"Human, if you let me go, I'll tell you who my master is and where he is."
"Then you die first, I'll read it from your soul!"
Yang Hong was truly annoyed by this old fox. He had only been obedient for a few seconds before starting his mental and soul attacks again.
So he stopped wasting words. The Law of Time enveloped the giant queen ant, directly freezing it in time. Ten silver flying swords, imbued with powerful spatial energy, stabbed out.
Crackling—crackling—
Two tentacles, as thick as bowls, were immediately severed.
"Chirp—"
A scream rang out, but before the queen ant could finish screaming, the silver flying swords pierced into its body and, under Yang Hong's control, thrashed about.
The queen ant's body was not as strong as a sixth-tier Flying Celestial Ant. Its strength lay in its reproductive capabilities.
In mere breaths, aside from its head, which was nine zhang long and twenty zhang thick, the queen ant's corpse was cut into pieces by Yang Hong!
"Hmph, as I expected, you're not tough-skinned, but have a special defensive force field.
I knew that my attacks, which surpass those of ordinary Mahayana realm cultivators, couldn't possibly fail to penetrate your combined-body realm skin."
Yang Hong waved his hand, and two tentacles, as thick as bowls and twenty-seven zhang long, flew into his hands. They felt warm and smooth, like gold and jade, yet were incredibly hard. His seventh-tier flying swords had taken several continuous slashes to cut them.
While examining the queen ant's tentacles, he asked:
"Now, can you tell me who modified you and who your master is?"
"Human—I have no master. I was lying to you. Kill me then?"
In response to Yang Hong's repeated questioning, the queen ant's voice became surprisingly calm, exuding an aura of fearlessness.
"Heh—still stubborn? Soul Extraction Technique!"
Seeing that the queen ant was seeking death, Yang Hong no longer asked. He quickly formed seals with his left hand, and a strange black mist rapidly enveloped it. Then, he grabbed towards the queen ant's remaining head.
"Eh—you're human!"
The soul that was pulled out caused Yang Hong to exclaim in surprise!
In his left palm was a woman wearing a purple palace dress and looking enchanting, a beautiful woman with a completely human appearance. Unlike the Nascent Souls and Primordial Spirits of demon beasts, which possessed obvious racial characteristics.
"Who are you? How do you know my Sacred Sect's Soul Extraction Technique? And so skillfully?"
The purple-robed soul did not answer Yang Hong's question but instead asked in astonishment.
"Just an unknown nobody, you don't need to know. Now tell me, how can a human become the Nascent Soul of an ant queen? No, this is already a soul, no Nascent Soul left."
As he spoke, Yang Hong formed seals with his right hand to summon a fire dragon and completely incinerate the queen ant's corpse!
"You, a member of an immortal sect, actually know the Soul Extraction Technique. It seems you're no good either.
Let me go, and I'll have the Sacred Sect grant you a chance for eternal life."
"Have you mistaken your identity? Get back to my question!"
Yang Hong no longer wanted to waste words with the purple-robed soul. He directly summoned the Karmic Red Lotus Fire, preparing to refine the soul and extract its memories.
"Karmic Red Lotus Fire! Are you a bald donkey from the Buddhist sect? No—Master, forgive my impudence. This disciple misspoke.
Please, Master, retract your divine ability. This disciple will tell you everything. Ask me whatever you wish."
Upon seeing the Karmic Red Lotus Fire, the purple-robed woman couldn't maintain her composure and begged for mercy. The Karmic Red Lotus Fire was a terrifying flame that could burn the very origin of the soul to nothingness.
"Speak, you only have one chance!"
Enveloping the purple-robed soul with the Karmic Red Lotus Fire, Yang Hong leisurely inquired.
"Master, please swear by your inner demon...
Ah—no—don't..."
Yang Hong's patience, usually good, was severely tested by this purple-robed woman. He directly activated the Karmic Red Lotus Fire, burning and refining the purple-robed woman.
"Idiot, don't you know how to read the situation? You still want me to swear?
Although the memories of a soul refined by the Karmic Red Lotus Fire are incomplete, the main information can still be extracted."
