# 375
**Chapter 375: Bloodline Sacrifice**
The ant queen clearly sensed the threat emanating from Cao Yuan. Its body lowered slightly before it shot forward like an arrow. Its massive form tore through the air with a howling gale, its razor-sharp forelimbs slashing toward Cao Yuan’s black-flame longsword!
**Clang—!!**
The blade and forelimbs collided, sending a piercing metallic hum echoing through the vast hall. The pitch-black Cao Yuan was knocked back over a dozen steps before barely stabilizing himself.
The ant queen fared even worse. The force of the impact tore through the paper-thin sections of its torso, ripping off an entire hind leg. Its anguished roar shook the hall.
It wasn’t that Cao Yuan was overwhelmingly strong—on the contrary, under normal circumstances, he would’ve been the one sent flying. But the ant queen, eroded by the paper-doll technique, had nearly a third of its body turned into fragile paper. Every movement risked tearing more of it apart.
Its strength, speed, and durability were all severely hampered by its paper body.
At that moment, two more figures flashed out from behind Cao Yuan.
An Qingyu’s eyes locked onto the ant queen, analyzing its structure in real time. Invisible threads shot from his palms, instantly wrapping around every joint of the ant queen’s body.
The ant queen thrashed violently, its terrifying strength dragging An Qingyu forward in a stumble. He frowned, and a wave of extreme cold surged along the threads, precisely freezing the joints of its limbs!
The frost slowed the ant queen’s movements. It twisted like a crippled ant, joints stiff and jerking, chunks of ice falling away as it struggled to break free.
Just then, Baili Pangpang stepped onto the [Jade Pool], soaring into the air. He pulled out an old-fashioned colorful toy windmill from his pocket and blew gently at the ant queen below.
The windmill’s blades spun rapidly, and a torrent of blazing fire erupted from within, forming a scorching fire tornado that crashed down from the sky!
**Boom—!!**
The fire tornado instantly engulfed the ant queen. A shrill scream rose from the flames as the paper portions of its body were incinerated in seconds!
The ant queen burst from the inferno, half its face gone, its rear smoldering, the paper sections now charred and crumbling into the air.
This single blaze had pushed the already gravely wounded ant queen to the brink.
The mutilated ant queen barely steadied itself, snarling at Lin Qiye and the others while retreating toward a corner of the palace. At the same time, strange red patterns began to surface across its body.
Not just its body—the ground beneath its feet also started to crawl with red lines, like writhing blood vessels devouring the earth.
A bizarre aura erupted from the ant queen!
Meanwhile, outside Fengdu, within the cracks of the earth.
Countless red worker ants clung to the cliffs. Suddenly, crimson patterns flared across their bodies. Their forms swelled like balloons—
**Pop—!!**
One worker ant’s body expanded to its limit before exploding. Green blood and limbs splattered as a strange red light vanished into the void.
Then a second worker ant exploded. Then a third, fourth, fifth…
Across the fissures teeming with ants, one after another worker ant burst like fireworks. Streams of red light surged into the void and disappeared.
Not just the workers—the black soldier ants also bore these patterns. But unlike the panicked workers, they seemed to understand what was coming. They lowered their bodies in silent submission, calmly awaiting their own detonation…
**Boom boom boom—!!**
When the soldier ants exploded, the red light they produced was three times denser than that of the workers, vanishing instantly into the void.
Inside Fengdu’s Imperial Palace.
A flood of red light surged from the patterned ground beneath the ant queen, instantly enveloping its body. The light rapidly merged into its form, causing it to swell to twice its original size. Its mutilated body began regenerating at a terrifying speed.
A layer of red carapace formed over its surface, like heavy armor. Black, scythe-like blades extended from the gaps in the plating. Its long white antennae transformed into eerie, colorful tendrils—thick, agile, like two massive serpents!
Its aura skyrocketed—from near death, to early Sea Realm, to the peak of Sea Realm, even showing signs of breaking through to Infinity!
An Qingyu’s brow furrowed deeply. He seemed to realize something and spoke in a low voice:
“Forbidden Ruins Sequence 347—[Bloodline Sacrifice]…”
“[Bloodline Sacrifice]?” Baili Pangpang asked in confusion.
“A vile Forbidden Ruins that allows one to sacrifice bloodline kin to replenish the body and increase power… But for most people, it’s useless. After all, how many close relatives does one have? And the power in their blood is negligible. Even if you sacrificed them all, it might only push an ordinary person to Lamp or Pool Realm. That’s why its sequence is so low.”
An Qingyu stared at the ant queen, his face dark. “But for a creature like the ant queen, with insane reproductive ability—if it sacrifices hundreds of soldier and worker ants, it could easily break into Infinity. Even Klein isn’t impossible…”
“That broken?!” Baili Pangpang exclaimed.
“There are no weak Forbidden Ruins—only unsuitable ones… This one paired with the ant queen is an unreasonably broken combo!”
Lin Qiye gripped his Straight Blade tightly and said coldly, “No matter what, we have to stop it. If it really breaks into Infinity, we’re in serious trouble.”
An Qingyu shook his head, frowning. “The sacrificial patterns are its power source. They’re not physical. Our attacks might not—”
**Whoosh—!!**
Before he could finish, an arrow whistled past Lin Qiye’s side!
The arrowhead glowed white, piercing through the red light surrounding the ant queen. It stabbed into the thick red carapace like it was paper, sinking deep into the dense red patterns!
The white light instantly severed the sacrificial lines. The ant queen’s body jolted, its rising aura screeching to a halt!