Chapter 161: Alchemist Red-eyed Golden Ant
Chapter 161: Alchemist Red-eyed Golden Ant
Zhang Yun is a casual cultivator. A casual cultivator who is not doing well in the world of cultivation. He was originally a mortal, but when he was twelve years old, he was playing with his friends and found a incomplete volume of the cultivation book "Annotations on the Way of Alchemy" in the hole of a dead ancient tree. Out of curiosity and yearning for the magic of gods, Zhang Yun simply started practicing according to Mian's mental method.
Maybe it's because he has some affinity for cultivating immortals and he is very good at it. Without anyone's guidance, he actually passed the level of sensing spiritual energy that most people can't overcome in their lifetime, and successfully reached the stage of introducing energy into the body. After practicing to this point, you can absorb the spiritual energy of heaven and earth into your body, condense it into true essence, and cast some elementary spells.
However, the road to cultivation is not a smooth road but is full of thorns. Without peerless talent or guidance from seniors and sufficient resources, it would be very difficult to take a step forward. Fortunately, although there are no advanced spells or peerless elixir recipes in the "Annotations on the Way of Alchemy", there are many basic methods of practicing, making talismans, and refining elixirs. It seems like a training book issued by a certain sect to junior disciples, which is just right for Zhang Yun. This kind of casual cultivation practice.
Zhang Yun used the skills he learned from "Annotations on Alchemy" to ensure his own safety. Go into the deep mountains and swamps to collect some herbs, jade, and mineral materials. If you are lucky, you can also find some ordinary genius treasures without the protection of monsters (Zhang Yun's cultivation level is too low and he doesn't know a few attack spells. A simple monster can defeat him. It's a waste of time. But fortunately, the spiritual energy of the world at this time is rich, and the number of geniuses and treasures is a hundred times that of later generations, so some ordinary geniuses and treasures are not even bothered to guard by low-level monsters).
Relying on his talent in alchemy, he often took these herbs and the elixirs made from low-level heavenly materials and earthly treasures and practiced diligently. After decades of practice, Zhang Yun still managed to reach the middle stage of introducing qi into the body.
But at this point in his cultivation, the "Commentary on the Way of Alchemy" was not that helpful to him, because after all, it was just a basic training book. It didn't have many attack spells and Qi training techniques, and it was also very common. And if he wants to improve his cultivation, besides slowly absorbing the spiritual energy of heaven and earth and improving his skills step by step, he can only take pills that can speed up his cultivation.
However, due to the lack of attack spells, Zhang Yun was not good at fighting, so he was unable to collect the heavenly materials and earthly treasures guarded by monsters, forming a vicious cycle. Just when Zhang Yun was secretly feeling annoyed because his cultivation level had stagnated, he suddenly learned from some connected casual cultivators that Taiyuan was recruiting cultivators. No matter what their cultivation level was, they could apply. As long as they were selected, they would be highly successful. treatment.
A cultivator with powerful support. The treatment you can enjoy is much better than that of casual cultivators. At least you can avoid many detours by having a teacher to guide you in your cultivation. Zhang Yun had already suffered a long time without the guidance of his teacher and lack of training materials. Naturally, he yearned for it. "At any rate, I have been practicing for decades and have reached the mid-level cultivation level of drawing Qi into the body. Maybe I will be selected. Then I won't have to be a helpless casual cultivator." With a trace of luck, Zhang Yun stepped over and defected. Taiyuan road.
I have to say that the news released by Taiyuan is still very attractive to casual cultivators. Zhan Yun alone saw a thousand cultivators in Taiyuan. Of course, most of them are casual cultivators like him.
If you want to be selected, you must have certain qualifications. The personnel responsible for recruiting are disciples from several nearby large and medium-sized sects such as Daming Temple Branch, Qingfeng Temple, Shenghuo Sect, Yuping Sect, etc. The criteria for recruitment are based on qualifications, character, merit, and cultivation. For, understanding, extraordinary skills and acrobatics (specialties). Zhang Yun's cultivation, understanding, and merit are all average, but his character is judged by the monks of Daming Temple to be quite pure and good at refining elixirs, so he meets the recruitment standards. After receiving an offering token with a name, he was also assigned a training cave of his own.
worship. As the name suggests, you are usually supported by others and have to work for others when needed. Zhang Yun's role is to serve as an immortal master and do things that can only be done by cultivators. Because he is not good at fighting and is only good at refining elixirs, he only needs to help Taiyuan refine elixirs from time to time instead of participating in battles with enemy cultivators like other cultivators.
