Chapter Thirty-Four: Frozen in Space

He summoned all of his Red Fire Ant cards, including the ones the queen had produced today. Altogether, there were about seven hundred. With so many Red Fire Ants, Lu Sheng saw no reason to summon the goblins. Seven hundred ants were more than enough to quickly dig a massive pit covering three hundred square meters, so he set them to work immediately.

Taking advantage of the night, Lu Sheng once again hurried to the river to fetch water. On the way, the Space-Time Ant kept sending him messages, eager to be released. The strength of this intent was overwhelming; sensing the liveliness of the Space-Time Ant’s will, Lu Sheng felt a surge of joy. It seemed that the recent upgrade had brought the Space-Time Ant a significant recovery.

He summoned the Space-Time Ant, which was only the size of a thumb, its appearance delicate and endearing. Its silvery-white body was even more striking in person. The ant was in high spirits upon being released, clearly enjoying the fresh air so much more than the stifling confines of a card’s space.

Lu Sheng placed the Space-Time Ant on his shoulder. “Hold on tight, don’t fall off.”

Of course, with its abilities, it was impossible for the Space-Time Ant to fall by accident; after all, Lu Sheng’s use of its skills was only on loan. Those abilities truly belonged to the ant itself. Small as it was, this creature was the very source of Lu Sheng’s formidable power.

With the Space-Time Ant perched on his shoulder, Lu Sheng continued toward the river. The ant lay there, looking utterly content. Soon, he reached the spot where he had drawn water last time. It had only taken five minutes to get there. By now, the three-hundred-square-meter pit in the subdimension was nearly complete. The digging speed of seven hundred Red Fire Ants was nothing short of astonishing—just another two minutes and the job would be done.

Lu Sheng waited, and after two minutes, he stood by the riverbank. From a meter away, he opened the entrance to his subdimension and let the river water flow in. A vortex formed in the river, drawing in vast quantities of water. Lu Sheng simply waited in silence as the pit filled.

Suddenly, the Space-Time Ant sent him a warning: danger ahead.

Lu Sheng’s laziness vanished in an instant, and he watched the darkness intently. He had no reason to doubt the Space-Time Ant’s alert. Even with his enhanced vision, night still imposed severe limits on how far he could see—only a few dozen meters ahead, but that was enough.

A pair of eyes the size of bronze bells appeared on the water’s surface, belonging to a massive body looming just ten meters away. As soon as Lu Sheng looked its way, the beast launched an attack.

A gigantic crocodile burst from the water, jaws agape, lunging straight for Lu Sheng. The monster was at least five meters long, three times the size of a normal crocodile—immense and powerful.

A blow from those jaws would leave him dead or maimed. The danger was mortal.

But in that instant, the space before him froze; the crocodile’s body was suspended midair, immobilized. The Space-Time Ant on Lu Sheng’s shoulder snapped its mandibles fiercely: Master, finish it!

Feeling the ant’s eager intent, Lu Sheng’s tension gave way to elation.

The Space-Time Ant merged with him, granting him fifty times his usual strength.

He seized the giant crocodile’s head and slammed it to the ground, then crushed its skull with a single punch. The force was so great that even the earth beneath them split.

Only then did the frozen space return to normal.

With the threat gone, the Space-Time Ant returned to Lu Sheng’s shoulder, its mandibles waving with unmistakable pride.

[Giant Crocodile]
Quality: White
Rank: Tier One, Perfected
Skill: Impact

A card had dropped from the crocodile’s corpse. As a solitary monster, its drop rate was the highest—defeating one guaranteed loot.

[Water Impact]
Rank: Tier One, Perfected
Effect: Summons a high-pressure water jet to strike ahead with power equivalent to a full-strength blow from a perfected Tier One creature.

Lu Sheng put away the two cards and resumed drawing water. After carefully completing the task, he returned.

He released twenty-one pairs of Bloodthirsty Mosquitoes and ordered them to mate and reproduce. The forty-five piglets were put to use, and the Fangtooth Boar was commanded to summon ten male Fangtooth Boars to work together. Their job was simply to be food—that was their purpose.

He fed the Bloodthirsty Mosquitoes, gave the Red Fire Ants enough food reserves, and finally placed a Tier One Origin Pearl into the rapid development device. Done!

With these matters settled, Lu Sheng’s consciousness exited the subdimension, and he began a new round of cultivation.

...

Heavenly Beetle City.

Inside the Heavenly Blade Gang’s prison, a man was tied to a chair, his body a mangled mess of flesh and blood, not a single patch left intact. From the tattered remains of his clothing, it was clear he was from the Flowing Fire Gang.

Yan Dao stood across from him, holding a red-hot branding iron. “This is your last chance. Where did those extra twenty people come from that day?”

The man on the chair spat out a mouthful of blood, his voice trembling and weak. “I really don’t know... I wasn’t even there that day. How could I possibly know about that operation...”

Yan Dao suddenly pressed the glowing brand against the man’s forehead, twisting it back and forth with force.

“Ah... ah... ah...”

The shrill screams seemed to echo from the depths of hell, chilling everyone present to the bone.

The members of the Heavenly Blade Gang watched Yan Dao warily. Their leader’s actions sent shivers through them, filling them with dread and fear.

Yan Dao’s face was twisted, his eyes wild and unhinged, a hint of madness about him. “Don’t know... Don’t know... If you don’t know, then die!”

Only when the screams finally stopped did Yan Dao cease his movements. He turned to his men and said, “Monitor the Flowing Fire Gang with everything you’ve got. Within three days, bring me one person who was present that day.”

“Uh...” One of his men hesitated, wanting to speak.

Yan Dao glared at him. “Is there a problem?”

It was a calm question, but in his subordinate’s ears, it was the whisper of a demon. The man waved his hands frantically, “No problem... no problem.”

Yan Dao left the prison. No one saw the murderous gleam in his eyes—an unyielding ruthlessness that nothing could make him compromise.

“As long as I kill enough people, my Phantom Mantis will complete its first evolution. I really didn’t want to do this.”

“This is all your fault. You tried to kill me, so let the dead seek vengeance from Fei Liu Huo.”

Yan Dao looked at the map in his hand, which marked the locations of settlements outside Heavenly Beetle City. His eyes glinted with bloodlust as he studied them.

He put the map away and stepped into the night. In the darkness, his silhouette seemed to be slowly descending into the abyss...

—

After a night of cultivation, Lu Sheng had successfully reached Tier Two.

By the time he awoke, it was already noon. He often stayed up late, but cultivating through the night was a first.

There was no need to go out today. The group had agreed yesterday that they would all stay in and refine the Crimson Pouches.

[Space-Time Ant]
Quality: Purple
Rank: Early Tier Two
Skills: Subdimensional Space (five-kilometer range), sixtyfold strength, time reversal, spatial stasis.

Those were his current attributes. From late Tier One, he had advanced twice in succession, and his physical abilities had improved tremendously.