In the past, this was the most prosperous city on the northern edge of the Great Qian Dynasty, guarded by Yan Wei, one of the top ten Great Generals, and home to the most valiant Tiger Might Army, which turned the city into an iron fortress.
Bordering the ice plains, it was bustling with countless merchants coming and going.
Prosperous and wealthy, the city's riches were overwhelming.
The former beacon of the north had become a veritable inferno on earth.
Atop the city walls, banners should flutter against the clear sky, yet it wasn't the flags of the Great Qian Dynasty that billowed, but ten thousand human-skin banners stripped from corpses. In the very center, the head of the old Great General Yan Wei hung from a flagpole.
His hollow head dangled from the pole.
Bloody from every orifice, he died with his eyes open.
His gaze fixed on Northern Bing City in front of him, filled with strong resentment and despair.
Not a single living soul could be found inside the vast Northern Bing City, and even the Sword Dynasty's army was stationed outside the city, with neatly arranged camps that were distinctly separated. From time to time, patrols of soldiers would circle the city's exterior, and teams would occasionally escort prisoners into the city.
The soldiers did not notice
a golden figure who, taking advantage of their entry, had also slipped in surreptitiously.
Little Lin had shrunk to the smallest size possible, hiding on one of the soldiers.
What met the eye was a scene of desolation; the streets were completely void of life, to the extent that not even insects or birds could be found.
"It's like a ghost city..." Little Lin murmured to himself.
He arrived at the former residence of the city lord, but upon seeing it, Little Lin was astonished. The once grand mansion had now become a huge ant nest.
Many God Devouring Ants could be seen coming and going inside and outside the ant nest, and sensing the approach of the soldiers, these ants turned their cold gazes in unison.
Those eyes, with eerie green lights flickering within, were spine-chilling.
The entire ant nest was like an inferno on earth, daunting to anyone who laid eyes on it, let alone dared to venture within.
"We are here to deliver prisoners!" a soldier in front announced.
Squeak, squeak, squeak!
Only then did the God Devouring Ants withdraw their gaze and continue roaming in and out of the city lord's mansion.
The group of soldiers quietly breathed a sigh of relief: "Every time we come here, it feels like walking in hell!"
"Keep your voice down, if we disturb these God Devouring Ants, we will be the unlucky ones!"
"What's there to fear? We have the divine water bestowed by His Highness the Ninth; these ants won't attack us!"
the soldiers escorted the prisoners deeper into the ant nest, which was like a labyrinth with twists and turns, until they finally reached the middle. In an exceptionally spacious area sat a figure in a black robe, His Highness the Ninth, perched on the central stone platform.
"Your Highness, this batch of prisoners has been brought over!" the leading soldier said.
Under his cloak, His Highness the Ninth's eyes emitted a faint cold light as he nodded, "Leave them here, you may go!"
The people left the more than two thousand prisoners there and turned to leave.
Little Lin was unable to keep hiding and had to follow the soldiers out, but as they left the area, suddenly from the darkness came an unnerving rustling noise,
Countless God-Eating Ants surged out of the darkness, and in an instant, more than two thousand people were left without even their bones.
The bone-chilling screams sent shivers down the spines of the soldiers, making them sweat profusely in terror.
It wasn't until they had left the ant nest that one, with a face filled with fright, said, "Thank goodness it's our Ninth Prince who controls the God-Eating Ants. If these ghastly creatures were in the hands of the Great Qian Dynasty, and we had to face these monsters that eat people without spitting out their bones, it'd be unimaginable!"
"Stop complaining and continue to search for the captives to bring back! I've heard that General Wanyan Lang has been slain in battle, the Ninth Prince is furious, and has issued a death command that we must collect a million captives within three days, to launch the final total attack on the Great Qian Dynasty!"
"A million captives? Oh my god, is the Ninth Prince planning to cultivate an army of hundreds of millions of God-Eating Ants? If there really was an army of hundreds of millions, then wouldn't my Sword Dynasty be able to even..."
"Shut up! Dare you speak such words carelessly?"
The captain covered his mouth in one move, glowering fiercely. The Nantian Dynasty was the undisputed overlord, a presence countless times more powerful than both the Sword Dynasty and the Great Qian Dynasty.
The imperial power of the Nantian Dynasty was not to be challenged by anyone!
The soldiers hurriedly fell silent and left in a panic.
What they didn't notice was a golden figure that had quietly disappeared from their midst.
In a small valley outside of Northern Bing City.
The sky was ominously overcast, as if a primeval behemoth had opened its huge maw, as the dark figure seemed to want to swallow the sky and earth alike.
It pressed oppressively on one's heart.
Little Lin quietly flew back, landing on Xiao Yi's shoulder.
All present were visibly startled.
They looked towards him in unison.
Xiao Yi asked, "How's the situation?"
Little Lin replied gravely, "The entire Northern Bing City has become a lair for the God-Eating Ants. A nest has been built in the city lord's mansion, and it is home to millions of God-Eating Ants. Troops of the Sword Dynasty are capturing people everywhere and delivering them to the nest to be devoured by the ants; the entire nest is patrolled by God-Eating Ants, making it very difficult to enter!"
Xiao Yi narrowed his eyes, and based on Little Lin's description, a model of Northern Bing City formed in his mind.
If anyone could see the model in his mind, they would be incredibly shocked.
It was almost an exact replica of the Northern Bing City that Little Lin had seen.
"You're saying that the captives are escorted into the ant nest by the troops? Don't the God-Eating Ants attack them on the way?" Xiao Yi asked.
To eliminate the God-Eating Ants, a frontal assault was impossible!
The only way was to kill the mysterious person controlling the Queen of the God-Eating Ants but, according to Little Lin's account, infiltrating that nest was as hard as scaling the heavens.
Blending into Northern Bing City was not difficult, but to sneak into a nest with tens of millions of God-Eating Ants and to kill the Queen and that mysterious person.
That was even more difficult than reaching the heavens!
Little Lin shook his head, "Those soldiers escorting the captives carry divine water on them, which is said to prevent the God-Eating Ants from attacking them. Although I followed them, I didn't find out what this divine water actually is..."
"Boss, what should we do?" asked Little Lin with a look of concern.
Xiao Yi gently shook his head, his sword-like brows tightly knit, pondering a strategy to defeat the enemy.
Liu Yi and the others by his side were also extremely anxious but felt helpless.
A soldier lamented, "The God-Eating Ants' sense of smell is just too keen, even if we hid in a latrine they would probably find us..."
Xiao Yi blinked in surprise, a wild joy flashing in his eyes, "I've got it, we can definitely break through Northern Bing City in one fell swoop!"