’I only collect Nation Destruction Level Demons.’

’I’ll have to go to the Ant Mountain later. Now that I’ve upgraded my Death Exchange Technique, I can use smaller corpses.’

’The slightly larger Black Ants will be enough for my needs.’

Lu Cang didn’t know how to harvest, so he could only use `Sealed Remains (Tier Two) (Level 301)` to preserve the Demon corpses.

’When the time comes, I’ll either sell them directly or find Chi Cheng to dissect them.’

’When I passed by the Ten Thousand Goods Mall today, I saw they were advertising a major auction. They’re probably trying to drum up some hype using the Nation Destruction Level Demons as a gimmick.’

With so many Nation Destruction Level Demons, Lu Cang didn’t believe for a second that a merchant guild that large wouldn’t try to profit from them.

’Their profits are definitely going to be much higher than mine...’

"The raw materials cost one hundred and twenty million, so they might be able to earn over a billion."

These were Chi Cheng’s exact words.

After leaving this Dungeon, Lu Cang went on to explore seven Tier Four Dungeons.

He killed 96 Nation Destruction Level Demons.

’The average value of one is 200,000, so this trip earned me nearly Twenty Million Gold Coins. It took about two hours.’

’The main hassle was just finding the Dungeons.’

’Clearing them, on the other hand, took less than five minutes each. Most of that time was spent getting used to the Magic Staff’s features and collecting the corpses.’

’If I were just focused on instantly killing them, I’d probably be in and out in just five seconds.’

The corpses filled two Storage Bags. He then placed both Storage Bags into his High Tier Storage Bag.

The High Tier Storage Bag was a container made specifically for holding other storage items.

’It only has one cubic meter of space, yet it costs 8,000 Gold Coins...’

’It has no other special characteristics. Its single greatest feature is its ability to hold most common storage items.’

After clearing out those Demons, Lu Cang returned to the Sealing Land of the Thousand Army Ant Mountain.

"I can give it a try now..."

Lu Cang opened the Seal.

Inside, he saw only piles of black ash.

The bodies had not completely disappeared, but had turned into ash and piled up.

Lu Cang summoned a gale, pulling a large amount of ash out of the cave and tossing it outside.

Once it was clean, he stepped inside.

Once inside, his Perception swept the area before he resealed the entrance.

"Finally, I can give it a try..."

A bottle of viscous blood appeared in Lu Cang’s right hand.

He raised his hand, and a current of wind popped the cork open.

Blood of Evil Demons.

The blood of an evil creature, possibly from the Undead, a Vampire, or a Demon...

The Sea of Fire had already been dispelled.

The Thousand Army Ant Mountain was now enclosed by massive, rising walls.

Using his Water Manipulation Magic, Lu Cang suspended the Blood of Evil Demons in midair as he recalled how to draw the Ritual Array.

This was the first time Lu Cang had ever set up a Ritual.

’I’ve heard this world has all sorts of strange Rituals. Their main feature is sacrificing something of value in exchange for a response.’

’Theoretically, a Ritual can accomplish a great many things.’

’But the drawbacks are... they’re difficult to set up, and the price required might be more than one can afford.’

"Clarify the price of the Ritual."

"Know the response you will receive after completing the Ritual."

"This is a necessary process for initiating a Ritual. If you don’t follow this process, you will very likely pay a huge price in exchange for endless suffering."

This was the most important rule of Rituals.

"Kumironi has already appraised it..."

The Blood of Evil Demons was smeared onto the hard, dark iron ground, drawing circle after circle, and connecting them with lines at different nodes...

’This should be it.’

’Depending on the Ritual’s requirements, it doesn’t always have to be perfectly precise.’

’At least, this one doesn’t.’

Then, Lu Cang placed some small trinkets that seemed to increase the Ritual’s Effect.

Demon body parts, Demon blood, an object that could emit Light...

"And then..."

"Sacrifice a soul, and you can get a response in return."

Lu Cang closed his eyes and touched the Ritual’s Array with his hand.

The Ritual was complete.

Lu Cang felt a slight attractive force from the Ritual, capable of pulling at things like souls... but this pull was very faint. If not for his extremely high Spirituality, he wouldn’t have been able to feel it at all.

"Sacrifice..."

"1 soul."

A pure white soul drifted out of Lu Cang’s body...

...and merged into the Ritual’s Array.

In the sealed cave, it was as if a gust of wind had suddenly blown.

Lu Cang felt a powerful suction from the Ritual’s Array.

