Mortal: Starting by joining the Falling Cloud Sect

The Golden Crown Serpent opened its mouth wide and suddenly spat out a stream of purple liquid, which, along with a thick mist, shot towards the Crystal Ant swarm.

The swarm of Crystal Ants was scattered, with more and more falling to the ground, seemingly on the verge of collapse.

But in the blink of an eye, the Crystal Ants gathered together again, and the highly poisonous purple liquid had no effect on them at all.

The Golden Crown King Serpent then lashed its tail, the massive tail like a giant whip, lashing fiercely at the swarm of ants. The ants were scattered and flew in all directions, but the number of Sky Crystal Ants was so great that they quickly regrouped.

Meanwhile, two other groups of Crystal Ants seized the opportunity, quickly entangling the Golden Crown King Serpent and stabbing its body with their sharp mandibles.

Although the scales of the King Cobra are incredibly hard, they are as large as a palm, and the gaps between the scales are just the right size for tiny crystal ants to burrow into.

The Golden Crown Serpent roared in pain, writhing and twisting as if rolling around, while tightening its scales and repeatedly ramming its body against the walls of the cave, trying to crush the Crystal Ants that had burrowed between its scales.

This tactic worked; more and more Sky Crystal Ants were killed by the violent impacts, and the Golden Crown King Serpent's pain seemed to be relieved quite a bit. However, before long, swarms of Sky Crystal Ants attacked the Golden Crown King Serpent again, forcing it to constantly move left and right in the cave.

After several fierce battles, the Golden Crown King Serpent was completely at a disadvantage, and its most powerful weapon, venom, had no effect on the Sky Crystal Ants.

Finally, realizing it was no match for the enemy, it turned its body to escape, but the swarm of Heavenly Crystal Ants clung to it like maggots clinging to a bone.

Meanwhile, the innate cold poison of the crystal ants was slowly taking effect, slowing down the golden crown snake's movements and making its body somewhat stiff.

The golden-crowned king cobra seemed to realize that if it didn't escape, it would perish there.

It gathered its body, raised its tail, and then suddenly flicked it, flattening the entire cave ceiling like autumn leaves being swept away by the wind.

In the blink of an eye, the dense stalactites were all broken off by the thick snake tail and fell down.

Rocks flew everywhere, dust rose, and the entire cave was shrouded in dust.

Taking advantage of this opportunity, the golden-crowned king cobra suddenly turned its head, rushed out of the cave, and made its escape.

When the stalactites fell, Zhou Qing didn't foolishly stay there. Instead, taking advantage of the rising smoke, he quickly pressed himself against the stone wall to avoid the falling giant stalactites.

However, this act of hiding led Zhou Qing to discover a very well-hidden stone door.

He quickly pushed open the stone door and then hid inside.

Behind the stone gate is a passage. Touching the stone wall, it doesn't seem to be naturally formed; it looks more like it was carved out by a cultivator.

The passage was deep and endless, and even divine sense could not reach its end. This unknown situation made Zhou Qing dare not act rashly.

He quickly released a scorching raven to venture deep into the passage and scout ahead for him. Then he hid behind the stone door and listened to the sounds coming from inside the cave.

After a while, the cave became quiet.

Zhou Qing sneaked out again, and this time, the scene before him filled him with joy.

The anthill collapsed, leaving several queen ants completely exposed, one of whom was injured. The large groups of Crystal Ants that had been guarding the anthill had long since disappeared.

Upon seeing the giant stalactite shattered into several pieces deep within the anthill, Zhou Qing suddenly realized that it was very likely that an enormous stalactite of astonishing size had crashed into the core of the Tianjing Ant Nest.

It not only destroyed the anthill, but also seriously injured a queen ant.

Sensing that its queen was injured, the Crystal Ant flew into a rage and charged out to hunt down the Golden Crown King Serpent.

