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Ruan Jingtian had completely lost the disdain he once held upon his arrival. His heart was filled with shock.
Xunuo remained unfazed, boarding Xi Dao Jing's Jujube Core Boat to return to Chaotic Valley. This time, Xunuo had summoned two elders for the alchemy of Poison Dan, creating quite a spectacle. He intended to use this as a means of promotion for himself, paving the way for his upcoming plans. As for the cost of refining Dan Lei, an agreement had been made with Ruan Jingtian beforehand. It could be paid with Unity Pills or offset from the Dan Lei produced. However, those were matters for later.
Upon returning to Chaotic Valley, Xunuo did not go back to the Cave but accompanied Xi Dao Jing to the Heavenly Dragon Society headquarters. He shared his plan to form a team to hunt the Crimson Fire Ant King and requested Xi Dao Jing to make the arrangements.
Xi Dao Jing understood the difficulty of hunting the Crimson Fire Ant King. Such activities hadn't been undertaken in decades. The last attempt was organized by Cao Ziji's father, which ended in total disaster with no survivors. However, seeing Xunuo's resolute attitude, Xi Dao Jing reluctantly agreed.
When Xi Dao Jing heard Xunuo promise each participant a Unity Pill, he felt that regardless of whether this endeavor succeeded or not, at least gathering this team wouldn't be too difficult.
After discussing for a while, Xunuo took his leave and returned to the Cave to diligently recover his magical power. With Black Wind Old Monster constantly watching him closely, Xunuo could not personally participate in the hunt for the Crimson Fire Ant King.
Xunuo asked Xi Dao Jing to form a team on his behalf, essentially requesting that the Heavenly Dragon Society provide a leader for the expedition. In truth, even if Xunuo joined this endeavor, he would only play a minor role. The Crimson Fire Ant King was comparable to a Foundation Stage Cultivator among Demonic Insects. If it weren't for the fact that insect-type monsters lacked intelligence and relied solely on instinctive abilities in combat, Human Clan Cultivators would never dare to confront it directly, let alone hunt it down.
After arranging these plans, Xunuo began mingling among familiar friends within the valley. Although he had been in Chaotic Valley for over a year, he had never truly interacted widely; most of his visits were either brief or purpose-driven.
This time, he aimed for extensive socializing—partly because he intended to stay longer in the valley and needed more connections among fellow cultivators. More importantly, Xunuo had many unanswered questions about Chaotic Valley and needed to gather information for accurate judgments.
During this period, Xunuo also studied the Great Illusion Concealment Talisman several times. He discovered that it exceeded the scope of a typical talisman and seemed to lie somewhere between a talisman and a magical artifact. He categorized it as a talisman-like device. Firstly, this Great Illusion Concealment Talisman was not a one-time consumable. Secondly, although it was merely an auxiliary talisman-like device, it combined functions of invisibility and tracking concealment—far superior to Intermediate Talismans in capability. Moreover, Xunuo vaguely sensed that this Great Illusion Concealment Talisman might possess other functions that he couldn't unlock due to his own cultivation level.
In visiting friends, Xunuo aimed not only to understand the internal and external situations of Chaotic Valley but also to resolve a lingering doubt: why had there seemingly only been three Valley Masters in Chaotic Valley for hundreds of years? This puzzled him greatly. Given that a Foundation Stage Cultivator has a lifespan of around two hundred years, how could they possibly live for three or five hundred years?
After some inquiries, Xunuo gathered some insights: while Chaotic Valley had consistently maintained three Foundation Establishment Stage Valley Masters, there had indeed been changes over time. For instance, Lin Jianfeng became a Foundation Stage Cultivator thirty years ago. However, this did little to alleviate Xunuo's confusion regarding Chaotic Valley's Foundation Stage Cultivators.
For Loose Cultivators, advancing to Foundation Establishment Stage is exceedingly rare; thus, it was understandable that Chaotic Valley didn't have many Foundation Stage Cultivators. However, maintaining three Foundation Establishment Practitioners consistently raised questions for Xunuo—it felt as though Chaotic Valley was somehow limiting the number of Foundation Stage Cultivators to keep it constant.
If Xunuo's suspicions were correct, this would ease one of his worries: as long as the three Valley Masters remained alive in Chaotic Valley, Black Wind Old Monster would have no chance of advancing to Foundation Establishment Stage.
In the following month or so, Xi Dao Jing's team assembled and prepared to set out on their mission to hunt the Crimson Fire Ant King. Yet Xunuo discovered something perplexing: he had lost contact with Black Wind Old Monster. The Tracking Disk showed no traces of him.
This could only mean that Black Wind Old Monster had distanced himself from Chaotic Valley. Despite inquiring everywhere, no one knew Black Wind Old Monster's whereabouts—even the Black Dragon Society had no news about him. Xunuo found it hard to believe that Black Wind Old Monster could evade Tracking Disk detection; he concluded that Black Wind Old Monster must have left Chaotic Valley—perhaps even departed from Copper Sand Sea altogether—to seek trouble with Dongfang Yunqing and others.
Xunuo pondered for a long time and decided to take advantage of Black Wind Old Monster's departure from the valley to join the team in hunting the Crimson Fire Ant King. Although Xunuo's magical power would not significantly aid in the hunt, his Three Talents Confining Dragon Formation was a powerful tool for defeating the Crimson Fire Ant King.
First, Xunuo visited the Crimson Flame Hall and received three Dan Lei before heading to the Heavenly Dragon Society to meet Xi Dao Jing.
