The two attacks collided in mid-air and, with a loud boom, they canceled each other out.

For the ant queen, that sound wave attack was not delivered with full force; it was merely a probing strike filled with a threatening aura. Ever since this female cultivator entered the mining area deep underground, it had sensed a strange unease.

Only after seeing Zhang Yiyi with its own eyes did it realize that she was merely a newly established foundation female cultivator. However, the inexplicable dread and anxiety had not dissipated, which led to this tentative strike.

The current mutated ant queen possessed the strength of a fifth-tier demon beast, and with a vast army of mutated ants at its disposal, its power far surpassed that of an average fifth-tier demon beast.

After the first probing attack, the mutated ant queen clearly acknowledged its strange intuition. After all, even though it hadn't unleashed its full power in that strike, it had still used at least fifty percent of its strength. If the opponent was truly just an ordinary foundation-building female cultivator, she would have been unable to withstand its blow.

Sometimes, demon beasts possess an astonishing intuition in certain aspects. Once it perceived that Zhang Yiyi was not an easy opponent, it immediately retreated behind thousands of mutated ants, abandoning any thought of confronting Zhang Yiyi directly.

On Zhang Yiyi's side, after one attack, she was preparing to strike again when she unexpectedly saw that the grotesquely huge ant queen had darted back a great distance with astonishing speed.

Before she could make her move, all that remained in front of her were clusters of ordinary mutated ants, while the ant queen lurked behind its offspring, watching her darkly.

In just a few breaths, Zhang Yiyi was truly baffled by this mutated ant queen, which acted so unpredictably.

"What, is this the ant queen?"

Beside her, Shi Feng, who was stunned by the scene, exclaimed, "You actually took a hit from the ant queen and are still standing here?"

Wow, how impressive is this brother Han that he knows? That ant queen looked to be at least a fifth-tier demon beast, an existence even more formidable than that ant king.

In the brief moments Shi Feng was still processing the situation, Brother Han had already exchanged blows with the ant queen and managed to fend off a sneak attack unscathed.

"Brother Shi, stop spacing out! That ant queen was just testing the waters; didn't you see how it darted back immediately after attacking? Who knows what nasty trick it's brewing next?"

Zhang Yiyi felt overwhelmed; with a fourth-tier ant king and a fifth-tier ant queen blocking their way, plus countless tiny mutated ants surrounding them, her trial was only just beginning.

To make matters worse, she was stuck with someone who seemed a bit dim-witted. At a time like this, shouldn't they be focused on how to survive being sandwiched between an ant king and queen along with a swarm of mutated insects?

Yet, Shi Feng was solely concerned with her still being okay after taking a hit from the ant queen?

"Oh, I guess that's true. So what should we do?"

Shi Feng's face flushed as he suddenly realized he might have missed the point, so he decided to leave all control to Zhang Yiyi.

"What else can we do? We fight!"

Zhang Yiyi was exasperated and had no time to deal with Shi Feng's foolishness.

Because the cunning ant queen and ant king were merely watching them with dark expressions, no longer attacking directly, but instead commanding the dense mass of ants to wear them down.

"Ah, okay!"

Even Shi Feng, who had been slow, realized the intentions of the two giant demon beasts. Almost all the mutated ants surged toward them once again, while the ant king and queen had no intention of attacking immediately.

Shi Feng's heart sank. When did these demon beasts become so intelligent? They had been on the verge of breaking through, but in the blink of an eye, the situation had completely shifted.

All the mutated ants surrounded them, making it impossible to escape in any direction.

"I'll burn you disgusting creatures to death!"

Shi Feng hurled a talisman, thinking that with so many gathered together, it would create a large-scale fire. However, when the talisman was thrown, there was no reaction at all.

"Big brother, we should rely on ourselves to fight!"

Zhang Yiyi was already engaged in close combat with the first wave of mutated ants that charged at her.

