Chapter 8: Mutated Symbol Ants (Part 2)

With a buzzing sound, countless bright red flying ants surged out of their nest. Guo Shier turned to look and felt his scalp tingle. These ants were enormous—over a foot long—with two pairs of wings on their backs and glowing symbol patterns all over their bodies; they were the standard appearance of mutated symbol insects. The most terrifying part was their sheer number—thousands of them had emerged, and it was unknown how many more were still inside the nest.

At that moment, a large group of hunting vehicles rushed over and collided head-on with the thousands of flying ants. Guo Shier was overjoyed. He laughed wildly and sped forward.

With hundreds of enemy hunting vehicles and thousands of flying ants, Guo Shier no longer cared. He laughed as he charged forward, for he saw hope—dusk was approaching.

Mutated flying ants were not easy to deal with. Emerging from their nest, they encountered a dense swarm of hunting vehicles in the air. Without hesitation, they pounced straight at them, turning the fleet into chaos. A few mutated symbol insects might not be scary, but thousands of them were beyond human resistance.

Since the hunting vehicles were larger and Guo Shier was smaller, only a dozen or so mutated flying ants chased after him, while the rest attacked the vehicles.

Fuye Xiangrong’s hunting vehicle also arrived. Seeing so many mutated symbol insects, his expression changed instantly. He shouted, “Retreat! Quick! Leave this place… This is the territory of mutated symbol insects… Hurry, damn it, run!” Finally, he gave the order to flee.

With so many vehicles packed together, they couldn’t disperse, and only screams could be heard. Someone screamed, “These ants are poisonous… Ah…”

“Quick! Get away…”

“Ah…”

One after another, vehicles fell, and many others crashed around wildly, turning the entire fleet into chaos. The reckless vehicles collided with those beside them, with the outer vehicles fleeing frantically while the inner ones crashed around like headless flies. At least dozens of vehicles fell to the ground.

The disciples on the ground despaired as countless large ants emerged from the ground. Though they couldn’t fly, they were still mutated ants that swarmed everything, sending chills down everyone’s spine.

The sky became even more chaotic. Fuye Xiangrong roared, “Retreat in order! Whoever dares to act recklessly will be killed, even if they manage to escape!”

The flying ants rushed over at his command. Fuye Xiangrong’s scalp tingled as he kept shouting, “Go! Damn it, A Da, why aren’t you moving?”

Ada was distressed, “We can’t get out! There are hunting vehicles everywhere!”
Fuye Xiangrong slapped him and cursed, “Idiot! Charge!” He raised his hand and shot out countless sparks, quickly chanting spells with both hands. The sparks immediately turned into fire snakes that wrapped around the incoming mutated flying ants. A shrill screeching sound arose as the mutated flying ants sprayed liquid in an attempt to extinguish the fire snakes, filling the sky with a strong acidic smell.
Slapped by Fuye Xiangrong, Ada was dizzy. He controlled the hunting vehicle and rushed backward desperately. As he was about to collide with another hunting vehicle, he couldn’t help but shout, “Move aside…”
Fuye Xiangrong roared, and a giant ice spear suddenly appeared in front of the hunting vehicle. It crashed violently, shattering the vehicle in front and causing its occupants to fall down screaming. The ice spear didn’t disappear but continued moving forward. Ada followed closely behind in his hunting vehicle. After shooting down seven or eight hunting vehicles, their vehicle finally broke through.
Fuye Xiangrong shouted fiercely, “Go fast!” and slapped Ada again.
Ada’s limbs had gone weak and his eyes were glazed over. Hit in the chest by Fuye Xiangrong, he fell from the hunting vehicle and was instantly engulfed by the ants on the ground. Fuye Xiangrong cursed, “Useless idiot! It’s better if you die!” He personally controlled the hunting vehicle and fled at high speed.
Guo Shier tried his best to fly away, with the mutated flying ants chasing closely behind. So far, no hunting vehicle had caught up, and he felt slightly relieved, thinking he might be able to escape this time.
The speed of the mutated flying ants was roughly the same as Guo Shier’s, so they couldn’t catch up for now. They just flapped their wings desperately behind him. This relentless determination surprised and delighted Guo Shier at the same time. If the mutated flying ants had such determination, the people of the Fuye family would surely suffer greatly.
Guo Shier sprinted at full speed, trying to widen the distance between him and the mutated flying ants as much as possible.
It was already dark, and Guo Shier gradually calmed down. He knew he had escaped this time. If not for these mutated ants, it would have been hard for him to survive the Fuye family’s attack.
To thank these mutated flying ants, he decided to make use of the dozen or so ants that were chasing him. Mutated symbol worms were treasures—how could he let them go so easily? But now wasn’t the right time to act.

Guo Shier continued flying forward, but his mood had completely changed—now it was one of relaxation and joy. He flew steadily ahead, occasionally looking back at those dozen or so flying ants. The more he watched them, the more he found the mutated flying ants beautiful and adorable. He remembered a sealing method, but unfortunately, although he had the materials, they hadn’t been refined yet. He understood the talismans, yet he hadn’t managed to create the talisman foundation. He sighed inwardly, “What a pity! If I had refined the insect talisman foundation earlier, I could have sealed a few of these mutated flying ants. They’re quite good—able to fly, beautiful, and seemingly strong too.”

