This Sword Strike Counts as Mine

"Don't touch that web!"

With that shout, Xu Sheng thrust his longsword forward.

The tip struck one of the demon spider's reaching front legs and withdrew as soon as it touched. Instead of pressing closer, he deliberately lingered another half-step at the edge of the slope.

The Man Faced Demon Spider immediately pursued him.

Its two foremost legs rose together, their sharp tips stabbing down in a crisscross pattern that covered almost everywhere Xu Sheng could set foot.

Xu Sheng's Second Soul Ring suddenly blazed.

With a beat of his White Wings, he darted up and sideways, brushing the underside of one foot against a spider leg before landing precariously on the outer edge of a high rock.

At the same time, Ji Juechen struck with his sword.

Rather than follow Xu Sheng, he cut in from the opposite side. His two Yellow Soul Rings lit up one after another, and the Soul Power infused into his sword grew ever denser as he thrust straight at the side of the joint where the demon spider's raised front leg met its body.

The sword did not pierce straight through the black armor.

But the blade did sink partway into the joint that had already opened.

The Man Faced Demon Spider shuddered violently and drove its front leg down, trying to impale Ji Juechen at close range.

Ji Juechen withdrew his sword and retreated, not lingering on that small success for even half a moment.

"Now!"

Xu Sheng's shout rang out.

Pei Chuan's Second Soul Ring lit up, and his burly figure, possessed by the Ironback Rhinoceros, burst forward. His shoulder and back carried a heavy force as he slammed into the demon spider from the rear flank.

He had not aimed the collision at its front chest, the hardest part of its body.

And he had struck just as its injured front leg had left its body raised.

The demon spider instinctively planted its outer hind leg against the ground to steady itself, but the Crimson Gold Chain Spear had already swept in from below and to the side. Its chain wrapped around the bend of the leg and snapped taut!

Cen Zhao pulled on the chain with both hands, his heels braced against a large rock and the veins bulging on his forehead.

Just once.

And once was all he could hold out for!

The demon spider kicked against the ground with its hind leg, immediately dragging the spear's chain forward. Cen Zhao did not cling to that bit of restraint; he promptly slackened his pull, drew the chain back and rolled down the slope to one side.

But the leg supporting the spider had already landed off target.

Pei Chuan's charge came crashing in immediately afterward. The demon spider's body tilted, and half of it went over the drop in the rocky slope, finally exposing its underside!

The white human-face pattern suddenly came into view.

All Xu Sheng could see were those eight eyes.

Crimson Holy Judgment!

His First Soul Ring blazed. Rather than strike down from directly above, he used the slope's uneven height to slide sideways in front of the demon spider's abdomen. Gripping his sword in both hands, he drove its tip diagonally upward from below.

A faint, crisp crack sounded.

The sword tip pierced the protective layer over an eye, and crimson brilliance plunged in after it.

The Man Faced Demon Spider let out a piercing shriek, and several of its long legs stabbed wildly in an instant!

Xu Sheng had been ready. He pulled his sword free as soon as it went in, spread his wings and hauled himself out from beneath the abdomen.

A glob of foul-smelling liquid landed where he had just been standing, and a faint sound immediately came from the stone surface.

The sight sent a chill down his back, but he did not stop moving.

"Pei Chuan, retreat!"

Pei Chuan had already checked his momentum after the collision. Hearing the shout, he hurriedly used a rock at his side to flip himself clear.

The demon spider crashed heavily back to the ground, one front leg stabbing wildly behind Xu Sheng.

Two wind blades sliced in diagonally at just that moment.

Wen Zhao kept clear of the spilled venom, instead sending wind blades from the side in quick succession to force the already injured front leg off course. Ji Juechen advanced again, cutting deeply into the joint that had split open earlier.

The front leg finally broke.

Deprived of an important support, the Man Faced Demon Spider's body dropped sharply, but it still tried to retreat into the bushes.

Jiang Shi's arrow arrived.

He had not counted on paralyzing poison to bring down a venomous spider, nor did he continue wasting arrows against its thick armor. The ordinary arrow shot in from the side toward an exposed eye. Though it failed to deal a fatal wound, it made the demon spider instinctively shrink back.

In that brief moment, Xu Sheng had circled back.

His sword still glowed crimson, but his footing as he landed was steadier than before.

The injured front leg could no longer completely shield the spider's underside.

Xu Sheng found the opening he had made earlier and stabbed again!

The blade slid in, and both his arms suddenly tensed with force.

Without waiting for the long legs to close around him again, he immediately pulled out his sword and retreated, landing beside Ji Juechen.

The Man Faced Demon Spider struggled a few steps, its abdomen dragging across the stone, before finally toppling onto its side.

None of them approached it right away.

Chen Che continued watching from above, while Wen Zhao stood on the side nearest the mountain path. Only when the long legs stopped twitching and yellow motes of light began to emerge did Xu Sheng let out a long breath.

