A lone Gallows Spider was not frightening!
But when they appeared in swarms, they were utterly terrifying—the most troublesome monsters in the outer regions of the Great Forest of Tob.
Gallows Spiders spat silk at incredible speed. Once someone was entangled by a swarm of them, they would be wrapped in massive amounts of silk within moments, completely unable to break free.
It was said that this silk possessed tremendous toughness and was an exceptionally fine material!
But clearly, this was not the time to think about that.
Tang Zheng raced through the jungle, considering how to shake off the mass of Gallows Spiders behind him.
In a forest environment, his speed was constantly restricted.
Those basketball-sized Gallows Spiders were unaffected. By continuously spraying silk and attaching it to the surrounding tree trunks, they could move even faster!
Whoosh!
A sharp sound tore through the air behind him.
Without even thinking, Tang Zheng swung his sword backward.
Splat!
The first Gallows Spider to catch up let out a piercing shriek as Tang Zheng's iron sword cleaved it in two. Pale green viscous fluid splattered across the ground.
"Received 23 experience points."
Hm?
Tang Zheng did not slow down, but his gaze froze. The experience reward was actually this high.
Thinking of the Gallows Spiders chasing behind him, there had to be seventy or eighty of them, if not a hundred.
If he could wipe out all these Gallows Spiders in one go...
He would gain at least two or three thousand experience points—enough to level up twice!
Puff! Puff! Puff!
Thumb-thick strands of silk shot out from the many Gallows Spiders behind him, flying in unison toward Tang Zheng.
Twist his left foot!
Tang Zheng darted behind a large tree on the left. Using the thick trunk as cover, he caused a large amount of silk to miss.
Several strands landed on the ground nearby. Tang Zheng's thoughts stirred, and he tried slashing at the silk with his iron sword.
Twanging!
The silk bent under the blade, then snapped with a soft yet remarkably resilient sound.
This was troublesome!
Feeling the silk's flexibility, Tang Zheng finally understood why it was considered such an excellent magical material.
Bang!
Tang Zheng's expression changed. He planted his rear foot against the tree trunk and launched himself forward again, leaving his previous position.
In the blink of an eye, several Gallows Spiders had already surrounded that tree.
Although Tang Zheng had shaken them off again, the distance between them was steadily shrinking!
"If I had the skills of a Druid, Forest Shaman, or even a Scout, perhaps I wouldn't be in such a miserable state."
A layer of sweat beaded on Tang Zheng's forehead as he continuously used the surrounding trees to evade the silk attacks.
He could not drag this out any longer!
He could now clearly hear the hissing cries of the Gallows Spiders pursuing him. It would not be long before they caught up.
Use magic?
The only offensive magic he had was Magic Arrow, and it would be useless against so many Gallows Spiders.
Wait!
Tang Zheng's eyes lit up. He suddenly thought of a spell he had mastered that might help with the current situation.
"Warming!"
Tang Zheng tightly gripped the iron sword in his hand and spoke in a low voice.
The spell Warming could heat any object he touched. However, it required time, and the temperature was not particularly high, so it was only suited for everyday tasks like boiling soup or reheating food.
Although he had spent a Skill Point to upgrade the spell, its fundamental improvement had not been significant. Thus, Tang Zheng had still only used it to heat meals.
At this moment!
Tang Zheng suddenly realized that if he could heat objects he touched, could he not heat his weapon as well?
"Warming!"
In just over ten seconds!
Tang Zheng could clearly feel the temperature of the iron sword in his hand rising. A scorching heat traveled through the palm holding the sword.
Rip!
Tang Zheng raised his left hand, grabbed the burlap sleeve on his right arm, and tore it off, wrapping it around the hilt.
This would prevent the excessive heat from burning his palm.
A minute was not long, and it passed in the blink of an eye.
The iron sword in his hand had been heated to 150 degrees. Waves of searing heat rose from the entire surface of the blade.
The iron sword's appearance had not changed at all. After all, iron's melting point was above 1,500 degrees; 150 degrees was not even enough to make it glow red.
Puff!
The sound of White silk shooting toward him rang out again.
This time.
Tang Zheng did not dodge. Instead, he raised the scorching iron sword and slashed at the incoming silk.
The originally tough silk was effortlessly cut apart by the high-temperature blade!
"Just as I thought. No matter how tough something like spider silk is, it has no resistance to high temperatures."
"Now, it's time for me to strike back!"
Seeing this, Tang Zheng smiled faintly. His gaze turned cold as he looked at the mass of Gallows Spiders relentlessly pursuing him.
The truly troublesome part of these Gallows Spiders was their incredibly tough silk!
And now!
With the heated iron sword able to cut through that silk with ease.
Then—
Tang Zheng stomped hard on the ground, stopping his retreat. Rather than backing away, he charged forward, turning to attack the incoming Gallows Spiders.
"Fourfold Slash of Light!"
Tang Zheng gave a low shout. The iron sword in his hand left four black afterimages in the air.
The scorching blade tore through the air, effortlessly cutting apart the many incoming strands of White silk while instantly killing the four Gallows Spiders at the front!
"Received 21 experience points!"
"Received 27 experience points!"
"Received 22 experience points!"
"Received 25 experience points!"
"Hiss!"
"Hiss!"
"Hiss!"
"...!"
Piercing hisses erupted in quick succession!
Since Tang Zheng had stopped running, the large number of pursuing Gallows Spiders quickly surrounded him.
One Gallows Spider after another crawled among the surrounding branches, making hissing sounds. Their scarlet eyes stared at Tang Zheng, who stood atop thick leaves.
Puff—puff—
Dense White strands of silk sprayed from the Gallows Spiders' abdomens at the same time. Working together, the spiders wove a complex web in the air and cast it down upon Tang Zheng.
"Useless!"
Tang Zheng grinned and casually swept the iron sword in his hand upward.
The sticky White spiderweb was instantly cut in half by the heated iron sword and fell to the ground.
This caused even the Gallows Spiders, which had been continuously screeching, to pause!
"The slaughter begins!" Tang Zheng sprinted beneath a large tree, kicked off the trunk with all his strength, and leaped into the air.
"Fourfold Slash of Light!"
Splat!
Splat!
Splat!
"Received 27 experience points!"
"Received 25 experience points!"
"..."
The information on the Attribute Panel began refreshing continuously.
Fragments of countless Gallows Spiders flew everywhere, while pale green, fishy-smelling fluid rained down from the air, filling it with a nauseating stench.
Without the threat of their silk, these Gallows Spiders were like lambs awaiting slaughter in Tang Zheng's hands.
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