Great General Mother Insect

In a wheat field.

Li Xingze saw the Goldflame Dragon Lion stop before a small hole barely three centimeters in diameter. The Odd Bug had likely crawled out from there.

"Xiao Jin, make it bigger," Li Xingze ordered.

Upon receiving the command, the Goldflame Dragon Lion immediately began digging at the hole with its enormous claws in anticipation of a reward.

The Goldflame Dragon Lion dug quickly, but it would still take some time to create a hole large enough for it to fit through.

"Lingling, you and Xiao Hei can stay up here later," Li Xingze told Lingling.

"Xiao Hei?" Lingling paused. "Don't tell me Xiao Hei is your Contract Beast. What kind of names are these?"

As she spoke, she did not forget to roll her eyes in disgust.

"They're simple and easy to remember," Li Xingze huffed.

"Boom!!!"

Suddenly, a tremendous sound of collapse came from nearby.

Li Xingze hurriedly turned toward the sound, only to find that the Goldflame Dragon Lion had vanished, leaving behind nothing but a massive deep pit.

It had collapsed!

There was such a huge space underground!

Li Xingze suddenly had a troublesome premonition. This mission felt a little beyond his level!

If it had been any other Intermediate-Level Mage, they might well have lost their life because of this.

"Luckily, it's not too deep." Li Xingze walked to the edge and looked down. It was roughly ten meters high.

"Are you really going down?"

Lingling suddenly spoke up to stop Li Xingze, a trace of worry showing in her eyes.

Li Xingze first summoned the Abyssal Dragon from his Contract Space, then placed it in Lingling's arms.

"Don't worry. I'm not going to joke around with my life."

If there really were any terrifying demon creatures below, Li Xingze would not hesitate to use the Teleportation Scroll. He was not about to risk his life for a mission.

With that, Li Xingze jumped straight into the hole. Just before he hit the ground, a faint current of wind slowed his descent.

That was one of the advantages of being a Wind-type mage.

Rather than becoming a pure Destruction Mage, Li Xingze wanted to become an all-around mage.

He could fight and flee, and kite demon creatures in battle.

It would be even better if he awakened the Chaos Element at the high tier. He would become an enhanced version of Zhe Luo—one man would be a whole team!

The Water Element was not bad either. It would make him versatile on land, sea, and air, and when the future ocean crisis erupted, it could greatly increase his combat power.

I'm getting ahead of myself. Li Xingze stroked the Goldflame Dragon Lion's fur.

By the light of the golden flames, Li Xingze finally got a clear look at this "Underground Palace."

Like an ant nest, its passages extended in all directions. At a rough estimate, there were more than a dozen openings.

If they dug through them one by one, who knew how much time they would waste.

"Xiao Jin, burn them all out."

Li Xingze would not show mercy to demon creatures.

Upon receiving the order, the Goldflame Dragon Lion immediately spewed scorching golden flames into the openings.

In an instant, the temperature underground rose sharply, turning the place into a massive furnace.

Another two and a half minutes passed, and Li Xingze could already smell something burning, mixed with a stench like that of bedbugs.

"Looks like we've already burned the bugs. Xiao Jin, add more fire."

Fire attacks might be cruel, but their results were obvious!

As long as he could accomplish his goal, Li Xingze did not care how cruel the method was.

"Rustle, rustle!!!"

Li Xingze's ears twitched slightly. He immediately drew the weapon from his back and warily watched the openings.

Judging from the sound, their numbers likely exceeded his expectations!

It might be an entire nest!

"Whoosh, whoosh!!"

Li Xingze twisted aside to evade an Odd Bug that pounced at him, then swung Jealousy upward, slicing it cleanly in two.

That was not the end of it. Other than the opening where the Goldflame Dragon Lion was breathing fire, densely packed Odd Bugs crawled out from all the remaining dozen or so openings.

More than a hundred of them!!

Although these bugs were weaker in combat than Giant-Eyed Blood Rats, getting bitten by one would definitely not be pleasant!

The green poisonous blood alone showed that these Odd Bugs carried a considerable amount of venom!

At this point, the Goldflame Dragon Lion could no longer spare any attention for the charred-black tunnel entrance. It directly changed direction and killed three or four Odd Bugs with a single swipe of its claws.

But there were simply too many bugs. More and more of them crawled onto the Goldflame Dragon Lion's body.

As if they were preparing to devour the Goldflame Dragon Lion bit by bit.

Unfortunately, the gap in Bloodline was not something numbers could make up for!

"Boom, boom, boom!!"

A powerful wave of flames erupted from the Goldflame Dragon Lion's entire body, instantly engulfing all the Odd Bugs gathered around it.

In just an instant, every one of those bugs was burned into charcoal.

"This can't go on!"

Li Xingze cleaved an Odd Bug in half with a slash. If this continued, his stamina would eventually be drained dry.

After unleashing several successive waves of fire, the Goldflame Dragon Lion was clearly beginning to struggle as well.

Just as Li Xingze was preparing to retreat, a pinkish-white Odd Bug crawled out from the largest hole. It was several times larger than the other Odd Bugs.

It stood half a person tall, and including its tail, it was over five meters long!

"Great General!" Li Xingze's sword-like brows rose. A Great General Mother Insect had actually been hiding beneath this farm.

And judging by its appearance, the Mother Insect seemed to be seriously injured and had yet to recover.

These Odd Bugs were all serving this General-Level Mother Insect. That explained all the mysteries.

The instant the Mother Insect appeared, all the Odd Bugs seemed to have been pumped full of stimulants, charging fearlessly at the man and lion.

The Mother Insect did not choose to attack. Instead, it quietly watched the Odd Bugs procure food for it, like an aristocratic lady waiting to enjoy her meal.

"That's fucking disgusting!"

Li Xingze gripped Jealousy in one hand and swung it several times in succession, splitting several Odd Bugs cleanly in half.

Golden Thunder burst from his other hand, instantly piercing through the approaching Odd Bugs.

"Chitter, chitter, woo woo~~"

The Mother Insect shrieked several times, seemingly dissatisfied with the Odd Bugs' incompetence.

For the sake of its delicious food, the Mother Insect flicked the bony tail behind it, which resembled a scorpion's tail. Its tip was like a sharp venomous stinger, shooting toward the Goldflame Dragon Lion like a projectile.

Seeing this, Li Xingze decisively blinked behind the Goldflame Dragon Lion and used Jealousy to block the terrifying bony tail.

"Clang! Clang!!"

Though it was merely a tail, its collision with the Alchemical Weapon produced a metallic clang.

Seeing this, the Goldflame Dragon Lion erupted with another powerful wave of fiery energy. This one was even fiercer than before, sweeping up every Odd Bug around them and burning them all to ashes!

After dealing with those Odd Bugs, the nearly exhausted Goldflame Dragon Lion still pounced at the giant Mother Insect without hesitation.

With the Goldflame Dragon Lion keeping it occupied, Li Xingze was clearly much more at ease.

This giant Mother Insect was obviously far stronger than the Bone Spike Demonic Wolf, not to mention that both he and the Goldflame Dragon Lion had already expended more than half their strength.