A day later, Zong Shou stood atop the Seven Star Altar. Five clusters of silver light continuously orbited him.

One of these was the mutated Ant Queen, and the other four were the eight-winged flying ants that had subsequently split off. Their speed was slightly less than the queen's, but they could keep pace with the Thunder Winged Flood Dragon at its full flight velocity.

By Zong Shou’s side now, a pile of demonic crystal fragments had amassed to dozens, including two Seventh Tier Evil Crystals, all the spoils claimed by the four eight-winged flying ants spawned from the Ant Queen.

Merely these alone could be exchanged for at least five thousand merit points.

However, Zong Shou’s primary attention was fixed upon the mutated Ant Queen. When his intent probed inward, the queen no longer resisted, finally allowing him to touch upon fragments of its thoughts.

"Seventh Tier Guardian, it can only split into six. It feels that splitting out two more would push it to its absolute limit; further reproduction would force its rank down. However, with every future increase in my own realm, the number of descendants it can produce will grow."

Hearing Zong Shou speak this, Zong Yuan, for some reason, felt an inexplicable easing in his heart and spirit.

He dared not imagine what this world would become if such a powerfully potent creature could reproduce without limit.

Although the four Eight-Winged Sacred Fire Silver Ants were only at the peak of the Sixth Tier, in terms of combat prowess, few could match them below the Seventh Tier.

And the Ant Queen itself possessed several innate divine abilities. While within its immediate vicinity, it was akin to a Seventh Tier entity, and in pure combat strength, it even slightly surpassed Zong Shou himself.

Only Zong Shou’s Thunder Winged Flood Dragon could contend with it.

Zong Shou showed no sign of disappointment either. The laws of the world and its living creatures generally followed such principles.

Those weak in strength inevitably possessed astonishing reproductive capabilities, just like the Human Race and the Demon Fire Crystal Ants. Conversely, those inherently powerful rarely found reproduction easy—consider the scarce Divine Beasts.

This mutated Silver Ant Queen, even when compared to Divine Beasts of the same rank, was exceptionally outstanding.

The offspring it produced were similarly formidable. A decrease in fertility was entirely predictable; it was simply impossible for it to generate a swarm numbering in the tens of thousands.

He then subtly chided himself, noting that this mutated Ant Queen had truly lived up to his expectations.

Alone, counting its six offspring, they could completely sweep aside all his current Mounts and Protectors! As long as he himself remained unharmed, it was equivalent to having seven Seventh Tier experts by his side.

Not only had it met expectations, but it had also delivered a massive surprise.

Given such inherent value, the previous notion of wiping it out naturally vanished without a trace.

This Ant Queen had indeed demonstrated sufficient worth.

Zong Shou extended his hand, and the Sacred Fire Ant Queen, responding to his will, settled into his palm.

Its demeanor was calm, its eyes betraying no discernible emotion. It stood still, as if awaiting its fate.

The Grand Profound Heart-Locking Talisman embedded in its brow was glowing. This was evidence that the Immortal Talisman had completely permeated the Ant Queen’s soul.

Unlike before, when Zong Shou needed to exert his full strength to suppress it, now a mere thought could determine its life or death.

Despite the lingering threat of it turning against its master, its power was a lure he found hard to discard, truly making the decision difficult.

Frowning in deep thought, after a moment, Zong Shou let out a wry laugh.

In his past and present lives, he had endured countless life-or-death battles, striving for the apex of the Sword Dao in the razor's edge between life and death. Why should he fear a spirit beast whose soul he now controlled and which possessed the capacity for a backlash?

If one day, this mutated Ant Queen succeeded in turning on him and striking back, then Zong Shou would have only himself to blame. Why hesitate and hold back?

He wasted no more time, applying another drop of his vital blood onto its brow and heart.

"Today, I give you a true name. You possess the Light of Brilliance, born from demonic flames. From now on, you shall be called 'Xia Xi'—meaning the nascent sunlight at dawn."

Zong Shou’s gaze was grave. This was the first time he had formally bestowed a name upon a spirit beast.

The Sacred Fire Ant Queen’s gaze shifted slightly as it absorbed the vital blood into its own body.

For an essence beast, this so-called true name was akin to its natal chart. It was imprinted within the beast crystal, fused with its bloodline, and linked to its divine abilities. Once known by a high-level Spirit Master proficient in curses or witchcraft, it was equivalent to having control over its life.

Seeing that the Sacred Fire Ant Queen offered no resistance, Zong Shou smiled slightly. When he looked up again, he saw the Thunder Winged Flood Dragon and the Shadow Illusion Lion gazing over with immense jealousy. Only the Demonic Eye Silver Bear remained completely unresponsive.

Zong Shou chuckled softly. 'Little Wise' and 'Little Thunder' were merely temporary designations he had casually assigned. He couldn't possibly use those names as the true designations for his protectors.

Over on Zong Yuan's side, he was quite surprised, never expecting his Lord to choose such an elegant name. He had genuinely feared Zong Shou would pick something simple like 'Little Silver' or 'Little White.' For the Demon King of the Firmament to have such names known would surely invite ridicule.

