Chapter 384: Chapter 376 The Gorgeous Array of Insect Pets_1
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Qin Niu fed it mostly iron and copper, these two metals being comparatively cheap.
Because the price of these metals was relatively low,
he really couldn’t bear to feed it gold or Silver Money directly.
At present, the cultivation of the Gold Devouring Ant was still in an exploratory stage.
Despite its small size, its appetite was quite substantial.
In the beginning, feeding it a copper coin could sustain it for one to two days.
Now, as its body continued to grow and its digestive capacity seemed to be increasing, it needed to devour twenty-one copper coins a day. If it ate ordinary black iron, it could consume about three taels a day.
This seemed exaggerated, but its appetite was that enormous.
Moreover, its appetite was still growing.
Every day, after consuming so much metal, its excrement resembled slag.
It looked like waste slag poured from a smelting furnace.
It was hard to imagine, with it eating so much metal every day, how it stored the absorbed energy inside its body.
When Qin Niu held it in his hand, the only issue was that it was a bit heavy.
Having ingested so much metal, its weight was definitely increasing.
Holding it in hand, it felt like a heavy lump of iron.
Furthermore, the metallic luster on its body was becoming darker and more muted.
Qin Niu didn’t know how strong it had become, because recently, times had been peaceful and there was simply no need to use the Gold Devouring Ant, his ace in the hole Termite.
Besides the obvious progress of the Gold Devouring Ant, Fourth’s improvement was also quite significant.
It was in the midst of challenging Grade Seven.
If it succeeded in advancing, Qin Niu believed that with Fourth’s abilities, it could definitely take on an expert from the human Innate Realm by itself.
Additionally, Fourth’s venom was also evolving continuously.
Its Soul Eroding Poison seemed to have become more potent than before.
The number of Termite’s ant colony was steadily increasing, and it was approaching the significant number of fifty thousand. This was something Qin Niu had not dared to dream about before.
The Bodhi Tree he had cultivated within the Ancient Banyan Tree Maze was now nearly numbering thirty.
And they had all grown quite a bit.
The yield of ‘Thousand Eyes Tree’ Blood he could collect at one time had more than doubled.
This also enabled him to breed even more Ghost Ants and Puppet Ants.
Speaking of the Termite colony, there was one thing that somewhat troubled Qin Niu.
Last time, he deliberately left over three hundred Termites inside the highest peak, letting them find an opportunity to search the entire mountain, to see if they could discover the feathers shed by the Demon Bird.
As a result, over two hundred Termites were lost, and now only a little over one hundred remained, continuing the search in the mountain.
Qin Niu had already prepared himself for the possibility of a total annihilation.
The sacrifice of over three hundred Termites was somewhat painful, but as long as they could find a single feather for him, especially the flight feathers, he could immediately recover all the losses.
After all, for him, sacrificing a few hundred common Grade Three Termites was a loss he could absolutely afford.
The feathers of the Demon Bird would be shed as they aged and grew, continuously being replaced with new ones.
At that time, old feathers would fall off by themselves.
Bird feathers are generally divided into several parts: the head and neck, chest and belly, are mainly covered with down and fine feathers. Only the tips of their wings and tail feathers have a high quality.
And their value is the highest.
The surviving hundred or so Termites were a group that was more clever at hiding and had outstanding skills in concealment.
Having survived until now, they must have already accumulated a wealth of survival experience.
Qin Niu hoped they would explore every part of the mountain.
Based on the information fed back by the Termites before their death, the most dangerous area was a large region near the mountain peak. That place was likely where the Demon Bird lived.
Termites who entered that area were very likely to die.
If feathers shed by the Demon Bird were indeed on the mountain, then they were most likely to be found in that area.
Anyway, so far, not a single Termite has found a feather.
While the Termite colony was developing nicely, the Green Silk Worm had also begun to silently breed and expand its family.
About every ten days, it could lay an egg.
Then, with the help of Qin Niu’s scalp and blood, it would incubate.
