Creating a paradise in an ant nest

Chapter 48 Two Pest Control Geniuses?

The spirit tree in front of Liu He was about two zhang tall and three chi in diameter. It was upright and slender, with branches that stretched out horizontally and vertically in a sparse and orderly manner, and layers of branches swaying gently.

The leaves are shaped like a phoenix tail and have a clear, bright green color.

It is a spiritual plant called "Phoenix Leaf Wutong Tree".

If you look closely, you can see that the leaves on several side branches are wilted and drooping.

Liu He performed the "wood diagnosis" twice but found no cause for the illness.

He is an earth elemental spirit, which only enhances earth-based spells, and he is not proficient in wood-based spells, so his wood-based spells are not very good.

It wasn't until the third wood examination that extremely tiny holes inside the branches were noticed.

At this moment, five thousand ant soldiers are climbing the phoenix-leaf parasol tree. They are scattered in various places, carefully searching every tiny corner.

About 15 minutes later, some ants discovered traces of woodworm activity in a crevice of a branch.

They relayed messages to their companions, and a group of ants crawled into the hole. The hole, which had been filled with a large amount of woodworm droppings and sawdust, was emptied out by them.

The ants crawled and searched inside the tunnels eaten away by the woodworms, and soon found the culprit: a longhorn beetle larva.

This longhorn beetle larva is not large, similar in size to a specialized soldier ant, but more slender, and has a worm-like shape. It is milky yellow all over, similar in color to the wood, and is hiding among the sawdust, gnawing at the wood with its well-developed mandibles.

If it is an ordinary longhorn beetle larva, it is powerless against ants, and a few worker ants can easily defeat it.

But it is a spirit insect, and the aura it emits makes the ants feel a strong threat.

The ants released pheromones, preparing for a swarm attack, and charged forward in a single wave. That's ants for you; no matter how strong the enemy, once they decide to attack, they will fight fearlessly and relentlessly.

The longhorn beetle larvae struggled fiercely, easily biting and killing the ants that pounced on them. However, there were too many ants, and the longhorn beetle larvae were not good at fighting.

After losing dozens of ants, the longhorn beetle larvae were bitten to death by the ants and carried out of the tree.

"Are they longhorn beetle larvae?"

Liu He couldn't see the fierce battle inside the spirit tree; he could only receive the "death" messages constantly coming from the ants.

"As expected of a spirit insect, it actually caused me to lose dozens of ant soldiers."

He felt a pang of sympathy.

If it is a common longhorn beetle larva, it is a helpless prey in front of ants.

"Eat it, rest for a moment, and then continue."

Liu He instructed the ants to eat the longhorn beetle larvae to fill their stomachs.

He sat cross-legged beside the phoenix-leaf parasol tree, practicing his cultivation techniques to restore his spiritual energy.

While the ants were battling the longhorn beetle larvae, he pretended to perform insect-repelling techniques several times on the sidelines.

Sigrún has taught at the Iceland University of the Arts as a part-time lecturer since and was Dean of the Department of Fine Art from -. In – she held a research position at Reykjavík Art Museum focusing on the role of women in Icelandic art. She studied fine art at the Icelandic College of Arts and Crafts and at Pratt Institute, New York, and holds BA and MA degrees in art history and philosophy from the University of Iceland. Sigrún lives and works in Iceland.

After Liu He circulated his spiritual energy several times to recover his depleted spiritual energy, he was about to lead the ants away when someone arrived.

"Liu He, have you dealt with the pest infestation on this phoenix-leaf parasol tree?"

It's Meng Kaizhou.

These spirit trees, which pose a challenge in the examination, were all transplanted from the Spirit Tree Garden. Under Qi Wei's guidance, Meng Kaizhou already knew all the details and solutions.

Even though he knows the "answer," he still needs to use magic and expend considerable effort to deal with it.

After all, this is a difficult problem used to test and select geniuses, and it cannot be easily solved by simple insect removal techniques.

Meng Kaizhou first chose a spirit tree that was easy to handle, and then came to the Phoenix Leaf Wutong tree. In his opinion, the Phoenix Leaf Wutong tree was relatively easy to deal with; five or six spells would suffice.

"Yes, I've resolved it. You should look for other spirit wood."

Liu He responded, unaware that he had "stole" Meng Kaizhou's question.

"All right."

Meng Kaizhou was astonished. If he hadn't known the "answer" beforehand, he certainly wouldn't have been able to handle the situation with the Phoenix Leaf Wutong. How did Liu He manage that?

