Righteous Path Disciple

Although the Green Scab Spider had lost its sight, it keenly sensed Liu Ye approaching. Its eight legs suddenly drew together, then thrust toward Liu Ye in unison.

Liu Ye was focused entirely on the Vegetation Sha and never expected the Green Scab Spider to make such a move. Before he could reach the Sha-Gathering Bottle, several legs pierced his body, tearing him apart in an instant.

With one less person to hold it back, the Green Scab Spider felt the pressure ease and went on the offensive.

Fang Huai's heart leaped into his throat. Could I swap out the Green Scab Spider's tags and kill it instead?

But the Green Scab Spider's spiritual power was depleted, and it didn't know any spells. After refreshing its tags several times, he only got ones with little use, such as [Insufficient Spiritual Power], [Failing Organs], [Paralyzed Body], and [A Century of Loneliness].

Gradually, the Spirit-Burning Pill took effect. Both Fang Huai and Pu Ren'an developed [Depleted Spiritual Power]. Even after taking pills and holding Spirit Stones, they could barely replenish their spiritual power.

"Junior Brother Fang, hold it off! I'm going to get help!" Pu Ren'an used the last trace of his spiritual power to flee on his Paper Kite.

"You bastard!"

Fang Huai cursed, but the Green Scab Spider turned and shot off in the direction Pu Ren'an had gone.

Pu Ren'an had inflicted the most damage on the Green Scab Spider. How could the beast possibly let him escape?

A few breaths later, Pu Ren'an's scream and the victorious beast's cry rang out in the distance.

Fang Huai landed on the ground. Sweat rolled from his temple down his cheek.

He glanced at Lin Yu nearby. Lin Yu's face was as pale as paper, and his body was extensively ulcerated from the spider venom.

After hesitating for a moment, Fang Huai walked over and fed him an Antidote Pill.

When Lin Yu swallowed it and his complexion improved slightly, Fang Huai asked,

"The Demon-Trapping Array has been triggered. The Mystic Sword Sect should have received the signal, right? How long until reinforcements arrive?"

Lin Yu shook his head. "Normally, reinforcements would arrive within half an hour.

"But Green Parasol City has now been ceded to the Corpse Sha Sect. The Mystic Sword Sect won't interfere in this matter anymore."

Fang Huai's heart sank to the bottom.

After killing Pu Ren'an, the Green Scab Spider would surely go after the mortals in the city first.

Once it had devoured every last one of them, its strength would increase even further. And its next targets would certainly be him and Lin Yu!

Seeing that he had saved Lin Yu, Fang Huai glanced toward Cheng Zhaozhao.

Though this woman had been drained of her blood and qi, she was still breathing. Now she gazed at him pitifully, tears filling her eyes.

Fang Huai walked over, picked up the Sha-Gathering Bottle from the ground, and used a spirit talisman to seal the damaged area.

Cheng Zhaozhao said weakly, "Senior Brother Fang, save me. If you do, I'm willing to be your furnace cauldron."

Fang Huai wasn't a man ruled by his lower half, so he had no need for Cheng Zhaozhao to become his furnace cauldron.

He had meant to leave then and there, but remembering the enormous mess he'd made this time, he realized someone would have to take the blame. So he said,

"I can save you, but you have to swear to obey me for the rest of your life and never do anything to harm me."

Cheng Zhaozhao immediately said, "I swear..."

"Wait!" Black light flickered at Fang Huai's fingertips. "This is Oath Sha. You know what it does. I want you to swear again!"

"All right." Cheng Zhaozhao lowered her eyes. "I swear..."

Suddenly, a poisoned dagger stabbed toward Fang Huai's throat, but he caught it in his hand.

Fang Huai had never trusted her to begin with. How could he have let his guard down?

He gripped Cheng Zhaozhao by the throat and sighed. "Ever since you reported Liu Ye and me, I haven't trusted you. Why wouldn't I be on guard?

"Besides, there's something I should tell you. I said I could use Oath Sha to trick you!"

