Ghost-faced Spider

The group slowly advanced towards Ice Prison Royal City, herding thirty-seven Ghost-faced Spiders.

The thirty-seven Ghost-faced Spiders were entirely black, with ferocious ghost-face patterns on their backs. Their eight long legs were cast from what seemed like refined steel, yet they moved silently. Only their abdomens rippled slightly, emitting a chillingly fierce aura.

Yet, these terrifying Sanctuary Beasts were now being herded like lambs with unawakened minds.

Barn's divine domain slowly unfurled around him, gently but irresistibly pushing the Ghost-faced Spiders forward, preventing them from breaking formation. He swept his gaze across the desolate ice plains and said with a hint of melancholy, "What that senior said earlier has some truth to it. Once we break through to Godlevel, there's nothing left for us in Gobada that's worth risking our lives for, except the chance to leave."

He paused, then continued, "As for us working hard to complete missions and exchange for resources, it's only because we are Lowgods and haven't been at Godlevel for long, not even having fully gestated our Divine Artifacts. Once we break through to Midgod, we might only have counting the days in the Royal City or finding enemies to fight left to do."

These words touched the others around him.

They were all powerhouses who had struggled through countless battles, each step of their advancement stained with blood. But compared to the terrifying advancement speed of Linley and Olivia in the original work, their own talents indeed seemed quite mediocre.

However, in Barn's view, surviving in the hellish environment of Gobada and even breaking through to Godlevel on their own already made them far superior to Obrien and the High Priest on the Yulan Continent.

The Godlevel experts on the Yulan Continent enjoyed the plane's blessings and the faith of their believers, while the Godlevel experts in Gobada struggled daily amidst slaughter and hunger.

But Gobada was, after all, merely the reverse side of the Yulan Continent's plane, comparable in size to an ordinary material plane. A group of Godlevel experts who should have roamed the world were trapped here, like a group of chosen elites forcibly imprisoned in a dark, lightless sewer, day after day, year after year, eventually driven mad by despair.

The group fell silent, a hint of gloom entering their eyes. They clearly realized that they had been prisoners of the Gobada plane's prison from beginning to end, with no light visible in their future. The atmosphere of the entire team instantly became dispirited and oppressive, even the urgency of completing the mission was dulled by this despair.

Fukaloss frowned, sensing the wrong atmosphere, and immediately transmitted her voice through soul transmission, scolding, "Hey, Barn, you brat, watch it! You can complain after the mission is done, for now, prioritize bringing these Ghost-faced Spiders back to the Royal City!"

She then deliberately changed the subject, trying to liven up the mood, "By the way, do these Ghost-faced Spiders have any special characteristics? I've only heard their name before, never seen them."

Wesker also sensed the team's low morale, realizing that continuing like this would easily lead to danger. As he happened to know something about Ghost-faced Spiders, he immediately spoke up, "These Ghost-faced Spiders are said to originate from Hell. Ten thousand years ago, a Godlevel expert brought them to the Yulan Continent, and later they were suppressed to Gobada. Although they are only peak Sanctuary magical beasts, their silk has a toughness close to that of a Midgod artifact. Most importantly, the silk is accompanied by a potent soul-paralyzing toxin, making it a top-tier material for crafting Divine Artifacts."

"However, the silk of the Ghost-faced Spiders is not infinite. A Ghost-faced Spider can only produce enough silk in its lifetime to make a pair of gloves. Furthermore, they take hundreds of years to mature and reproduce extremely slowly, so Ghost-faced Spider silk is extremely precious. A complete set of silk armor is several times more expensive than an ordinary defensive Midgod artifact!"

A flicker of surprise flashed in Gideon's eyes, "They're worth so much? No wonder this is a purple mission."

Fukaloss shook her head and said calmly, "No, being rated as a purple mission is likely due to the mission's difficulty, not its value. It was clearly stated when we accepted the mission that this area is prone to enemy harassment."

The moment she finished speaking--

BOOM!!

A violent, extremely sinister, and powerful fluctuation erupted from the ground beneath their feet!

Gray-green Death Divine Power surged like a tsunami, carrying a terrifying heat that could incinerate everything, engulfing the entire team! The air was instantly filled with the scent of decay and death, and even space itself trembled slightly, distorted by this power.

Several Godlevel powerhouses reacted a moment too late, their expressions suddenly changing drastically!

"Not good!"

Barn, Wesker, and the others instinctively unleashed their divine domains, their five-colored divine powers colliding and interweaving, forcefully forming a thick defensive barrier before them.

BANG--!!

The gray-green divine power slammed into the domain, emitting a deafening roar. They all grunted in unison, and only by combining their strength were they barely able to block the terrifying attack outside.

But ultimately, it was a step too late.

The female Godlevel expert from the Ice Blade 99 team, who had been silent all along, reacted slightly slower, and her arm was instantly affected by the gray-green divine power.

Screech--

A terrifying flame instantly ignited on her body. This flame was not ordinary fire, but a strange gray-green color. The moment it touched flesh, it spread wildly, and in a mere instant, it burned through her entire arm!

"Ah--!!" A shrill, agonizing wail echoed across the ice plains, chilling to the bone and making the scalps of those around them tingle.

"Third Sister!" Wesker's eyes split with rage as he roared.

