Born as an ant, I was summoned to ascend to immortality.

Chapter 8 First Test of Skill

Seeing that his words had worked, Lu Changye nodded slightly.

"I will be going into seclusion starting today," he said, looking at Zhou Li. "It will last at least half a year, and at most a year."

"During this time, a window will be left open in the side room. I will place some spiritual fruits on the table. You may come and take them if you wish. Eat a small amount each day, and do not be greedy."

Zhou Li raised his head and wiggled his beard.

Lu Changye paused, his expression turning serious:

"Remember, the path of cultivation lies not in speed, but in stability. A weak foundation will ultimately make it difficult to achieve the Great Way."

Having said that, he didn't look at Zhou Li again, got up and walked towards the side room.

Zhou Li knew in his heart that no matter how many opportunities he received, he would have to digest them slowly on his own.

So he crawled back to the anthill, but instead of practicing meditation, he began to do something:

Commanding the ant colony and modifying the nest.

The place had already been expanded quite spacious by the worker ants, but it was rather crude and unusable for cultivation purposes.

Zhou Liling cast his net like a net, and hundreds of worker ants began digging and working according to his instructions.

This time, it was no longer a random expansion, but a planned large-scale construction project. Considering that his body would continue to grow in the future, Zhou Li wanted to turn this place into a quiet room for cultivation.

For example, a passageway could be added at the entrance for easy access, and several hidden passages could be opened further in, leading to different parts of the bamboo forest for escape purposes.

At the same time, he selected several of the strongest soldier ants, intending to feed them with his own molted shells.

Since I am able to cultivate and attain enlightenment, other members of my clan may also have the potential to do so. Let's observe what changes might occur.

This is the first fighting force that truly belongs to him in this world.

By the time all of this was done, it was dawn on the seventh day.

As the bamboo shadows slanted across the blue bricks, Zhou Li's six feet were stepping on the newly opened passageway inside the anthill.

The passageway winds downwards, and after three turns, it suddenly opens up, revealing a quiet room.

The quiet room was about the size of a palm. The walls were made of clay, which the worker ants had smoothed and leveled. The floor was covered with three thick layers of bamboo leaves, which were soft and comfortable to step on.

In the deepest part of the quiet room, a shallow recess was carved out, holding a half-finger-deep pool of clear dew.

Outside the quiet room, there are three hidden escape routes, with their exits concealed beneath the lush grass at the edge of the bamboo grove.

Zhou Li touched the furnishings nearby, quite satisfied with the quiet room.

But he didn't rush to move in; instead, he slowly retreated and returned to the ground along the passageway.

"There's still one thing I haven't done..."

Three zhang away, on the branches of that withered bamboo, a newly spun spider web was trembling slightly in the wind.

It's time to get rid of this spiny-bellied spider. Zhou Li can no longer allow it to harm his colony. The ant colony is now connected to his spiritual consciousness, just like his eyes and ears.

Meanwhile, the spiny-bellied spider at the center of the web, its eight legs tightly gripping the silk, watched Zhou Li warily; it remembered the ant.

I remember the horrific sight of the wasp being torn to pieces that day, and the menacing way its mandibles opened and closed.

But it was reluctant to part with the newly woven spider web, and even more reluctant to part with the anthill below, where worker ants passed by every day and found food readily available.

Zhou Li's whiskers slowly rose as he thought to himself:

"If you were to regain your wisdom, we could talk, but since your wild nature has not yet been quelled, we cannot keep you here."

Zhou Li did not attack rashly, but approached slowly.

He was all too familiar with the spider's hunting methods: waiting in wait on the web, using stillness to control movement. The spider silk was extremely sticky; once you were caught, it was incredibly difficult to escape.

To kill this scoundrel, first break his net.

Zhou Li climbed up the withered bamboo and came to the vicinity of the spider web.

The spiny-bellied spider quickly shifted its eight legs slightly, adjusted its posture, and slightly opened its pair of fangs, always pointing in Zhou Li's direction.

