Chapter 90: Second-Rank Quest! Trait — Absolute Dominance! (Two Chapters Combined)
【You have entered the Dungeon: Demon Ant Nest — Hell Difficulty!】
As the notification sounded, Ye Ze appeared on a vast black-red wasteland.
At a glance, the land before him looked as if it had been scorched by blazing magma into lifeless ruin. The ground was covered in cracks, and gray-black smoke veiled the sky.
The entire Dungeon was steeped in desolation and a faint, scorching heat.
But Ye Ze did not pay much attention to the scene before him. Instead, he was far more concerned with the Dungeon’s na.
“Demon Ant Nest?”
“Simon, is this demon territory?”
“Your father, the Demon King, can’t sense this place, can he!?”
At the ntion of the Demon King, Ye Ze imdiately felt his scalp go numb. With his current strength, if he ran into the Demon King, there would only be one possible outco: death. He absolutely could not afford to provoke him.
If this Dungeon had anything to do with the Demon King, Ye Ze was prepared to run first and ask questions later...He could give up the Dungeon, but he definitely could not give up his life!
At that mont, Simon felt the surroundings for a while, then appeared beside Ye Ze in human form and said with certainty, “There’s no aura of the demon realm here... It’s just an ordinary Dungeon.”
“Although most demons exist in the demon realm, many clans are scattered across different worlds. In that regard, they’re actually not that different from humans...”With that reassurance, Ye Ze relaxed a great deal.
So this place was probably just an ant Dungeon with a small trace of demon bloodline... completely different in difficulty from a true demon-race zone.
“Then I’m relieved...”
With that thought, Ye Ze slowly walked forward across the black-red wasteland. Since that was the case, speed-clearing would naturally be the priority. He still had a shot at the first clear!
He copied the mantis’s Void Killing Eyes and activated X-Ray Vision.
The wasteland imdiately turned transparent, revealing the structure of the rock layers beneath the surface...
And not far ahead, near the upper layer underground, he found twenty to thirty giant ants with jet-black carapaces and crimson legs, crawling upward.
【Demonized Soldier Ant (lv.30)】
Type: Rare-grade Monster
Attributes: Strength 500, Constitution 200, Agility 150, Spirit 130
Skills: Great Strength, Ant Acid Corruption, Guard
————
Compared to monsters in other Dungeons, ants were especially good at countering strength-type classes, particularly fighters and warriors.
That was not only because of their high Strength, but also because an ant’s neck joints could withstand force several thousand tis greater than their own bodies.
That was a racial advantage.
But that advantage only really showed itself in pure strength-against-strength clashes.
Ye Ze summoned the little fox and chose a traditional yet practical tactic.
“Use telekinesis to gather the monsters!”
When one’s Spirit was strong enough, using telekinesis to control enemies was extrely easy. Ye Ze had already experienced that before.
Violet light shone from the little fox’s eyes. Imdiately afterward, a vast telekinetic force seized the ants and dragged them into the air...
Accompanied by the rumbling of shifting rocks, all the ants were gathered into the sky, compressed into a spherical mass of ants that struggled helplessly within the force of telekinesis.
Ye Ze had originally intended to let the fox follow up with a skill and wipe them out, but the magic dragon spoke first.
“I’ll do it!”
In the dragon’s mouth, black flas carrying a destructive aura condensed into a massive black fireball.
【Cataclysmic Black Fla】!
This was actually a passive Legendary skill, aning the magic dragon could release black flas in any form he wished. In effect, he was almost no different from a fire mage.
The black fla struck the mass of ants and instantly triggered a violent explosion.
Like waves, the fire rapidly swallowed the ants whole, and their shrieks and wails were drowned out by the roar of the flas.
The gray-black smoke in the sky thickened even further.
【Killed Demonized Soldier Ant, EXP 1200 ( 100%)!】
【Killed Demonized Soldier Ant...】
Dozens of kill notifications appeared all at once, leaving Ye Ze in an excellent mood.
“Admittedly, this Dungeon doesn’t give that much EXP, but the number of monsters is really insane!”
Especially with Ye Ze’s process of “gathering monsters and instantly killing them,” the EXP ca quickly, and the killing speed was extrely fast!
And since the fox was only gathering enemies, the drain on her Spirit was not actually too severe.
And those had only been the monsters on the surface.
After all, an ant nest was mostly underground, which ant the real bulk of the monsters was underground too!
Ye Ze activated Void Killing Eyes and continued deeper inside.
Along the way, every ant swarm he encountered was dealt with in the sa manner: gather them, wipe them out, harvest EXP. His EXP bar rose rapidly and had already reached 60%.
And then Ye Ze suddenly noticed that Simon had been acting especially eager lately.
A little too eager, in fact.
But Ye Ze had plenty of experience from his previous life, so he understood it imdiately at a glance:
the magic dragon wanted to improve.
Thinking about it, that made sense.
