140: Blade advances

Although he said that, Ye Tian was still afraid of using too much force.

So, throughout the process, he braced himself against the stool and stood up bit by bit.

Until his hands were completely off the stool and he was standing on top of the ants, it still felt so surreal.

However, the ants did not give him much time to experience it.

Once they were sure he was standing steady, they all began to exert force in unison.

Ye Tian's body trembled slightly, and he felt his entire person moving forward.

Then, the speed of movement became faster and faster.

He waved his arms and legs to maintain his balance; Ye Tian felt both nervous and excited.

What kind of monsters had he raised?

Just two shoe-soles' worth of newborn ants could actually carry his one-hundred-and-fifty-pound self as if they were flying.

Thinking this, Ye Tian couldn't help but look toward the doorway.

If someone came in right now, they would probably be scared half to death by him.

With his current image, he was undoubtedly a ghost.

After a while, Ye Tian finally recovered from the excitement.

Looking at the ants under his feet, a sense of guilt rose in his heart; these were still just children, and here he was, playing with them like this.

He sent a thought to the Gold-level Ant Queen, and the ants carried Ye Tian back to the front of the stool.

Ye Tian sat down slowly, then lifted his feet.

The ants scattered and returned to their ranks; it appeared that they hadn't been injured by his weight.

At the same time, Ye Tian noticed again that small items on the floor, like bottle caps and comic books, were also beginning to move.

Looking closely, it turned out that a team of small ants had entered the scene.

Although they couldn't handle an object with just a few ants like the big ones, they could still lift it with dozens of them working together.

Not bad, not bad; they were all good babies!

Ye Tian smiled with immense satisfaction, turned around, and went out the door.

Not long after, he returned with a small bucket of cockroach meat.

He grabbed a few large chunks and scattered them on the ground.

After a slight pause, the ant colony twitched their antennae.

Then they swarmed up and began to carry it away.

Seeing that they were about to move the food into the palace again, Ye Tian quickly shouted to stop them.

Damn it, were they addicted to moving things now?

"Eat it directly, and once you're done, move your nest for me immediately."

Ye Tian scolded with a smile as he gave the order to the Gold-level Ant Queen.

Soon, the ants stopped their actions and began to gather around the cockroach meat to eat.

During this time, a few scattered ants would transport some to the mouths of the queens to feed them.

It was clear that both the ants and the queens loved the cockroach meat very much.

Before long, the cockroach meat Ye Tian had brought was mostly eaten.

Ye Tian got up and went out.

After walking along the perimeter wall for a circle, he arrived in front of a thatched hut on the side of the warehouse.

This place must have been where the old man used to stack wood and firewood; there was still some wood piled up inside, but it looked like it had been there for a long time, and most of the wood had already rotted.

Moreover, because it was in a corner, no one ever came here; it was perfect for the ants to build a nest.

Having chosen the spot, Ye Tian returned to the house and led the ants to show them the way.

Soon, the well-fed ants began to move house.

The newly built palace was dismantled into fragments of dirt in no time, with each ant carrying a piece and crawling out of the house.

After about half an hour of continuous effort, the palace was completely dismantled.

The last remaining ants carried the Gold-level Ant Queen and the secondary queens, and the whole group left the house.

Ye Tian followed the ant army to the woodshed.

He discovered that this time the Termites didn't just build a palace directly; instead, they smeared that saliva-mixed soil into the gaps of the wood, appearing to want to build a large one directly.

Looking at the wood pile in front, the Queen also sent a joyful thought to Ye Tian, appearing very satisfied with this current location.

Ye Tian smiled slightly and summoned Blade.

He rewarded them each with a drop of fresh blood, then watched as the Worker Ants carried the Queen into the gaps between the wood.

With the Queen's entry, the ants instantly became infrastructure maniacs.

They began to continuously transport dirt and such into the room.

Ye Tian stopped and watched for a good while, and after confirming that they intended to turn the entire wood pile into an ant nest, he didn't watch any longer.

After ordering the Queen to manage the ants well and not to appear in front of humans easily, he turned and went outside the warehouse.

With a call from Blade, a group of Cockroaches crawled out.

Every one of them was plump and sturdy, looking black and shiny.

Bringing this group of adult Male Cockroaches back into the house, Ye Tian let them crawl into the box.

Then he took out five sheets of toilet paper and wrapped them into a ball.

After this period of supplementation, Ye Tian's daily normal blood output was also slowly increasing.

Although the Gold-level ants had also taken quite a bit of blood in the afternoon, that was the vitality brought by the protein chicken at noon.

