Chapter 50: Taming the Queen Ant

The evening wind grew brisk, and as night fell, the depths of the forest were deserted.

Returning to the Fallen Dragon Ridge once more, Li Ji'an's state of mind was utterly different from thirty years prior.

Back then, he knew little of this world and approached it with awe and reverence.

But now, three decades later, as a peak first-stage body refiner, a mid-stage Qi cultivator, and master of a spirit beast on the cusp of breaking through to the late first stage, his composure was unshaken.

He sped through the mountains, arriving at their edge in the deep of night. Releasing Gua Gua, he let it burrow underground as a sentry.

Meanwhile, he sat cross-legged to restore a measure of his spiritual power.

After only a moment, he opened his eyes again. “As expected, the spiritual energy here in the dense mountains is too chaotic—no wonder it’s called the Land of Mixed Spirits. For human cultivation, it’s even worse than barren lands; there are risks, and only demon beasts can use this place to temper their bloodlines.”

With that, he took a Qi-replenishing pill from his storage pouch and swallowed it.

Before long, a disturbance reached him through the soul connection with Gua Gua via the Beast Command Medallion.

Li Ji'an focused his spiritual sense, merging with Gua Gua’s soul in the medallion.

In an instant, a second field of vision appeared before him—Gua Gua’s perspective from ten miles away.

Gua Gua had burrowed just beneath the surface, its eyes peering through a fissure in the earth.

Not far off, seven or eight dark figures were approaching.

Bandit cultivators—common in these parts, most were petty itinerants drawn together by shared desperation.

Cultivation resources were monopolized by the great clans. Those with poor talent and no special skills, yet unwilling to remain mere mortals, found the slow grind of honest work intolerable. Impatient, they gambled their lives, their ambition far outstripping their means.

Li Ji'an shook his head. At his side, his flying sword soared into the clouds, trailing a blaze of fire.

“Begone!” With a surge of blood and energy, his voice thundered with the force of rolling thunder.

At the same time, a spiritual pressure equivalent to a late-stage Qi cultivator swept toward the intruders.

“Not good! He’s a late-stage cultivator—run!”

“Forgive us, elder! We failed to recognize your greatness—spare us!”

“Thank you for your mercy, esteemed senior!”

And with that, the bandit cultivators fled in terror.

Those who hid in the mountains as bandits had already been cowed by the combined forces of the eight great families. Anyone truly powerful had no need for such a life; anyone with strength at the late Qi stage would be offered a guest position by the clans.

Li Ji'an paid them no further mind. Once his energy was restored, he continued his journey deeper into the mountains.

He did not recall Gua Gua, but allowed it to use earth-burrowing to scout ahead.

By early morning, he reached the spot marked by Chen Zhaohu—a hollow ringed on three sides by lofty peaks.

This was already close to the heart of Fallen Dragon Ridge, where even second-tier demon beasts might be encountered—a place the eight great families rarely dared to tread.

That Chen Zhaohu’s group had been driven to hunt here was surely due to the expansion of the clans.

“Go. Leave no stone unturned,” Li Ji'an instructed Gua Gua from the mountaintop.

The Soul Parasite Ants he sought had been discovered after consulting many clan records through Yan Qingwan’s connections, and scouring nearly every ancient soul-related text in the city.

Should he revert to childhood, his body would return to that of an eight-year-old, purifying everything—including his soul. All effects would be erased, but memories etched into the soul would nourish and strengthen it with each rebirth.

At present, the only way to control Gua Gua completely was the Beast Command Medallion, which bound their souls together.

This contract linked not only Gua Gua, but also a part of his own soul. In theory, if either soul perished, the contract would dissolve.

When Li Ji'an had slain the previous beast master and taken the medallion, Gua Gua had been unclaimed; it was only by forging a new soul bond that he gained control.

If he reverted to childhood and his soul was purified, the previous soul mark would be erased, and the medallion would fall dormant.

Spirit beasts, after all, were still beasts—too risky to leave to chance.

His solution was to use the Soul Parasite Ants: before his transformation, he would store a wisp of soul within an ant. Even if his main soul vanished, the contract would remain; as long as he quickly cultivated a new spiritual sense, he could regain control.

This was why he’d spent years searching for the ants.

“Gua!” The sun set, and Gua Gua, now exhausted, still hadn’t located the nest.

Soul Parasite Ants could store souls because they fed upon them. Where their numbers were dense, spiritual senses would fail, as any approaching spirit would be devoured, leaving no feedback.

This was why Li Ji'an had Gua Gua search by burrowing.

Unfortunately, the hollow was vast, and the ants’ nest deep and hidden, so success did not come quickly.

“You must work hard—not just for me, but for yourself. If this method proves effective, you will have found great fortune. Even with a lowly bloodline, or as an ordinary toad, by following me you have a chance at ascension.”

“Do your best—your destiny is in your own hands!”

Time and again, he fed it beast pills and offered earnest encouragement.

At last, after five days, good news arrived.

Through shared vision, Li Ji'an saw the swarming Soul Parasite Ants—each over ten times the size of a normal ant.

Most thrilling of all, the ant queen was in the midst of laying eggs—her body crystalline white, her belly glowing so brightly it seemed about to burst.

According to ancient texts, this state was when the queen was easiest to tame.

“Well done! You’ve rendered great service.” Elated, Li Ji'an summoned Gua Gua back.

Pleased by the praise, Gua Gua’s eyes shone with anticipation, recalling the promises Li Ji'an had made.

Rewarding it with a beast pill, Li Ji'an then had Gua Gua swallow him whole.

With its “Heaven-Swallowing” ability on the verge of advancing, Gua Gua’s internal space was nearly five cubic fathoms. Li Ji'an’s previous experiments with living creatures showed they could survive inside for almost three days.

Once swallowed, Gua Gua burrowed fifteen fathoms underground, arriving at the ants’ nest.

“Feast! All the worker ants are yours!” To tame the queen, her food supply had to be cut off.

Overjoyed, Gua Gua’s tongue became a high-frequency, retracting weapon, sweeping through the nest and devouring thousands of worker ants.

Li Ji'an, meanwhile, began nurturing the queen with a trickle of his own blood essence.

According to the texts, complete taming would take three years.

Three years passed, and then another three. Thankfully, Li Ji'an had prepared enough Fasting Pills in his storage pouch, or he might not have endured.

“The queen is obedient—but her appetite is truly immense. I still don’t see any sign she’s sated.”

He surmised it must be due to this particular queen; none described in the texts had ever been so large.

In the blink of an eye, six years went by.

One day, as Li Ji'an dutifully fed the queen his blood essence and Gua Gua kept watch, only its eyes visible through the earth’s fissures, a sudden sensation came from Gua Gua.

Li Ji'an instantly linked to its vision.

A familiar figure appeared—a man he hadn’t seen for thirty years: Chen Qingling, now a robust middle-aged man, following respectfully behind a slovenly old Taoist.

The old Taoist held a formation disk, his expression solemn yet excited.

“Could this be the notorious Grave-Robbing Hermit?”