Chapter 804: The rear border

Baiyue, Yunluo Kingdom.

Yunluo Kingdom is the westernmost part of Baiyue, bordering Annam, and can be considered the closest place to Shaman God Mountain itself.

Precisely because of this, the Kingdom Lord here has not had her Dao Path cut off, and moreover, she is a legitimate Shaman.

Legitimate Shamanes, that is, the Bu, Zhu, and Zong lineages.

Other than these three, none can be called legitimate.

The Yunluo Kingdom Lord is a Zong Ren, and she is also a Young Master of Shaman God Mountain.

Her becoming the Baiyue Kingdom Lord was primarily for the purpose of completing a research report for her Dao Path, a five-grade period assignment given to her by the Great Sect.

Zong, in charge of the rites of nation-building.

To command the transformation of things and guard their origin, later generations liked to use this character 'Zong', as in Sect Master, Grandmaster,宗旨 (purpose), Sect, 宗风 (Sect style), Grandmaster, 宗极 (ultimate principle), 宗派 (Sect/faction), 宗教 (religion); the so-called 'all Zong are venerable'.

As Zong Ren, their duties and abilities exist as true 'managers'.

Invoker are responsible for harmonization, existing as intermediaries, capable of balancing various forces through sacrificial means, causing the great source of Heaven and Earth to advance towards co-prosperity and strength.

And Zong Ren are responsible for specific matters; the main reason Li Qi can travel all over the world to handle those unexpected incidents is that the various affairs in places similar to Annam are all handled by Zong Ren.

The specific implementation of a certain matter, the distribution of various materials, that is, the faction in power and doing practical work.

Diviner are responsible for situations; they serve as consultants to the other two, providing them with intellectual support.

Invoker handle external affairs, Zong Ren handle internal affairs, and Diviner serve as intellectual consultants assisting both sides.

As a Zong Ren, the specific matter she is responsible for is the 'nation'.

The System of a nation is very common, and Zong Ren's research into nations is also very profound; the Yunluo Kingdom Lord is very proficient in how the 'nation' System operates, how to concentrate power, how to defeat a nation, how to build a nation, and how to use this System to complete the tasks required by Shamanes.

Therefore, when she was at the sixth grade, she chose to become the Baiyue Kingdom Lord, using this to lay the foundation for her fifth-grade Dao, and to delve deeper into this direction of study.

So, the Yunluo Kingdom can basically be said to be the strongest nation in all of Baiyue, without a doubt.

Moreover, this is also the nation that most thoroughly implements 'Shaman Dao'; to be honest, there's hardly any difference between here and the Shaman Dao heartland, it's even stronger than the neighboring Annam.

Because of this, the Yunluo Kingdom has become an important logistical base, producing talent and various resources to supply the front lines for military needs.

As is fitting for orthodox Shaman Dao, natural prosperity has led to an increase in Heaven and Earth Spiritual Qi; for Mortals in this place... even breathing will increase their magic power.

Cities exist here, but they are merely embellishments; vast 'lands as they should be' are the main feature of the earth.

At this moment, in a swampy area of Yunluo Kingdom—

Yellow-bellied newts swim in the river, and thousands of larvae float on the surface or wriggle at the bottom.

There are life-threatening animals; giant crawfish often extend their horn-like pincers to attack careless animals, and mosquitoes with a wingspan of up to 10 centimeters buzz over the water from time to time.

A cricket over a meter long was caught in a spider's web, and the enormous spider was sucking the cricket's body fluids.

Due to the abundant Mountain Marsh Qi, fungi grew unprecedentedly luxuriant, even giving rise to the strange phenomenon of 'mushroom forests'.

Within the mushroom forest, a desperate struggle between two horned beetles ensued; they charged at each other with wide-open mouths, their hard, smooth exoskeletons clattering, and as they attacked each other belly-up, their legs waved in the air like countless cymbals.

Ants were only 8 centimeters long, while large termites were 30 centimeters long, with huge wings, flying like kites.

Yellow fungi grew on the cliffs; these mushrooms were dark red and orange on top, and pale yellow underneath, forming a series of platforms above the quietly flowing river, even capable of supporting a person.

The sun emitted a faint halo through the mist, large groups of flying animals soared in the air, and from time to time, crickets or locusts flew like bullets from one place to another.

