Chapter 483: Chapter 483: Perfect Cooperation

Although Song Jian had become team members with Lu Mingyuan, he did not fully trust him. For instance, he did not share the details of his epic-level task with Lu Mingyuan, who, in return, did not inform Song Jian of his reasons for hunting the mutated Ant King.

The pair had barely walked ten meters along the main road when a mutated worker ant rushed out from the nearby woods and crashed onto an abandoned truck.

With a “boom”, the truck was overthrown and rolled onto the road. The mutated worker ant seemed a bit dazed and stood in the middle of the road, shaking its head.

Soon, the ant spotted Song Jian and Lu Mingyuan, and, turning toward them, gave a loud roar.

At the stretching of Lu Mingyuan’s right hand, a delicate magic staff appeared in his palm. The completely crimson staff, which looked like red crystal and was just over a foot in length, held a fist-sized red gemstone at its top.

“Fireball Spell!”

Pointing the magic staff towards the mutated worker ant, the red gem at the top instantly glowed brilliantly. A hot energy gathered in the air, quickly forming three basketball-sized fireballs.

Boom, boom, boom!

Without any distinction in timing, the three fireballs smashed into the mutated worker ant. Damage points amounting to more than 300 each began showing above the ant’s head.

At this point, Song Jian understood that Lu Mingyuan was a Fire-element Mage.

The vitality points of the mutated worker ant had fallen by a great deal. Burn marks appeared on its body. The injured ant suddenly became enraged and, roaring, it charged towards Lu Mingyuan.

At this point, Lu Mingyuan suddenly put down his magic staff and glanced at Song Jian.

Song Jian immediately realized that Lu Mingyuan wanted to assess his capabilities. If Song Jian proved to be weak, their partnership would probably end immediately.

Even though he knew that Song Jian had solo killed a mutated Ant King, without witnessing Song Jian’s abilities firsthand, Lu Mingyuan would remain unsure.

With a thought, Song Jian summoned the Crimson Fire Heart Ape Sword. Lu Mingyuan glanced at the dark red long-sword in Song Jian’s hand, a surprised look in his eyes.

Weapons that could merge into the user’s body were not common. Lu Mingyuan’s magic staff was one such weapon. Naturally, he understood the value and rarity of such weapons.

Sword Silk!

Three silver threads appeared beside Song Jian. Beside the three silver threads of Sword Silk, there was an illusory Sword Silk which was challenging to notice unless scrutinized closely.

Song Jian swung his sword towards the charging mutated worker ant, sending it flying with one stroke.

Snapsnap~

Six consecutive sharp sounds exploded on the mutated worker ant’s body, causing its carapace to break, blood and flesh to splash around, and its vitality points to plummet to a third of its total.

Song Jian’s attack left Lu Mingyuan amazed. He had not expected that Song Jian could cause such incredible damage.

Broken Wing Dance!

The long-sword struck the mutated worker ant again. The ant, the size of a hunting dog, was helpless against Song Jian. It could only suffer the damage passively, like a punching bag, as it was sent flying by Song Jian.

Swish~

Song Jian lightly flicked his dark-red long-sword from bottom to top. The head of the mutated worker ant fell off instantly. The headless body trembled slightly as if it wanted to continue its attack, but it was merely a muscular reflex. It only managed to take two steps forward before falling with a thud, leaving behind a palm-sized piece of chitinous ant shell.

By now, Song Jian had collected more than a hundred ant shells, sufficient to craft a full demonic worker ant suit. The only issue was that he still needed the blueprints. He would have to exchange them for mission points at the Shadow Circus Troupe.

Clap, clap, clap~

With a beaming smile on his face, Lu Mingyuan walked towards Song Jian while applauding. “I didn’t expect to encounter such a powerful teammate like you!” he exclaimed.

“Likewise, likewise!” Song Jian replied with a grin. Despite only having used an instantaneous skill, Lu Mingyuan’s triple cast of Fireball Spell knocked off nearly a thousand Vitality Points from the demonic worker ant. Such devastating damage, even Song Jian couldn’t help but feel taken aback. It was clear that anyone who dared to hunt the demonic Ant King alone must be a formidable individual with full confidence in their own abilities.

Swish, swish~

Two rays of light simultaneously rose up. Both Song Jian and the Ant King’s Slave had levelled up at the same time;

Song Jian had advanced to level twenty-three, while the Ant King’s slave had reached level ten.

Song Jian smiled slightly as he allocated his newly acquired skill points into Sword Silk, upgrading it to level four.

The level ten Ant King let out a painful roar as its body violently trembled. From its back came a series of crackling sounds, reminiscent of something shattering.

In no time at all, two tender shells protruded from its back and a pair of transparent wings as thin as cicada wings gently unfolded.

“Is this… evolution?” Song Jian asked in surprise.

“Indeed, worthy of the Ant King. Not only can it aid in attack when it matures, but it can also serve as a flying mount…” Lu Mingyuan said, clearly envious.

His goal had been to hunt the demonic Ant King, with the hope of acquiring an Ant King larva not absent from his mind.

As for the spoils, Song Jian received the dropped materials, while the body of the demonic worker ant went to Lu Mingyuan. Lu Mingyuan pulled out a small knife from his bag and began dissecting the worker ant’s corpse.

Song Jian also had Dissection Technique, but his was only level one and paled in comparison to Lu Mingyuan’s skill. Lu Mingyuan had advanced his culinary skills to a high level, so it was clear to Song Jian that his Dissection Technique must also be highly advanced.

The materials obtained from the dissection were more than ten times the amount of dropped materials. However, most were of white quality, with only a few green quality pieces and no blue quality ones.

After cleaning up their loot, the two delved deeper. Song Jian engaged in close combat while Lu Mingyuan provided long-range support. They quickly found their rhythm and started to effectively hunt the demonic worker ants, considerably faster than Song Jian alone. They had killed three hundred and seventeen of them by the afternoon, completing nearly half of Song Jian’s mission.

Moreover, their margin for error had noticeably increased now that they were together. Even when faced with seven or eight demonic worker ants at once, they could calmly eliminate them. If Song Jian were alone, he could kill all of them but would undoubtedly have to pay a hefty price.

“Let’s call it a day here. I’m nearly out of mana.” Lu Mingyuan, his face slightly pale, declared loudly.

Song Jian looked out into the distance. A mere two or three miles ahead was the place where he had been surrounded by demonic soldier ants the day before. Originally, he thought that with Lu Mingyuan’s help, they could avenge that loss. It seemed like that would have to wait until the next day.

As dusk fell, Song Jian lit a campfire and sat down for a rest. The Ant King’s Slave had reached level nineteen. Its size had grown more than tenfold compared to when it was first born, almost equivalent to two demonic soldier ants.

Its shell had become significantly thicker and it had sprouted numerous sharp spikes. Its passive skill, “Spiked Aura”, had advanced to level three and its stats dramatically increased. Its jagged mandibles looked even more menacing, and the fine barbs resembled a sickle, capable of easily tearing a crack in the shell of an ordinary demonic worker ant.

Lu Mingyuan sat by the bonfire, entering a shallow meditative state to restore his mana. The surroundings were eerily quiet.

Suddenly, a piercing scream echoed from the distant forest, abruptly pulling Lu Mingyuan from his meditative state. With wide eyes, he exchanged glances with Song Jian. The two stood up simultaneously, prepared for battle.

…