Seeing Shi Feng had indeed forgotten that their talismans were ineffective once the ant king appeared, she couldn't help but feel exasperated.

The ant king and its beasts wanted to use the lives of these offspring to drain their strength. How could they let them continue using talismans to blast a path for themselves like before?

"Ah, ah, ah! I'm going to fight you!"

It was only then that Shi Feng remembered and reacted to the ant king and queen's insidious intentions. He stowed the talisman and swiftly slashed down two of the nearest mutated ants.

As the ones on the ground fell, new ones immediately filled their places, and Shi Feng and Zhang Yiyi found themselves in a desperate battle, with no chance to rest.

The two backed each other up, unleashing their full firepower.

It was hard to tell how long had passed; clusters of mutated ants had fallen around them, but new ones continuously emerged without fear of death, making it impossible to kill them all.

"Brother Han, at this rate, even if we're not killed by these things, we'll die from exhaustion!"

After taking down a few more mutated ants, Shi Feng anxiously sought Zhang Yiyi's help, as if pinning his last thread of hope on this seemingly delicate but shockingly fierce brother Han who could slay demon beasts.

They were surrounded by countless layers of mutated ant corpses. Shi Feng estimated and realized that Zhang Yiyi, who was clearly at a lower cultivation level than him, had actually killed more than two-thirds of the ants.

What was more, Zhang Yiyi's energy consumption was obviously lower than his. This brother, who clearly didn't match his cultivation level, was almost terrifyingly powerful.

Seeing Zhang Yiyi's fierce demeanor, Shi Feng became even more convinced that this brother Han was definitely no ordinary person. He might really have a way to escape from the ant tide and from the jaws of the ant king and its beasts.

His only chance of survival now was to tightly follow Zhang Yiyi's lead, as that might offer a glimmer of hope.

"I want to curse! That ant king and queen are the worst! If they have the guts, they should come and fight me properly!"

Zhang Yiyi felt pent-up frustration; even after slaughtering wave after wave of mutated ants, she couldn't feel any relief.

It was all because these two disgusting royals were too cautious and cunning, probing once and then retreating behind their sea of ants, monitoring their offspring as they consumed the two of them, leaving her with no opportunity to capture the king first.

Having missed that chance early on, and now stuck in a tide of ants, she found it increasingly difficult to advance through the endless low-tier ants to take down the leaders.

She certainly had her life-saving trump card left. The high-grade teleportation talisman her master gave her was not something that could easily be suppressed by a mere ant queen or king.

However, that item was incredibly precious; her master had only prepared one for her. If she used it to teleport miles away, it would be gone in a single use.

Thinking about wasting something so valuable in this insignificant tide of mutated ants made her heartache. She felt pain all over, but more than that, it was an insatiable unwillingness.

Moreover, the teleportation talisman couldn't take Shi Feng with her. If she used it, it would be tantamount to abandoning him and watching him be devoured by the ants.

It wasn't that she was overly kind; it was just that Shi Feng was genuinely a good person. He had taken care of her sincerely all along, and even in a life-and-death situation, he had never thought about abandoning her to escape on his own. It made Zhang Yiyi feel a bit guilty.

Thus, unless absolutely necessary, until the very last moment, she wanted to try one more time to think of a better solution that could save both herself and Shi Feng.

"Brother Shi, protect yourself and hold on! I will think of a way to deal with the ant queen and king first; that's the only way we can have a chance to escape!"

Moments later, Zhang Yiyi once again attempted to find a way to deal with the annoying mutated ants and take down the ant queen lurking far behind first.

Come on, let's see who can kill whom first!

Zhang Yiyi punched a few mutated ants in front of her to the ground, using that moment to leap high into the air, her long sword raised, and she unleashed the third move of the Qingping Sword Technique, targeting the ant queen she had been eyeing for a long time.

This ambush had been planned for a long time; although the distance was a bit far, Zhang Yiyi had calculated the ant queen's strength, and if she struck true, it would definitely severely injure her.

