9 Chapter 9 Advanced Combat Skills, Playing Dead to Preserve Life_1

Besides that, he had been continuously practicing the martial skill, Slash.

Chopping trees and splitting firewood could both increase his proficiency with this technique.

Although each effective slash only increased the proficiency by 0.01 points, it still rose rapidly.

He adeptly brought up his personal attributes to check.

Qin Niu

Cultivation: Mortal Onefold 37.1/100, Low-grade Farmer 75.4/100, Low-grade Insect Master 3/100

Lifespan: 51 years

Cultivation Technique: None

Skills: Planting category, Sowing proficient 34.4/100, Loosening soil modest progress 357/1000, Fertilizing modest progress 124.4/1000, Watering modest progress 276/1000, Weed removal modest progress 369.7/1000

Insect control category, Insect Trace Identification beginner 0/10.

Martial Skill: Slash proficient 67.3/100.

Talent: None

Divine Skills: None

Labor Points: 879

His cultivation had reached Mortal Onefold 37.1/100; this strength had already far surpassed that of an average adult male.

A typical adult male's cultivation was generally around Mortal Onefold 30.

Some who were frail and short might even be around Mortal Onefold 20.

Only those with exceptional talents could reach above 40.

For example, the village bully Wang Haikun, who was naturally tall and strong, even without much training, still had a cultivation level above Mortal Onefold 35.

That was completely enough to bully ordinary people.

More than twenty days ago, Qin Niu definitely wouldn't have been a match for Wang Haikun.

Now, the odds of winning were at least even.

If he were to launch a surprise attack, his chances of victory would be at least 80 percent, and could even reach 90 percent.

Because his mastery of the martial skill—Slash, after over twenty days of arduous training, had leveled up.

It was currently at a proficiency of 67.3/100.

The hit rate of Slash had far exceeded the beginner level, and his understanding of the inertia in Slash had significantly improved.

This also meant that the destructive power of a successful hit had at least doubled compared to before.

Previously, to split a piece of wood as thick as a calf, he would need two to four cuts.

Now, he could almost always do it with one slash.

When felling trees, he could clearly feel the help that the upgraded Slash brought him.

For trees as thick as his arm, they could generally be felled with one cut.

According to his current rate of progress, he estimated that it would take at most another ten days or so to elevate his Slash martial skill to the next level.

By then, it would surely be even more formidable.

Of his five planting skills, only sowing had not yet reached modest progress, while the other four had already attained this level.

In terms of planting skill, he already had the initial strength of a mid-grade farmer.

As for the experience level advancement of a farmer, he didn't care too much about it.

Of the things he had experimented with so far, only sowing could increase farmer experience. Watering, fertilizing, and such activities did not add any farmer experience.

Looking at the lush greenery in the field, his heart was filled with joy.

In about two more months, he should be able to harvest.

That would solve the problem of food supplies.

After the wolf meat had run out, his cultivation growth had started to slow down tremendously.

This made him somewhat look forward to encountering another lone old wolf.

With his current strength, slaying an old wolf should be much easier than the first time.

However, if he were to encounter a pack of wolves, he would still be more likely to suffer misfortune than fortune.

Counting the days, the young ants hatched by the Ant Queen should be almost matured.

Its energy was now at rock bottom, reaching the most difficult and dangerous moment.

This made Qin Niu very worried.

He carried a basket on his back into the mountains and went straight to the front of the Ant Nest.

The entrance was still sealed as it had been by the Ant Queen, indicating the young ants were not yet capable of leaving the nest to forage.

Trying to peer into the nest, he saw that the Ant Queen's body had withered significantly, becoming extremely weak. Five immature young ants were gathered around her.

Even in such weakness, she was still struggling to produce saliva to feed the young ants.

Assisting their rapid transformation into termites with the ability to move.

The growth of termites consisted of three stages: ant egg, nymph, and adult.

After the ant eggs were laid, they would generally hatch with the help of the Ant Queen in about seven days and then enter the nymph stage.

At this time, the termites lacked eyes and limbs, and their bodies were curved.

The Ant Queen had to continuously produce termite milk rich in various nutrients to feed them.

