Ghost Face Spider's Surprise

This cultivator had a problem!

Driven by its powerful survival instincts, the Ghost Face Spider immediately spat out its web, preparing to trap its enemy.

But a fist-sized Fireball shot from Xiao Chen's fingertips even faster, tearing through the web and exploding directly against the Ghost Face Spider's body.

"Boom~!"

A massive burst of fire erupted, and surging heat rushed toward him, making even Xiao Chen instinctively raise a hand to shield his face.

Since entering the Flying Rainbow Mountain Range, this was the first Spirit Beast he had encountered that his Fireball Art could not pierce through.

The Ghost Face Spider's powerful carapace had actually blocked his spell, triggering the Fireball Art's explosion.

This was, in fact, the Fireball Art's normal method of attack: using its bursting flames to wound the enemy.

The previous cases had purely been because his opponents' defenses were too weak, preventing the second-stage explosion from even being triggered.

The next instant, even more flames shot into the sky.

The webs hidden among the grass were especially perfect fuel, igniting in an instant.

The roiling flames forced Xiao Chen back three steps and set the Ghost Face Spider ablaze from head to toe.

"Spare me..."

The Ghost Face Spider had just opened its mouth, trying to speak, when a second Fireball precisely shot into its mouth.

"Pop!"

Another explosion rang out, sending the Ghost Face Spider crashing to the ground, utterly motionless.

Xiao Chen chanted an incantation and pointed ahead. "Go!"

The third Fireball followed close behind, slamming viciously into the Ghost Face Spider's face.

It completely burned its head into a clump of ash.

Through its Bloodline Ancestral Return, this Ghost Face Spider had already gained a measure of Spiritual Intelligence and possessed a little wisdom.

With the strength of the 7th level of Qi Refining, it had hunted several cultivators over the past few days. Even cultivators at the 6th level of Qi Refining could only become its toys if they encountered it.

Yet until its death, it could not understand.

Why was this relatively weak enemy, according to its innate senses, even harder to deal with than those slightly stronger enemies?

Within the span of ten breaths, Xiao Chen had fired three Fireballs in succession, a full three times faster than an ordinary cultivator.

The reason he could be so fast was likewise thanks to the tenfold Mana circulation speed granted by the Featherweight Hextech.

Although the speed of Mana circulation was only one factor affecting spellcasting speed, it had still doubled the speed at which he could launch Fireballs.

This allowed him to carry out a continuous barrage against the Ghost Face Spider and smoothly secure the kill in one breath.

"Whew, what a powerful Spirit Beast. It actually withstood three of my attacks. It must have been at the 7th level of Qi Refining."

Xiao Chen exhaled softly, adjusted his internal breath, and sent another Fireball over to inspect the corpse.

"No reaction. Looks like it's thoroughly dead."

Only then did he relax. "It definitely wasn't an ordinary Spirit Beast. Could this be the legendary Ghost Face Spider?"

No wonder it was called Ghost Face—it truly looked lifelike. At first glance, he had not doubted its disguise at all.

But this Ghost Face Spider could actually deceive people and even speak human words. Wasn't that a little too intelligent?

It was not that Xiao Chen looked down on Spirit Beasts. Mainly, he remembered Old Man Wu saying that only Spirit Beasts in the Foundation Establishment Realm could develop advanced intelligence and even learn human speech.

But if he were told that the Spirit Beast before him was in the Foundation Establishment Realm, he would be the first not to believe it.

If that were true, the one lying on the ground right now would be him.

With his doubts in mind, Xiao Chen cut open the Ghost Face Spider's belly and searched for its Points Jade Token.

To his surprise, before finding the Jade Token, he saw a round Golden Orb.

Hiss~!

What was this? It could not be a Golden Core, could it?

Did I kill a Spirit Beast in the Golden Core Realm?

Shaking his head, he cast aside that absurd thought and reached out to pick up the orb.

It was not sticky as he had expected, but it was far heavier than imagined. Though the orb was less than half an inch across, it felt as though it weighed at least ten jin in his hand.

"Could this be a Spirit Beast's Inner Core?"

Normally, Spirit Beasts in the Foundation Establishment Realm had a chance of forming an Inner Core early. When they broke through to the Golden Core Realm, their Inner Core would transform into a Golden Core along with them.

Yet Xiao Chen had never heard of a Qi Refining Realm Spirit Beast possessing an Inner Core.

What was going on?

Though he was extremely curious, caution kept him from swallowing this suspected Inner Core directly. Instead, he cut off a piece of skin on the spot and wrapped it up.

There was no need for him to take risks now. Once he returned to the sect, there would naturally be plenty of ways to determine whether this was truly an Inner Core.

Afterward, Xiao Chen dug out the Ghost Face Spider's Jade Token and prepared to continue on his way in search of his next buyer.

Unexpectedly, there was another surprise in the Ghost Face Spider's belly.

Pressed tightly against the Jade Token were a Flying Sword corroded down to only a foot in length and a small Jade Box gleaming with spiritual light.

That Flying Sword looked exceptionally familiar. It was clearly the Sect Standard Flying Sword that nearly every Outer Sect Disciple possessed.

Though it had already been digested beyond recognition, Xiao Chen still recognized it at a glance.

However, what he was more curious about now was the unscathed Jade Box beside it.

He took out the Points Jade Token and the small Jade Box, then washed them clean with the Water Healing Art.

Once the Jade Box was clean, the spiritual glow upon it instead dimmed, no longer shining brilliantly.

Oh ho, interesting.

This situation reminded him of those specially made Storage Boxes.

Old Man Wu had a Storage Box. It was said that when he was young, he had specifically purchased a high-quality one in order to study Pill Dao.

Whenever new disciples were recruited each year, he would take it out and demonstrate it for them. It looked far more refined than the one before Xiao Chen.

It was said that this kind of Storage Box feared neither blades nor swords, nor water nor fire. It could only be opened by actively infusing it with Mana, making it especially suitable for storing precious spirit pills or other spiritual materials.

He tried sending in a strand of Mana, only to receive the response that his Mana was insufficient.

Xiao Chen's eyes lit up, and he hurriedly infused it with another strand of Mana.

"Crack."

The Jade Box finally split open, revealing a round, plump spirit pill stored within.

"Harmony Origin Pill!"

This was a Top-Grade First-Order Pill. It contained a great amount of spiritual energy and could help cultivators condense Mana more easily, so it was generally used to assist in breakthroughs.

When Xiao Chen had exchanged for Qi Nourishing Pills at the Merit Hall last time, he had seen its illustration in the catalog. A single pill like this sold for a full Ten Spirit Stones.

He had even considered whether to buy one then, but at the time, he had only a little over forty Spirit Stones left in total.

Limited by his meager purse, he had ultimately decided to cultivate on his own and save a few Spirit Stones for unexpected needs.

Who would have thought that this trip would bring such an unexpected gain? He had picked up a ready-made Harmony Origin Pill for free.

After several days of intensely casting spells and hunting Spirit Beasts, the Mana within Xiao Chen had been steadily consumed. Yet as it recovered, it had also strengthened somewhat.

Now, with the Harmony Origin Pill to aid him, he was ninety-nine percent certain that he could directly break through to the 6th level of Qi Refining.

If this place had not been unsuitable, and if he had not worried that a breakthrough would delay him and make him late, he would have dearly loved to break through on the spot.

Carefully putting away the Storage Box, Xiao Chen donned his cloak and headed straight for the sect's gathering point.

Please keep reading. Please open the latest chapter every day and read for twenty seconds—much obliged!