Stealing the Heavens.

Chapter 197 Refining the Inner Pill
As soon as Zi Dong's right foot stepped into the Fire Ant King's territory, all the ants around him stirred.

"Get to work." Zi Dong didn't move as he watched the ants swarming towards him, but instead gave instructions to the two women.

They have only recently integrated with the righteous energy and need to master its use; combat is the best way to do so.

Faced with the fire ant tribe, neither woman could utilize their advantages and could only rely on their strength to withstand the attack.

The fox king is skilled in seduction, but ants don't understand these tricks, so they're useless against it.

The Scorpion King is skilled in using poison, and the Fire Ants, being venomous themselves, pose no threat.

However, the two women were not entirely without an advantage when facing ants with fire and poison.

The Fox King's true form is a snow fox, while the Scorpion King's true form is an ice scorpion, both of which are basically immune to fire poison.

Although the two women walked very slowly, the fire ants could not get close at all, and Zi Dong walked leisurely behind them.

The true energy, infused with righteous spirit, easily dealt with the fire ants, causing countless casualties along the way.

"Master, we've exhausted ourselves and need to recover." After a day's journey, the Scorpion King had no choice but to ask for permission.

"Let's rest on the small hill ahead." Zi Dong glanced at the setting sun, which had completely disappeared, and exuded a righteous aura that enveloped the two women.

The three of them, like a golden yurt on their heads, kept all the fire ants out.

Zi Dong led the two women to the top of the small hill, where they enveloped it with righteous energy and rested peacefully for the night.

"Let's eat something and keep going." Zi Dong took out a bunch of food and drinks from his spatial storage.

"Master, there are far too many fire ants. Should we call some of our clansmen?" the Fox King asked between bites.

"Master, Snow Fox is right!" Scorpion King quickly agreed, she was also about to reach her limit.

"Stop talking nonsense and eat!" Zi Dong said impatiently.

The two women exchanged a glance and could only continue eating and drinking, not daring to say anything more.

At a normal pace, it would take Zi Dong and his two companions about three days to reach the valley where the Fire Ant King was located.

However, there were simply too many fire ants, and it took the three of them five days to finally approach the valley where the fire ant king resided.

This time, the fire ants did not charge, but instead gathered around the valley, forming ten giants.

Each fire ant has only the cultivation level of the Heavenly Profound Realm, while the ten giants have the cultivation level of the First Grade Supreme Realm.

"Master, what should we do with these ten giants?" the Fox King asked, somewhat timidly.

She had seen giants made up of fire ants, which were impossible to kill because there were simply too many of them.

Even if the giant is scattered, the fire ants will immediately reform into a new giant.

"Master, I can handle one." The Scorpion King was indeed very brave, after all, she was a second-grade Supreme Realm cultivator.

"You two are responsible for clearing out the scattered fire ants. I'll take care of these ten giants," Zi Dong instructed.

"Yes, Master!" Upon hearing this, the two women immediately retreated excitedly behind Zi Dong.

Without hesitation, Zi Dong enveloped the ten fire ant giants with his righteous energy, then punched them all away.

"Get to work," Zi Dong said with a smile, glancing back at the two women.

"..." The two women stared at each other, and the ten fire ant giants at the first-grade supreme realm were defeated just like that?
However, the fire ants quickly reformed into giants and charged towards Zi Dong.

"Damn, they're tough!" Zi Dong cursed, then helplessly swung his fist again, scattering the ten fire ant giants.

"Hurry up and get started!" Zi Dong shouted to the two women immediately, as the fire ants were gathering a little slowly this time.

The two women quickly took action, killing many fire ants and slowing down the speed at which the fire ants condensed into a giant.

The three worked together perfectly and quickly prevented the fire ants from coalescing into a giant.

The fire ants all retreated into the valley, and under the leadership of the fire ant king, they formed a flame shield. "You all cool them down," Zi Dong instructed the two women as he sat cross-legged.

The temperature drop was easy for the two women; the valley quickly froze over, and heavy snow began to fall.

While cultivating, Zi Dong used his righteous energy to attack the valley, thus depleting the fire ants' strength.

They continued until nightfall, when the entire valley shone with golden light, flames soared into the sky, and snow and ice mingled with the light.

Seeing that the fire poison shield was in imminent danger, the Fire Ant King quickly ordered the fire ants to condense into giants.

However, the fire ants' strength had declined, and the giant was no match for Zi Dong.

The two sides fought until dawn, when the Fire Ant King was forced to surrender.

"Hand over the inner core, and I'll spare your life!" Zi Dong changed his mind and decided not to kill the Fire Ant King.

Because once the Fire Ant King is killed, the Endless Sand Sea will lose its balance.

The purple aura from the east only allowed him to obtain the inner core; as for the life or death of the Fire Ant King, he didn't care at all.

As long as the Fire Ant King is alive, it can re-condense its inner core.

Zi Dong, holding the inner core, led the two women to a small hill to refine it.

"You two go up to the top of the mountain to protect me," Zi Dong instructed, pointing to the small hill.

"Master, shouldn't you be the one going to the mountaintop?" the Fox King asked curiously.

"Isn't the hilltop a target?" Zi Dong waved his hand impatiently, then sat cross-legged at the foot of the hill.

Righteous energy can completely purify the Fire Ant King's deadly poison, while the flames in its inner core are even less significant.

Zi Dong quickly refined the inner core of the Fire Ant King and actually advanced directly to the peak of the First Grade Supreme Realm!

There were originally nine stars in his space. The Fire Ant King's inner core not only helped him condense three more stars, but also completely connected the twelve stars to form a small cycle.

"Let's go." Zi Dong stabilized his cultivation and stood up to call to the two women on the hilltop.

"Master, you've broken through to the First-Rank Supreme Realm so quickly?!" The Fox King exclaimed in surprise as he approached Zi Dong.

"And he's at the peak of the First-Rank Supreme Realm!" the Scorpion King exclaimed in even greater surprise.

"It's just the First Grade Supreme Realm, what's the big deal?" Zi Dong said dismissively, walking straight ahead.

"Master, can one break through to the peak of the First-Rank Supreme Realm with just one inner core?" the Fox King asked, catching up with the others.

"Master, do you know how to refine our inner cores?" the Scorpion King asked anxiously.

"As long as you obey me, I, the city lord, will not refine it!" Zi Dong said proudly.

After refining the inner core of the Fire Ant King, he also asked Donglai Ziqi why he wasn't allowed to refine the inner cores of the Fox King and the Scorpion King.

Donglai Ziqi immediately reprimanded Zidong, saying that the Fox King could help Zidong resist mental attacks and the Scorpion King could help Zidong resist poison, so how could he refine them?
Moreover, refining too many inner cores would make Zi Dong's cultivation unstable, so he still needs to rely on his own cultivation.

Zi Dong, accompanied by the two women, continued deeper into the endless sea of ​​sand, guided by the purple aura from the east.

The two women behaved much better along the way, worried that Zi Dong might one day decide to refine their inner cores.

"What is this purple aura coming from the east?" Zi Dong asked after leaving the Fire Ant King's territory.

"This is Jin Hu's territory. Just defeat him," said Donglai Ziqi.

"Do you two know whose territory this is?" Zi Dong asked seriously.

"Master, I don't know," the Scorpion King replied helplessly after observing for a while.

"Master, this should be the Tiger King's territory," the Fox King said after sensing for a while.

(End of this chapter)