"Indeed, the wait was worthwhile; now it's my turn, the 'fisherman,' to reap the rewards!"

Zhou Qing was overjoyed and, taking advantage of the fact that the Tianjing ant swarm had not yet returned, immediately pounced on the ant nest.

There were still some Celestial Crystal Ants left in the anthill, but these alone posed no threat to Zhou Qing. Zhou Qing activated the Crimson Flame Wheel to repel them, and then activated the Yuanling Shield to approach the anthill.

The queen ants whose wings were not injured could still move and were not easy to catch, so Zhou Qing focused on the injured queen ant.

He flew to the anthill, and with a burst of spiritual energy, he swept up the injured queen ant and dozens of ant eggs beside her, sending them into the spirit beast pouch at his waist.

Then, he leaped again and flew to the side of the Black Spirit Lotus to take a closer look.

"Four leaves? Just a four-hundred-year-old Black Spirit Lotus!"

Zhou Qing was slightly taken aback when he saw it, but after thinking for a moment, he picked it up with the roots and soil still attached, put it in the jade box, and temporarily stored it in his storage bag.

All of this was done in just a few breaths, but the Heavenly Crystal Ants had already broken free of the Crimson Flame Wheel and attacked Zhou Qing again.

Zhou Qing's expression remained unchanged. He raised his right hand, and several mist talismans exploded, filling the entire cave with thick white fog. The Heavenly Crystal Ants lost their way and scurried around in the fog.

Zhou Qing, relying on his divine sense and memories, quickly passed through the stone gate and returned to the passage.

He knew that the safest and most secure way now was to find out where the stone path was and then leave through it.

Otherwise, if they return the way they came and encounter the Celestial Crystal Ants in the cave passage, they will be trapped with nowhere to go and will surely die.

Fortunately, Zhou Qing didn't have to wait long.

The scouting ravens sent out to explore returned safely, indicating that the passage was safe.

Zhou Qing took out the moonstone to illuminate the path ahead, and then walked along the passage.

The passage was very long. Zhou Qing estimated that he had been walking for at least fifteen minutes, but he still hadn't reached the end, so he sat down in the passage.

Zhou Qing had no idea what lay outside the passage or what dangers might lurk there. Although there were no cultivators fighting in this secret realm, there were still many demonic beasts. The Golden Crown King Serpent and the Heavenly Crystal Ant from earlier had already illustrated this point.

While the passage was safe, he decided to quickly meditate to recover his magical power. Even if he encountered something after leaving the passage, having plenty of magical power in his body would be better able to deal with it.

He ordered Hui Ri Ya to stand guard at both ends of the passage, and Zhou Qing immediately sat cross-legged to regulate his breathing.

One hour later.

Feeling that his magical power had almost recovered, Zhou Qing took action again. This time, the Cloud Dream Secret Realm only lasted five days. He had spent half a day searching for Black Pool Valley and another half a day searching for Black Spirit Lotus. So, more than a day had already passed.

Time waits for no one. Apart from the Black Lotus, he hasn't found a single treasure in these ruins yet.

He wasn't willing to leave empty-handed; he had to find at least one item to put in his treasure bag first.

After walking for a while in the passage, Zhou Qing finally discovered another stone door at the end of the passage.

Pushing open the stone door, a magnificent ancient palace came into view, and he seemed to be on the second floor of this palace.

"It seems my deduction was correct. The passage was carved out by a cultivator in order to use the abundant crystals in that stalactite cave to cultivate the Heavenly Crystal Ants. And this should be that cultivator's true cave dwelling."

Zhou Qing was filled with mixed feelings as he entered the ancient cultivator's cave. He was both excited and apprehensive, as the place might contain the cultivator's treasures or it might be a place fraught with danger.

But with his escape route temporarily blocked, Zhou Qing could only take things one step at a time within this palace.

Fortunately, he also brought two Sundark Ravens with him, who could scout ahead for him and prevent him from dying so easily.