Witnessing how the man kept quiet, Lei Yan chuckled and continued, "Well now is the time. The ants had already begun their attack, and if you want to ensure the viper's death and take some benefits for yourself then now is the opportunity."

Hearing that, Lu Peng's eyebrows furrowed together, appearing deep in thought, and suddenly he asked, "And who are you?"

To expect him to rally his subordinates to respond to the call of a clearly shrewd mosquito would be foolish.

Expecting such a line of questioning, Melvin simply said, "I am a damn weak mosquito," with a shrug of his two forelegs, he continued, "My strength is nonexistent, and my life is pointless. All I do is watch things to make it seem more interesting." He finished with a sigh, "Either way, it's up to you to do whatever you'd like."

With that he flew up and made way for the door very slowly, anticipating them calling him back once again. However, they didn't say anything else, and so he just left the pagoda, and then the outpost.

He had already done what he planned to do, and so he just ordered that same mosquito to go back into the Red Minnerade and await further instructions.

As for him, he canceled the Soulweave Transfiguration technique and returned to his underground tunnel.
...

Inside the pagodas, the four vice-administrators looked at Lu Peng with a questioning look, wondering what he would do and if he trusted the mosquito's words because they sure as hell did not.

"We will go," He said after a long silence. Smiling faintly, he declared, "But not on our own."

Following his orders, all of the vice administrators were armed to the brim, and prepared to leave.

Galan was already treated with a treasured pill and he became as good as new, and with that, the group of five and a dark hornet walked out of the outpost, with the other outposts as their destination.
...

In a dark underground passageway, hundreds of monsters huddled up together. Their steps were slow and steady as they followed after the viper in front of them.

Soon, the dark passageway began to welcome a faint white glow that changed the whole environment, and when the big figure of the queen disappeared into the light, it became even well-lit.

Some of the awakened monsters were unsettled by the whole sight, but they could only brace themselves and continue advancing forward.

Before long, one monster after the other began to disappear in the same manner, until most of the monsters finally witnessed where all of them went to.

The dark passage emerged into a vast well-lit underground cavern with a huge mysterious altar in the middle. And all of the monsters followed one another as they strode on the rocky grounds encircling the altar.

The Viper queen stood at the other end, gazing at everything before with a dead look in her eyes. "Enter inside," She commanded, her voice seemed unusually different, it was monotone, deadened, and dry.

Most of the monsters obeyed her orders and began to climb into the altar, or slither their way there. It was important to note that all of her still-living subordinates were here, except for White Wind that is.

That included the Fire Tree, White Horns, her other offspring, Dark Shadow, the green viper, the black and white python, and everyone in between. Even the small Brown Faith at the Qi Condensation was there, as it climbed with difficulty into the altar, paying attention not to be stomped to death by some unaware monster's hooves.

However, some of the awakened monsters hesitated, their danger alarms were loudly screaming at them to escape, and yet the viper just stood there, watching them with a ruthless glare.

As they fidgeted in place, unable to move forward or backward, The viper queen violently hissed at them, and so they could only grit their teeth and climb into the circular altar just as well.

After she noticed that everyone was above it, she slowly slithered in their direction as well. Her gaze fixated on a tall small circular platform at the very heart of the big altar.

Suddenly, out of nowhere, a sandy-colored key appeared, but the viper queen knew that she was the one who brought it out of her spatial ring.

The moment the key appeared, a majestic pressure descended on everyone present, the viper queen included.

The key began to rotate at a very fast speed the moment it appeared outside, and with every rotation that previously overwhelming pressure only increased.

It was so much so that after a while, none of the monsters were even able to stand up as they crashed into the ground. As it was doing all of that, its movement was also slowly advancing above the small circular platform in the center of the altar, and the moment it stood at the heart of it, another change occurred.

Under the altar, with a face glued to the ground, the viper queen grimaced and used her spatial ring once again. She brought out the body of the peak Foundation Establishment Ant, her peak stage mate, and hundreds of other Foundation Establishment bodies of both ants and other monster species, and she put all of them above the monsters on the altar.

