Dazhuang had an excellent appetite, devouring two Iron-Beaked Birds in a row.
He even slurped down a bird egg to wash them down.
Lu Qing wasted nothing, polishing off the rest and adding another four points of Flesh Value.
Soon, only a few eggs remained in the ancient tree.
Iron-Beaked Bird eggs were only equivalent to Second Grade. Eating them provided no benefit.
There was no need to force them down—it wasn't like they were some rare immortal nectar anyway.
"Let's go!"
Dazhuang cast a reluctant look at the remaining eggs.
"Should we drag these back with us?"
"Are you kidding me?" Lu Qing fluttered his wings and took off. "With me around, are you worried about starving? They're just a few eggs. They aren't worth the effort!"Dazhuang quickly agreed. "True enough! Following you, Boss, even a scrub like me managed to reach Fourth Grade strength... Hey, wait for me!"
...
The branches were littered with nothing but bones and eggshells.
Their home had been raided!
The Iron-Beaked Bird patriarch went absolutely mad.
He had gathered the clan's elites for revenge, only to have his own nest raided in his absence.
"Who... who did this?!"
Overwhelming fury made him want to drag out the culprit right this instant and tear them to shreds.
Just then, an Arrow Sparrow landed in the canopy.
"I was passing by just now. I saw two Mantises."
The patriarch froze on the spot.
Mantises...
How was that possible?
He had just slaughtered the Mantis Race ten li away. How could there still be powerful Mantises left to exact revenge?
"Are you sure you aren't mistaken?"
The Arrow Sparrow swiftly took off. "I saw it with my own eyes. Two extremely powerful Mantises... believe it or not, I don't care."
Watching the Arrow Sparrow fly away, the Iron-Beaked Bird patriarch fell into agonizing thought.
Did Mantises from another territory find out about our siege on the Mantis Race and come to retaliate? Or... have I been targeted by the Mantis Queen?
A cold shiver ran down the patriarch's spine at the mere thought of the Mantis Queen's strength.
"Move out! We are abandoning this place!"
One of the Iron-Beaked Birds cried out in anger, "Patriarch, our females are dead and so many of our eggs were destroyed! Are we not going to avenge this blood feud?!"
"We slaughtered the territory of the Mantis Race! Now that the Mantis Queen might have her eye on us, it's hard to say if we'll even survive, let alone get revenge!"
The moment they heard it might be the work of the Mantis Queen, the flock of Iron-Beaked Birds instantly quieted down.
"Surely not? We've only heard rumors about the Mantis Queen's existence..."
Far too many stories circulated in this ancient forest, speaking of far too many powerful entities.
The Mantis Queen was just a name they had heard; it was hard to say whether she truly existed.
After weighing the options, the patriarch decided, "It's safest to leave this sorrowful place for now. Once we find a new place to settle, we will investigate this matter!"
...
Lu Qing was getting addicted to raiding nests. He had originally planned to find the Arrow Sparrows' lair and hit them next.
However, neither he nor Dazhuang knew where the Arrow Sparrows lived.
They had no choice but to change their plans.
"Boss, where are we heading to have fun next?"
Dazhuang was just as hooked on home invasions!
After all, he used to go hungry nine meals out of every three days, constantly bullied by one beast or another.
Now, he finally understood how incredibly satisfying it felt to eat his fill every day and bully other species.
Lu Qing pondered for a moment.
Right now, there was only one decent spot left nearby to farm for experience!
"The Mighty Ant Nest!"
Hearing that destination, Dazhuang shook his head like a rattle-drum.
"No way! The Ant Queen is too terrifying! You barely escaped last time, and you want to go back..."
The Ant Queen's mental capabilities were undeniably strong. While ordinary species could only communicate within a range of a few dozen meters, the Ant Queen could project clear, coherent curses from hundreds of meters away.
But strong mental capabilities didn't necessarily equate to strong combat prowess!
Dazhuang was only looking at the surface.
Based on the habits of her species, the Ant Queen's primary responsibility was laying eggs.
Could an Ant Queen who spent all day churning out babies really possess formidable combat strength?
It was highly unlikely!
Otherwise, she wouldn't have stayed hidden away hurling curses while Lu Qing ate and drank his fill in her nest last time.
Because of this very reason, Lu Qing was even more interested in the Ant Queen.
High grade, low strength—wasn't she just a premium bag of experience?
"Scared? Then don't go."
