Chapter 199 - 150: Mysterious Cave

Chapter 199: Chapter 150: Mysterious Cave

This was the first time he had fought at full power since his breakthrough to the Late Period of Qi Cultivation. A potent Spiritual Pressure emanated from his body, making his robes whip and snap with barely contained Mana.

In his left hand, the Black Flame Saber was swift as the wind and light as smoke, its techniques exquisitely precise.

In his right hand, the Hidden Blade Giant Sword fell like a toppling mountain. Its slashes possessed a profound yet artless might, consisting of simple, powerful cleaves.

Flashes of dual-colored sword light danced with searing black flames. One after another, Spider Demon Beasts were cleaved in two, a trace of fear finally appearing in their compound eyes as death claimed them. Cyan blood splattered like ink across a canvas.

The slaughter reached its most ferocious peak. From the trees, the grass, and even the earth below, all manner of Demon Beasts swarmed forth. Some were already a meter in diameter, their auras reaching the level of Intermediate One Tier Demon Beasts. They let out piercing shrieks, attacking with their long legs and complementing their strikes with venom.

From the canopy, volleys of white webbing shot out, attempting to restrict Zhao Zuo’s movement.

Zhao Zuo infused Mana into the Black Flame, and the familiar dark fire formed a barrier that incinerated the incoming webs. He seized the opportunity to charge forward, and many more spiders were ignited by the flames.

At the same time, the Sky-Breaking Saber flew toward the Web-Spinning Spiders’ position to begin a new, torrential assault. Zhao Zuo’s expression was grim as he used the Hidden Blade Giant Sword to block a few splattering drops of venom. ’These spiders are a real pain, using the environment for cover.’

SWOOSH.

The leaves overhead rustled, and a black shadow plummeted downward. It pounced with the vicious ferocity of a predator, its bladed forelegs stabbing toward Zhao Zuo’s eyes.

Faced with the surprise attack, Zhao Zuo wasn’t the least bit panicked. To his senses, the enemy was far too slow.

Although the Hidden Blade Giant Sword was heavy and slightly affected his swing speed, it was more than enough to deal with such an ambush.

Zhao Zuo swung the Hidden Blade upward in a wide arc, unleashing a nearly circular Blade Gang. The dark shadow was instantly cleaved in half, its pale purple innards and cyan blood splattering onto a nearby tree trunk.

’Melee, ambush, venom, web-spinning...’

He calculated silently. ’These are the forms of the offspring sent by the Burrow Spider Mother. If it has only propagated four times, then the mother’s strength should be at the Intermediate One Tier, but that doesn’t follow the known patterns.’

’Therefore, these four types must be consolidated subspecies, created through integration. By this analysis, the Burrow Spider Mother has definitely propagated far more than four times.’

The failure of that first ambush was merely a prelude. Gray spiders continuously poured out from inconspicuous dark corners, their attacks aimed at the vital points all over Zhao Zuo’s body.

The Black Flame Saber and Hidden Blade Giant Sword swung relentlessly in a dance of technique and power. The Hidden Blade’s larger attack area handled seventy percent of the defensive work, while the nimble Black Flame struck at tricky angles to cover any gaps.

Not far away, the Fire Spirit Snake was coiled around a tree, continuously spitting flames. Perhaps due to the orders of their commander, very few spiders attacked the Fire Spirit Snake; it seemed they were merely trying to keep it occupied.

"This is a real pain."

Zhao Zuo had to admit that quantity has a quality all its own.

Zhao Zuo could only continue his slaughter, recalling the Sky-Breaking Saber that had landed nearby. After another five or six minutes, the Spider Demon Beasts finally ceased their attacks.

"I’ve done all I can. The rest is up to you," Zhao Zuo said in a low voice, sighing as he thrust the Hidden Blade Giant Sword into the head of the last Spider Demon Beast.

Five or six minutes should have been enough time for Shen Yunjiao and the Burrow Spider Mother to determine a victor.

Zhao Zuo took a Cleaning Talisman from his Storage Bag and activated it. He had to use three of them in succession to completely remove the bloodstains and various filth from his robes, but a foul, pungent odor still clung to him.

He had no choice but to use another Cleaning Talisman to remove the smell.

"Return."

In the distance, the crimson-red Fire Spirit Snake slithered down from the tree trunk and was recalled into a Spirit Beast pouch.

Zhao Zuo pushed off, rushing toward the location of the battle. He simultaneously took out and swallowed a Pill Medicine to restore his Mana, the shadows of the trees streaking past him.

