Chapter 56: The Bitter Struggle in the Forest of Ten Thousand Ants

Next, dozens more fire ants swarmed toward her. Without exception, they all avoided the line of ant flesh and blood in front of Feng Ke’er, instead flanking her from both sides. The fire ants attacked swiftly. Feng Ke’er had no choice but to hold her breath and focus all her strength on fighting for her life. She battled and retreated, until at last the fire ants forced her back to the entrance.

With this, her previous defensive line lost its effectiveness. The fire ants circled around and could now attack her from the front as well. Fortunately, due to the presence of the barrier, her back felt as if pressed against an invisible wall, preventing the fire ants from completely surrounding her.

Yet advantages come with disadvantages. She was now backed into a dead end, with nowhere left to retreat. So, with her back against the barrier, she fought desperately, killing the fire ants while hurriedly stacking their corpses to her left and right, crushing them into pulp, leaving only a meter-wide gap directly in front of her.

Gradually, she managed to restrict the fire ants’ attack range—they could now only attack her from the front, and the front itself was no more than a meter across.

Though Feng Ke’er was wounded in many places during the battle, and her short robe had been chewed to rags by the relentless fire ants—fit for nothing but a fishing net—she recovered her strength with rejuvenating elixirs, and each ant she killed seemed to restore a trace of her vital energy. It was as if she had taken a stimulant; the more she fought, the more vigorous she became.

In this way, she gradually turned the tide. After killing about a thousand fire ants, Feng Ke’er grew hungry, her stomach rumbling noisily.

If only vital energy could be eaten in place of food! She had no choice but to pause, using the corpses of the slain ants to completely seal off the meter-wide gap in her defense line.

Now, the frenzied fire ants could only circle helplessly outside the line, unable to get in.

Feng Ke’er sat cross-legged in the center of her small, less than three-square-meter rest area. She held a cooking pot in one hand and a handful of top-grade spirit rice in the other, but could only stare in dismay.

What frustration! There was a forest, and the pervasive miasma completely blocked the sunlight. Her ice lens couldn’t be used to start a fire. If she lacked water, she could conjure ice and melt it into water with fire. But now, she had no fire at all—how was she to cook? Was she supposed to eat raw rice?

At last, her gaze fell again upon the fire ant corpses surrounding her. While stomping them to death earlier, she’d noticed a warmth beneath her feet. Wild pheasants were fire-type beasts and could breathe fire. These ants were also fire-type, yet never once did they spit fire. There had to be a reason for that.

She tried picking up two fragments of fire ant shells and rubbing them together. They grew warm, but produced no sparks.

After a moment’s thought, she smeared some ant flesh onto the surface of one fragment, then tried rubbing them together again.

A faint blue glow flashed and vanished.

Open flame! Though the fire was weak, it was indeed a real flame.

There was hope! Feng Ke’er was overjoyed. She coated both shell fragments with a thick layer of ant flesh and rubbed them together again.

A bright orange flame, tinged with pale blue, blazed up instantly.

No wonder the fire ants avoided their companions’ flesh; even the stench of the flesh made them instinctively retreat. They were afraid friction would ignite it.

With the problem of fire solved, a new one arose: what to use as fuel? Obviously, the ant flesh was the best fuel. But a glance at the growing horde of fire ants outside the line made Feng Ke’er shudder. Unless she wanted to fight another starving battle, it was best not to use any more ant flesh.

There were plenty of dry branches and leaves nearby, but unfortunately, they were too far away, within the ants’ control zone.

With no other choice, Feng Ke’er reluctantly decided to use the furniture in her storage pouch—a true luxury in these times. Market research had shown that the solid wood furniture left by Qin Heng was extremely valuable. Even the least conspicuous little wooden stool could be traded for a low-grade spirit stone. The most valuable was the low couch, which contained a small spirit-gathering array and was worth two thousand low-grade spirit stones. Sadly, she’d foolishly given it to the meat-bird.

But, when it came to the matter of eating, what’s a single low-grade spirit stone worth? Feng Ke’er, with a hint of extravagance, set the small wooden stool alight.

Next, she conjured an ice sphere, melted it for water, and prepared to cook her first meal in the Forest of Ten Thousand Ants: a pot of chicken congee.

But, by the firelight, she noticed something odd: the water from the ice sphere was covered with a thin layer of pale purple foam! This immediately reminded her of the purple-black fluid produced when hatching the “jade insects.”

Could she eat rice cooked with this water? Her stomach churned in revulsion. With a clatter, she dumped the water onto the ground and refused to use it.

If chicken congee was out of the question, she’d have to settle for popcorn… what a disappointment.

Well, popcorn was still better than raw rice. So, Feng Ke’er heated the cooking pot until it glowed red, tossed in two handfuls of top-grade spirit rice, covered it, and smothered the fire.

A low buzzing came from inside the pot. Feng Ke’er extended her spiritual sense to check. Sure enough, the spirit rice clung to the bottom, and in just a moment, all the grains had popped.

It looked edible. Delighted, Feng Ke’er lifted the lid, and the unique fragrance of spirit rice wafted out.

A whole gourd bowl of spirit rice popcorn!