Enormous butterflies fluttered joyfully above the tranquil, seemingly vibrant world, while clumsy bees scurried anxiously, searching for nectar on various flowers; many small flower Yao resembling dragonflies could be seen guiding the bees, and from time to time, yellow-bellied, slender-waisted wasps flew nimbly through the air, seemingly searching for prey, but they did not attack the bees in these flower breeding grounds.

Besides this, there were also buildings here.

However, they were not houses above ground, but underground.

Next to the swamp, in the sandy clay, there was a vertically dug hole.

This was a meticulously dug, perfectly round hole, with silk webs adhering to its walls; the hole was probably ten meters or deeper, and the bottom was dug wider, forming a cavern-like void, where the owner and excavator of the hole lived.

The top of the hole was covered with a trapdoor, which was smeared with mud and sprinkled with soil, camouflaged to be indistinguishable from the surrounding soil. Anyone or any animal passing by would need a keen eye to detect the entrance.

Entering this hole, one could see... many, many species.

Some of them were Yao, some were not, after all, not all creatures need to become Yao.

Any creature possessing the 'Innate Three Treasures', namely 'Essence, Qi, Spirit', can cultivate without becoming a Yao; they can cultivate any cultivation method and practice any Dao Path they wish.

As for those who do not, the birth of the Demon Dao was precisely to break this inequality, so they can compensate for Innate deficiencies through demon race cultivation methods, and then later modify their cultivation.

Putting those aside, in this place, an ant nest was hidden.

Descending underground, this ant nest suddenly expanded; the ten-meter pipe above was merely a straw, and below... was a swimming pool.

The swimming pool extended countless straws connected to the outside, and a large amount of air was inhaled and expelled; the entire ant nest was like a giant bellows, and if one listened closely, one could hear an extremely high, sharp clamor.

Continuing deeper, this clamor grew closer, as if a giant beast was breathing, snoring, emitting a rumbling sound that shook the earth.

Fortunately, the earth is very vast, so if one doesn't listen closely, this sound cannot be heard.

But if one gets close... one will find that the ant colony is constantly operating underground; they are in the thousands, in the millions and billions, surging over hillsides, crossing depressions, their antennae constantly waving, their two large mandibles always threateningly open, the ground is densely covered with ants, each one a foot long.

Just a single one of these animals would be enough to threaten an unarmed person, but now, they are a swarm of thousands; under their aggressive pressure, any existence on this land would likely find it hard to escape death; they advance irresistibly and swiftly, emitting piercing grinding sounds and noisy clacking sounds.

However, there was no chaos.

These ants... were conscious, intelligent; they were... smelting.

Yes, smelting.

Large numbers of ants collected many materials, all from the creatures outside.

Mushrooms, trees, all of this, when the black tide of ants swept in, those bees, wasps, crickets, and other crawling and wriggling animals that couldn't escape were all buried in the ants' bellies or torn to pieces.

Their remains were then carried by the ants to this place, and through Gu worms within the ant nest, they began smelting these insect Yao remains, transforming them into Spiritual Artifacts for the ant army.

At the same time, deep within this ant army, the Ant Queen was conversing with the Yunluo Kingdom Lord.

The Yunluo Kingdom Lord is a woman; although she is a Zong Ren, she doesn't appear so serious and rigid, dressed young and with a good appearance, a gentle maidenly look, around twenty years old.

The Ant Queen, on the other hand, had plain wings and a vermilion head, three zhang long, with dozens of large ants assisting her on either side; the other ants dared not approach, only encircling the two.

One person and one ant were there.

"Juzhao, you have recently invaded other territories again; this is already the third time," the Yunluo Kingdom Lord said.

She looked at the ants before her; these black ants, aggressive in nature, black and sluggish, capable of lifting ten times their body weight in iron, were a very formidable race, but recently... somewhat disobedient.

The Ant Queen, named Juzhao, replied, "Kingdom Lord, the ant nest is expanding its capacity, all for the front line, and moreover, the ecology has no problems whatsoever."

"Everything you create has exceeded your needs, and also exceeded the needs of the front line," the Yunluo Kingdom Lord shook her head: "If this continues, capacity will increase, but you will drift towards the Human Race's side, Juzhao... take care of yourself."

