Chapter 2971: Chapter 2971: The Sturdy Body

The tensed faces of the three people from the other races relaxed as they sensed Zen's unwavering confidence.

Even if they got ahold of only a few of the many Chaotic Source Spirits, they would be satisfied.

Chaim still harbored doubts, and he didn't want to let his guard down. He felt worried since he would be of no help, at least not for a short while. Because Chaim had just used the Living Puppet Chains, he needed time before he could offer assistance.

Just when Chaim was about to voice his fears, the queen ant finally began to move.

Even though the queen ant appeared to be overweight, it was still quite agile in its ability to move. It maneuvered itself in an arc on the ground before it headed directly towards Zen.

It might have sensed Zen to be the biggest threat in the cave, so eliminating him first became its primary goal.

“Whoosh!”

Watching the queen ant approach him with malicious intents, Zen prepared himself by drawing out his long sword. His eyes flashed with a wild fighting spirit flaring up as he studied its movements.

Even though he braced for the upcoming attack, Zen couldn't help but feel a little worried and confused by the situation.

However, his worries were not tied to Chaotic Source Spirits.

Even if these Chaotic Source Spirits collectively contributed to strengthening the body of the queen ant, they could only make it more durable. It would have the resistance of a punching bag, resilient and solid, but not intimidating.

The real issue was to figure out the source of the power of those fierce ants that attacked them earlier.

Each of those poisonous ants contained the power of dozens of divine megatons.

The only way to obtain such power in the Source World was to enter the Other Shore and fuse oneself with an Other Shore Token. Other than that, it was close to impossible for one's physical body to contain the strength of dozens of divine megatons. Even someone like Zen would be unable to do so without entering the Other Shore.

However, these ants didn't have a mind of their own. Their strings of control were in the hands of the queen ant. They would follow every order from it blindly without question. Even the orders to lay siege to the intruders were from the queen ant.

Compared to them, the queen ant was quite intelligent. Zen could tell its soul was not to be underestimated when he sensed the aura it emitted. It must have entered the Other Shore through the Truth of Cultivation Nature and later fused with an Other Shore Token...

The Other Shore Token in its possession could provide each of the several thousand ants with dozens of divine megatons of force. Gathering all that power together would further add up to tens of thousands of divine megatons under the queen ant's control.

As the queen ant closed the distance between it and Zen, it was time for him to make his move. Zen jumped back and stationed himself on the wall of the cave. He used it as a boost and turned over to fall backwards towards the queen ant. His body dropped at an alarmingly high speed.

Zen kept his long sword grasped tightly in his hands as he directed himself towards the queen ant's abdomen from above.

“Bang!”

The seemingly fragile translucent abdomen of the queen ant made contact with Zen's long sword.

As Zen tried to use the pressure of the air to pierce his way through, the Chaotic Source Spirits housed in the belly of the queen ant flashed in front of him. It soon occurred to him that his offensive strike failed as the Chaotic Source Spirits had absorbed all the power from it! ꞦÃNÖβЕṩ

“Whap!”

The ant's head was surprisingly flexible. It suddenly twisted its head frantically to shake off Zen and bite his head off.

After his first traumatic encounter with the ants, Zen had become more cautious of the poisonous bites of the ants. Previously, he had let his guard down and had his arm chewed on by a poisonous ant. That incident alone taught him to remain at a safe distance from them.

After he failed to cut down the belly of the queen ant, Zen retreated to gain some distance from his opponent to rethink his strategy.

Just then, a white-colored ring suddenly shot up above the queen ant's head. The ring spun around and unleashed a ray of white light. The ant corpses that were connected to this white light regained vitality in their limbs and started to move again!

With swift movements, they spun around to weave a huge dense net and moved towards the queen ant. The net of the dead bodies of the ants closed in on Zen, who kept on his attempts to retreat.

However, the queen ant tossed the net at Zen so quickly that he didn't have time to react. He wanted to dodge it, but the queen ant left him with no window to squirm his way out of it. Within a split second, he was entrapped in the huge net woven by the corpses of the dead ants, and was dragged back!

The queen ant opened its mouth to reveal its terrifying jaws in hopes of taking a bite out of Zen's approaching body. Suddenly, a colorful light sprung over in its direction.

“Bang!”

The Iridescent Stone flung towards the queen ant and slammed itself against its head.

