She had a feeling that if they followed, they could see the dungeon boss.
Yan Yiqiu thought for two seconds and asked him: “Have you made up your mind?”
[Wei Jiaze: Yes, I’ve thought it through very clearly.]
[Yan Yiqiu: Welcome to the team. You don’t need to hand over your materials—we’re not that kind of greedy group. Keep them for yourself.]
Looking at the few materials he had, it was a little pitiful.
Yan Yiqiu closed the chat and glanced at Wei Jiaze, who was sitting alone in the corner. He really looks like a gloomy little mushroom right now, she thought, then quickly averted her gaze before he noticed.
After experiencing such an intense battle, it was only natural to sit down and rest properly.
Zhao Xingpeng was still fixated on his earlier thoughts, supplementing his fullness, his eyes flicking occasionally toward Yun Yan, thinking about what to do next.
Probably because his attitude was too casual, Li Ru, who was talking to him, grew a little displeased. She raised her hands to grab his face and turned it toward her: “Zhao Xingpeng, I’m talking to you. Can you stop looking over there? What’s so interesting?”
Zhao Xingpeng’s irritation peaked, almost wanting to slap this inconsiderate woman.
He forced himself to restrain his anger, pulling a faint smile and whispering: “I’m just thinking about when I can reach level six. Higher damage means faster kills on mobs, more drops to help you level up.”
“Alright then,” Li Ru softened, leaning on Zhao Xingpeng’s shoulder. Her eyes flicked toward Wei Jiaze, three meters away, and she whispered a complaint: “We might as well kick Wei Jiaze out. He’s useless in the team anyway.”
“And he used to look down on you in the real world, yet you insisted on bringing him along.”
Zhao Xingpeng looked at Wei Jiaze and saw his gloomy expression. His lips curled into a fake, exasperated smile: “Don’t say that. Jiaze is my good brother.”
“And his damage is so low. Kicking him out would practically be killing him. I couldn’t do that.”
As he spoke, Zhao Xingpeng noticed a cute level-six combat player suddenly getting up and walking away. He immediately focused his attention.
Seeing that her non-combat companion stayed behind, he relaxed.
He had already decided he needed to stick close to these two.
Having a level-six combat player nearby felt safer, and he really wanted to get her into his team.
Zhao Xingpeng touched his face, thinking: She looks pretty young and naive, such an inexperienced little girl should be easy to manipulate…
With that thought, he looked over again—and that’s when things went wrong.
He jumped up: “Where did they go?!”
The spot where they had been sitting was now completely empty.
“Huh? I don’t know.”
“They were just here! How did they disappear in the blink of an eye?”
“Zhao Ge, your buddy seems gone too!”
“Gone for real… That little brat must have run off with those girls! Damn it, trying to latch onto a big player and leave us behind? I knew he wasn’t any good—always scowling at people…”
Hearing Wei Jiaze was missing, Zhao Xingpeng’s face darkened even more.
He had wanted to push Wei Jiaze away, not have him cling to a stronger player—that would hurt more than killing him!
Zhao Xingpeng’s face twisted, teeth clenched, eyes furious as he opened his friends list and bombarded Wei Jiaze with messages.
Yan Yiqiu understood people like Zhao Xingpeng. If Wei Jiaze left openly, he’d cling like glue.
So she decided to have Yun Yan leave first, while she stayed behind to confuse anyone watching, then quietly slipped away while others’ attention was elsewhere.
It was even easier for Wei Jiaze to leave—no one was paying attention to him.
From the moment he stood up to leaving, his heart pounded. His previously heavy steps grew lighter and faster, and a faint smile tugged at his lips.
“I remember there’s a fork ahead. Let’s take the other path,” Yan Yiqiu whispered.
Yun Yan obediently nodded: “Okay~”
To avoid Zhao Xingpeng noticing and chasing them, Yan Yiqiu quickened her pace, chose the other path at the fork, marked it subtly on the stone wall, and then slowed back to normal speed.
“Hi, I’ll introduce myself. I’m Yun Yan, the ‘Yan’ from Yun Duo’s Yan,” she said, tilting her head, twin ponytails bouncing. “Since you’ve joined the team, we’re teammates now. Don’t worry, I’ll never treat you like your old teammates did.”
Her voice was sweet, her tone friendly.