Zhou Li raised its forelegs, hooked a strand of silk used to secure the spider web with its sharp claws, and gently tugged it.

"Sizzle." The spider silk snapped in response.

The entire web suddenly trembled, and the spiny-bellied spider swayed a few times. Just as it regained its footing, Zhou Li slowly crawled toward the second bridge silk.

It scrambled around in terror, clearly not expecting that the seemingly invincible spider silk couldn't stop this ant at all.

If left unattended, and Zhou Li were to break a few more of the bridge wires, the spider web would scatter, and they would lose their greatest support.

But if it wanted to stop Zhou Li, it would have to confront him head-on, and Zhou Li's pair of upper jaws made it dare not make any rash moves.

Zhou Li looked at the panicked spiny-bellied spider, not expecting it to avoid fighting him.

He tore the spider web off on a whim, just to lure it into attacking.

According to Zhou Li's thinking, if the spiny-bellied spider wanted to mess with him, he could simply repair the previous one when the spider pulled the second bridge silk.

With this constant dismantling and patching, Zhou Li couldn't do anything about it, so from the beginning, Zhou Li never intended to actually remove the spider web.

Moreover, today's goal is to kill the spiny-bellied spider in one fell swoop. If we really tear its webs apart one by one, the spider is light and agile. Once it finds an opportunity to escape, we won't be able to catch it. It can come back again in a few days.

"I don't have the patience to play hide-and-seek with you."

If one plan fails, another will be devised.

With its six legs exerting force, Zhou Li swiftly climbed along the bamboo skin, reaching the top of the spider web in the blink of an eye. At the same time, it turned in mid-air, its six legs gripping a horizontal branch, looking down below.

The spiny-bellied spider suddenly felt a shadow looming over its head, and abruptly looked up to meet Zhou Li's cold eyes.

Zhou Li's body suddenly plummeted!

He leaped toward the center of the web, and the moment his six legs touched the web, he suddenly exerted force, his claws piercing deep into the spiny-bellied spider's body.

The entire spider web was torn and deformed by his descent, and most of the bridge wires broke.

The spiny-bellied spider flailed wildly in the air with its eight legs, but was tightly held in place by Zhou Li's six legs, while Zhou Li's upper mandibles slowly opened.

Fear surged in the eyes of the spiny-bellied spider, but its fangs could only leave faint marks on Zhou Li's body, and its venom could not even be injected into Zhou Li's body.

"Click."

Zhou Li's upper jaw easily separated the spiny-bellied spider's thorax and abdomen, and the entire battle ended in the blink of an eye.

The spiny-bellied spider's body suddenly stiffened, its eight legs still twitching, but its human-face-like abdomen had already rolled to the ground.

Dark green fluid gushed from the jaws of the clamps and dripped down Zhou Li's upper jaw.

Zhou Li looked down at the corpse beneath his claws, a hint of doubt flashing in his eyes.

too weak.

This attack was a desperate gamble, but although the spider silk was sticky, it could not bind him, and the spiny-bellied spider's carapace was as fragile as paper, offering no resistance.

Zhou Li raised his foreleg and looked at the hook claw at the tip of his foot.

The dark gold patterns had spread to his joints, shimmering with a metallic luster. He tried to swing his claws at the blue stone beside him.

"Swoosh." A faint white mark was left on the stone surface.

It's not that the spider is weak, it's that Zhou Li has become stronger.

Four years of arduous cultivation, nourishment with elixirs and the essence of herbs and plants, finally transformed this ant-like body.

He suddenly felt that he was no longer so insignificant.

At least in this bamboo grove, in this courtyard, he was no longer a helpless insect to be slaughtered.

Rather, they are practitioners with nests, subordinates, and opportunities...

Zhou Li withdrew his gaze and his spiritual thoughts stirred.

The worker ants swarmed forward and began to decompose the spiny-bellied spider's corpse, while Zhou Li turned to look at the side room.

It's time to go and collect today's spiritual fruit.