Yang Hong scoffed at the purple-robed woman dismissively before closing his eyes and reading the soul's information through the Karmic Red Lotus Fire.
In just a quarter of an hour, the purple-robed woman's soul was completely incinerated, and he had basically learned the culprit behind the Devouring Gold Ant swarm.
It was the Demonic Sect!
Three hundred and sixty years ago, the Demonic Sect, which had been suppressed and vanished by the Immortal and Buddhist sects due to Yang Hong's "Scripture for the Salvation of All,"
had merely hidden in the shadows, not perished.
This time, they had specifically chosen the Devouring Gold Ants for their special characteristics and subjected them to demonic modification.
Furthermore, this modification was not limited to the Li Huo Desert where Yang Hong was located. This was merely a small experimental ground. The large-scale modification sites were in Xi Qu Prefecture.
The Demonic Sect's stronghold had now relocated to the desolate Xi Qu Prefecture. With vast deserts and wastelands, it was difficult to be discovered due to its sparse population.
Combined with their deliberate low profile, for three hundred and sixty years, no one from the Immortal or Buddhist sects had discovered that their main headquarters had moved.
However, regarding the Demonic Sect in Xi Qu Prefecture, Yang Hong would at most pass on a message to the Immortal and Buddhist sects, and then he would not concern himself with it.
He had more important matters to attend to.
"Ye Yudong, the Devouring Gold Ants have been eliminated. Take the disciples back and cultivate diligently to quickly improve your cultivation. Urge the Azure Sky Willow Tree demons to speed up the construction of the teleportation array. All disciples cultivating the Spiritual Plant Art should be transferred to nurturing the Azure Sky Willow Trees."
"Yes, disciple will surely bring the junior brothers and sisters back to the sect.
But where is Sect Master going?"
Upon hearing Yang Hong's instructions, Ye Yudong immediately realized that Yang Hong was planning to travel far. He quickly asked.
"From the queen of the Devouring Gold Ants, I learned the secret behind their mutation and evolution. There is a Demonic Sect relic that needs to be destroyed.
By the way, when you return, send a message to the Buddhist and Immortal sects, telling them that the Demonic Sect has resurfaced in the Jin Qiao Mountain Range of Xi Qu Prefecture, and the Devouring Gold Ant disaster was their doing."
"Oh—it was the Demonic Sect, no wonder these Devouring Gold Ants grew so strangely.
Sect Master, please go with peace of mind. Disciple will bring everyone back."
Hearing that it was the Demonic Sect's doing, Ye Yudong suddenly felt relieved, as the entire cultivation world knew that the Demonic Sect had declined and possessed little power.
"Alright—you all be careful and guard against them. Eliminate any Devouring Gold Ants you find immediately. If all goes well, I'll be back in three to five months; at the latest, in three to five years."
"Disciple understands."
After a simple farewell, Yang Hong left using Earth Evasion.
The center of the Li Huo Desert was deserted, so there were no teleportation arrays. Yang Hong had no intention of building one there either,
so he had to rely on his evasion techniques to proceed.
The Li Huo Desert stretched over four hundred million li from east to west and more than a billion li from north to south. Even with Yang Hong's swift evasion, traveling in the Li Huo Desert, where spiritual energy was thin and the five elements were unbalanced, was quite a difficult task.
After traveling for two months, he arrived at a sand dune in the center of the desert.
Looking at a statue that was almost entirely buried by the yellow sand, and then at the surrounding terrain, Yang Hong muttered to himself:
"There's a Kui Wu beast statue, and the sand dunes resemble fish scales. It should be here.
Fortunately, that purple-robed woman had a clear memory of opening the demonic relic. Otherwise, I wouldn't have found this place.
And..."
As he spoke, Yang Hong began to step in the pattern of the Eight Trigrams, forming seals with his hands, and continuously struck the void where the eyes of the Kui Wu were looking with a series of hand seals.
Gradually, a dark portal appeared in the void. As the hand seals were struck into the center of the portal, a purple portal slowly opened.
When the hand seals reached six hundred and sixty-six, red light began to glow from within the purple portal.
"Now! Go!"
Without hesitation, Yang Hong stomped his foot, and his entire being transformed into a streak of starlight, shooting into the purple portal!