Wei Jiaze felt nervous, slightly lowering his head to avoid her gaze. He licked his dry, pale lips and copied her manner of introduction: “Hello, I’m Wei Jiaze. Wei as in ‘guard,’ Jia as in ‘reward,’ Ze as in ‘white marsh.’”
“Wei Jiaze?” Yun Yan blinked. “Your name sounds nice!”
Wei Jiaze replied dryly: “Thanks. Yours is nice too.”
Then he didn’t know what else to say.
He wasn’t good at socializing, shy and slow to warm up.
He had only become friends with Zhao Xingpeng because the latter persistently insisted, acting outgoing and proactive.
Wei Jiaze admired that personality, moved by Zhao Xingpeng’s enthusiasm.
Now thinking back, Zhao Xingpeng had probably been so attentive because he noticed Wei Jiaze was wealthy, friendless, and an easy target.
Yun Yan asked, “By the way, what’s your class?”
Wei Jiaze pressed his lips: “Bard.”
“Bard? That sounds powerful.”
“…Not really. I’m useless. I can only boost teammates’ stats for two minutes, with several hours cooldown. My damage is barely better than a life-player.”
“That’s why they looked down on me.”
Yun Yan understood but still couldn’t help asking: “Before teaming with them, didn’t they know your class? Why did they treat you so badly if they knew?”
The simple college girl couldn’t grasp the twists and turns.
Still, she comforted Wei Jiaze: “It’s okay. Everyone meets a few jerks in life. We won’t look down on you.”
Wei Jiaze: “?”
It sounded strange.
He hesitated two seconds, then whispered: “Thank you.”
Yan Yiqiu almost laughed at their conversation, then cleared her throat and asked Wei Jiaze: “Did you take the Cooling Pill? Did the heat debuff go away?”
“I did,” Wei Jiaze said.
Yan Yiqiu nodded: “Good. Let’s go farm mobs now. Tell me if you need more Cooling Pills.”
Wei Jiaze: “??”
He was puzzled: “Farm mobs? Just the three of us?”
The level-six combat player was strong, but she was the only real fighter. Isn’t farming mobs this way dangerous? A bite from a mutant ant could cost hundreds of HP!
Before he could speak, Yun Yan raised her hand excitedly: “Yay! I’m almost level seven!”
Wei Jiaze sensed something off.
Why did Yun Yan seem to follow Yan Yiqiu’s orders all the time? Isn’t she the team leader?
Perhaps sensing his worry, Yun Yan patted his shoulder: “Don’t worry. With Yan Yiqiu-sis here, nothing will go wrong.”
And so, full of doubts, Wei Jiaze followed his fresh new teammates on their monster-farming journey.
For almost an hour, the three walked through dim corridors with torches, not spotting a single mutant red ant.
While resting, Yun Yan muttered: “They pop up when I don’t want them to, disappear when I try to find them… Are they playing hard to get?”
“Replenish stamina and fullness,” Yan Yiqiu said, taking honey from her bag from the previous dungeon. “Ants like sweets. I’ll lure them with honey later.”
“Get ready, both of you.”
Thinking of this, Yun Yan immediately took out pastries and juice, while Wei Jiaze brought out a dark, tough chunk, gnawing on it with difficulty.
Yun Yan was shocked: “What is that?”
Wei Jiaze mumbled: “Roast meat.”
“Found someone who makes food darker than me…” It looked nothing like meat—more like a lump of coal!
Yun Yan sympathetically said: “You eat that to restore fullness? Your old teammates didn’t even give you proper food?”
Wei Jiaze: “Yeah…”
Not that they didn’t give, but it required trading materials, and they demanded a lot. With the few resources he had, he couldn’t even upgrade the territory to level five.
So he did it himself.
Though the food looked bad and tasted worse, at least it restored fullness. Bad taste was fine—at least it wouldn’t kill him.
Yun Yan traded a bunch of normal food to him: “Eat this! It tastes amazing!”
Wei Jiaze looked at the items, eyes reddening slightly.
He always kept his head down, bangs covering his face, hiding his emotions from Yun Yan.
“Thank you.”
“You’re welcome. We’re teammates, after all.”
Yan Yiqiu quietly watched the two of them talking, thinking that Yun Yan really was a social butterfly—she’d likely break down Wei Jiaze’s emotional defenses soon.
