Half-Magic Tool

Seeing that escape was hopeless, Bayin went all out as well, swinging both claws continuously against the Human-faced Ghost Spider's legs.

The Human-faced Ghost Spider was clearly stronger than that Unicorn Wolf Spider. Every collision between their limbs rang out like clashing metal, and its attacks grew faster and faster.

Bayin kept swinging his arms, but he was ultimately no match for the Human-faced Ghost Spider. In just a moment, seven or eight bloody gashes had been carved across his arms and body.

The searing pain and flowing blood stirred up his feral nature. Bayin slapped aside one stabbing spider leg, endured another piercing through his right shoulder, and charged beneath the Human-faced Ghost Spider's abdomen.

With a sweep of his long claws, he tore three deep gashes across the Human-faced Ghost Spider's belly.

The Human-faced Ghost Spider cried out in pain and flung the leg that had pierced his chest, hurling Bayin far away.

Bayin rolled across the ground several times before crashing into a boulder and finally stopping.

Before he could get back to his feet, however, a series of popping sounds came from the air. One white web after another sprayed from the Human-faced Ghost Spider's abdomen, blanketing him beneath them.

"Hiss, hiss!"

A series of sounds rang out, and wisps of white smoke immediately rose from Bayin's body. Everywhere his fur, flesh, and blood touched the webs was corroded, leaving horrifying bloody wounds.

Especially where he was already wounded, his blood seemed to catch fire as it was eaten away by the webs.

The incomparably intense burning pain made Bayin roll all over the ground and howl without end. He frantically tore at the webs on his body, yet could not free himself for the moment.

By then, the Human-faced Ghost Spider had already caught up again.

Seeing this, Yuan Ming knew that the outcome had been decided. Bayin no longer had any chance of victory.

One of the Human-faced Ghost Spider's legs rose high into the air and stabbed down viciously, cutting Bayin's howls short.

Just as Yuan Ming thought the dust had settled, the spider leg the Human-faced Ghost Spider had driven down stiffly began to lift back up.

Yuan Ming focused his gaze and saw that one of Bayin's palms was gripping that spider leg, slowly forcing it upward.

He could not tell whether it was an illusion, but Bayin's arm seemed to have grown a full circle thicker than before.

Then came a boom.

The Human-faced Ghost Spider's body was suddenly overturned by that arm, crashing onto the ground with all eight legs in the air.

Bayin climbed back to his feet, and Yuan Ming finally realized it had not been an illusion. Bayin's entire body had grown a full circle larger, with exaggerated blocks of muscle outlined all over him.

He looked as though great lumps of muscle had been piled atop one another, bizarre and unnatural beyond words.

Before the Human-faced Ghost Spider could rise, Bayin burst forward and pounced on it. He straddled its belly, then swung his grotesquely thick arms, pounding its body without pause.

"Chi chi chi!"

Even from far away, Yuan Ming could hear the sound of flesh being pierced.

For the first time, the Human-faced Ghost Spider let out a wail. It sounded like an infant crying, shrill and chilling.

But Bayin now seemed to have fallen into madness. His arms did not stop for even an instant, stabbing at the Human-faced Ghost Spider almost mechanically, punching through its abdomen until blood sprayed everywhere and its flesh became a mangled blur.

The Human-faced Ghost Spider drew back all eight of its legs. The front two stabbed at Bayin's chest, the middle two thrust at his neck from either side, while the remaining four simultaneously targeted his back.

This was clearly the Human-faced Ghost Spider's killing blow.

Yet Bayin was one step faster. After punching through its chest and abdomen, he gathered strength in his right arm, held it straight as a blade, and drove it at the Human-faced Ghost Spider's head.

Just as the blow was about to land, a sharp sound of something slicing through the air suddenly came from afar.

With a chi.

A Bronze Longsword shot over, piercing through Bayin's right arm and sending his fatal strike into empty air.

The Human-faced Ghost Spider did not miss the opportunity. All eight of its legs pierced Bayin's body, and blood splashed everywhere.

Bayin gave a muffled groan, coughing blood from his mouth as he turned to look toward the valley entrance.

His eyes were bloodshot. Through the haze of red clouding his vision, he saw a white ape standing there, still holding its throwing posture.

His lips moved as though he wanted to curse, but no curse came out before his breath had already left him.

Beneath him, the Human-faced Ghost Spider was also gravely wounded. It struggled a few times, trying to rise but failing, without even the strength to pull its legs free from Bayin's body.

Seeing this, Yuan Ming immediately dropped to all fours and raced over in the form of a white ape.

When he arrived, he did not immediately go forward to inspect them. Instead, he first picked up the Bronze Longsword, then circled the Human-faced Ghost Spider and examined it.

Only after confirming that it truly had no power to resist did he step forward and sever its head with a single swing.

With its head gone, the Human-faced Ghost Spider's eight legs seemed to lose all support and instantly went limp.

At the same time, Bayin's lifeless body rapidly shrank, returning to human form. The Furred Beast Hide hung loosely over him.

Yuan Ming let out a long breath, dispelled the Furring Technique, and took out his blood-storage pouch to begin collecting the Human-faced Ghost Spider's blood.

