Jun Changxiao entered the tunnel entrance leading to the poison spider nest.
The thirty-plus rogue cultivators didn’t follow, because once they disturbed the spider swarm inside, a large batch would definitely surge out. Being targeted by them would be even more terrifying than the Blazing Flame Wolf pack!
Mm.
As such, another thousand taels were gone.
With Jun Changxiao’s personality, they had to follow behind. If the distance widened, it would automatically be voided, and only by continuing to pay could they follow along.
The tunnel connecting the gourd mouth was similar to the valley entrance they had just entered—the space was narrow and canyon-shaped.
Weeds grew wild along the road, and occasionally the skeletons of fierce beasts and humans could be seen.
“Whoosh!”
Cold wind blew from inside, carrying a nauseating stench.
Xiao Zuiji and Li Yuhua held their shields up front to clear the path. Many disciples remained constantly vigilant, some even watching their feet, afraid that Small Poison Spiders would suddenly appear.
Ling Yuanxue walked in the middle, fear rising in her bright eyes.
Women were naturally most wary of small things like spiders and cockroaches.
“Sect Master.”
Li Qingyang said in a low voice, “There are spider webs ahead.”
At the end of the tunnel, spider webs shaped like the Five Elements and Eight Trigrams were woven into a sheet, completely sealing off the passage.
“Shasha!”
Suddenly, an eerie sound came from the side.
When Jun Changxiao and the others looked up, they saw a green spider about the size of a person crawling down.
Holy crap!
Spiders were this big!
“Ding!”
Tian Qi raised his Cold Edge Sword and directly pinned the crawling spider to the stone wall, causing disgusting green fluid to flow out from the wound.
Ye Xingchen frowned and said, “This blood is poisonous and must not be touched.”
Tian Qi hurriedly withdrew his sword and dodged away.
“Ding! Small Poison Spider hunted 1/500.”
Hearing the notification sound, Jun Changxiao was stunned.
Then he roared in his heart, “It’s about the size of an adult human—what the hell kind of Small Poison Spider is this!”
If Small Poison Spiders were already this formidable, if there were also Large Poison Spiders, wouldn’t they be as tall as the Earth Mountain Bear from earlier?
“Ding! Side quest triggered.”
Another quest?
Jun Changxiao opened the system panel and saw written on it—Kill Large Poison Spider King 0/1 [Elite Quest].
“…”
For fuck’s sake, there’s actually a Large Poison Spider King too!
No matter what, entering this tunnel entrance, Jun Changxiao realized he had found the right place. There were definitely quite a few quest mobs inside.
However.
He didn’t rashly lead his disciples charging in.
Who knew if inside was crawling with Small and Large Poison Spiders everywhere—if they alerted them all, they would definitely be in trouble.
He had to think of a good method.
If the situation wasn’t right, they could also safely retreat!
Jun Changxiao rubbed his temples and said, “Zhang Wei, you take Shangguan Shuo and the others to the back and hold shields to guard.”
“Yes.”
Zhang Wei led nine disciples with mid-grade spiritual roots to retreat to the rear and raise their shields, forming a defensive line.
“Yuanxue, you go hide in the back.”
Spiders were such disgusting things that Jun Changxiao worried she would be frightened and it would affect her ability to perform.
Lu Qianqian remained in place.
Because from this woman’s consistently ice-cold appearance, let alone spiders—she wouldn’t even fear cockroaches.
Jun Changxiao had several more disciples enter the rear defensive line.
At this point, seven inner sect disciples remained at the front along with Long Ziyang, Li Yuhua, and Zhou Hong.
Including him, there were eleven people total.
In this kind of narrow space, having many people wasn’t necessarily an advantage—reasonable arrangements were what mattered.
“Let’s go.”
Jun Changxiao led the ten disciples forward.
The closer they got, the more they discovered many woven spider webs with some skeletal remains hanging on them, looking hair-raising.
“Shasha!”
A faint sound came as a green spider shot spider silk from its rear, sliding down from above, its eight large eyeballs flashing with sinister light.
“Whoosh!”
Xiao Zuiji raised his Type 88 sniper rifle and directly blasted it away with one shot.
The spider looked very large, but its strength was only Low First-Rank, not even as good as an Earth Flame Wolf.
One or two weren’t scary—what was scary was if there were too many.
