Enemies Always Meet

"Damn!" Wei Suo cursed inwardly.

The Stone Maggot Cave was a maze of passages, with countless caverns and branching paths of every size. If Nangong Yuqing had not led the way, even if someone told Wei Suo there were two Jade Cloud Ganoderma plants inside, he likely would never have found their exact location. Some parts of the route to the cavern where the Jade Cloud Ganoderma grew were so narrow that only one person could pass through while bent over. If she had not chased a demon beast in here before, Nangong Yuqing certainly would not have ventured this deep into such a place.

Wei Suo had previously been unable to understand how Nangong Yuqing had discovered the two Jade Cloud Ganoderma plants, much less why she knew the demon beasts inside so well. But once he followed her to their destination, he immediately understood.

Before them lay a gourd-shaped cavern. The two chambers, both hung with stalactites, were each roughly several dozen zhang across, connected only by a short passage wide enough for about two people to walk abreast. The two Jade Cloud Ganoderma plants, glowing with a white, jade-like radiance and resembling lingzhi carved from white jade, grew on a stalactite directly opposite one of the outer caverns.

Wei Suo, who had crept close through the darkness, spotted them at once. The Wind Spirit Howler, nearly as tall as he was, stood atop a stalagmite nearby, glaring watchfully toward one of the outer caverns.

In that outer cavern, more than thirty Ice Snow Mantises had gathered in a fan-shaped formation, as though attending an auction.

The Wind Spirit Howler was covered in dark cyan feathers like overlapping iron plates. Its head resembled that of an enormous eagle, with a huge hooked beak. Its four limbs ended in claws that seemed forged from iron, while the short feathers on its blackish-blue tail were oddly triangular, hanging behind its rear and making it look especially sinister.

The more than thirty snow-white Ice Snow Mantises, their bodies marked with patterns like frost flowers, did not look any friendlier. Their mouths split into four parts, while their two huge, glassy eyes had no black pupils at all, making them terrifying to behold. Their thick, stubby forelimbs looked exactly like two broad-backed cleavers, and the icy aura emitted by each Ice Snow Mantis surpassed even that of an Ice Silk Spider.

"The Jade Cloud Ganoderma is about to mature!"

Almost at the same moment Wei Suo clearly saw the situation in both caverns, the white radiance on the two Jade Cloud Ganoderma plants grew denser, and a strange fragrance that refreshed the heart and delighted the spirit spread continuously through the air.

"These Ice Snow Mantises can't hold out any longer!"

What made Nangong Yuqing and Wei Suo, both holding their breath in concentration, feel their hearts race was that the Ice Snow Mantises confronting the Wind Spirit Howler had begun to stir restlessly. They could not help exchanging a glance.

Under the command of an Ice Snow Mantis that was clearly the largest, with the deepest-colored frost patterns on its body, the thin wings beneath the shells on the mantises' backs began to buzz. Three of them leaped up first and pounced at the Wind Spirit Howler, spraying three streams of misty white frost from their four-part mouths toward it.

Frost immediately spread across the cavern walls along the way with a series of cracking sounds.

"Damn, isn't this upper-tier Level Four demon beast a little too monstrous?"

But what made Wei Suo suck in a cold breath was that the Wind Spirit Howler did not move at all. It merely opened its mouth and spat out at least several dozen gleaming wind blades. Judging from the sharp whistles of tearing air, every one of those wind blades seemed no weaker than Wei Suo's Azure Water Blade.

If a mid-tier Level Four Unicorn Thunder Viper possessed strength comparable to a cultivator at the Fifth Level of Sea of Consciousness Realm, then this Wind Spirit Howler before them was certainly no weaker than a formidable cultivator at the Circulation Realm First Level.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

The wind blades collided with the misty white frost streams released by the three Ice Snow Mantises, producing violent explosions. Yet without any suspense, the blades swiftly tore through the three streams of frost and slashed into the mantises' raised forelimbs, which they had held before themselves like shields.

Numerous deep wounds immediately appeared across the thick, cleaver-like forelimbs of the three Ice Snow Mantises. Strange blue blood gushed from them. One Ice Snow Mantis even had a forelimb sliced clean off, and the following wind blades struck its body, knocking it backward onto the ground. Blue blood poured from its body and mouth. It could not even crawl, and looked utterly miserable.

Yet almost at the exact moment the Wind Spirit Howler launched its wind blades, the oldest-looking Ice Snow Mantis made a slight motion with its forelimbs like a general calmly directing troops. Four more Ice Snow Mantises leaped up, nearly using the first three as shields as they sprang from behind them and pounced toward the Wind Spirit Howler.

Seeing that the Wind Spirit Howler could not possibly unleash more wind blades at once, Wei Suo suddenly saw at least a hundred dark cyan feathers shoot from its chest like a hundred arrows, striking the four Ice Snow Mantises.

Wei Suo involuntarily swallowed hard. The power of those hundred-plus dark cyan feathers was no less than the wind blades it had just launched. The four Ice Snow Mantises' forelimbs were relatively fine, suffering only many cracks, but the unprotected portions of their bodies were riddled with holes at once. Blue blood spurted everywhere, and they were surely beyond saving.

