Disciples of the Righteous Path

Although the Green Scab Spider had lost its sight, it keenly sensed Liu Ye's approach. Its eight legs gathered abruptly and struck at him in unison.

Liu Ye's mind was entirely on the Vegetation Sha; he never expected the Green Scab Spider to make such a move. Before he could even reach the Sha-Gathering Bottle, several legs pierced his body, instantly tearing him apart.

With one less person to restrain it, the Green Scab Spider's pressure eased greatly, and it turned from defense to offense.

Fang Huai's heart clenched instantly. He wondered if he could swap the Green Scab Spider's tags and kill it in return.

But this Green Scab Spider had exhausted its spiritual power and knew no techniques. After refreshing a few times, it only yielded tags like [Insufficient Spiritual Power], [Organ Decay], [Body Paralysis], and [Century of Solitude]—all of little use.

Gradually, the effect of the Spirit-Burning Pill took hold. Both Fang Huai and Pu Ren'an developed [Spiritual Power Exhaustion]. Even swallowing pills and clutching Spirit Stones, they could barely replenish their energy.

"Junior Brother Fang, hold the line! I'll go for help!" Pu Ren'an channeled his last shred of spiritual power, mounted his Paper Kite, and fled.

"Bastard!"

Fang Huai cursed, but saw the Green Scab Spider turn and dart in the direction Pu Ren'an had fled.

Pu Ren'an had dealt the most damage to the Green Scab Spider; how could the beast let him go?

A few breaths later, Pu Ren'an's screams and the victor's hiss of the beast echoed from afar.

Fang Huai landed on the ground, sweat rolling down his temples.

His gaze flicked to Lin Yu nearby. The man's face was as pale as paper, his body heavily ulcerated from the spider's corrosion.

After a moment's hesitation, Fang Huai walked over and fed him an Antidote Pill.

Seeing the other's complexion ease slightly after swallowing the pill, he asked:

"The Demon-Trapping Array has been triggered. Your Mystic Sword Sect should be able to receive the signal, right? How long until reinforcements arrive?"

Lin Yu shook his head. "In the past, help would come within half an hour.

But now that Green Parasol City has been ceded to the Corpse Sha Sect, the Mystic Sword Sect will no longer meddle in this affair."

Fang Huai's heart sank to rock bottom.

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

Once it devoured them all, its strength would surge, and its next target would definitely be him and Lin Yu!

Seeing that Lin Yu was saved for now, Fang Huai's gaze shifted to Cheng Zhaozhao.

Though drained of blood and qi, she still clung to life, looking at him pitifully with tears streaming from her eyes.

Fang Huai walked over and picked up the Sha-Gathering Bottle from the ground, taking out a talisman to seal the damaged spot.

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

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

He thought about leaving, but then considered that such a huge mess had been made, and someone had to take the blame. So he said:

"I can save you, but you must swear to obey me for life and never do anything to harm me."

Cheng Zhaozhao immediately spoke: "I swear..."

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

"Fine," Cheng Zhaozhao said, her eyes downcast. "I swear..."

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

Fang Huai had never trusted her; how could he be unprepared?

He gripped Cheng Zhaozhao's neck and sighed. "From the moment you reported me and Liu Ye, I stopped believing you. How could I not be on guard?

Also, let me tell you something—when I said I could use Oath Sha, I was lying!"

With that, he twisted his wrist and snapped Cheng Zhaozhao's neck.

Lin Yu, watching from the side, had seen everything Fang Huai did.

He said nothing, only forcing himself upright to go save the mortals.

"Daoist Fang, thank you for saving me. I must go rescue those mortals!"

"You go? What use is it besides dying and letting the beast drain you dry?"

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

Fang Huai handed Lin Yu a few Spirit-Returning Pills. "If you want any mortals to survive, swallow all of these pills now!"

Lin Yu didn't understand, but seeing the pills were harmless, he downed them in one go.

Fang Huai swapped his own [Spiritual Power Exhaustion] with Lin Yu's [Qi Decay (White)], then took his [Qi Shield Technique (White)] and said:

"Stay here. I'll go face that demon spider!"

Just as he was about to leave, Lin Yu called out, "Daoist Fang, take this!"

Trembling, he offered a crimson Spirit Sword—the Crimson Sky Cry that had pierced the Green Scab Spider's head earlier.

Fang Huai took the sword, his expression complex. "You're truly righteous. Aren't you afraid I'll take your sword and kill you, a proper sect disciple, first?"

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

"Stubborn fool!"

At this moment, Green Parasol City was filled with miserable cries.

After killing Pu Ren'an, the Green Scab Spider had gone completely berserk, each of its eight limbs draining several lives with every strike.

Fang Huai lay prone on Paper Kite, carefully observing the Green Scab Spider.

After using Refresh several times, he had finally rolled the [Indestructible (Red)] tag on the Green Scab Spider.

[Indestructible: Extremely high body toughness, difficult to breach defenses]

Swapping a gray tag cost 1 point, white cost 10, and by that logic, red should be 100.

He still had 124 points left, just enough to handle it.

With a thought, the tag was truly swapped over.

It worked!

The Green Scab Spider froze for a moment, as if something important had been stolen from it, but its near-zero intelligence couldn't figure out what had happened.

Fang Huai stuck the Little Corpse Meteor Insect onto Crimson Sky Cry and began talking it through the plan:

"Little bug, I'm giving you a tough mission. Later, I'll toss you onto the Green Scab Spider, and you burrow in to take its heart for me. How about it?"

Seeing no reaction from the Little Corpse Meteor Insect, he continued, "You're not saying anything, so I'll take that as a yes.

Dealing with a mere Foundation Establishment fallen realm little spider shouldn't be a problem, right?"

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

When he flew above its head, he leaped into the air, pouring all his spiritual power into Crimson Sky Cry, and stabbed at the Green Scab Spider's head.

The Green Scab Spider was busy devouring mortals and didn't notice Fang Huai's approach. Only when the sword light neared its head did it suddenly react, hurriedly raising one limb to block.

In its mind, Fang Huai was just a Qi Refining fourth-layer cultivator. Even wielding a Spirit Sword, he couldn't break through its defenses. Raising a limb to block was merely playing it safe.

But the next second, a crisp "crack" rang out as Crimson Sky Cry directly severed its limb.

Taking advantage of the momentum, Fang Huai landed on its head, twisted his wrist, and drove the sword into its already damaged single eye.

Though this strike didn't deal much damage, it made the Green Scab Spider feel the ultimate humiliation.

It let out a furious screech, and another limb swept toward Fang Huai, sending him flying dozens of zhang away.

Fang Huai spat blood, his entire body aching as if crushed by a boulder, and couldn't help but curse loudly:

"What kind of bullshit Indestructible is this!

The skin didn't break, sure, but my insides were nearly shattered by that beast!"