With that, he tightened his grip and snapped Cheng Zhaozhao's neck.

Lin Yu had witnessed everything Fang Huai had done.

He said nothing, only forcing himself to his feet as he prepared to save the mortals.

"Fellow Daoist Fang, thank you for saving me. I have to go save those mortals!"

"You? If you go, you'll only get yourself killed and drained by the beast. What good would that do?"

In Lin Yu's eyes, the lives of mortals were worth far more than his own!

Fang Huai handed Lin Yu several Spirit-Returning Pills. "If you want to save a few mortals, swallow all these Spirit-Returning Pills!"

Lin Yu didn't understand, but seeing nothing wrong with the pills, he swallowed them all at once.

Fang Huai swapped his own [Depleted Spiritual Power] for Lin Yu's [Failing Spiritual Energy (White)], then took Lin Yu's [Qi Shield Technique (White)] as well. He said,

"Stay here. I'm going to face that demon spider!"

Just as Fang Huai was about to leave, Lin Yu called after him. "Fellow Daoist Fang, take this!"

With trembling hands, he held out a crimson Spirit Sword: Crimson Sky Cry, the very sword that had pierced the Green Scab Spider's head earlier.

Fang Huai took the sword, his expression complicated. "You really are a paragon of righteousness. Aren't you afraid I'll take your sword and kill you, a righteous path disciple, first?"

Lin Yu tugged at the corner of his mouth, forcing a smile uglier than a cry. "After you kill me, remember to go save those mortals!"

"Foolish!"

Green Parasol City was filled with anguished cries.

After killing Pu Ren'an, the Green Scab Spider went completely berserk. Every time it thrust out its eight legs, it drained the life from several people.

Fang Huai lay flat on his Paper Kite, cautiously watching the Green Scab Spider.

After refreshing its tags several times, he got [Indestructible (Red)] on the Green Scab Spider.

[Indestructible: The body is exceptionally tough and difficult to injure]

Swapping a gray tag cost 1 point, while swapping a white one cost 10. By that logic, swapping a red one should cost 100.

He had 124 points left—just enough to handle it.

With a shift of thought, the tag really did swap over.

It worked!

The Green Scab Spider stared blankly, as if something important had been stolen from it. But with its intelligence practically at zero, it couldn't figure out what had happened.

Fang Huai pressed the Little Corpse Meteor Insect against Crimson Sky Cry and began talking it up.

"Little bug, I have a tough task for you. In a moment, I'll throw you onto the Green Scab Spider. You'll burrow inside and go straight for its heart. How does that sound?"

The Little Corpse Meteor Insect didn't react, so he continued, "If you don't say anything, I'll take that as a yes.

"It shouldn't be a problem for you to deal with a mere Foundation Establishment-stage spider that's fallen in cultivation, right?"

Then he urged the Paper Kite forward, speeding toward the Green Scab Spider.

When he reached the creature's head, he rose into the air, poured all his spiritual power into Crimson Sky Cry, and thrust it toward the Green Scab Spider's head.

The Green Scab Spider was feeding on mortals and hadn't noticed Fang Huai's approach. It only reacted when the sword light neared its head, hastily raising one of its legs to block.

In its mind, Fang Huai was only a fourth-layer Qi Refining cultivator. Even with a Spirit Sword, he couldn't break through its defenses. It raised its leg merely to be safe.

But in the next instant, there was a sharp crack, and Crimson Sky Cry cut straight through its leg.

Fang Huai used his momentum to land on its head. With a twist of his wrist, he drove the blade into its already-damaged eye.

The blow didn't do much damage, but it left the Green Scab Spider feeling utterly humiliated.

It let out a furious shriek and swung another leg at Fang Huai, sending him flying dozens of yards away.

Fang Huai spat blood. Pain wracked his entire body, as if a boulder had crushed him. He couldn't help cursing,

"What kind of bullshit Indestructible is this?

"Sure, its skin didn't break, but the beast nearly shook its internal organs to pieces!"