The Iridescent Stone could strike its target without any assistance. Its movements were extremely fast and powerful, which made it hard for the queen ant to bypass it in time. It was a phenomenal Other Shore Token.

As the queen ant's head was forced to lean back from the impact, Zen took advantage of the moment and slipped away from the huge net.

'There's no doubt the Other Shore Token that the queen ant fused with is strong. However, I might have overestimated it. It seems I have made a slight error in my judgment...' While he kept at a safe range from the queen ant, he began to strategize in his mind as he focused hard.

The source of the power of all the ants lay in the queen ant itself. However, there was a slight loophole. The queen ant was unable to provide all of the ants with the same power at the same time. It was only able to give power to a limited number of ants in one go.

When under siege of the ants, Zen discovered they surrounded him from all corners, but didn't strike all at once. Only forty to fifty ants per wave made a move, while the rest just stood by and watched.

At that time, he did have doubts in his mind as to why they didn't gang up on him. But he didn't pay much attention to it and quickly moved on.

Placing all the pieces of the puzzle together, he realized the queen ant had its limitations in its strength. Only by gathering its entire strength at one point, could the queen ant reach its maximum potential.

However, the ants contained deadly poison. As long as they were granted small amounts of power, it was enough to harm the intruders with their bites. Therefore the queen ant had carefully distributed its strength among the numerous ants using the Other Shore Token—the ring.

If forty to fifty ants were bestowed the power of fifty divine megatons each, the estimated strength of the queen ant would be about two thousand divine megatons.

Although they were bothersome to deal with, if the warriors at present worked together, they could help end it sooner.

“We should help Zen! If you choose to just stand by and watch the fight, you don't deserve a share of the Chaotic Source Spirits!” Sally stretched her hand out. As if responding to her gesture, the Iridescent Stone returned to her hand.

At her words, the members of the Moon Spirit race, the Celestial Wolf race, and the Lofty Mountain race stood with expressions of shock.

Zen was superior to them in strength. If he was to defeat the queen ant all by himself, he would be in charge of the distribution of the Chaotic Source Spirits. After all, it was only fair since he did all the work.

If they refused to offer any sort of aid, Zen would hold all the rights to cut them off and take all of the Chaotic Source Spirits for himself.

Sally's words made the three people from the different races drown in self-reflection. As if spurred on by her pep talk, they each took out their respective Other Shore Tokens and charged at the queen ant.

“Sizzle...”

The member of the Moon Spirit race carried a small golden bamboo. As he rushed forward, a bolt of fine lightning gushed out from the golden bamboo and struck the queen ant continuously.

On the other hand, the one from the Celestial Wolf race prepared himself to launch his attack. His hair stood on end, and his fingers morphed into sharp claws that he used to jab at the queen ant.

The strength of the claw radiance wasn't weak when faced with a normal opponent. However, when it struck the queen ant's body, it failed to break through its defensive shell.

The weakest offensive strike was that of the Lofty Mountain member. Since he was scared half to death from the queen ant, he was cautious enough to not approach it. Instead, he decided to find some big rocks on the ground and hurl them at it while maintaining a safe distance. Compared to the sturdy body of the queen ant, those rocks were as fragile as tofu. They were quickly reduced to dust upon collision.

Not only did he fail to contribute to causing significant damage to the queen ant, but he also slowed the others down by blocking their view. Sally gave out an exasperated sigh and yelled angrily, “Stop throwing the rocks! They're not helping!”

The man from the Lofty Mountain race cast a sideways glance at Sally and cursed in his heart. He believed when his reinforcements arrived, they would take away all the Chaotic Source Spirits and kill the others.

Although Sally and the others continued their efforts to bring the queen ant down, they failed to distract its attention from Zen. It didn't bother with them at all.

Even though the queen ant could not speak, there was no denying the fact that it was intelligent. It had a sound judgment of the situation. The only person in the cave capable of threatening it was the young man it kept its gaze on. As long as it killed him, the other creatures wouldn't take up much effort.

Fixated on its target, the queen ant kept chasing after Zen without fail. Zen continuously moved around it to dodge its advances.

'This ant has devoured the Chaotic Soul Spirits. However, it hasn't undergone the Chaotic Source Reinforcement yet. That means its body still has weaknesses. I just need to find them...'

At the thought of this, Zen narrowed his eyes slightly. He began to study its body as a white light appeared in his right eye.