Lu Cang calmed his Mind and saw some foul Qi gathering. The Demon Tide was growing thicker.

Ever since reading The Beginning of Spirituality, his use of Spirituality had become much more adept.

Now he could use his Spirituality more clearly to see things like the Demon Tide—things that normal people couldn’t see...

"Just as I thought, it’s gotten much thicker."

His Perception turned towards the Thousand Army Ant Mountain.

He also saw that its speed of producing Black Ants had increased.

"And now..."

"Sacrifice 2,000 souls."

Lu Cang increased the number of souls for the Sacrifice...

This time, he could clearly feel the Ritual generating a vortex-like suction. The Demon Tide from all directions was rapidly converging here.

However, it didn’t seem to just be the Demon Tide being sucked in from other places.

A lot of the Demon Tide also seemed to be materializing out of thin air.

And right after, this attracted Demon Tide was madly sucked in by the Thousand Army Ant Mountain!

A massive number of Black Ants erupted like a geyser!

Originally, because of the Thousand Army Ant Mountain’s presence, the Demon Tide here was already extremely thin, and the number of Black Ants it produced had dwindled to a trickle.

Now that it had become dense, the Thousand Army Ant Mountain’s spawning rate soared to over ten thousand Black Ants per second!

WHOOSH!

A Sea of Fire ignited, encircling the Ant Mountain.

"So fast... but it still feels like it’s not enough."

Lu Cang’s Mind stirred.

Souls drifted out from his body.

*Sacrifice Soul—5000*

BOOM!

In that instant, it felt as if the entire mountain trembled slightly.

In Lu Cang’s eyes, he saw thick, filthy colors churning!

Perception released!

He discovered that the mountain was like the center of a storm, with a massive Demon Tide converging from all directions!

’Just five thousand souls can have such a terrifying effect?’

’A Demon Tide this dense...’

Light flashed from Lu Cang’s right hand, and he found himself holding a white test strip.

In the dense Demon Tide, the color of the test strip gradually turned a grayish-brown, becoming murky...

Finally, it stopped at a color that would not darken any further.

Lu Cang took out a chart to compare.

"Demon Tide density... Tier Five."

"Within this Demon Tide, a wild Tier Five Demon may be spawned."

To think he only sacrificed five thousand souls.

...and it could condense a Tier Five Demon Tide.

’The effect of this Ritual is truly terrifying. What would happen if I sacrificed fifty thousand souls at once?’

Lu Cang didn’t plan to try it rashly...

’The consequences would probably be severe.’

As the Demon Tide converged, the Thousand Army Ant Mountain was also simultaneously converting large amounts of it into Black Ants. In such a dense environment, ants were continuously crawling out of every hole in the entire body of the Thousand Army Ant Mountain.

The rate at which he gained souls reached an astonishing 100,000 per second.

"It’s being consumed so quickly..."

"But it’s still not fast enough."

With a thought, Lu Cang stretched a single hand toward the Thousand Army Ant Mountain.

’Souls can’t just be used for sacrificing to Dungeons or in Rituals. They can also be used to... Enhance Demons.’

’For most Demons, the Enhancement effect just makes them more berserk. It doesn’t increase their loot value, nor can it turn them into allies.’

’In most cases, it just makes the fight harder.’

’But... for the Thousand Army Ant Mountain...’

*Sacrifice—500 souls*

*Enhance Demon—Thousand Army Ant Mountain*

WOOO~

Countless souls, carrying echoes of praise, infused into the body of the Thousand Army Ant Mountain!

THUMP—

Lu Cang felt the Thousand Army Ant Mountain suddenly throb.

Its entire body began to beat like a war drum!

THUMP-THUMP—

THUMP-THUMP—

THUMP-THUMP-THUMP-THUMP-THUMP-THUMP!

Every vibration scattered a swarm of ants like a torrential downpour. Tens of thousands of holes all over its body madly spewed out Black Ants like popcorn makers!

Each spray released a massive swarm!

Every tremor was a plague of ants!

The Demon Tide was absorbed by it even more quickly. Lu Cang felt that the Demon Tide, which could have originally condensed a Tier Five Demon, was rapidly thinning out again!

"I can add more..."

*Ritual Sacrifice—5000 souls*

Lu Cang didn’t sacrifice too many, just another 5,000!

The Ritual began to operate frantically!

Immediately after, the Thousand Army Ant Mountain started working even harder.

"A Thousand Army Ant Mountain enhanced with 500 souls... the rate is still too slow..."