Looking at the strange insect beast that had fused beneath his feet, though only One-Order, it was the size of a basketball. It felt as if it had evolved from an insect arthropod into a cold-blooded animal similar to a lizard, just with an additional layer of carapace cuticle.
Zhou Qi named it: Spiked Horned Tyrant Bug.
“Ding, consuming 1800 Evolution Points, the Spiked Horned Tyrant Bug has evolved into a Second-Order Spiked Horned Tyrant Bug. Congratulations to the host for obtaining Intermediate intimacy with the Second-Order Spiked Horned Tyrant Bug.”
...
“Ding, consuming 14400 Evolution Points, the Spiked Horned Tyrant Bug has evolved into a 5th Order Thorn Horned Beetle. Congratulations to the host for obtaining undying loyalty from the 5th Order Thorn Horned Beetle.”
“Ding, congratulations to the host for successfully strengthening a 5th Order Thorn Horned Beetle, promoting it to a First-Order Apostle, and acquiring the talents: Intermediate Titan Power, Intermediate Titan Overlord Body, Fast Movement, Mouthpart Enhancement, and Tail Severing for Survival.”
The Spiked Horned Tyrant Bug, strengthened to Five-Ranked, glowed black all over, its body size rapidly increasing. It was now the size of a medium-sized dog, with a body length exceeding half a meter.
Apostle: 5th Order Thorn Horned Beetle
Rank: Intermediate Lifeform
Race: Spiked Horned Tyrant Bug
Gene: Intermediate Spiked Horned Tyrant Bug Gene
Life Essence: Carbon-based Lifeform
Talents:
Five-Star Talent:
Intermediate Titan Power: Strength is greatly enhanced, with the favor of the Titans (enhancement is based on the original foundation).
Intermediate Titan Overlord Body: Physique (stamina, recovery, defense) is greatly enhanced, with the favor of the Titans (enhancement is based on the original foundation).
Two-Star Talent:
Tail Severing for Survival: Can sever its tail to escape danger when imminent.
Fast Movement: Short-distance movement speed increased fivefold.
One-Star Talent:
Mouthpart Enhancement: Mouthpart sharpness and hardness slightly improved.
Life Strength: 9.5.
Immediately, this 5th Order Thorn Horned Beetle also transformed into a glimmer and was swallowed by the Five-Ranked Army Ant Queen.
Zhou Qi sensed the fluctuations emitted by the Five-Ranked Army Ant Queen. Currently, the 5th Order Thorn Horned Beetle could only reproduce 50 individuals daily.
Next, Zhou Qi attempted to combine the remaining Five-Ranked subordinates, but the success rate was too low.
It was generally only around 40%, so he did not continue combining and strengthening them.
Instead, he came to the Five-Ranked Army Ant Queen. Currently, there were over 80 million Evolution Points remaining, enough to significantly upgrade the Five-Ranked Army Ant Queen.
“Ding, consuming 500,000 Evolution Points, the Army Ant Queen has evolved into a Six-Stage Army Ants. Congratulations to the host, all attributes of the Six-Stage Army Ants have been slightly improved.”
The Six-Stage Army Ants' body size increased dramatically, doubling in size to a full 3.2 meters long.
Daily Reproduction: 20,000 Second-Order Army Ants / 200 Second-Order Four Fiends Insect Soldiers / 100 Second-Order Spiked Horned Tyrant Bugs.
“Ding, consuming 5,000,000 Evolution Points, the Army Ant Queen has evolved into a Seven-Stage Army Ant Queen. Congratulations to the host, all attributes of the Seven-Stage Army Ant Queen have been slightly improved.”
At this point, its body length reached 6.4 meters, surpassing most terrestrial creatures on Earth. Zhou Qi could feel that the Seven-Stage Army Ant Queen's Mental Energy had also greatly increased.
Daily Reproduction: 40,000 Third-Order Army Ants / 400 Third-Order Four Fiends Insect Soldiers / 200 Third-Order Spiked Horned Tyrant Bugs.