“Ding! Small Poison Spider hunted 2/500.”
Jun Changxiao stopped and said, “Zuiji, Yuhua, you two break through the spider webs, then probe forward. As soon as spiders appear, retreat immediately.”
Having two meat shields scout ahead was very strategic!
“Yes!”
Xiao Zuiji and Li Yuhua raised their iron shields, activating defensive barriers, and carefully proceeded forward.
Who knew whether Small Poison Spiders would spray poison liquid? Activating defenses was for safety first.
Soon, Xiao Zuiji stopped in front of the spider webs, took out a Low-Grade Cold Edge Sword, then slashed at them in a chaotic flurry, destroying the spider webs.
Li Yuhua picked up a tree branch from the ground and stirred it around.
Before long, the spider webs blocking the tunnel entrance were all cleared away.
The two stood shoulder to shoulder and continued forward.
Jun Changxiao said with a serious expression, “Get ready for battle at any moment!”
Li Qingyang, Su Xiaomo, and the others summoned their Cold Edge Swords, their eyes flashing with intense fighting spirit.
“Tch.”
Ye Xingchen stepped forward, standing in front of them, his eyes showing disdain.
Mere small spiders—no need to make such a big fuss.
This fellow’s enthusiastic performance was also hoping to leave a good impression on Sect Master Jun so he could obtain more martial dao resources.
“Swish swish!”
Suddenly, Xiao Zuiji and Li Yuhua ran out from the tunnel entrance, as fast as they could possibly go, their facial expressions quite spectacular.
Clearly, they had been discovered by the poison spiders!
Ye Xingchen placed one hand on his sword hilt and said arrogantly, “Hide behind me. I’ll handle these trash.”
Domineering, arrogant!
Xiao Zuiji and Li Yuhua weren’t polite either, running behind him with their defensive barriers pressed together, forming an absolute defensive line.
“Shasha!”
At the tunnel entrance, a Small Poison Spider burst out.
Then the second, third, and fourth followed in succession.
In a brief moment, over seventy Small Poison Spiders appeared directly ahead and on both sides of the stone walls. They charged at extreme speed, their eyes flashing with sinister venom.
Ye Xingchen, who had originally wanted to show off, saw so many spiders attacking and the corner of his mouth immediately twitched.
He really wanted to retreat!
But the show he had voluntarily put on, he had to continue even with tears in his eyes.
“Trash.”
Ye Xingchen’s body slightly crouched, his right hand gripping tightly on the sword hilt, his eyes cold and severe as he said, “If you’re not afraid of death, then come at me.”
If it were martial cultivators, they might fear Night Emperor’s chilling gaze, but the Small Poison Spiders weren’t afraid. Instead, they considered it a provocation, so they accelerated even faster.
“Clang!”
Just as they were about to close in, the Cold Edge Sword unsheathed!
The Single-Character Swift Technique was deployed—thirty sword lights instantly spread out, then blasted in three directions.
“Puchi!”
“Puchi!”
The spiders attacking from the front and both side walls were instantly slaughtered—thirty of them—and poisonous green fluid sprayed like rain, the stench growing even stronger.
“Ding! Ding! Ding!”
A series of notification sounds came as the number of Small Poison Spiders hunted instantly surged from 2 to 32.
However.
After slaughtering thirty with one sword strike, the remaining dozens of Small Poison Spiders rushed forward one after another.
“Swish! Swish!”
Ye Xingchen once again unleashed the Single-Character Swift Technique. Dense sword energy sliced through, instantly cutting down another thirty.
But the moment he withdrew his sword, his body retreated one step, his complexion slightly pale.
“Hiss hiss!”
Right at this moment, the remaining ten-plus Small Poison Spiders had already charged in, opening their mouths to spray green poison liquid!
Ye Xingchen’s expression changed slightly.
Having continuously deployed the Single-Character Swift Technique, consuming considerable stamina, it would be very difficult to dodge.
“Swish!”
“Swish!”
Xiao Zuiji and Li Yuhua charged forward with large strides, using their defensive barriers to completely block the spraying poison liquid.
The two said in unison, “Junior Brother (Senior Brother), are you alright?”
“Tch.”
Ye Xingchen snorted coldly, dragging his weakened body to retreat to the back.
But thinking about how when he was in danger, someone would assist him regardless of everything, a ripple rose in his heart instead.