Spider King Grass

Looking at the Saw-Toothed Poison Beast's corpse on the ground, Liu Tao took a deep breath. "Only the last Saw-Toothed Poison Beast remains. Let's hope everything goes smoothly."

Ye Chen said calmly, "It will."

Yao Qing had not contributed much in the previous battle. Ye Chen's sword had simply been too fast. Her face filled with anticipation as she asked, "How did you train your swordsmanship? Can you teach me?"

Liu Tao frowned. Junior Sister Yao was being far too rash. He hurriedly said, "Junior Sister Yao, don't fool around. How can swordsmanship be taught so casually?" The True Spirit Continent had extremely strict sect rules. Even masters would not teach their disciples everything they knew, let alone two parties with no connection at all.

To his surprise, Ye Chen said, "There's nothing to teach. But you can practice the basic sword forms a hundred times every day. You'll see results in a month."

"Really?" Yao Qing did not believe him.

Ye Chen smiled but offered no explanation.

The Saw-Toothed Poison Beast in the cave was astonishingly large. Its head alone was the size of a water vat. Blood-red beams shone from its pair of huge, bell-like eyes, and it was violent and savage.

"Everyone, attack together." Liu Tao took the lead, chopping out four palm strikes at the Saw-Toothed Poison Beast.

Close behind came dazzling saber light, dense and fragmented Sword Light, and twisting blade radiance, crashing forth like a tide. The Saw-Toothed Poison Beast, already forced back by Liu Tao, howled repeatedly and retreated again and again. In its fury, it opened its mouth and sprayed out a ball of purple poisonous smoke flickering with firelight.

Liu Tao was greatly alarmed. He immediately gathered all his Internal Energy, and a black arc of light faintly appeared between his hands. Every stream of purple poisonous smoke exploded the instant it touched the arc, blasting him back again and again and leaving his arms numb. How could the others dare remain where they were? They scattered in all directions in a panic.

At that moment, Ye Chen moved. His body flashed forward, and the Fine Steel Sword pierced through the Saw-Toothed Poison Beast's mouth before it could close. With an upward flick, the sword tip burst out as though cutting through tofu.

The Saw-Toothed Poison Beast gave one unwilling struggle, then its head tilted to one side, and it breathed its last.

"It's dead?" Seeing that Ye Chen had not followed the plan, Liu Tao had thought he had forgotten it. Who would have imagined that one sword strike would bring down the Saw-Toothed Poison Beast?

Shaking the liquid from his sword, Ye Chen slowly sheathed it and said, "When the Saw-Toothed Poison Beast sprays poisonous smoke, it pauses for the blink of an eye. Above its mouth is a flesh hole the size of a cup's opening. That is its greatest weakness—it leads directly to its brain."

The younger twin, Yang Wu, said admiringly, "Amazing. You found its fatal weakness after killing just two Saw-Toothed Poison Beasts."

"Finding weaknesses is something every swordsman must master," Ye Chen said.

"Hehe, no matter what, the Saw-Toothed Poison Beasts have been dealt with," Yao Qing said with a smile.

The cave was not deep, only seven or eight zhang.

After lighting a firestarter, Liu Tao sucked in a cold breath. "It's not Poison Heart Grass at all—it's Spider King Grass."

"What? Spider King Grass? Senior Brother Liu, are you sure you didn't see wrong?" Yang Wen exclaimed from behind.

Liu Tao confirmed, "Poison Heart Grass is purple and shaped like an orchid, while Spider King Grass is black. Its topmost leaves closely resemble a poisonous spider. There's no way I could be mistaken."

At those words, even the usually composed Ye Chen could not help quickening his breathing. Poison Heart Grass was precious, but it was only worth two or three thousand Taels of Silver. It was quite useful to some people who cultivated poison arts and counted as a rare medicinal herb. Spider King Grass, by comparison, could only be described as exceedingly rare. Not only could it be used in medicine to aid poison art cultivation, but more importantly, there was a sinister martial skill in the martial world called the Thousand Spider Ten Thousand Poison Hands. It required Spider King Grass to assist cultivation in order to reach the realm of great mastery. If those who cultivated the Thousand Spider Ten Thousand Poison Hands learned that they possessed Spider King Grass, they would not hesitate even if it cost more than ten thousand taels of silver. Of course, the chance of murder and theft was also very high.

