Flame Spider

Three hours later, the Azure Cloud Boat landed in a forest of green bamboo, and Shen Long and the others stepped off, their feet crunching on the many bamboo leaves scattered across the ground.

Deep within the Thousand Bamboo Mountain Range, there were predatory avian beasts, and flying through the air made one an easy target for their attacks.

Xu Lei stowed the Azure Cloud Boat, and the six of them each cast a defensive spell upon themselves before heading into the bamboo forest.

They moved at a measured pace, their faces etched with caution.

The Thousand Bamboo Mountain Range was home to many demonic beasts and insects, some of which were adept at concealment, making them difficult to detect before they ambushed passing cultivators.

Xu Lei's hunting party had seen many members replaced over time, as quite a few had been killed by such ambushes.

Passing through the bamboo forest, a long, narrow valley appeared before them, its floor overgrown with weeds.

"The nest of the Flame Spiders is inside."

Sun Yang pointed toward the valley and said.

"The usual rules: Fellow Daoist Qin, go draw them out."

Xu Lei instructed.

Qin Qing had cultivated his Wind Control Technique to the Great Perfection stage, so every time they hunted beasts, he was the one tasked with luring them out.

Qin Qing acknowledged the order, a green light igniting beneath his feet. With a flicker of his body, he transformed into a blurred afterimage and dashed into the valley.

Not long after, a series of loud explosions erupted from within the valley, and Qin Qing came sprinting out, his body clad in a thick, solid Earth Armor that bore scorch marks from fire.

Two strange, shrill screeches rang out, and two crimson flames, each as thick as a baby's arm, shot out from the valley, heading straight for Qin Qing.

A flash of green light flickered under Qin Qing's feet, and his figure shifted, appearing several yards away to dodge the two crimson flames.

Two massive, entirely red spiders charged out from the valley; their abdomens were bloated, their heads relatively small, and they each possessed eight legs.

"Attack!"

Xu Lei commanded. He slapped his spirit beast bag, and a white light flew out, landing on the ground to reveal a scorpion the size of a yard, crystalline and translucent, with white eyes.

As soon as the Ice Crystal Scorpion appeared, it opened its mouth and spat out several white ice spikes, each a foot long, aiming them directly at the Flame Spiders.

The two Flame Spiders each spat out a stream of crimson flame to meet them.

The white ice spikes collided with the crimson flames and vanished in an instant.

Xu Lei produced a feather fan shimmering with green light and gave it a gentle wave. Over a dozen green wind blades shot out, striking the two Flame Spiders with a series of muffled thuds, leaving only faint white marks on their bodies.

Two giant yellow hands erupted from the ground, swiftly grabbing the sharp claws of one Flame Spider.

A purple bowl flew over, spinning rapidly as it cast down a curtain of purple light, trapping that Flame Spider inside.

"Hurry and finish off the other Flame Spider; the Purple Sun Bowl can't hold it for long."

Liu Xin urged.

The five of them—Xu Lei and the others—launched their attacks against the Flame Spider.

Shen Long raised his right hand, and a crimson fireball the size of a water vat flew out, slamming into the Flame Spider and erupting into rolling flames that engulfed it.

Sun Yang unleashed a red flying blade about a foot long to strike at the beast.

Qin Qing cast a golden curved blade, hacking at the Flame Spider's head.

Xu Lei waved his green feather fan, unleashing wind blades while simultaneously directing the Ice Crystal Scorpion to attack.

Even the strongest fighter struggles against a crowd; the Flame Spider was no match for them. Meanwhile, the other Flame Spider either spat flames or used its claws to strike the purple light curtain, unable to break free in the short term.

The Flame Spider let out a sharp screech and spat out a dozen crimson fireballs, hurling them toward Shen Long and his companions.

Shen Long hurriedly deployed a black shield, upon which the characters for "Black Tortoise" could be seen.

Several crimson fireballs slammed into the Black Tortoise Shield; the shield didn't budge, though it was soon engulfed in crimson flames.

