Chapter 89: Skeleton Mage Gets Stronger—What About Ten Thousand Ants?

As the Skeleton Mage cast the spell, Jiang Chen was very curious about the power of such a skill.

A flash of cold light flickered in his eyes as he stared intently ahead.

In an instant, the cold light exploded, and Ice Rain burst forth!

A massive force descended, and Ice Rain poured down.

On the previously scorching Desert, a sheet of cold ice froze a region into an ice plain.

The Ice Storm lasted a full ten seconds before gradually subsiding.

It covered roughly a 10‑meter radius, turning it into Ice Heaven Snow Earth.

It is a group attack Skill with tremendous power.

The 18,000 Spiritual Power is not empty boasting but truly boundless power.

Since the Skeleton Mage is a skill only attainable at Level 20, it is naturally stronger than the Skeleton Warrior.

Jiang Chen knows that both types of Skeleton have their own uses.

But the Skeleton Mage also has a drawback: summoning it consumes a huge amount of Spiritual Power.

Summoning a Skeleton Warrior costs only 500 Spiritual Power, whereas summoning a Skeleton Mage requires a full 1,500 Spiritual Power—three times as much.

Moreover, Jiang Chen is only Level 20, yet he has already cultivated all new skills to LV20, something others wouldn't even dare imagine.

If Jiang Chen weren't wearing three Spiritual Power gear pieces, his own 1,300 Spiritual Power wouldn't even suffice to summon a Level 20 Skeleton Mage.

He looked at the Desert Fruit, which had already dwindled greatly, most of the consumption spent on the Skeleton Mage summoning skill.

Especially after Level 15, the Spiritual Power consumption became extremely rapid.

Almost every summon will consume

an entire Desert Fruit.

"If only I could take these fruits out of the Instance,"

Jiang Chen felt a pang of regret.

However, Desert Fruit cannot be stored or taken out of the Instance.

They must be consumed within five minutes of harvesting, or they lose their effect.

This also means Jiang Chen cannot harvest repeatedly to bring large amounts of Desert Fruit out of the Instance.

"But there are still some left, just enough to fill the Skeleton Mage slots,"

Jiang Chen decided to fill the long‑vacant Summon Queue.

He now has 125 Skeleton Warriors, 1 Skeleton Mage, and 74 vacant spots in the Summoning Space.

He swallowed a Desert Fruit, then began summoning five new Skeleton Warriors.

Thus, his Skeleton Warrior count reached 130.

Next, he set out to fully summon a Skeleton Mage.

The Skeleton Mage's attributes are random and cannot be controlled by Jiang Chen.

Amid a swirl of ominous wind, various elements began to vibrate.

There were Fire-type, Wind-type, and Electric-type ones...

A single Skeleton Mage was summoned, appearing beside Jiang Chen.

Skeleton Mages of different types possess different Skills.

Fire-type Skeleton Mage: Skill "Blazing Flame": deals Fire Element damage to the target, with attack power tied to Spiritual Power.

Ice-type Skeleton Mage: Skill "Ice Storm": creates an ice storm in the area, dealing Ice Element damage to the target, with attack power tied to Spiritual Power.

Wind-type Skeleton Mage: Skill "Tornado Storm": creates a tornado storm in the area, dealing Wind Element damage to the target, with attack power tied to Spiritual Power.

Electric-type Skeleton Mage: Skill "Five Thunder Overhead": deals lightning damage to the target, with attack power tied to Spiritual Power.

Exhausted.

Regardless of their type, their attributes are the same; the only difference lies in their Skills.

Among them, the Fire-type and Electric-type Skeleton Mage Skills are single‑target attacks.

The Ice-type and Wind-type Skeleton Mage Skills are group attacks.

Their silver‑white bodies are slightly shorter than Skeleton Warriors, but the Soul Fire in their heads burns brighter.

Elements swirl through both palms, showcasing tremendous power.

Jiang Chen feels his Skeleton Mage could instantly kill a peer mage class.

When the Desert Fruit was completely exhausted, he finally filled the long‑vacant Summon Queue.

130 Skeleton Warriors, 70 Skeleton Mages.

A full 200 Skeletons formed a Skeleton Army.

Jiang Chen thinks a peer Instance can be cleared single‑handedly.

Nightmare Difficulty? That's nothing.

Even Hell Difficulty poses no problem at all.

Just like the current Tyrant Desert, a Large-scale Dungeon that normally requires 40 people, he alone can still clear it.

The Skeleton Army is far stronger than a 40‑person party.

"Next time I come back, I should cultivate other Skills,"

There is more than one Skill to cultivate; Bone Armor and Slow Curse also need cultivation.

As long as Spiritual Power is sufficient, these two Skills are easy.

The toughest remains Corpse Explosion, since there aren't that many corpses.

After monsters in the Instance are slain, their corpses disappear shortly thereafter.

Moreover, he cannot overuse it; he must reserve some Spiritual Power for emergencies.

Training the Skill took roughly four hours.

Jiang Chen has been in the Instance for over eight hours.

At this point, the terrain inside the Ant Hole has been initially explored and understood.

Skeleton Warriors advanced 2,000 meters, and

the situation within the 2,000‑meter range was fully grasped.

Jiang Chen discovered that, regardless of which Entrance one enters, the interior is actually interconnected.

This is very similar to the Spider Nest.

