Astral Apostle

Chapter 80: Emblem (2)

Peng!

His heavy blade instantly caved in. Many bones were broken, and even one of its front claws was twisted beyond recognition.

The Violent Tooth Dragon fell to the ground and struggled in pain, but it could not stand up.

The Subterranean rider on his back also rolled to the ground. Before he could get up, Zhou Jing rushed and smashed half of the rider’s head with his knee. He was now well and truly dead.

Seeing that the Violent Tooth Dragon was still struggling, Zhou Jing picked up the heavy saber and smashed its head like cracking a walnut, finishing the job.

“Two down, one to go…”

He turned his head and saw Barong and Weiss stop the last dragon from charging the soldiers.

Barong used the flat part of his ax to receive the attack head on. He took a few steps back, but he also forced the Violent Tooth Dragon to stop.

Weiss took the opportunity to launch a surprise attack. He stabbed the rider on his back to death with a spear and plucked the Violent Tooth Dragon’s “crown jewels” with a backhand. His movements were quite proficient and practiced.

The two of them worked together and crippled the combat strength of a Violent Tooth Dragon easily.

The Violent Tooth Dragon did not possess strength, speed, or even average defense. It was not difficult to deal with them.

There was no suspense in the following battle. Zhou Jing and the other two dealt with the hundreds of Subterraneans like bulldozers, quickly finishing them off.

Physical enhancement-type supernatural powers often had long stamina and considerable combat endurance. If one did not have an expert of the same level, they would have to pay a heavy price just to kill them with numbers.

Zhou Jing silently estimated that with his level, it would not be a problem for him to fight the Subterraneans alone. If he were given some time, he would be able to kill them all himself.

Furthermore, there were helpers this time—Barong and Weiss, as well as more than ten people on the team.

If they wanted to cause trouble for them, the Subterraneans had to double.

After the battle, only one soldier was unlucky. He was shot in the head by the Subterraneans. The others only suffered some light injuries.

Everyone cleared the battlefield, stabbing the Subterraneans that were still breathing.

Following this, they organized their men to search the lair and brought out a pile of supplies from the Subterraneans’ inventory.

Although the goal of this trip was to rout the enemy, they would not pass up on the opportunity to still earn some loot.

After emptying the nest, everyone threw the corpses into the nest one by one before burning the entire nest.

The dancing flames shone on everyone’s faces as they silently watched the nest burn.

“This group of Subterraneans has threatened the surroundings of Frostwood Village for too long. Today, we’ve finally resolved it… Brothers, we’ve avenged you.”

Griff exhaled and quietly mourned the hunters who had once died at the hands of the Subterraneans.

Barong patted Zhou Jing’s shoulder and sighed. “We’ve also avenged your brother.”

“… That’s right.”

Zhou Jing came back to his senses and nodded.

This group of Subterraneans had launched a despicable sneak attack and killed his last apostle. Today, the debt has been settled. After taking a breather, he felt much better.

He was mainly looking at the interface to calculate his gains. Two achievements had been triggered in the battle. They were [Subterranean Killer] and [First Kill of Mutant Beast – Low Risk].

[Subterranean Killer]’s trigger condition was to kill 50 Subterraneans, and it awarded him 1,000 Astral Points.

The [First Kill of Mutant Beast — Low Risk] was much more ridiculous. It only gave 200 Astral Points and no other rewards.

However, he did obtain new milestone information.

[Milestone [True·Mutant Beast Hunter] Progress: 3/5]

[Condition: Successfully trigger the first kill achievement of various risk categories of mutant beasts.]

[Reward: 8,000 Astral Points, 50 Information State Particles, [Aptitude Enhancement – Comprehensive (Medium)] x1, [Support Function Upgrade] x2. When an Astral Apostle takes on a mutant beast race form, they can obtain a certain attribute bonus.]

There were a total of five first kills for all levels of mutant beasts. He had completed the low-risk, medium-risk, and high-risk missions. He had to first kill a fatal-risk mutant beast as well as the King of Mutant Beasts. Then, he could unlock this milestone.

However… to fight the Mutant Beast King…

Good lord, is this milestone for a Mutant Beast Hunter or a ‘Mutant’ Beast Hunter?

“Even that Eighth Enhancement Lei Wen was killed by the Beast King. How will I be able complete this milestone?”

Zhou Jing wanted to scratch his head. Although the reward was good, the conditions were quite harsh.

Compared to the Astral Points reward, he was more interested in the [Support Function Upgrade]. This thing was very useful.

The effects of the Support Functions were mostly limited, but they could be upgraded and strengthened.

For example, the [Follower Function] used by the current Astral Apostle Jason·Wood only had one empty slot for an apprentice follower. After leveling up, there was an 80% chance that a new empty slot would be added, or the follower would be upgraded to a higher tier.

It was the same for the other Support Functions.

The last effect of this milestone was more special.

The race and appearance of the Astral Apostles seemed to be able to be customized. Although he had never tried it before, he reckoned that it was also possible to mold them into the mutant beast race. As for those Astral Apostles who were of the Mutant Beast race, they could obtain bonuses… The effect of the milestone here was quite strange.

Zhou Jing secretly clicked his tongue.

There was no need to mold the Astral Apostle into the form of a beast.

If he really chose to do so, he didn’t want to live the life of a beast.

Anyway, he didn’t have any fetishes in this aspect.

Seeing that Zhou Jing was a little distracted, Barong thought that he was agitated after completing his revenge and was sad for his brother, so he did not disturb him.

At this moment, Weiss rummaged through the spoils and found a battle ax from the Subterraneans’ inventory.

“Hey, Barong, did you drop this ax?”

“Yes, it’s mine!”

Barong was delighted and quickly took it. This was a weapon that he had lost half a year ago when he was ambushed by the Subterraneans. He finally caught sight of it once more.

Everyone immediately became interested and joined in to count the spoils of war.

When they were moving the items, they were too focused to check all the items carefully.

Many of the supplies in the Subterraneans’ inventory were looted. They looked quite fragmented, like a pile of junk.

Moreover, it had been left there for too long, and the nest was not very hygienic. If one did not look carefully, they would not be able to tell what sort of item that was.

“Yo, there’s a lot of money in this box.”

“It’s probably from plundering some caravan. The Subterraneans won’t be able to spend it even if they take the money.”

“There are still some books here. Is it useful for them to snatch these? Can they understand our words?”

Everyone excitedly counted their spoils of war.

At this moment, Griff took out a dusty metal badge from a large pile of fragments. He wiped it slightly and exclaimed.

“What emblem is this?”

Everyone looked in the direction of the voice. They sized up the pattern on the badge and shook their heads.

“Neither have I seen it before.”

“It’s quite pretty.”

“It should be the coat of arms of some small tribe, right? Perhaps there are people from this tribe in the caravan that the Subterraneans plundered.”

“Speaking of which, this thing is quite exquisite. It was carved so exquisitely on metal. I wonder which craftsman made it.”

Hearing everyone’s conversation, Zhou Jing subconsciously glanced around.

However, the moment he saw the item, he could no longer tear his gaze away.

Zhou Jing’s pupils constricted as his heart surged.

The pattern of this badge… he recognized it.

It was the national emblem of one of the countries in his main world!