The battle began.

With sword and shield in hand, Cyan Gang charged ahead and unleashed a slash.

The fierce sword artifact tore through the air, severing several Marching Ants at the waist, while the shield in hand sent flying some descending Flying Ants.

There was quite the aura of a lone man defying a thousand.

Immediately after.

The other plants sprang into action, starting to bombard the ant swarm.

Initially facing demon species ten times their own number, Lin You felt a bit apprehensive.

However, as the battle ensued, he gradually felt relieved.

Because those Marching Ants that were killed quickly turned into a large patch of Immortal Flowers, compensating for the numerical gap, holding off the most ferocious wave of the ant swarm’s assault.

"Go ahead, leave the sky to you."

Lin You said to the Mushroom Demon King beside him.

Letting it lead the Mushroom Legion, riding six Plant Dragons to the skies, he wildly threw mushrooms at the surrounding Flying Ant army, triggering massive explosions.

[Killed Tier Eight Demon, gained 1000 Magic Energy.]

[Killed Tier Eight Demon, gained 1011 Magic Energy.]

[Killed Tier Eight Demon, gained 979 Magic Energy.]

...

For a moment, the corpses of Flying Ants rained down, continuously falling from the sky.

Reaching such a level, the ant demons began showing signs of bleeding.

Though not much, Cyan Rattan was unrestrained, sending out countless vines to wrap around the corpses, draining the blood, making its attacks even fiercer.

Just then.

The Marching Ant swarm seemed to sense the power of these plant species, suddenly emitting a sharp sand-scraping sound skyward.

Instantly, a bloodthirsty red glow rose from the ant swarm, directly boosting their power and speed attributes by 30%.

It was clearly their Unity Power skill!

"Cyan Gang!"

Seeing the Plant Legion being pushed back again, large patches of Immortal Flowers and summoned Tree Demons overwhelmed by the ant swarm.

Lin You didn’t hesitate, shouting toward Cyan Gang.

Receiving the command, Cyan Gang directly activated Barbaric Roar, elevating all plant attributes at once, blocking the ant swarm, engaging in chaotic combat on the wasteland.

At this moment.

Lingxi, who had been leading the Flower Spirit species in healing, finally took action.

With a gentle point of the hero-level Purple Orchid Staff, countless sharp Wooden Thorns assembled, rapidly shooting toward the densest area of the Marching Ants, instantly eliminating a patch.

The next second.

The Violet Garden bloomed, encompassing the entire hundred-meter range, enveloping the Marching Ants, forming plant replicas engaged in fierce combat with them.

Swoosh!

A ghostly afterimage swept by.

The elusive Shadowless activated Mirage, transforming into three shadows roaming between the Violet Garden, continuously harvesting heads.

With such speed, those marching ants couldn’t even touch it.

A flash of cold light, and they had already become its knife’s underworld souls.

Making Shadowless’s experience points soar rapidly.

And after the original died, the replicas instantly gained 10% of their attributes, immediately joining the battle among other replicas.

Just like this, rolling like a snowball, completely slaughtering the marching ants entering the Violet Garden!

"Really perverse....."

Seeing such a scene.

Even Lin You couldn’t help but exclaim, truly perverse.

And under the attribute blessing of Life and Death, Lingxi’s offensive became even more fierce, massive attacks landing within the ant swarm, blooming countless gardens on the entire field.

The artillery in the rear also wasn’t idle.

Leading the Blast Shooter and Frost Shooter to support the Mushroom Demon King in the air, each Piercing Strike directly cleared a region.

Gradually.

Adding the replicas to the Immortal Flowers.

The species count on Lin You’s side finally overwhelmed the ant swarm, slowly pushing forward into the wasteland.

Until reaching deep into the wasteland, new ants finally appeared around.

[Name: Bursting Lava Ant (Ordinary)]

[Race: Insect]

[Level: Tier Eight (SSS-level)]

[Power: 2100 (+2100)]

[Constitution: 2100 (+2100)]

[Agility: 2500 (+2500)]

[Spirit: 2500 (+2500)]

[Skills: Self-Destruction, Self-Destructive Enhancement, Bursting Lava]

[Chaos: All Attributes 100% Boost]

[Introduction: Worker ants among the ant species, adept at suicide bombing attacks to resist enemies, with terrifying explosion power.]

"..."

Seeing those ants with reddened bodies, Lin You got a headache immediately.

Having a self-destruct skill alone would be fine, but it also comes with Self-Destructive Enhancement.

That’s not all, in the end, they even come up with a flame explosion countering Plant Type.

And their numbers are even greater than the previous Marching Ants.

If they get close, his plant species would definitely suffer great losses.

"Just right, let’s test the set effect."

Seeing that massive red figure speeding towards them, Lin You immediately condensed the Power of Rule, activating the Venus Flytrap’s Corrosive Acid Rain skill.

With the Frost Spirit Set boosted.

The acidic rain’s cloud burst into a chill, and the descending acid rain directly turned into ice attribute attacks, crackling into the ant swarm.

The originally aggressive Lava Ants all carried a layer of frost, their speed slowing down immediately.

And under the dense attack of acid rain, their frost layers quickly reached 10 layers, triggering the set effect, one by one frozen into ice sculptures.

Indeed effective!

