After advancing both “Enchantment Skill” and “Runes Skill” to level 8, Ivan’s knowledge in enchantment had greatly increased, leading to a deeper understanding of the Multi-changing Star Runes Array.
Not long ago, he had exchanged for advanced enchantment knowledge at the academy with Teresa. This time, no one mentioned the “thirty-year” term again, and he successfully acquired the second set of advanced enchantment knowledge.
Compared to the other, the academy’s advanced enchantment knowledge was a bit inferior, but it still had some unique aspects, especially in terms of exploring the Ant Being barrier.
Thus, by leveraging his extraordinary enchantment skills and his tireless pursuit, he finally connected to a more secretive space, which was likely the source of the three strange energies that created the Shadow Ant servant.
“Anyway, I need to take a trip there,” he said.
“If I encounter danger that’s too great to handle, I’ll just summon the power of the Ant Being barrier. I don’t believe I can’t retreat in time.”
In one of the gray, misty small spaces, Ivan held a small Multi-changing Star Spike aimed at the void. He took a deep breath, increased the transmission of power, causing ripples to continuously appear in the void ahead.
“Open!”
He clenched his face and barked a low shout.
Accompanied by his voice, a crack slowly opened in the void. Its trembling appearance indicated it was under tremendous pressure, as if it might close the next second.
One second after sensing it, Ivan crouched and quickly stepped inside.
After a momentary shift, the scenery before him changed, and he found himself in an unfamiliar plaza. The plaza was surrounded by a gray haze, with beast eggs of various sizes scattered around—some as small as chicken eggs, others up to seven or eight meters long.
The plaza spanned seven or eight mu—at first glance, he thought he had returned to the Red Cloud Realm.
“Is this the Ant Beings’ secret vault?” he wondered.
Ivan frowned and surveyed his surroundings. He could clearly sense that most of the beast eggs were merely shells; inside, they were hollow, the flesh dried into tiny clumps that resembled sun-dried jerky.
Afterward, still full of doubts, he walked around the plaza and found that the eggs were indeed from ants, sharing some similarities with the aura on the Shadow Ant servants. Yet, only a very small part of the eggs still had some vital signs, albeit weak.
It was hard to believe that the Five Leaves Spear’s assessment target, the Ant Beast with a King-class bloodline, was among them.
“There are not so many coincidences in the world. If there isn’t a fake secret vault, this must be the real Ant Beings’ secret vault, but which one is the King Blood Ant Beast?”
“Gina’s side must have started by now; I want to see how the Shadow Ant servant is born and how it relates to this place?”
Ivan didn’t act rashly; he kept an eye on the beast eggs in the plaza, trying to identify the exceptional one, while waiting for Gina’s move, as he had previously instructed.
When the appointed time came, Gina, who was far away in her residence, went to the protection chamber and once again summoned a Shadow Ant servant.
“Master—-King—-Guard the King—-” Unlike the previous times, the newly summoned Shadow Ant servant appeared somewhat excited and muttered unclear words.
“What did you just say?” Gina froze for a moment, warily staring at the newly-born Shadow Ant servant.
“Seen the master.” Upon hearing her words, the Shadow Ant servant also froze for a moment, then blinked vaguely. After regaining its composure, it hurriedly greeted Gina.
“Did you see anything just now?” Gina repeated her question.
“It seems—I can’t remember clearly.” The Shadow Ant servant looked at her blankly, unable to recall any images.
“Never mind, from now on you will be called ‘Black Five’. Remember to keep to your place,” Gina decided, remembering someone’s instructions, waved her hand, and did not pursue further. “Also, address me as ‘Sorceress Gina’.”
“Understood, Sorceress Gina.”
For the Shadow Ant servant, its life belonged to the sorcerer who had summoned it, and the sorcerer’s command was its mission and the reason for its existence.
Elsewhere, over the hidden plaza, Ivan, through sensing the transformation and flow of energy, had already locked onto one of the beast eggs, an egg that was unlike the others.
He had also figured out the mystery behind the summoning of the Shadow Ant servant—it clearly required drawing the life essence of the beast eggs, then through that unique beast egg, transforming it into a fantastic power, which was then sent to a small space, passing through the Ant Being barrier, reaching a certain protection chamber.
“No wonder the beast eggs here look half dead, no, most are already dead without a sound.”
“Well, well, spending others’ generosity while keeping your own so well hidden. Worthy of a creature that resides in ‘King Blood’, not even hatched and already possessing such ability.”
Although he said this, his mind was pondering how to verify the so-called ‘King Blood’. How unpredictable life is, he thought, back in the Red Cloud Realm, he shouldn’t have let the Silkworm Queen directly consume that golden pearl representing ‘King’s Power’; he should have studied it first.
“Silkworm Queen, pay close attention and tell me if this gives you a peculiar sensation,” he turned to look at the Silkworm Queen, now having no choice but to take a shot in the dark.
“Verifying King Blood, I understand,” The Silkworm Queen, knowing the importance, solemnly nodded its head, the golden crown atop swaying slightly.
Under Ivan’s gaze, the Silkworm Queen stepped forward in the void, moving a distance forward, the golden crown on its head emitted a faint, golden glow, which flew towards the beast egg he had pinpointed.
“Pfft.”
Unable to hide it any longer, the aura of that beast egg surged fiercely. As the pale golden glow approached, a circle of golden light emerged from within the egg, clearly more intense than that of the Silkworm Queen, instantly crushing the approaching pale gold light.
This seemingly effortless strike, however, taught the Silkworm Queen a painful lesson. It spat out blood, suddenly losing its ability to step through the void, and swiftly fell towards the ground.
Ivan stepped forward, catching the Silkworm Queen in his palm.
“The King’s Power inside it exceeds mine by tens of times; it must be the King Blood Ant Beast you are looking for, Ivan.” The Silkworm Queen quickly transferred the damage out, its own condition still somewhat listless.
“Thank you for your effort,” Ivan placed the Silkworm Queen on his shoulder, a small box appeared, from which he took out a red heart-shaped object, he tossed this half-real, half-illusory fantastic item towards the beast egg that had begun to crack.
This was the Advanced Puppet’s Heart given to him by Chairman Narnya, landing lightly on the cracking beast egg, completely ignoring the rich power emanating from within the egg.
“The Advanced Puppet’s Heart is not so easy to resist. I advise you not to struggle aimlessly, lest you suffer more,” Ivan could clearly sense that the beast egg in front of him was not very strong, at most only at the level of a Level 2 creature, not much stronger than the Silkworm Queen.
What he hadn’t expected was that, possibly due to the peculiarity of the bloodline, the creature inside the beast egg had an exceptionally strong will to resist.
However, under his strong suppression and the corrosion of the puppet’s heart, the creature inside the egg could only slowly descend into downfall.
Before long, feelings of attachment emerged from the beast egg; evidently, the creature had already been controlled by the puppet’s heart.