Although the area of the training cave is small, the concentration of spiritual energy is not low, at least it is much stronger than Zhang Yun's "doghouse" before. As an immortal master in Taiyuan, Taiyuan can give you a low-level magic weapon that can be refined by the weapon master, and you will also be provided with ten pieces of high-grade spiritual jade every month for cultivation. Ling jade refers to ordinary jade that absorbs a large amount of spiritual energy from heaven and earth and is very useful to practitioners. The moistness of jade can eliminate the impetuous heart, the color of jade can cheer up the bored heart, and the purity of jade can purify the dirty heart. Moreover, the structure of jade is naturally suitable for absorbing the spiritual energy of heaven and earth.
Therefore, jade has been loved by people since ancient times. If mortals wear it for a long time, they will be nourished by the spiritual energy, strengthen their health, and prolong their life. People who practice jade can also use jade to arrange formations and refine magic weapons.
This kind of benefit made Zhang Yun couldn't help but lament that Taiyuan was too generous. You know, the spiritual energy attracted by the formation using spiritual jade and the duration are ten times stronger than ordinary jade! Normally, he uses ordinary jade to set up the spirit gathering array during practice. This type of jade is only used to break through the bottleneck of cultivation, but he is usually reluctant to use it.
and. Because Zhang Yun was good at refining elixirs, he would regularly receive a batch of heavenly materials and earthly treasures from Taiyuan for use in refining elixirs. Of course, most of the refined elixirs have to be paid, but Zhang Yun can accept 10% as hard work fee. This kind of generous treatment also made Zhang Yun determined to stay in Taiyuan for the rest of his life. After all, the life of a casual cultivator is too difficult.
In fact, these steps were planned by Yunlong for Liu He. Although Yunlong has no experience as a business wizard, the modern recruitment methods and welfare benefits are much more advanced than those in ancient times. They were slightly modified to recruit people like Zhang Yun who have no ambitions. It is really easy for cultivators to expand their power in Taiyuan. Of course, the premise is that the resources owned by Yunlong and Taiyuan are sufficient to support these cultivators.
After practicing for decades, during a retreat, with the help of a large number of spiritual elixirs and the abundant spiritual energy of heaven and earth induced by the spiritual gathering array arranged by spiritual stones, Zhang Yun finally broke through the realm of attracting energy into the body and buying it in the later stage to practice energy and become a god. . With such achievements, one can be considered a master as an elder in some intermediate sects.
After leaving customs. Amidst the congratulations from others, Zhang Yun also learned that the Taiyuan power territory at this time had expanded nearly ten times and occupied the Central Plains. The founding emperor of the Song Dynasty, named "Song", was not Liu He but a young man named Zhao Kuangyin. . Zhang Yun was naturally very surprised by this.
Under the guidance of the guards who came after hearing the news, Zhang Yun came to the Prime Minister's Mansion of the Song Dynasty and met Liu He. (Masters at the stage of transforming into gods are already qualified to contact leader-level figures). Liu He first congratulated Zhang Yun for successfully advancing to the divine stage. Then Zhang Yunlian gave him a task in a humble voice. Bring a batch of military supplies to Zhao Kuangyin who is attacking the Southern Tang Dynasty. These military supplies were carried in a Qiankun bag, which was obviously not for mortals but for cultivators accompanying the army.
Zhang Yun was very confused. Why should he, a master of the incarnation stage, be asked to go for such a simple task of escorting supplies when it was enough to just shoot ordinary soldiers or cultivators in the Qi-into-body stage?
Under Zhang Yun's question, Liu He smiled bitterly and told him the reason. It turns out that since the war between the Song and Tang Dynasties, the Song Dynasty was winning steadily, and the Southern Tang Dynasty was losing ground. They fought until the capital of the Southern Tang Dynasty - Jinling, and then the stalemate was reached. It was not because the combat effectiveness of the Southern Tang army suddenly became stronger (the political situation in the Southern Tang Dynasty was unstable and the military combat effectiveness was extremely low), but because the sects supporting the Southern Tang teamed up to set up a formation in the open space in front of Jinling City.