Less than a minute later, Zhao Zuo arrived at the scene of the fight, but he found nothing. Shen Yunjiao was gone... and so was the Burrow Spider Mother.

The surrounding grass was spattered with large amounts of dark green blood and fragments of Demon Beast organs. Clearly, in this battle... Shen Yunjiao had held the upper hand.

"Where are you?" Zhao Zuo asked, taking out his Communication Jade.

"Follow the blood on the ground to track the Demon Beast’s location and you’ll find me. It was heavily wounded and fled."

Shen Yunjiao’s voice came in reply, accompanied by the sound of howling wind and the rustle of leaves.

"Too reckless," Zhao Zuo grumbled. Since the Demon Beast was already heavily wounded, the most prudent solution was to wait for him to finish off the smaller spiders, then use the Tracking Insect. He hadn’t expected Shen Yunjiao to actually pursue it alone.

But grumbling was one thing; he couldn’t just ignore Shen Yunjiao. He took the Tracking Insect from its bamboo tube and infused Mana into its body.

The Tracking Insect’s tail twitched slightly, as if displeased at being woken up two days in a row.

Still, it wriggled its body and opened its tiny mouth.

Zhao Zuo observed the process closely. It first spat out a wisp of pale yellow vapor, then absorbed a faint red essence from the cyan blood and swallowed it.

Gradually, its body began to transform, pointing in a specific direction like a compass needle.

Zhao Zuo immediately set off, running quickly in the direction the Tracking Insect pointed. Along the way, he found traces of cyan blood and webbing on the tree trunks.

’Is it really fleeing for its life, or is it deliberately luring Shen Yunjiao?’

He couldn’t help but question its motives.

The moon hung high, casting its soft silver light and blanketing the earth in a mysterious and serene glow. A gentle breeze rustled past, bringing a slight chill to the air.

Zhao Zuo was moving quickly, but as far as he could see, there was still no trace of Shen Yunjiao. The situation made him lean more toward the theory that... from the very beginning, the Demon Beast’s goal had been to lure Shen Yunjiao to a specific location.

"Be careful. I suspect the Demon Beast is deliberately luring you somewhere," Zhao Zuo warned, taking out his Communication Jade.

"It’s fine. I’ve already dealt with the Demon Beast," Shen Yunjiao’s voice replied through the Communication Jade.

Zhao Zuo was taken aback; he hadn’t expected the Demon Beast to be dispatched so quickly.

"Alright, then stay where you are and wait for me."

After an unknown amount of time, Zhao Zuo followed the Tracking Insect’s guidance and finally found Shen Yunjiao. She was standing in a basin with a somewhat unusual environment, and not far away was a pitch-black cave.

Shen Yunjiao was standing next to a spider with a head about four meters in diameter. Its carapace had six patterns of different colors; some were long and pronounced, while others were shallower... as if they hadn’t fully developed.

Its twelve spider legs were covered in pale purple fuzz, and its total length was around twelve meters.

Shen Yunjiao was currently absorbing the spider’s Spirit with one hand. It was obvious that the Spirit this spider possessed was far inferior to that of the Thunder Bull; in just a short time, its corpse had already begun to decay and look Withered.

"Are you hurt?" Zhao Zuo asked casually, landing about two meters from Shen Yunjiao.

"No, it wasn’t particularly strong. Just a little strange," Shen Yunjiao replied.

"Strange?"

"It shouldn’t have been so foolish as to attack both of us. It had no chance of success."

Shen Yunjiao felt that this Demon Beast was too weak. Without its offspring, it could barely be considered a High Level One Tier Demon Beast, completely lacking the ability to hunt two cultivators at the Late Period of Qi Cultivation.

"Maybe it used a Concealing Breath Magical Artifact, so its Cultivation aura seemed weaker?" Hearing Shen Yunjiao’s words, Zhao Zuo also realized something was off. While the swarms of offspring were troublesome, they were by no means a fatal crisis for the two of them.

"That’s a possibility, but I’m leaning toward another reason." Shen Yunjiao turned her head toward the pitch-black cave nearby. She had a gut feeling... that it held the answers she was looking for.

"You’re planning to go into the cave to explore?" Zhao Zuo followed Shen Yunjiao’s gaze and quickly guessed her intention.

"That’s right. I’m going in to take a look."

..........

PS: Please vote with your monthly tickets. Thank you all for your support.