Immortality: Raising an Ant Queen to Cultivate by increasing stat points

Could it be that Elder Jiu Yin fit so many insects inside this bag?

Considering that possibility, Qin Niu’s breathing became somewhat rapid.

He had always wanted a larger insect bag, ideally one that could hold tens of thousands of termites, or even more.

But as the termites continued to evolve, they grew larger and larger.

Ordinary insect bags simply couldn’t accommodate them.

If this insect bag was a treasure, it might be able to solve this problem.

Since he was in his own yard, there was no need to rush.

He took his time to study the bag over and over again.

If it was an item embodying the laws of the Great Dao, it should be possible to lay claim to it via blood recognition.

Not entirely sure, he decided to give it a try.

He bit his fingertip and dripped three drops of blood on it.

As the fresh blood touched the insect bag, the ancient and minute runes seemed to come to life.

They emitted a faint luminescence.

Overjoyed, Qin Niu thought that such a reaction to his blood meant that blood recognition was possible.

Indeed, after only a moment, he felt a curious connection with the bag, much like the connection he had with his Ink Blade.

Qin Niu’s spiritual power could now easily probe inside the bag.

“It’s truly miraculous. Inside, there are so many independent spaces, and some are particularly vast. It wouldn’t just hold ten thousand termites; it could easily hold a million,” he mused.

However, he had no idea how to use it.

He tried the most old-fashioned method, infusing a trace of his Qi into the insect bag.

Without needing any instruction, he instinctively discovered that he could control which space in the bag to open with his spiritual power or even just his thoughts.

The insect bag was not empty; it still contained quite a few insects.

Some of them were dead.

Others were still alive.

The deceased insects had all been claimed by Elder Jiu Yin.

The living insects, however, had not been directly claimed.

Just like Qin Niu, it was enough to claim only the Ant Queen.

He could command all the termites produced by the Ant Queen.

Elder Jiu Yin did the same. The millions of Bloodsucking Leeches, over a hundred thousand Fire Ants, and the quantity of these insects was indeed terrifying.

If each insect had to be claimed individually, any Insect Master would end up bankrupt.

Even a low-grade Contract Charm costs one tael of silver on the market.

Could a Beast Tamer afford to spend a hundred taels of silver to subdue a hundred thousand Grade Three Fire Ants?

Let’s say, hypothetically, that a Beast Tamer was willing to spend so much money, his Spirit Space wouldn’t possibly support such a vast host of pets.

Now at the Innate Realm, Qin Niu could only claim around forty to fifty insects or other low-grade beasts before reaching the limit.

In fact, as insects and beast pets advanced in rank, the amount of Spirit Space they required increased further.

Almost all Insect Masters and Beast Tamers would choose to use their limited Spirit Space to claim higher-value insects or beasts.

In this process, some would even proactively cull pets with less potential to free up Spirit Space.

Qin Niu attempted to control the space holding the Fire Ants in the insect bag. As soon as he opened the mouth of the bag, hundreds of Fire Ants fell out and landed on the ground.

They were extremely fierce.

They immediately tried to attack Qin Niu.

However, they were quickly subdued by Fourth, along with the Ghost Ants and Puppet Ants, or targeted with a Mental Attack that left them writhing in pain on the ground.

Some even died outright.

“With this treasure, I won’t have to worry about raising too many insects in the future. The insects kept in the bag will just have to be cleared out gradually,” he thought.

He carefully stored away the Hundred Treasures Insect Bag, feeling extremely satisfied.

The Invisibility Talisman that was consumed, and the hundreds of Poisonous Ants that died—all losses were recuperated with this Hundred Treasures Insect Bag.

He began to search for treasures on Elder Jiu Yin’s body.

The armor was directly shattered.

No inner armor was found.

The sword was a good item, he picked it up and observed it carefully.

He tried channeling a wisp of his power into the blade.

Hisss!

Immediately, Sword Qi emanated from the tip of the sword blade.

The material of this treasured sword was at least Meteoric Iron from beyond the heavens, and its grade was probably on par with the level of the Ink Blade when it had just developed Sword Qi. For now, he hadn’t sensed any spirit consciousness in the sword.

Generally, treasured swords or blades with spirit consciousness would tremble non-stop and fiercely resist when held by strangers.

This sword could be used as soon as it was picked up, indicating it hadn’t evolved a spirit consciousness yet, but it had already reached the level of having Sword Qi.

“Xiao Qing is cultivating the Seven-Star Sword Technique, so giving her this sword would be quite suitable,” he thought.

Qin Niu had the Ink Blade, and he didn’t really fancy this treasured sword.

Xiao Qing was his personal servant, practically his right-hand, so naturally, he had to intensify her training.

With a set of King Pig Leather Armor and now this treasured sword, Xiao Qing was armed by him to be an ‘little monster’ ready for both offense and defense. Once Xiao Qing advanced to the Acquired Realm, most of the formidable experts would not be able to cause a stir in front of her in this rural area.

In Elder Jiu Yin’s personal belongings, Qin Niu found more hidden treasures.

Dozens of gold and silver notes.

After counting, it totaled up to roughly thirty-seven thousand five hundred taels of silver.

Poorer than he had imagined.

He thought that someone of Elder Jiu Yin’s caliber would have a fortune of at least one hundred thousand taels.

But this was also understandable.

After earning money, Elder Jiu Yin certainly wouldn’t hoard it like a miser. He would find ways to purchase various cultivation resources to improve his cultivation and breed insects.

Maintaining so many insects would certainly entail a staggering cost.

The Termites and bees Qin Niu raised were many in number, but Termites were omnivorous insects. Leaves, bark, wood, roots, insect corpses, and so forth—they could eat them all.

They could even consume stones and soil.

The cost of feeding was virtually zero.

Moreover, he didn’t need to personally tend to them; they built nests and foraged underground on their own.

Not to mention the bees, which flew out to collect pollen and make honey.

Besides their own consumption, Qin Niu, their master, would also occasionally partake.

Elder Jiu Yin kept various kinds of insects, some of which required meat.

That surely required spending money on purchases.

There were also Elder Jiu Yin’s equipment investments, expenditure on servants’ upkeep, and so on. The bigger a personage, the greater the expenses.

To still have thirty-seven thousand five hundred taels of silver left was already quite impressive.

In the pocket of his clothes, aside from the silver and gold notes, a thick “Breeding Insects Secrets” was found. Flipping through it, it was all various methods of breeding and controlling insects recorded by Elder Jiu Yin himself.

This was a lifetime of breeding and insect controlling experience and insights from an extremely formidable Insect Master, immensely valuable.

For Qin Niu, a newcomer to insect controlling, this was definitely a treasure.

In addition, there were several bottles of Elixirs, which were also treasures.

Perhaps to avoid confusion, each bottle of the Elixirs had its name written on it.

Detoxification Pills, Qi Refining Elixirs, Healing Pills, Insect Medicine…

Also found was a “Wind-Riding Nine Sword Art”. It should be a sword technique.

It looked quite old.

Qin Niu flipped through it, a rather profound book of sword techniques. There were only nine movements in total, but with the mental methods, it had infinite variations.

He decided to keep it for later.

It would also be quite excellent for his wife’s cultivation.

He was about to marry Wang Wanyan, and after she became part of the family, Qin Niu was determined to cherish her well.