"Master, please spare me. I won't do it again."
The ant queen screamed and begged bitterly through the spiritual connection.
"I'll spare you this time, but if there's a next time, I'll make you beg for death."
Ding Ning warned him coldly and stopped the punishment.
This was the first time he used the punishment in the master-servant contract. He did not expect it to be so effective. Even an eight-vein expert like the ant queen was in so much pain.
"Master, I won't dare to do it again."
The ant queen recovered and knelt on the ground. She expressed her submission through the spiritual connection.
"In that case, I'll ask you some questions. You have to answer them truthfully."
Ding Ning was full of doubts. According to his previous understanding, this ant queen was at most a four-vein or five-vein expert. How did she suddenly become an eight-vein expert?
The reason why he could not figure it out was that the ant queen's strength as an eight-vein expert could have led her tribe back to the center of the desert. Why would she obediently offer offerings to the Sacred Lady Tribe and stay here?
"Master, I just broke through to eight-vein …"
As the ant queen explained, Ding Ning finally understood what was going on.
It turned out that the ant queen was indeed only six-vein before. The reason why she became eight-vein was because she ate all the ant serum in the storage and broke through temporarily.
The ant serum was equivalent to the tribe's strategic reserve and reward resource. In the past, she would never eat all the ant serum to improve herself. Instead, she would give it to the ants to maintain her rule. After all, ants were social creatures and valued the strength of the entire tribe.
However, since the people of the tribe were basically born by her, every ant tribe had a subtle spiritual connection with her.
When Ding Ning collected almost all of the Yellow Ant Tribe into the medicine spiritual ring, the ant queen could clearly feel that almost all of her tribe members had gradually lost contact with her. This made her realize that a terrifying enemy that her tribe could not fight against had arrived.
The tribe was at the moment of life and death. How could the ant queen care about anything else? As long as she did not die, her tribe would recover sooner or later. It would just take a long time.
Therefore, she hurried to the place where the ant serum was stored with the Guard Ants. She planned to consume all the ant serum in one go to increase her strength. It would be best if she could defeat the enemy, but if not, she would have a higher chance of escaping.
But it did not expect Ding Ning to come so quickly. It could only send all the guard ants out to stall for time while it used this opportunity to break through.
Originally, with its eight-vein strength, even if it could not defeat Ding Ning, it could still easily escape. Unfortunately, because of a moment of greed and the breakthrough in its cultivation, it was too confident in its mental strength. As a result, it was deceived by Ding Ning and fell into his trap, ending up as a pet.
Ding Ning's face was full of disappointment. He had come here for the ant serum, but he did not expect to get it. But what could he say? If he were the ant queen, he would definitely make the same choice.
Suppressing the gloominess in his heart, he continued to ask about the Ant Queen Restricted Area and the brewing method of the ant serum.
The ant queen answered all of Ding Ning's questions. She did not dare to hide anything. Many years ago, before she had become an ant queen, she had accidentally gone to the restricted area once.
In the past, it was just a worker ant with the lowest status. It had neither the ability to reproduce nor the ability to fight. If there were no accidents, its fate would be to silently die in the midst of hard work without any disturbances.
But it was that time when she sneaked into the restricted area that completely changed her fate.
The ant queen did not know what was in the restricted area. She only knew that it was not like a barren desert at all. Instead, it was a place with beautiful mountains, clear waters, birds, flowers, gurgling streams, and celestial music. It was like a fairyland.
The ants lived in the desert. It was not that they did not need to drink water. It was just that their ancestors had lived here for generations, so they had evolved into a species that was extremely resistant to drought. But this did not mean that they did not desire to live in a place with water.
However, even the ant queen herself could not explain why she did not want to leave the desert to find a place with enough water to live. Perhaps some ants had thought about this problem, but no one had mentioned it. It was as if living in the desert was the right thing to do, and it was treason to suggest leaving the desert. Perhaps they did not realize that the desert had a temptation that they could not resist, and that was the restricted area.
So, after the ant queen plunged into the so-called restricted area, she looked at the beautiful scenery and breathed in the fresh air. It made her feel that it was the place where the ants should live. Then, she fainted …
When she woke up, she had already returned to her tribe. She had inexplicably gained the ability to reproduce, and there was an additional memory of brewing ant serum in her mind.
A few days later, the ant queen suddenly died without warning. She, the female ant who had inexplicably gained the ability to reproduce, naturally became the ant queen and began her legendary life.
Ding Ning was greatly disappointed when he heard this. He thought he could get some information about the restricted area from the ant queen. He did not expect that she knew everything except for the beautiful scenery there.
The ant queen also told him the recipe for brewing ant serum, but this recipe was useless to humans. It seemed to be a brewing method unique to the ants, because one of the ingredients in the recipe was formic acid secreted by the ant queen.
If that was all, the ant serum would not be so precious. The most important ingredient was a stone that was unique to the depths of the Ten Thousand Ants Desert. This stone was called the Watercloud Stone by the ants.
According to the ant queen, the Watercloud Stone was not common in the center of the desert. On the contrary, when she first entered the restricted area, she saw that there seemed to be Watercloud Stones everywhere. She suspected that the small number of Watercloud Stones that appeared in the center of the desert came from the restricted area.