Surprisingly, Dazhuang puffed out his chest this time.
"Of course I'm not scared! After the Boss's training, I'm terrifyingly strong now!" Then, his body went limp and he sprawled on the ground. "It's just that I ate a bit too much, and I'm a little sleepy."
Before he even finished communicating, he was already lying flat, his plump abdomen rising and falling rhythmically.
Damn it, did he really just fall asleep?
Annoyed, Lu Qing gave him a kick.
Yet the idiot slept so soundly that he didn't even make a peep.
It seemed his gluttonous feasting over the past few days had pushed him to the verge of advancing his grade again.
Lu Qing decided to just leave him be.
After blocking the cave entrance with a boulder, he headed straight for the Ant Nest.
...
The security at the Ant Nest had clearly been tightened.
Over a dozen soldier ants were patrolling back and forth on Ant Mountain.
Flying ants also periodically buzzed through the air.
Lu Qing couldn't help but chuckle inwardly.
The patrols seemed heavier, but blind spots were actually everywhere.
The Ant Queen's intelligence really was rather average.
He bypassed the patrolling soldier ants without much effort and slipped into the cave.
Inside the cave, the situation was exactly the same as last time.
It seemed the Ant Queen had only increased the superficial defenses on the perimeter!
His goal this time was to find the Ant Queen.
After delving into the labyrinthine nest, Lu Qing quickly lost his sense of direction.
If he didn't figure out a plan, he would likely be spotted by the soldier ants and mobbed again, just like last time.
By sheer coincidence, he stumbled blindly into a new cavern used to store ant eggs.
It seemed the egg-storage chamber had been relocated...
At present, a few translucent white ants were eating fleshy grubs. These larval ants only possessed the instinct to feed and posed zero threat.
Behind them lay over fifty arranged ant eggs.
It looked like the Ant Queen's production capabilities were quite impressive—she had laid all these in just two days!
Lu Qing didn't stand on ceremony; he sliced open the ant eggs and eagerly absorbed them.
...
The quantity was honestly a bit low.
After eating them all, his experience bar hadn't even gone up by a fifth.
Just as he was feeling that this trip was netting him very little, a noise echoed through the cavern.
He hurriedly hid inside an eggshell, carved a small peephole, and peered out.
A worker ant walked in, carrying an ant egg.
Worker ants lacked intelligence and vision. Perhaps patrolling simply wasn't in its job description either, so it completely failed to notice that all the other eggs had become empty husks.
After placing the ant egg down, it turned around and left the cavern.
Lu Qing emerged immediately, hesitated for a brief moment, and then followed it.
Worker ants had strict divisions of labor.
This one was transporting an ant egg, which meant that was likely its sole duty!
If he followed it, wouldn't he find the Ant Queen?
It was a solid possibility.
...
Lu Qing trailed cautiously behind it, twisting and turning through the labyrinthine Ant Nest.
With just a slight lapse in attention, he lost sight of the worker ant.
Lu Qing hurried over to the spot where it had vanished and soon spotted a hidden tunnel entrance.
Proceeding inside the tunnel, it wasn't long before he caught sight of the worker ant again.
Lu Qing hurried to catch up.
After walking a little further, the worker ant suddenly stopped.
It lay quietly in place, seemingly awaiting an order.
Just beyond it lay another tunnel entrance.
While Lu Qing was deep in thought, a voice pierced his consciousness.
"Transport."
It was the Ant Queen's command!
Then, an ant egg rolled out.
The toiling worker ant hoisted the ant egg and resumed its manual labor!
Lu Qing instantly perked up!
The Ant Queen was inside that chamber!
As for the Ant Queen's actual strength, that had just been his own one-sided guess; he needed to observe her to know for sure.
If the Ant Queen wasn't just a breeding machine like he had guessed, but instead possessed formidable power, wouldn't rushing in be tantamount to serving himself up on a silver platter?
So he still needed to be careful.
Lu Qing stealthily crept inside.
...
White. It was far too white!
At first glance inside, Lu Qing saw a massive rear end exceeding three meters in diameter.
The cavern was semi-circular and extremely spacious.
Yet, despite its sheer size, this giant rear end took up a full third of the space.
Seeing this massive rear end made Lu Qing's heart leap into his throat!
If just her rear was this enormous, then how gargantuan must the Ant Queen's entire body be!
He took a few soft steps forward, preparing to catch a glimpse of her front half.