Meng Kaizhou didn't care about the fact that he had the same question as Liu He.

There are many spirit trees here that have been infested by pests, and it is not something that a few cultivators can deal with.

The two parted ways, each going on to find their next problem.

Just as they left, a late-stage Qi Refining cultivator arrived to check on the condition of the Phoenix Leaf Wutong tree.

"The larvae of the Silver Star Aoki Longhorn Beetle have been eliminated? Judging from the person's condition, it didn't seem to be too difficult. Their insect-removal skills are quite good."

"What was that person's name again? I think it was Liu He."

There were only 120 people participating in the practical examination, and the inner disciples and Foundation Establishment cultivators who were responsible for observing them all recognized each of them.

Among the 120 people, Liu He was unremarkable and inconspicuous.

He seemed outstanding, but these 120 people were carefully selected from more than 2,000 applicants for menial jobs, and each of them was no less capable than him.

Sigrún has taught at the Iceland University of the Arts as a part-time lecturer since and was Dean of the Department of Fine Art from -. In – she held a research position at Reykjavík Art Museum focusing on the role of women in Icelandic art. She studied fine art at the Icelandic College of Arts and Crafts and at Pratt Institute, New York, and holds BA and MA degrees in art history and philosophy from the University of Iceland. Sigrún lives and works in Iceland.

Liu He eliminated the larvae of the green wood longhorn beetle on the phoenix-leaf parasol tree and continued to deal with pests on other spiritual plants.

He wasn't fast; on average, it took him two hours to process one spirit tree.

After all, ants need time to travel, search for insects, and rest.

Liu He deliberately misled the situation, feigning the use of wood-based diagnostic techniques and insect-repelling methods. Sometimes, he couldn't even find the spirit insects using his wood-based diagnostic techniques, but the ants found them.

A day passed, and night fell.

Liu He resolved the issue of four spiritual trees, including the Phoenix Leaf Wutong.

Larvae of the silver-starred longhorn beetle, larvae of the glass beetle, and silver beetles, etc.

"The practical assessment ends tomorrow evening, so there's still one night and one day left."

After resting for a while, he led his ant soldiers to the next spirit tree.

Ants rely mainly on their sense of smell, and darkness has no effect on them.

For cultivators, there is no difference between day and night; they do not need to sleep. When they are tired, they only need to meditate, circulate their energy, and absorb spiritual energy.

Sigrún has taught at the Iceland University of the Arts as a part-time lecturer since and was Dean of the Department of Fine Art from -. In – she held a research position at Reykjavík Art Museum focusing on the role of women in Icelandic art. She studied fine art at the Icelandic College of Arts and Crafts and at Pratt Institute, New York, and holds BA and MA degrees in art history and philosophy from the University of Iceland. Sigrún lives and works in Iceland.

"Deacon Qi, I have discovered a promising talent who is extremely skilled in insect exorcism."

The inner disciple in charge of observing Liu He found Qi Wei and explained the situation.

Because Liu He was too ordinary, he was not initially on the list of people to be observed, except for one inner disciple who would observe him from time to time.

Liu He had successfully eliminated the pests on three spirit trees in succession. The first time was due to good luck, the second time to his strong abilities, but what about the third time? The inner disciples were unaware that Liu He had just eliminated the pests on the fourth spirit tree.

"Oh? You mean Meng Kaizhou?"

Qi Wei thought the "good seedling" this person was referring to was Meng Kaizhou.

"Um...it's not Meng Kaizhou."

If it were Meng Kaizhou, this person wouldn't have come here specifically.

"He is a menial disciple named Liu He, from the outer mountain forest farm, with a low-grade spiritual root. His spiritual talent is unknown."

"Liu He?"

Qi Wei didn't have much of an impression of Liu He: "Does this person have any chance of passing the selection?"

The inner disciple nodded confidently: "There's at least a 90% chance. He first eliminated the larvae of the Green Wood Longhorn Beetle on the Phoenix Leaf Wutong Tree, and then dealt with the jewel larvae of the Silver Needle Crane Pine..."

Could this person have known about the situation beforehand?

Qi Wei was suspicious.

If one were unaware of this beforehand, dealing with these spiritual plant pests with a Qi Refining Level 3 cultivation level is quite an achievement.

"I will inform Steward Yin and ask him to investigate the matter."

Qi Wei went to find Yin Zhi.

Yin Zhi was in charge of this selection process, and the final twelve spots would be decided by him.