Spider Demon Valley (2-in-1)

Bai Xiaowen finally understood after hearing the Old Demon's explanation. It seemed Nie Kong wasn't just a simple-minded, immature young man...

Soon, the selection process for the 15 groups was completed.

Overall, under the leadership of guild leader Li Beihai, the guild members chose monster gathering points in a harmonious manner, without any instances of two teams fiercely fighting over an easy monster gathering point.

"Let's go. Remember, if you encounter any danger, contact me via walkie-talkie, and I'll come to your rescue." Li Beihai waved his hand.

Fifteen off-road vehicles drove out of the city in a grand procession, heading towards the Wilderness Zone north of the base city.

This trip takes us deep into the Wilderness Zone, well beyond 30 kilometers, so we definitely can't take ordinary people with us. Therefore, with no driver or assistant available, Bai Xiaowen has to drive himself.

Let Li Beihai drive? He doesn't have the guts...

Looking at the stunningly beautiful Li, dressed in a white training uniform and exuding youthful energy, in the passenger seat, Bai Xiaowen Bai Xiaowen a little tempted. However, the immense pressure emanating from behind prevented him from acting rashly.

"Lord Taishan, why are you following us...?"

Bai Xiaowen remained resentful, secretly complaining about the overpowered light bulb.

If Li Beihai weren't with them, Bai Xiaowen and Li Shuyi could be cruising around the wilderness in their Wilderness Zone, enjoying the thrill of speeding, flirting in the car, and slaying monsters outside... Just imagine, that would be the pinnacle of life!

Bai Xiaowen glanced at the antique bracelet on her left wrist; a smiley face was displayed on the stone bead in the very center.

This is the passive effect of the Doom Prophecy Dark Gold Equipment Doom Bracelet. The smiling face represents calm and tranquility, indicating the absence of danger.

Having just acquired this Doom Bracelet, Bai Xiaowen naturally wanted to pay close attention to it and familiarize himself with the strength of the enemy monsters represented by each danger rating.

Along the way, they also encountered some lone monsters wandering around. Those cowardly monsters that ran away frantically at the sight of the off-road vehicle escaped with their lives, while those monsters that dared to stay and even fight back against the off-road vehicle naturally met only one fate: death.

It's worth mentioning that Li Beihai didn't make a move at all during the entire process.

The off-road vehicle drove along and soon arrived at Spider Demon Valley.

Spider Demon Valley is mostly composed of reddish-brown rocks. After the three of them entered the valley, they could vaguely smell a rotten, foul odor, like the smell of feet that hadn't been washed in a university dormitory for months.

Here in the wilderness, all three removed their illusions, revealing their true equipment. Bai Xiaowen took a special look at Li Beihai's appearance.

One glance was enough to blind Bai Xiaowen. Li Beihai was dressed in heavy armor in the style of an ancient China warrior, with a red tassel on his head fluttering in the wind. The key was that he was also carrying a Western-style two-handed axe, the fierce curve of which indicated its immense attack power.

"President, your equipment set, except for the axe, looks great on everyone else," Bai Xiaowen said.

In contrast, Bai Xiaowen's appearance was rather bizarre. He wore a silver ring inlaid with agate, reminiscent of Elves's headdress from a Western Qihuan background, but on his body he wore a traditional China Daoist robe woven with gold and silver threads. He held a magic book in his left hand, a gun in his right, and a feathered cloak with a primitive tribal style on his back...

Li Shuyi's look wasn't perfect either; the Ghost Mist Veil and Snake-Scale Armor didn't quite match, but it wasn't as bad as Bai Xiaowen's mix-and-match, so it was passable.

Li Beihai glanced at the two people's actual equipment appearance (after removing transmogrification) and nodded, "I'm wearing a set."

"A set?" Bai Xiaowen repeated in surprise.

Set items, like "black growth-type equipment," are special equipment and are not included in the white, blue, gold, or Dark Gold Tier equipment systems.

The set itself is of green quality and consists of multiple parts.

Each piece of a set, in terms of attributes and additional skills, is roughly equivalent to Gold Equipment of the same difficulty. Collecting multiple pieces of a set often produces special bonus effects, some of which are extremely powerful.

Monsters of any template can drop green set pieces, meaning that getting set pieces from killing mobs isn't a pipe dream. It's just that the drop rate...

Anyway, Bai Xiaowen and Li Shuyi have explored several Spirit Realm Plane and have never gotten a green set of armor. Of course, the fact that Bai Xiaowen has only been an Awakened for less than a year is also one of the reasons.

"The president is truly amazing." Bai Xiaowen praised sincerely. As the leader of the association, he certainly has the strength and trump cards.

Li Beihai: "I didn't collect all of this set myself. Sets are usually ' Bind on Equip ', and one of the three pieces I'm wearing was bought."

