Take that blue crystal and completely transform it into spiritual fluid. Zong Shou then mixed in several drops of his own vital blood, dripping it onto the queen ant's eggshell.

The purple-gold eggshell immediately emitted faint rays of light. These blue ** seeped into the eggshell without the slightest resistance. Even the Spirit Sealing Heart Array that Zong Shou had previously drawn was permeated in the same way.

Only that Grand Profound Heart Locking and Soul Stabilizing Talisman could not enter; it was subtly resisted by a force within the egg, held back outside.

Zong Shou let out a soft hum, and with a thought, a crimson flame suddenly ignited in his palm, which he mercilessly tossed onto the eggshell. The force of the flame struck, completely shattering that resisting power. The Grand Profound Heart Locking and Soul Stabilizing Talisman then began to burn, turning into fine blue specks that shot into the eggshell.

In the very next instant, as Zong Shou retracted the flame, the spiritual energy within this space, which had already condensed into substance, surged wildly toward him.

Zong Shou was prepared; he had long since cast a 'Vajra Body Protection Talisman' upon himself, Zong Yuan, and the attendant guards. Even the Seven Star Altar below had promptly severed the connection to the dozen or so spirit veins feeding it.

The spirit beasts and fiends outside were caught completely unprepared; when struck by this immense spiritual energy, their bodies instantly lost balance, and some even experienced their vital blood surging violently within them.

However, Zong Shou was too preoccupied to care at the moment. Even his Flying Leaf Sword Array had been thoroughly thrown into disarray by this overwhelming surge of spiritual tide. Thus, he paid no heed to the commotion outside the altar.

Before his eyes, the purple-gold queen ant egg had already floated up, suspending itself in mid-air.

The surrounding spirit veins were forcibly drawn out, one by one, locked onto the fist-sized eggshell. Countless amounts of spiritual energy were frantically poured in.

And within this small pocket of void, wisps of electric light subtly manifested, sweeping and spreading in all directions.

Zong Shou himself was struck a few times, but fortunately, he was heavily protected by talismans. Long Ruo and the other two, along with the seventh-tier expert surnamed Li, possessed hundreds of seventh-tier defensive talismans in their Qiankun Bags alone. If one was broken, they simply used another.

Not only was he completely unharmed, but Zong Yuan and the Thunder Winged Flood Dragon, though appearing battered, were also safe under his protection.

Conversely, the few fiends without physical bodies were all instantly pulverized into dust by the impact of the spiritual energy and lightning strikes. However, the resulting evil crystals were nowhere to be found, likely swept away by the spiritual tide.

It was unclear how much time passed, but just as Zong Shou numbly activated the twenty-fourth seventh-tier protective talisman, the purple-gold queen ant egg finally ceased its absorption. The surrounding spiritual tide gradually subsided.

Zong Shou and Zong Yuan both shifted their gazes, focusing intently on the object. Then, they heard a light crack as the eggshell finally shattered.

A small creature emerged from within. It was neither the purple-gold Zong Shou had expected, nor the pure black of the Fiery Crystal Ant Queen. Instead, it was silver-white, incomparably radiant. Furthermore, its appearance was utterly distinct from the queen ant image of the Fiery Crystal Ants on the Ant Daoist.

Its body seemed almost humanoid, possessing six limbs. The tips of the front two pairs were razor-sharp blades, while the rear pair resembled human feet, allowing it to stand upright. Six pairs of wings, thin as cicada wings and transparent, adorned its back, lending it an air of nobility and solemnity.

Zong Shou was utterly stunned. Apart from the two pairs of bladed limbs that retained the characteristics of an insect, the rest of his new guardian's form closely resembled a creature he had seen in another world during his previous life—a being known as a 'Winged Human.' It didn't even possess the iconic compound eyes of the insect race.

The six pairs of wings fluttered gently, and white flames enveloped its body, exuding a holy and pure aura.

His mind felt hazy; he simply could not reconcile how the Fiery Crystal Ant Queen, combined with the Spirit Origin Blood—which contained potent toxins and was considered an evil beast in the ancient era—could produce such a bizarre creature. It completely surpassed the scope of his understanding.

Zong Yuan, however, frowned, a flicker of disappointment in his eyes.

"Only sixth-tier?"

Any descendant of a Divine Beast should be at least seventh-tier upon birth. However, Zong Yuan himself hadn't truly expected the Fiery Crystal Ant Queen to leap straight to immortality.

It was just that previously, the egg had absorbed the souls of a hundred thousand crystal ants along with their essence.

Then, here, it integrated an entire piece of the Myriad Insect Essence, absorbing vast quantities of worldly spirit energy.

Such a massive display, yet upon hatching, it was still only sixth-tier—a result that was somewhat disappointing.

Zong Shou, however, shook his head slightly, his expression unusually grave as he observed intently. The silver humanoid was no larger than two of a common person's index fingers. Its body resembled the feminine form of a human, extremely slender. Its eyes were closed, its features exquisitely beautiful, like an elf's. Yet, for some unknown reason, Zong Shou vaguely sensed an incredibly sharp, vicious intent hidden within the small frame. He instinctively felt something was amiss and elevated his internal defenses to the extreme.

Just a few breaths later, the humanoid queen ant abruptly opened its eyes; they were a pair of sharp, murderous, purple-gold pupils.

