113: Teleport (Merry Christmas)

“Damn it!”

Inside a magnificent palace, Tang Qing looked at the scene before him and couldn't help but curse under his breath.

As an old Lord who had dominated the Endless Continent for over a decade, Tang Qing's strength was beyond doubt.

He commanded millions of Troops, with over 2,000 Seven-Colored Star Ladybug and Eight-Colored Star Ladybug Troops combined.

He even possessed a full 100 Nine-Colored Star Ladybug Troops.

This level of strength was definitely among the top ranks of the Lords from his era.

If there had been a ranking for prodigies in their year, he would have been in the top fifty.

As early as half a year ago, Tang Qing had unexpectedly obtained a ticket to the Crystal Palace.

For this, he had prepared for a full six months.

To maximize his gains in this hidden dungeon, he even gritted his teeth and purchased 100 Nine-Colored Star Ladybug Troops.

Even an old timer like him, who had been a Lord for over a decade, had never acquired a Nine-Colored Star Ladybug Troop altar.

It was almost impossible to obtain an altar of that rank on the existing safe lands, unless one ventured into dangerous uninhabited areas.

Of course, one could choose to attack a Lord with a Nine-Colored Star Ladybug Troop altar, destroy their Troop altar, and have a 50% chance of dropping a blueprint.

However, if Tang Qing had that kind of strength, he wouldn't be without a Nine-Colored Star Ladybug Troop altar.

After a significant expenditure, Tang Qing could say he was fully prepared for this dungeon run.

Finally, today, someone had gathered all the tickets.

And he, amidst a mix of excitement, anticipation, and greed, entered the dungeon.

Everything in the beginning went smoothly.

He swept through the monster palaces, and the two opponents he was matched against were far weaker than him.

Just as he thought he could sweep all the way to the deepest part of the dungeon, an unexpected event occurred.

“Damn it, it's bad enough there are Priest-class Troops, but how do these front-line monsters also have summoning skills?”

Looking at the dense swarm of small Tidal Giants in front, Tang Qing roared in a mix of grief and indignation.

In front of him, his Troop army was fiercely battling this army of giants.

After passing through the previous six monster palaces and the attrition from two opponents, the number of Troops under his command had been severely depleted.

His original army of millions was now reduced to only two-thirds.

Tang Qing even had a premonition that the losses of his Troops in the next three palaces would be even greater.

These summoned small Tidal Giants each possessed the strength of a Six-Colored Star Ladybug monster.

With the assistance of 8,000 Six-Colored Star Ladybug monsters, the Tidal Giant General's pressure was greatly reduced, and he was wantonly slaughtering Tang Qing's Troops.

Ever since entering the dungeon, Tang Qing had been using a standard Lord-world method of attack.

First, use cannon fodder to deplete the monsters' stamina and wear down their defenses.

After depleting them to a certain extent, then send in the elites for the final assault, aiming to minimize losses of elite Troops.

After all, not all Lords were Li Feng, who treated the lives of high-level Troops as nothing.

Nor did all Lords awaken SSS-rank talents that allowed them to summon Troops without cooldowns.

The death of any high-level Troop, for a Lord, was not only a huge financial loss but also a significant sunk cost in time.

But now, facing a Tidal Giant General who could summon 100 Six-Colored Star Ladybug monsters in one go, Tang Qing was so angry he couldn't help but curse.

These summoned Six-Colored Star Ladybug monsters not only eliminated large numbers of his cannon fodder Troops, but also yielded no rewards upon defeat.

“I can't waste any more time. If their summoning skill cooldown ends, that would be bad for me.”

After an hour of bitter fighting, Tang Qing's face was so grim it could drip water, seeing that a small number of small Tidal Giants still remained.

Ultimately, he had no choice but to issue the command for a full assault.

“Roar!”

A magnificent golden three-headed lion let out a majestic roar.

This was the Nine-Colored Star Ladybug Troop that Tang Qing had painstakingly acquired through many connections; its overall strength even surpassed that of the Tidal Giant General.

Just then, behind Tang Qing's Troop army, a group of Priest-class Troops unleashed their skills, applying various buff effects to the 10 golden three-headed lions.

The next moment, these behemoths, over 30 meters long, charged into the battlefield through the wide path cleared by the army.

And behind the golden three-headed lions, over a thousand Seven-Colored Star Ladybug and Eight-Colored Star Ladybug Troops followed closely.

Tang Qing had made up his mind to end the battle quickly, even if it meant sacrificing some elite Troops.

