Blood Red

Chapter 272: Blood Red

“Could it be trying to take us all out in one go?” Zhong Wu said, his face somewhat pale.

“Hmph!”

Xuan Le did not reply. Instead, he raised his hand and sent seven or eight fireballs flying from his palm toward the dense webbing.

With a series of muffled bangs, the spiderweb remained completely intact, not even a scorch mark left behind.

This time, the others did not look surprised. They had all clearly anticipated that the web would not be so easily broken.

In that same instant, the White Spider’s claws bent slightly. Then, with a sudden burst of force, its entire body shot straight forward, its aim clearly locked on Xuan Le.

Xuan Le’s face darkened. He reached out, drew a yellow talisman, and pressed it to the ground. The talisman silently melted into the stone floor.

The next moment, a massive stone spike, several feet thick, erupted from the ground not far away, striking the spider’s abdomen with perfect accuracy as it leaped through the air. The spike pinned the creature against the cave ceiling, leaving it temporarily unable to descend.

“Excellent!”

Lü Tianmeng shouted in approval, his expression brightening.

He immediately threw a dark-green leather pouch into the air. The mouth of the pouch opened directly toward the spider on the ceiling, and a faint, shimmering rainbow light began to flow from within.

Trapped against the cave roof, the spider let out a series of shrill shrieks. Its claws drew together around its belly, gripping the top of the stone spike. Then, with a single, powerful squeeze—

Crumble… crash!

The tip of the spike was crushed to powder with ease. Fragments of stone rained down.

Now free once more, the demonic beast landed, coming to rest perfectly atop the broken spike. The small, green eyes on either side of its head flickered with a cold light. It seemed enraged.

Its body sank low, then shot forward once again, charging straight at the assembled cultivators.

Just then, a torrent of rainbow light erupted from the suspended leather pouch, sweeping the spider out of the air with unerring precision and pulling it inside. The pouch contracted and retracted like lightning, shrinking the beast down and sealing it within.

Han Li and the others were taken aback. The spider had seemed so troublesome to deal with, yet it had been captured alive so easily? Truly hard to imagine.

Even Lü Tianmeng wore a look of startled delight.

His “Sun-Moon Pouch” was immensely powerful and had collected many demonic beasts over the years, but to have taken this spider in so smoothly was an unexpected surprise. A surge of elation swept through him. If he could tame a demonic beast like this, wouldn’t his strength skyrocket by several levels?

At that thought, even the normally composed Lü Tianmeng could not suppress the joy spreading across his face. He eagerly waved a hand at the green leather pouch, and under the watchful eyes of everyone present, it began to drift slowly back toward him.

The other cultivators naturally understood what a live demonic beast meant to a man from Spirit Beast Mountain. Envy was written plainly across their faces. But that envy had barely begun to surface when the floating pouch suddenly jerked to a halt, hanging motionless in the air.

Lü Tianmeng’s heart clenched. He urgently channeled his spiritual power, trying to forcibly recall the pouch. But after a few wobbling shakes, it remained frozen in place.

Now the onlookers knew something was wrong. They tensed up, growing cautious.

The surface of the leather pouch began to warp and bulge, as though the demonic beast inside was struggling. The strange deformation lasted only a moment before vanishing. Then, all at once, the pouch swelled into a round ball. With a thunderous boom, it burst apart. The White Spider had torn the magic tool to shreds with sheer force and returned to its original form.

The demonic beast, freed once more from its captivity, was visibly driven into a frenzy. Its crystal-clear white body began to turn red, radiating a terrifying blood-colored light. Its fangs ground together with a dreadful clack-clack sound.

At the sight, Lü Tianmeng and the others took several cautious steps back, trying to put some distance between themselves and the beast so they could bombard it with magic tools.

But the blood-red spider’s claws swept from side to side, and it shot forward like a bolt of wind and lightning, darting straight between the two cultivators who had retreated the farthest.

Two streaks of white light flashed. Pfft, pfft—the protective barriers of those two cultivators were shattered by a single strike of the spider’s forelegs. Their bodies were cleanly severed at the waist, and they died on the spot. One of them was the ugly man, Zhong Wu. Poor fool—he had thought retreating farther would make him safer.

Seeing the tragic deaths of the two cultivators and the lightning-fast speed of the spider, the others scattered in panic, spreading out even wider, desperate not to share the same fate.

But they were too late. The spider’s body blurred, transforming into a streak of blood light that shot straight toward another Carving Knife Dock cultivator.

His face deathly pale, the man gritted his teeth and released two black flying knives, even as he himself shot backward in retreat.

But the spider opened its mouth and spat a stream of white liquid directly onto the flying knives. The knives instantly lost their power and clattered to the ground. The spider lunged forward again, opened its jaws, and bit off the Carving Knife Dock cultivator’s head. A jet of blood spurted a full foot high from the severed neck. The sight was horrifying.

