172: Chapter 172 Golden Erosion Insect

Seeing this, Ye Jing immediately recalled the Worker Bees that had been leading the way and found a relatively hidden place to conceal himself.

As he looked again, Ye Jing's heart couldn't help but tighten.

Amidst a pile of scattered rocks, there was a massive hollow; as he extended his Divine Sense to investigate, he was inwardly alarmed.

Below was a natural mine pit, its perimeter filled with metallic Ore, and the Ore veins were exposed, appearing to be an iron mine.

However, there wasn't a trace of metal-attribute Spiritual Qi below, which Ye Jing found strange. He trusted the Poisonous Variant Bee's investigation; it seemed there was definitely a problem down there.

Thus, he rode his sword downward.

The area around this Ore vein was covered with dense clusters of small golden insects. From a distance, it looked like a layer of flowing golden film, tightly wrapping the entire pit.

Those small insects were about the size of a fingernail, golden-yellow all over with hard shells, and the black mouthparts on their heads were constantly opening and closing.

They clung to the Ore vein, gnawing at the Ore Bite by Bite. The originally hard metallic spiritual Ore was easily bitten under their mouthparts as if it were soft mud, turning into fine powder.

Ye Jing narrowed his eyes and observed them using the Immortal Willow.

"First-rank Golden Erosion Insect. They erode gold and sever veins. These metal-attribute Spiritual Insects love to suck the metal-attribute Spiritual Qi from spiritual Ore. They have a special attack against spiritual mines, are skilled at digging, live in colonies, and can be tamed by using one hundred points of Spiritual Light to control the queen."

Seeing that these Golden Erosion Insects had impressive abilities—even the Poisonous Variant Bees hadn't gained any advantage over them—Ye Jing realized that if he could subdue them, they would surely become a great help.

But Ye Jing did not act rashly. He knew there were thousands upon thousands of Golden Erosion Insects below; if they were startled, it would be a huge trouble.

It seemed he needed to find the queen.

Ye Jing controlled his body at the perimeter, slowly ascending. He restrained his aura at the edge, concealing himself within.

He wanted to test whether these Golden Erosion Insects would be startled by his approach.

The insects below were in swarm after swarm; at the edge, dense clusters of Golden Erosion Insects were gnawing at the golden-glowing Ore.

Ye Jing's heart raced as he slowly approached. At a distance of half a meter from those Golden Erosion Insects, he slowly reached out his hand.

The Golden Erosion Insects didn't sense his presence at all, all huddled together gnawing at the Ore.

This allowed Ye Jing to breathe a sigh of relief, and he then stepped forward slowly.

Those Golden Erosion Insects seemed only interested in the Ore and showed no reaction to Ye Jing's approach.

As he entered the depths of the mine cave, there were more and more Golden Erosion Insects, to the point where he had to fly on his sword to ensure he didn't step on any and startle the swarm.

Just where was this queen?

Ye Jing was somewhat puzzled. After looking around, there was nothing here but spiritual Ore and small insects; he hadn't seen a trace of the queen.

He hadn't even sensed any powerful Spirit Beast aura in this pit.

Just as Ye Jing was thinking, the Golden Erosion Insects below suddenly lit up with rings of light. Suddenly, an extremely pure metal-attribute Spiritual Qi spread out instantly, as if they were gathering all their Spiritual Qi in one direction.

Ye Jing was startled. It turned out the spiritual Ore's aura hadn't disappeared; rather, it had all been absorbed by these insects, which was why there was no reaction.

Ye Jing immediately looked toward the place where their spiritual power was surging.

At the convergence of spiritual power, the swarm of insects suddenly gathered together, forming an adult-sized oval insect ball.

The Golden Erosion Insects gradually withdrew from that oval insect ball, revealing a large golden-yellow insect. That insect was several times larger than the fingernail-sized Golden Erosion Insects.

It had a pair of sharp mouthparts on its chest, opening its mouth to greedily suck the metal-attribute Spiritual Qi surging from those Golden Erosion Insects.

"Is this the Golden Corrosion Insect Queen?" Ye Jing was inwardly shocked. He saw that this queen was a First-rank Middle Stage Yao Beast, faintly showing signs of an impending Breakthrough, appearing to have formidable strength.

At this moment, the golden light on the Worker Golden Erosion Insects that had gathered spiritual power also gradually dimmed, as if they had offered all their metal-attribute Spiritual Qi to the queen.