The Ant Hole is far larger than the Spider Nest; delving 2,000 meters is only a small portion.

As Jiang Chen entered the cave and the distance closed, the Skeleton Warriors began to move again.

They swiftly traversed the cave, revealing the terrain for Jiang Chen.

The Ant Hole twists and turns countless times, convoluted and complex.

Like an immense maze, its boundaries are never found.

Jiang Chen can only choose one direction to advance.

"Kill Level 26 Desert Soldier Ant, Experience +285,230."

"Obtain Ant Fang ×5."

Suddenly received an unusual piece of information.

Soldier Ants have appeared somewhere in the cave.

According to the ant colony's division of labor, Worker Ants are laborers, Soldier Ants are warriors.

Soldier Ants are responsible for guarding the Ant Queen and will not stray far.

Finding Soldier Ants indicates the Ant Queen is not far away.

Jiang Chen immediately rushed toward the direction of the Soldier Ants.

The other Skeletons also turned toward that direction together.

The Ant Hole is gradually being explored, and Soldier Ants become increasingly numerous.

Jiang Chen stepped into an extremely spacious cave.

Inside, a large number of Soldier Ants were awakening, only startled awake when Jiang Chen entered.

Hundreds of Soldier Ants simultaneously revived, shaking their bodies and emitting a screech, charging at Jiang Chen.

"Soldier Ant Barracks."

Jiang Chen thought of this term.

Ants build nests, Soldier Ants gather in groups, and they have their own barracks.

Needless to say, this is it.

Moreover, there must be more than one barracks nest.

Skeleton Warriors led the charge, and Skeleton Mages followed suit.

This is the Skeleton Mage's first battle.

Skill: Blazing Flame!

Skill:

Ice Storm!

Skill: Tornado Storm!

Skill: Five Thunder Overhead!

Seventy Skeleton Mages acted simultaneously.

For a moment, elemental upheaval, spells flew chaotically.

The cave resonated with continuous rumbling, dazzling with five colors.

Jiang Chen was dazzled; when the Skeleton Warriors rushed to the Soldier Ants, the Soldier Ants had already suffered massive casualties.

Eighteen thousand points of Spiritual Power gave the Skeleton Mage tremendous killing power.

Far surpassing practitioners of the same level.

Even a Level 30 practitioner cannot deal damage comparable to the Skeleton Mage; in just a few dozen seconds, hundreds of Soldier Ants before him were completely slaughtered.

Although not as fast as Corpse Explosion, it saves effort.

Jiang Chen doesn't need to move; he can just stand there and watch the fireworks display.

Indeed, it's quite beautiful; this cannot be compared to Corpse Explosion.

With the Soldier Ant Barracks appearing, Jiang Chen felt he had chosen the right direction.

The party continued to push forward and consecutively discovered several Soldier Ant Barracks.

Each barracks was larger than the previous.

Experience Value is soaring at an astonishing rate.

At this point it has already reached 32%!

The party advanced unhindered all the way and finally entered the deep part of the Ant Hole.

A buzzing sound came to his ears.

A Skeleton Warrior rounded a corner and suddenly encountered a swarm of Flying Ants.

"Desert Flying Ant (Super-Enhanced Elite Monster)."

"Level: 27."

"Strength: 6000."

"Agility: 3000."

"Spirit: 3000"

"Constitution: 7000"

Skeleton Warrior reacts extremely quickly, immediately engages the Desert Flying Ant.

The powerful attribute advantage is evident.

The unmatched powerful attribute can deal massive, almost lethal damage to the Desert Flying Ant.

But the Desert Flying Ant can hardly inflict any damage on the Skeleton Warrior.

Constitution is too strong,

Desert Flying Ant cannot break defense.

A few minutes later, this group of Desert Flying Ants is slain.

"Killed level 27 Desert Flying Ant, Experience +289706"

"Obtained Desert Flying Ant Wing ×2"

Jiang Chen's eyes lit up; the Desert Flying Ant Wing is one of the tasks in the Tyrant Desert.

Each Desert Flying Ant Wing is worth 5,000 Gold Coin.

The Desert Flying Ants have all appeared, Jiang Chen can now be certain his path is correct.

Desert Flying Ants can be considered the Ant Queen's elite guard, never straying from the Ant Queen.

Moreover, within an ant colony, the number of Desert Flying Ants is not especially large.

At least it won't be absurdly numerous like Soldier Ants and Worker Ants.

The party continues to push forward, encountering more Desert Flying Ants along the way.

Only the Desert Flying Ants lack barracks like Soldier Ants; they more often form groups of three.

Skeleton Warrior pushes forward, killing group after group of Desert Flying Ants.

Unwittingly, Jiang Chen has been walking in the Ant Hole for nearly two hours and finally reaches the end.

A gigantic ant appears before his eyes.

This ant stands ten meters tall, its body somewhat bloated and looks cumbersome.

It has three pairs of massive wings on its back, which occasionally flap, emitting an uncomfortable noise.

In front of it, there are four more ants.

These four ants are similarly towering, over six meters tall, winged and capable of flight.

The ant legs resemble giant sickles, looking terrifying.

"Is this the final BOSS of the Instance?"

Jiang Chen feels it's not quite right, with a hint of doubt, and casts Detection Technique.

Skeleton Warrior also rushes out in response.

But he still harbors some doubt, thinking this monster cannot be the final BOSS of the Instance......