Hunyuan Immortal Sect

Chapter 108 Planning and Deployment
Seeing the light curtain shatter, Song Xian became nervous. He held his breath unconsciously and stared at the movements inside, fearing that a group of silver-armored ants would swarm out.

Fortunately, this situation did not happen. After the light curtain shattered, the true appearance of Mount Lu was revealed, and what appeared before our eyes was a bare mountain.

There are five five-colored flags about ten feet long planted around the mountain, and there is also a formation next to it.

The moment the light curtain shattered, the five long flags broke one after another.

When the light curtain shattered, Zhong Wenyuan and the others all stepped back and came to him.

The expressions of several people were a little abnormal, especially Zhang Yi, Zhang Ningyuan, Xu Ning, and Zhong Yang who were in the middle stage of Qi Refining. Their faces were obviously pale.

Zhong Wenyuan and Lin Zixiang were slightly better, while Apu looked normal, without any change.

"Everyone has lost a lot of spiritual power. Let's restore the lost spiritual power in our bodies first, and then proceed to the next step. There is no rush anyway." Song Xian said.

Apu said nothing, walked straight to a big tree and sat down cross-legged.

Seeing this, everyone in the Hunyuan Sect also sat down beside Song Xian, took out Qi-recovering pills, absorbed the internal spiritual energy, and made up for the spiritual energy they had lost.

After a long time, the spiritual energy in everyone's body has returned to normal.

Apu led everyone to the southeast of the mountain and pointed to a dark cave in front of them. He said, "This is the entrance. The passages inside are very complicated. The nest of the silver-armored ants is inside."

After saying that, he took out an album from his sleeve and spread it out in front of everyone. The album looked like a circular maze.

"This is the interior of the mountain. You enter from here, take the left passage, turn left three times in a row, then turn right. Go straight past two similar passages, turn right again, and finally turn left. You will reach the Silver-Armored Ant's nest."

"I remind you, don't take the wrong path. Some of the other passages are designed to confuse people, and some are hidden traps."

"I'm not sure exactly how many silver-armored ants are in the nest, but there are probably at least dozens."

"Silver-armored ants are social monsters, and each group must have a queen. Most silver-armored ants are only as strong as first-tier monsters, while a small number are the queen's guard ants, with strength reaching the level of second-tier monsters. The queen is generally a third-tier monster."

"Silver-armored ants have a strong sense of territory. If you enter their nest, you will be hunted down and driven away. Generally, they won't chase you too far from the queen. At most, they'll drive you out of the mountain before returning."

"But it's a low-level demon beast after all, and its intelligence is not yet developed. Especially when it's far away from the queen ant, it can't receive orders and will only act on instinct."

"Escape to the mountain entrance. If you see any signs of the silver-armored ants returning, take out the fragrant oil made from magnolia resin and lure them away as far away as possible."

"This flying talisman's effect lasts for an hour. I need you to hold the silver-armored ants back for half an hour. After half an hour, you can throw the magnolia oil anywhere to get rid of the silver-armored ants."

"This matter is of great importance. If we fail to lure the silver-armored ants far enough away and buy enough time, the next person who enters the nest will encounter the silver-armored ants returning to their nest while escaping the mountain cave."

"The passages inside the nest are already narrow, leaving no room for maneuvering. Once you're stuck inside, you're practically dead."

Hearing this, everyone's expressions became solemn. Song Xian swept his gaze over them with a serious expression and said in a deep voice, "Everyone has heard what Fellow Daoist Apu said. We must act with caution, especially those who lure the silver-armored ants away. If there is any mistake, one of our fellow disciples will die in the nest."

Apu continued, "Let's discuss the specific plan now. I suggest that those with lower cultivation levels enter the Silver-Armored Ant nest first. Because of the habits of the Silver-Armored Ants, their elite guards will not easily stray from the queen. Generally, the outer worker ants with lower cultivation levels will drive away the enemy. Most of the outer worker ants are first-level monsters."

"After all the worker ants have been lured away, let those with higher cultivation levels enter and lure away the queen's guards."

"This will be relatively safer. It would be more dangerous if someone with lower cultivation level attracted the elite guards of the Silver Armor Ants."

"Also, we have to plan our respective routes first. If our routes overlap, the latter group of ants that attract silver-armored ants may encounter the silver-armored ants that were lured away and are returning from the previous group, which would be dangerous."

Song Xian nodded and said, "Let's do as you say! According to your estimate, there may be many silver-armored ants in the nest."

"There are probably only a hundred or so at most, maybe around seventy or eighty!"