The spiritual power around the Golden Corrosion Insect Queen suddenly soared, even the patterns on its shell became increasingly clear, and its presence became more and more oppressive.

Those Worker Golden Erosion Insects lost their glow and then quickly crawled toward the queen; the Ore beneath them had long been gnawed clean.

This made Ye Jing marvel; these Golden Erosion Insects ate truly fast. In a few days, the Golden Erosion Insects would probably finish eating all the mineral deposits here.

Moreover, looking at its appearance, it was likely about to Breakthrough to the First-rank Late Stage. If he didn't subdue it now, Ye Jing feared he wouldn't be able to find any spiritual Ore in this area.

"I can't let it Breakthrough!" Ye Jing steeled his heart and no longer hesitated. Holding his greatsword, he stepped forward, his eyes fixed on the queen that was focused on absorbing metal-attribute Spiritual Qi.

He used the Wind Walking Art to conceal his form to the extreme, keeping even his breathing very low, as he slowly approached the queen.

Ye Jing knew that although the Golden Corrosion Insect Queen was strong, it was currently in a critical period of Breakthrough and Cultivation. Its mind was entirely focused on refining Spiritual Qi, making it the best time for taming.

Once missed, he could only think about using the Wind Transformation Art to retreat quickly.

But just as he was less than ten meters from the queen, it suddenly jerked its head up, its pair of dark compound eyes suddenly lighting up.

Ye Jing was greatly alarmed and immediately summoned Xiao Chi: "Xiao Chi! Take down that Golden Erosion Insect for me!"

As soon as he spoke, a fire-breathing Fire Fox suddenly appeared. It opened its mouth and spat a massive wave of fire at the queen, which hadn't yet reacted, then charged forward, its claws gathering flames to strike the queen's abdomen.

The queen had just sensed something was wrong when it was struck by the suddenly appearing Fire Fox. The Golden Erosion Insects protecting the queen had also given too much metal-attribute Spiritual Qi to the queen and couldn't block the Fire Fox's flames, being burned to charcoal one after another.

Seeing this, Ye Jing's eyes filled with joy. As expected, Fire counters Metal; Xiao Chi's flames were effective against these Golden Erosion Insects.

"Roar!" The queen quickly flapped its wings, rapidly controlling its spiritual power to extinguish the flames on its body.

It wanted to fly upward. This queen already possessed human-like Wisdom. Now that it was in a critical Breakthrough period, it wanted to preserve its strength and didn't intend to attack forcefully, only wanting to escape first.

Ye Jing sneered at the sight: "Where do you think you're going! Xiao Yu, stop it!"

As soon as he finished speaking, a massive White Eagle circled down, letting out a loud eagle screech at the Golden Erosion Insect trying to flee.

This sound shook the heavens, carrying a powerful deterrent. It flapped its wings, and several streaks of lightning appeared consecutively, firmly locking the Golden Corrosion Insect Queen in place, making it unable to move.

The Golden Erosion Insect saw the eagle Yao Beast in front and the Fire Fox behind, and then saw Ye Jing standing in the cave.

It immediately understood that this human was controlling these two Yao Beasts to block it, and it instantly let out an angry roar.

The Golden Erosion Insects obeyed the queen and quickly turned into a hurricane-like force charging at Ye Jing. They bared their sharp mouthparts, vowing to tear Ye Jing to pieces.

Seeing this, Ye Jing didn't dodge. The Fire Fox beside him immediately stepped forward with a loud roar, and the hard Fire Crystal Armor instantly appeared around them. The attacking Golden Erosion Insects were like beans fruitlessly crashing against the incredibly hard Fire Crystal Armor.

They couldn't break the defense at all.

Seeing this, the Golden Erosion Insect was furious, quickly flapping its wings and slamming hard into the Fire Crystal Armor. The impact of the hard armor echoed continuously in the pit.

It continued to use its mouthparts to Bite the Fire Crystal Armor, the clanging sounds echoing incessantly.

Ye Jing sneered and then shouted: "Hei Feng, let's see whose Bite is stronger!"

As soon as he spoke, a massive black dog rushed out at high speed, its gaping mouth opening wide to Bite that Golden Erosion Insect.

With a "crack" sound, the Golden Erosion Insect's armor was directly broken.