The Demonic Cultivator In Zombie World-Chapter 290: The Purpose of the Mirror and the Rock Ant Cultivation Method

Lie Yong stared at the reconstituted text, his eyes widening in disbelief. The "Fire Gu Refinement Method" was perfectly suited to enhancing those fire-attributed yao insects. If he practiced this technique, the power of his two Fire Ants could climb to the next level! But why was there only the first half?

"Where's the rest?" Lie Yong clutched the mirror shard, shaking it vigorously as if trying to shake the remaining text out of it.

Chu Xuan chuckled softly, materializing a line of text. Lie Yong read the line and arched an eyebrow, "The Rock Ant Cultivation Method."

"Could it be that this mirror will only reveal the rest of the text if I obtain the Rock Ant Cultivation Method?" Lie Yong frowned deeply, pondering, "What does this mirror need the Rock Ant Cultivation Method for?"

He thought long and hard but couldn't figure it out. "To get the Rock Ant Cultivation Method, I'd need to acquire the Rock Ant copper statue, which is vital to the Rock Ant Tribe."

Lie Yong felt a twinge of regret. "Had I known, I would have captured Shi Wu alive and forced him to divulge the entire Rock Ant Cultivation Method."

He paused, the look of regret on his face swiftly replaced by confidence. "However, it doesn't matter. Once I become a Golden Insect Master, crushing the Rock Ant Tribe is merely a matter of time."

With this thought, Lie Yong placed the Mirror shard into a soft leather pouch and secured it close to his body.

The next day.

The Fire Ant Tribe held the chieftain succession ceremony. Thanks to his own prestige, Lie Yong was unsurprisingly inaugurated as the chieftain, becoming the thirty-fifth leader of the Fire Ant Tribe.

Chu Xuan observed that people in the cave world generally did not live very long. If one did not become an Insect Master, most would die by sixty. Those who achieved the rank of Bronze Insect Master could live to their eighties or nineties, thanks to the power regurgitated by their yao insects. Silver Insect Masters lived longer, typically around one hundred twenty years.

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As for Golden Insect Masters and beyond, they could only add another twenty years or so to their lives. Unlike cultivators, each major advancement did not dramatically extend their lifespan by hundreds or thousands of years.

The succession kept Lie Yong busy until the afternoon. Finally finding a moment to himself, he approached an unremarkable house within the tribe.

However, this ordinary-looking house was guarded by two aged Bronze Insect Masters. Despite their age, their eyes were clear and vigilant. Should anyone attempt to breach the house, they would immediately summon Fire Ants from their Insect Orifices to slay any intruders.

"Greetings, Chieftain," the two elders bowed deeply.

Lie Yong nodded slightly. "I need to select an ant egg."

"Please follow me, Chieftain," the elder on the left responded respectfully.

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Moments later, Lie Yong arrived at the tribe's subterranean level. Preserving Fire Ant eggs in a state where they do not hatch yet retain their vitality requires an exacting environment. Only the sulfur pools beneath the Fire Ant Tribe's territory provide suitable conditions.

Not only do these pools maintain the eggs' viability, but they also subtly enhance them. The ant eggs that Lie Yong, Xiao Huo, and others had chosen were all nurtured in these sulfur pools for over thirty years, resulting in particularly strong ants once hatched.

"Chieftain, these five ant eggs have all been nurtured for over thirty years," the elder said with reverence.

"Are there none older?" Lie Yong frowned.

The elder appeared troubled.

Lie Yong pressed harder, "Speak!"

The elder then confessed in a low voice, "The fifty-year-old egg was taken by the Fifth Elder a year ago. The two forty-year-old eggs were taken by him half a year ago."

Lie Yong's frown deepened. How many benefits had his father really sold out to the Rock Ant Tribe?

After a pause, Lie Yong said, "This matter must not be spoken of to others."

The elder nodded, "Understood."

Lie Yong's gaze swept over the five ant eggs. Chu Xuan also extended his consciousness, scanning the eggs.

"Ah, this egg's interior is a purplish-red, even more intense than the golden red of the last one," Chu Xuan marveled.

Lie Yong picked up each of the five eggs, examining them. When he touched the third egg, he suddenly felt the mirror shard in his chest vibrate.

"Huh..." Lie Yong looked surprised.

He tried the other eggs as well, but confirmed that only this third egg caused the mirror shard to vibrate.

"It's you, then." Lie Yong decided to take this egg.

Given that the mirror shard had provided scriptures like the "Orifice Opening Scripture" and the "Fire Gu Refinement Method," it certainly held some mystical properties. Since this egg caused the shard to vibrate, it promised something extraordinary.

"The Chieftain is honored!" The two aged Bronze Insect Masters bowed slightly, watching as Lie Yong departed.

...

A month later, in a secluded cave outside the Fire Ant Tribe, Lie Yong watched his three Fire Ants with exhilaration. "Third Fire, let's see what you can do," he addressed the smallest of them, his newly named third Fire Ant affectionately called Third Fire.

This purple-red Fire Ant immediately leapt forward, spewing flames from its mouth. The large chunk of iron ore in front of it began to melt in the blink of an eye, quickly turning into a pool of molten iron.

Third Fire's fiery breath paused momentarily and then resumed, this time emitting sulfuric smoke. Lie Yong accidentally inhaled some and felt a burning sensation in his lungs, hastily retreating.

"Big Fire, Third Fire you two fight each other," Lie Yong commanded next.

Big Fire, the golden-red Fire Ant significantly larger than Third Fire, immediately attacked. Despite its size advantage, it did not overpower Third Fire. After a few exchanges, due to a momentary lapse in concentration, Big Fire had a leg bitten off by Third Fire and fell to the ground wailing in pain.

Lie Yong's face lit up with sheer delight. Too strong! The Fire Ant Tribe had never seen such a Fire Ant. Hatched less than a month ago and still only a superior bronze yao insect, Third Fire's strength already rivaled Big Fire's, a middle-tier silver yao insect.

The temperature of the flames it spewed was also much higher than that of other Fire Ants, sufficient even for smelting iron, and it could even emit sulfuric smoke!

"Big Fire is middle-tier silver, Little Fire is lower-tier silver, and Third Fire is superior bronze, not bad at all," Lie Yong appraised with satisfaction. "As soon as any of these three yao insects reach the gold level, I will become a Golden Insect Master."

The prospect excited him. Becoming a Golden Insect Master would extend his life by another twenty years. At that point, overpowering the Rock Ant Tribe would be a trivial task, and he would also be able to obtain the second half of the "Fire Gu Refinement Method" from the mirror shard.

Just then, a woman's voice reached him from outside. "Chieftain, the Fifth Elder has taken another ant egg from the sulfur pool and left."

Lie Yong frowned, summoned his three Fire Ants back into his Insect Orifice with a gesture, and then stepped out of the cave.