This is a golden ant, standing in stark contrast to the surrounding black ants, and its size is significantly larger than the surrounding ants, possibly ten times bigger, making it stand out like a crane among chickens.

So Su Mu spotted this golden ant at once.

He walked onto the stone bridge, extended his right hand, and picked up the gigantic golden ant with two fingers, placing it in his palm to carefully observe.

He discovered that this golden ant had ten legs.

Ants belong to the hexapod subphylum and typically only have six legs, but this ant had as many as ten legs.

Of course, this wasn't what surprised him; what caught Su Mu's attention was that upon closer inspection, he noticed each of the ten legs had a series of tiny characters, seemingly runes.

He flipped the ant over and found a peculiar pattern on its abdomen resembling a moon.

Additionally, Su Mu couldn't detect any stench from this ant.

Because with the other black ants, the nauseating and repulsive stench would hit the nose without needing to bring it close.

But this golden ant was different; instead of a foul smell, it emitted a floral fragrance, quite familiar, like the scent of a Lycoris Radiata!

This fragrance allowed for a preliminary judgment: this surely was a Treasure Ant!

This was Su Mu's unique treasure detection method, recognizing treasures by scent!

.....

However, Su Mu didn't plan to eat this Treasure Ant directly but intended to take it back for further research.

Not every treasure is edible; if he were to mistakenly ingest something poisonous, it would surely be troublesome.

The ant lay motionless in Su Mu's palm, its ten legs trembling slightly with fear.

And so, Su Mu, carrying a basket of Lycoris Radiata on his back, with a sickle in his left hand and the Treasure Ant in his right palm, headed towards his stone house.

.....

After returning to the stone house, Su Mu first picked all the petals of the Lycoris Radiata, pressing them into a small round cake, which he stored in a small wooden box.

Indeed, a small can of Bi'an tea cakes—you deserve it!

After completing these tasks, Su Mu placed the ant on the stone table, beginning to observe it.

First, he decided to test whether it was poisonous.

Su Mu approached a small fish tank under a willow tree containing several colorful little fish swimming about.

These were caught by Su Mu some time ago; they looked pretty, so he decided to keep them instead of releasing them.

For that reason, Su Mu especially prepared a transparent fish tank, filled it with water, and began nurturing these colorful little fish, often feeding them snacks while observing them for amusement.

In solitude, one must find something to do to entertain oneself.

He caught a blue little fish and placed it in front of the golden ant.

However, the golden ant seemed so frightened that it froze, even when Su Mu brought the little fish close to its mouth, it didn't dare bite.

After several fruitless attempts to provoke it.

Su Mu prepared to use the "True Deterrence Era" technique.

He picked up the silver dagger nearby, pointed it at the golden ant's head, and fiercely said, "Will you bite or not?"

"Don't make me use the dagger!"

Upon hearing this, the golden ant seemed to understand, opened its mouth, revealing two exaggerated ant teeth, and took a bite of the blue little fish.

The lively bouncing fish instantly went rigid with that bite.

In a split second, the once-bright vibrant blue had turned black, exuding a deathly aura, even emitting a putrid stench.

Clearly, this golden Treasure Ant was not only poisonous but also quite potent.

.....

Fortunately, I was wise enough not to eat it directly, or it would have been troublesome.

This is not an ordinary ant; I'm alone here, and if I truly got poisoned, there'd be no one to save me.

After testing for poison, Su Mu intended to test its combat capabilities.

He took the golden ant to a small puddle where a palm-sized green crab was quietly resting—this was Su Mu's contracted Stone Axe Beast.

Squatting down, he tossed the golden ant into the puddle.

Utilizing his Spirit Contract, he instructed the young crab, "Xiao Shi, grab it for me!"

Once hearing the command, the Stone Axe Beast opened its eyes and, upon receiving its master's order, swung its two mighty claws towards the golden ant.

But as it neared the golden ant, it suddenly froze with its claws suspended, possibly out of fear or intimidation.

As its master, Su Mu could sense its emotional change.

At this moment, the Stone Axe Beast was genuinely scared, clearly frightened to the point of trembling slightly, and if it weren't for the immediate command, it would have retreated in panic.

Despite the golden ant being small in comparison, the Stone Axe Beast lacked the courage to fight.

This was uncharacteristic behavior!

Perhaps the deterrence from the golden ant was simply overwhelming, otherwise, with Xiao Shi's typically defiant nature, it wouldn't be intimidated.

After several seconds of stalemate, the Stone Axe Beast resolved to fight to the death and lunged its claw towards the golden ant!

However, when the claw grasped the golden ant and was ready to exert force, the next second, its claw shattered into two pieces!

Seeing this, Su Mu was wide-eyed in disbelief.

The hurting Stone Axe Beast, despite its fear, didn't intend to retreat. Wielding its other claw, it continued to attack the golden ant.

Again, just upon applying force, the Stone Axe Beast's claw instantly shattered!

Throughout the entire process, the golden ant didn't retaliate, allowing the Stone Axe Beast to attack, but... the disparity in combat ability was too great, with two engagements, the golden ant remained unscathed, while the little Stone Axe Beast was heavily injured, its vitality weakening somewhat.

Yet, for some reason, despite the golden ant's triumph over the Stone Axe Beast, it still seemed very frightened.

Su Mu understood it was fearing him; if he weren't present, this powerful golden ant, upon attacking, might have swiftly killed the little Stone Axe Beast.

The two were on completely different levels.

It should be noted that the little Stone Axe Beast is a Treasure Crab too!

Otherwise, Su Mu wouldn't have chosen to contract with it.

....

Seeing the little Stone Axe Beast's life force fading, Su Mu hastily utilized Favor Points to heal it.

[Would you like to spend 600 Favor Points to heal the severely injured "Stone Axe Beast"?]

Upon realizing it required a full 600 points, Su Mu understood the severity of its injuries.

Without hesitation, six hundred points were spent.

Once healed, the little Stone Axe Beast was restored to its prior state and prepared to attack once more.

Despite knowing it's the lesser combatant, it couldn't let its master down.

Observing this, Su Mu quickly separated them, avoiding any further contact.

"Alright, no more fighting."

With these words, the little Stone Axe Beast ceased its attack.

.....

When the golden ant witnessed Su Mu instantly heal the little Stone Axe Beast, it grew even more terrified.

The next second, a very faint voice resonated in Su Mu's mind.

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