A Hundred-Year Soul Ring.

Their earlier assessment of its category had been correct, but after that fight, none of them wanted to underestimate the thing before them because of the words "hundred-year" again.

Xu Sheng was in no hurry to put away his sword. He laid it across a dry rock nearby, wiped the hilt clean with a cloth, then washed his hands with water. He wrapped the blade, which was stained with poisonous blood, separately, intending to find someone who knew how to handle poison to clean it thoroughly when they returned.

When he finished, his hands were still trembling a little.

Not because he was afraid.

He had expended a burst of Soul Power and strength, and only now did he realize his arms were so sore they would not obey him.

Cen Zhao sat at the edge of the slope with his hands spread open, a large patch of each palm rubbed red by the spear's chain.

When he saw Xu Sheng looking over, he grinned first.

"I held it just now."

"I saw."

"It was that big, and I still managed to pull it off course!"

"Mm. You can have half that bag of meat tonight."

Cen Zhao's grin grew even brighter, but as he started to get up, he sucked in a breath of pain.

Xu Sheng went over, picked up his hands for a look, and had Bai Ji find some cloth to wrap them.

Pei Chuan limped over as well. A large section of his trousers was torn on the right side, though he had not been struck by a venomous leg. He had only scraped himself on a rock while retreating after the collision.

Xu Sheng glanced down at it.

"Where's your medicinal oil?"

Pei Chuan froze, then patted his waist and actually pulled out the little bottle.

Xu Sheng looked at Cen Zhao's newly wrapped hands and did not call on him again. Instead, he asked Bai Ji to open the medicine bottle and hand it to Pei Chuan so he could treat the scrape.

Pei Chuan looked at the bottle, then at Xu Sheng, and suddenly grinned.

"I really did end up using it myself."

"When I give my word, I mean it too."

Everyone burst out laughing.

When the laughter subsided, Xu Sheng went to see Ji Juechen.

Ji Juechen was cleaning his sword, moving more slowly than usual as he avoided any venom that might remain.

"How were those two strikes?" Xu Sheng asked.

"The first was a little rushed."

The corners of Xu Sheng's mouth had just begun to turn down when Ji Juechen added, "The second strike was very good."

Xu Sheng looked up.

Ji Juechen was still looking down at his sword, as though he had merely spoken his thoughts in passing.

But Xu Sheng felt pleased at once.

His companion was usually a man of few words, and even his praise consisted of only a handful, but it truly sounded better than a long string of compliments from anyone else.

"Of course. I watched for ages before that opportunity came."

After saying that, he glanced at the motionless demon spider on the ground.

"That last strike counts as mine."

Ji Juechen nodded.

"It's yours."

Before leaving, they used conspicuous strips of cloth to cordon off the area around the venomous web and the carcass. No one tried to save trouble by dragging the carcass with bare hands. They simply left a clear marker by the road and waited for people with sufficient equipment to deal with it.

The Yellow Soul Ring floated there for a while, but no one reached out to touch it.

At present, no one in the group needed that ring.

Nor did Xu Sheng entertain any thought of forcibly collecting it to take back. He checked the route they had come by, and only after confirming there were no other dangers did he lead the others back.

They had not gone far when people came to meet them up ahead.

It was Meng Xingzhou and Tao Qing, accompanied by two helpers who had hurried over from the waystation.

Seeing that everyone was there, Meng Xingzhou finally loosened his grip on the Purple Lightning Bamboo.

"Everyone accounted for?"

"Everyone. The spider's taken care of too." Xu Sheng pointed behind him.

Only then did Meng Xingzhou truly breathe a sigh of relief. Then he noticed Pei Chuan's half-torn trouser leg, and his brows immediately furrowed.

"What happened to your leg?"

"I banged it on a rock. The venom didn't touch me." Pei Chuan hurriedly showed him the injury.

"Change your own trousers when we get back. Don't go taking mine again."

Pei Chuan chuckled and said nothing.

Tao Qing stood nearby. When Tao Qing heard that the Man Faced Demon Spider had been killed, Tao Qing suddenly bowed deeply to them all.

Xu Sheng reached out to support Tao Qing and took the opportunity to ask a question.

"Where's Zhao Feng?"

"The physician who came to collect him has arrived. The poison injury has been contained for now, but they said he still has to be sent to the hall. There's no time to lose."

Xu Sheng nodded, finally putting his mind at ease.

Just then, his stomach growled again.

Meng Xingzhou heard it, reached into the cloth bag he had brought and handed him a flatbread.

"Lizhi asked me to bring it."

Xu Sheng took it and bit off a large mouthful, only then discovering that it was filled with meat.

I didn't dote on the little fatty for nothing.

He can eat so much himself, and he still remembered to save me a portion.