Ever since the magic dragon had been summoned, the mantis had fused Traits and gained a massive increase in combat power. Imdiately after that, the fox and the squirrel had each received a Trait as well.
All the summoned beasts had improved.
Only the magic dragon had remained in place.
Simon did not understand what Traits were, but he did understand that Ye Ze possessed the power to make him stronger.
Even though the dragon had never said it outright, it was obvious from his behavior...
He wanted to make his case.
Once Ye Ze realized that, he could not help laughing.
Still, Simon carried the goal and burden of competing for the throne of the Demon King, so naturally he was especially hungry for power.
And for Ye Ze, if Simon could really seize the position of Demon King, the benefits would be enormous...
That would an he could use the entire demon race as one of his trump cards!
With that in mind, Ye Ze decided that if the right Trait ca up later, he would give the magic dragon more consideration...
At that mont, he arrived before a cave.
The ants on the wasteland surface had already been cleared. If he wanted to keep going, the only option was to enter the cave—the ants’ nest!
The cave was pitch-black, impossible to see to the end, and imnse magical power radiated from within.
After thinking for a mont, Ye Ze suddenly ca up with a plan.
“Simon, pour black flas straight into the tunnel. Keep pouring!”
Burn the ant nest!
Other people might not have been able to see clearly inside, but with X-Ray Vision, Ye Ze could see it plainly. Beneath the cave were enormous numbers of ants!
It seed that after realizing the ants outside had been slaughtered, the colony had chosen to wait for Ye Ze inside the nest.
So Ye Ze simply chose to set the whole place on fire!
Boom—!
Simon opened his jaws wide, and Cataclysmic Black Fla poured into the ant tunnel like a vortex!
In only a few monts, after the black flas descended, screams rang out without end, and the thick sll of charred bodies spread through the air.
【Killed Demonized Soldier Ant, EXP 1200!】
【Killed Demonized Worker Ant, EXP 1000!】
【Killed Demon Ant, EXP 2000!】
“It even burned the elite monsters to death?”
A smile appeared on Ye Ze’s face. That ant his tactic was extrely suitable here.
Elite monsters that would normally pose a major threat to teams breaking new ground in a Dungeon were dying to him without even getting the chance to show their faces.
At the sa ti, his EXP bar surged upward...
70%... 80%... 90%!
“I have to say, there really are a lot of monsters in an ant nest.”
As the magic dragon kept breathing fire, Ye Ze’s EXP bar finally reached its limit!
【Ding! Your level has risen to: Level 20!】
【Talent — You have gained one ‘Infinite Golden Traits’ draw!】
“Finally, level 20!”
That also ant his second class advancent opportunity had arrived!
Each class advancent granted different rewards, but most of them were class-exclusive.
Last ti, the reward had been an exclusive skill. This ti, who knew what it would be...
Ye Ze opened the class panel and selected the class advancent option:
【You have reached level 20 and may choose the difficulty of your second-rank class quest —】
【1】Ordinary Advancent. Reward: Summoned Beast Space 1, Attribute Growth 1.
【2】Advanced Advancent. Reward: Summoned Beast Space 1, Attribute Growth 2.
【3】Perfect Advancent. Reward: Summoned Beast Space 1, Exclusive Equipnt Chest (Excellent — Outstanding quality) ×1, Attribute Growth 3.
【4】Supre Advancent. Reward: Super Summoning Space 1, Exclusive Equipnt Chest (Epic quality or above) ×1, Attribute Growth 4!
————
“An exclusive equipnt chest! Not bad at all!”
At present, Ye Ze only had two pieces of equipnt on him from head to toe. He was severely lacking in gear!
This was the perfect chance to make up for it.
But what puzzled him was this:
“Super Summoning Space? Why haven’t I ever heard of that?”
Every edition of the textbooks over the past several decades had only ever ntioned the ordinary Summoned Beast Space...
Could it be because Myth Revival had been triggered, raising the upper limit for Class Users?
Other than that, Ye Ze really could not think of any explanation.
But whatever.
There was no point overthinking it. Once he got the reward, he would know what it did!
A Super Summoning Space had to be better than a normal one. That much was certain!
“I choose Supre difficulty!”
【Ding! You have selected the difficulty of your second-rank class advancent: Supre!】
【You have successfully received the random Supre Advancent Quest: ‘A Genius Must Fight Above Their Rank’!】
“Fighting above my rank shouldn’t be hard for .”
After all, the quality of Ye Ze’s summoned beasts really was absurdly high.
However, the quest description imdiately made him suck in a cold breath:
【A Genius Must Fight Above Their Rank】
Quest Objective: Defeat a fourth-rank Summoner-type Class User in a direct battle.
—Who dares call themselves a genius!
————
“Damn, so by ‘fighting above my rank,’ they an by two whole ranks!?”
A second-rank quest that required him to kill a fourth-rank Summoner!
And the most important part was that any Summoner who could reach the fourth rank was usually a top-tier existence in terms of strength.
Weak Summoners simply could not reach the fourth rank.
