Chapter 119: Defeated Before even Starting

Chapter 119: Defeat Before the Campaign

Li Wei steadied himself against the wall, staring helplessly at the buried exit before him.

"Why is leaving so difficult?"

"Shadow Servant."

He called out, but received no answer.

Most likely buried somewhere beneath the rubble.

In his mind, he summoned the creature to reunite with him.

Turning, Li Wei walked deeper into the mine tunnel.

With the exit collapsed and blocked, he had no choice but to search for another way out.

The golden anteater beast was trapped underground, unable to emerge anytime soon.

Li Wei would have to move alone.

"What exactly caused that explosion just now?"

Snap!

A flick of his finger brought forth a tiny flame, illuminating the surroundings.

He looked up—there, above him, ran a long crack in the ceiling.

The shockwave from the blast had fractured the mountain stone, collapsing parts of the mine,

and carving new passageways through the dark.

An idea sparked within him. A faint blue glow shimmered around his body as he soared upward along the fissure.

He slipped through the crack and entered a hidden cavern.

Click, click, click!

Chewing sounds echoed from the darkness.

Li Wei turned his head; the flame at his fingertip shot into the shadows.

The fire burst open, casting light into the corners of the cave.

There, a golden anteater beast was licking iron-eating ants.

Smaller than the one controlled by Shadow Servant—

surely a first-rank magical beast.

Li Wei prepared to strike—

but the moment it noticed him, the beast turned and fled without looking back.

"..."

"Am I really that terrifying?"

Boom!

A tremendous force slammed into his back. His body flew forward, crashing violently into the wall, leaving behind a deep imprint of his form.

Crack!

Straining, Li Wei pushed himself up, dropping from the wall.

Two layers of his invisible armor had shattered.

He turned—there stood a second-rank iron-eating ant.

Its eyes burned with malice. It had sensed the core of the ant king in Li Wei’s pocket.

It knew—he was the murderer of the ant king.

Driven by vengeance, and desire for the magic core,

the ant launched a ruthless ambush from behind.

One blow—shattering two layers of invisible armor.

Huff!

The ant charged forward, slashing its sharp forelimbs at Li Wei.

Li Wei raised his hand. In less than a second, seven or eight small fireballs shot from his palm.

Consecutive Fireball Technique!

Boom! Boom! Boom!

The ant swung its limbs, bursting each fireball midair.

But as one exploded, another appeared.

Relentless. Overwhelming.

Thud! Thud! Thud!

The ant flailed its limbs, blocking fireball after fireball, forced backward step by step.

The explosive power of each small fireball wasn’t great—

but the searing elemental fire damage was unbearable.

Especially since Li Wei possessed the Flame Elemental Body, doubling the potency of his fire spells.

His fireballs far surpassed ordinary zero-rank incantations.

In both range and impact, they rivaled an entry-level first-rank fireball spell.

Under the unceasing barrage, the iron-eating ant could not advance.

Boom!

A fireball detonated beneath it, flipping the beast onto its back.

Li Wei downed a flask of mana recovery potion.

In his palm, a charged fireball began to coalesce.

Huuuuh!

The orange-red sphere hurtled toward the struggling ant.

BOOM—KABOOM!

Blinding light flooded the entire cavern. Li Wei instinctively shut his eyes.

When the glare faded, he opened them again.

The ant lay scorched, steaming, reduced to a pile of blackened cinders.

"Telekinesis!"

Blue light tore open the corpse. A yellow magic core floated into Li Wei’s hand.

"A second-rank magic core."

"Pity—the shell can't be taken. The carapace of a second-rank iron-eating ant isn’t cheap either."

"When will I finally get a spatial ring!" Li Wei sighed in frustration, forced to abandon anything he couldn't carry.

"Never mind—most of the value of iron-eating ants lies in their magic cores anyway."

He could only console himself this way.

"Shadow Servant, haven’t you emerged yet?"

Li Wei called out mentally.

No reply came.

Shhh... shhh...

Nearby iron-eating ants crept closer, surrounding him.

Li Wei raised his hand to cast a spell, then hesitated, withdrew it, and turned to flee.

His remaining mana was scarce—he had to conserve it.

As he ran, he pulled out a vial of mana recovery potion and drank.

"I'm down to just two bottles each of life and mana restoration potions,"

he murmured, patting his pockets to confirm his dwindling supplies.

"Help me! Save me!"

A cry for help echoed from the darkness.

Li Wei extinguished the flame at his fingertip and moved toward the voice.

After walking a short distance, he saw a robed figure buried beneath rubble.

Seeing another in black robes, the trapped man pleaded urgently, "Quick, get me out!"

He grumbled, "Damn it, is even Heaven conspiring to aid Otsu's schemes?"

"Why must this happen now, of all times?"

Hearing this, Li Wei realized he was a loyal supporter of the Malkir Kingdom.

Kneeling down, Li Wei said, "Alright, I'll get you out."

"Don't pull my neck—it's going to snap!" the man cried.

"Breathe deeply. Some pain is normal," Li Wei reassured him.

Crack!

"Ahh!"

After a sharp scream, blue light faded, leaving behind a corpse on the ground.

Li Wei withdrew his hand, dispelling the telekinesis spell.

He searched the body and found a small coin purse.

Shaking it, he heard a faint jingle. Opening it, he found only five silver coins.

Of course—a true believer. This one probably donated his entire fortune to the Malkir Kingdom.

So poor!

Li Wei sighed, pocketing the five silver coins.

He tossed the empty pouch aside and walked away.

"I hope there aren't too many more like him."

After some time, Li Wei realized that even before his plan began, many of the robed figures had already perished.

He saw several bodies crushed under collapsed boulders.

"Hm? Another corpse."

He cast telekinesis—mana coalesced into an invisible hand, gripping a foot buried in mud and stone, yanking it free.

Thud!

The figure landed on the ground. Li Wei prepared to search the body—

when it stirred.

Suddenly sat up, gasping for air.

"I nearly suffocated—finally alive again!"

Li Wei stared. It was a knight.

No wonder he'd survived so long underground.

Not a robed man. Li Wei felt a pang of regret.

That made things awkward. He couldn't very well loot him now.

Once the knight caught his breath, he turned to Li Wei with deep gratitude.

"Thank you for saving my life. I, Rayan, will never forget this debt. If you ever need help, call upon me!"

"Mm."

"Just wait a moment—my sword is still buried here. I’ll dig it out."

Rayan immediately began clawing at the dirt with bare hands, searching for his lost blade.

Li Wei asked, "What caused that explosion earlier?"

Rayan dug as he spoke. "We found a large chunk of mithril ore—everyone started fighting over it."

"Someone accidentally shattered a pillar supporting the cavern. The whole place collapsed. Who knows how many are buried now?"

He complained, "How was I supposed to know it was a load-bearing column? If I’d known, I’d have dodged—even if thrown, I wouldn’t have hit it."

Li Wei stared at him, eye twitching.

So it was *you* who headbutted the pillar and brought the entire cave down.

His gaze drifted, almost instinctively, to Rayan’s head.

The bald dome gleamed like an egg, not a single scratch or bruise.

That skull was shockingly solid.

Perhaps that explained why no hair would grow—nature itself feared to sprout anything on such unyielding bone.

(End of Chapter)