They did not harm ordinary people, but just informed the cultivators who accompanied the army of the Song Dynasty: "Although the Southern Tang army was defeated, we cultivator sects have not yet failed enough to compete with you. But we are not willing to go against the Emperor Tianding and act against heaven." Moreover, God has the virtue of good life. Mortal killing is too heavy. As participants, we will also lose our merits. We will set up a formation here today. As long as you can break the formation, we will surrender and cooperate with the Song Dynasty to persuade the Southern Tang Dynasty to surrender; if we win, we will not ask for it. Duo will still help the Song Dynasty persuade the Southern Tang Dynasty to surrender, but the Song Dynasty will issue a decree to ensure the current status of several of our sects."
The Song Dynasty was naturally unwilling to be outdone, and they were really unwilling to kill many people after a long battle. It was in line with the status of a cultivator to decide the outcome by fighting, and it was also good to reduce the number of killings. So after obtaining Zhao Kuangyin's consent. The cultivators under the banner of the two armies took a break and began to fight.
However, the sects of the Southern Tang Dynasty are indeed very powerful and most of them are Buddhist sects. Although the formations they jointly arranged are not very lethal, their defense and recovery capabilities are very abnormal; the cultivators from the Song Dynasty have been fighting for a month but still have not been found. Ways to break the formation.
The cultivators also consumed materials from heaven, materials, earth treasures, spiritual energy and jade. After Kaifeng was selected as the capital of the Song Dynasty, Taiyuan became a logistics base responsible for attacking the army. But the most strange things always happen. I don't know who always attacks the cultivators who give supplies to the cultivators accompanying the army. Liu He had sent two groups of cultivators to draw Qi into his body, but they disappeared.
According to the cultivators in Taiyuan City, it is inferred that the cultivation level of cultivators who can continuously attack cultivators who draw Qi into their bodies but who dare not attack large groups of attackers will not exceed the middle stage of spiritual transformation.
If a master in the late stage of divine transformation or even a master in the return to void stage doesn't have to be sneaky, he can directly occupy a place and establish a sect. To deal with masters in the transformation stage, only masters who are also masters of magic can fight against them. However, there are not many masters in the God Transformation stage in the city, and they all have their own tasks and are responsible for the defense of the city. Liu He was so anxious that he decided to send a large number of Qi-into-body cultivators to transport this batch of supplies.
It happened that Zhang Yun had left seclusion and advanced to the stage of transformation. This made Liu He, who was short of manpower, overjoyed. After briefly understanding Zhang Yun's situation and confirming that he could be trusted, he immediately handed over the task to him and promised that if the task was completed, There is a reward for every effort.
Naturally, Zhang Yun would not refuse to eat the emperor's salary and share the emperor's worries. He simply packed up the Qiankun bag and flew towards Jinling in the escape light.
Halfway through the journey, Zhang Yun suddenly felt a golden light flashing in front of him, followed by a buzzing sound and countless golden light points attacking him. When I looked carefully, I couldn't help but gasp. What was there was not a golden light but tens of thousands of golden flying insects!
These golden flying insects were about the size of a palm and almost had a golden head with fangs and a red spot on the abdomen. The eyes were red and exuded a ferocious and bloodthirsty light. The wings on their backs flashed rapidly and turned into a cloud of insects, rushing toward Zhang Yun.
"Red-Eyed Golden Armored Ant! I can't beat the pain." The volume of "Annotations on the Way of Alchemy" that Zhang Yun picked up also mentioned some demonic beast materials that can be used as alchemy materials in addition to the alchemy techniques. He was able to recognize this "red-eyed golden ant" immediately.
The original form of the red-eyed golden ant was a burrowing ant. By chance, it grew in a gold mine vein and built a nest there. After long-term absorption of the gas of gold essence and the spiritual energy of the earth veins, it mutated into the red-eyed golden ant. Cruel and bloodthirsty, the shell has absorbed the spirit of gold essence and is as hard as a diamond. Its lifespan, size and strength are hundreds of times that of ordinary ants. It has also grown wings and inherited the ants' habit of unity and cooperation. It is very difficult to deal with.
Red-eyed golden ants like to eat metal and spiritual things, and the higher the quality, the more they like jade and cultivator's **! Because these are spiritual things. Therefore, adult red-eyed golden ants contain a large amount of spiritual energy in their bodies, which is very suitable for use as alchemy materials, and they can also extract top-quality metal materials, which have always been "popular" with the majority of alchemists and weapon refiners. Captured by many parties, it is rare to see such a large group of red-eyed golden ants in ordinary places.
