Second-Grade Mystic Beast

"Brother Chuan, how are you this damn amazing? Don't tell me you're some descendant of a princely manor?" Murong Wushuang pounced over excitedly, clutching the stone slab tightly in his arms as though he were holding an unparalleled beauty.

To him, a superior cultivation manual was ten times, a hundred times more precious than Blood Toad Wood. It was an invaluable treasure that no amount of money could buy.

With his talent, if he had possessed a superior cultivation manual, he would have reached the Divine Power Realm long ago instead of still being stuck at the Profound Qi Seventh Level.

Ning Xiaochuan said, "I'm going down the cliff to look for the Blood Toad Wood. Why don't you stay here and cultivate with the manual first?"

"No! I'll go with you. Wherever heavenly treasures grow, unknown dangers are bound to lurk. I'll lend you a hand." Murong Wushuang tied the stone slab to his back with his belt, then took the lead in descending the cliff.

He felt that he owed Ning Xiaochuan an enormous favor. If he did not help Ning Xiaochuan obtain the Blood Toad Wood, his conscience would never be at ease.

He had cheated, swindled, and deceived before, but toward someone truly worth befriending, he was exceedingly loyal! Both of them were at the Profound Qi Seventh Level. Their arms were powerful and their fingers were like iron, capable of splitting mountains and carving through stone.

Descending a cliff was child's play to them.

Bang!

Ning Xiaochuan drove a palm into the cliff face, burying half his arm in the rock to steady himself. He kicked apart the cliff wall with his foot, leaving a hollow, and climbed downward step by step.

No one knew how long they had climbed before a cloud of black miasma drifted up from the bottom of the cliff.

"It's poisonous. Quickly, wrap your bodies in Profound Qi." Ning Xiaochuan hurriedly circulated the blood within his body. Crimson Profound Qi immediately seeped from his pores, enveloping his body and blocking the black miasma.

Murong Wushuang was climbing on the cliff face below him. He accidentally inhaled a mouthful of miasma and immediately felt dizzy and muddleheaded, his blood energy turning sluggish. He hastily wrapped himself in Profound Qi as well.

"There's actually miasma floating among these mountains. The bottom of this cliff is probably no ordinary place." Ning Xiaochuan frowned slightly.

"Don't worry! We're both at the Profound Qi Seventh Level. There shouldn't be any great danger in Nanyue Mountain." Murong Wushuang was very confident.

He had come to Nanyue Mountain many times and knew it as well as the back garden of his own home. Though he had never reached the bottom of a cliff like this, it could not possibly be too dangerous.

Ning Xiaochuan glanced toward the bottom of the cliff, his pupils narrowing slightly. He said joyfully, "Look. There's a cluster of blood-red light in the mist below, and it seems to be wrapping around a large tree. That should be the Blood Toad Wood."

Murong Wushuang looked down as well and indeed saw a faint glow more than a hundred meters below.

A large tree stood wrapped in the glow, its branches covered in blood-red leaves that emitted an eerie radiance.

The Blood Toad Wood Tree was actually growing from the sheer cliff face!

It made their hearts surge with excitement! This was an invaluable treasure.

Sizzle, sizzle!

From a cave in the cliff face not far away crawled a crimson spider as large as a washbasin, with eight sharp claws.

Its claws pierced through the stone wall as easily as stabbing through tofu.

It was a Fire Spider, a Second-Grade Mystic Beast, and it radiated a dangerous aura.

Ning Xiaochuan and Murong Wushuang were both startled. They swiftly gathered Martial Dao Profound Qi and prepared for battle.

The weakest Second-Grade Mystic Beasts possessed combat power comparable to cultivators at the Profound Qi Seventh Level. Some particularly ferocious ones could even tear apart martial artists at the Profound Qi Ninth Level.

Encountering a Second-Grade Mystic Beast on a sheer cliff was nothing less than a disaster.