"It must have cost a lot of Psionic Points." Scarcity drives up prices; with such a low drop rate for the set and the difficulty of assembling a complete set, the price is predictable.

Li Beihai nodded. "Unfortunately, this ' Imperial Guard Set ' consists of four pieces, and we're still missing one weapon to complete the set. I can only use this axe as a substitute. But fortunately, this axe is of excellent quality and quite handy to use."

"Being able to collect three pieces is already quite an achievement." Once you have two or more pieces of a set, each additional piece means you gain an extra skill.

"Alright, enough chit-chat. This is Spider Demon Valley now, so be careful," Li Beihai.

"Isn't the president going to make a move?" Bai Xiaowen asked.

"I'm already level 10, and I've reached the limit in terms of skill level and proficiency. Killing monsters is useless to me," Li Beihai shook his head. "You guys do it, I'll watch... I'll step in if we encounter any big guys that you can't handle."

Li Shuyi smiled and said, "Dad, don't worry, Xiao Wen and I have killed more than one level 8 Boss Tier in the Spirit Realm."

Li Beihai coughed, his face slightly flushed, though it wasn't very noticeable due to his dark complexion. He mumbled, "To be able to kill an 8th-level Boss Tier... um, that's about the same as me... um, I mean, you guys are pretty good, almost catching up to me."

Bai Xiaowen laughed and said, "Actually, what Shu Yi said is somewhat inaccurate. We can leverage power in the Spirit Realm, but we can't in the Wilderness Zone. Killing an 8th-level Boss Tier doesn't mean we have the strength to rival an 8th-level Hero Class awakened user. We still need the guild leader's protection."

Li Shuyi felt that Bai Xiaowen was wrong. In the Black Tide Plane, they killed Norton Leona without relying on any external forces; they relied on their own hard-earned abilities. However, she was also smart and quickly realized why Bai Xiaowen said that, so she understood and didn't say anything more.

There is still a difference in strength between Advanced Boss and Advanced Awakened Hero Class (at the same level).

The strength of Advanced Boss lies in their additional Life Value and percentage-based damage reduction.

Advanced Awakened are strong because their professional skills are enhanced twice at LV4 and LV7, and their equipment has additional skills. With the help of various items, they can make their combat style more flexible and versatile.

Bai Xiaowen preferred to challenge the Boss Tier.

A rustling sound came from within, and two pale black Calamity Spider Demon crawled out of the reddish-brown cave.

The Calamity Spider Demon is larger than a human and resembles a giant spider overall, but its front half looks somewhat like some kind of insect. It has no mouthparts, but has huge, sharp mandibles and forelimbs with claws like an old tree trunk.

Bai Xiaowen offered his Insight.

[Calamity Spider Demon (Level 5)]

[Race: Undead Species / Spider Demon Tribe]

[Attributes: Strength 15, Agility 24, Constitution 16, Spirit 6]

[Skill 1: Hunting: The Calamity Spider Demon uses its powerful claws to seize its enemies. The barbs of the claws embed themselves into the enemy's flesh, making it impossible for them to escape. The target must be judged by strength; otherwise, they will be unable to move and will suffer continuous Mild Bleeding damage.]

[Skill 2: Plague Bite: The Calamity Spider Demon bites the target, infecting them with Calamity Venom. This toxin effect can stack.]

The monster is a level 5 monster with Standard Template. I haven't encountered such a weak opponent in a long time.

Bai Xiaowen waved his hand, and a row of summoned creatures appeared, instantly engulfing the two Spider Demon in front of him.

However, one of the Skeleton Sword-and-Shield Soldier touched a nearby Calamity Spider Egg. Soon, the egg exploded, and a swarm of spiderlings pounced on Bai Xiaowen's summoned creatures.

"Be careful, these little spiders don't have high attack power, but they can still poison you. If the layers stack up too high, it'll be uncomfortable," Li Beihai advised from behind. His experience was far greater than Bai Xiaowen's.

In fact, without Li Beihai's explanation, Bai Xiaowen had already spent 10 points of Psionic Points to provide Insight into the little spider.

[Calamity Spiderling (No Level)]

[Race: Undead Species / Spider Demon Tribe]

[Attributes: Strength 1, Agility 3, Constitution 1, Spirit 1]

[Skill 1: Plague Bite: Omitted]

"Nothing special, weaker than the Plague Rat in the Buffer Zone, about the same as Mutant Cockroach..."

Bai Xiaowen Mind Link to control Fatty as he charged towards the Calamity Spiderling.

These little spiders clearly lacked intelligence; they pounced on any moving target and began biting it. After being bitten a few times, Fatty 'Corrupting Blood quickly stacked up to five layers.

Thick, Corrupting Blood toxins surged out as a poisonous mist, and the little spiders collapsed before they could even get close.