In fact, Guo Shier had overestimated these mutated flying ants. At best, they were just first- or second-grade mutated talisman insects, nowhere near comparable to the Dark-Winged Demon Scorpion in his ancient insect talisman. The flying ants could only exert great power by relying on their numbers and collective strength; just a few of them wouldn’t be very effective.

It was completely dark now, and Guo Shier could no longer see the mound tower where the ant nest was located. He immediately released the Dark-Winged Demon Scorpion. Letting the talisman insects fight against each other was the best approach. Sure enough, when the Dark-Winged Demon Scorpion saw the flying ants, it became very excited. It swung its scorpion pincers at them, with the small scorpions on its back also charging forward.

Guo Shier really wanted to catch a living flying ant. He carefully transmitted this thought to the Dark-Winged Demon Scorpion and was surprised to receive a quick response—a firm determination from it. Guo Shier was overjoyed.

By this point, Guo Shier had already discerned the strength difference between the two sides. Without even having to act, the small scorpions caught all the flying ants and devoured them eagerly. Two of the small scorpions carried one flying ant to Guo Shier, holding it up and spinning it in front of him.

Guo Shier exclaimed in delight, “Did you catch this for me?”

The Dark-Winged Demon Scorpion made a series of chirping sounds, and that firm determination came again. Guo Shier realized he wasn’t mistaken. The flying ants’ strength lay in their mouthparts. He grabbed the ant’s slender neck and examined it carefully.

It had a triangular head, three segments to its body, six thin legs, long antennae, sharp teeth, and its body was covered in tiny red talisman patterns that dyed it a bright red. Aside from the talisman patterns and body length, it seemed no different from the ants he had seen before. This ant was extremely strong, writhing constantly in his hand.

After some thought, Guo Shier decided to give up. He threw the flying ant away and said, “Eat it then!”

The Dark-Winged Demon Scorpion swung its scorpion pincers, instantly catching the flying ant and bringing it to its mouth, crunching it down. It even swung its pincers again, seemingly enjoying the taste of the flying ant. Only after the little scorpions climbed back onto the Dark-Winged Demon Scorpion’s back and disappeared into its back did Guo Shieru put it away in the Ancient Insect Talisman.

Looking back at the dark sky, there was a faint glow—Guo Shieru knew it was the fire started by the fallen hunting vehicle. He smiled slightly, activated his flying talisman, and continued flying forward.

……

Eagle Demon had been waiting outside Guo Shieru’s cottage, preventing anyone from entering. During this time, Xie Xiaoping, Tong Zhi, and Guan Yuntao each came by once. Hearing that Guo Shieru was busy making something, they stopped bothering him and simply told Eagle Demon to inform them once Guo Shieru came out.

Three days passed quickly. Eagle Demon sat in the courtyard, with a piece of animal skin laid on the ground where he slept at night. On the vast grasslands, he was accustomed to such a simple lifestyle.

Suddenly, the door opened, and Guo Shieru stepped out of the room, clearly exhausted.

Eagle Demon was slightly surprised. He stood up and asked, “Shieru, how did it go? Did you see the old master?”

Guo Shieru smiled bitterly. “Sigh, it’s already lucky to have made it back alive… The secret realm of the altar was discovered. People from another continent were chasing me… It took me three whole days to barely escape.”

Eagle Demon was shocked and asked, “How did it get discovered?”

Guo Shieru replied, “If we could get in, so could others… Hmph, they made me suffer a lot, and I didn’t spare them either… It’s a pity I didn’t see my master this time.”

Eagle Demon asked, “Do you know who they are?”

Guo Shieru nodded. “I saw them last time in the Secret Realm of Tongyou. It’s them again. In total, they’ve chased me twice. Thankfully, there weren’t any powerful experts, otherwise I really wouldn’t have made it back… I have to go back to the Chenxiao Sect to see my master.”

Eagle Demon was stunned. “If you tell your master, the secret of the altar won’t be safe.”

Guo Shieru said, “The secret of the altar can’t be kept anyway. Since it’s impossible to protect it, I can’t let them get away with it either. I’ll talk to my master.” He knew well how precious the altar was, but since people from the Intermediate Talisman Continent had discovered it, his master Luo Jie surely wouldn’t be able to keep it any longer.

Eagle Demon thought it made sense. Only people from the Intermediate Talisman Continent could deal with those from the same continent, so Guo Shieru’s idea was logical. He said, “Alright, I’ll accompany you back.”

Guo Shieru said, “Let’s go! Find my master.”

The two immediately rushed toward the Chenxiao Sect. They soon entered it. Guo Shieru made his way to withered wood’s manor with ease and rushed straight into the underground talisman-making hall. At a glance, he saw Withered Wood sitting on the ground, seemingly deep in thought. He called out loudly, “Master, I’m back!”
When Withered Wood saw Guo Shieru, a faint smile appeared on his stiff face before disappearing instantly. He asked, “Weren’t you off on a mission? How did you return?”
Guo Shieru said, “I have a question for you, master.”