Just as Zhang Yiyi was prepared for a second and third strike, she unexpectedly found that the cunning ant queen had not given her such a chance at all.

With a thought, the clusters of mutated ants in front of her flew up, forming a wall that stacked together to block her attack.

With a loud "boom," the overwhelming sword force crashed

With a thunderous boom, an incredibly domineering sword force struck against the thick and layered wall of ants. In an instant, mutated ant corpses flew everywhere, yet the ant queen remained completely unaffected.

Zhang Yiyi was both furious and exasperated by the ant queen's shameless survival tactics. After launching two consecutive attacks and still failing to break through, she had no choice but to retreat back to the side of the nearly collapsing Shi Feng, throwing a powerful punch to clear a path for him.

"How utterly shameless!"

Gritting her teeth, Zhang Yiyi ruthlessly slaughtered the endless waves of mutated ants. She couldn't help but wonder how many there truly were in this ant nest; her little brother was indeed quite impressive!

It seemed she would have to find some special fire essence or something similar in the future. After all, if she had such a treasure, in a situation as frustrating as today's, she could simply incinerate everything with a blast of otherworldly fire. Would these low-level beasts still dare to bully her, relying on their numbers?

"Brother Han, if you have any way to save yourself, just go! I know you've done your best, so you don't have to worry about me anymore!"

At this point, Shi Feng realized he might really perish here. He remembered everything that had just happened, including all of Zhang Yiyi's attempts and efforts.

Zhang Yiyi was indeed formidable, far more so than him, but it was still impossible to deal with all the mutated ants. There were simply too many of them, an endless stream of foes to kill.

He believed Zhang Yiyi might have some secret life-saving card up her sleeve, but it might not be able to save him too. Therefore, he hoped she wouldn't be dragged down by him any longer.

"Brother Shi, you..."

Zhang Yiyi didn't expect Shi Feng to say such things at this moment. A surge of anger built up in her heart, nearly overwhelming her.

"Brother Han, I'm really fine. If you have a way, hurry and get out while you can. While I still have a little strength left, I can hold off a few of these beasts for you."

Shi Feng didn't think too much, even forgetting to ask Zhang Yiyi to send a message to his younger brother after she escaped.

He didn't believe there was anything particularly noble about his actions. They were merely strangers who had crossed paths; it was already commendable that they could watch each other's backs and fight side by side.

Brother Han owed him nothing. There was no need to have her wait for him to die here; if one could escape, that was enough.

"..."

To be honest, Zhang Yiyi felt somewhat touched. She hesitated, considering whether to use the long-distance escape talisman together with Shi Feng. After all, bringing one more person along might lessen the effectiveness, but even escaping a shorter distance of a thousand miles would still be worthwhile.

Just then, her beast bag slightly shook, pulling her back to reality.

The movement in the beast bag could only be attributed to the impatient Maoqiu inside, protesting and reminding her of its presence.

"Right, Maoqiu!"

Zhang Yiyi instinctively released the Maoqiu, which she had almost forgotten about. Although she wasn't sure how much help the little guy could provide at that moment, she remembered its spatial talent and the power of its lightning strikes, giving her a better escape plan. After all, apart from her and Shi Feng, there were no other living beings around.

"Squeak!"

As soon as Maoqiu poked its head out, it expressed its dissatisfaction with being kept in the dark bag for so long.

However, it only made that sound once. Upon seeing Zhang Yiyi surrounded by the disgusting mutated ants, attacked by waves of little creatures, Maoqiu instantly became furious.

"Roar... Roar..."

It climbed onto Zhang Yiyi's shoulder, its spines standing on end, and ferociously roared twice at the mutated ants.

Huh, so it turns out Maoqiu could make other sounds besides that?

Zhang Yiyi was intrigued but suddenly noticed that after Maoqiu's two roars, the horde of mutated ants, which had been relentlessly rushing toward them, seemed to be greatly frightened and immediately retreated in unison.