Good—getting close meant they could stay in the team permanently.
While the two were replenishing their stamina and fullness, she pulled out her carpenter’s toolkit and crafted a bunch of small wooden arrows. In this dungeon, small wooden arrows were consumed quickly; a single encounter with a swarm of mutated worker ants could use up nearly a hundred.
By the time they finished restoring their stamina and fullness, Yan Yiqiu had crafted several hundred small wooden arrows. She put away the toolkit and splashed green-quality honey onto the stone walls.
A faint, sweet aroma instantly filled the air.
A few minutes later, rustling sounds reached their ears.
Yun Yan summoned Tuanzi into combat stance: “They’re here!”
Wei Jiaze was extremely nervous, gripping the blue-quality machete Yan Yiqiu had traded him, aiming at the front.
A dense swarm of mutated worker ants, roughly the size of baby fists, came into view. Yun Yan, already prepared, charged in with Tuanzi, fearless.
Wei Jiaze jumped, thinking, She’s not even worried about getting surrounded by mutated worker ants??
He glanced at Yan Yiqiu, who was standing still, and thought for two seconds, deciding to move close to her to protect her.
Life players had very low damage, and she was a level-one life player—low damage and low health.
He had to protect her…
Before he could take a step, he saw the level-one life player, whom he had assumed was weak and vulnerable, shoot a wooden arrow from between her fingers.
The small wooden arrows whizzed toward the mutated worker ants surrounding Yun Yan, each hitting precisely one ant. The hit ants immediately died, turning into experience and loot.
Wei Jiaze: “?”
Wei Jiaze: “???”
“You?” His eyes widened, shocked enough to lift his normally lowered head, revealing his pale and handsome face, with an expression easy to read: “Aren’t you a life player?”
Huh? When did a life player’s damage become this high?
Yan Yiqiu explained with the same reasoning she had told Yun Yan earlier: “I was lucky and bound an item that greatly increases damage. There was a bug in the status bar—I’m not actually a level-one life player.”
“See? With Yan Yiqiu around, nothing will go wrong,” Yun Yan’s sweet voice came from the front. “Don’t just stand there—come help kill monsters!”
Wei Jiaze responded with an “Oh,” gripping his weapon and moving toward the ant swarm, his movements stiff and slow as he silently processed this new information.
No wonder Yun Yan listened so carefully to Yan Yiqiu—she was the real leader of the team.
After snapping out of his daze, Wei Jiaze noticed several mutated worker ants already lying dead around him, each pierced with small wooden arrows.
He glanced over and saw Yan Yiqiu constantly protecting him and Yun Yan, filling him with an overwhelming sense of security. No longer distracted, he held his weapon seriously and dealt with the mutated ants in front of him.
The blue-quality weapon increased his damage significantly—where it previously took seven to eight minutes to kill a small monster, now it was almost cut in half.
[Player dealt 233 damage to Mutated Crimson Worker Ant.]
[Loot: Wood x544, Level-1 Ore x490, Level-2 Ore x272, Level-3 Ore x153, Glowstone x12, Meat Chunk (Green) x8, Silver x226, Personal XP +200, Combat XP +100.]
…
[Player dealt 401 damage to Mutated Crimson Worker Ant.]
[Loot: Wood x625, Level-1 Ore x511, Level-2 Ore x325, Level-3 Ore x222, Energy Crystal (Green) x3, Meat Chunk (Green) x5, Blue Chest x1, Silver x322, Personal XP +200, Combat XP +100.]
Not worrying about ambushes or being surrounded by mutated worker ants, able to focus fully on the monsters in front, felt wonderful.
Wei Jiaze was immersed; initially, he got bitten once in a while, but as he grew more skilled at dodging, he could kill the small monsters without taking any damage.
Seeing no benefit from staying near the sweet-smelling food, the mutated crimson worker ant swarm withdrew in an orderly fashion, disappearing down the dark corridor in less than ten seconds.
“Sis, I leveled up!” Yun Yan cheered happily. “I’m level seven now!”
Yan Yiqiu’s eyes curved slightly as she praised: “Great job.”
Yun Yan looked at Wei Jiaze: “Hey, you leveled up too? Awesome, we’re all getting stronger!”
Wei Jiaze nodded slightly.
“I saw you get bit a few times by the monsters,” Yan Yiqiu said, handing Wei Jiaze food and potions. “These will restore your health—let me know if it’s not enough.”
