Chapter 277: Alchemist Azure Fire!
Translator: AstralGhost Editor: Kurisu
The dense jungle was not peaceful at all. Countless creatures were engaging in slaughter at all moments in a bid to survive.
Whenever the group thought of that idiot Shen Jian Ning, they would fume with rage. That stupid fatty only cared about food. When he saw a fat caterpillar as large as an adult's fist, he had leapt forward excitedly, all the while shouting about how much nutrition was contained in such a creature's body. Without even thinking, he caught the caterpillar and barbecued it.
When he was halfway through grilling the caterpillar, a huge Heaven Predator Butterfly showed up to the party. It was at that moment that everyone realized that the caterpillar was the child of the enraged butterfly!
The group nearly went crazy with disbelief. Catching a random caterpillar actually resulted in them drawing out a Grade 7 Demonic Beast!
Fortunately, apart from Shen Jian Ning, no one else had come into physical contact with the caterpillar. As such, the brunt of the Heaven Predator Butterfly's rage fell mainly on the culprit.
The rest fled madly in all directions, and even doing so, they still ended up losing a third of their members.
The nearer they got to the top of the volcano, the sparser the trees became.
The mouth of the volcano had now turned into a wide lake. A huge old tree stood rooted at the side of the crater with its the trunk winding and extending toward the center of the lake.
It was unknown how long this tree had lived for. Its trunk was as thick as an entire mountain ridge. Its leaves were only the size of a palm, but its massive crown covered over two thirds of the lake!
Hammer Zhao and the rest arrived at the mouth of the crater and looked about vigilantly.
"Hm?"
Hammer Zhao suddenly stooped down and observed a black mark on the floor with a blaze in his eye.
The mark was only about as big as a small thumb, and the area around it seemed to have been charred.
"That's the track of that thing!"
The bearded man also came over and examined the mark before confirming.
"Be alert everyone! Don't let it escape!"
Hammer Zhao touched the God Slaying Pearl under his robes and felt himself calm down. The others also became serious and took out their own weapons.
The curvy female also grabbed the dark green bow on her back.
There were only ten arrows in her quiver, and each one was of the same dark green color. Each arrow was over two meters long, and the arrowheads were covered in dried blood. It looked exceptionally sinister!
The group approached the crater slowly, observing their surroundings with great care.
But when they reached the edge of the crater, there was still no movement at all. Even the traces of the creature had disappeared.
"Damn it! That thing is probably not here anymore. This place is filled with water, and it's the kind of place which it hates the most."
The bearded man shook his head with disappointment. At the same time, he let down his guard and turned around to lead the rest to look in another location.
"Careful!"
"Dammit, quickly dodge!"
"Above you!"
Everyone started shouting at the same time, causing the bearded man's expression to change drastically. But to his horror, he felt his vision fade and everything went dark before he could react.
An eight-legged crystal red spider was hanging from the huge tree, sneering venomously at them. This Sky Fire Spider was only about three meters long even with its legs fully extended outwards. Its legs were slim and looked rather brittle.
Using a single thread of silk from its hind, it had descended swiftly and lobbed off the bearded man's head!
Following that, it burrowed through his body and quickly disappeared into the dense forest!
Its speed was so fast that nobody managed to react to it. The voluptuous woman did not even have the chance to pull back her bow before the entire thing ended.
"Dammit! Didn't they say that the Sky Fire Spider hates water elemental geographical locations the most?"
Hammer Zhao nearly fell over in his fright. He was standing right beside the bearded man a moment ago. If the spider had charged over at him instead, he would probably be in the same headless state as him.
"We've all been mistaken! We assumed that since there's a lake here, the water elemental energy would be high. However, we all forgot that this is a volcano! The fire elemental energy on a volcano will definitely not be low!" the voluptuous woman exclaimed. They had all committed a deadly error!
Everyone appeared dazed for a moment before recovering their senses. This might be an extinct volcano, but it didn't mean that there was no source of fire under it! Otherwise, there would be other plants apart from that huge tree growing on the crater!
The expressions on the group's face were rather unsightly at this moment. In this kind of terrain, there was no way their speed could match up to the Sky Fire Spider's!
The Sky Fire Spider was a Grade 7 Demonic Beast, and was well-known for its almost ghostly movements as well as its powerful body!
Although it didn't have any other skills, it could ensure that it was unbeatable among existences at the same level simply by relying on its speed and sharp limbs!
"With our abilities, it's impossible for us to catch the Sky Fire Spider in this terrain. And with Wu Jiu being eaten by the Sky Fire Spider, it would certainly have locked onto us as targets! With the state of things now, there's only one method left..." Hammer Zhao broke down the situation with a wry smile. Then, all of a sudden, he turned around and slammed a palm into Yi Bai Chuan's dantian!
"Pu!"
"Hammer Zhao! What the hell are you doing!?"
Yi Bai Chuan had not recovered from his wounds and his body still carried multiple long scars from the previous battle. On top of that, he was listening intently to Hammer Zhao's words and had not expected this sudden sneak attack!
"I'm sorry, but we'll have to use you as a bait."
A vicious gleam flashed past Hammer Zhao's eyes as he decisively crippled Yi Bai Chuan's four limbs and dumped him on the ground.
The others seemed to have expected such an outcome, and simply stood to the side expressionlessly.
If they had not considered such a scenario, they would not have bothered to bring an injured fellow who'd lost over half of his battle capabilities!
The group turned a deaf ear to Yi Bai Chuan's agonizing cries and curses as they quickly hid at the other side of the volcano. Hammer Zhao directly took out the God Slaying Pearl and passed it to the voluptuous woman.
She received the pearl and attached it to a two-meter-long arrow. Without skipping a beat, she pulled the bowstring back steadily and aimed it at Yi Bai Chaun's position.
After witnessing the strength of the Sky Fire Spider, Hammer Zhao completely discarded all hopes of capturing it with their own strength. Thus, he could only steel his heart and take out the God Slaying Pearl!
Their target this time was the Sky Fire Spider's silk and its inner dan!
Sky Fire Spider silk was incredibly sturdy and flexible, making it an incredibly good material for weaving clothes with high defensive strength. As for its inner dan, it was even more shocking in value!
The Sky Fire Spider's inner dan held a kind of fire seed, a precious treasure which countless people yearned for!
This fire seed was called the Alchemist Azure Fire, and was a wonderful treasure whether one used it to temper their bodies or to refine pills!
The inner dan was wrapped in multiple layers of Sky Fire Spider silk. And coupled with the incredibly tough outer skeleton of the Sky Fire Spider protecting it as well, even the God Slaying Pearl would not be able to damage it!
Atop a tall tree in the distance, one could barely make out an intricate web of crimson spider silk. Although the web looked frail, one could easily determine the strength of the web based on the number of huge bird carcasses, each one tens of meters in size, stuck on it.
The carcasses on the web had all been reduced to empty shells by now. All the blood and flesh, including the bones, had been sucked clean by the Sky Fire Spider!
The Sky Fire Spider's appetite was incredibly shocking. From the way it seemed to be living in perpetual hunger, its stomach resembled an endless black hole. The reason for its appetite was because it required a large amount of energy to create its silk!
Sitting comfortably in the middle of its web, the Sky Fire Spider threw the body of Wu Jiu to the side casually and stood up again. This time, its numerous eyes were staring at the crazed Yi Bai Chuan on the ground!
The moment it reappeared, the voluptuous woman quickly drew the bow to its fullest and released it!