Mortal: Joining the Star Palace at the Start

"Um... alright then, since Fellow Daoist Zhang has said so, then please follow me."

Tang Hong smiled and immediately led the way, which prompted Ji Qing and the others to follow.

The cave entrance was pitch black, with no light visible.

Tang Hong, holding a luminous pearl, led the way, and Ji Qing and the others followed for a while before arriving at a stone gate.

The stone gate is very ancient, with several eye-catching characters painted on it.

Ji Qing looked up and stared at the stone door for a long time before reaching out to touch it. Suddenly, a flash of white light appeared, and the array on the stone door lit up, knocking his hand away.

"Huh... what's this...?"

Before he could say anything more, Tang Hong suddenly stood up and said in a deep voice:

"Fellow Daoist Li, there's no need to worry. The formation before us is just an ordinary restriction."

"If we want to get in, we can't do so without breaking this formation."

After Tang Hong finished speaking, he took a few steps forward and took out the Breaking Formation Flag from his storage bag.

"According to my ancestors, once the formation is broken, the Heavenly Crystal Ants inside will inevitably erupt."

When the Heavenly Crystal Ants attack, I ask all fellow Daoists to lend a hand.

Only after we deal with the Celestial Ants can we search for the treasure.

"Alright, you don't need to tell us, we already know."

After saying that, Zhang Xiao opened his mouth and spat out a white light, and a golden flying sword immediately appeared in his hand.

"Fellow Daoist Tang, let's begin. Today, let me see just how powerful these so-called Heavenly Crystal Ants really are."

Tang Hong nodded silently when he heard Zhang Xiao say this.

Without hesitation, he quickly formed hand seals.

As he recited the incantation, the formation-breaking flag in his hand spun rapidly, as fast as a blur, and the originally dim flagpole suddenly lit up.

"go!"

As soon as he said this, the Breaking Formation Flag in his hand spun around once, then transformed into four balls of blue light that shot toward the stone gate at incredible speed.

After the formation-breaking flags were planted around the stone gate, Tang Hong flicked his finger, and the flags suddenly began to rotate around the stone gate, starting to break the formation.

Half an incense stick later, under Tang Hong's full urging...

The array guarding the stone gate kept making "crackling" sounds, clearly indicating a fierce standoff with the array-breaking flag.

The result is obvious.

Over time.

The protective array around the stone gate was gradually weakened.

After a while, a loud "bang" was heard, and the formation shattered.

The originally flat stone gate was punched open by the Breaking Formation Flag, revealing a dark passage.

"It's done!" Zhang Xiao exclaimed with great joy, his heart filled with excitement.

Just as he was about to take a few steps forward, he was stopped by a strange sound.

"Hiss hiss hiss..."

Suddenly, a swarm of celestial crystal ants crawled out of the stone door leading to the secret chamber in front of everyone.

These crystal ants were enormous, each about the size of a palm, and they swarmed toward Ji Qing and the others in droves.

"Celestial Crystal Ants!"

"It's so big! How many times must it have advanced?"

Those present gasped in surprise, their faces turning grim.

They never expected that the Crystal Ants would grow to this extent; this is troublesome.

"Is this the Heavenly Crystal Ant?" Ji Qing murmured to himself, his heart heavy.

The Sky Crystal Ant ranks very high on the list of unusual insects, at number nine, and its entire body is covered in deadly poison.

Even a Core Formation cultivator would die with regret if bitten by a Heavenly Crystal Ant.

According to Ji Qing, the Tianjing ant eats everything, making it a nemesis of the iron fire ant.

Everyone present immediately became alert and dared not be careless.

"Fellow Daoists, please be careful."

The body of the crystal ant contains potent poison, making it difficult to deal with.

"If you happen to get bitten, I can only say that you'd better pray for good fortune," Tang Hong said solemnly.

After he finished speaking, he gently patted the storage bag, and a fiery red fan immediately appeared in his hand.

"Ancient treasure?"

Ji Qing frowned slightly, feeling somewhat surprised.

The fan in Tang Hong's hand was sparkling with fire and about six feet long. He immediately thought of the Seven Flames Fan.

If he hadn't looked closely and noticed the difference between the two, he would have really thought that Tang Hong was holding a divine treasure.

If Tang Hong possessed a heaven-reaching spiritual treasure, he would rather forgo any other opportunities here than miss out on this fan.

However, just as Ji Qing was still thinking, he saw Tang Hong wave his hand and gently fan forward, and a large swath of flames suddenly swept towards the Heavenly Crystal Ants.

The Crystal Ants, engulfed in flames, emitted hissing sounds, yet their numbers did not decrease.

Instead, they became even more ferocious.

"Oh no!" Xiao Mi exclaimed, immediately realizing something was wrong.

He was the first to fly out from the crowd, and then he used a formation to envelop the Heavenly Crystal Ants.

After being surrounded by the formation, the Heavenly Crystal Ants frantically tore at the formation's protective shield, causing the formation to flicker and quickly reach the brink of collapse.

"What are you two waiting for?"

If I don't intervene soon, I won't be able to hold out any longer.

Upon hearing this, Ji Qing's eyes flickered, and he immediately took action.

He clasped his hands together slightly, then opened them, his fingers forming several profound sword seals.

Then, with a "hum," several sword cries suddenly rang out, and after a golden light swept over, several flying swords suddenly appeared behind him.

"go!"

As soon as Ji Qing gave the order, the flying sword behind him immediately swept towards the Heavenly Crystal Ants.

Although the Celestial Crystal Ants are powerful, their evolutionary period is still too short, and the number of times they can advance is limited, so they still have weaknesses.

Under the slashing of Ji Qing's flying sword, the originally aggressive Heavenly Crystal Ants gradually suffered casualties.

Dozens died quickly.

"Haha, well done, Fellow Daoist Li."

Tang Hong was overjoyed and increased his speed, fully cooperating with Ji Qing.

Zhang Xiao, standing to the side, was equally unambiguous.

After Xiao Mi trapped the Tianjing Ants, he made the first move.

In just like that, with the combined efforts of the five people, about half a day later, the Heavenly Crystal Ants in the arena were wiped out by Ji Qing and the others.

"Phew, it's finally resolved."

"These damned Crystal Ants are really tough to deal with," Tang Hong said, still shaken.

If it weren't for their thorough preparation and the concerted efforts of everyone, this would have been a great success.

Trying to kill the Crystal Ants is harder than climbing to heaven.

Tang Hong wiped the cold sweat from his brow and was about to say something when he saw Ji Qing come to the ant nest and take out a cluster of insect eggs.

"Fellow Daoist Li, what is this...?"

"What? Can't I even remove these insect eggs?"

Upon hearing this, Tang Hong immediately smiled ingratiatingly and said:

How could this be?

Fellow Daoist Li contributed the most, so what's wrong with taking the insect eggs?

"If you're willing, Fellow Daoist Li, you may take these insect eggs."

Ji Qing nodded, showing absolutely no politeness towards Tang Hong:

"Very well, in that case, these insect eggs shall be mine."