Just as she finished off one, another one came charging in.
Bai Xue quickly adjusted her stance, every muscle tensed.
She had no idea that these giant ants were intentionally released by Ye Lian to train her.
Otherwise, not even half a one would’ve made it through.
Bai Xue used the same technique again, separating the head from the body of the rampaging ant.
Noticing that Bai Xue was starting to adapt to combat, Ye Lian casually let two ants through this time.
And the difficulty of fighting two was far more than just double.
The two giant ants came at her from both sides, trying to flank her.
Bai Xue didn’t dare relax for even a second.
She quickly rolled on the ground to dodge the pincer attack.
Then, springing to her feet, she stabbed her sword at the joint where one ant’s leg connected to its body, forcefully tearing it off.
A piercing screech echoed.
Unlike Ye Lian, Bai Xue didn’t have the stamina to overpower her enemies with brute force.
She could only win with precision and technique.
Taking advantage of the ant’s lost balance, she slashed down hard.
Another massive head rolled to the ground.
The remaining ant, as if brainless, charged straight at her.
Bai Xue pulled her sword back and leapt backward, choosing to avoid the frontal assault.
The giant ant missed and immediately tried to stop itself and turn around.
Bai Xue stood by the rock wall, lifted her right foot, and placed it lightly against the surface.
Just as the ant lunged at her again, she pushed off the wall, gaining speed for a quick sidestep.
The ant’s sharp mandibles plunged into the stone, getting hopelessly stuck.
Bai Xue didn’t waste the opportunity.
She dashed forward and brought her sword down in a clean vertical cut, slicing the creature in half.
***
Not far away, Ye Lian had just finished her own fight.
The ground ahead was littered with corpses.
Green blood, shattered shells, and bits of flesh were splattered everywhere, as if a blender had been run across the battlefield.
Seeing the scene, Bai Xue’s eyes filled with admiration.
The White Knight really was terrifyingly strong.
She had clearly picked the right person to follow.
As for being a true companion… Bai Xue never dared think that far.
After all, their strength gap was just too vast.
Being allowed to follow, learn, and receive her protection was already an incredible stroke of luck.
‘So those four ants earlier… the White Knight let them through on purpose to train me.’
At this point, Bai Xue finally understood Ye Lian’s intentions.
She was being trained—intentionally.
A wave of happiness welled up in her chest.
Bai Xue clenched her fists, her expression visibly emotional.
She’d thought her role was just a minor tagalong.
But it turned out she was being treated like a core disciple.
Her status had risen so fast, it was hard to keep up.
***
“Let’s start cleaning up the battlefield,” Ye Lian said as she pried open an ant’s head with her spear.
“Yes, Master!” Bai Xue replied cheerfully and began [treasure hunting].
“Their shells can be forged into gear—strip them all.”
“Understood!” Bai Xue responded with renewed energy, moving more efficiently with each step.
It was clear she was starting to adapt to this game world.
After about fifteen minutes, the two of them had pulled dozens of intact shells and nearly a hundred white crystals from the pile of ant corpses.
“Master, what are these white crystals for?” Bai Xue asked curiously.
“Spirit Crystals are the main ingredient for crafting recovery potions. But we’ll need other ingredients too, so we can’t use them just yet,” Ye Lian explained.
“Is that so?” Bai Xue nodded, half-understanding.
“By the way, has your pollution value changed?”
After putting away the white mental crystal, Ye Lian asked.
Bai Xue opened her system panel for Ye Lian to check.
“No change, still good. You should level up first.”
“I leveled up again?!” Bai Xue looked at her level section, excited.
“You’re still low level, so it’s easier to level up.”
Ye Lian glanced at her own panel—her level hadn’t changed.
Bai Xue was a little curious about Ye Lian’s stats but didn’t dare ask.
She lightly tapped the [+1], and her level increased to 3.
Power surged from within, flowing through her limbs and bones.
Her whole body felt wonderfully light.
She felt like she could punch a pig to death with a single blow.
Happily distributing her attribute points, she felt her strength rise another step.
The joy of leveling up—completely addictive.
“How do you feel?” Ye Lian asked.
“Amazing!” Bai Xue grinned.
“Good. Let’s keep moving and find the next batch of prey.”
Ye Lian closed her panel and looked deeper into the cave.
“Yes, Master!”
***
After walking down the tunnel for quite a while, they arrived at a wide, open cavern.
Dozens of tunnels branched out from the stone walls on all sides.
“This feels like we’ve entered an ant nest.” Bai Xue felt like her body had shrunk.
“This is an ant nest,” Ye Lian said.
Before she finished speaking, dark shadows burst out of the tunnel openings.
Looking closely—they were flying ants!
These were much smaller than the ones they’d faced earlier, but far more agile.
They let out strange cries in mid-air and swooped down toward Bai Xue and Ye Lian.
“I’ll knock them down. You take your cue and act accordingly,” Ye Lian said, pulling out her spear and looking up.
“Got it!” Bai Xue nodded hard and quickly drew her sword.
Buzz!
The sound of beating wings grew louder and louder.
Just as the flying ants were about to pounce, Ye Lian stomped the ground and leapt into the air—
A full eight or nine meters high.
Such an inhuman leap left Bai Xue’s mouth shaped like a perfect “O.”
Ye Lian swept her spear across, slicing off the wings of the leading flying ant.
Then, stepping on its head, she vaulted higher, spinning mid-air to slice off the wings of several more behind it.
As the wingless flying ants dropped down, Bai Xue’s eyes sharpened.
She dashed forward with light steps, sword flashing.
Above, Ye Lian unleashed a massacre upon the airborne ants with terrifying control over space.
In mere moments, green blood rained from above and corpses fell like hail.
“All done.”
Ye Lian drove her spear through the last flying ant and landed on the ground.
“Master, I’m done here too!” Bai Xue beheaded the last fallen ant, beaming with pride.
Once the flying ants lost the ability to fly, their strength dropped sharply.
They were no match for her.
It was an easy and satisfying fight.
“Nicely done,” Ye Lian praised.
Bai Xue beamed with happiness at the compliment.
“Master, leave the rest to me!”
Earlier, with the sheer number of giant ant corpses, she didn’t mind Ye Lian helping.
But with only a dozen now, it would be shameful to still rely on her.
“Mm, thanks for the hard work,” Ye Lian nodded lightly.
She truly didn’t like dealing with such menial tasks.
Now that she had Bai Xue as her helper, she didn’t have to do everything herself.
Opening her panel, she was surprised to find a [+1] next to her level.
She immediately tapped it.
The next moment, a terrifying aura burst out.
Bai Xue was so startled, she nearly had a heart attack.
“What’s going on?! Is it a boss?!” She looked around in panic.
“No. I just leveled up,” Ye Lian said casually, waving her hand.
Bai Xue was speechless, her face full of shock.
Just how high was her Master’s level?
‘How could leveling up release such a terrifying aura?’
‘Was she even human?’
Spoiler alert, she was not.