Chapter 131: The Summoning

Such potent poison! Her full-force heavy strike only dealt 80 damage, yet a single dose of poison could drain the monster for a total of 3,600 health. It felt as though the monster’s two-layered health bar would be emptied after just a few poisonings.

The dark, ominous boss was itself venomous, but the poison from the Queen Mosquito’s Toxic Claws was two realms higher, doubling the damage dealt.

"Liu Liu, I’m so lucky! With a 10% chance, I managed to poison it on the first try."

"Your realm is higher than its, and your weapon grade is two realms above it. It would be bad luck if it didn't get poisoned."

The boss, despite its shallow cuts and the poison coursing through its veins, showed no pause in its movements, swinging its massive axe at Yun Qing.

Finally having chipped away at the opponent's health, Yun Qing felt much better. As she dodged, she even had the leisure to check the durability of the Queen Mosquito’s Toxic Claws. True to its status as a superior-grade spiritual artifact, the durability hadn't dropped by a single point despite the repeated use.

She chatted with her dog in her mind: "Liu Liu, since the poison proc rate is so high, I can just keep dodging it and let the poison do the work until it dies."

"You seem very confident about this monster siege on your dwelling! You currently have over 500 hatred points. If you farm a few more, you can trigger another monster siege."

"Don't even suggest it. Having a powerful, unknown entity hating me is scary enough. I need to keep a low profile; I can't just farm hatred points whenever I want. I should spend more time practicing combat to improve my actual skill—that’s the real path to success."

"500 hatred points can trigger a Level 2 Normal Monster Siege on the dwelling. Do you want to try it later?"

"Let’s get through this first!" Although she was finding the fight increasingly interesting, she wasn't made of iron. Whether she succeeded or failed against this boss, she would surely be exhausted afterward.

The axe swung toward her, but Yun Qing sidestepped it easily, not even a gust of wind touching her; she didn't lose a single drop of health.

"Liu Liu, I feel like it’s getting weaker."

"It’s not that it’s getting weaker; it’s that you’re getting stronger. You’re slowly learning how to utilize your innate power."

"Hehe, does that mean I don't need it for practice anymore?"

"The gap between the acquired and innate realms is massive. If you had reached the true level of an innate elite, it wouldn't have been a match for you at all. To take this long to break the defense of a mere acquired-realm opponent—you really are the 'Number One Innate'."

"You sound just like a dog!"

Yun Qing naturally knew that her combat experience was insufficient. A single night of leveling up by fighting monsters couldn't compare to two years of hard cultivation by others.

She stopped chatting with Liu Liu and focused her energy on dodging the whirlwind axe, then closed in on the warrior and raised her claws for another strike.

Heavy strike: -80.

Combat experience +240.

This strike once again triggered the poison effect, though it didn't stack; instead, it refreshed the ten-minute countdown for the boss's poisoning duration.

...

Shortly after Yun Qing emerged from the solo dungeon, Wei Yi and Fang Rui found the caravan and the people from Rizhao Town, who were busy clearing out larvae.

Both sides exchanged information about what they had encountered. When the people of Rizhao Town learned that the mother insect was dead, they were overjoyed; their town was finally saved.

Wei Yi and Fang Rui didn't pay much mind to the caravan’s missing cook or the few guards who had died. They had no interest in the cleanup work—killing eggs, larvae, or minor mosquitoes, or searching for bodies.

The two called the leader aside and handed over the mother insect's carcass, instructing him to have someone forge weapons from it to arm the caravan’s guards. That way, the guards wouldn't die so easily the next time they encountered such weak mosquitoes.

Leader Jing stared at the spiritual materials, which were incredibly precious to someone at his Qi-refining stage. The two of them had handed them over without blinking an eye, stating they should be given to warriors to make weapons. For a moment, he didn't know what to say. With such materials, he was likely the only one in the entire caravan and Rizhao Town who could barely manage to refine them into weapons.

Many members of the caravan had been stung by venomous mosquitoes, and the lion-horse beasts were also severely injured, requiring them to rest and recuperate in Rizhao Town for a few days.

Learning that the caravan would be staying in Rizhao Town for a while, the two informed the leader that they needed to find a place for closed-door cultivation to reach the Foundation Establishment stage, promising to return and rejoin the caravan in a few days.

Foundation Establishment! Leader Jing knew the two were formidable, but he hadn't realized they were *that* formidable. He felt somewhat numb; he had never dared to imagine that his team would have two Foundation Establishment guards.

He asked respectfully and cautiously about the location of the mother insect's nest. The two gave him the general direction and left without looking back, leaving behind a long-silenced Leader Jing.

After they left, both Leader Jing and Mayor Lu were worried about the nest, fearing another mother insect might appear, so the group headed toward the nest to investigate.

Clearing mosquitoes along the way, the team reached the nest. By then, Yun Qing had long since left the nest via the underground river.

Confirming there was no second mother insect, the group buried the entire nesting area.

With the mother insect dead, there were still many mosquitoes, eggs, and larvae left. The warriors of Rizhao Town could handle cleaning those up.

The two groups split up. The caravan members searched the underground nest but could not find the missing cook, Yun Qing. Believing that no peak-acquired-realm warrior could survive alone underground, and seeing their own group injured and poisoned, they felt there was little chance of Yun Qing being alive. They left the underground nest and returned to the inn to tend to their wounds, while the people of Rizhao Town continued clearing out the insects.

...

Once more, Yun Qing closed in on the soul-snapped warrior, the Queen Mosquito’s Toxic Claws raised, striking the monster's wound with pinpoint accuracy.

Heavy strike: -160.

Combat experience +480.

The damage suddenly increased. As Yun Qing retreated a dozen meters, she saw that after being attacked repeatedly, the soul-snapped warrior had lost one of its lower legs and was now standing on only one foot.

A burst of red light appeared on the soul-snapped warrior; it was preparing a major move.

The next instant, Yun Qing’s spiritual sense perceived that she had been locked onto.

A mere acquired-realm soul-snapped warrior, without spiritual sense, trying to lock onto her? Yun Qing did a side-flip and easily exited the lock-on range. She watched as the warrior leaped high into the air, crashing down like Mount Tai onto the spot where she had just been, sending clouds of dust into the air.

Even with one leg, it jumped quite nimbly, but its defense was not what it once was. Yun Qing moved in, raising her claws in an uppercut, and attacked its severed left leg.

Heavy strike: -80.

Combat experience +240.

The soul-snapped warrior did not counterattack; instead, it tilted its head back and emitted a silent call.

Through the mini-map, Yun Qing saw many red dots appearing from all directions in the combat zone—nine of them.

Oh no!

A boss summoning minions was within reason, but it was completely unexpected for Yun Qing.

*So that’s why there were no minions this time; they were waiting here.*

Mutated boars, Level 35. Compared to the boss's health bar, theirs were much shorter and consisted of only one layer.

It was unclear what move the boss had used, but after summoning these mutated boars, its poison status automatically vanished.

Several brown boars appeared. Unlike the pigs Yun Qing had killed at the slaughterhouse, these had long, sharp tusks—one look and you knew they were experts at tearing down a villa.

She certainly couldn't kill the boss in one go. The top priority was to first eliminate these minions that threatened her dwelling.