"Is this thing trying to wipe us all out?" Zhong Wu said, his face turning pale.
"Hmph!"
Xuan Le didn't respond. Instead, he raised his hand and shot seven or eight fireballs toward the dense spider web.
After a few "bang" sounds, the web remained intact, without a single scorch mark.
This time, the others didn't show surprise—they all expected this web wouldn't be easy to break.
In that instant, the white spider's legs bent slightly, then with a sudden burst of force, its entire body lunged forward, heading straight for Xuan Le.
Xuan Le's expression darkened. He reached out and pulled out a yellow talisman, pressing it against the ground. The talisman silently merged into the earth.
Immediately after, a massive stone spike several feet thick rose from the ground nearby, accurately piercing the spider's abdomen as it leaped through the air, pinning it firmly against the cave ceiling so it couldn't come down for the time being.
"Nice!"
Lu Tianmeng shouted, his face lighting up with joy.
He then threw out a dark green leather bag, its opening aimed right at the spider on the ceiling, with a faint glow emanating from within.
At that moment, the spider trapped on the ceiling hissed shrilly several times. Its legs folded inward, gripping the top of the stone spike, then with a mighty effort—
With a series of cracking sounds, the top of the stone spike was easily crushed, sending countless fragments of rock raining down.
The spirit beast, finally free, dropped its body and landed precisely on the damaged top of the spike, its small eyes on either side flickering with green light—it seemed enraged.
It crouched low, then lunged again toward the group of cultivators.
But just then, a burst of radiance surged violently from the thrown leather bag, accurately sweeping the spider from mid-air into its interior. Then, with lightning speed, it retracted, shrinking the spirit beast from large to small and capturing it within the bag.
Han Li and the others nearby were startled. This spider had seemed so troublesome, yet it was captured so easily—it was almost unimaginable.
Lu Tianmeng himself wore an expression of mixed surprise and joy.
His "Sun-Moon Bag" was indeed powerful, having captured many spirit beasts before, but capturing this spider so smoothly was truly unexpected. However, wild joy quickly surged through his heart. If he could tame such a spirit beast, his strength would skyrocket.
Thinking this, even the normally composed Lu Tianmeng couldn't hide his delight. He eagerly waved his hand toward the green bag, and it slowly flew toward him under everyone's watchful eyes.
The other cultivators naturally knew what a living spirit beast meant to someone from Spirit Beast Mountain, and envy showed on their faces. But just as this expression appeared, the flying bag suddenly halted in mid-air and stopped moving.
Lu Tianmeng's heart skipped a beat. He urgently channeled his spiritual power to force its return, but after the bag shook a few times, it remained suspended in the air.
Now, the onlookers around knew something was wrong. They immediately grew cautious.
The surface of the bag began to deform unevenly, as if the spirit beast inside was causing trouble. This anomaly lasted only a brief moment before disappearing, followed by the bag suddenly swelling up. Then, with a thunderous boom, the bag split apart—the crimson blood spider had actually forced its way out of the artifact, restoring its original form.
The spirit beast, once again freed from confinement, had clearly descended into madness. Its crystal-white body gradually turned red, emitting a terrifying blood-red glow. Its fangs ground against each other continuously, producing a horrifying "clack-clack" sound.
Lu Tianmeng and the others took several steps back cautiously, wanting to create some distance before unleashing a bombardment with their artifacts.
But the blood-red spider's legs swept left and right, and it shot between the two cultivators who had retreated the farthest with lightning speed.
Two streaks of white light flashed, followed by two soft "pfft" sounds. The protective barriers of these two cultivators were shattered by a single strike from the spider's front legs, and their bodies were cut in half at the waist, dying on the spot. One of them was none other than the ugly man Zhong Wu—poor thing, he had thought retreating farther would be safer!
Witnessing the brutal deaths of the two cultivators and the spider's lightning-fast movements, the others scattered even farther in terror, not daring to follow in their footsteps.
But it was already too late. The spider's body flickered, transforming into a streak of blood light that shot toward another cultivator from Knife Dock.
This cultivator's face was deathly pale. Gritting his teeth, he released two black flying swords and shot backward.
However, the spider opened its mouth and sprayed a stream of white liquid directly onto the flying swords, causing both to malfunction and fall to the ground. Then its massive body lunged forward again, and with one bite, it tore off the head of the Knife Dock cultivator. Blood gushed from the headless body, spraying over a foot high, a sight that horrified everyone.