Xu Lei and the other three moved to block the fireballs. Taking advantage of this, the Flame Spider waved its sharp claws, charging toward the purple light curtain.

The ground beneath its feet turned soft, revealing a massive sand pit, and its body sank into the trap.

Several foot-long white ice spikes flew over, striking the Flame Spider's head in succession with muffled thuds.

The Flame Spider remained unharmed, though a layer of white frost now coated its head.

Xu Lei flicked his right hand, and a small yellow seal flew out. He cast a spell, and the seal glowed with a blinding yellow light, rapidly expanding to the size of a house before crashing down toward the Flame Spider trapped in the sand pit.

The Flame Spider tried to dodge, but a green vine as thick as a baby's arm burst from the ground, binding its body.

The giant yellow seal slammed into it, and the ground shook.

Xu Lei pinched a spell, and the giant yellow seal lifted; the Flame Spider had already been crushed into a pulp.

By this time, the other Flame Spider had not yet broken free.

Liu Xin pinched a spell, and the purple light curtain dissipated; the other Flame Spider was now free.

A green vine as thick as a baby's arm erupted from the ground, binding the Flame Spider's body.

The Flame Spider's sharp claws hacked at the green vine, and it snapped apart.

Several white ice spikes shot over, but the Flame Spider opened its mouth and spat a stream of crimson flame, turning the ice spikes into nothingness.

A white light shot over, reaching its face in an instant.

It swung its sharp claws to meet the attack, but when the white light struck them, the claws instantly froze, and the layer of ice began to spread.

The Flame Spider's body glowed with a brilliant red light, surging with crimson flames that melted the ice.

A massive yellow seal came crashing down, and just as the Flame Spider prepared to dodge, two giant yellow hands burst from the ground and seized its body.

The Flame Spider struggled violently, but the two giant yellow hands remained motionless.

The massive yellow seal slammed into the Flame Spider, causing the ground to shake and the mountains to sway.

Xu Lei tapped his finger lightly, and the massive yellow seal flew back up, leaving the Flame Spider reduced to a pile of pulp.

Having dealt with the two Flame Spiders, the six members of Shen Long's group all wore expressions of joy.

The claws of the Flame Spiders could be used for artifact refining; the two spiders provided a total of sixteen claws, with Xu Lei taking five, Sun Yang taking four, Liu Xin and the others taking two each, and Shen Long taking one.

"Fellow Daoist Xu, since you are stuck at a bottleneck, hunting more demonic beasts will help you break through it."

Qin Qing suggested.

Since they had gone to the trouble of coming out, he wanted to earn a little more.

Xu Lei nodded in agreement and put away his magic tool.

They walked into the valley, where there was an entrance several zhang wide; after entering the cave, it didn't take long for them to reach a cavern hundreds of zhang in size, which was completely empty, containing no spiritual herbs.

They checked it carefully, and after confirming there was nothing there, they walked back out and headed deeper into the mountain range.

A day later, they appeared in a long, narrow valley where the ground was scattered with many broken stones.

They were not moving quickly, their faces filled with caution.

A deafening explosion rang out, startling them and causing them to stop in their tracks.

"Fellow Daoist Qin, go and investigate to see what is happening."

Xu Lei ordered.

Qin Qing nodded, his feet lighting up with a cyan glow as he dashed forward.

Not long after, Qin Qing returned, his face filled with terror.

"It's bad, we've run into a flock of Fire Crows, run!"

Qin Qing shouted loudly.

No sooner had he finished speaking than a series of "caw-caw" crow cries rang out, and dozens of crimson crows appeared in the sky, with the Fire Crow King being at the late stage of the first rank.

The Fire Crow King flapped its wings lightly, and a dozen millstone-sized crimson fireballs shot out, with the other Fire Crows following suit.

Over a hundred crimson fireballs streaked across the sky, crashing down toward them.

"Retreat quickly!"

Xu Lei flicked his right hand, and a yellow talisman flew out, instantly bursting open to transform into a yellow earthen wall over ten zhang high, blocking their path.