Chapter Thirteen: Unexpected

  The next day after dawn, the four of them got up and prepared to continue. Ling Xiao still separated from the three of them, went alone to where they were yesterday, continuing to hunt and kill poisonous spiders.

  He was much more skilled than yesterday, and with the help of flying claws, he killed 17 poisonous spiders in one day, which was a pretty good harvest. Roughly calculated, he had killed 24 poisonous spiders in two days, plus the 30 contribution points from picking spiritual medicine some time ago, which already added up to 100 contribution points. He couldn't help but feel elated.

  Hunting and killing demonic beasts can earn so much more than picking spiritual herbs.

  He was also clear in his heart that this was all thanks to his flying claws, which others couldn't learn. Just like Ma Rufeng and the others, they had to work together with three people to kill a poisonous spider, and if they were divided among each person, it would be much less. Other outer sect disciples who practiced the second or third layer of Qi, wanted to hunt and kill, but had to constantly maintain a safe distance, taking more time and being more dangerous, and even if they could hunt and kill seven or eight in one day, it was already very good.

  Where can I find someone like myself?

  However, although the hunt for the demonic beast was fruitful, looking at the numerous spider corpses on the ground, as well as the splattered blood and venom everywhere, he couldn't help but feel a wave of nausea wash over him now that he had relaxed his guard.

  It's finally clear why Ma Ru and the other two people would go back to rest every few days. If they kept killing like this, it would be strange if they didn't drive themselves crazy!

  With these thoughts in mind, I felt that the harvest was quite good, so I finished work early and returned to Ma Ru's side.

  This time when they returned, Fengyi had just used the emotional silk net to trap a poisonous spider. Ling Xiao went forward and helped them attack fiercely for a while, and soon they knocked down that poisonous spider.

  But Ma Rou's face didn't look very good, and Ma Lan also seemed a bit depressed.

  When the three of them also started to rest, Ling Xiao quietly asked Fengyi and only then did he know that they had a rather bad luck today. They had startled the poisonous spider group several times in a row and were chased and killed several times, even consuming a low-grade paper charm. In the end, they only managed to kill 29 poisonous spiders.

  In general, for convenience, various immortal artifacts are roughly divided into four levels. For example, magical instruments are divided into talismans, law instruments, spiritual instruments, and immortal instruments; while talismans are divided into paper talismans, law talismans, spiritual talismans, and immortal talismans. Among them, each type has distinctions of lower grade, middle grade, upper grade, and extreme grade.

  Ma Chou and his group used up a low-grade paper talisman today, which cost at least 50 contribution points. This has consumed more than half of what they gained today, no wonder their faces look gloomy.

  Ling Xiao couldn't help but feel secretly fortunate, he had used his flying claws to capture the poisonous spider from a distance. Compared to this, the possibility of startling the group of poisonous spiders was much smaller. However, he naturally wouldn't say any of this out loud, and only softly comforted Fengyi for a few sentences, not mentioning his own gains at all.

  Ma Zhu and they had a poor harvest today, so they discussed going again tomorrow and returning the day after tomorrow. Ling Xiao would not have any objections to this.

  By the third day, Ling Xiao was still separated from them, but he didn't go back to where he had been staying for the past two days.

  Continuously killing over 20 poisonous spiders in the same place naturally made the distribution of poisonous spiders there much less. Moreover, two days of smooth sailing also allowed him to boldly venture deeper into Spider Ridge.

  Of course, the poisonous spiders in the depths of Spider Ridge were too dense, and he didn't dare to go there either. He slightly skirted around and slanted towards the back of Spider Ridge.

  He cautiously made his way forward, also harboring a few thoughts of exploring the Spider Ridge, so he took a slightly more secluded route. But strangely, and without knowing if it was due to a wrong direction, he didn't see a single poisonous spider along the way! Ling Xiao stopped and looked around, estimating the direction, and found that he was still within the range of the Spider Ridge. Yet, not a single poisonous spider was in sight?

  Ling Xiao became even more cautious, carefully feeling his way forward, but suddenly sensed that the air around him had become somewhat chilly.

  He couldn't help but shiver, hastily circulating his true energy to protect himself. But in his heart, he felt even stranger, for he had never heard any of his senior brothers mention that Spider Ridge had such a cold place.

