Chapter 52: Insect Nest

Xu Feng let out a long breath and looked at Ma Wei and Zhang Qiang. They were sitting cross-legged on the ground with a pile of Insect Crystals placed beside them.

Each Insect Crystal could now give them one to three free Attribute Points. With so many Insect Crystals, it was enough for them to raise their strength to Two-Star Strength.

Soon, both of them reached One-Star Peak.

“Huh, that’s strange. I’m not getting any Attribute Points from absorbing Insect Crystals anymore,” Ma Wei said in surprise.

“Mine too, they’re no longer increasing Attribute Points,” Zhang Qiang glanced at Xu Feng and said quietly.

“Your strength has reached the point where you can advance to Two Stars. One-Star Insect Crystals have no effect on you now. To improve further, you must use Two-Star Insect Crystals,” Xu Feng said calmly.

“What a pity, there are still so many Insect Crystals left unabsorbed,” Ma Wei said regretfully, looking at the more than twenty Insect Crystals still by his side.

“Put them away for now. You can sell them later or trade them with others for things,” Xu Feng said. Suddenly, his eyes moved, and he looked up toward the forest.

At that moment, there was movement in the forest again. It seemed like another large group of monsters was slowly emerging from the woods.

The bodies of the Wolf Monsters had all been turned into a pile of materials by Xu Feng using the Gathering Art. Fortunately, the Storage Ring had a very large space; otherwise, it might not have been able to hold so many things.

“Another group of monsters. I just don’t know if these monsters are One Star or Two Stars?” Xu Feng’s heart sank.

“Fall back to the passage first.”

The three of them quickly returned to the passage and guarded the entrance, watching the forest nervously.

If not for this passage and the advantage of the terrain, Xu Feng and the others would not have been enough to kill those Wolf Monsters. Unless they had a team of over a hundred people, there was no way they could clear all the monsters here.

Thinking of this, Xu Feng seemed to understand a little why, in his previous life, Ma Wei and his group had managed to complete the task of building a Camp here with just a few people.

Soon, more than a dozen tall monsters emerged from the forest. The Wolf Monsters were already quite burly, but these new monsters were even larger, standing about three meters tall. Their muscles were like cast iron, full of strength. Their heads resembled those of wild boars, with Fangs at the corners of their mouths longer than those of the Wolf Monsters, glinting with a metallic sheen.

These dozen or so Boar Monsters, holding Spiked Clubs, charged fiercely toward Xu Feng and the other two.

“Good, they’re only at One-Star Peak strength,” Xu Feng observed the crystals on the monsters’ foreheads, which were still mostly white with just a faint black glow around the edges.

“One-Star Peak strength, everyone be careful,” Xu Feng said quietly.

The Boar Monsters quickly rushed to the passage entrance, but the entrance was only about two meters high. To get in, the burly monsters had to bend down and lower their heads, but how could they fight in that position?

Unable to enter the passage, the Boar Monsters became furious. They swung their Spiked Clubs, fiercely striking the cliff rocks beside the passage, trying to widen it.

However, perhaps a mysterious force was protecting this valley, or rather, protecting this “dungeon.”

No matter how much force the Boar Monsters used, the rock wall where the passage was located showed no damage. To be more specific, not even a fist-sized rock fell off.

Inside the passage, Xu Feng and the other two let out a sigh of relief at the same time. They were so tense that they could hear each other exhaling.

The three looked at each other and burst into laughter simultaneously, and the atmosphere instantly relaxed.

“Begin the attack!” Xu Feng smiled slightly and said softly.

Xu Feng and Ma Wei rushed to the passage entrance. Facing the Boar Monsters’ bellies covered in white hair, they swung their sharp blades and slashed fiercely.

…

It took the three of them less than an hour to finish off all dozen or so Boar Monsters. The process was even easier than dealing with the previous three hundred-plus Wolf Monsters.

If compared, the strength of these dozen Boar Monsters wasn’t much different from the three hundred Wolf Monsters. After all, the Boar Monsters were already at One-Star Peak strength, with one foot almost stepping into the next level, while most of the three hundred Wolf Monsters had just become One Star.

However, if not for this passage—only a dozen meters long, wide enough for two people side by side, and just over two meters high—and the fact that the valley rock walls outside the passage couldn’t be destroyed, neither the three hundred Wolf Monsters nor these dozen Boar Monsters would have been something Xu Feng and the other two could handle easily. Even Xu Feng would have been seriously injured after dealing with these two waves of monsters.

But now, the three didn’t even have minor injuries. They only used up some stamina and wiped out all the monsters.

“Let’s move forward. Everyone, stay alert. If we encounter monsters we can’t handle, retreat into the passage as quickly as possible,” Xu Feng said, letting out a long breath.

Ma Wei and Zhang Qiang had already felt the danger of this “dungeon.” If not for their good luck, their bodies would probably be cold by now.

The three left the passage and saw Guo Yu’s mangled corpse. Their hearts grew heavy.

Guo Yu had been so close to making it back to the passage like Ma Wei and the others. That small difference was the distance between life and death.

Looking at Guo Yu’s body, more than half eaten, Zhang Qiang clenched his fist. “I won’t end up like him!”

“Let’s bury him first,” Xu Feng sighed.

After all, it was because of him that Guo Yu had died here. In his previous life, Xu Feng had only heard of Ma Wei’s name but not Guo Yu’s. He hadn’t even heard of Zhang Qiang’s name.

Maybe in his previous life, both of them had died during this mission. Or maybe not.

But in this life, Xu Feng had witnessed Guo Yu die right before his eyes for this mission of his.

…

After glancing at the small grave mound, which didn’t even have a tombstone, the three continued toward the forest.

Perhaps because they had killed two waves of monsters in a row and wiped out all the monsters here, the forest was now very quiet. There wasn’t even the chirping of insects or birds.

The three cautiously made their way through the forest. Finally, their view opened up, and a grassland with grass up to their knees appeared before them.

At the same time, not far from the forest, there was a strange building. This structure covered dozens of square meters and looked like a cluster of trees five or six meters tall, with countless branches stretching outward. Even fresh green leaves grew on the branches.

But the surface of the cluster was covered in dark red flesh, with countless small holes oozing foul-smelling purple-red liquid.

The entire structure seemed alive, contracting and expanding as if breathing. With each breath, they could see three rows of white, saw-like, densely packed teeth inside its body.

“Insect Nest. Good, it’s only a Two-Star Insect Nest!” Xu Feng carefully examined the huge structure before him and spoke as if relieved.