The Fire Spider clung to the steep cliff as though walking on level ground, its pair of fist-sized eyes fixed viciously on Ning Xiaochuan and Murong Wushuang.

Boom!

Flames burst from its body and enveloped it. Moving with incredible speed, it crawled toward Murong Wushuang, its sharp claws stabbing at his head.

Bang!

Murong Wushuang moved with agility, like a nimble ape on the cliff. His body plunged rapidly downward, dropping more than ten meters before he finally stopped.

But the Fire Spider pursued him again, spitting out a strand of flaming spider silk that wrapped around Murong Wushuang's neck and left him hanging from the cliff.

"Damn it! This Fire Spider definitely has the strength to kill a Profound Qi Eighth Level martial artist. Be careful..." Murong Wushuang shielded his neck with both hands, trying to tear apart the spider silk. Yet it was tougher than iron wire, and the flames on it scorched his palms black.

After hanging Murong Wushuang from the cliff, the Fire Spider turned to attack Ning Xiaochuan. It spat out another strand of spider silk, which shot toward Ning Xiaochuan's heart like a Fire Sword.

Ning Xiaochuan kicked fiercely against the cliff, wrapped his palm in Profound Qi, and seized the flaming spider silk in one grip. Then his body plunged violently toward the bottom of the cliff.

After falling more than thirty meters, the spider silk in Ning Xiaochuan's hand suddenly went taut, stopping his body in midair.

On the cliff more than thirty meters above him, the Fire Spider had driven all eight claws into the cliff face. Its body trembled without end. It had nearly been dragged into the ten-thousand-fathom abyss by the force of Ning Xiaochuan's fall.

Ning Xiaochuan had merely taken a gamble, and his heart had clenched for himself as well. If the Fire Spider had been unable to bear the weight of his falling body, both he and the spider would have plunged to the bottom of the cliff and died.

But things were different now. He had turned the tables, gripping the spider silk tightly in his palm. The moment the Fire Spider dared to move, it would fall into the ten-thousand-fathom abyss and be smashed to pieces.

Ning Xiaochuan moved close to the cliff and planted one foot into the stone wall.

Profound Gang gathered around his other arm and transformed into a Profound Qi Sword. He slashed at the Fire Spider through the air.

Whoosh!

The Fire Spider was highly intelligent. Seeing the Profound Qi Sword flying toward it, it immediately released all eight claws, and Ning Xiaochuan's pull sent it plummeting toward the bottom of the cliff.

Ning Xiaochuan released the spider silk in his hand, unwilling to be dragged off the cliff by the Fire Spider.

It was finally dealt with! Sizzle!

But a sudden change occurred.

Just as the Fire Spider fell past Ning Xiaochuan's head, it spat out a second strand of spider silk that coiled around Ning Xiaochuan's neck.

Ning Xiaochuan's expression changed. He hurriedly circulated Profound Qi to protect his neck.

The intelligence of a Second-Grade Mystic Beast was truly extraordinary. In that flash of lightning and spark of flint, it had actually found a way to turn defeat into victory.

The Fire Spider let out furious "squeak, squeak" sounds. Its body landed on the cliff face, and it scurried back up at high speed.

It had nearly died at the hands of this human just moments ago.

Now, it would suck this human dry of every drop of blood and every bit of brain matter.

Ning Xiaochuan was only at the Profound Qi Seventh Level, and the Profound Qi within his body was still thin. After unleashing a Profound Qi Sword once, he needed half an hour before he could gather another one.

As the Fire Spider lunged at him again, Ning Xiaochuan could only battle its sharp claws with his bare hands.

Bang!

Bang!

The Fire Spider had eight claws while Ning Xiaochuan had only two hands. They fought fiercely on the cliff, their Profound Qi continuously spilling out and shaking loose stones from the cliff wall.

Boom!

Under the pressure of life and death, the potential within Ning Xiaochuan's body was awakened. He instantly broke through the bottleneck and advanced to the Profound Qi Eighth Level.