After collecting it, he suddenly caught sight of the human face on the Human-faced Ghost Spider's forehead shrinking as well. It actually peeled away and slid onto the ground like a Human Skin Mask.

Yuan Ming was greatly astonished. After picking it up, he kneaded and tugged at it for a while, only to find it remarkably tough and clearly unusual, so he put it away.

Then he turned to the Human-faced Ghost Spider's abdomen and saw the horrifying wound there. He secretly felt that Bayin was truly terrifying. If he had fought Bayin to the death and Bayin had used these methods on him before dying, they would not have been easy to endure.

His gaze then fell on the Human-faced Ghost Spider's two front legs. He found that the flesh on them had already withered, while the exposed bones gave off a faint metallic sheen. They seemed far from ordinary as well.

Yuan Ming immediately set to work. He pulled Bayin's corpse off the spider legs and placed it aside, then used the Bronze Longsword to chop through the joints and remove the legs from the body.

"Zhao Tong will definitely be interested in these." Yuan Ming tugged at the corner of his mouth and smiled.

Afterward, he walked over to Bayin, removed the blood-storage pouch from his body, poured all the Blood Food stored inside into his own pouch, and searched him for anything else.

Just as Yuan Ming wanted to remove Bayin's Furred Beast Hide, he discovered in surprise that the hide had fused with Bayin's head. One pull tore off a large patch of flesh, so he could only give up.

Moreover, Bayin's originally sturdy body had become incredibly gaunt, as if all his flesh and blood had melted away. It was exceedingly strange.

In the end, aside from the blood-storage pouch, he found only a Black Pottery Vial about an inch tall on Bayin's body.

When he opened it, a sharp, pungent smell immediately wafted out. Inside were two red pellets the size of mung beans, though he had no idea what they were.

After gathering everything, Yuan Ming rested beside the two corpses for a long while. Only after his spiritual power and strength had recovered considerably did he rise again.

Looking at Bayin's corpse on the ground, Yuan Ming hesitated briefly before grabbing it, slinging it over his shoulder, and heading back into the valley.

As he neared the Sulphur Lake, Yuan Ming stopped and stared into it for a long time. He never saw the Unicorn Wolf Spider, so he guessed it had fled back to its nest with severe wounds.

Then Yuan Ming carried Bayin's corpse to the edge of the Sulphur Lake and threw it in.

At the site of the earlier battle, he found only one relatively intact beast slave corpse and another that had been gnawed down to little more than a skeleton. Suppressing his discomfort, he threw them into the lake as well.

He could not find the last corpse no matter how hard he looked. It had likely been dragged into the cave by the Unicorn Wolf Spider, so he could only let it go.

Fortunately, the blood-storage pouches on those three corpses were all still there. Yuan Ming took the Blood Food from them as well. Together with what he had collected earlier, there were roughly thirteen portions.

After tidying everything up, Yuan Ming left the valley with the Bronze Longsword and the Human-faced Ghost Spider's legs.

The next day, in Toad Valley.

Zhao Tong stared blankly at the Human-faced Ghost Spider legs Yuan Ming had brought back.

"Judging by their quality, this Human-faced Ghost Spider should have surpassed the third level of Qi Refining. Did you truly kill it?" Seeing Yuan Ming standing before him with only a few scrapes, he could not help asking.

"What, if I didn't kill it, you won't take it?" Yuan Ming asked in return.

"Take it? Of course I'll take it. These spider legs are hot commodities. Those fellows at the Fire Refining Hall love them dearly." Zhao Tong smiled broadly and hurriedly pressed a hand over the two items.

"Fire Refining Hall?" Yuan Ming asked in confusion.

Zhao Tong should not have told him about matters within the sect, but he was too pleased today, so he gave a brief explanation.

"It's the sect hall responsible for refining magic tools. You wouldn't understand even if I explained it."

"What are magic tools?" Yuan Ming pressed.

"They're weapons with great power." Zhao Tong did not want to say much, so he brushed the question aside.

After hearing that, Yuan Ming pondered briefly, then removed a long cylindrical beast-hide bundle from his waist and placed it on the table.

"What is this?" Zhao Tong asked, puzzled.

Unhurriedly, Yuan Ming untied the beast-hide bundle, revealing the Bronze Longsword inside. "Take a look at this for me."

Zhao Tong glanced at the ancient-looking Bronze Longsword. At first, his face was full of disdain, but then his brows lifted slightly in surprise.

"This seems to be a Half-Magic Tool. Where did you get it?" He picked up the longsword and examined it carefully, asking in confusion.

"I picked it up on the way while looking for vicious beasts," Yuan Ming casually replied with an excuse.

"Are you selling this? It's a little old, but the materials used in its forging were quite solid. Though it's only a Half-Magic Tool, it should still be worth some money," Zhao Tong assessed.

"What is a magic tool, and why is this sword a Half-Magic Tool?" Yuan Ming did not answer, instead changing the subject.

"Why do you have so many questions today?" Zhao Tong curled his lip in displeasure.

Yuan Ming's expression did not change. He reached for the longsword and said, "If you don't know, I'll ask someone else."

"Who says I don't know?" Zhao Tong immediately glared.

"Then tell me." Yuan Ming smiled.