Born as an ant, I was summoned to ascend to immortality.

Chapter 10 Wings

Inside the room, only Lu Changye's steady breathing could be heard.

He was still sitting quietly on the couch, completely unaware of the arduous battle that had just taken place on the table.

In Zhou Li's eyes, the centipede's gradually stiffening and cooling corpse was reflected.

He won, but he paid a price.

As he leaped off the centipede's head, he stumbled on all six legs.

Looking down, I saw that my legs were covered in venom and corroded, with the flesh showing in the deepest part. My abdomen had been torn open by the centipede's mandibles.

Zhou Li underestimated his enemy.

Since he began practicing Qi cultivation, he has fought wasps and spiders without ever being defeated. Perhaps it was these invincible experiences that made him somewhat complacent.

Ordinary centipedes, even those with a body five inches long, are nothing more than highly venomous and swift-moving creatures.

But this one is different; its scales are as hard as rock, and its venom can easily corrode its own shell.

The victory in this battle was entirely due to Zhou Li's quick wit; otherwise, not only would he have had a stroke of luck, but he might have even lost his life.

This was the first enemy he encountered who possessed spiritual power.

Zhou Li staggered toward the centipede, thinking to himself:

"I remember that centipedes can be used in medicine. This one is full of spiritual energy. If I can eat it, its effects should be no worse than those of spiritual fruits."

Thinking this, Zhou Li used his upper jaw to lift the centipede's head carapace, carefully avoiding the venom glands, and searched for the edible parts.

Suddenly, deep inside the centipede's head, Zhou Li found a crystal no bigger than a grain of rice.

As his spiritual sense swept over it, he saw that the crystal was black on the surface, warm to the touch, and exceptionally hard. His palate could not leave any mark on the crystal.

Zhou Li felt a lingering fear; if he had held onto this crystal tightly just now, he would have surely lost this battle.

"Look, there's a faint fluctuation of spiritual energy on it. Could this be the legendary... demon core?"

Zhou Li was somewhat excited: "Prey with spiritual power is indeed different. If we can absorb this demon core, this battle won't be too much of a loss."

Without hesitation, Zhou Li swallowed the crystal and circulated his spiritual power to melt and absorb it.

In his mind, this crystal was like the spirit fish and spirit fruit. However, Zhou Li had never seen a demon core, nor had he ever cultivated demon race techniques, so he did not know that only demon races that had formed their cores could produce demon cores.

The cultivation of demons is divided into five realms: enlightenment, transformation, core formation, primordial embryo, and divine connection. This centipede has not even reached enlightenment, so naturally it cannot form a core.

Regardless of what this crystal is, it certainly cannot be a demon core.

Upon consuming the crystal, a sudden and unexpected change occurred.

As Zhou Li circulated his spiritual power, the crystal churned in his abdomen, gradually transforming into a powerful stream of spiritual energy that rushed straight to Zhou Li's forehead.

Before Zhou Li could make a move, the spiritual energy re-formed into stone at Zhou Li's head, tightly intertwining with his head.

This strange occurrence startled Zhou Li, who broke out in a cold sweat. He felt as if something had appeared in his mind, but upon closer examination, he couldn't quite place it.

"Well, since I'm here, I might as well make the best of it. I'll ask my senior brother to take a look at me when he comes out of seclusion."

Zhou Li continued to devour the essence of the centipede's corpse until it was completely consumed, then dragged his heavily injured body back to the quiet room.

I don't know how much time passed.

Five days? Or ten days?

Zhou Li's abdominal wound gradually healed, and the blood and flesh of the centipede he had swallowed transformed into pure qi and blood power, which flowed to Zhou Li's carapace.

Ordinary insects molt multiple times in their lifetime, growing larger with each molt.

However, since the Zhou Dynasty's practice of refining qi, the growth of this ant-like body no longer follows the laws of nature, but is nourished by spiritual energy and gradually grows stronger.

Since swallowing the Qi and Blood Pill, he had not felt the thrill of breaking free from his old shell for a long time, but now, that feeling had returned.

"Snap!"

