Fu Qingjun put the things down for them and didn't pay any more attention to it.
After all, this was all he could do to help; whether they survived was up to them.
Fu Qingjun packed away the books and then ran to the kitchen to cook a meal.
He was already so hungry that he was dizzy; his hunger came fast and earnestly.
When he returned after eating, half an hour had passed, and he found that most of the ants on the table had lost their consciousness and soul, turning into ordinary ants crawling aimlessly.
Huh?
So quickly?
Even the Ant Queen had lost its consciousness?
Fu Qingjun looked at the entire desk in astonishment, feeling it was incredible how it turned so disastrous in the blink of an eye.
According to Fu Qingjun's calculations, they should have still been alive when he came back, not dissipating so fast. "Could it be that practicing martial arts is too exhausting and accelerates the dissipation of their souls?"
He glanced at the potion left behind, noticing it was heavily consumed, and some ants had drowned directly in the potion jars.
At this moment, only a small portion of ants retained some consciousness, standing firm with effort.
They practiced the "Sleeping Lion Stance," after all, as they couldn't stand in the traditional two-legged stance.
"Very clever, they know to choose something suitable for themselves, probably seriously studied," Fu Qingjun observed carefully, finding that the surviving ants were almost all those whose souls had been cleansed twice, old ants from the previous era.
"But now the oldest batch doesn't seem like they can hold on for much longer either."
Fu Qingjun studied for a while, shaking his head involuntarily, "But it seems it can't succeed instantly; they'll have to accumulate gradually... This era might end! We'll have to wait for the third generation of new ants to inherit their bodies, training from generation to generation. If they strengthen their bodies, there might be hope!"
No miracle occurred, but it was natural.
Miracles happen through generations of effort, not overnight.
He waited silently, watching the last ant standing, repeatedly applying the potion, lose consciousness and begin to crawl aimlessly. He paid it no more heed.
He scribbled a line in his experiment notes,
"Teaching ants martial arts to strengthen their bodies seems to work!"
"Continuous training, vibrating the body, forging muscles, their exoskeleton hardened constantly, bodies deforming like raising gu worms!"
Whoosh!!
Fu Qingjun's hair slowly floated, each strand piercing into the unconscious ants' bodies, recharging them, "Instantly recharging them, waiting for the third generation to awaken... There's some time left now, it's just right to go out once."
He planned to check out the basic potion for body tempering, as always using the Iron Wire Fist potion wasn't right, the potion might not work effectively.
And obtaining basic entry potion without asking Li Mo for help was a must since "he" didn't need it at all, so he had to go out himself.
Also, having been here a few days, it was time to venture out once.
"Calculating the time, Li Mo is still at work, no risk of running into her."
Fu Qingjun glanced again at the sunflower, noting it hadn't awakened wisdom, but seemingly due to a challenging input, it dissipated slowly, with much soul remaining within the plant.
Fu Qingjun didn't think much, thoughtfully wrapping his hair around his waist, putting on a large cloak hat that covered his neck as he left the house, walking down the corridor.
"The world is truly wondrous, just looking at my face... I'm like the fierce Jianghu overlord Fu Qingjun! But with my head covered, just looking at the physique, I'm an ordinary frail youth."
With the face covered, just looking at the physique, who could recognize him?
He had quite some confidence in his physique.
At this moment.
On the entire table, in a flowerpot, a sunlit sunflower bloom.
A seed like a coffin pierced deep into the flowerpot, within which lay a malformed mutated red ant, bearing mysterious circle patterns resembling iron rings on its body.
"Rustle rustle... surrounded by warm energy, I won't lose my soul."
"In the sun, there's a mysterious black-and-white striped ancient coffin, equipped with food, it's simply a heavenly gift! This must be meant for me to slumber within, not to die so soon..."
"This must be the grace of God, I must survive..."
"Great god Amiro, and the unknown white god, Jiaxia wishes to see you again!"
...
...
Fu Qingjun covered his face and went downstairs.
While descending the stairs, he sorted through his thoughts, contemplating the path ahead.
"First, since I've escaped to a Parallel World, I must certainly figure out the extent of my bodily mutations and continue to establish the experimental field. Those ants can continue on... my abilities seem to lie in the realm of the soul."
"Second, there's the tunnel back to Earth. My current Spiritual Power can only temporarily open a channel a few millimeters wide, and ants can indeed pass through..."
"Third, having arrived in this world, how do I thoroughly handle identity issues... If I can manage this well, there's no reason I can't gather resources here, then accumulate to rescue people back home, or even cultivate supplies for the Demon Country."