Including Han Li, the remaining cultivators no longer dared to hesitate. They bombarded the spider with talismans and artifacts all at once!
But the blood-red spider moved like the wind. In such a narrow cave, the artifacts and spells chasing after it couldn't keep up with its agility. In that short moment, two more cultivators were killed under its fangs.
Although one of them had timely released a colorful handkerchief to block in front of him, providing a slight delay, in the blink of an eye, the handkerchief shattered and the person perished—this spider's claws and fangs were simply too sharp! Their hardness was definitely superior to top-grade artifacts.
At this point, only Lu Tianmeng, Xuan Le, and Han Li remained in the cave. All three had iron-blue faces, filled with shock and fury!
If this had happened in an open area, these cultivators probably wouldn't have died so easily. After all, flying on artifacts could at least buy some time!
With a "bang," the spider flashed to Lu Tianmeng's side. After its claw shattered his protective barrier and was about to cut him in half, a dark object suddenly materialized to block it.
The object was flat and round, like a small shield, but upon closer inspection, its surface was cracked into segments—it was actually an enormous turtle shell. This powerful claw strike left only a shallow cut on its surface, nothing more, truly astonishing.
The giant spider, seeing its attack ineffective, didn't hesitate. It immediately abandoned Lu Tianmeng and, with another flash of blood light, appeared beside Han Li, lunging to bite him.
But Han Li's expression remained cold as he swayed several times, his body blurring before disappearing from the spot, only to reappear several zhang away. This left the spirit beast stunned, freezing in place for a moment.
But this brief delay was enough for Xuan Le's artifact—a small yellow bell—to finally catch up. With a flash of yellow light, it enlarged and trapped the beast underneath once again. Han Li's Black Dragon Seizure and a black swarm of insects cautiously circled outside the bell, afraid the beast might escape again.
"You two don't need to worry. My Shield of Heaven Concealment contains copper essence, a material used in crafting magical treasures. It definitely can't escape!" Xuan Le explained, his expression relaxing as he spoke to Han Li and Lu Tianmeng.
Hearing this, Han Li's expression eased. He put away his Black Dragon Seizure, seemingly truly relieved.
Lu Tianmeng walked up to the copper bell, examined it for a moment, pondered, then shook his head with an uneasy expression:
"No, I'm still not confident enough. Keep this beast trapped with your bell for now. Give me some time to activate a Dao Talisman and completely destroy this abomination."
Upon hearing this, Xuan Le frowned slightly but said nothing, adopting an attitude of "suit yourself."
Han Li glanced at the teleportation array and the token on the skeleton, seemed to ponder for a moment, then walked to a clear spot on the side and sat cross-legged, apparently leaving the matter to the other two to handle.
At this moment, Lu Tianmeng took out a talisman that glowed with green light, clamped it between his palms, and slowly channeled his spiritual power into it.
Obviously, a cultivator at the late Foundation Establishment stage could use a Dao Talisman much more quickly. In just a short while, he separated his hands, and a delicate, small green ruler shot out, hovering above his head.
"Are you ready? I'm about to release the beast!" Xuan Le asked while controlling the small bell, sounding seemingly concerned.
"You're ready. You can die peacefully now. I, Lu, will take this Moving Dao Relocation Order!" Lu Tianmeng's eyes widened as he suddenly revealed a ferocious expression.
Then with a loud shout, the small ruler above his head emitted countless rays of light. Instantly, it split from one into two, two into four, four into eight... in the blink of an eye, it had transformed into hundreds of identical rulers, each emitting a humming roar. Then, under Lu Tianmeng's control, most of the rulers densely bombarded Xuan Le, while a smaller portion shot toward the seated Han Li.
Han Li's expression shifted slightly. He couldn't help but tighten his grip on the object in his hand, staring fixedly at the incoming Dao Talisman. Xuan Le, however, remained calm, seemingly indifferent to the crisis before him.
Seeing their expressions, Lu Tianmeng's triumphant face froze. He mentally cursed and tried to summon his turtle shell. But behind him, an explosion tore through the earth, followed by a streak of blood light brushing past him.
Instantly, Lu Tianmeng's body was cut in half and collapsed to the ground. The red light shot out a certain distance before stopping—it was the crimson blood spider, which had somehow freed itself from the bell at some point.