This evening's big meal had replenished almost all of it.

Drop by drop, the blood dripped down.

Under the influence of the insect gathering incense, the Cockroaches began to devour.

And today, Blade appeared unusually excited.

Because Ye Tian did not let it control the level of the Cockroaches.

In other words, they could synthesize infinitely.

This also meant that this time, a Gold-level Cockroach would be born.

As if sensing what Blade was thinking, the corners of Ye Tian's mouth curled up slightly.

"That's right, it's just as you thought; it's also time for you to take another step forward."

Buzz.

With Ye Tian's words, Blade's antennae vibrated happily.

Flapping its wings, it arrived at the top of the box.

It stared intently at the Cockroaches fighting fiercely inside the box.

Before long, the battle ended.

Except for about 100 of the thousands of Cockroaches Ye Tian brought back that hadn't gotten any fresh blood and were cowering on the walls of the box, all the rest had merged; nine Gold-level Cockroaches that had not yet formed cocoons and turned into butterflies lay quietly at the bottom of the box, beginning to tremble slightly.

Now is the time.

Although it was already a second-level Gold-level Cockroach, Blade was clearly not a soft-hearted creature.

Taking advantage of the fact that those Gold-level Cockroaches had not yet finished their metamorphosis, it immediately grabbed one and began to devour it.

With the opponent having no power to resist, it finished off 8 of them in less than five minutes.

Just as it was about to eat the ninth one, Ye Tian called out to stop it in time.

"That's enough; keep this one for now as your subordinate, and eat it later when you can skip levels."

After Ye Tian finished speaking, he beckoned Blade to fly in front of him.

Looking closely, Blade's body had grown a size larger due to the repeated devouring, reaching about the size of a fist.

The previously slender belly was now highly distended; it seemed to be gestating something.

Recalling the scene of Blade devouring the Gold-level ones earlier, Ye Tian roughly guessed what would happen.

So he did not disturb it.

Blade did not disappoint Ye Tian either; after landing on the table, its tail began to twitch rhythmically.

One, two...

In one go, it produced nine ootheca.

Only then did it lie panting on the table, appearing to have expended a great deal of effort.

"Not bad, not bad, it wasn't for nothing!"

Ye Tian chuckled and picked up the ootheca to examine them carefully.

He felt that these ootheca seemed to have no changes compared to the previous ones.

It seems that reproduction within the same stage does not undergo a qualitative change just because of a small increase in level.

However, being able to produce eight ootheca after eating eight was considered some compensation.

As for the extra one, it was Blade's daily task; it didn't count as an unexpected joy.

Just as he was thinking this, Ye Tian noticed that Blade on the table seemed to have stopped moving.

Slightly stunned, Ye Tian leaned in to observe carefully.

Then a slight joy appeared on his face.

He had just said there were no surprises, and here one was.

Ye Tian had already seen this scene several times.

This was a sign of molting.

However, compared to the molt from the Robust-level to the Gold-level, Blade's movement this time was even smaller.

He saw that amidst slight vibrations, Blade's brand-new tail had already burst through the original skin, and it began to back its way out.

A moment later, it crawled out completely and began to stretch its body.

Its originally pale yellow exterior was now a bit deeper, having reached the level of orange-yellow.

Its body size was even a size smaller than before.

However, it now had an extra layer of pale golden luster, looking as if it had put on a suit of golden armor; its whole body was natural and sleek.

Excitedly, it crawled to Ye Tian's hand and burrowed under his finger.

"Hmm? You want me to press you?"

Ye Tian was stunned, then immediately felt the thought Blade transmitted.

Ye Tian hesitated for a moment, then tried poking the little one a few times.

Who knew, Blade just shook its body, signaling that he could use more force.

"Don't play with fire; even I am not quite sure how much strength I have right now."

Ye Tian said aloud.

Blade, however, was not afraid at all and signaled for Ye Tian to continue.

Ye Tian had no choice but to gradually increase the force.

It was only when he was about to use half of his strength that he received the thought from Blade to stop.

Withdrawing his hand, Blade crawled forward a bit, signaling that it was fine.

But Ye Tian's gaze was fixed on the spot where Blade had just been.

Because of his force, there was already an impression of Blade's abdomen and claws on the wood surface; and the impression was quite deep, definitely not something that could be described as just a scratch.

It was evident how much force Blade had just withstood.

Looking at this scene, Ye Tian had a better understanding of the hardness of Blade's body at this moment.

It was probably many times tougher than an average beetle.

