Dual cultivation makes you stronger, everyone else is a prodigy, and I'm the only one slacking

The black mist rose up without warning.

Su Man'er's gaze sharpened, and her expression changed drastically.

She quickly formed hand seals, and a green defensive shield instantly enveloped the entire airship.

Everyone froze, initially looking puzzled, until they saw the surging black mist and were completely dumbfounded.

The black fog that blotted out the sky was actually formed by countless flying ants.

"Oh no, they're Black Fiend Flying Ants!" someone exclaimed.

Yu Luoning's gaze sharpened.

Just then, a flying ant slammed hard into the protective shield.

The flying ant was about the size of a fist, completely black, with two thin, cicada-wing-like membranes that gleamed with a ghostly blue poisonous light under the illumination.

The most disgusting thing is that they have strange mouthparts shaped like parentheses and covered with barbs at the corners of their mouths.

Yu Luoning frowned.

I felt nauseous and my stomach was churning.

At this moment, countless demonic insects transformed into a sky full of black miasma, swirling and floating in the air, crashing violently against the spiritual light shield with the force of meteors.

They rushed forward one after another, like moths drawn to a flame.

"You split into two teams and protect them."

Su Man'er gritted her teeth and gave the order.

Upon hearing this, everyone naturally understood what their senior sister meant.

They were tasked with protecting Qin Ranqiu, who had no cultivation, and the old man Wang Hebo.

Shi Shangxu held his longsword horizontally, his body swaying slightly, and stood in front of Yu Luoning and Qin Ranqiu.

Wang Hebo, on the other hand, was protected by Jiang Yuxing and others.

"court death!"

Su Man'er's eyebrows furrowed, and she drew her long whip with a backhand motion.

The long whip was lashed out, bringing with it a storm of spiritual light that formed a small vortex, instantly turning a large number of flying ants into a bloody mist.

But soon enough, the empty space was filled by flying ants from behind.

The flying boat lost power under the impact of countless demonic insects, plummeted towards the ground and slid forward for more than ten meters until it crashed into several large trees and finally came to a stop.

The moment the defensive array shattered, swarms of flying ants poured in.

Jiang Yuxing knew that Shi Shangxu would be overwhelmed if he had to protect two people.

A sinister glint flashed in his eyes as he deliberately conjured a sinister palm wind.

Instead of striking Qin Ranqiu, he pretended to make a mistake and slapped the swarm of flying ants beside Yu Luoning.

next moment.

The ant colony exploded, and the residual liquid it carried rushed towards Yu Luoning.

Upon seeing this, Shi Shangxu's heart nearly skipped a beat.

Instinctively, he withdrew the sword energy protecting his back and used a backhand sword beam to completely disperse the flying liquid.

Everything happened too fast, in the instant when the order of time and commerce was constrained.

Liu Wei, an inner disciple who came with Jiang Yuxing, understood immediately.

He, who was originally protecting Qin Ranqiu and Wang Hebo at the top, suddenly pretended to be outmatched.

He grunted, deliberately revealing a momentary lapse in his defenses.

By the time everyone realized what was happening, Qin Ranqiu had already been swept into the air by the flying ant-like black mist.

"Miss Qin, be careful!" Jiang Yuxing cried out regretfully and righteously.

Everyone then looked over at the sound and saw flying ants carrying people far away.

Meanwhile, Su Man'er's brows furrowed into a tight knot.

Seeing the endless stream of demonic insects, she gritted her teeth, pulled out a purple-gold talisman, and flung it into the air. Accompanied by a flash of light and a clap of thunder, the attacking ant swarm tore open a gap.

With a sweep of his longsword, Shi Shangxu cut down more than a dozen flying ants, but there were simply too many of them.

Qin Ranqiu's figure grew smaller and smaller as she walked further and further away.

Yu Luoning's eyes darkened, and she no longer cared about hiding her strength.

There was no noble sentiment of self-sacrifice to save others.

Qin Qiuran's initiative to leave Dongbao Shangzong, regardless of her initial intentions, undoubtedly resolved the moral dilemma she and Shi Shangxu faced.