“As long as I make it to the end and clear this dungeon, I'll gain over a thousand Seven-Colored Star Ladybug Troop recruitment orders alone, which will be enough to cover my losses, not to mention all those Seven-Colored Star Ladybug gems, and even a Lord Skill Book.”

Thinking of this, Tang Qing couldn't help but lick his lips, his eyes radiating a burning gaze.

As for failure, he hadn't even considered it.

He didn't put any of the other nine people in his eyes.

As he thought, Li Feng's slightly youthful face involuntarily appeared in Tang Qing's mind.

He couldn't help but frown.

It wasn't that he was worried Li Feng would become his opponent.

He was worried that Li Feng would be eliminated in the first three monster palaces.

In that case, that Lord Skill Book would be out of his reach.

In his opinion, the most valuable item in this dungeon was that Lord Skill Book.

“Now I can only hope that kid is strong enough, at least to hold out until the fourth palace, so that others can eliminate him.”

Just as Tang Qing was lost in thought, his golden three-headed lions had already engaged the Tidal Giant General in battle.

He immediately composed himself and focused all his attention on commanding the golden three-headed lions in battle, daring not to have any more distracting thoughts.

What Tang Qing didn't know was that while he was engaged in a fierce struggle, Li Feng had already led his Troops to defeat all 400 monsters in the eleventh palace.

For Li Feng, the small Tidal Giants summoned by the Tidal Giant General were merely an opportunity for the Flying Mantis to wield their blades a few more times.

Seventeen thousand Seven-Colored Star Ladybug melee Troops, over twenty thousand Seven-Colored Star Ladybug ranged Troops.

The power they possessed was absolutely incomparable to millions of cannon fodder Troops.

Of course, even with Li Feng's overwhelming strength, casualties were still unavoidable.

Five hundred Flying Mantis and Magic Sound Conch Insects died together.

Once the Magic Sound Conch Insect attached to a target, they became a single entity.

If the health of this combined entity dropped to zero, both would die together.

Fortunately, these casualties were still within Li Feng's acceptable range.

“You opened the Crystal Palace treasure chest. You received rewards: Seven-Colored Star Ladybug Gem * 4, Seven-Colored Star Ladybug Troop Recruitment Order * 40, Lord Skill Book Fragment * 1!”

After collecting the rewards, Li Feng teleported to the twelfth palace.

At most, only 3 Lords could reach this point.

One person would get a bye, and the other two would battle.

Those who reached this stage were the strongest among the ten, and any battle would inevitably result in significant casualties.

Therefore, if one could draw a bye in this palace, they would preserve more strength, and even potentially secure the final victory.

Naturally, Li Feng also hoped to draw a bye.

It wasn't because he wanted to preserve his strength; he had immense confidence in his own power.

Thirty thousand Seven-Colored Star Ladybug Troops—even some veteran Lords who had dominated the Endless Continent for decades would have to treat them with caution.

Not to mention, the Lords who entered this dungeon were, at most, under 30 years old.

He just wanted to be lazy; being able to reduce one battle was naturally the best outcome.

“Congratulations on passing the third round. You have fortunately drawn a bye. You can choose to exit the dungeon or continue forward.”

Just as Li Feng was lost in thought, a notification sound rang in his ears, making his eyes light up.

Yes, they truly brightened.

The originally dark palace was suddenly filled with light, allowing Li Feng to see everything clearly.

Before him, a crystal treasure chest stood silently.

“My luck isn't bad.” Li Feng smiled faintly, unsure if this counted as his wishes coming true.

Immediately after, he pushed open the lid of the treasure chest.

“You opened the Crystal Palace treasure chest. You received rewards: Seven-Colored Star Ladybug Gem * 4, Seven-Colored Star Ladybug Troop Recruitment Order * 40, Lord Skill Book Fragment * 1, War Treasure * 500!”

Adding the War Treasure he received after defeating the white-clothed youth, Li Feng currently possessed a total of 1,600 War Treasures.

He only needed 1,400 more War Treasures to upgrade his True Blood to max level.

Thinking of this, he decisively took action.

“Your War Treasure ‘True Blood’ level +1, consuming 2 million wood, 2 million stone, 2 million iron, and 200 War Treasure!”

“Your War Treasure ‘True Blood’ level +1, consuming 2 million wood, 2 million stone, 2 million iron, and 200 War Treasure!”

“...”

At max level, True Blood's first effect, 'All Troops Defense,' increased from 20% to 40%!

This made Li Feng's Troops much more resilient, greatly increasing their survival rate.