After the ant king died, the Yellow Ant Clan began to decline. The ant queen resolutely stepped forward and shouldered the mission of revitalizing the clan. When she retreated from the center of the desert to the outer ring, she could bring nothing with her, but she ordered her people to bring all the Watercloud Stones that they could find.
At that time, many of its clansmen were confused, but it persisted because it knew that whether or not its clan could return to its former glory depended on the ant serum. If it didn't have the watercloud stone, an indispensable main material, then everything would be empty talk.
"Watercloud Stone?"
Ding Ning had never heard of this kind of stone and muttered in confusion.
The ant queen gestured for a long time before explaining to him what the Watercloud Stone looked like. This kind of Watercloud Stone looked no different from ordinary stones, but if he looked closely, he would find that there was always a faint mist floating in the inner layer of the stone, as if there were clouds swimming in it. That was why they called it Watercloud Stone.
Ding Ning was dumbfounded. There was a cloud-like mist flowing in the inner layer of the stone. It was a magical stone that he had never heard of or seen before.
It was a pity that after so many years, the Watercloud Stones that were brought out back then had been used up by the ant serum brewed by the ant queen. There was no other material that could broaden his horizons, which made him feel deeply regretful.
"If I didn't come, you wouldn't be able to brew ant serum in the future without the Watercloud Stones, right?"
Ding Ning asked in confusion.
"Originally, but after I found this tree, I could continue to brew ant serum."
The ant queen raised her antennae and pointed above the tree hole.
Ding Ning opened his mouth in shock. "You mean the Dragon Taming Tree?"
"Is this tree called the Dragon Taming Tree? Master, you're really knowledgeable and knowledgeable. "
The Queen Ant flattered Wang Yao.
Ding Ning was even more confused. According to the ant queen, the formula of the ant jelly had inexplicably appeared in her memory. She was not a researcher, so why did she think that the Dragon-taming Tree could replace the marble stone as the raw material?
"I don't know either. It's just that this memory appeared inexplicably in my mind. The roots of the Dragon Taming Tree can replace the Watercloud Stone as the raw material to brew ant serum."
The ant queen's confused answer made him speechless. If it wasn't for the fact that he had signed a master-servant contract with her and knew that she wouldn't lie to him, Ding Ning would have suspected that she was lying to him.
"So, you dug up the roots of the Dragon Taming Tree and made such a big tree hole just to brew ant serum?"
Ding Ning's heart twitched as he said in an unfriendly tone.
In his mind, the Dragon Taming Tree was many times more precious than the ant serum. After all, without the ant serum, he could just cultivate slowly. However, the Dragon Taming Tree, which was full of treasures, was one less tree after its death. It was difficult to plant it artificially.
Not to mention the fact that the Taming Dragon Ancient Tree had been growing for tens of thousands of years. Its medicinal effects were far more potent than ordinary Taming Dragon Wood. In his opinion, the Queen Ant digging such a big hole to brew ant syrup was simply a reckless waste of God's gift.
What he couldn't accept the most was that digging a hole in the roots could affect the life of the Dragon Taming Tree. It could even cause it to wither and die.
"I … I … I was wrong."
The ant queen lowered her head in fear. Her lips trembled for a long time, but she couldn't say anything. Her heart was filled with awe and fear towards Ding Ning.
"Forget it, I can't blame you. If you want to brew ant serum in the future, I'll help you get some cloud stones as raw materials."
Ding Ning's heart softened when he saw her pitiful appearance. He knew that he couldn't blame her. After all, she didn't know how precious the Dragon Taming Tree was.
Moreover, so what if she knew? She was just an ant, not a member of the Rare Resource Protection Association. In order to strengthen her tribe, she wouldn't hesitate to destroy the entire Dragon Taming Tree, let alone dig a hole in the tree.
"Master, there are actually many of these trees in the Forbidden Area."
The ant queen said timidly, but it made Ding Ning's body tremble. His eyes flashed with a frightening light as he asked excitedly, "Are you serious?"
"Yes, although they aren't as common as cloud stones, there are indeed many of these Dragon Taming Trees. They grow in large patches, and I can't forget the fragrance."
The ant queen replied with certainty.
"Forbidden Area, hehe, wait for me, I'll definitely go and see what kind of secret you have!"
Ding Ning's eyes were green and he almost drooled. Even if it was for the cloud stones and the Dragon Taming Tree, he had to go to the Forbidden Area.
Ding Ning stretched out his hand and put the ant queen and the guard ants into the medicine spiritual ring, then looked at the towering ancient tree with a burning gaze. There was indeed no artificial planting technique on Earth, but he had the medicine spiritual ring. It would automatically configure the most optimal growing environment, so there was no need to worry about the Dragon Taming Tree not being able to survive.
As for how to transplant it, Ding Ning didn't care at all. How difficult would it be for someone with the five elements totem to transplant a tree?
However, reality gave him a resounding slap in the face. Although he mobilized the earth and wood elements, and the Dragon Taming Tree was on the verge of collapse, he couldn't put it into the medicine spiritual ring.
Ding Ning could clearly sense that it wasn't the medicine spiritual ring's problem, but that there seemed to be something strange under the Dragon Taming Tree that was preventing it from leaving.
This made him suddenly think of the strange power that devoured his divine sense. He couldn't help but feel his hair stand on end, and his expression became uncertain. He was hesitant to provoke that terrifying existence for the Dragon Taming Tree.
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