“Here’s stamina and energy potions too—take them all.”
She was always generous to her teammates.
Wei Jiaze quietly accepted them and, in turn, silently traded the materials and herbs dropped from the monsters to Yan Yiqiu, whispering a “thank you.”
[Yun Yan: Sis, the new teammate is so shy, keeps his head down and doesn’t dare look at us.]
Yan Yiqiu replied: Probably got too PUA’d by his old teammates—feels insecure and sensitive.
[Yun Yan: Looks pitiful.]
[Yun Yan: I have to help him regain confidence, stand tall, and shine!]
Yan Yiqiu: …
She replied with a simple “Go for it ^_^.”
They used this method to gradually lure in waves of mutated worker ants, gaining lots of experience and materials.
[Player Level: 9 (200/100000)]
[Stamina: 255/500]
[Energy: 370/500]
[HP: 31000/31000 (with armor bonus)]
[Fullness: 67]
The three sat down to rest.
Yan Yiqiu leveled up, casually checked her stats, then opened her backpack to organize loot from the monsters.
Two sets of blue-quality defensive armor had dropped, each providing 2500 defense. She traded them to Yun Yan and Wei Jiaze, the fragile little players prone to injury.
Then she pulled out thread and animal hides, sewing a few green-quality leather pouches and handed them to Wei Jiaze.
Wei Jiaze was completely numb and quietly said “thank you.”
He had thought he needed reciprocity with new teammates, so he traded all materials from the monsters to Yan Yiqiu.
In response, she casually gave him attribute foods and potions—valuable items in Wei Jiaze’s eyes—for free. It left him stunned, with an odd sense of being pampered by a wealthy benefactor.
He looked at the remaining wood, ore, and silver in his bag, and willingly traded two-thirds to Yan Yiqiu.
But… she refused.
[Yan Yiqiu: I’m much faster at farming monsters. Keep these resources to upgrade your territory; I don’t need them. But I’ll take any life-player materials like food, herbs, cloth, or meteorite.]
[Wei Jiaze: Then what else can I do?]
[Yan Yiqiu: Just farm monsters and level up. You and Yun Yan work well together; when you level up, you’ll be even more efficient. Keep it up ^_^]
After Wei Jiaze reached level four, his buffs increased by 0.8%, which was useful for Yun Yan and Tuanzi—their agility increased, letting them kite monsters faster.
Tuanzi could now pull four monsters at once.
It kited monsters in front, occasionally biting them. Yun Yan and Wei Jiaze followed behind, outputting safely and efficiently, much better than fighting separately.
[Wei Jiaze: Got it.]
Holding a small millet cake made by Yan Yiqiu, Wei Jiaze took a few bites, savoring the sweet taste spreading from his tongue to his heart.
“Sis, how many materials to upgrade to level-eight territory?” Yun Yan asked, hugging Yan Yiqiu while gulping watermelon juice.
Yan Yiqiu calmly chewed a rice ball: “350,000 wood, 200,000 level-1 ore, 82,000 level-2 ore, 30,000 level-3 ore, 14,000 level-4 ore, and 20,000 silver.”
“That many?”
Yun Yan clicked her tongue. She had expected a lot, but seeing these numbers shocked her—her backpack only had fifty to sixty thousand wood, fewer ores, and level-4 ore drops depended on luck.
Giving up on upgrading her territory alone was clearly the right choice!
Yun Yan smugly congratulated herself for being clever.
Wei Jiaze, sitting not far away, curiously looked up: “You’re in the same territory?”
“Yep,” Yun Yan drank more juice, sighing. “Collecting materials and upgrading a territory is tedious. I decided to join Sis Yan Yiqiu instead. Two people gather materials faster; later upgrades will require even more, and I’d never finish on my own.”
Wei Jiaze naturally heard what Yan Yiqiu had said.
Hundreds of thousands… that’s a lot. Just thinking about it made him feel faint.
He pressed his lips together, the millet cake in his hand suddenly tasted bland. He opened his mouth to say something but ended up saying nothing, quietly eating with his head down.
After replenishing fullness, Yan Yiqiu set up a tent.
The corridor was narrow, so placing the tent on the ground blocked it completely, leaving only a little space at the top.
