Translator: CinderTL
Song Wen had no time to think too much.
A blood-colored tentacle extended from his back, swiftly wrapping around the severely injured Phantom Wing Butterfly on the ground.
Just as he had leaped forward a dozen or so feet, the ground in front of him suddenly churned, and the Ant Queen emerged from beneath.
"Human, it took me great effort to cultivate a fourth-tier Phantom Wing Butterfly, and you've gravely injured it. Yet, you dare to try and take it away? You're courting death! I will feed your flesh to my larvae and seal your soul into the corpse of a dead Gold-Eating Ant, tormenting you for eternity."
As soon as the Ant Queen's roar ended, the frenzied Gold-Eating Ants had already pounced toward Song Wen.
The first to arrive were four Ant Kings, each launching their attacks at him.
One spewed Corrosive Poison Liquid.
Another spewed Poison Mist.
A third swung its massive mandibles, biting toward Song Wen.
The fourth, like an enraged bull, charged at him with its indestructible body as a hammer.
Facing these four deadly attacks from different directions, Song Wen made no attempt to defend himself.
Instead, he abruptly dropped down, lunging toward the Ant Queen on the ground.
To capture the bandits, first capture their king!
His body suddenly expanded, transforming into a three-zhang-tall Giant Corpse.
At the same time, a tentacle extended from his chest, shooting like a massive spear toward the Ant Queen with lightning speed.
The four Ant Kings were instantly thrown into panic.
The two closest to the Ant Queen hurriedly lunged at the tentacle.
The two behind Song Wen continued to control the Poison Mist and Corrosive Poison Liquid, attacking him.
"Boom!"
One Ant King collided with the tentacle, halting its advance.
Another Ant King arrived, its mandibles biting into the tentacle and severing it.
At that moment, the Poison Mist and Corrosive Poison Liquid from behind struck Song Wen.
Song Wen, who had already prepared to reveal his 'Life Substitution Art,' was shocked to find that these two attacks were not fatal.
The Corrosive Poison Liquid pierced through his chest, leaving some of it inside his body.
However, under the suppression of his 'Ten Thousand Poisons Body,' the poison was gradually expelled from his body.
Next, the Poison Mist struck his back.
The withered flesh on his back exploded, revealing the stark white bones beneath.
At the same time, the immense force of the Poison Mist sent him flying.
But this actually aided Song Wen, propelling him faster toward the Teleportation Array.
"Yin Shuo, hurry!"
Lan Chen's urgent voice suddenly rang out.
The three of them had already entered the Teleportation Array.
Moreover, the array had begun to glow with a dazzling cyan light.
Lan Chen was casting a spell to activate the array, with only the final magic seal left to be infused into the ground.
Xue Mei and Mo Yexue, meanwhile, used their own methods to intercept the four Ant Kings chasing after Song Wen.
The Poison Mist released by the Ant Queen didn't cover a large area, only a few miles.
Thus, the distance between Song Wen and the Teleportation Array wasn't far.
Only two to three hundred zhang.
For a Nascent Soul cultivator, this distance was practically within reach, achievable with a mere thought.
Just as the Teleportation Array grew closer, an unexpected change occurred.
To Song Wen's right rear, a figure suddenly appeared.
It was Gui Ni, rushing toward the Teleportation Array.
Gui Ni was still several miles away from the array.
He knew very well that even if his escape technique was faster than Yin Shuo's, there was no way he could reach the Teleportation Array before Yin Shuo.
As for Lan Chen and the other two women, they might be willing to wait for Yin Shuo if their lives were not in danger, but they certainly would not wait for him.
Therefore, he absolutely could not let Yin Shuo reach the Teleportation Array first.
Once Yin Shuo arrived at the Teleportation Array, Lan Chen and the other two would undoubtedly activate it and leave this place.
At that point, Gui Ni would be left alone to face the siege of the Gold-Eating Ants.
Moreover, Gui Ni had gone to great lengths to follow Song Wen and Xue Mei to this place, not just to escape this Small Secret Realm. He had always harbored the intention of "the mantis stalks the cicada, unaware of the oriole behind."
Currently, within the Gold-Eating Ant nest, the most precious thing was undoubtedly the severely injured Phantom Wing Butterfly.
Gui Ni also had plans to claim the Phantom Wing Butterfly for himself.
Additionally, he wanted to obtain the Spiritual Sense Attack technique that Song Wen had displayed.
Thus, the well-prepared Gui Ni made his move against Song Wen.
Above Song Wen's head, a late-stage fourth-rank Ghost Emperor suddenly appeared, lunging fiercely toward him.
The Ghost Emperor's body was enveloped in a surging tide of Ghost Qi, which condensed into a massive black palm, resembling a small mountain, crashing down toward Song Wen.
Gui Ni did not intend to kill Song Wen but rather to keep him here, using him to delay the Ant Queen and the Gold-Eating Ants.
Song Wen looked at the descending Ghost Qi palms with a cold expression, his mind racing.
He had two ways to deal with the current predicament.
First, he could commit suicide to activate the Life Substitution Art, directly teleporting into the Teleportation Array.
But this would expose the Life Substitution Art.
Second, he could use Thunder Magic to catch the Ghost Emperor off guard, with a high probability of successfully escaping.
However, this would reveal his dual cultivation of both righteous and demonic techniques.
Especially since Gui Ni already knew that Xue Mei could use Thunder Magic.
If both he and Xue Mei were revealed to be dual cultivators, it would inevitably attract Gui Ni's suspicion and scrutiny.
As for the Blood Escape Technique, it required some time to activate, and the Ghost Emperor's attack was already imminent, leaving Song Wen no time to use it.
Song Wen glanced at Gui Ni, his mind already made up.
Strands of lightning began to manifest in front of him.
The lightning quickly coalesced into three massive Thunder Spears, each several zhang long, shooting upward toward the descending Ghost Qi palm.
Song Wen chose to expose his Thunder Magic because Lan Chen and Mo Yexue were both at the late-stage Nascent Soul realm or higher. Even if they obtained the Corpse King's Rebirth Art, they would not switch their cultivation paths.
Moreover, their remaining lifespans were short, leaving them no time to switch cultivation methods.
This was also why, when Lan Chen had learned that Song Wen had advanced from the peak of Foundation Establishment to the early-stage Nascent Soul in just over a hundred years due to the uniqueness of his cultivation technique, she had not sought to take his technique for herself.
No matter how miraculous the Corpse King's Rebirth Art was, it held little value for Lan Chen and Mo Yexue.
Therefore, as long as he could persuade the two of them not to reveal this matter, no one would know about his and Xue Mei's dual cultivation.
As for Gui Ni!
Song Wen had already decided to kill him.
In a one-on-one fight, Song Wen was naturally no match for Gui Ni. But now, Song Wen saw an opportunity to eliminate him.
Song Wen did not choose to use the Life Substitution Art because it was his most important life-saving technique, and it was better not to expose it lightly.
Just as Song Wen had anticipated, the sudden appearance of the Thunder Spears caught the Ghost Emperor off guard.
The Thunder Spears shot out in a triangular formation.
When the foremost Thunder Spear struck the descending colossal palm of Ghost Qi, it suddenly exploded, unleashing countless bolts of lightning.
Wherever the lightning raged, the Ghost Qi was utterly annihilated.
Gui Ni's intention was only to detain Song Wen, not to kill him.
Thus, the Ghost Emperor's attack was deliberately restrained.
Moreover, the Ghost Qi was inherently suppressed by Thunder Magic.
The massive palm of Ghost Qi was effortlessly shredded by the lightning, dissipating into nothingness.
(End of the Chapter)
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