Then, she started throwing out at the same place dozens of Spirit Stones, the two Soulfire Orchid Crystals, and all of the treasures that she had amassed thus far.

The key's rotation by then had reached a terrifying speed, and the pressure was no longer a mere elusive force that weighed them on down. No, the monsters were beginning the feel their bodies getting crushed down under the ridiculous invisible force, and regardless of their strength standing up proved to be impossible.

The viper queen on the other hand seemed more relaxed and unburdened after a golden white light emerged from the small platform, into the key, and from the key into her.

Cries of pain and growls of unwillingness echoed through the cavern. However, the viper queen's single eye was impassive as it looked at them with indifference.

After a few seconds, most of the monsters had died under the weight of the key's pressure, and only the strongest of them were still alive as their eyes flashed with terror. But even they followed suit and succumbed to their grievous injuries after a few minutes.

The viper queen's eyes closed shut as she awaited what would happen, knowing that things had just started.

True to her expectations, the key's pressure became tangible as it moved around the cavern, as if it had its own intelligence it targeted the white crystals surrounding the altars and dissolved them into a white liquid. Controlling that white liquid, it sprayed it on top of the dozens of corpses at the alta,r and they began to melt when meeting it.

However, they didn't melt into some fleshy goo, but a form of pure energy that flowed down the altar, and through the ebb and flow of an unseen force, they gushed toward the platform in the center of the altar. As a result of that, the golden energy that was enveloping the viper queen, began to get more rich and dense with every second.

Each little drop of that energy coursed through every nook and cranny of her body purifying, healing, and making it even stronger. Even her previous empty socket began to get filled with matter that soon transformed into an eye. However, only very few of the bodies and the treasures she had put had been consumed, there was still a long way to go through.

With her previous accumulations, the viper queen began to prepare to break into the Core Formation Realm.

This was the awaited process that took her four long years of careful planning and hard work, and though the most important ingredient that should have been put into the lone platform was lost, Golden Eye, she still followed through with it. Although her bloodline wouldn't be completely purified with just these, she had no other choice.

She knew that time was of the essence, and when ants got the news of what had happened to her forces they would attack her and take over her altar treasure, and so she had to take everything first. Then, her revenge would begin.
...

In the east of the Silent Mistwood Grove, amongst the tall and giant trees, the ants continued their advance.

At the very vanguard were the strongest of the whole colony, the High Foundation Establishment Elders, and naturally Blood Spear's dashing presence.

Behind them were rows after rows of ants from the mid-stage Foundation Establishment, into the low ranks of the Qi Condensation. As for the Body Forging ones, they were left to tend to the queen, and busy themselves with whatever the colony needed.

As for the reason they were taking their merry time in their advance? It was because according to White Wind's news, the viper's underlings were still in the human territory, and though they could have gone for a pincer attack, Blood Spear had other ideas.

Glancing at the white horse to his right, and then to the rest of the elders to his left, he said, "The viper is rather shrewd." His voice was cautious, but filled with meaning, "We need to wait until we are certain she has indeed entered her cave once again, otherwise, if she sees the force we've brought forth with her now measly strength, she would immediately attempt an escape."

After he finished his explanation, his eyes looked forward whilst his spiritual sense surveyed the others. Although the two Peak Foundation Establishment elders had witnessed The Elder's Death and were affected by it, he was very quick to comfort them with his sharp tongue, and in their guilt-riddled conscience, they were quick to gobble up everything he offered.

Now they viewed themselves as the colony's saviors. After the perfect explanation he gave them about the elder's mental state, and where that might lead to, it was an easy thing to perceive themselves as.

However, he quickly noticed something that slightly soured his mood. The Peak elder who always used to follow The First Elder was unresponsive to his words, unlike the rest. She was the only remaining thorn in his side, but he quickly moved on from fretting over such a small character. With the whole colony under his command, his master would no longer face any obstructions in his plans to take over a sizeable area in the swamp all for himself.

Noticing that the sky was gradually turning light as the sun began to appear on the horizon behind them, Blood Spear felt invigorated. Could there be any more auspicious signs of his assured victory and climb to greatness? There could not, he reasoned with a wide grin.