Lin You was overjoyed, finally experiencing the joy of being an Ice Mage.

Seeing more and more Lava Ants sealed in ice, he had no hesitation, immediately commanding his species to bombard them with ranged attacks.

The Corrosive Acid Rain didn’t consume much for Lin You.

Thus he wasn’t idle either, continuing to rain acid rain from all directions, halting the Lava Ants’ advance, blocking them over ten meters away, then having the ranged species shoot them down.

Practically even easier than the previous Marching Ants.

However, Lin You also discovered a problem.

The frost effect of his Tier Nine Ice Soul Great Saber is triggered by close combat and cannot stack with the Frost Spirit Set, nor can it trigger the set effect.

Otherwise, every five attacks can trigger an Ice Seal once, with absolutely explosive effects.

Just like that, advancing all the way amidst bombing.

The whole team finally crossed the wasteland and reached the largest ant nest deep within.

Beside the ant nest.

There stood a Tooth-eating Ant Queen, tens of meters tall, crouching over the nest.

[Name: Tooth-eating Ant Queen (Leader)]

[Race: Insect]

[Level: Tier Nine (SSS-level)]

[Power: 3800 (+3800)]

[Constitution: 5000 (+5000)]

[Agility: 3500 (+3500)]

[Spirit: 4900 (+4900)]

[Skills: Super Regeneration, laying eggs, Summoned Ant Swarm]

[Chaos: All Attributes increased by 100%]

[Introduction: The queen of the Tooth-eating Ant Swarm, with weak attack ability, but can summon numerous minions and possesses strong survival abilities.]

Luckily.

It’s just a Tier Nine Leader of the summoning type.

To Lin You, it’s simply a free meal.

"Go ahead, take care of it."

With an order, the plant army beside him surged like a tide, surrounding and launching a fierce attack on the Tooth-eating Ant Queen.

Two minutes later.

A roar full of resentment and anger spread throughout the entire secret realm.

The giant body of the Tooth-eating Ant Queen fell heavily to the ground.

[Killed Tier Eight Leader Demon, gained 10,000 Magic Energy.]

[Congratulations, you’ve successfully cleared SSS-level Tier Eight secret realm.]

[Current score 1999, ranked first on Tier Eight secret realm leaderboard.]

Lin You was not surprised to claim the top spot on the leaderboard.

Because his advancement speed was indeed unusually fast.

Especially against the Lava Ants in the middle stage, everything was swept through effortlessly.

If he couldn’t even make it to the top, then he might as well cease to exist.

What he cared most about now was the rewards for clearing the secret realm.

Upon hearing the clearance prompt sound, he immediately left the group and approached the body of the Tooth-eating Ant Queen, where three items quietly lay on the ground.

Did something drop?

Lin You was delighted, quickly looked at the three items.

A Tier Eight Territory Essence and an Experience Ball below Tier Nine with 500 points, the basic items.

But the third one was a seemingly extraordinary silver scroll.

This was the first non-basic reward item that Lin You had exploded from the secret realm in these two months.

After such a long time since opening.

It’s really not easy.

Immediately picked up the scroll, checking the attributes.

[Artifact: laying eggs (Species Skills)]

[Level: Tier Eight]

[Usage times: 3/3]

[Introduction: Can be used on a specific species to teach it the "laying eggs" skill, replacing one of its skills, usable by Insect Species.]

Oh wow.

The signature skill of the Insect species.

Didn’t expect it to be this.

Unlike Undead Type’s "Undead Summoning", the Insect Type’s "laying eggs" cultivates a new individual.

So it won’t disappear after energy exhaustion at a certain time like the Undead Type.

This scroll can create 3 Insect Mothers.

If properly cultivated, it would be a vast insect army, something desired by lords without the laying eggs species.

What’s most important is the adaptability of this scroll.

Even some insect species without the laying eggs skill can use it.

Mass production is absolutely achievable, and it doesn’t take a recruiting slot!

"Good stuff, might ask Situ Jian if he wants it."

Among Lin You’s friends, only Situ Jian belonged to the Insect Type.

Giving this to him might exchange for some good stuff.

It’s better than selling directly.

Happily putting the scroll away.

Lin You then stood up.

Leaving the wasteland with his species, quickly heading for the secret realm entrance to go through it several more times.

Meanwhile.

On the Floating Islands.

Lords gathered in front of the Tier Eight secret realm leaderboard finally noticed the changes on the board.

"Look quickly! The first place has been ousted!"

"Eh? Someone surpassed first place?"

"Damn! Really!"

"Seems like it’s the Lin You from the Great Wilderness Duchy!"

"Lin You? It’s him?"

Crowds erupted in exclamations, all drawn to the name suddenly perched at the top of the leaderboard.

Lin You’s reputation wasn’t unfamiliar to many Tier Eight lords, and they had heard various rumors about him.

Yet when he really crowned the top of Tier Eight as if conquering the peak, the shock was profound.

Note that.

The top few names on the leaderboard were acknowledged top Tier Eight elites, and familiar veteran lords.

Although rumors said Lin You’s power was formidable.

Few had personally witnessed it.

Moreover, Lin You wasn’t very ostentatious, so many remained skeptical.

Yet unexpectedly.

Today’s event proved them wrong.

And delivered a hard slap to their faces.