The tent had an invisibility feature—it didn’t matter if it blocked the path. Mutated worker ants could crawl over it, and as for players? Any troublemaker would get dealt with—one at a time or two at a time.
The tent could barely fit three people sleeping. At this moment, gender didn’t matter—they each wrapped themselves in blankets and fell asleep.
Although higher levels meant they could go days without sleep, after intense combat, fatigue accumulated, making rest essential. Five hours was just right—they woke refreshed and ready to fight monsters for another five hundred years.
Yan Yiqiu packed up the tent and led Yun Yan and Wei Jiaze onward.
They reached another fork.
She observed the three paths ahead, chose the left instinctively, and marked it with a chisel on the stone wall.
After walking over half an hour, Yun Yan couldn’t help but ask: “Why does it feel like the temperature is rising? Sis, Wei Jiaze, do you feel it too?”
Wei Jiaze nodded slightly: “I feel it.”
The temperature was still acceptable for Yan Yiqiu, so she didn’t worry. But hearing the others confirm it, she lowered her gaze, thought for two seconds, and touched the stone wall beside her.
Her fair, slender fingers came away with red soil, mixed with small crystal-like fragments resembling glass.
She guessed aloud: “We’ve probably reached the interior of the ant nest.”
They had indeed been fighting around the outer area before.
“Rest here,” she said. “I suspect we’ll encounter stronger monsters soon. Replenish fullness if needed, and remember to take your cooling potions.”
Yun Yan and Wei Jiaze obediently sat down to rest.
Wei Jiaze swallowed a green-quality Cooling Pill, and his slightly feverish body instantly felt refreshed. He pursed his lips and looked at the system panel.
Since leaving the team, he had been receiving nonstop private messages—all of them bombardments from that group.
The messages from Zhao Xingpeng were slightly restrained, but the others, used to bullying him, mostly mixed in insults and personal attacks.
[Li Ru: You ungrateful wretch! Xingpeng treated you like a brother, and this is how you repay him? I knew you were never any good!]
[Zhang Dazhu: Brat, don’t let me see you again, or I’ll beat you every time!]
[…]
[Zhao Xingpeng: Jiaze, at least give me a heads-up if you’re leaving the team. Just disappearing without a word is disheartening.]
[Zhao Xingpeng: Are you leaving with those two girls? Jiaze, for old times’ sake, I have to warn you. Your combat class is useless—they might be taking you away for other purposes, like using you as a shield if danger comes.]
[Zhao Xingpeng: Listen to me, come back to my team—we’re your people.]
Wei Jiaze didn’t reply to any of these messages.
Zhao Xingpeng was persistent, sending messages every couple of hours, pleading with him to return. When he didn’t respond, the tone of the messages grew increasingly harsh.
At first, he just claimed that Yan Yiqiu and Yun Yan wanted to use him as a shield, but later it turned into crude insults like “male pet,” “disgusting,” “filthy,” “shameless,” and other indecent words.
Wei Jiaze couldn’t take it anymore and finally replied:
[Wei Jiaze: You know in your heart whether it’s for my good or because you don’t want to see me do well. Zhao Xingpeng, I’m not Li Ru’s fool—I’ve long seen your true face. Saying these things now only makes me think you’re really despicable.]
[Wei Jiaze: I won’t go back, and I certainly won’t leave my current team. They treat me well, and even if I were to be used as a shield for monsters, I’d do it willingly.]
[Wei Jiaze: Stop messaging me. Seeing you makes me want to vomit.]
[Zhao Xingpeng: You’re shameless! And seeing me makes you want to vomit? Who are you to say that? Always wearing a deadpan face, like a maggot rotting in the corner. If it weren’t for your money, I wouldn’t even glance at you. People like you won’t have friends, you bastard.]
Wei Jiaze’s face went pale, his breathing became a bit rapid, and he closed his eyes, leaning back against the stone wall. The heat radiating from the wall made his chilled body feel slightly more comfortable.
“…Are you not feeling well?”
Yan Yiqiu, sensitive to her new teammate, noticed something was wrong. Even with the high temperature in the tunnel, he was shivering.
Though the movement was tiny, she still noticed it.
“I’m fine.”
Wei Jiaze instinctively lowered his head further, his voice hoarse, as if he wished he could curl up and disappear into the wall behind him.