The remaining cultivators, Han Li included, dared not hesitate any longer. Talismans and magic tools were hurled at the beast in a chaotic barrage.

But the blood-reddened spider moved like the wind. In such a narrow cave, the magic tools and spells chasing after it simply could not keep up with its agility. In the span of a few breaths, two more cultivators died beneath its fangs.

One of them had managed to summon a colorful silk handkerchief in front of him for a moment, which briefly slowed the spider’s advance. But in an instant, the handkerchief was torn apart, and the man was dead. The spider’s claws and fangs were simply too sharp! Its hardness definitely surpassed that of a top-grade magic tool.

Now, only three remained in the cave: Lü Tianmeng, Xuan Le, and Han Li. All three wore grim expressions, their faces a mix of shock and fury.

If they had been in an open space, those cultivators would not have died so easily. At the very least, they could have mounted their flying tools and bought themselves some time.

Bang! The spider flashed beside Lü Tianmeng. Its claw shattered his protective barrier and swung toward his waist, only to be blocked by a dark, round object that suddenly appeared.

The object was flat and round, resembling a small shield, but on closer inspection, its surface was cracked into a patchwork pattern. It was an enormous turtle shell. The spider’s sharp claw had left only a shallow scratch on its surface. The rest was completely unharmed. Truly astonishing.

Seeing that its attack had failed, the giant spider did not hesitate. It immediately abandoned Lü Tianmeng and, with another flash of blood light, appeared beside Han Li, lunging forward to bite him.

But Han Li’s expression was cold. He shook his body a few times, and his form blurred before disappearing on the spot. A moment later, he reappeared several dozen feet away. The demonic beast was momentarily stunned, stopping in place as if confused.

That brief hesitation was all the opening Xuan Le needed. The yellow bell he had offered up finally caught up. With a flash of yellow light, it grew to a massive size and dropped down over the demonic beast, trapping it once more. Han Li’s Black Flood Dragon Charm and a mass of black flying blades circled cautiously outside the bell, ready in case the beast broke free again.

“You two need not worry. My Sky-Shrouding Bell is mixed with Copper Essence, a material used to forge true magic treasures. It absolutely cannot escape!” Xuan Le explained, his expression relaxing a little as he spoke to Han Li and Lü Tianmeng.

Hearing this, Han Li’s face eased. He withdrew his Black Flood Dragon Charm, appearing genuinely reassured.

Lü Tianmeng walked up to the copper bell, examined it for a moment, and then shook his head with a troubled expression.

“No. I’m still not comfortable. Keep the beast trapped in that bell for now. Give me some time to activate a Talisman Treasure and finish this monster off for good.”

At this, Xuan Le frowned but said nothing, leaving the choice to him.

Han Li glanced at the teleportation array and the token lying beside the skeleton, lost in thought for a moment. Then he walked to an empty spot on the side, sat down cross-legged, and appeared to leave the matter to the other two.

Meanwhile, Lü Tianmeng retrieved a gleaming green talisman. Pressing it between his palms, he slowly began infusing it with spiritual power.

It seemed that a late Foundation Establishment cultivator could activate a Talisman Treasure far more quickly. In just a short while, his two hands parted, and a small, exquisite green ruler shot out, circling above Lü Tianmeng’s head.

“Ready? I’m about to release the demonic beast!” Xuan Le called out, his tone seeming almost concerned as he controlled the small bell.

“Yes. You can all die in peace now. This Great Shift Token will be accepted by none other than Lü!” Lü Tianmeng’s eyes widened as he suddenly spoke, his expression twisting into a vicious grin.

With a great shout, the small ruler above his head burst forth with countless rays of light. In an instant, one ruler became two, two became four, four became eight… In the blink of an eye, hundreds of identical small rulers had appeared, each emitting a low, buzzing drone. Then, under Lü Tianmeng’s command, the swarm of rulers descended. The vast majority rained down upon Xuan Le, while a smaller portion shot toward Han Li, who was still sitting cross-legged.

Seeing this, Han Li’s expression shifted slightly. He tightened his grip on the object in his hand, his gaze fixed firmly on the incoming Talisman Treasure. Xuan Le, however, wore a calm, indifferent expression, as if the crisis before him did not exist.

Seeing their faces, Lü Tianmeng’s triumphant grin froze. He sensed something was wrong and hastened to summon his turtle shell. But from the ground behind him came a sharp cracking sound, and a streak of blood light brushed past his side.

In an instant, Lü Tianmeng’s body split in two and collapsed to the ground. The crimson streak shot out a short distance before stopping. It was the blood spider, which had somehow escaped its confinement once again.