After seeing this large group of "Red-eyed Golden Ants" Zhang Yun immediately knew the reason why the first two batches of cultivators disappeared. It turns out that a group of red-eyed golden ants have recently appeared on this supply line. They are very sensitive to the spiritual energy of cultivators and the cultivation materials they carry, so they attack them.
The cultivators who draw Qi into their bodies have weak magic power and low quality of real energy. They cannot learn the art of flying and use the Five Elements Escape Technique. They cannot move very fast and most of them can only walk on the ground. These red-eyed golden ants are originally mutated burrowing ants. They are naturally proficient in the art of burrowing and lurking in the ground. Cultivators below the incarnation stage cannot detect them at all.
They lurk underground and suddenly appear when the cultivators above them pass by. The surrounded cultivators in the Qi-into-body stage cannot even react in time. Without powerful magic weapons or special spells, they cannot break through their siege and can only be bitten alive. Death and devouring provide nourishment for the red-eyed golden ants. This sneak attack technique is their instinct, so they are extremely skilled.
Fortunately, the escaping light set up by Zhang Yun, who advanced to the stage of becoming a god, could move in the air, so he avoided the ambush of the red-eyed golden ants. After all, the Red-eyed Golden Ant is just an insect. Even if it has mutated its intelligence, it has very low thinking and can only act according to instinct.
When they saw that the "delicious food" in their hands was about to fly away, they rushed out one after another without caring about hiding in the ground. The flying speed could actually catch up with Zhang Yun's escaping light.
If Zhang Yun sees an insect cloud blocking the road ahead and moves in another direction, his light-escape speed will be weakened due to the sudden turn, and he will be chased by the Red-Eyed Golden Armored Ants. As a result, he will be unable to complete the transportation mission. He shook his lower teeth and gritted his teeth.
Zhang Yun pinched a few weird hands on his chest and shouted, "Gengjin Divine Wind Escape Light Divide Absolution!" His figure suddenly blurred and then turned into a colorless and invisible wind, and then divided into several large and small strands. Different air currents suddenly passed through the insect cloud in front and gathered together fifty meters away from the insect cloud, revealing Zhang Yun's body again. Then he continued to fly towards Jinling with the escape light without looking back.
The large group of red-eyed golden ants stopped in place for a moment. Their simple intelligence was unable to figure out how Zhang Yun had just passed through their surroundings. But simple thinking also has the advantage of simplicity. They were just stunned for a moment, then followed their instincts and turned around in a circle to continue chasing Zhang Yun.
"Huhu." Zhang Yun's face turned a little pale. He had consumed half of his mana just now and could no longer use it a second time. He estimated that it would take another three hours of flight to reach Jinling and that he would be safe if he saw the large army.
He just gave the escape method a name called "Gengjin Divine Escape". He learned it from the broken jade slips found in a ruined temple.
This escape technique evolved from the Five Elements Escape Technique. The Geng Metal Qi that absorbs the heaven and earth is transformed into the invisible, colorless, strongest and unbreakable Geng Metal Divine Wind through a special method. As long as there are no conflicting spells to escape, it is first-class effective. Zhang Yun is not good at attack and defense spells, but he has a soft spot for this kind of escape method.
His character is soft. Attack spells don't suit his temperament; defensive spells don't suit his temperament either. He's surrounded. No matter how strong his defense is, he's still at his mercy once all his magic power is used up. Only when you practice escape spells well can you hurt anyone in a blink of an eye. Less than.
Zhang Yun's friends were speechless at his idea, but Zhang Yun was an alchemist and was not a combatant, so he was left alone. But he didn't expect that Zhang Yun's approach saved his life today.
After being chased by Chong Yun for three hours, Zhang Yun's mana was almost at the bottom, but he finally saw the Jinling City in front of him who was giving gifts, the golden formation, and the military camp a few miles away from the formation.
"Finally saved." Zhang Yun took a deep breath and shouted in front of him regardless of his face: "Fellow Taoists, save your lives!"
(I have been thinking about it for a long time today and made some changes to my writing style. Let’s see if it works. If it doesn’t work, I will continue to make changes.)