  Just as he was about to retreat, he suddenly saw a poisonous spider crawling out from under a rock in front of him. This poisonous spider was slightly smaller than the ones he had seen before, and its color was also darker.

  But apart from this, it seems like there's nothing out of the ordinary.

  Ling Xiao endured his nature, and after carefully observing for a while, he finally decided to take action. He was already very skilled, pinched the finger seal, and launched the Hundred Refining Flying Claw. A red light flashed by, accurately grasping towards that poisonous spider.

  As usual, nothing out of the ordinary, but this time something unexpected happened.

  Just as the flying claw was about to grab the poisonous spider, it suddenly seemed to have a premonition and its body quickly dodged to one side, narrowly avoiding the flying claw's attack!

  "Clang!" The sharp steel claw struck heavily on the rock, sending shattered stones flying everywhere.

  That poisonous spider had already twisted its body over, and even though it was a distance away, Ling Xiao could still feel the chill of murderous intent emanating from its small eyes.

  First-order demonic beasts don't have much wisdom, but eliminating threats is almost an instinct for all living things.

  The poisonous spider moved even more nimbly, and in the blink of an eye, it pounced onto the flying claw, following along the flying claw as it rushed straight towards him.

  That poisonous spider crawled extremely fast, in just a blink of an eye, it had already crawled seven or eight feet away.

  It's worth noting that this flying claw is only about 3 or 4 zhang long, and yet a spider with legs as big as the palm of one's hand is crawling towards him like it's flying, which is not exactly a comfortable scene. Ling Xiao was also startled, and hastily used force in his wrist to fling the flying claw open, but the poisonous spider clung tightly to the flying claw, and even took advantage of the situation to creep closer by more than a zhang.

  This was used to trap the poisonous spider's invincible flying claws, but at this time it was used by the poisonous spider to counterattack.

  Ling Xiao was also extremely quick to react, immediately realizing that it was impossible to shake off the poisonous spider. He quickly changed his tactics, rapidly circulating his true energy, changing his finger technique, and suddenly casting a first-level spell, "Fire Snake Technique".

  But this poisonous spider's defense seems to be even stronger than the others, being hit by the flames, its body was slightly shaken, but it never retreated, nor did it drop its flying claws as Ling Xiao had imagined. Instead, taking advantage of Ling Xiao's pause in releasing his magic, it crept forward another five or six feet.

  In this way, the poisonous spider was now only a little more than ten feet away from him!

  Ling Xiao's palms were sweating, and if this poisonous spider got close and sprayed its venom, he would be completely unable to resist. His mind racing, he made a split-second decision and suddenly threw the rope in his hand outward.

  The poisonous spider suddenly lost its footing, but it also moved extremely quickly, and in an instant, it jumped more than three feet towards Ling Xiao on the rope. Then, its throat moved, and a greyish-white ** shot out from its mouth, flying straight at Ling Xiao.

  Ling Xiao's heart skipped a beat again, this poisonous spider's venom could actually spray out nearly ten feet! This far exceeded the distance other poisonous spiders could spray their venom.

  He hastily rolled on the ground and narrowly dodged this cluster of toxic liquid.

  The poisonous liquid poured onto the ground, and a few short grasses that drilled out of the rock crevices around it suddenly turned black and withered.

  However, Ling Xiao managed to dodge this attack. The poisonous spider moved even more agilely, wanting to take advantage of the situation to escape, and would inevitably be caught up by the poisonous spider from behind. Fortunately, he had already prepared a counterattack when he threw away the flying claw. At this moment, he didn't hesitate, stretched out his hand and beckoned, remotely controlling the flying claw to raise its head and cover the poisonous spider once again.

  This time it was even more sudden and swift, and the poisonous spider finally couldn't dodge, being caught dead by the flying claw.

  But Ling Xiao had not yet breathed a sigh of relief when he saw that the poisonous spider was again spewing out a mouthful of toxic liquid, directly spraying it onto the claw head. Then its body violently struggled and on one of the hard claw head's fingers, faint cracks had already begun to appear!

  That venom is incredibly corrosive!

  Ling Xiao didn't have time to worry about Fei Chui's injury now, and hastily cast spell after spell, like a stormy rain covering the poisonous spider. It had to be said that this low-level magic was quite ordinary in terms of power, but fortunately, it also consumed relatively little energy, allowing Ling Xiao to barely keep casting continuously.