Creating a civilization, Demon Country, sandbox, world...
What a crazy and fascinating thing that would be!
Fu Qingjun felt he needed to make the ants strong, turning them into an army to explore the ruins of Earth, to save people in the post-apocalyptic wasteland...
Even in the future, it might not just be the ants. Once I'm strong enough, I could probably spawn even more powerful creatures, or even people, with just my brain...
"I wonder how my master and parents are doing." Fu Qingjun took a deep breath; after all, only two days had passed over there, it shouldn't be too urgent.
He wandered about, as if returning to the noisy scenes that seemed to exist only in TV dramas set in the Republic of China era, and after taking several old streets, he found an old traditional pharmacy.
[Miao Chun Hall]
He walked right in. In front of him was a gigantic rectangular black medicine cabinet, with every compartment labeled with herbal names, and beside it were various bottles and jars, with a black western-style clock hanging over the cash register at the entrance.
Beside him was a tall and muscular bronze-skinned giant, sweating profusely, holding a copper pestle with one hand, pounding away in a mortar.
"Young man, what would you like?" The giant lifted his eyelid to look.
Fu Qingjun scanned the medicinal herbs and found that some of the herbal names in this world were unfamiliar, and some drugs and plants he didn't recognize at all.
To think, I've already started studying medicine and have basically memorized common herbal medicines, yet I only recognize a portion here.
"Even plants in a Parallel World are slightly different?" Fu Qingjun's face started to darken, so now even my programmer skills are useless, and my half-baked medical skills are wasted?
The promised combination of Chinese medicine techniques and modern Western medicine to shock the ancients of the past century?
Western medicine mostly relies on modern equipment, and I intended to rely on Chinese medicine in the pharmacy, yet things are not following common sense!
"If the species are different, then could there be reproductive isolation between me and the women here?" Fu Qingjun shrank his neck. The definition of a Parallel World is quite profound. Who knows, this world might have diverged since the evolution of apes millions of years ago, so it's possible not to recognize some plants and animals.
"What do you want?"
The giant looked at the dazed masked young man in front of him, somewhat impatient.
"An external nourishing tonic for stance training." Fu Qingjun thought for a moment, glanced around, and looked at the herbal wines in the distance, "Oh, and give me a bottle of ant wine to look at?"
"You're a bit too old, it's hard to make progress in martial arts, your future's limited, and you're probably sneaking around without your family knowing? But if you want to train, suit yourself." The giant gave Fu Qingjun a once-over and figured out his flimsiness, as he made a prediction of everything.
He shook his head while handing over a bottle of herbal wine and muttered, "The times have changed; martial arts training is too hard... Being a cultured person is so much better. They say during the Second World War, they suffered losses because, over there, they had a group of scientists..."
He spoke in a booming voice, handing over a bottle of ant wine from a pile of herbal wines beside him.
Fu Qingjun twirled the bottle around in his hand; the ants floated inside, mixed in with some herbal ingredients, and he examined it carefully, "What's the use of this ant wine?"
He recalled that he had a pile of dead ants.
And those that seemed still alive would eventually perish.
Preparing a tombstone for their civilization in advance was a righteous act, worthy of our acquaintance.
"This ant wine is great: invigorates and strengthens circulation, dispels wind and relieves pain, strengthens muscles and bones, boosts energy and spirit."
The giant spoke with full-bodied energy and laughed, "Martial artists can drink it too; it's good for the body. Martial arts are all about supplementation! Look at Fu Qingjun, who's been all the rage these years. Everyone in the underworld calls him 'The Fiercest Little Celestial General of North City.' He's ruthless in his actions, an undeniable top villain. He leads a group of over a hundred, hauling goods from the train station, and people from all walks of life have to show respect!"
Fu Qingjun carefully observed the names of medicinal herbs around him, lifted drawers to look at the shapes of the herbs inside, and casually remarked, "I've seen that person, his martial arts might not be top-notch, but his looks are quite good."
"Isn't that right? Good looks and good skills." The giant paid no heed to Fu Qingjun's examination of the herbs, biting down on a long pipe bag and lighting it indifferently.
Fu Qingjun glanced at him, "Martial arts experts in the rivers and lakes smoke too, that's bad for your health, right?"
"What do you know?!" The man showed a mouthful of yellow teeth and cursed, "As martial artists, we focus on cultivating internally and externally! We train the outside and then use liniments to heal the muscles and bones. Inside, we inhale the fragrant herbs to cultivate our organs. There's a saying: 'One puff and you're an immortal on land.'"
Fu Qingjun was suddenly enlightened.