Because he had a bye, Li Feng didn't have to wait tediously for an opponent this time and directly teleported to the next palace.

The thirteenth palace still contained 100 Tidal Giants.

This time, there were no Tidal Giant High Priests.

Instead, there were 10 Tidal Giant Archmages wearing mage robes!

From the name, it was clear these were magic-type Troops.

And they were also Nine-Colored Star Ladybug elite Troops.

Evidently, compared to the previous three palaces, the difficulty had sharply increased this time.

Li Feng raised his eyebrows slightly; the difficulty had indeed increased significantly, but it was still quite limited.

With his Troop army, he could still sweep through.

It just wouldn't be as easy as before.

Additionally, after these three palaces, his Troop losses would likely be substantial.

Conservatively, at least several thousand Flying Mantis and Magic Sound Conch Insects would die.

These were thousands of Six-Colored Star Ladybug and Seven-Colored Star Ladybug Troops.

For other Lords, this would likely cause them heartache and make them bleed.

But Li Feng didn't even bother to frown, directly ordering a full army charge.

Only a few thousand Troops died; he could just summon them again after leaving the dungeon.

Aside from other items, the gold coins dropped from killing monsters had long since covered his costs and left him with a full treasury.

“Kill those magic-type giants first!”

Li Feng's gaze fell upon the Tidal Giant Archmages.

These Nine-Colored Star Ladybug ranged Troops had a much longer attack range than the Seven-Colored Star Ladybug.

This meant they could completely hide in the back and bombard the Seven-Colored Star Ladybug.

Just like in the previous palace, Li Feng had the Seven-Colored Star Ladybug hide in the back and bombard the Tidal Giant General.

If they were allowed to cast spells undisturbed, the death rate of Li Feng's Troops would definitely skyrocket.

Li Feng didn't care about Troop deaths; he could summon more later.

But he had to consider the final battle with other Lords and the ultimate BOSS battle that lay ahead.

Just then, both sides had approached within 200 meters.

The Tidal Giant Archmages raised their staffs, and water gathered around them, forming ice shards.

Ice Cone Storm!

This was a large-scale elemental skill on par with Meteor Shower, an evolved version of Ice Cone Spell.

Ice shards rained down like a storm, engulfing the charging Flying Mantis.

In just this one round of attack, over 100 Flying Mantis entered the Blood Lock state, and then were instantly killed.

Ice Cone Storm was a continuous area-of-effect skill, lasting far longer than 3 seconds.

“This won't do. Speite, I'll have to rely on you this time.”

Thinking of this, Li Feng took out his Troop Pouch and, in one breath, stored over a thousand Seven-Colored Star Ladybug.

A thousand was enough.

He jumped off Speite's back, landing on the back of a Seven-Colored Star Ladybug.

Then, Li Feng threw the Troop Pouch with force.

The Troop Pouch landed in Speite's open mouthparts.

Space twisted for a moment, and when it reappeared, Speite had already crossed a hundred meters.

Instant Transmission!

As the Space Ancestor Insect, possessing Space Power, it was not at all surprising that Speite had this heaven-defying ability.

As for why Li Feng jumped off Speite, it was mainly because Speite was currently only in its weakest first stage, meaning it was still in its larval state, unable to carry a person during Instant Transmission.

Unless Li Feng was willing to hide inside its mouthparts.

But clearly, Li Feng was unwilling.

Under Li Feng's gaze, Speite, in a few flashes, crossed the battlefield and appeared next to the Tidal Giant Archmages.

Boom boom boom boom boom boom!

Upon Speite's sudden appearance, the Tidal Giant Archmages, without a word, raised their staffs and summoned several waves of small tsunamis, bombarding Speite.

However, all of this was destined to be futile.

For an entity capable of instant spatial transmission at any time, elemental attacks were meaningless.

Sure enough, just as the small tsunamis were about to hit, Speite instantly transmitted to another direction.

Immediately after, it opened its mouthparts.

And spat out the now sticky Troop Pouch.

As a hero, aside from being unable to control other heroes, many abilities possessed by Lords were also possessed by heroes.

Among them, using items was one.

Speite immediately released one Seven-Colored Star Ladybug after another.

Under its command, they immediately began to bombard the Tidal Giant Archmages, who had briefly entered a state of 'ceasefire'.

“Your Troops killed a Tidal Giant Archmage. Your Troops gained a small amount of experience. You gained 200,000 gold coins!”

“Your Troops killed a Tidal Giant Archmage. Your Troops gained a small amount of experience. You gained 200,000 gold coins!”

“...”