Magic Treasure Fragment

A third-order demonic beast was, after all, a third-order demonic beast. Ye Xiaozheng had slapped that Ice Silk Spider against the mountain wall, sending stone chips flying everywhere. If that force had struck an ordinary second-order demonic beast, it would probably have flattened it into a meat patty. Yet this Ice Silk Spider merely let out a shrill cry and bounced back up like a ball, as though it had suffered only a minor injury.

Meanwhile, another Ice Silk Spider at the rear had already begun spinning a web across the cave entrance behind them. Hearing its companion's scream, it abandoned the snow-white web that was more than half complete, left the entrance, and crawled toward Ye Xiaozheng at a terrifying speed.

The Ice Silk Spider on the other side had several scorched spots burned into its body, but at this moment, a layer of cold mist spread across its surface. Nangong Yuqing's Fire Rain Technique could no longer inflict much damage on it.

The temperature throughout the cave kept falling. White frost flowers had even appeared across the surrounding rock walls and stones on the ground.

"Focus everything on taking this one down first!"

As soon as Lin Daoyi's voice rang out, a Fireball slammed into the Ice Silk Spider Ye Xiaozheng had just sent flying against the wall, blasting it as it bounced back up.

Lin Daoyi had actually used another Fireball Talisman refined by Wei Suo.

Pop! Pop! Pop!

By then, the Ice Silk Spider rushing over from behind had already closed in on Ye Xiaozheng. The ice silk it continuously spat out could not pierce Ye Xiaozheng, but the dense icy aura clinging to the silk made him feel miserable. His body was beginning to stiffen.

"Is the hide of a mid-stage third-order demonic beast really this thick?"

Seeing that Ye Xiaozheng was not in immediate mortal danger, Wei Suo and Ye Guowei desperately kept firing Azure Water Blades and water arrows at the Ice Silk Spider that had been struck again by the Fireball Talisman. Dark-red bloody foam was already spilling from its mouth, yet after more than a dozen Azure Water Blades and water arrows battered it like a raging storm, they had only opened three or four wounds on its body. They still had not managed to kill it.

Instead, the Ice Silk Spider ignored Wei Suo and the others, frantically spraying ice silk at Ye Xiaozheng. The cold made Ye Xiaozheng's teeth chatter, and even the heavy sword in his hand moved as though in slow motion. He could not hit either Ice Silk Spider at all.

Whoosh!

At that moment, a streak of blue light suddenly shot from before Nangong Yuqing and struck the Ice Silk Spider she had been dealing with. The blue light was several times faster than the Flame Blades Nangong Yuqing had used earlier. Not only could Wei Suo and the others not see it clearly, but the Ice Silk Spider had no time to dodge either. With a pop, a hole was forcibly punched through its head, and the blue light flew back into Nangong Yuqing's hand.

"What is that? It's so powerful... could it be a magic treasure?"

Wei Suo, Ye Guowei, and the others could not help drawing sharp breaths at the power of that blue light. After its head had been punched through, the Ice Silk Spider sprawled on the ground without moving. Yet after releasing that blue light, Nangong Yuqing's True Essence had been severely depleted. She immediately took out a bottle of Qi Replenishing Powder and drank it.

Seeing that Nangong Yuqing seemed temporarily unable to deal with the other two Ice Silk Spiders, while Ye Xiaozheng's situation was hanging by a thread, Ye Guowei anxiously took out a green talisman.

"First-Order Azure Wood Talisman!"

As she poured True Essence into it, the green talisman transformed into a mass of green force energy. It condensed in midair into a green wooden stake more than a person thick and smashed viciously down onto the Ice Silk Spider that had already been hit once by the Fireball Talisman.

Crushed under the heavy green wooden stake, the Ice Silk Spider finally gave out. All its hairy legs twitched incessantly as clumps of bloody foam flowed from its mouth.

Seeing that the situation had turned unfavorable, the remaining Ice Silk Spider rapidly climbed upward along the snow-white spider silk hanging from the cave ceiling.

Under such circumstances, Wei Suo and the others naturally did not want to let it escape. But third-order demonic beasts like Ice Silk Spiders possessed high defenses, great speed, and a measure of intelligence. For a time, the group repeatedly unleashed spell techniques. Even when several attacks struck its body, it ignored them and desperately fled upward, on the verge of escaping through the top of the cave.

"Damn it!"

After hesitating slightly, Wei Suo took out the only Second-Order Ice Talisman he had.

With the Ice Silk Spider fleeing for its life like this, even a Fireball Talisman might not be able to hit it.

The Second-Order Ice Talisman covered an area of roughly two zhang, and its power far surpassed that of a First-Order Fireball Talisman. Although one Second-Order Ice Talisman cost three Low-grade Spirit Stones, an Ice Silk Spider was worth more than sixty Low-grade Spirit Stones. Compared to that, Wei Suo could no longer bring himself to begrudge the loss of three Low-grade Spirit Stones.