Yao Qing said at this point, "Senior Brother Liu, it's too dark in here. I can't see anything."

"Right. Let's go outside."

Liu Tao carefully dug out the Spider King Grass and was the first to leave the cave.

Under the bright light, the appearance of the Spider King Grass was revealed clearly to everyone for the first time.

The grass stood seven inches tall and had seven leaves. Its entire body was ink-black, with faint Flowing Light flickering across it. At the top of the Spider King Grass lay a fruit resembling a black spider. At first glance, it was truly impossible to tell whether it was alive or dead, sending shivers down one's spine.

"So this is Spider King Grass. It looks way too terrifying!" The brothers Yang Wen and Yang Wu smacked their lips.

Liu Tao recalled, "When I first entered the Golden Light Sect, I was fortunate enough to see the Grand Elder obtain a Spider King Grass exactly like this one. I never thought I would obtain one myself today."

Wang Haichuan stared at the Spider King Grass and licked his lips. "One Spider King Grass can sell for at least ten thousand taels of silver. Split among six people, that's one thousand six hundred and sixty-six taels each. I couldn't earn that much in half a year."

Only after Wang Haichuan said this did Liu Tao remember the matter of dividing the proceeds. He said to Ye Chen, "Brother Ye, you and I belong to different sects, so it's inconvenient for us to stay in contact. It will also take some time before the Saw-Toothed Poison Beasts and Spider King Grass can be sold. How about I give you your share in silver directly?"

Ye Chen had little interest in the Spider King Grass, so he agreed.

"Good. The two ordinary Saw-Toothed Poison Beasts are worth around two thousand taels of silver, while the elite Saw-Toothed Poison Beast is worth one thousand five hundred taels. Add the ten thousand taels for the Spider King Grass, and the total is thirteen thousand five hundred taels. Divided among six people, that comes to two thousand two hundred and fifty taels each, or two hundred and twenty-five taels of gold. Here are Banknotes worth one hundred taels and ten taels. I'll give them to you first. Junior Brother Wang, Junior Brother Yang, and Junior Sister Yao, pool your money first and give it to Brother Ye."

After scraping together what they could, they were still short fifty taels of gold. They could only make up the difference with materials from the Saw-Toothed Poison Beasts.

Ye Chen put away the Banknotes and materials. Then his ears twitched, and he said in a deep voice, "Someone's here."

Liu Tao tucked the Jade Box containing the Spider King Grass into his robe and called loudly toward the distance, "I am Liu Tao, disciple of the Golden Light Sect. Those who have come, please show yourselves."

"Ha ha, the Golden Light Sect? That little sect not even ranked among the grades?" The grass rustled as a group of burly men emerged from the dense forest. Their leader was ugly in appearance, with half of his head seemingly hacked away by force, leaving only two-thirds behind. He looked incomparably terrifying.

"Bullshit!" Wang Haichuan flew into a rage.

The ugly man's eyes widened, murderous light overflowing from them as killing intent surged forth.

Liu Tao knew the newcomers meant no good. These people were most likely desperate outlaws who had banded together, and his expression immediately turned grim. "May I ask what advice you have for us?"

"Ha ha, I've been a little short on cash lately. It would be best if you were willing to show some filial respect."

Liu Tao frowned. "We don't have much silver on us, but we can give you the demonic beast materials. They should be worth several thousand taels of silver!" He could not see through the other party's Internal Energy cultivation. Barring any surprise, it had to be at least the Qi Cultivation Realm Tenth Layer. If a battle broke out, apart from himself, his junior brothers and junior sister would face certain doom. Even Ye Chen would be no exception.

The ugly man cursed loudly, "Do you take us for beggars? You think a few thousand taels of silver can fool us? I'll give you a choice now. Leave behind the Spider King Grass and get out immediately. Oh, and that little girl can't leave. She'll do nicely for venting my fire."

At those words, the burly men around him broke into lewd laughter.

Yao Qing's face turned pale, and she bit down on her lower lip.

Liu Tao's face darkened. Suppressing his anger, he said, "Surely you are joking, sir?"

"Who's joking with you? I'll count to ten. If you don't behave obediently, don't blame me for being ruthless." The ugly man reached back and gripped the hilt of his saber.