"Kingdom Lord—" The Ant Queen seemed to want to explain something, but the Yunluo Kingdom Lord had already disappeared.

She didn't have time to say too much; currently, even the most stable Yunluo Kingdom was already ablaze on all sides.

Rather, because of the Yunluo Kingdom's special location, it would instead attract the focused attention of the Human Race.

Therefore, the Yunluo Kingdom is now filled with various ideological confusions brought by the Human Race; these Dao Paths are especially severe for insects that have not yet solidified, particularly for social creatures like ant nests that are inherently inclined towards the Human Race's highly centralized Dao Orthodoxy; many areas have already begun large-scale plunder under the banner of 'for the front line'.

This gave the Yunluo Kingdom Lord a headache; she could neither slaughter these ant nests that hadn't yet 'crossed the line', nor did she have a good long-term solution to prevent the Human Race's ideological infiltration, only temporarily reprimanding them.

After all, the Human Race's ideology is indeed very attractive to these ants.

Truly...

However, in the Yunluo Kingdom Lord's view, the Human Race is actually quite despicable. Why can the Human Race boast of its nobility and greatness? Because they plunder things other than humans, they naturally have the ability and conditions to be noble.

Why don't those 'beasts' understand? Because they are invaded and exploited, their survival is a problem, so how can they have the conditions to appreciate those unnecessary things? Beasts that have nothing are not qualified to pursue overly noble and great things, but that doesn't mean they cannot, but rather that they have not yet reached that level.

Give them wings, and they can soar into the sky just the same.

This is the Yunluo Kingdom Lord's view.

"Alas, my territory..." She sighed, only able to say that the Yunluo Kingdom's location was indeed somewhat unfavorable, which led to this situation, making it difficult to control.

The difficulty in control, which is usually quite good, is a different matter in wartime.

The Yunluo Kingdom's area has a humid climate, vast forests, and abundant Mountain Marsh Qi, making it a good place for forests, fungi, and insects to live. Here, low hills or fungal jungles proliferate everywhere, from corrosive swamps to primeval forests filled with miasma, or even rare snow-capped mountains and caves, forming most of the Yunluo Kingdom's terrain.

Terrain is not a problem; any kind of terrain can give birth to living beings, it's just whether it suits the local terrain or not. The Yunluo Kingdom is naturally unsuitable for Human Race survival, but suitable for trees, fungi, a small number of animals, and insects to live, so it's natural that there are more insects than people and more mushrooms than people here.

This is part of natural; there is no need to do anything extra. What kind of place has what kind of living beings; the beauty of natural lies in that no matter the circumstances, whether in the harsh state of the endless Void Realm where there is nothing, or in a world where there is everything—oceans, land, Void Realm, sky, swamps, underground—every place has its own life, its own unique ecosystem.

Moreover, all ecological Systems subtly achieve balance; this is the greatness of natural.

For the Yunluo Kingdom Lord, she would not deliberately pick apart the nation she governed, because she usually did quite well, but at this time... the insects suddenly taught her a lesson.

The insect swarms, especially ants and beehives, seem to be naturally more inclined towards the highly centralized Dao Orthodoxy of the Human Race; the Human Race's attraction to them is extraordinary.

Now, the information deliberately infiltrated by the Human Race is like carrion attracting all insect swarms; despite the Yunluo Kingdom Lord's repeated warnings, the restless insect swarms have already begun to affect this major rear area.

The Yunluo Kingdom Lord was pondering whether she had been too gentle, and perhaps it was time to take action.

As she pondered, dark clouds appeared in the gloomy sky, and moisture-laden clouds brought down a downpour, an unpleasant layer of dampness covering everything, causing the fungi to rapidly release spores, forming a cloud-like spore Qi; pale yellow spores adhered to almost everything, then germinated into mycelium, and one small umbrella cap after another gradually opened, with millions of fungi germinating in just a few minutes due to this rain.

However, at the same time, many insects also crawled out; they began to pick and cut these tender fungi, which were also the insects' food.

The thoughts of a Kingdom Lord brought about a unique harvest in the Yunluo Kingdom.

But at this moment, the Yunluo Kingdom Lord discovered that a Daoist Art had arrived before her.

Hmm?!

Is it Senior Brother Li Qi?