Honestly, if she hadn’t seen it with her own eyes, Yan Yiqiu would have a hard time linking this cautious, gloomy, insecure little fellow with the all-powerful late-game support who commands attention and admiration.
Who would have thought they were the same person?
Recalling their past cooperation, Yan Yiqiu stood and walked over to Wei Jiaze, patting his shoulder like a caring older sister: “Did your old teammates send messages to insult you?”
Wei Jiaze kept his head down, his long bangs hiding his eyes, and quietly nodded.
“What? They still have the nerve to insult you?” Yun Yan got up and rolled up her sleeves. “Tell me their player UIDs—I’ll help you shout back at them!”
Yan Yiqiu calmed Yun Yan down. Yelling solves nothing.
But killing… that could work.
She didn’t say that last part; it would have been too extreme for these two obedient little players.
“They’re only insulting you because they can’t stand seeing you do well. What you need to do is get stronger, become stronger than them, and live a life far better than they can imagine,” Yan Yiqiu spoke slowly. “Once they see that, they’ll be completely undone.”
Wei Jiaze pursed his lips: “But my class is support. Even if I get stronger, my damage can’t compare to a damage-dealer class.”
Yan Yiqiu smiled: “That doesn’t matter. A great support always has strong damage dealers around them. If they realize they missed a big asset, won’t they regret it even more?”
“The harsher they insult you now, the more they’ll regret it in the future.”
Wei Jiaze’s eyes brightened. He nodded vigorously: “I understand. Thank you for guiding me.”
Yan Yiqiu’s tone was gentle: “No need to be so formal with teammates.”
Wei Jiaze’s eyes shone even more.
After guiding the new teammate and comforting the old one, Yan Yiqiu stood and led the two deeper into the tunnel.
After about ten minutes, faint rustling sounds came from the darkness ahead.
Yun Yan and Wei Jiaze skillfully drew their weapons, preparing for battle.
But this time, it wasn’t mutated crimson worker ants—they were several times larger mutated crimson soldier ants!
The soldier ants weren’t as numerous as the workers, but they were huge—about half a meter long, reaching Yan Yiqiu’s calves.
Their antennae twitched slightly, and their mandibles were shaped like sharp sickles. Upon closer inspection, their mandibles were covered in fine red hairs that contained neurotoxic venom.
Yun Yan: “Wow, such huge ants!”
Yan Yiqiu warned them: “These should be elite monsters. Their damage is definitely high, so be careful not to get bitten.”
Yun Yan nodded, looking serious: “Got it!”
Wei Jiaze also responded softly: “Okay.”
There were ten soldier ants in total. Yun Yan summoned Tuanzi to lure two of them, while Yan Yiqiu and Wei Jiaze dealt damage from behind. The remaining soldier ants that tried to approach were taken out by Yan Yiqiu’s arrows.
Compared to the adrenaline-filled efforts of Yun Yan and Wei Jiaze, Yan Yiqiu remained calm, drawing her bow only at the soldier ants threatening them. She ignored the ones nearby, dodging their attacks with agility.
[Player dealt 839,465,173 damage to Mutated Crimson Soldier Ant, effective damage: 129,872.]
[Received: Blue Treasure Chest x1, Green Energy Crystal x309, Wood x2,598, Tier 1 Ore x1,872, Tier 2 Ore x959, Tier 3 Ore x656, Tier 4 Ore x302, Glow Sandstone x55, Green Meteorite x34, Gold Coins x1, Experience +2,500.]
[Player dealt 9,326,511,763 damage to Mutated Crimson Soldier Ant, effective damage: 158,032.]
[Received …]
Hmm? Are the soldier ants’ HP bars really this thick?
Yan Yiqiu was a little surprised by the system prompt.
She vaguely remembered soldier ants having high damage, but didn’t expect their HP to be so high—at least 100,000. She had considered leaving a couple for Yun Yan and Wei Jiaze to gain experience, but it seemed unnecessary.
Even the one they were dealing with required considerable time.
Yan Yiqiu decided to finish off the remaining soldier ants herself, letting them focus on the smaller enemies.
Eight soldier ants dropped one blue chest and three green chests.
While the HP was thick, the chance of treasure drops was higher.
Seeing Yun Yan and Wei Jiaze being cautious, Yan Yiqiu sat down and opened the obtained chests.