"A Second-Order Ice Talisman?"

As Wei Suo poured True Essence into it, bone-chilling white mist immediately began spreading from the Ice Talisman. In an instant, countless crystalline ice pellets formed before Wei Suo, and the temperature in the cave dropped several more degrees. Nangong Yuqing's lovely face also showed great surprise. She clearly had not expected that a Rogue Cultivator like Wei Suo, who looked poor as a church mouse, would possess not only the Spirit Heaven Jade Pendant but also such a valuable talisman as a Second-Order Ice Talisman.

"Hit!"

As Nangong Yuqing watched Wei Suo in surprise, Wei Suo waved his hand. A huge mass of cold air mixed with countless ice pellets surged from the Second-Order Ice Talisman and slammed into the Ice Silk Spider fleeing rapidly upward.

"A second-order talisman really is a second-order talisman. It's this powerful!"

Wei Suo immediately saw the Ice Silk Spider stiffen. Then layers of ice rapidly formed over its body and the white spider silk suspending it. Almost instantly, the entire Ice Silk Spider became a lump of ice, while a long icicle hung from the white silk.

As the Azure Water Blades, water arrows, and other spell techniques unleashed by Wei Suo and the others slammed into the ice lump, several cracks immediately appeared across it, and it shattered. The incomparably ferocious Ice Silk Spider broke apart along with the ice, splitting into several pieces. It was dead beyond all doubt.

"Good thing you had that Second-Order Ice Talisman, Brother Wei Suo. Otherwise, this Ice Silk Spider really would have gotten away." Seeing the last Ice Silk Spider dealt with, Lin Daoyi relaxed and smiled at Wei Suo.

"It's a pity it froze into several pieces. That cost us a few more Spirit Stones." Wei Suo looked at the shattered Ice Silk Spider with great distress.

"That is nothing. At most, we lost one Ice Silk Spider hide. Its most valuable demonic core and silk sac will not be damaged anyway." Lin Daoyi smiled and pointed at the Ice Mist Fruit on the opposite rock wall. "Besides, this Ice Mist Fruit and the cold jade inside will be more than enough to make up for any expenditure and losses we have suffered."

Hearing Lin Daoyi say this, excitement appeared on the faces of both Ye Xiaozheng and Ye Guowei.

The three Ice Silk Spiders, two Gray Rock Snakes, and this Ice Mist Fruit were worth more than three hundred and fifty Low-grade Spirit Stones. Even divided equally among five people, each would receive at least seventy Low-grade Spirit Stones. This was absolutely a harvest delightful beyond measure.

"By the way, Nangong Yuqing, that streak of blue light you released just now was astonishingly powerful. It killed an Ice Silk Spider in one blow. Was it some kind of magic treasure? Why did you not use it later against the other Ice Silk Spiders?" Lin Daoyi asked Nangong Yuqing again.

"With cultivation like mine, how could I possibly possess a powerful magic treasure? It is merely a Magic Treasure Fragment." Nangong Yuqing shook her head and held out her hand. "This fragment still retains some of the magic treasure's power, but it can only be used once every twenty-four hours, and each use consumes a great deal of True Essence. Otherwise, I would have used it on that fleeing Ice Silk Spider earlier."

"So this is a usable Magic Treasure Fragment?" Wei Suo curiously examined the object in Nangong Yuqing's hand.

Resting on Nangong Yuqing's fair palm was a thin, irregular shard. At a glance, it resembled a piece of porcelain chipped from a vase. Yet this fragment was a beautiful deep blue and made of a translucent material. It was impossible to tell whether it was refined metal or jade. Several ancient vine-like patterns ran across it, and a smooth radiance glowed around it.

Wei Suo knew that although some magic treasures passed down from ancient times had been damaged, certain portions could still retain part of the complete magic treasure's power. The power of magic treasures often far exceeded that of talismans, so even though some Magic Treasure Fragments possessed only a fraction of the original treasure's power, that fraction alone was terrifying. Judging from Nangong Yuqing's use of this Magic Treasure Fragment just now, its power even surpassed that of a second-order talisman. If it could be used once every twenty-four hours, then such a Magic Treasure Fragment would be worth at least close to thirty Low-grade Spirit Stones.

"So that's how it is... Hm? What is that in that person's arms?" Lin Daoyi nodded, then suddenly stared at a dried corpse on the right ahead of them and voiced his surprise.

"What is it?" Wei Suo froze for a moment and followed Lin Daoyi's gaze toward the dried corpse's arms. But at that moment, darkness fell before his eyes as the firelight in Lin Daoyi's hand suddenly went out.

(Heavy snow in Changsha. I still do not know whether tomorrow's flight can return normally. What a headache...)