Soon after Ming Qi returned to the waterfall, flying ants arrived one after another.
Over the next few days, flying ants continued to scout, trying to locate their prey. Ming Qi made no attempt to hide or dodge. Since he had set foot in the star field, battle was inevitable.
During this time, he made a significant discovery, gaining a deeper understanding of the techniques for controlling power within the star field. This meant that his combat effectiveness began to steadily increase.
However, the immense constraints within the star field could not be completely eliminated, and Ming Qi knew that restoring his original combat effectiveness was impossible.
After more than ten days, Ming Qi noticed that the ants around him were increasing in number, almost forming long, winding dragons on the ground. The sky was filled with flying ants as densely packed as locusts, and the sound of their flapping wings had become an unbearable cacophony.
By this time, Ming Qi knew that ants and flying ants from dozens of miles around had likely gathered here. It seemed that it wouldn't be long before the fully mature Flying Ant King would appear. However, Ming Qi was ready for battle and held no fear.
This battle would mark the beginning of his endless battles in the star field.
For the ant colony, this would be a landmark hunt. The weak Star Demon Ants possessed almost no intelligence beyond instinct, and their massive presence at this moment was essentially to replenish the Flying Ant King's energy.
Even the swarms of flying ants in the sky were, at best, cannon fodder, for the protagonist of this battle would be the immensely powerful Flying Ant King, a deity to the ant colony.
Ming Qi sat quietly on a rock, watching the ants flitting back and forth before him, awaiting the Flying Ant King's arrival.
It wasn't long before the black ant swarm on the ground suddenly began to surge frantically, as if receiving a summons or command, scattering towards the periphery. At that moment, a massive flying ant, completely black, with a torso about four or five meters long and three or four meters tall, appeared in Ming Qi's sight.
The Flying Ant King has arrived!
Ming Qi's spirits perked up, and he charged into battle, Fire Emperor Sword in hand, staring intently at the impending enemy.
The Flying Ant King, given its size, was a perfect catalyst. Its wings, like spinning knives, though thin at first glance, gave off a savage, sword-like appearance. Its carapace was covered in spikes, a glossy black. Most startling of all, however, was the two-meter-long bone blade on its front, seemingly sharper than even a divine weapon.
The Flying Ant King seemed to harbor an instinctive hatred for Ming Qi, and upon catching him in his sight, he launched his attack.
The Flying Ant King's speed suddenly increased, its nearly transparent wings flapping rapidly as it arced through the air, charging towards Ming Qi. Simultaneously, a swarm of flying ants followed closely behind the Flying Ant King.
Ming Qi drew his sword and accurately launched a slash of sword energy at the oncoming Flying Ant King. The sharp edge of the sword energy, tinged with flaming flames, whistled out like a crescent-shaped arc. Under the oppression of the mysterious power within the star field, being able to wield such a powerful sword energy was already reaching his limit.
Ming Qi didn't dare hold back in this battle. After all, the stone tablet showed that the Flying Ant King was extremely powerful. As long as the ant colony existed, it could continuously replenish its energy, effectively granting it unlimited power.
The only way to achieve victory against such a foe was to swiftly slay the Flying Ant King.
With one strike of his sword, Ming Qi retreated rapidly, simultaneously employing a spatial movement.
The arc of sword energy accurately struck the Flying Ant King's abdomen where the bone blades met. However, Ming Qi was surprised to learn that his near-full-strength attack hadn't broken the monster's defenses! The momentum only slowed the Flying Ant King down.
Seeing this, Ming Qi's expression darkened. He concluded that even a full-strength attack wouldn't necessarily break the Flying Ant King's defenses.
If he couldn't break its defenses, he couldn't inflict any damage, let alone kill it.
Frustrated by his initial strike, Ming Qi didn't immediately launch a follow-up attack. Instead, he constantly shifted positions, attempting to determine the monster's weaknesses.
The Flying Ant King seemed incredibly intelligent. Seeing Ming Qi defend himself after only one attack, it realized its prey was far weaker than it had imagined. A series of shrieks erupted from its complex mouthparts, and its massive form swung through the air before splitting in two, creating a single clone.
As the clone emerged, two afterimages whizzed towards Ming Qi.
The Flying Ant King's clone and true form were indistinguishable, and Ming Qi paused only for a moment before two black bone blades suddenly appeared before him, a powerful gust of wind sweeping towards him.
Dang!
Ming Qi immediately raised his Fire Emperor Sword to block, but he hadn't expected the Flying Ant King's immense strength. The blocked sword nearly sent him flying!
Ming Qi was horrified. What a beast!
He finally managed to steady himself, but the two afterimages charged forward again, one in front and one behind, seemingly leaving him no chance to breathe.
Knowing he would eventually lose if the fight continued like this, Ming Qi steeled himself. Blood flowed through his body, and his Blood Control Technique immediately activated, mobilizing his blood energy. As he performed the Blood Shadow Step to increase his speed, a layer of blood quickly spread across the Fire Emperor Sword.
The scent of blood began to linger in the air, and the vast swarms of flying ants, along with the endless ant colonies on the ground, instantly erupted in a commotion, as if they had an insatiable thirst for blood, almost recklessly charging forward.
Ming Qi frowned, and a flash of blood flashed from the Fire Emperor Sword. A stream of blood-red sword energy shot towards one of the flying ant kings. Then, he leaped forward and rushed towards the other.
Although it was impossible to distinguish which flying ant king was the true form at the moment, Ming Qi didn't bother to try. He simply unleashed his attack on both kings indiscriminately, regardless of which was the true form.
A flash of blood flashed, and the previous sword energy collided directly with the flying ant king's carapace, making a sharp sound like a weapon cutting through metal. By then, Ming Qi had already reached the other flying ant king, thrusting his sword upwards, and another stream of sword energy whistled out.
This strike effortlessly bisected the massive flying ant king, and it vanished into nothingness in the blink of an eye.
Ming Qi's measures were effective. He shattered the clone in the first round of attacks. Judging from the situation, the previous attack had inflicted damage on the Flying Ant King.
However, this negligible damage had virtually no effect on the Flying Ant King, who could easily replenish it by devouring a few flying ants.
After his successful attack, Ming Qi quickly retreated. After a quick mental calculation, he once again adopted a defensive stance.