Volume One, Chapter 14: Crushing the Ant Legion

“Ding, danger detected for villager Lin Qiqi of Tian Village. Target located.”

“Who’s in danger?” Wang Long listened to the system’s alert and immediately began crawling rapidly toward the indicated location.

Along the way, his Flash ability activated, allowing him to arrive at the source of the signal almost instantly. He circled up onto a large tree nearby.

Looking down, he saw countless ants marching in orderly formations like a vast army, covering the ground as far as the eye could see.

Even the air was filled with swarms of flying ants, creating a dazzling spectacle.

Focusing ahead, Wang Long quickly spotted the girl being chased.

“Damn, these vicious ants are actually attacking humans. Such oppression of other life forms is practically a death wish. I’ll save her!” With that, Wang Long swiftly leapt into the air and landed right in front of Qiqi.

Suddenly, a giant serpent descended from the sky, landing less than a meter away. Startled, Qiqi lost her footing and crashed against Wang Long’s body.

His cold, scaly skin was as hard as steel, making her feel as if she had collided with a metal plate rather than flesh.

“Ah—snake… such a huge snake,” Qiqi stammered, overwhelmed by fear and panic. Her mind was flooded with terror until she fainted.

“Ugh, women are so fragile,” Wang Long muttered as he used his tail to lift her into the air.

At that moment, the countless ants surrounding him seemed to catch sight of something and accelerated wildly, their speed matching that of a running child, as if intent on tearing the massive creature before them to shreds.

“Tiny ants, how dare you act so boldly before the ‘Dragon Lord’? Well, I may not be Jackie Chan, but close enough,” Wang Long said with a smirk.

He placed Qiqi atop a treetop, then whipped his tail fiercely forward.

“Smack! Smack!”

Dozens of giant ants, each as large as a rooster, were instantly crushed into a spray of blood. The surrounding ants suffered broken limbs and scattered devastation.

“Buzz, buzz, buzz—”

A fluttering sound filled the air. Looking closer, Wang Long spotted an ant king hovering three meters above the ground.

The ant king was as large as a fully grown goose, its antennae waving gracefully as it issued commands to its vast army.

A voice echoed from the ant king, “Brothers, charge! Tear the giant serpent before us into pieces to feed us!”

“Charge!”

The dense swarm formed a circle, encircling Wang Long, some ants closing in to within a meter.

Facing tens of thousands of ants, Wang Long showed no fear. He spun his tail 180 degrees and swept horizontally, each strike killing hundreds of ants with precision.

The battle raged on for several minutes until Wang Long grew tired. The ants seemed endless—every time he swept away hundreds, more would replace them.

He descended to the ground, but soon a few marching ants crawled onto him and bit down.

“Bang, bang, bang!” The metallic clinking of his scales echoed; the bites couldn’t pierce his serpent body.

The small ants cried out, “King, what do we do if we can’t bite through him?”

The ant king commanded, “Don’t stop, keep killing him!”

Ding: Ant swarm detected. Host must devour 100,000 ants to receive the reward: “Azure Lotus Earth-Core Flame.”

Wang Long looked up. “What’s this? A special flame? Fine, since these ants dared attack me, it’s their death sentence.”

He dashed forward, sweeping his tail to fling all the ants before him aside.

Then, opening his massive jaws, he began to devour them. Having reached the first tier of beast, his mouth now had a strange suction power that pulled insects inside.

In an instant, the tide turned. Countless black ants were sucked into his mouth.

He snapped his jaws shut, grinding and crunching—the taste was like chicken, the chewing sound crisp and satisfying.

Minutes later, the ant king in the air sensed something wrong and hurriedly ordered the swarm to halt.

But Wang Long was not pleased.

“Don’t stop! Keep trying to hurt me! Don’t chicken out now,” he taunted.

The ant king fluttered its wings, and the ants on the forest floor receiving the signal began retreating, fleeing from the terrifying dragon.

Wang Long growled, “How can you run just like that? My kill count’s almost complete. You’re ruining my stats!”

With that, he unfolded the wings on his back and activated his advanced glide ability. Moving at lightning speed, he appeared before the ant king in an instant.

With a single bite, he snapped the ant king crisp and swallowed it whole. The vertebrae along his back crushed the prey into a meat patty.

After two and a half seconds, the ant king was consumed. At that moment, the system alert sounded.

“Congratulations, host, you have acquired the Azure Lotus Earth-Core Flame. No absorption needed—it has been directly transplanted into your body.”

“Nice! Now I don’t have to hunt down herbal materials with Old Medicine Man to absorb it.”

With the ant king’s death, the surrounding swarm went into a frenzy, charging toward Wang Long.

Even the flying scout ants zoomed in his direction.

“Damn, even your grandpa wouldn’t dare fight like this,” Wang Long cursed, flames already flickering in his mouth.

That was the Azure Lotus Earth-Core Flame, an incredibly powerful azure fire that distorted the very space around his mouth.

Glancing back at Qiqi, Wang Long cast a spiritual energy shield over her for protection.

Then, breathing out the azure flames, he burned the surrounding ants into ash.

Flames soared skyward as the land within a one-kilometer radius ignited. A gigantic fire lotus engulfed the forest.

The fire lotus slowly took shape, its petals closing in as it consumed all life within.

After tens of seconds, the once countless ant army was reduced to charred blackened remains; even ants attempting to emerge from underground retreated hastily.

Thanks to Wang Long’s protective shield, not a single hair on Qiqi was singed.

Having done all this, Wang Long wrapped Qiqi in his tail and headed toward the nearby Tian Village, covering one, then two kilometers...

After several dozen seconds, Wang Long reached the small village at the mountain’s foot. He gently set Qiqi down and then departed without a word.