“Ding, consuming 50,000,000 Evolution Points, the Army Ant Queen has evolved into an Eight-Order Army Ant Queen. Congratulations to the host, all attributes of the Eight-Order Army Ant Queen have been slightly improved.”
The Eight-Order Army Ant Queen's body swelled, and Zhou Qi couldn't help but retreat repeatedly to make space.
It was indeed worth the 50 million Evolution Points spent in one go. At this moment, the Eight-Order Army Ant Queen's body length reached an exaggerated 12.8 meters, and its height was nearly 4 meters, like a prehistoric giant beast come to reality.
Zhou Qi had to look up to see the full appearance of the Eight-Order Army Ant Queen.
Daily Reproduction: 80,000 Fourth-Order Army Ants / 800 Fourth-Order Four煞 Insect Soldiers / 400 Fourth-Order Spiked Horned Beetle.
Zhou Qi looked at the Evolution Points on the light screen, which had shrunk to over 20 million, but he didn't feel distressed. This was all earned through solid progress.
Waves of Mental Energy seemed to materialize, emanating from the Queen's enlarged head.
The current Eight-Order Army Ant Queen was completely unlike any ordinary creature.
Apostle: Eight-Order Queen
Rank: Compound Lifeform (Mother Insect-level Life)
Race: Army Ant
Gene: Intermediate Queen Gene
Life Essence: Carbon-based Life
Talents:
Seven-Star Talent: One-Star Talent: External Insect Nest.
Five-Star Talent: Faith Crown, Mental Power.
Four-Star Talent: Super Body Reproduction.
Three-Star Talent: Mental Network, Thought Imprint, Rapid Growth.
Two-Star Talent: Advanced Nesting, Advanced Defense Enhancement.
Life Strength: 25
Zhou Qi looked at the Eight-Order Army Ant Queen's now exaggerated Life Strength, his palm tracing its shiny black carapace, which exuded a metallic chill.
Not to mention bullets, even missiles would likely be blocked by its cuticle, not to mention its Mental Energy, which had become almost solid.
After advancing, the Eight-Order Army Ant Queen's reproductive ability seemed to have been refreshed, and it began reproducing again.
One by one, Fourth-Order Army Ants broke out of their eggs, each about the size of a red date.
The Fourth-Order Four煞 Insect Soldiers were now like small corgis, and the Fourth-Order Spiked Horned Beetle were like large washbasins.
They were continuously reproduced by the Eight-Order Army Ant Queen, and the shadow of a tide of insects gradually emerged at this moment.
Having been promoted to Eight-Order Army Ant Queen, its intelligence was also enhanced. It looked at the caves in the stone wall.
The Eight-Order Army Ant Queen revealed a human-like look of hatred, its massive body trembling and emitting a deafening hiss.
Below, One-Order Army Ant and Fourth-Order Army Ant, along with Fourth-Order Four煞 Insect Soldiers and Spiked Horned Tyrant Bugs, lined up and charged like a tide towards the caves in the stone wall.
Zhou Qi's scalp tingled. Now that the Army Ant Queen had been strengthened to Eight-Order, it possessed a faint intelligence.
When Zhou Qi didn't give orders, it would act according to its own thoughts.
If this were discovered by humans outside, it would be no small matter, Zhou Qi thought.
At this moment, the insect tide was almost at the base of the stone wall. The strange snakes in the caves seemed to have anticipated the danger and were crawling out of the caves.
At the edge of the Ten-Order Firefly's light, beneath the relatively dim underground Cave stone wall, a pungent, putrid smell permeated the air. This was the scent of the strange snakes that had been killed here earlier.
Jagged rocks cast eerie shadows under the faint light, and occasionally dripping water droplets made crisp yet chilling sounds in the puddles.
A group of One-Order Army Ant and Fourth-Order Army Ant were hurrying forward, directly encountering strange, scaleless snakes darting out of the dark caves.
The strange snakes were dark gray all over, their muscles rippling beneath their skin, their triangular heads twisted, flicking black tongues, and emitting a nauseating smell like dead fish.
Their cold vertical pupils gleamed with bloodlust, and war was on the verge of breaking out.