With a whoosh, a cyan blur flashed past. The Wind Spirit Howler seemed to vanish from its original spot, seized one of the three Ice Snow Mantises from before, then instantly returned to where it had been. Its four claws dug deeply into the mantis's body as it pinned the creature beneath its feet and stared triumphantly at the oldest Ice Snow Mantis.

That leader-like Ice Snow Mantis also seemed to have resolved to fight to the bitter end. Under its command, all twenty-odd remaining Ice Snow Mantises gathered together and desperately sprayed misty white frost into the inner cavern.

Crack, crack, crack!

Layers of ice rapidly advanced. The two previously injured Ice Snow Mantises were directly frozen inside solid ice. These Ice Snow Mantises actually seemed intent on freezing the entire inner cavern.

A trace of disdain seemed to flash through the Wind Spirit Howler's eyes. Opening its mouth, it shot out another wave of gleaming wind blades, instantly chopping through the advancing ice wall and sending chunks of ice flying as it cut away more than half of it.

With a bang, however, a white shadow burst from the ice wall at that very moment. Its two cleaver-like forelimbs struck the Wind Spirit Howler, cutting off dozens of cyan feathers and carving two wounds into its body.

That white shadow was precisely the oldest Ice Snow Mantis!

As that Ice Snow Mantis charged in, the remaining twenty-odd Ice Snow Mantises all shattered the rest of the ice wall and rushed inside as well.

The Wind Spirit Howler let out a pained shriek, but the attack of that Ice Snow Mantis seemed to have thoroughly enraged it. Amid its piercing cry, more than half the feathers on its body shot out in an instant, and over a dozen of the Ice Snow Mantises that had rushed in afterward were immediately blasted into sieves.

The oldest Ice Snow Mantis seemed to have known the Wind Spirit Howler possessed such a counterattack. Its body was almost entirely tucked behind its two cleaver-like forelimbs. Those forelimbs were clearly more than one level stronger than those of the other Ice Snow Mantises. When the dark cyan feathers struck them, they failed to leave even a single wound.

But at that moment, a pure cyan demon core shot from the Wind Spirit Howler's mouth and slammed heavily into the Ice Snow Mantis's two forelimbs.

With an explosive crack, the two pupil-less eyeballs of that Ice Snow Mantis instantly filled with terror and despair. Countless cracks appeared across its two forelimbs before they completely shattered. The pure cyan demon core did not pause in the slightest, smashing into its body and blasting it into pieces.

The moment it killed that Ice Snow Mantis, the Wind Spirit Howler, blood streaming from its chest, turned its gaze toward the two Jade Cloud Ganoderma plants. Their leaves had fully unfurled, and numerous tiny lines had appeared upon their surfaces, revealing glittering spores within, each like a tiny pearl.

The two Jade Cloud Ganoderma plants had fully matured!

The Wind Spirit Howler opened its mouth, intending to swallow one of the Jade Cloud Ganoderma plants in a single bite. But at that moment, two figures suddenly appeared in the cavern that the Ice Snow Mantises had originally occupied outside. A streak of blue light shot from one person's hand, moving so quickly that even the Wind Spirit Howler had no time to evade it. With a hiss, the blue light passed directly through one of the Wind Spirit Howler's eyeballs and burst out through the back of its head.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

Before the Wind Spirit Howler could react, Wei Suo, who had rushed into the cavern alongside Nangong Yuqing after seizing the perfect opportunity, continuously hurled balls of fire at the Wind Spirit Howler, which Nangong Yuqing had heavily wounded in a single strike.

A high-tier Level Four demon beast like the Wind Spirit Howler normally would have been fine even after being struck repeatedly by several Fireball Talismans. Like when it had been slashed by the Ice Snow Mantis, it could have immediately launched a counterattack. But its head had been severely injured by Nangong Yuqing's magic treasure, its chest bore two slashing wounds, and more importantly, nearly all its feathers had been stripped away, leaving it like a plucked chicken.

Wei Suo smashed more than a dozen fireballs into it in one breath. This powerful demon beast, which normally could have easily killed Wei Suo, was directly turned into a genuine roast chicken, with not a breath left in it.

Guarding the narrow exit, Wei Suo unleashed another barrage of Fireball Talismans. After firing fewer than twenty more fireballs, he also slaughtered every Ice Snow Mantis that had luckily survived the Wind Spirit Howler's attacks.

The two enticing Jade Cloud Ganoderma plants gave off wisps of alluring fragrance.

"Hahaha!"

Wei Suo and Nangong Yuqing looked at each other in wild delight. Just as they were about to harvest the two Jade Cloud Ganoderma plants, they suddenly heard movement from the cavern behind them. A crisp, pleasant voice rang out in disbelief. "They've already finished fighting?"

"No way?" Wei Suo merely turned his head before he was instantly dumbfounded. Standing in the cavern behind them with a gloomy expression was none other than that silver-robed, curvy little beauty who had left such a deep impression on him.