That kindness and decisiveness—such a good girl would never bear to see the other person suffer a fate worse than being devoured by ants.

Yu Luoning moved swiftly, using a short-range teleportation technique, and disappeared into the air.

At this moment, the swarm of ants seemed to have received instructions to retreat. They stopped fighting with the remaining people and carried the two women away.

"Luoning!"

Shi Shangxu's eyes widened in horror, but he could only watch helplessly as the figure disappeared.

In that instant, his once clear eyes were now etched with a terrifying red line.

At this moment, the disciple named Liu Wei beat his chest and cried out, "Brother Shi, it's all my fault for being too weak. I couldn't protect Miss Qin, and Miss Yu was also dragged away. I'm afraid the two of them won't live past tonight."

Shi Shangxu trembled all over and didn't even look at him.

He drew his sword, ready to forcibly pursue them.

"Stop!" Another slightly muscular inner disciple, Hu Qing, flashed in front of him.

"Senior Sister Su has not yet given her instructions. This journey is fraught with danger, and you cannot act on your own."

"Get out of here!"

Shi Shangxu suddenly looked up, his eyes filled with murderous intent, causing Hu Qing to involuntarily take a step back.

Jiang Yuxing stood in the shadows, his gaze deep and unfathomable.

He stared intently in the direction where Yu Luoning had disappeared, a slight smile playing on his lips.

Liu Wei's gaze secretly swept over Jiang Yuxing.

He suddenly burst into tears, grabbed Shi Shangxu and said, "Brother Shi, hit me, scold me, it's all my fault for being useless and failing to protect them."

Shi Shangxu's face turned ashen. "Let go!"

Liu Wei said, "You can't act on your own like this. If you also don't come back, our losses will be even greater."

The veins on Shi Shangxu's forehead bulged, but this person was completely oblivious and stubbornly dragged him along.

"Enough, stop it!"

Su Man'er's voice rang out, "They are not in immediate danger."

Upon hearing this, Jiang Yuxing's gaze sharpened slightly, and he looked over without making a sound.

Shi Shangxu forcibly suppressed his surging killing intent, raised his eyes, and asked in a hoarse voice, "Senior Sister, do you have any ideas?"

Su Man'er retracted her whip and said in a deep voice, "The purpose of this swarm of flying ants is very clear: they are here to capture living people."

Black Flying Ants are typically controlled by only one queen, who prefers living beings. Since they are intended as offerings to the queen, they will not die quickly.

"Then we must intercept them before they are taken back to their nests," Liu Wei suddenly said.

Su Man'er sneered, "Then do you know where their nest is?"

Liu Wei was speechless.

Su Man'er turned to Shi Shangxu and continued, "These flying ants are weaker than us, yet they dare to attack my flying boat. Something is definitely amiss. Either they have preyed on all the mortals and low-level demonic beasts within a hundred miles, or the queen ant in the nest is going through a special period, forcing these worker ants to come out and fight for their lives."

Shi Shangxu frowned, her voice barely concealing her anxiety, "In your opinion, which situation does it fall into, Senior Sister?"

Su Man'er pointed to the southwest, "When we were flying high in the sky just now, I saw a forest in the valley ahead that was shrouded in white mist. I think that should be the unique fertilizing aura of the flying ants when they give birth."

"In that case, the queen ant must be in a weakened state during her egg-laying period," Jiang Yuxing said slowly, his voice revealing neither joy nor anger.

"I'm going to save them!" Shi Shangxu couldn't wait a moment longer.

Su Man'er sighed, annoyed, "It's not realistic for all of us to go together, especially since there's a mortal among us."

At this point, the old man Wang Hebo, who had been huddled in the corner, lowered his eyes.

In the eyes of these lofty immortal cultivators, a mortal body is ultimately a burden.

But in such a life-or-death situation, no one has the mind to care about what an ordinary old man is thinking.

Su Man'er decisively ordered, "Shi Shangxu, come with me to the ant queen's nest. The rest of you stay here."