[Received: Hot Weapon Blueprint x2, Building Blueprint x1, Enchantment Blueprint x2, Blue Light Element Ore x2, Blue Shield x1, Blue Attack Ring x1, Wood x2,000, Tier 1 Ore x1,500, Tier 2 Ore x900, Tier 3 Ore x500, Tier 4 Ore x200, Gold x50.]
Seeing the rewards, her eyebrows rose.
Finally, this dungeon dropped something interesting.
The hot weapon blueprints were for a Gatling gun and another firearm—usable in the territory.
The building blueprint was for a basement; she couldn’t use it now but learned it anyway.
Finally, she turned her attention to the two enchantment blueprints.
Enchantments are similar to food and potions—they boost certain stats—but enchantments are applied to weapons or equipment.
Enchantment effects can stack with food or potion effects, but food/potion effects of the same type do not stack.
The two enchantments: one increases damage, the other increases agility; both are green quality.
Damage Enchantment: +10% damage for 30 minutes, requires Green Element Ore x5, Green Cloth x10. (Weapon only)
Agility Enchantment: +12% agility, requires Green Element Ore x5, Green Cloth x10, lasts 35 minutes.
Temporary enchantments? Fine. Not as good as permanent ones, but better than nothing.
Yan Yiqiu was satisfied and learned the enchantments.
Seeing Yun Yan and Wei Jiaze still fighting the soldier ants, she prepared materials to attempt sewing the enchantments.
Damage enchantment required ores with high elemental damage, like thunder, ice, or fire. Any would do, incorporated into the cloth.
[Enchantment crafting failed, Tailoring experience +20.]
[Enchantment crafting failed, Tailoring experience +20.]
[Enchantment crafting failed, Tailoring experience +20.]
…
[Obtained Damage Enchantment · Green x2, Tailoring Experience +400.]
After failing five or six times, she finally succeeded once.
Yan Yiqiu held a palm-sized piece of cloth shimmering with faint light, flipped it over a few times, and tossed it into her bag. She took the opportunity to make a few more enchantments, planning to give them to Yun Yan and Wei Jiaze later.
After leaving the dungeon, they could also list them on the marketplace. Hmm, the enchantments should be priced a bit higher—at least three times the material cost.
By the time her stamina was nearly depleted, Yun Yan had finished his battle, leaving only Wei Jiaze still struggling.
His damage couldn’t match Yun Yan’s, and even with Tuanzi’s help, taking down an elite monster still required quite a bit of time.
Yan Yiqiu saw that Wei Jiaze’s legs were slightly trembling toward the end, but he persisted and successfully wore down the Soldier Ant.
After the mutant Soldier Ant died, he collapsed onto the ground. His bangs were soaked with sweat, sticking in clumps to his forehead, revealing his clear, neat features. His usually pale face had regained some color, and he panted heavily from exhaustion.
“Take a good rest,” Yan Yiqiu said. “The ones you’ll encounter next should also be mutant Soldier Ants.”
Yun Yan grabbed some juice and gulped it down: “Elite monsters have around 100,000 HP. How thick do you think the dungeon boss’s health bar is? Hundreds of thousands? Or a million?”
This was only the fourth dungeon—what a massive jump in scale!
Yan Yiqiu didn’t know either. In her past life, she got lost inside the ant hive and only encountered elite monsters. She had no idea what the boss of this dungeon even was.
Wei Jiaze felt like his throat was on fire and grabbed juice as well, gulping several swigs. His voice was hoarse: “I got a blue-quality enchantment blueprint—will it be useful?”
“Yes,” Yan Yiqiu nodded decisively. “I also got some enchantment blueprints and made a few enchantments. You two can use them.”
“One increases damage, the other increases agility. These can only be applied to weapons or equipment and can stack with food or potion effects. They have a duration, so use them wisely.”
She accepted the blue-quality enchantment blueprint Wei Jiaze traded to her, and handed out the green-quality enchantments she just made.
Yun Yan immediately transformed into a praise machine: “Wow! Sis, you are my god~”
“Jiaze, you’re so lucky too! I’ve never gotten a blueprint before!! This time I only got some trash gear. How unfair, there are so many lucky players, and now there’s me too! How! Unfair!”
Wei Jiaze blushed slightly from the compliments, lowering his head and avoiding eye contact. He whispered, “It’s only because of you guys that my luck got better. You’re my lucky stars.”