Even Ye Ze’s strongest summoned beast, Martial Saint Panda, only barely matched the attributes of an ordinary fourth-rank fighter...
“If I want to defeat a fourth-rank Summoner, I’m still quite a ways off.”
Ye Ze sighed. It was the quest he had chosen for himself, so he would have to do it.
He still needed to beco stronger...
Just as Ye Ze was about to draw his level-20 Trait, he suddenly noticed that the flas coming from the magic dragon were getting smaller and smaller...
Until the dragon gave two dry coughs and could not produce even a wisp of fire anymore.
“Damn, take a break!”
Ye Ze had forgotten to tell him to stop...
The magic dragon had just kept honestly breathing fire until he was completely empty.
Ye Ze hurriedly took out a Mana Potion and poured it into the dragon, then stored him in the Summoned Beast Space as well.
Inside that space, Spirit and stamina could recover too.
By then, the ants in the cave had already been mostly wiped out.
Through his X-Ray Vision, Ye Ze could see that only one remained at the very back—and it was also the strongest one there, the Queen Ant, a level-40 Epic boss!
After thinking it over, Ye Ze summoned the mantis and sent it in for a one-on-one fight.
With Void Traverse and the ability of Void Killing Eyes to see through the opponent’s movents, the mantis was essentially invincible in single combat.
Against a slow-moving Queen Ant, it was more than enough.
After sending out the mantis, Ye Ze began drawing his new Trait!
The twentieth one...
【You have drawn the Golden Legend-grade Trait: Absolute Dominance!】
【Absolute Dominance: Absolute control and dominion over enemies; the effect varies depending on the difference in attributes and the difference in status between you and the target.】
Control and dominion over enemies?
Ye Ze thought about it for a mont. It seed like a control-type skill.
The exact effect would probably only beco clear after he assigned it.
Although Ye Ze wanted to make the magic dragon stronger, this was not a combat-type Trait.
The magic dragon would have to wait for the next one.
Perhaps when Simon eventually beca the Demon King, the “difference in status” part of Absolute Dominance would truly show its value.
For now...
“I’ll give it to myself.”
【Trait “Absolute Dominance” successfully assigned!】
As the notification rang out, Ye Ze looked over his own changes.
He imdiately realized that a new skill had appeared in his skill panel:
【Absolute Dominance: Select a target and make them obey your commands unconditionally in both body and mind for 1 hour. Cooldown: 2 hours.】
(Note: Success rate is affected by the difference in attributes and the difference in status between you and the target.)
“Obey unconditionally in both body and mind?”
Ye Ze’s smile instantly turned strangely perverse.
Although the cooldown was two hours, with the 80% cooldown reduction from Martial Dao Mastery, he could effectively control targets without interruption.
The only real issue was the success rate...
“If it doesn’t work on my own body, I can always assign it to one of the summoned beasts instead. Their attributes are higher, so the success rate might improve.”
With that thought, Ye Ze decided he would test it the next ti he got the chance.
Though one thing still left him curious:
did his Honorary Gold dal count as a kind of status?
Just then, good news ca from the mantis:
【Killed boss — Demon Ant Queen, EXP 10000 ( 100%)!】
【Congratulations! You are the first to clear ‘Demon Ant Nest’ and have received the Hell first-clear reward: EXP 10000 ( 100%), First-Clear Treasure Chest ×1!】
Another twenty thousand EXP, plus a treasure chest!
The efficiency really was excellent.
For now, Ye Ze stored the treasure chest in his backpack and went down into the cave first to inspect what the Queen Ant had dropped...
At the deepest part of the ant nest, the mantis floated above the Queen Ant’s corpse. The huge body of the Queen Ant was seven or eight ters long, and demonic aura still leaked from its tail.
A mont later, however, the corpse vanished, leaving behind only two Epic pieces of equipnt.
“Damn, that’s stingy.”
Ye Ze grumbled, though fortunately they were both high-star items, one Epic four-star and the other Epic five-star, so their value was still quite good.
But just then, as Ye Ze made his way down with X-Ray Vision active, he suddenly discovered sothing unusual in the deepest part of the nest behind the Queen Ant’s chamber...a dark vortex! It looked exactly like a Dungeon entrance!
“Could there be a hidden Dungeon inside the Dungeon?”
Even for Ye Ze, this was the first ti he had encountered a portal within a Dungeon.
For a mont, he could not judge what it was.
Nor did he know what sort of enemy might be waiting on the other side of the portal.
After thinking for a mont, Ye Ze summoned the squirrel and decided to rely on Seek Fortune and Avoid Misfortune to test it instinctively.
The result...it did not feel dangerous!
That put him much more at ease.
Ye Ze relaxed considerably. After all, a hidden Dungeon like this would surely have generous rewards.
He also touched his Escape Talisman for good asure. If sothing really went wrong, he could still run without wasting any ti!
With his preparations complete, Ye Ze stepped into the hidden portal...
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