With a crisp crack, a thin crack appeared on Zhou Li's forehead armor, and the crack then spread like a spider web to his chest and abdomen.

Zhou Li instinctively arched his body and exerted force with all six legs, and there was a "hissing" sound.

The newborn body slowly emerged from the crack in the carapace.

The new shell is four inches long and more durable than the old one, with dark gold patterns covering Zhou Li's entire body.

When the new body completely broke free of the old one, Zhou Li felt a strange tingling sensation on his back, as if something was breaking out of his body!

He turned his head with difficulty to look at his back.

On each side of the carapace, a thin slit opened, and two pairs of wings as thin as cicada wings were slowly emerging from the slits!

When it was first born, it was soft and clinging to my back, but as spiritual energy was poured in, its wings gradually stretched and hardened.

The wing veins, outlined like golden threads, shimmered with a pale golden luster in the quiet room.

Zhou Li was stunned.

My body is that of a worker ant. Worker ants are wingless, and this is a mutation brought about by cultivation.

Zhou Li subconsciously flapped his wings.

"Buzz!"

The newly formed wing membranes are still very fragile, and when they vibrate, they emit a faint tremor that echoes in the quiet room.

But with that slight jolt, Zhou Li felt his body lighten, and his six feet seemed to lift off the ground!

flight……

This thought ignited like a flame in Zhou Li's heart.

In my previous life, I longed for the dream of flying on a sword, and in this life, I'm finally going to realize it... although not by flying on a sword.

Zhou Li suppressed his inner turmoil and followed the passageway out of the nest.

He then exerted force with all six legs, slightly raised his body, and emitted a deep and powerful hum from his wing membranes.

A force of lift came from behind, and Zhou Li's body became lighter and lighter. With a push from his six legs, he suddenly left the ground.

He actually flew!

At first, he was unsteady, like a baby learning to walk, swaying in the air. Zhou Li constantly adjusted his posture and practiced repeatedly, and finally he was able to hover steadily in the air.

In the insect world, there is a world of difference between those with wings and those without.

With the ability to spread its wings and soar into the sky, it gained boundless vitality, could evade natural enemies, and could cross natural barriers. From then on, this small courtyard could no longer confine Zhou Li.

An indescribable surge of pride welled up in Zhou Li's heart.

If one could fly earlier, what would one fear from a centipede? One could attack or defend at will, already placing oneself in an invincible position.

After flying around a few times, he began to try to climb.

One foot, two feet...

Zhou Li flew up to a height of ten feet, taking in the entire courtyard.

The side room had irregularly shaped green tiles and a half-open window; that was Lu Changye's secluded cultivation place. Further east was the room of his junior sister, whom he hadn't seen in a long time, and his own anthill was under the lush grass by the east wall.

Further away, Zhou Li spread his wings and rose again, reaching a height of five zhang (approximately 10 meters).

He saw the entire view of Ziyun Peak.

It turns out that this small courtyard is not isolated on the mountainside, but is located in a vast sea of ​​purple bamboo.

Looking out, the entire mountain, from its waist to its summit, is covered by purple bamboo forests. As the mountain rises and falls, it resembles a purple sea of ​​clouds encircling the mountainside, a magnificent and picturesque sight.

No wonder it's called Purple Cloud Peak.

Before, when I crawled on the ground, my vision was limited to a small area, and I only knew that the purple bamboo forest was a scene in the courtyard. Today, as I spread my wings and soared into the sky, I realized how apt the words "purple clouds" were.

As Zhou Li flew higher, he felt a soreness in the base of his wings, knowing that these were newly grown wings that still needed to be tempered.

So it slowly descended, and just as it landed on the green tiles of the courtyard wall, it caught a glimpse of a green shadow lying on a branch of purple bamboo not far outside the courtyard.

That was a praying mantis.

It was over four inches long, its entire body was as green as jade, and its pair of sickle-shaped feet were tucked in front of its chest. It was curiously examining Zhou Li.

The two insects looked at each other, but showed no hostility whatsoever.

Then the mantis spread its wings and slowly flew towards Zhou Li.