After consuming termite milk, they would grow and develop rapidly.

Once they'd grown to a certain extent, they would molt once.

If the young ants were malnourished or there was insufficient food, they might starve to death or suffer from poor development.

With the larvae undergoing their final molt and metamorphosis, their bodies gradually matured and developed.

At this point, they become adult ants.

They already possessed the ability to forage or defend the Ant Queen and the nest.

Currently, all five larvae had molted multiple times and reached the final stage, indicating that the Ant Queen had taken very good care of her five children.

After watching for a while, Qin Niu began to collect humus from around.

The entire mountain range was like an inexhaustible treasury filled with extremely rich resources.

However, to obtain these resources, one must have sufficient professional skills.

For instance, collecting humus for fertilizer.

If the fertilization skills are weak and one haphazardly collects the top layer of humus, the fertility effect will be very poor.

With Qin Niu's intermediate-level farmer fertilization skills, understanding how to select the right kind of fertilizer needed for the next growth period of the corn, he could achieve a very good effect.

At least, judging from the growth of the corn seedlings in his acre of land, his water and fertilizer management was excellent.

After collecting a basketful of humus, he prepared to carry it back to the field first.

Later, he would come back to chop a few loads of firewood.

It was a good opportunity to practice the Slash Martial Skill while chopping wood.

In this dog-eat-dog world, having a powerful martial skill was akin to having a gun in the modern civilized world.

Meeting unreasonable bullies and robbers, one could use martial skills to teach them a lesson at any time.

Before leaving, he felt somewhat uneasy about the Ant Queen and decided to check on her again.

Now, at this crucial final moment, there was nothing he could do to help. Only when the five larvae metamorphosed into adult ants could they go out to find food to feed the Ant Queen.

Approaching the nest, he peered inside from the small hole.

Qin Niu immediately panicked.

The Ant Queen lay motionless on the ground, her six legs slightly gathered, her body slightly contracted.

This was clearly a posture of death.

"It's over, it's over, I didn't expect it to still not make it to the last moment!"

Qin Niu slumped to the ground, feeling powerless.

All the efforts and hopes of nearly a month dissipated in this moment.

He was unwilling to accept it, yet he had to face this reality.

Why was it so difficult for a female Breeder Ant to become an Ant Queen and successfully establish a Termite Kingdom?

"No, that's not right, if a contracted pet dies, I would feel a stabbing pain in my head, but I didn't feel it this time."

Qin Niu had a sudden realization, suddenly aware that the Ant Queen might not be dead.

This Ant Queen was different from others; it had a fake death skill.

Could it be feigning death right now?

He immediately checked the properties and status of the Ant Queen.

Female Milky White Ant (Ant Queen)

Level: Grade Two Isoptera Insect, Upgrade Experience 100/1000

Lifespan: 4.2 years

Energy: 0

Skills: Breeding Onefold 0.05/10, Fake Death Onefold 2/10

Talent: Medium Intelligence

Its fake death skill proficiency had risen from 1 to 2, it must be feigning death.

Why would it feign death?

Usually, it would only resort to this tactic when facing an enemy too strong to defeat, using a feigned death to escape a crisis.

But there were no enemies invading its nest now!

After thinking for a moment, a glint of understanding appeared in Qin Niu's eyes.

The Ant Queen's feigned death was likely to reduce bodily energy consumption to the lowest level.

Because its energy had dropped to 0.

Yes, that must be it.

Frogs and snakes hibernate to lower their energy consumption, hiding in warm underground caves to survive the cold winter.

Termites did not have the hibernation skill, but their fake death skill must have a similar principle behind it.

Only the limit of the fake death duration was much shorter than hibernation.

Qin Niu lay down outside the nest to observe the Ant Queen in the hole once more.

It still looked the same, in a state resembling death.

At this moment, the larva with the darkest color began to move.

This excited Qin Niu.

"Hurry up, your mother is about to starve to death!"

He was genuinely anxious.

Unfortunately, the larvae's final molt was not as easy as imagined, but a very lengthy process.

The larva moved a couple of times, then stopped again.

It remained curled up in a slumber.

Watching this, Qin Niu felt frustrated, as though he could be worried to death.