“The mantis stalks the cicada, unaware of the oriole behind.”

Through the ancient golden characters that were now engraved in Qai’s mind, he came to understand a few things about the Dark Queen Ant.

The Queen Ant itself was about 2 meters long and half a meter wide with matching long legs and a pair of antennae.

Its size definitely made it under the category of giant insects among the Spirit Beasts.

Apparently, barely its head was exposed when Qai tripped on it so he never thought it would have such frame.

Although nothing was said about its level nor how it ended up dying half-buried in the ground, the pieces of information he received revealed the Spirit Beast’s few abilities.

Unfortunately, it seemed that its level was yet enough to verbally communicate with him—but could mentally pick up commands and somehow convey thoughts.

As for its current level, Qai was certain that it wasn't a level 1 or level 2 Spirit Beast.

When Qai reviewed its spiritual abilities, he was beyond astonished.

There were only two—but these were enough to blow his mind.

First, the Queen Ant can hide in the shadows of its human companion.

The ability was apparently based on its elemental affinity—Darkness. And the ability was in fact already under continuous operation.

The second was what actually made Qai truly pleased.

‘A hundred Ant colony!’

Apparently, the Queen Ant had no actual fighting capability per se. But as the Queen, it had a spatial room within its gaster where the nest of the colony could be found. And the Ants in its colony would act as its limbs to fight.

For Qai, such spatial trait was a clear violation of common sense. But in this cultivation world, there were millions of things even more uncanny than that.

Accordingly, the colony consisted of an Ant General, a dozen Ant Soldiers and the rest were Ant Workers—but the maximum number were kept in a hundred.

The General was of the same level as the Queen Ant and was the largest in the colony of about 3 meters in length.

The Soldiers, on the other hand, were a level lower and of about the same size as the Queen; while the Workers—apparently the weakest—were two levels lower and just a meter in length.

For some reason, the gap in level and size would remain that way as the Queen progressed and they were as if mere creations of the Queen, like clones or puppets, so none among them could surpass the level of the Queen.

‘What a bizarre ability!’

It was like the members of the colony were both real and not real. It defies logic. But whatever their nature was, the only true Spirit Beast was the Queen Ant.

‘No wonder, it chooses to hide like a shadow. If the Queen dies, the colony dies with it.’

But if the General died, another from among the Soldiers would succeed, and the one who succeeded would be replaced by another from among the Workers. Then the Queen shall reproduce an egg-like shadow to replace the missing ant.

The key was that the colony would always retain its number.

The Ants’ hard carapace and strong mandibles made up their special physical traits.

But as to their ability, unfortunately, they only have one—a Shadow movement skill which was practically derived from the queen’s Darkness elemental affinity.

In effect, all of the colony members were swift, agile and quite undetectable, especially in the dark.

Qai felt relieved that his misfortune just turned into a fortune. And for a moment, his eyes were fixed on to his shadows.

‘At least, I would have no problem where to keep this beast. From now on, my shadow shall be your home.’

Qai stood up—aware that he could not delay any longer since he obviously lost his way trying to escape.

As soon as he woke up from daze, he immediately picked up his things and started to cautiously head his way back.

But at the same time, he was trying to look for a water source. He could smell his filthy self badly due to the impurities he released when he breached the first level of the Qi Condensation stage.

And it didn't take long before he found a small-sized lake, and there, he quickly cleaned his body.

Before he resumed his journey, he stopped by a small clearing and tried to circulate the spiritual Qi energy strand within him until it gained a bit of stability.

Qai performed a set of incantation according to Old Bu’s words. Suddenly, a very thin viridescent bronze-colored Qi energy emanated from his palm.

From its color, the inexperienced Qai couldn't know what kind of elemental attribute was exuding from his palm.

However, he recalled that the Old Bu mentioned about being able to make a simple attack when in level 1 of the Qi Condensation stage.

So he instinctively threw a fist in the air and the odd colored spiritual Qi sprayed out in bits of energy like a wasted jelly.

Qai frowned.

He knew it was not the attack’s supposed result.

‘I wonder what went wrong!?’

However, he was not a person who would lose esteem because of such failure. He put the matter aside and decided to just ask Old Bu about it soon.

But regarding his recently contracted Dark Queen Ant, he certainly would not reveal it—for him, such fortune should be treated as a secret worth keeping.

Soon after, Qai appeared near the area where the high leveled Spirit Beasts fought.

He had second thoughts about whether to proceed or not. But when he noticed that it looked like there was no longer any danger, he took a deep breath, summoned all his courage, and sneakily walked.

One reason why he decided to brave the battleground was perhaps to find some fortune in there. He thought that the devastation wrought about by the battle must have killed some Spirit Beasts.

‘Those are free beast cores, free crafting materials, and most of all, free meals.’

But just he was about to take another step, Old Bu’s familiar voice suddenly rang in his ears.

”So you have Spirit Roots after all,” Old Bu remarked. ”I welcome you to the world of cultivators.”

Qai was not surprised to find the old immortal in the area as he felt that the latter could be anywhere on the island if he wished to.

But he wondered what could he be possibly standing there right in the middle of the area that was cleared by the huge fight between the Spirit Beasts.

“Senior..”

As Qai said that, he hastened to get near Old Bu.

It was then that he saw the dead body of the winged Lion.

Old Bu, on the other hand began to speak as he pointed at the carcass.

“I had to wait in the shadows and keep watch until the end of the fight.”

From Old Bu’s words, Qai surmised that the old immortal must have taken his time to get his chance to make a sneak attack while the beast was at it's weakest.

‘I wonder if senior killed this Spirit Beast himself.’

“Quick, get the beast core and its fangs for me, will you. Then you can have the rest.”

Qai did not immediately know how to react.

He had just arrived. And his mentality few moments ago was filled with fears at any possible threat. Now, he was getting bossed around again by the Old Bu-lly.

He didn't even get a chance to ask questions which he required immediate answers.

“Hah, that’s a level 6 Spirit Beast. It's fangs are worth more than your life so you better handle them properly.”

Qai sighed as he stooped down to dismember the winged Lion’s body.

‘At least I get to eat later a high leveled Spirit Beast!’

Apparently, Qai failed to realize that stepping in the Qi Condensation stage would gradually nourish his inner physique with spiritual Qi energy helping cultivators cast aside thirst and starvation.

‘A level 6 Spirt Beast meat! Hahaha, its taste must be superb!’

When he got the beast core and fangs, he tossed them to Old Bu who, on the other hand, flew away afterward.

“Remember boy, this does not count as part of your weekly dues,” the voice echoed.