Within his body, the speed of his blood flow increased greatly, completing five circulation cycles in a minute.

As his blood circulated, his pores frantically absorbed Heaven and Earth Profound Qi, gathering it into his Martial Heart Palace.

The amount of Profound Qi within his Martial Heart Palace immediately tripled, becoming like a sea of qi that emitted intense Profound Qi fluctuations.

The Fire Spider naturally sensed Ning Xiaochuan's increase in cultivation. It attacked even faster, lunging at him madly with its bloody maw wide open, intending to bite off his head.

"Do you think you still have a chance? Die!"

Ning Xiaochuan swung his arm, and the shadow of a Profound Qi Sword shot forth, splitting open the Fire Spider's hard shell. Its body shattered into pieces, spraying a large amount of corrosive crimson blood.

Ning Xiaochuan took a deep breath. He had finally killed this Second-Grade Mystic Beast.

He touched his chest, where a three-inch-long wound ran across it. The blood flowing from it had soaked his clothes.

"Strange. By rights, the Fire Spider's claws should be poisonous. Why do I show no signs of poisoning at all?" Ning Xiaochuan sealed the wound with Profound Qi, then stopped dwelling on it and went to rescue Murong Wushuang, who was still hanging from the cliff.

The spider silk had left a ring of bloody marks around Murong Wushuang's neck. It had nearly strangled his neck apart.

Murong Wushuang panted continuously and stared at Ning Xiaochuan in shock. "Brother Chuan, you actually broke through to the Profound Qi Eighth Level. Incredible, incredible."

"Now that the Fire Spider is dead, there shouldn't be any danger left. Go back up the cliff and tend to your wounds first. I'll retrieve the Blood Toad Wood." Seeing that Murong Wushuang was badly injured, Ning Xiaochuan had him climb back up first.

Murong Wushuang no longer tried to show off. He nodded and swiftly climbed up the cliff face.

Ning Xiaochuan continued downward. At last, he arrived above the Blood Toad Wood, and a faint, secluded fragrance reached his nose—the unique woody scent of Blood Toad Wood.

Ning Xiaochuan gazed at this Blood Toad Wood, his heart filled with excitement.

This Blood Toad Wood had grown for at least a thousand years. It was as large as a millstone and shaped like a huge toad crouching against the cliff, blood-red in color. Its claws, eyes, and mouth had already formed faint outlines.

This was only the tree's main trunk. Nine branches as thick as arms grew from it, covered in blood-red leaves that gave off a faint fragrance.

"This must weigh several thousand jin at least! And it's living Blood Toad Wood. This is simply an invaluable treasure."

Ning Xiaochuan placed his palm against the trunk of the Blood Toad Wood. At once, the Demon Sword in his heart gave a joyful cry, and a current of energy spilled from its blade, seeking to absorb the Blood Toad Wood's bloodwood essence.

Ning Xiaochuan quickly withdrew his hand, severing the connection between the Demon Sword and the Blood Toad Wood.

Though Ning Xiaochuan also wanted to use the Blood Toad Wood to improve his cultivation immediately, if the Demon Sword directly absorbed it, it would only absorb one-tenth of the Blood Toad Wood's medicinal power.

Only by refining the Blood Toad Wood with the power of the Heart Nourishing Cauldron could Ning Xiaochuan completely absorb its medicinal power.

"I'll dig it out first and refine it slowly after taking it back. Such a large piece of Blood Toad Wood is enough to raise my cultivation to the Divine Body Realm in a short time."

Ning Xiaochuan took out his woodcutting knife and began carefully excavating the cliff face. He wanted to dig out the Blood Toad Wood's roots intact as well. Perhaps he could even bring it back and plant it in Begonia Manor.

A single Profound Spirit Wood was enough to turn barren land into sacred ground for Martial Dao cultivation.