  The poisonous spider was caught by his flying claws, and although it continuously sprayed several mouthfuls of venom onto the claw head, several cracks appeared on the claw fingers. However, it was a symbol of the instrument, not an ordinary weapon in the mortal world, and it was unlikely to escape in a short period of time. The poisonous spider saw that it was not working, and surprisingly, it dragged the flying claws, wanting to get closer to Ling Xiao.

  Ling Xiao had already dropped the flying claw and couldn't use magic to control it while releasing another spell, so he could only dodge repeatedly.

  As a result, they also frequently encountered danger.

  Several times, the poisonous spider took advantage of his breathing space to get close, and the sprayed venom almost touched his body. Fortunately, he was extremely careful and had an attitude of not seeking merit but seeking no fault, so he narrowly escaped several times. But also in one extremely critical moment, he had to sacrifice his only protective paper charm, the fireball symbol.

  It was a thin piece of paper as thin as a cicada's wing, only an inch long and two fingers wide, brought out by the power of true energy.

  As soon as the ritual was completed, the talisman paper suddenly burst into flames, emitting a string of firelight that wound its way like a dragon towards the poisonous spider. It's no wonder this was a 50 contribution point luxurious strike, one that could replace ten or twenty ordinary spells. The force of the blow slammed heavily onto the poisonous spider, instantly charring half of its body and greatly diminishing its aura.

  Afterwards, the battle fell into a stalemate, and the poisonous spider's movements became slower and its struggles weaker.

  Half a time had passed, until Ling Xiao felt that his true energy had been exhausted, and his legs were so soft that he could hardly stand up. The poisonous spider finally struggled a few times before its body went limp and it fell to the ground dead.

  Ling Xiao felt a sense of relief in his heart and suddenly sat down on the ground, panting heavily. He looked at the flying claw again, but it had already been corroded beyond recognition. Several claw fingers were about to fall off and could no longer be used.

  I'm so sad I want to cry but have no tears! This time we're really in trouble!

  This time I came to hunt the poisonous spider, adding up the gains of the past two days, a total of only 25 were killed, which is less than 100 contribution points. However, it consumed a low-grade talisman and lost the handy Hundred Refining Flying Claw.

  But if you want to buy a new lower-end device, it will cost at least 200-300 contribution points. If you want something with better quality, the price is even higher...

  After all, he almost died and came back to life, but instead of making a profit, he ended up losing money, which made him feel depressed in his heart.

  After resting for half a day, Ling Xiao finally got up and hastily went to collect the poisonous spider. It was strange to say that whether it was the poisonous liquid or the long legs of this poisonous spider, they all seemed to have a hint of coolness. Ling Xiao found it strange and had an idea, so he collected the whole poisonous spider.

  He lost his token at this time and naturally couldn't continue killing poisonous spiders, so he had to abandon it reluctantly and turn back.

  Unhappy and depressed, thinking about what to do at the bottom of his heart.

  It's impossible without a flying claw, even if you go to the deep mountains to pick spiritual herbs, you can't do without the help of a flying claw. But if you want to buy another flying claw, where will you get those 200 or 300 contribution points from?

  Only then did he finally realize that hunting demonic beasts was indeed an opportunity and risk coexisting...

  Earning is indeed earning more, but if you encounter this extremely powerful poisonous spider yourself, or like Ma Rou and others mistakenly startling a group of poisonous spiders, it will increase unnecessary consumption, and even pose a risk to life. It seems that in the future, it will still not be possible to earn contribution points by relying on this method.

  Go back and wait until Ma Rou and the others finish, today they three went quite smoothly, a day down, killed 33 poisonous spiders. Counting the previous two days, a total of 77 poisonous spiders were killed.

  But a low-grade paper charm was consumed, and some contribution points had to be reserved to make up for the consumption of the charm device - after all, whether it's Ma Lan's fire-patterned shield or Feng Yi's emotional net, they will be constantly eroded by the poisonous spider's venom, weakening their power. Calculated this way, each person would only get 20-30 contribution points in the end.

  Of course, this is already much more profitable than picking spiritual herbs, and even better than Ling Xiao...