Its body flashed, moving like a bolt of lightning directly toward him. Even Zong Yuan couldn't react before it appeared before Zong Shou.

The two pairs of half-foot-long blades suddenly swept toward Zong Shou's neck. The 'Vajra Body Protection Art' cast upon him shattered like thin paper under the edge of the blades.

Zong Shou's eyes narrowed. He had been prepared and felt no fear toward the sudden assassination attempt by the humanoid queen ant.

The sword in his hand swung out directly, intercepting the two pairs of long blades. With a sharp clang, he felt an astonishingly immense force, causing him to stagger back more than ten steps, nearly tumbling off the edge of the altar. His chest heaved, his vital energy surged, and his nine wheel meridians were nearly shattered by the impact of the surging force.

Failing in its initial strike, the humanoid queen ant flickered again, turning and lunging in the air, evading the spear thrust by Zong Yuan, and charged toward Zong Shou once more.

However, this time, before the humanoid queen ant could draw near, Zong Shou let out a cold snort.

"Vicious creature, how bold!"

A wave of soul power suddenly emanated from Zong Shou’s brow, not agitating any spiritual energy, but simply spreading outward. A rune on the brow of the humanoid queen ant immediately lit up. Then, its entire body abruptly plummeted, crashing onto the ground, its spirit firmly locked down and immobilized by Zong Shou's soul pressure.

At this moment, the few guardians beside Zong Shou finally reacted. The Thunder Winged Flood Dragon aggressively thrust its massive head beside Zong Shou, its dragon eyes boiling with killing intent as it stared at the humanoid queen ant nearby.

The Shadow Lion and the Demon Eye Silver Bear also exhibited signs of defense, moving closer to Zong Shou.

Little Jin, too, detached itself from Zong Shou’s arm at this moment, soaring into the air. It had actually transformed into a serpentine dragon form, resembling the legendary Primordial Yellow Dragon, entirely earth-yellow in color. A faint, discernible dragon might actually emanated from its body.

This confused the Thunder Winged Flood Dragon immensely, causing it to glance specially at Little Jin, wondering if this creature was a member of its own kind.

Only after completely suppressing the intent of the humanoid queen ant did Zong Shou notice the change in Little Jin.

He secretly rejoiced inwardly while also feeling profound surprise. He realized that this creature's Mimicry Divine Ability had advanced to a high level due to the recent dangerous stimulus; it could now simulate living creatures. The resulting Primordial Yellow Dragon form, save for its slightly smaller size, was an exact replica.

To have mastered such a divine ability at the peak of fifth-tier was astonishing. He recalled that in his previous life, under that person's control, Little Jin hadn't been able to simulate a Divine Beast form until reaching the sixth-tier.

However, he had no time to carefully observe the changes within Little Jin's body right now. He felt wave after wave of unyielding resistance emanating from the humanoid queen ant’s body, constantly impacting the Grand Profound Heart Locking and Soul Stabilizing Talisman on its brow, struggling to break free from Zong Shou’s mental control.

Zong Yuan looked on in astonishment and doubt: "This little thing has such incredible speed! Is it truly only sixth-tier?"

His Raging Thunder Spear was supposedly among the fastest spear techniques in this world, driven by thunder and electromagnetic exotic power. Few techniques of the same rank could contend with his Raging Thunder Spear.

Yet, this humanoid queen ant was several times faster than his spear, appearing like a streak of golden light when moving, almost impossible for his eyes to track.

This speed far exceeded that of seventh-tier spirit beasts. Perhaps even renowned speed-oriented Divine Beasts of the eighth or ninth tiers could not match it.

Was this thing truly just sixth-tier? What kind of monster was this, so terrifying?

Zong Shou was equally puzzled. While pouring soul power to reinforce the Grand Profound Heart Locking and Soul Stabilizing Talisman to maintain the suppression, he fell into deep thought. After a long while, his eyes suddenly lit up: "It's not a Divine Beast, but a Heaven and Earth Exotic Species! This ant queen must inherently be seventh-tier, but it has suppressed its own rank!"

Zong Yuan’s expression shifted in surprise again. He had a general idea of what a Heaven and Earth Exotic Species entailed. They were not Divine Beasts, but they were certainly not inferior.

They were often born from bizarre karmic anomalies, not recognized by Heaven and Earth, envied by the Heavenly Will, and thus not classified among Divine Beasts.

Legends from the Barren Cloud Era also contained accounts of these exotic beasts.

They were often unique in the world, having no other peers. They were accompanied by countless dangers and killing intents, and their lives usually ended in endless slaughter. Unless they managed to grow to a realm transcending Heaven and Earth, their fates were often tragic. Naturally, their combat strength far exceeded that of ordinary spirit beasts.

At this moment, Zong Shou also recalled the Myriad Insect Essence that he had permeated into the eggshell earlier.

Even a fool would understand now that there must have been something profound and mysterious within that essence. Otherwise, relying solely on the Spirit Origin Blood and the essence of the myriad ants could never have yielded this result. He only wondered where Venerable Xuan Lang had acquired that substance. (To be continued. If you like this work, you are welcome to come to Qidian to cast recommendation tickets and monthly tickets. Your support is my greatest motivation.)