Probably having never said such words before, his head dipped even lower afterward. His ears flushed bright red, along with a patch on his neck.
[Yun Yan: Sis, he looks like a boiled shrimp right now.]
[Yan Yiqiu: Shy, don’t stare at him. If you keep looking, I’m afraid he’ll want to dig a hole and bury himself.]
[Yun Yan: Hahaha, okay~]
Yun Yan obediently averted his gaze to inspect the newly acquired enchantments.
Wei Jiaze silently relaxed.
They were both exhausted, resting longer than usual.
The branching paths in the ant hive were now noticeably fewer. Previously, a branching path would appear after half an hour; now, they could walk two to three hours without seeing one. With fewer paths, encounters with other players became more frequent.
Yan Yiqiu’s trio always attracted attention.
A level 7 combat player and a level 5 combat player carrying a level 1 life player as dead weight was rare in dungeons.
Everyone maintained distance and showed no intention of approaching, choosing different paths at every branch. Their vigilance was high; they wouldn’t mix with unfamiliar teams.
The ant hive tunnels were too narrow—if danger struck and they crowded together, escape would be impossible. It was better to stay apart.
Midway, the trio encountered another group of mutant Soldier Ants.
As before, two were left for Yun Yan and Wei Jiaze to deal with, and Yan Yiqiu handled the rest, sitting in a spot to sew enchantments while waiting for them to kill the small monsters.
However, this time there was an unexpected twist.
One mutant Soldier Ant’s antennae trembled slightly, unnoticed by anyone.
Minutes later, Yan Yiqiu caught a rustling sound again, immediately abandoning the enchantment she was sewing halfway and squinting at what was ahead.
[Enchantment crafting failed, Tailoring Experience +20.]
Mutant Soldier Ants and Worker Ants appeared together in view, a dense red wave surging rapidly.
She instantly killed the two Soldier Ants in front of Yun Yan and Wei Jiaze, making them retreat to recover their fullness: “Use your damage-boosting potions and enchantments, don’t hold back.”
“You handle the Worker Ants, I’ll take care of the Soldier Ants.”
This swarm was unprecedentedly large. Yun Yan and Wei Jiaze understood the seriousness of the situation and immediately used their enchantments and potions.
Wei Jiaze’s buff cooldown had just ended; he softly began to chant.
After a gentle murmur, all three, including their combat pets, had their attributes increased by 1% for fifteen minutes.
Yan Yiqiu no longer held back. She swapped her bow for a crossbow, drew arrows, and fired ten arrows at the ant swarm.
The ten arrows flew in unison with tremendous pressure, whistling through the air, each hitting a mutant Soldier Ant precisely.
Her movements were agile, light as a leopard. Everything around her became an advantage.
Her red curls tied in a high ponytail swayed beautifully. Using the uneven stone walls, she leaped and flipped mid-air to avoid the ants’ attacks.
Yun Yan and Wei Jiaze were nearly stunned.
Yan Yiqiu’s movements were fluid, every second used efficiently. Her fair, delicate face remained expressionless, her sharp black eyes cold and focused.
In less than half a minute, over ten mutant Soldier Ants were dead, with reward notifications streaming non-stop.
She had no time to check the loot. Taking advantage of a gap, she glanced at Yun Yan and Wei Jiaze, frowning: “What are you standing there for? Keep killing!”
Her voice was calm, but to Yun Yan and Wei Jiaze, it carried immense pressure.
The two snapped back, raised their weapons, and joined the fight.
With buffs stacked, Yun Yan’s damage reached 6,000. Lucky criticals could deal over 10,000, making Worker Ants easier to handle and leaving him free to assist Wei Jiaze.
Other players couldn’t replicate their setup; just the potions and enchantments alone would make anyone wince.
It was a tough fight, but because Yan Yiqiu drew most of the aggro, it remained manageable for the two.
Seeing the ants trying to retreat as usual, Yan Yiqiu didn’t let them escape. She had Yun Yan and Wei Jiaze follow closely, chasing the swarm.
She had a feeling that by following, they might have a chance to encounter the dungeon boss.
The elite monsters’ rewards were already excellent; the boss’s rewards must be even better. They were practically leading them right to it—wouldn’t it be a waste not to follow?
Mutant Worker/Soldier Ants: ??