Chapter 1899 Rock Biter Termites
While flying over the Minor Mite Mountains, Lin Mu let his Immortal sense scan the area below him. He wanted to see just how many beasts there were and if there was anything good hidden there.
Lin Mu's immortal sense had a very long range, and as such he could see up to five kilometers underground and ten kilometers aboveground in a straight line.
"Damn, that's a lot of beasts." Lin Mu muttered as he sensed the sheer swarms of Rock Biter Termites underground. 'If these attacked any human settlement, it would be easily wiped out.' Lin Mu thought.
Thinking of this though, Lin Mu wondered why they didn't do this. He took out one of the books he had bought from the city and started to read more about the area and its denizens.
The Mite Mountains were divided into two sections, the Minor Mite Mountains and the Major Mite Mountains.
This wasn't actually due to the size of the mountains, but rather due to what lived there.
Just like normal termites, the Rock Biter Termites also had a hierarchy in their species. There were queens, kings, soldiers as well as workers.
The Minor Mite Mountains had Worker and Soldier Rock Biter Termites living in them. As such, they were the extension of the Major Mite Mountains and also had the highest population of the Rock Biter Termites.
The Major Mite Mountains on the other hand, house the queens, kings and soldiers to guard them. The number of mountains in the major Mite mountains was actually less, but they were bigger in size compared to the Minor Mite Mountains.
Another special thing about them was the fact that every mountain in the Major Mite Mountains would only house a single pair of King and Queen Rock Biter Termites. These mountains would then be connected with the Minor Mite Mountains underground through thousands of tunnels that had been built by the worker Rock Biter Termites.
The cultivation bases of these beasts also varied similarly.
The Worker Rock Biter Termites were actually quite weak being in the spirit realm. They weren't even immortals and as such could be killed by any random immortal. Even killing a hundred thousand of them with the wave of a hand wouldn't be an issue for a Fake immortal.
But when the Worker Rock Biter Termites broke through and reached the Immortal realm, they would be promoted to the Soldier class. They would grow bigger and gain bigger mandibles that could cut through refined steel like it was paper.
Now these were threats to immortals too.
If not for the fact that the number of Soldiers was significantly less than the workers, there was a high chance the Empire might have wiped them out already.
It was estimated that about 80% of the entire Rock Biter Termites population was composed of the Worker class, while only 18% of them were Soldiers. This number varied as the soldiers would die in conflicts against other colonies as well as other beasts.
Then there were the kings and queens who were just two to one percent of the total population.
They also had the highest cultivation base in the colonies being at the third or fourth Tribulation Stage of the Immortal realm. But some were said to be able to reach even farther and break through to the fifth or even sixth Tribulation Stage of the Immortal realm.
But that hadn't happened in thousands of years due to the natural conflict between the different colonies of the Rock Biter Termites. They kept each other in check and their population stayed controlled for the most part.
"No wonder, the empire does not consider them a threat. Overall, they might take a large area and have massive numbers, but they are still quite weak." Lin Mu reckoned that since they were living right next to the Great Meteorite Wall, even the empire didn't bother to reclaim the land.
Plus, there was also the fact that the soil processed by the Rock Biter Termites was considered very good for growing immortal herbs. The Rock Biter Termites would break and consume rocks, which would then be digested by their bodies, and turned into fertile soil suitable for growing herbs.
As such, the empire would send people from time to time to collect the soil and sell it.
Other allied powers were also allowed to gather soil from here, and as such the place actually got a level of protection from Alchemist as well as Herbalist powers.
Still, it didn't stop Lin Mu and Little Shrubby's desire for trying new foods.
When night rolled in, the two came to a stop atop one of the mountains/nests and waited for the Rock Biter Termites to come out.
There were several holes along the mountains, which were the entrances into the nests and they went quite deep.
"Alright, we just gotta wait for them to appear." Lin Mu said and controlled his immortal sense to enter the depths of the nest.
He looked for any nearby Rock Biter Termites and soon found a few.
"I can smell them coming closer." Little Shrubby was quick to sense them too.
"Three of them are coming up… " Lin Mu said as he tracked them. "Get ready,"
"I'll grab them in a flash," Little Shrubby was ready to pounce.
~kirik~
Soon the chittering sounds of the Rock Biter Terminate could be heard, and their white heads poked out of the holes.
They had no eyes and had small curved mandibles that looked rather sharp.
Their antennas flailed in the air, sensing the scents in the air.
~WHOOSH~
But before the three Workday Rock Biter Termites could sense the scent of Lin Mu and Little Shrubby, they were snatched!
Even when the three Workers were combined, their size would still be half of Little Shrubby. As such, it was no issue for the beast to take them away in one go. He even killed them without them realizing it and stored their corpses in his spatial storage treasure.
"Dinner secured!" Little Shrubby said, returning to Lin Mu's side.