Bai Xiaowen controlled Fatty to clear the way, crushing countless spider egg sacs along the way, creating a constant crackling sound. Groups of Calamity Spiderling hatched, only to be poisoned to death in Fatty's toxic mist.

Li Beihai was a little stunned. The individual strength of these small spiders was negligible, but they had the advantage of being in swarms. Once they covered the entire body, the toxins would accumulate, and even the strongest Awakened One would not be able to withstand it, so they were very difficult to deal with.

Typically, you'll need an Awakened One skilled in AOE damage to accompany your team. After luring out a group of small spiders, use AOE skills to quickly clear them out, then wait for the cooldowns to finish before starting the next wave, and so on.

However, the swarm of Calamity Spiderling was utterly helpless against Bai Xiaowen's single Corpse Monster. The Corpse Monster's area-of-effect (AOE) damage was actually continuous and mobile!

Li Beihai fell into deep thought.

While clearing away the monsters, Bai Xiaowen also kept an eye on the Doom Bracelet on her wrist.

After entering Spider Demon Valley, the smiley face pattern on the Doom Bracelet remained unchanged, indicating that there was no threat.

Suddenly, the pattern on the bracelet changed, from a smiley face to a blank face.

"Mild threat."

Bai Xiaowen immediately narrowed the range of his Mental Scan and instantly sensed the movement of an object above him! He looked up and, under his Mental Scan, saw a faint shadow trailing a spider web, falling from a sharp rock and lunging towards Bai Xiaowen.

This is an Elite Tier Spider Demon. Compared to ordinary Spider Demon, it not only has stronger attributes, but also has an additional "Silk Bind" skill.

[Silk Bind: The Calamity Spider Demon continuously spews highly viscous silk in an attempt to bind a target. The target's movement speed will continuously decrease, and when the movement speed drops to zero, the target will be Imprisonment within the silk cocoon. The silk cocoon has (60) Durability points (equivalent to Life Value in this case) and can be destroyed.]

Bai Xiaowen immediately pulled out his gun, bang!

This level 6 Elite Tier Calamity Spider Demon was instantly blasted into a clump of putrid pus.

With the Desert Eagle's Headshot and Piercing strike, plus the Absolon's Blood Essence Stone guaranteeing a 100% chance to trigger the "First Blood" effect of Killing Thirst, it's truly difficult for it to survive.

A faint blood-red glow appeared on Bai Xiaowen's body; this was the 10% Critical Hit rate bonus from the "Brutality" effect of the Blood Essence Stone.

Li Beihai: "..."

"Be careful, we've entered the heart of Spider Demon Valley, and we expect to encounter more Elite Tier monsters. Don't get hit by their spider silk," Bai Xiaowen warned. Getting hit by the Silk Bind skill and being Imprisonment would be quite troublesome.

A loud rustling sound arose as more Elite Tier Calamity Spider Demon emerged from caves and cliffs, rushing towards Bai Xiaowen and his companion.

Li Shuyi drew her twin swords and unleashed Savage Charge, crashing into the first Calamity Spider Demon. She then alternated thrusts with her swords, quickly followed by Triple Slash! Her dual passive stacks rapidly increased to 5.

The Elite Tier Spider Demon extended its forelimbs, attempting to seize her. Li Shuyi shifted her feet to the side, dodging the attack, and thrust her longsword again.

Vital Strike! Critical Hit!

Li Shuyi was able to dodge the Elite Tier Spider Demon's skills, but the Spider Demon couldn't avoid Li Shuyi's thrusts. This was due not only to the Suppression brought by Li Shuyi's high agility, but also to the Suppression brought by her Battle Specialty.

Although the Elite Tier Spider Demon was one level higher than Li Shuyi, it was far inferior to the well-equipped Li Shuyi in terms of agility— Li Shuyi's agility, after being passively stacked to a certain level, was even higher than that of Advanced Awakened.

Li Shuyi's Swordsmanship Specialty has reached level 7 after being taught by Oona, the female Elven Sword Bard swordsmanship instructor of the Kingdom of Camelot! Although this special level does not bring literal progress, Li Shuyi can clearly feel that her understanding of One-Handed Swordsmanship has reached a new level.

Sizzle!

Two Elite Tier Spider Demon sprayed out spider silk and used their Silk Bind skill on Li Shuyi.

Bai Xiaowen made no move, yet a chilling Overawing Presence spread out—it was the unexpected area control skill, Intimidation! Instantly, the four Elite Tier Spider Demon surrounding the two were all gripped by Fear Status.

Bai Xiaowen easily raised his gun and began calling out names one by one.

Each Spider Demon with full Life Value will trigger Absolon's Blood Essence Stone "Killing Thirst" skill! Although not fatal, the damage received will be full.