Just as he was letting go of his worry, he heard Zong Shou pat the Sacred Fire Ant Queen’s head: "Your true name cannot be known by others. Just call you 'Little White' normally!"

Observing a sudden flash of ferocity in the Sacred Fire Ant Queen's eyes, Zong Shou’s heart skipped a beat, and he laughed heartily, "If Little White isn't satisfactory, Little Fire works too, or perhaps Little Sage?" Hearing this, Zong Yuan immediately covered his forehead with his hand, shaking his head in silent dismay.

※※※※

"Six days have passed..."

Outside the Azure Life Heaven Realm, within the Spirit Sea, Xuan Ye frowned, watching a surging spirit river flow in the distance. It had been six days since those two entered; a full seventy-two hours. As of yet, neither had emerged.

Based on past experience, if these two did not return for so long, they had likely met with disaster. If lucky, they would be rescued by an elder of their sect. If unlucky, they had probably ended up in the bellies of those essence beasts, or their vital essence had been completely drained by demons.

Yet, Xuan Ye knew clearly that those two were likely still alive and well, perhaps even thriving excessively.

Since four days ago, almost no valuable essence beasts or evil entities had appeared in this spirit river. Those above the Sixth Tier were practically extinct, which caused the merit points earned by her group to plummet sharply.

Despite this, Xuan Ye still found it hard to believe. Given their known capabilities, they were clearly only at the peak of the Sixth Tier; how could they have completely intercepted an entire spirit river?

She knew well that below the Seventh Tier, no entity could survive within that river. And to move within it as if it were dry land required the coordinated effort of at least four Seventh Tier experts.

Had they concealed their strength? Impossible; her bloodline was unique, possessing the Divine Sight ability, and all methods of concealing strength were useless before her.

She recalled that the Spirit Master, appearing about fifteen years old, had an unremarkable outward appearance but was actually quite refined-looking.

The aura emanating from him was also simulated. However, within his body resided the soul power of a Peak Returning to Vitality expert. Even his martial path had reached an extremely high level.

After contemplating for a while, Xuan Ye suddenly moved, stepping into the void toward the upper reaches of the spirit river.

Chen Rou, standing nearby, was immediately startled: "Senior Sister, where are you going? Are you heading upstream in this spirit river?"

Xuan Ye nodded slightly. Whether for the safety of those two fellow disciples or to discover the reason for the river's anomaly, she needed to go and investigate closely.

Yong Qin, seeing this, pouted in disdain: "Xuan Ye, you're actually going? In my opinion, it was probably an Eighth Tier Sect elder who rescued those two you mentioned and cleaned up the river in the process. How infuriating, such unnecessary meddling! Today's gains in merit are less than half of what the leaders secured."

Her tone was resentful as she wildly swung her sword, stirring up rings of rainbow spiritual light.

Xuan Ye let out a soft laugh but did not abandon her intention. She had considered this possibility, but it wasn't necessarily the case. She would only know for sure after seeing.

A faintly absurd thought crossed her mind: Could those two be the ones residing in the First Courtyard of the A-grade, the one her junior sister Chen Rou mentioned as Tan Qiu?

"Achoo!"

On the altar, Zong Shou let out a sudden sneeze. Compared to his previous disheveled state a few days ago, he was now incomparably relaxed.

He was reclining contentedly against the railing on one side of the Seven Star Altar, holding a book and studying it intently.

It was none other than The Universal Mandala of Vairochana! The Great Sun Sacred Virtue Scripture!

By now, Little Sage—no, Xia Xi—had split out the sixth Eight-Winged Sacred Fire Silver Ant.

The six flying ants transformed into six beams of light, and together with the Thunder Winged Flood Dragon, they completely sealed off this spatial rift even without Xia Xi having to act.

Any beast or demon of the Sixth Tier that trespassed would be instantly enveloped by the silver lights, their lives ended in the blink of an eye. The beast crystals and all valuable materials were collected by the ants without Zong Shou needing to lift a finger. Only a portion would be consumed by their silver flames, turning into threads of essence which they absorbed to replenish their expenditure.

Only when encountering entities above the Seventh Tier would Xia Xi make a move, usually delivering a single, fatal blow!

Zong Yuan had completely stopped participating, instead finding a few essence beasts to practice his spear techniques against, engaging them five to one.

As for the Shadow Illusion Lion, it had initially intended to slack off, but Zong Shou kicked it off the altar. Under duress, it too had to find an opponent to spar with. This beast, however, was lazy, only picking opponents slightly weaker than itself to bully at will.

Zong Shou paid it no mind, spending these few days immersing himself in the classics borrowed from the Scripture Repository.

The absolute priority was the Universal Mandala of Vairochana in his hands!

Flipping to the last page, Zong Shou touched his nose in confusion.

"Who is thinking of me now? Right, it's been six days here. Weak Water should be fine, but Chu Xue must be getting quite anxious. Come to think of it, it really is time to return..."

Glancing ahead, he saw that a substantial pile of items had accumulated on the Seven Star Altar.

A rough calculation estimated the value to be over forty thousand. Not only his Diamond Realm Great Sun Tathagata Heart Mantra, but Zong Yuan's Myriad Transformation Profound Lightning Heart Sutra could also be exchanged for rewards.