Chapter Thirty-Five: Ultimately Ignored

Within the mysterious and deathly silent insect nest, soul-shaking roars echoed from all directions. These undulating cries were not the beastly howls of animals, but shrill, piercing waves of sound, spreading as if amplified from the depths of a chasm.

Leng Tian darted in panic like a headless fly, dodging and fleeing in all directions. Behind him, the Ant Queen, its massive body wreathed in searing flames, led its aerial and ground forces in relentless pursuit, forming an inescapable encirclement.

He ceaselessly probed the way ahead with his spiritual sense; in this mist-shrouded nest, without such a sense, there would be no path to find at all.

The Ant Queen propelled itself forward on six gigantic legs, thundering after him. Behind it, stretching as far as the eye could see, the ground was awash in a tide of fiery red, a terrifying host of ants flashing their razor-sharp mandibles—a sight to chill the soul.

A scorching wave, hot enough to melt gold and stone, surged from behind, instantly parting the thickest mists. A pillar of fire, almost tangible, shot forth with lightning speed, aimed straight at Leng Tian’s back.

Within a hundred meters, the heat wave scoured the area clean, leaving a vacuum in its wake. In mid-sprint, Leng Tian suddenly felt himself locked on by a force; then the wave of fire swept over him, a destructive heat bearing down.

In that instant of peril, his body shifted sideways, his reaction nearly perfect—yet still a fraction too slow. The blazing pillar grazed his arm as it tore past.

With a harsh hiss, the golden energy surrounding his body collapsed at the touch, and his skin was seared by the flames. Flesh burned away at a mere brush, sending up wisps of roasted scent into the air.

Ten meters away, Leng Tian steadied himself, horror etched on his face as he looked at the wound on his right arm, where blood and flesh were already knitting together. No one knew better than he how resilient his body was—yet he was wounded so easily, wounded by flames of such terrifying power.

A thunderous explosion erupted ahead, the dense mist churning like a tide as if something had detonated, pushing the fog outward in all directions. Fierce winds struck, hurling stones, but Leng Tian’s wound had already healed. Eyes sharp as lightning, he fixed his gaze on the Ant Queen charging toward him, and turned resolutely to flee once more.

Rage burned in the Ant Queen’s massive eyes. Never before, in its own domain, had anyone dared slaughter its children in such numbers. Fortunately, it had awakened from its slumber to find this hateful intruder wantonly massacring its brood—how could it not be enraged? Here in the nest, it was a sovereign in its own right, respected by every other insect monarch. Yet today, someone had brazenly invaded its home, an affront it would not tolerate.

Seeing Leng Tian still fleeing, it shrieked in fury, its mountainous body moving with startling speed, six legs pounding the earth in endless thunder.

Leng Tian dared not pause. His spiritual sense stretched to its limits, but as his speed increased, even his senses struggled to keep up. Several times he nearly ran into dead ends, escaping only through quick reflexes and situational awareness.

Once more a pillar of fire shot toward him, faster than lightning. Leng Tian, wary of a repeat attack, shifted direction the instant he sensed the threat. Yet he was unprepared for what followed—this time, six pillars came at once, sealing off every avenue of escape.

His heart sank as he realized all retreats were cut off. This Ant Queen was a being far beyond ordinary selection; even fighting with his life, he would gain no advantage.

Yet in the face of danger, Leng Tian remained calm. Golden blood surged like a great river through his veins, faintly roaring. The first pillar of fire swelled in his vision—now was the time!

He stepped lightly, moving two meters sideways in an instant. The pillar of fire shot past, missing him by mere inches.

Under the immense heat, his golden energy shrank, clinging tightly to his skin. With a grave expression, he pivoted, body twisting to face the Ant Queen. Two more pillars grazed past his back and chest as he completed the move.

This was the “Inch Flash”—a close combat footwork technique Leng Tian had developed himself, enabling optimal movement within a space of mere inches.

Now, he used the Inch Flash to perfection, covering the smallest distances possible in the tightest quarters to preserve his safety.

Another step—another pillar blazed past his chest, missing him, but leaving intense pain in his scorched flesh.

Twice in quick succession he dodged, barely avoiding being engulfed in flames.

Glancing at the bloody mess on his chest, Leng Tian had no time for pain. Having escaped the sixfold barrage, he flashed away and continued his desperate flight.

