Chapter Thirteen: The Tireless Fanged Boar

Raising bloodthirsty mosquitoes required a pool and a supply of blood. He already had solutions for both conditions.

First, he needed to set up the pool.

He sent his thoughts into the sub-dimensional space and used up the last eight Goblin cards he possessed, summoning them all at once. The eight cards hovered in midair, then shattered, and eight short, cunning-looking green-skinned goblins appeared in the sub-dimensional space.

"Now, all of you dig with all your might. I want a pit ten square meters wide," he ordered.

After issuing the command, the eight goblins swiftly got to work. This was the first time Lu Sheng had summoned goblins, and watching his eight minions move about gave him a sudden boost of confidence. Previously, for fear of being discovered, he had never summoned the goblins in the outside world.

With the goblins digging the pit, he could focus on finding a water source.

This part was easy: there was a river right next to Oxhorn Village. However, the river held certain dangers, and villagers usually drew water from a well in the center of the village. Now that dusk had already fallen and people would be fetching water more frequently, if he started drawing buckets from the well, one or two might pass unnoticed, but any more would certainly draw questions.

He needed about ten cubic meters of water—a sizable amount. It would be better to get it from the river.

He hadn't brought a bucket, but as long as an object within a meter of him didn’t resist, Lu Sheng could absorb it directly into his sub-dimensional space.

He followed the route he’d memorized during a previous search assignment. In no time, he arrived at the riverbank.

It was a river at least ten meters wide—neither particularly large nor small.

By now, the goblins in his sub-dimensional space had also finished their task.

Lu Sheng wasted no time. He moved closer to the river, and with a thought, a huge quantity of water silently vanished into his sub-dimensional space.

Within moments, the extraction was complete. He left the river quickly, excitement bubbling inside him.

He failed to notice that, as he was leaving, two eyeballs the size of ping-pong balls surfaced from the water, staring after him. Had he lingered a little longer, he might have been attacked. Luckily, he left just in time.

Back at the camp, he joined the others for dinner. Afterward, he could barely contain his eagerness and hurried to his room to begin breeding bloodthirsty mosquitoes.

Watching Lu Sheng rush back to his room, Mu Kui shook his head. “Young people these days, no wonder he’s so thin.”

It was strange, really—Lu Sheng ate a lot every day, and the meat of the Fanged Boar was rich in energy, yet he never seemed to put on weight.

Lying on his bed, Lu Sheng sent his thoughts into the sub-dimensional space.

The ten-square-meter pool lay at the center, and the goblins wandered about idly.

He turned the goblins back into cards, retrieving them into his card space, and then summoned the Fanged Boar.

With the pool sorted, it was time to solve the problem of food.

He used the Fanged Boar to summon ten piglets.

Looking at the ten robust little piglets, Lu Sheng smiled with satisfaction.

“You’ve done well. Someday, I’ll let you experience the glory of the ninth tier.”

He turned the Fanged Boar back into a card. Without its help, the piglets had no way of returning.

This Fanged Boar card was incredibly helpful; without it, his rate of improvement would have been five times slower. Strangely, it seemed only his particular Fanged Boar card could summon piglets—others he’d asked had no such ability.

This made him realize just how special his own Fanged Boar card was.

The preparations for breeding bloodthirsty mosquitoes were complete. Now, he released the two bloodthirsty mosquitoes.

Each one was the size of a human thumb, much larger than an ordinary mosquito. Especially their huge abdomens—just looking at them sent chills down his spine. How much blood would one bite draw?

Fanged Boar... thank you for your sacrifice.

He still had one more task.

He took another card from his card space.

[Tenfold Reproduction Card]

Effect: After use, the next breeding will be increased tenfold.

The Reproduction Card turned into a white light and merged into the female bloodthirsty mosquito.

If the merchant hadn’t deceived him, in three days he would have at least three thousand bloodthirsty mosquitoes—three thousand cards!

Everything was done; all that remained was to wait three days.

He exited the sub-dimensional space and fell asleep, satisfied.

In the middle of the night, Lu Sheng awoke suddenly.

A suction force in his mind told him that the instance had begun.

This had happened once before, seven days ago, so Lu Sheng knew what was going on.

There was no need for them to worry about such matters—the leader would handle it. If their help was needed, orders would be given.

Last time, the leader had dealt with it alone and hadn’t needed their involvement.

Lu Sheng was curious about the leader’s abilities this time. He decided to enter and see for himself. If things got dangerous, he could simply leave and would suffer no consequences.

It wasn’t that he didn’t want to sleep, but the suction force made it impossible to rest.

Even so, he didn’t intend to enter the instance immediately. He decided to wait a bit, giving Li Kuang enough time to react and go in first.

After about five minutes, Lu Sheng entered.

Boom!

Boom!

A shrill cry pierced the air, followed by a roar.

The moment he entered, Lu Sheng could feel the intense fluctuations of battle.

He looked toward the source of the commotion and saw two enormous earth giants, each over three meters tall. Their ochre skin was the best armor they could have.

At this moment, both earth giants were under attack.

A massive wind wolf, breathing gales, and a gigantic firebird soaring in the sky beset them.

The wind wolf belonged to Li Kuang, but whose was the firebird?

Was it her?

On the outskirts of the battlefield stood two figures, a man and a woman. The man was Li Kuang; the woman Lu Sheng didn’t recognize. She stood calmly by Li Kuang’s side, utterly unruffled by the chaos before her.

The woman wore red, and the small amount of skin exposed was pale and delicate. Her face was veiled, obscuring her features.

The rock giants seemed unfazed by the combined assault. The wind wolf’s blasts were casually swatted away, and the firebird’s fireballs had no effect either.

Their trump cards could do nothing to harm the earth giants.

This instance space was vast, and from the distance, a horde of monsters was charging in. Judging by their short stature and green skin, they were clearly goblins.

In Lu Sheng’s view, the red-robed woman suddenly produced a card, tossing it into the air where it turned into a point of light and shot into the firebird’s body.

As soon as the card merged with the firebird, it became feverishly excited.

With a piercing cry, the fire on its body soared.

Two massive fireballs burst from its beak, slamming brutally into the two stone giants.

Even their legendary defenses couldn’t withstand the firebird’s onslaught—the two giants were shattered, dead beyond any hope of revival.

Two streaks of white light rose from the corpses—cards. The woman strode forward and claimed both without hesitation.

Just then, Mu Kui appeared at Lu Sheng’s side. It seemed he, too, was wide awake and had come to take a look. Perfect timing to ask about the woman’s identity.

“Who’s that woman?” Lu Sheng asked.

Still half-asleep, Mu Kui yawned. “That’s Wang Xian, our settlement’s card maker.”