Chapter 2009 - 2002: Such Good Fortune?
"I’m not dead yet?" The excruciating pain from his wound made the martial artist acutely aware that he seemed to be alive. He struggled to stand up. The terrifying flames in front of him hadn’t completely dissipated; the air was still filled with the residual heat of the fire, and the fiery wave from the Flame Lotus explosion continued to extend toward the cave, even accompanied by sharp cries.
"You take a rest for a while," Zhang Menglong casually picked up several red and blue vials from the ground and handed them to him, "I guess you’ve run out of supplies, right? Hurry and recover!"
The martial artist was so stupefied by Zhang Menglong looting the drop items on the ground that he even forgot to thank him. The items dropped from the Blood Demon Ant were like a small mountain. The Flame Lotus killed somewhere between eight thousand to ten thousand enemies, covering the ground with a thick layer.
"Did every Blood Demon Ant drop everything it could?" Looking at the scene in front of him, which seemed like something out of a dream, the martial artist’s head buzzed.
The effect of Zhang Menglong’s attack was indeed shocking, but these Blood Demon Ants were just of the ordinary level mixed with some elites. Their attack power was strong, even comparable to a lord-level Warcraft, but their defense was just average. A martial artist at the peak of Dao Realm opening fire with thousands of times their power could also create such an effect.
However, he clearly felt that Zhang Menglong’s life aura was merely at the first-grade of the Dao Realm, far inferior to him. How was it possible to cause such a powerful destruction with just one move?
Moreover, the Flame Lotus just now landed right in the center of the Blood Demon Ant swarm, and the spreading flames just happened to burn the last Blood Demon Ant in front of him while not even singeing his hair. This precise control left him in awe.
"Not bad, not bad, 10,022 Supreme Crystals, and nearly ten million Supreme Coins dropped. These supplies are enough to last me quite a while," Zhang Menglong counted his spoils one by one, "Wow, quite a few Supreme Weapons dropped too, enough to form a small troop..."
"Hmm? What’s this?" Zhang Menglong picked up something that looked like a small pavilion. It felt somewhat like ceramic. When he opened it, it contained some yellow liquid.
There were many such things, about four to five thousand bottles in total.
"This is ant royal jelly," the martial artist, who had just regained some strength after consuming some red potion, stood up, "It’s high-purity energy nurtured by the Blood Demon Ant Mother Nest. All Blood Demon Ants grow up drinking this ant royal jelly. If human martial artists drink it, it can shorten their cultivation time significantly."
"Oh?" Zhang Menglong picked up a bottle of ant royal jelly and gulped it down. He immediately felt a warmth in his abdomen, with an incomparably pure energy condensing there, and every cell in his body seemed to receive some kind of command, greedily devouring the energy.
"Wow," Zhang Menglong felt that just this one bottle of ant royal jelly provided nearly one-tenth of the energy needed to advance to the second-grade of the Dao Realm! These several thousand bottles of ant royal jelly could potentially allow him to advance to the peak of the third grade or even the fourth grade!
In mere moments, he absorbed the entire bottle of ant royal jelly and then directly picked up a second one, a third one...
"This..." The martial artist watched Zhang Menglong, dumbfounded.
Having hunted in this Demon Ant Nest for a long time, they had more or less acquired some ant royal jelly. Although its energy was pure, it was extremely domineering, and only the body of a Warcraft could withstand it!
With his approx. hundred times the power at the peak of Dao Realm, he could probably only consume three or four bottles at most at one time, or else this power might burst his body!
But in just a short time, Zhang Menglong had already consumed dozens of bottles, yet his body still seemed like a bottomless pit, seemingly unable to be filled!
What’s more absurd is that he’s just a first-grade Dao Realm martial artist, and each bottle of ant royal jelly from the Blood Demon Ant contains enough energy for an ordinary first-grade Dao Realm martial artist to leap several levels, yet his aura had just barely broken through to the second grade! What’s his body made of?
When Zhang Menglong chugged down the last bottle of ant royal jelly, he was already numb. He counted, totaling over 4,700 bottles, all ingested by Zhang Menglong, yet his aura only reached the threshold of the third-grade Dao Realm.
"What kind of monster is this?" He suddenly had an impulse to distance himself from Zhang Menglong. Could it be that he appeared human, but was actually of a special race? But why hadn’t he heard of it before? Moreover, this was still within human territory; even friendly races wouldn’t dare to intrude.
"I’m Lumo," the martial artist finally mustered the courage to greet Zhang Menglong, "Thank you for saving me just now."
"It was just a small effort," Zhang Menglong replied, "I was planning to head to the Demon Ant Nest, and happened to run into you. A large group of Blood Demon Ants came knocking just in time, so I saved you incidentally. But brother, you’re really reckless, daring to venture into this Demon Ant Nest alone. It’s lucky you met me."
Lumo smiled bitterly, "Venturing alone into the Demon Ant Nest? I don’t have that kind of ability. When we came, there were as many as over ten thousand people, and now I’m the only one who survived. The rest had long perished inside."
"What exactly did you encounter?" Zhang Menglong asked, "Which level did you get to?"
"We were only active on the first level," Lumo detailed their encounter to Zhang Menglong.
As he listened, Zhang Menglong’s expression gradually became serious. He looked toward the unfathomable entrance of the Demon Ant Nest. After he released the Buddha’s Fury Lotus, the Blood Demon Ants had retreated into their nest, and the mountains were now silent as can be.
"Are you saying the Blood Demon Ants in the Demon Ant Nest suddenly went berserk?"
"Exactly," Lumo said, "I know Blood Demon Ants are a social species, and their groups are often large, numbering in the tens of thousands is quite common, but I’ve never heard of tens of millions of Blood Demon Ants moving simultaneously. Something significant must be happening in this Demon Ant Nest."
"By the way, brother, what are you planning to do in the Demon Ant Nest?" Lumo suddenly thought of Zhang Menglong’s intentions.
"Of course, to fight monsters and drop gear," Zhang Menglong said without thinking, "The monster density here is so high, just one Flame Lotus can kill tens of thousands, the efficiency is unbeatable."
"Brother, I suggest you abandon that idea," Lumo advised, "You’ve seen it, the Demon Ant Nest is clearly experiencing something unusual now. If you rashly go in, you will surely suffer. You might be able to handle tens of thousands of Blood Demon Ants, but hundreds of thousands, millions, or even tens of millions?"
Lumo initially thought that this would scare Zhang Menglong since he was the one who saved his life. He didn’t want Zhang Menglong to die in the Demon Ant Nest unknowingly.
However, Zhang Menglong’s words were unexpected to him.
"Millions, tens of millions? Is there such a good thing?"