Ghost-Face Mother Insect? Is Old Bao doing this on purpose?

Clang! Clang!

Li Xingze held Jealousy in his left hand and swiftly severed one of the giant Odd Bug's forelimbs with a horizontal slash. Golden Thunder from his right hand surged directly into the wound.

Crack! Crack!

The golden lightning transformed into an electric eel and burrowed fiercely into the bloody wound. The numbing, piercing pain noticeably slowed the giant Odd Bug's reactions.

The Goldflame Dragon Lion continued to restrain the bone long tail over four meters long behind it. The tail was no less hard than high-grade Demon Slayer Tools.

If he sold it, it might fetch quite a bit of money.

Although Li Xingze had cut off quite a few of the giant Odd Bug's legs, it was a multi-legged creature. Legs were the one thing it did not lack.

However, more than half of his stamina had been depleted. Even against the injured giant Odd Bug, he was still at a disadvantage.

Although the Lightning Element was powerful, his Lightning Element was only at the first level of the beginner rank. His magic energy was insufficient, enough to cast Thunder Seal only four or five times.

Clearing out those little Odd Bugs earlier had already consumed most of his magic energy. Now that he had used Thunder Seal again, his lightning magic energy had completely run dry.

Li Xingze now no longer dared to use Instant Shift to deal with the giant Odd Bug's attacks. Instant Shift consumed too much stamina.

If he exhausted himself, he would become a lamb awaiting slaughter.

Therefore, Li Xingze could only barely deal with the giant Odd Bug using Wind Track.

Bang!

Suddenly, a huge clump of earth fell from overhead and smashed heavily into the ground beside Li Xingze.

The sound immediately jolted Li Xingze awake.

"Oh no! This underground cave is about to collapse completely!"

The soil had already become extremely unstable after being baked by the Goldflame Dragon Lion's flames. Several rounds of fighting with the Odd Bugs had caused plenty of tremors as well.

Under those tremors, the dried soil lacked cohesion and naturally began to collapse.

Just as Li Xingze was about to use the Teleportation Scroll, a small pitch-black figure fell from above.

Taking a closer look, he saw that it was his Contract Beast—the Abyssal Dragon!

Though the Abyssal Dragon was only the size of a puppy, it possessed the genuine Bloodline of a True Dragon.

The moment he saw the Abyssal Dragon fly down, Li Xingze immediately put away the Teleportation Scroll.

With the Abyssal Dragon joining the fight, he refused to believe they could not kill one little bug.

"Xiao Jin, restrict its movements. Let Xiao Hei take the lead!" Li Xingze shouted.

Although Xiao Hei was only Commander-Level, its Dragonflame was far more powerful than that of ordinary Commander-Level Demon Beasts.

Hearing its master's command, the Goldflame Dragon Lion immediately pulled away from the giant Odd Bug. If it got touched by Xiao Hei's flames, it would be in serious trouble.

The instant the Abyssal Dragon appeared, the giant Odd Bug, despite being a Great General, felt unprecedented terror and dread.

It was a fear that came from the depths of its soul, from the roots of its Bloodline. Any demon beast even remotely related to dragons was extraordinarily powerful.

And standing before it was a genuine True Dragon!

Driven by instinct, the giant Odd Bug wanted to burrow away, but the Goldflame Dragon Lion blocked its path directly.

And in that brief moment of hesitation, Li Xingze easily chopped off another four legs.

With so many legs gone, the giant Odd Bug's speed immediately dropped considerably.

Roar! Roar! Roar!

A youthful yet infinitely majestic dragon roar erupted through the underground cavern, followed by black Dragonflame capable of burning everything to ashes.

This was the symbol of dragonkind—dragon breath!

It was a skill that only Dragonkin could master at the very least. A True Dragon's dragon breath was even a skill that no forbidden curse could rival.

Though the Abyssal Dragon was still far from Emperor-level, its Dragonflame remained filled with a terrifying aura, as if it could devour everything.

Under the burning Dragonflame, the Odd Bug was incinerated alive, leaving behind only its hard bone long tail.

"What a pity it didn't drop a Soul Essence, but this thing should be worth quite a bit."

Li Xingze was not too disappointed. Soul Essences depended on luck to begin with—how could one possibly drop every day?

With this bone long tail, his trip had not been for nothing.

As for that paltry commission fee? It really was not enough to hire a mage to kill a Great General.

Normally, the commission fee for eliminating a Great General-level demon beast should be several million, or even ten million or more.

"Forget it. Who asked me to be such an exemplary citizen?" Li Xingze shook his head. If he really made the farmer pay the additional commission, the man would likely go bankrupt.

After the Goldflame Dragon Lion recovered some of its strength, Li Xingze held Xiao Hei and sat on its back. Then, with a few kicks against the wall, they climbed back up.

Unfortunately, Xiao Hei was still too young, only in its infant stage. Once it reached the juvenile stage, it should be able to carry him, right?

A True Dragon rider!

The sheer prestige!

"What exactly happened down there? Why did it take so long?"

Seeing Li Xingze come up, Lingling curiously moved closer.

Ever since Li Xingze had gone down, the commotion below had grown louder and louder. Now, even half of the farmland had collapsed.

"There was a nest down there, along with a Great General Mother Insect." Li Xingze did not hide anything.

"A Great General? A nest?" Lingling stared blankly at Li Xingze and said in disbelief, "So you dealt with it all by yourself?"

Dealing with a nest of demon creatures underground was difficult even for a mid-level hunter squad.

Even if Li Xingze's Summoned Beast was incredibly powerful, how had he protected himself?

Wasn't a summoner's weakness the summoner himself?

As long as the summoner was killed, the Summoned Beast would naturally return to its original plane.

Although Li Xingze was breathing heavily, he did not have any wounds on him. At most, he was covered in dust and ash.

It was far too unreasonable!

"I got lucky. That Great General Mother Insect had suffered serious injuries. Those Odd Bugs attacked the livestock to help it recover, so I just happened to benefit from the situation."

Li Xingze did not mean to sound arrogant. If that enormous Odd Bug had been at full strength, it might really have escaped.

The greatest gain from that battle had not been the Bone Long Tail, but the experience of fighting a swarm of Odd Bugs.

The next time he faced a group battle, Li Xingze would be far more at ease.

Azure Sky Hunter Agency.

Old Bao carefully examined the Bone Long Tail before slowly saying, "This is a Ghost-Face Mother Insect. It's a rare demon creature that one only has a chance of encountering deep in the mountains. I never expected you two to run into one."

Watching Old Bao remain so unruffled, the corner of Li Xingze's mouth twitched slightly. Was this old man doing it on purpose?

"To return completely unharmed after being surrounded by Ghost-Face Bugs, you're quite suited to our Azure Sky Hunter Agency."

Old Bao's cloudy eyes turned toward Li Xingze, revealing an inscrutable smile.

"Hmph!" For once, Lingling did not step forward to refute him. In this mission, she had been completely useless.

Still, Li Xingze's strength was indeed decent. He could barely qualify as her teammate.

Li Xingze smiled calmly. Having a little loli as a teammate was pretty nice.