Zhong Wenyuan frowned and asked, "How long have these silver-armored ants been in this mountain? Could it be that they have given birth to and hatched several more batches of eggs?"

He is meticulous and always tends to think of things in the worst possible way, so he thinks more than others.

"These spirit-armored ants have only been here for a few years. At most, they will only reproduce a batch of eggs. The number won't increase much."

"How about this! Senior Brother Zhong Yang, you go in first to explore the situation. The rest of you will wait until Senior Brother Zhong comes out, and then we'll decide based on the situation." Song Xian said after a moment's thought. Zhong Yang's cultivation level was the lowest among the group, so it would be relatively safe for him to go in first. He also had a calm demeanor, making him the perfect pathfinder.

"Yes." Zhong Yang nodded without hesitation.

They discussed a lot of trivial details, such as if the person didn't come out for a certain period of time, then they would go in to meet him.

Which direction should you escape to after you come out?

How far away should we keep from the silver-armored ants so that they don't lose their target?

If the distance is too far, the silver-armored ants will not be able to smell the magnolia oil and may turn back, and all efforts will be in vain.

And who should be sent to make sure the silver-armored ants have been lured away?

After everything was discussed, Zhong Yang entered the cave.

Everyone looked worried as they watched him go in, but Apu remained expressionless, as if it had nothing to do with him.

"Use your invisibility charms, it will be bad if the silver-armored ants come out and find us hiding nearby." Apu reminded Zhong Yang until he completely disappeared from the cave.
After saying that, he took out an invisibility talisman and stuck it on his chest. The talisman emitted a faint light, and his entire chest gradually became transparent under the light.

As the light spread throughout his body, his entire body disappeared from sight.

Song Xian quietly opened the Eye of True Observation, and spiritual power surged into his eyes. Apu's figure gradually appeared in his field of vision, revealing a vague outline of a human figure with facial features.

Several other people also took out invisibility talismans, and soon, everyone's figures disappeared from the spot. In Song Xian's eyes, the outlines of several people's figures were clearly visible, but his facial features could not be seen clearly.

As a first-grade, top-grade talisman, the invisibility talisman can make one's movements invisible, which usually lasts for half an hour.

It is also very simple to cancel the hidden state, just tear off the talisman on your body.

The invisibility talisman cannot prevent others from spying on it with their spiritual sense. If someone's spiritual sense sweeps over it, they will find the hidden person. However, the spiritual sense of ordinary cultivators with Qi training can only detect a very small distance. Even for cultivators who have reached the great perfection of Qi training, the range of their spiritual sense will not exceed thirty or forty feet, which is far beyond the distance that can be seen with the naked eye.

Even ordinary mortals with normal eyesight can clearly see things dozens of feet away. The ears and eyes of cultivators are even more acute. If their vision is not obstructed, it is not difficult for them to see targets hundreds of feet away.

Therefore, as long as you keep a certain distance, it will be difficult for others to notice you.

Unless one is like Song Xian who possesses some kind of innate talent and supernatural powers.

Of course, some monsters with sensitive noses can smell the scent of humans from a long distance.

As the name suggests, the invisibility talisman can only hide the body shape, but its own breath, smell and the sound of footsteps cannot be erased.

If there is mud under your feet or you step into a puddle, there will be traces to follow.

In addition, once you mobilize the spiritual energy around your body and cast spells, your figure will be exposed.

Therefore, this talisman is only suitable for escaping, tracking or hiding. It is not very useful in combat. At most, it can serve as a surprise attack or sneak attack.

Once the spell is cast, the spiritual energy within the body is mobilized, revealing the body, and the opponent will inevitably be on guard. If you want to approach quietly and launch a sneak attack, it is not very realistic. The monks have keen ears and eyes, and if you get even slightly closer, the footsteps will be heard.

Everyone was looking forward to it, looking at the cave entrance with trepidation. No one spoke, and time seemed to slow down. No one knew how much time had passed when suddenly a figure rushed out of the cave, rose into the air, and fled towards the northeast.

"It's Junior Brother Zhong." Zhang Ningyuan was excited and called out in a low voice.

"Don't make any noise, or you'll be discovered by the silver-armored ants." Song Xian immediately whispered.

As soon as he finished speaking, he saw more than a dozen silver insects flying out of the cave, each about three inches in size, chasing towards Zhong Yang.

The crowd was about one or two hundred meters away from the cave entrance. Seeing Zhong Yang and the silver-armored ants going away, they all breathed a sigh of relief.

(End of this chapter)