Six explosions rang out in succession. The shockwaves from the bursting pillars of fire swept the mist clear from hundreds of meters around.

The ground was left in chaos; six smoking craters appeared, and Leng Tian’s figure shot over their edges, vanishing into the rolling fog.

The Ant Queen’s furious shrieks, laden with sonic force, rang in his ears, making his mind buzz. From the sound, Leng Tian could tell the great ant was truly enraged now—who knew what other deadly tricks it might unleash?

Fortunately, its speed was not overwhelming. But wait—it had wings and could fly! Why, then, did it remain behind him instead of overtaking? A sense of foreboding crept over Leng Tian—was the Ant Queen scheming against him?

With this unsettling thought, he grew even more alert to the changes around him, wary of stumbling into a deadly trap.

After about the time it takes to drink a cup of tea, Leng Tian noticed the terrain rising underfoot, and the ground growing uneven but oddly smooth. Looking down, he saw it was no longer soil, but a warm, glossy black-brown stone.

“What is this place?” he wondered. The air was thick with the stench of sulfur. Realization dawned—this was a volcano! He was racing across the side of a volcano, and it seemed not a very high one. Worse still, it was an active volcano.

As expected, the air soon grew uncomfortably hot. “I can’t go any higher, or the Ant Queen will drive me straight into the lava!”

He stopped climbing and instead sped laterally around the volcano’s flanks. Behind him, the Ant Queen, its massive wings beating, rose into the air and soared toward the crater above.

Wind howled as its wings swept the peak. Leng Tian felt the gale above him, glanced up, and caught the blurred shadow of the Ant Queen as it passed overhead, its form becoming distinct only as the mist scattered.

“What is it doing? If it wants me dead, it doesn’t need to go to such lengths!” Leng Tian was struck by the thought that the Ant Queen seemed to care more about the volcano than about him. This was just as well; he should leave this perilous place before encountering something even more terrifying.

He had been running for ages, yet the ground remained the same dark, smooth stone. At his speed, he should have left even a large mountain far behind, but reality proved otherwise—this was no ordinary volcano.

To guard against further moves from the Ant Queen, Leng Tian pushed his speed to the limit, streaking forward like a shooting star. His spiritual sense told him the terrain ahead was flat and unobstructed, so he accelerated severalfold.

Strangely, the Ant Queen’s army had gone silent—no red ants appeared, the tide of them from before vanished as if into thin air.

In truth, they had not vanished, but halted a mile from the volcano, all lying low in a half-encirclement, like loyal guards protecting their sovereign. In the sky above, winged red ants hovered in tight formation.

At the volcano’s summit, smoke and ash billowed from the wide crater. The Ant Queen’s deep crimson body hovered above, wings outstretched as it descended into the depths. In moments, the smoke swallowed its form completely.

Soon after, a rumbling explosion shook the volcano’s base. A pillar of sulfurous smoke shot skyward, instantly forming a dark mushroom cloud high above.

Rivers of deep red lava surged from the crater, flowing down the mountainside. At the base, the Ant Queen’s massive form swam and rolled in the molten pool, reveling in the heat.

So, this volcano was the Ant Queen’s lair—a place of cultivation and rest. Previously, it had left to lay eggs and entered a deep slumber. Leng Tian’s incursion and slaughter of so many red ants had awakened it prematurely.

Upon waking, finding an intruder but also catching the familiar scent, the Ant Queen’s fury was matched by another urgent need. Weakened from laying eggs, it cared less about danger in its domain, but instinct drove it to prioritize its own strength—the magma would restore it quickly. As long as it submerged itself in the lava, nothing could harm it here, and it could keep Leng Tian within reach as well.

Its massive body sank into the molten depths, and the lava began to boil and rise, soon flooding over the crater and streaming down the mountain. In moments, the entire slope was bathed in fiery red.

The earth below rumbled as hot air vented, and streaks of fire glowed through the ground. In the blink of an eye, a sea of flames swept across the volcano’s domain.

Blazes shot up several meters high, turning dozens of miles into a hellish inferno. This was the Ant Queen’s ultimate move, harnessing the subterranean volcano to become a god within this territory, able to command the flames at will to obliterate any target it desired.