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The offspring of the Green Silk Worm, like the adult worms, look exactly like human hair from the outside. They could easily be parasitized onto an enemy’s head without the enemy even realizing it.
His Green Demon Bees were also growing rapidly.
Their appetite was quite large, requiring the feeding of two to three steel-winged wild bee generals’ carcasses a day.
However, the significant investment yielded a satisfying return.
The size of the Green Demon Bee had grown to that of a knife handle.
When it flapped its wings to fly, it came without a shadow and left without a trace, giving the impression that its speed could match that of the peregrine falcon, the king of birds in flight.
Of course, that might be a bit of an exaggeration.
After all, the top flight speed of a peregrine falcon could reach 380 kilometers per hour.
In fact, scientists have tested that the maximum flight speed of the peregrine falcon can reach 389 kilometers per hour.
Most birds, once targeted by it, have little chance of escaping.
Even the white eagle, known as the king of the skies, is no match for it.
The peregrine falcon, in the air, can easily provoke or bully other birds of prey, even those ten times its size.
It all comes down to its incredibly swift flight speed.
And its talons are also terrifying, easily piercing through the heads of its prey, achieving instant kills.
And these are truly instant kills.
Even if the speed of the Green Demon Bee doesn’t match that of the peregrine falcon, in the insect world, it would be difficult to find an opponent that could compete with it.
Unless one considers those exceptionally incredible mystical insects from the ‘Mystical Insects List.’
Qin Niu watched as its size grew day by day and felt joy in his heart, but he was also somewhat anxious.
Because finding a ‘husband’ for the Green Demon Bee was proving to be extremely difficult.
It was hard to find a male bee of the same grade.
If it really came down to it, he might have to try letting it reproduce asexually.
However, according to Qin Niu’s beekeeping experience, female bees that did not undergo sexual reproduction would likely produce male offspring.
That wouldn’t do.
Male bees were all style and no substance, the lazy ‘Cowherds’ that only looked good.
They lacked stingers and their combat prowess was abysmal.
Almost any bee could easily chase them into a panicked scramble.
It would be best to find an excellent ‘husband’ for this Green Demon Bee.
Of the bee species Qin Niu had come into contact with, the two closest to the Green Demon Bee in terms of breed were the Corpse Bee and the Steel-winged Wild Bee.
Both these bee species were strong.
He prepared to take a two-pronged approach.
On one hand, he planned to cultivate male bees from the Corpse and Steel-winged Wild Bee species, and on the other hand, he intended to search far and wide for formidable bee species.
Whether it meant buying them or capturing them in the wild, he was open to either option.
With thousands of Puppet Ants and Ghost Ants at his disposal, capturing even the most formidable wild bees would be a breeze.
Moreover, with the Green Demon Bee as his ace in the hole, there was no need to worry about the wild bees escaping once discovered.
He also didn’t neglect the cultivation of the Black Spider Gu.
The Black Spider Gu had a particular craving for all kinds of potent poisons.
To satisfy it, Qin Niu had the Green Demon Bee secrete venom for it to consume.
It should be noted that the venom of the Green Demon Bee could even kill an Immortal Master.
It was absolutely a super existence among venoms.
The Black Spider Gu only dared to consume a little bit at a time. Despite its immunity to hundreds of poisons, it remained extraordinarily cautious and careful when faced with the Green Demon Bee’s venom.
After eating the venom of the Green Demon Bee, the body of the Black Spider Gu became even shinier and more black.
Presumably, its venom had also become even more fearsome.
Thus, Qin Niu now had two types of poisonous insects that could confront powerful enemies.
Once Fourth’s Soul Eroding Poison evolved further, he would have venom from three types of poisonous insects that could take on opponents in the Spirit Qi Realm, and even against Immortal Masters.
Time passed in such a leisurely and unhurried manner.
That day, Qin Niu returned home from practicing in the mountains with his two wives and Xiao Qing.
Young Master Yan of the Yan Family had come over with Steward Yan Qi.
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