The team formed by Xi Dao Jing to hunt the Crimson Fire Ant King consisted of eight Cultivators. Four members were from the Heavenly Dragon Society, two from the Crimson Flame Hall, one from the Black Dragon Society, and another Refiner joined as well.
All eight Cultivators were at the Eleventh Layer and were among the strongest in terms of magical power. When they heard that Xunuo would be joining them, their expressions turned uneasy. They were only willing to take this risk for the sake of a Unity Pill, fully aware that they would only receive it after Xunuo successfully completed his Alchemy.
If this Alchemy Boss were to accompany them and accidentally perish along the way, wouldn’t they be wasting their efforts? Although the Crimson Fire Ant King was rich in treasures and excellent materials for crafting magical artifacts, it was not worth eight Unity Pills.
Seeing their concerns, Xunuo raised his hand and revealed the Three Talents Confining Dragon Formation. "You need not worry; I will not be a burden but rather a great help. With this formation, we will have a much better chance of defeating the Crimson Fire Ant King."
The leader of this operation was Stone Tianci, the third-in-command of the Heavenly Dragon Society. He genuinely did not want to bring Xunuo along. His concern was not about the Crimson Fire Ant King but rather about Black Wind Old Monster.
However, he didn’t want to offend Xunuo, so he exchanged glances with Xi Dao Jing, signaling him to speak up against it.
Xi Dao Jing understood Stone Tianci's thoughts but also knew that Black Wind Old Monster had recently gone missing.
After some thought, Xi Dao Jing turned to Xunuo and asked, "Do you understand the dangers of this mission?"
Xunuo nodded slightly. "I am well aware and have made thorough preparations."
Xi Dao Jing knew that Xunuo was a person of strong opinions who would not easily take risks. He smiled at Stone Tianci and said, "Since Xue Dao You is determined to join us, let us add his strength to our ranks. The power of Xue Dao You’s Three Talents Confining Dragon Formation far surpasses that of several Eleventh Layer Cultivators and will greatly assist our mission."
Seeing Xi Dao Jing say this, Stone Tianci had no choice but to nod in agreement. The other Cultivators felt even more hesitant but had no choice but to set off with anxious hearts.
The location for hunting the Crimson Fire Ant King was in a bare area known as Fire Vein Hills deep within the Copper Sand Sea. This was the closest place to Chaotic Valley where the Crimson Fire Ant King could be found.
There was not just one Crimson Fire Ant King in the Copper Sand Sea; they could automatically generate within a certain geographical range or under specific conditions involving a certain number of Crimson Fire Ants. Sometimes there could even be two Crimson Fire Ant Kings simultaneously controlling a section of Desert Sea.
However, for a Crimson Fire Ant King to cultivate and emerge, it had to be in an area rich in Geothermal Veins. This was similar to how Human Clan Cultivators needed abundant Spiritual Veins to advance as High-Level Practitioners.
The Fire Vein Hills that Xunuo and his companions were heading towards, while being the closest area to Chaotic Valley, still required nearly ten days of travel by Flying Talisman.
Fortunately, each of these High-Level Practitioners had a Condensation Pearl in hand. With the Condensation Pearl held in front, they sped towards their destination.
As they approached the Fire Vein Hills, the number of Crimson Fire Ants became increasingly dense. Eventually, this group found themselves almost submerged in an endless sea of Crimson Fire Ants.
About half a day's journey from the Fire Vein Hills, Stone Tianci waved to stop the team. He instructed Xunuo to activate the Three Talents Confining Dragon Formation, and the nine of them entered the formation to rest and recover their magical energy to peak condition.
A moment later, Stone Tianci gestured to a Cultivator from the Black Dragon Society. The Cultivator immediately stood up, and a Magic Shield illuminated around him. He then infused himself with a Flying Talisman and darted towards the Fire Vein Hills. A Cultivator each from the Heavenly Dragon Society and Crimson Flame Hall followed closely behind.
This was the tactic that had been established by everyone along the way. They would go in groups of three to lure out the Crimson Fire Ant King from the Fire Vein Hills. Once lured into the Three Talents Confining Dragon Formation, they would work together to kill it.
Before Xunuo joined, they had already been using this tactic. However, for safety's sake, they had prepared two sets of formations. The plan was to use both formations' powers to trap the Crimson Fire Ant King before killing it.
Now that Xunuo's Three Talents Confining Dragon Formation was available, those two sets of formations seemed redundant. Moreover, having more formations did not necessarily mean better results. They also needed to consider whether there were any attribute conflicts between them and whether they could be integrated seamlessly to unleash their combined power. If there was even a slight incompatibility, it would be better to rely solely on Xunuo's Three Talents Confining Dragon Formation.
Xunuo was quite confident in his formation. Once the three individuals exited the formation, he embedded several spirit stones into the Formation. With a flick of his Main Array Flag, the vast formation rippled outward like waves spreading across a lake after a stone is thrown in. After the waves passed, this area of Desert Sea was left completely empty. The surrounding swarm of Crimson Fire Ants surged forward, filling this space completely.
Inside the formation, Stone Tianci and the others were filled with astonishment. They worried that if they were caught in the formation's power together, they might be shredded on the spot. However, this also added countless confidence in capturing the Crimson Fire Ant King.
After waiting for a moment with various thoughts in mind, they received a Sound Transmission Talisman from the three Cultivators who had gone out to lure the Crimson Fire Ant King. Instantly, their spirits lifted as they prepared nervously for what was to come.
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