Yang Hong did not rashly jump into the Ascension Pool. As he plunged into it, he opened the storage ring he had kept in his dantian since ascending and poured out all the magical artifacts within.
He hoped these items would create a layer on the surface of the Ascension Pool, preventing him from sinking directly to the bottom.
This storage ring was naturally brought from the Taiyuan Realm, filled with numerous treasures. During the ascension passage, this storage ring directly entered his dantian, serving as a form of protection by the ascension rules for those ascending from lower realms.
Otherwise, all ascenders would be plundered the moment they ascended.
He had never summoned this storage ring before; even Lan Shuang, a Profound Immortal, couldn't obtain it. Even if she killed Yang Hong, this ring would directly vanish into the spatial turbulence, rendering it unobtainable by her.
Initially, Yang Hong had planned to use these treasures to make a comeback after escaping the control of the Frost Snow Sect. However, after witnessing the power of immortal artifacts and understanding the quality of immortal realm magical artifacts, he no longer harbored such delusions.
Now, he would use these magical artifacts to hold on and save his life.
As a series of splashes echoed, the Black Armored Ants that had been circling finally saw their prey attempting to escape. Their craving for food momentarily outweighed their fear of the Ascension Pool, and they surged forward.
*Kacha kacha*~
Hmm~ No one was caught by the Black Armored Ants. Even though many Black Armored Ants had crawled onto the disciples of the Frost Snow Sect, they were pulled down into the Ascension Pool along with them.
However, the flying boat in the air was gnawed away by the Black Armored Ants within a few breaths.
*Buzz buzz*~
The Black Armored Ants let out angry buzzing sounds and, unwillingly, circled above the Ascension Pool for two days and nights before dispersing.
*Splash*~
With a sound of breaking water, a bare head emerged from the surface of the Ascension Pool.
Yang Hong, at the cost of a head of newly grown short hair, successfully evaded the Black Armored Ants' attack.
"That was damn dangerous. If it had been even a little higher, my head wouldn't have been saved!"
With half his head out of the water, Yang Hong spread his divine sense, carefully observing the situation outside the Ascension Pool.
Although he had already advanced to True Immortal, he had not yet cultivated immortal realm techniques. Yang Hong's divine sense could only extend three thousand zhang.
Within a three-thousand-zhang radius, all life had been extinguished. All plants and animals had been eaten by the Black Armored Ants.
However, these Black Armored Ants possessed a certain level of intelligence. Beneath the surface where life was extinct, many plant roots still retained vitality, and there were even a considerable number of plant seeds.
Although the Black Armored Ants did not cultivate, they possessed the consciousness of cultivation and understood that food must be continuously planted to ensure continuous harvests.
Within the three-thousand-zhang radius of his divine sense's limit, there were no Black Armored Ants.
According to past patterns, these terrifying little creatures would not reappear before the life force of the Black Ant Wilderness recovered.
He withdrew his divine sense, examining his body for subtle changes, and searched for a way to break free.
Currently, Yang Hong could only move half of his head. He was standing on tiptoe, barely managing to keep half his head out of the water.
Moreover, he felt himself growing weaker. At any moment, his footing could shift, and his entire body would be submerged in the Ascension Pool.
His entire immortal essence was completely unusable. Only his divine sense, due to his head being out of the Ascension Pool, could be utilized.
"I wonder if this soil can exist in the Ascension Pool?"
He acted on his thought. With his divine sense, he grabbed a large mass of floating soil weighing a thousand catties and let it fall in front of him.
However, the results disappointed him. The soil was rapidly decomposed by the power of the Ascension Pool as soon as it entered. Only a handful of mud reached his feet from a hundred catties of soil.
And this handful of mud only lasted for six breaths before being completely decomposed!
"Hiss~ The corrosive and decomposing power of this Ascension Pool water is so potent. Ordinary soil in the immortal realm is at least of seventh-grade spiritual soil quality in the lower realm, yet this... only a few breaths..."
"Not good! My magical artifacts won't last long!"
Instantly, Yang Hong thought of another problem. The magical artifacts he had brought to the immortal realm were basically of sixth and seventh grade. Immersed in the Ascension Pool water, they would likely be decomposed quickly.
He was running out of time!
"Rise!"
Yang Hong poured all his divine sense into his right hand, using his entire will to move his right hand!
His storage ring was in his right hand!
Besides magical artifacts, his storage ring contained some spiritual iron, spiritual wood, and various other items.
Crucially, it also contained a flying magical artifact, the Cloud Transformation Flying Boat.
This was a flying magical artifact refined from Green Sky Willow Catkins. Its other aspects were not important; the key was its ability to change forms. If the Cloud Transformation Flying Boat could transform into a rope, it should be able to pull him out of the Ascension Pool.
Sun rose, moon set, repeated three times.
Yang Hong had raised his right hand to his waist, but his divine sense was completely depleted!
In the Ascension Pool, using divine sense consumed a great deal of energy.
However, Yang Hong's expression was somewhat peculiar.
After three days of exertion, his "second brother" had begun to absorb the Ascension Raw Liquid again. As time passed, his "second brother" began to grow and could move up, down, left, and right.
This was truly bizarre.
He began to use his mind for two tasks: one, to recover his divine sense and continue trying to lift his right hand, and two, to have his "second brother" absorb the Ascension Raw Liquid.
However, with his body immersed in the Ascension Raw Liquid, his cultivation technique's progress was extremely slow, ten thousand times more difficult than in normal conditions.
As the sun rose and set, a year passed in the blink of an eye. In a year, he had only managed to raise his hand to shoulder height. The difficulty of lifting it further increased with each increment.
*Buzz buzz*~ *Buzz buzz*~
"Damn it, the Black Armored Ants are back."
After a year, the Black Armored Ants reappeared. They swept across the land like a dark cloud obscuring the sky. However, this time, besides eating the trunks and leaves of plants, they had no other food source. In a year, no animals or insects had entered this area.
At least within the three-thousand-zhang radius of Yang Hong's divine sense, no other creatures had appeared.
Due to the lack of insect pollination, all plants had flowered in the past year but had failed to bear fruit.
At the rate the Black Armored Ants were eating, the entire Black Ant Wilderness would likely be consumed in another three to five years. Without new plants being born, the old plants would wither after a few growth cycles.
A few Black Armored Ants spotted Yang Hong, and soon, ten True Immortal Black Armored Ants circled above his head.
"Damn ants, they won't attack me, right?
I can't move at all now. After a year of standing on tiptoe, my body is almost numb. It's almost impossible to even retract my neck."
In Yang Hong's terrified divine sense, the ten Black Armored Ants circled and descended continuously.
The good news was that the Black Armored Ants were indeed afraid of the Ascension Pool. When they descended to within a foot of the pool's surface, even though Yang Hong, the food, was right in front of them, they were unwilling to descend further.
The ant swarm circled for at least three hours this time before retreating, clearly finding Yang Hong an unpalatable meal.
Under the threat of life and death, Yang Hong's potential seemed to be unleashed. His right hand began to lift faster, and the speed at which his "second brother" absorbed the Ascension Raw Liquid also increased slightly.
Spring turned to autumn, and another year passed.
"Hahaha~ I succeeded, I succeeded."
Yang Hong joyfully waved his right hand. Although it was still stiff, as soon as he left the Ascension Raw Liquid, his bodily functions began to recover rapidly.
Without any delay, he immediately extended his divine sense into the storage ring.
*Ka*~ *Ka cha*~
An accident occurred again!
No!
It couldn't be called an accident; it was something bound to happen.
The moment his divine sense entered the storage ring, the entire storage ring exploded, and everything within was poured out!