him from the sect for such a small loss.

But he didn't know exactly how he would be punished.

"This is all the best timber from my forest area, and yours is the same, right? Judging by the scale of the termites, they must have been breeding for at least several months."

"I find it strange too. I check the timber in the forest area carefully every month to see if it's infested with pests. I can guarantee that it wasn't last month."

Li Liangtian is an extremely conscientious and responsible forest ranger who never slacks off.

"Someone is trying to harm us..."

This thought came to Liu He's mind.

When various coincidences come together, they are no longer coincidences.

"Who is it?"

Li Liangtian was an honest man, and he didn't remember offending anyone.

"This is going to be difficult to investigate. Whoever it is, we're both going to be punished. Let's go find Senior Brother Wu first."

Liu He hoped that Wu Shao could solve the termite problem.