Unfortunately, though it looked and smelled wonderful, it tasted terrible—dry and hard to swallow. Feng Ke’er ate with tears in her eyes, her throat feeling as if it were on fire.

No matter what, she absolutely needed to find a source of drinkable water soon. Gazing at the miasma thick as rice gruel, she forced down the last mouthful and clenched her fists, encouraging herself: “Come on, there must be water ahead.” The miasma, so thick it looked like white porridge, greatly weakened her spiritual sense. She could now only sense events within a two-li radius. Within that area, she found no water. But, with the forest so lush, how could there not be a water source? She was sure there must be one beyond two li.

Cross-legged, she recited the Purifying Heart Mantra once more, and the burning in her throat eased. Feng Ke’er picked up her sword again.

This time, in search of water, she would press at least two li deeper into the forest!

Feng Ke’er had intended to use the Phoenix Blood Crystal to conceal her presence and slip into the dense woods. Unexpectedly, this trick was useless against the fire ants. She had barely taken two steps out of her rest area when they excitedly pounced on her.

Fortunately, as white-rank demonic beasts, the poison secreted by the fire ants' jaws had no effect on Feng Ke’er, greatly reducing their threat. After several skirmishes, she became more and more familiar with their habits.

Every ten meters she advanced, she used the bodies of slain ants to mark out a two-meter-diameter rest area. When hungry, she chewed a handful of raw spirit rice; when tired, she jumped into the rest area to rest. In this way, after who knew how long and how many ants she killed, Feng Ke’er only knew her mouth was so dry it felt aflame, and her tattered short robe was soaked with sweat, not a dry fiber left. At last, she found water.

Whether it was the effect of the spring or the result of all the crushed ant flesh she’d left along the way, the miasma had completely dissipated near the water source. Feng Ke’er could clearly see the spring: a mountain spring bubbling with pearl-like water, trickling down a moss-covered boulder, pooling into a pond about a hundred meters wide at the rock’s base, then flowing out as a five-meter-wide stream, winding through fallen leaves and stones into the depths of the forest.

Feng Ke’er had no idea where she was; the spring was her only landmark. She had found it through her spiritual sense, fighting her way there. Half a li away, she finally heard the tinkling of flowing spring water—a sound as sweet as music from the heavens, guiding her step by step.

But she had to stop about a hundred meters from the spring—a grove of birch-like trees grew beside the spring, and tens of thousands of fire ants were crawling down the trunks, surrounding her. So, the fire ants lived in the trees, not the ground. No wonder she hadn’t found a single ant nest along the way.

“So, you want a final showdown?” Feng Ke’er thrust her bloodied sword into the ground, jumped into her newly marked rest area, sat cross-legged, and, with dry, cracked lips, gave a low laugh. “Wait till I’ve eaten, drunk my fill, and regained my strength—then I’ll play with you all!”

Did they really think this could stop her? Hmph! She was now a cultivator—what’s a hundred meters?

Feng Ke’er adjusted her breath, then took out her cooking pot. Balancing it on her left palm, she formed a sword gesture with her right hand, pointed at the spring, and shouted, “Draw!”

In an instant, a bowl-sized whirlpool formed on the surface of the spring. A column of water as thick as a bowl rose like a spirit snake and plunged into her pot, scattering sparkling droplets along the way.

The droplets that fell on the fire ants threw them into chaos.

This phenomenon caught Feng Ke’er’s attention—could the water be poisonous?

Though the voice in the mist told her the Purifying Heart Mantra could neutralize all poisons, to be safe, she stopped channeling spiritual power, dipped her pinky into the pot, and dabbed a little spring water on her lips—her senses now so keen, she would know instantly if it were poisonous.

The spring water was cool, and she couldn’t help but lick it. It tasted sweet as nectar.

If she were to die to such poison, it would almost be a pleasure!

But Feng Ke’er had no wish to die. She circulated her energy through one full cycle; her whole body felt nothing amiss.

The spring water was pure, natural, unpolluted, top-grade mineral water—case closed.

So, after a hard-fought ordeal, Feng Ke’er finally had her first real meal in the Forest of Ten Thousand Ants: chicken congee made from top-grade spirit rice and wild pheasant.

Full and satisfied, Feng Ke’er let out a contented burp, sprawled out in a ‘big’ character on the ground within her rest area—her survival secured, what was there to rush for? Monster slaying could wait!

Outside the circle, the fire ants could only stare longingly. The aroma of chicken congee drove these demonic beasts mad, never having tasted mortal fare, yet they dared not cross the threshold.

Just then, from across the spring came a faint rustling, distinct from the sound of fire ants crawling.

Could there be another kind of demonic beast in the Forest of Ten Thousand Ants? Feng Ke’er frowned and looked across, only to see two much larger fire ants crawling out of the grass. Not only were they at least three times the size of the other ants, but each had an extra vertical black pupil on its forehead.

It seemed the upgraded versions had arrived. Feng Ke’er sat up, scratched her head, and smiled wryly—the next challenge was about to begin!

++++++++ Section Break ++++++++

With more than a thousand recommendation votes, I bow in gratitude to all your support. As usual, there will be a second update at six o’clock this afternoon. (To be continued)

Tongtian Codex, Chapter 56: The Bitter Battle in the Forest of Ten Thousand Ants—update complete!