Seeing their teammate severely injured, the remaining four Godlevel experts could no longer afford to investigate the attacker's identity. Rage and a sense of crisis instantly clouded their minds. Without hesitation, they each unleashed their strongest divine power and fiercely blasted towards the direction of the attack from the ground!

White Light Divine Power, gray Death Divine Power, blue Water Divine Power, and brown Earth Divine Power surged out ferociously, directly tearing apart the surrounding space and smashing heavily onto the ground.

RUMBLE--!!!

A violent explosion kicked up a sky full of ice shards and dust, the ground collapsed, and a terrifying shockwave swept outwards.

As the dust slowly dispersed, a figure clad in a gray cloak slowly rose from the collapsed ground.

The person held a slender bone blade, its body bone-white and carved with strange death runes, exuding a suffocating Midgod pressure.

"Heh heh heh..."

A sinister and piercing laugh emanated from beneath the cloak, sending shivers down one's spine. Immediately after, over a dozen Sanctuary powerhouses emerged from behind him, their eyes vacant, like controlled puppets.

Barn instinctively unleashed his divine sense to cover the opponent, trying to probe his strength, but the next moment, his expression changed drastically--

His divine sense could not perceive the opponent's existence at all!

"It's a Midgod!" Wesker's pupils contracted sharply, and he exclaimed in disbelief.

A Midgod!

In Gobada, Midgods were considered a countable number of powerhouses!

At this moment, the injured female Godlevel expert, enduring the intense pain, had forcibly broken free from the flames. Half of her shoulder was bloody and mangled. She had ruthlessly severed the half of her body that had been burned by the flames, using self-mutilation to escape the insidious flames that clung like maggots and refused to die!

She trembled all over, using divine power to barely repair the wound, her voice hoarse yet extremely solemn as she warned everyone, "Once those flames touch you, they spread throughout your body, and they use divine power as fuel! The more you use divine power to resist, the fiercer the flames will burn! Only by severing the affected body part can you completely escape!"

She took a deep breath, her eyes filled with terror, "Never let these flames spread to your head!"

Flames that used divine power as fuel, if they reached the head where the Godlevel's soul origin resided, the consequences would be unimaginable, likely resulting in the complete annihilation of body and soul!

From beneath the gray cloak, the Midgod, who clearly cultivated the Death Law, spoke with a tone of mockery and greed, "I didn't expect to encounter such precious Ghost-faced Spiders right after I broke through to Midgod. Since I'm in a good mood, as long as you obediently accept death, I can consider letting you die quickly."

Fukaloss's face was icy as she attempted to use her background to intimidate him: "My grandmother is a Highgod! If you kill me, even if you flee to another Royal City, she will cross every border to hunt you down to the ends of the earth!"

"Hehehe, a Highgod?" The Midgod sneered, his tone dripping with disdain. "Your grandmother is a Highgod? My brother is a Highgod too! None of you are leaving today, so just be good and accept your deaths!"

This man was named Blackwood, and he hailed from the Evil Royal City.

The Evil Royal City and the Ice Prison Royal City shared similar systems, both relying on legions as their primary combat force, supplemented by small squads of about ten members.

Just one month ago, Blackwood had been nothing more than a Lowgod. While leading his ten-man squad in hiding along the border of the Royal City, he had been accidentally discovered by a Godlevel from the Azure Fire Royal City. He was pursued relentlessly and forced to flee in a panic into the territory of the Ice Prison Royal City to seek refuge.

It was precisely during this life-or-death chase that he had gained an epiphany in his moment of desperation. With a stroke of fortune, he had forcibly broken through his shackles to achieve the rank of Midgod!

In the Gobada Plane, every breakthrough to a major rank brought a heaven-shaking change in status.

A Lowgod was merely an ant that had just escaped the torment of starvation and could barely preserve its own life; a Midgod, however, was an absolute powerhouse and the backbone of any Royal City!

Especially for a Midgod who had achieved the breakthrough independently, as long as he could stabilize his realm, he had great hope of securing a position within the Royal City or even competing for the role of a legion commander in the future.

After his breakthrough, the first thing Blackwood did was turn around and slaughter the Lowgod who had been hunting him for so long. He then used a Soul Seed to forcibly control all the Sanctuary-level subordinates of his victim, preparing to return to the Evil Royal City to leverage his new status as a Midgod for higher standing and resources.

However, halfway there, he unexpectedly stumbled upon this convoy transporting Ghost-faced Spiders.

The Evil Royal City also raised Ghost-faced Spiders. The silk of a Ghost-faced Spider was a material that perfectly aligned with death and darkness attributes; not only was its toughness comparable to a Midgod Divine Artifact, but it also carried a lethal soul-paralyzing toxin, making it an excellent material for crafting defensive Divine Artifacts.

Yet, the price was ridiculously high—a single robe made from Ghost-faced Spider silk could be exchanged for two top-tier Midgod Divine Artifacts!

Even Blackwood, a newly promoted Midgod, could not afford such a thing.

Therefore, when he saw the thirty-seven Ghost-faced Spiders, his eyes were filled with nothing but uncontrollable greed.

Even though this convoy had five Lowgods, and even though he had just broken through and his realm had yet to fully stabilize, he was willing to take this gamble!

As long as he seized this batch of Ghost-faced Spiders, he could have a custom-made set of Ghost-faced Spider silk Divine Artifacts, and his strength would undoubtedly rise to the next level!

Thus, Blackwood hesitated no longer and launched a fierce assault, determined to slaughter every member of this transport team right here!