With such strength, Ye Tian wouldn't have to worry about accidentally crushing it when he took it out in the future.

But Blade seemed to have not finished showing off; after letting Ye Tian see its defense, it flew directly under the table.

It crawled toward the solid wood stool that had been carried by the ants earlier.

Then, with a bang, the stool was flipped over by Blade.

Afterward, Blade seemed not to have had enough; it kept pushing the stool forward.

And the speed became faster and faster, causing a clattering noise in the room.

Watching Blade's actions, Ye Tian was amazed yet found it somewhat funny.

This little guy was jealous!

It had watched the ants' performance earlier, and now it was trying to prove itself.

"Amazing, amazing, my Blade is much stronger than the ants."

Ye Tian didn't miss the opportunity to praise it.

Hearing this, Blade's antennae vibrated happily, and only then did it end its performance as a mountain-moving strongman.

It flew back to the table again, stopped in front of the shell it had molted, and pushed the shell toward Ye Tian.

"This is?"

Ye Tian was slightly stunned; he picked up the fist-sized shell, somewhat confused.

Blade vibrated its antennae, conveying a thought to Ye Tian.

"Good stuff!"

Clearly receiving this thought, Ye Tian felt both pleasantly surprised and agitated.

More than the "good stuff" Blade mentioned, he cared more about the fact that he could now have such clear, substantive communication with Blade.

Before this, although he could have a sense of it, it was vague; Blade couldn't express itself specifically.

Was this the effect brought about by the small-stage improvement?

Ye Tian asked happily.

"Yes, Master!"

"Damn, it really can communicate like this."

Ye Tian's eyebrows lifted with joy: "What other abilities have been improved?"

Blade's antennae moved; it didn't answer immediately.

Then it flapped its wings and flew outside; following its movement, Ye Tian's vision blurred slightly.

A familiar feeling appeared, and the last time this feeling appeared was when he was exploring the old man's cages.

But this time, it was clearly more intense than before, and the range was also farther; it only started to become blurry when Blade was about to fly out of the courtyard.

Twenty meters!

Ye Tian estimated the scene before him; he had the answer in his heart.

The shared vision range had almost doubled.

A nice ability improvement.

With a satisfied smile from Ye Tian, Blade flew back.

It stopped in front of the shell again.

Only then did Ye Tian put his thoughts on the shell.

"What is this thing used for?"

"Good stuff!"

This time, the answer he got was still the same.

Ye Tian laughed helplessly.

He held the shell and looked at it for a long time, but couldn't figure out anything from it.

However, in his mind, he began to think.

This shell, strictly speaking, was cockroach meat; so, the effect might also be the same as cockroach meat.

But the effect would likely be stronger; after all, this was the essence gathered from 10,000 Cockroaches.

Therefore, whether it was nutrition or the healing effect of extracting the essence, it should far exceed ordinary Cockroaches.

"Yes!"

Following Ye Tian's speculation, Blade's thought also came through.

"It really is like that?"

A joy appeared on Ye Tian's face; the gaze he cast at the shell began to become scorching.

Given the value that ordinary Cockroaches were showing now, it could already be described as extraordinary; then this shell—to what extent could its efficacy be?

Swallowing his saliva, Ye Tian couldn't help but squeeze the shell in his hand.

Yet he found that the shell didn't budge at all.

Was it that hard?

Ye Tian, refusing to believe it, gradually applied force with his hand.

Only when he used about 70-80% of his strength was the shell crushed.

Feeling its solid properties, Ye Tian subconsciously felt that this thing shouldn't be eaten directly; otherwise, given the hardness of this shell, wouldn't it cut his throat?

Thinking of this, Ye Tian's gaze began to search the room.

Finally, his gaze landed on a wine pot.

This was the grain wine that Li Ming had specially brought for him earlier when he saw that Ye Tian liked to drink; he said it was brewed by an acquaintance, had a high alcohol content, and was suitable for soaking things.

Ye Tian thought that he would need to make hundred fruit wine in the future, so he might be able to use it, and thus he had brought back quite a lot.

Weren't good things suitable for soaking in wine?

Thinking this, Ye Tian didn't hesitate much.

He brought over a five-jin wine pot and opened the lid; just as he was about to throw the shell in, he pulled his hand back, took out half, and threw it into the wine pot.

As for the remaining half, Ye Tian thought about asking the old man for a mortar and pestle tomorrow to grind it into powder and see.

By experimenting with a few more uses, he should be able to discover its true value.

He tightened the lid and placed the wine pot under the bed to avoid accidentally mixing it up later.