Translator: CinderTL
As the group discussed their strategy, another hilltop collapsed, unleashing a swarm of netherworld bees.
Seeing this, Shu Sheng said, "Even if we don't actively flatten these hills, those poison bees won't spare us."
Before his words faded, Shu Sheng conjured several balls of raging flames around him and hurled them at the surrounding hills.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
One after another, the hills exploded.
Even the hill from which the netherworld bees had emerged was shattered.
The bees were caught in the fiery rain of the explosions and instantly reduced to ashes.
"Kong Jin, don't use fire attribute techniques. If bewitching bees are nesting in these hills, their death will release the bewitching heart fragrance, and we'll lose our minds," the white-haired old man urgently warned, stopping Shu Sheng from casting another fire spell.
Simultaneously, he summoned a cyan flag.
"Jiang Wo, use your water attribute techniques to flatten the hills. I'll use wind attribute techniques to keep those beasts at bay."
"Understood," the dwarf nodded.
He immediately activated his blue pearl, summoning streams of water that surged toward the hills.
Hills collapsed one after another, releasing swarms of poison bees—bewitching bees and netherworld bees, countless in number.
The two types of poison bees were mixed together, indistinguishable from each other.
The white-haired old man waved his banner, stirring up gusts of wind that swept all the poison bees away without harming them.
However, the poison bees refused to give up. Within moments, they would flap their wings and return in a renewed assault.
Thus, a bizarre scene unfolded: four Divine Transformation Stage cultivators being chased by a swarm of poison bees.
The bees filled the sky, like locusts swarming across the land.
Wherever the four cultivators passed, hills collapsed, releasing even more poison bees.
As they fled, the four cultivators suddenly realized with joy that a towering cliff loomed before them.
They had successfully traversed the entire mountain valley.
Suddenly, a spiderweb descended from the sky, enveloping the dwarf.
The web was small, only about ten feet in diameter.
The dwarf sidestepped nimbly, easily dodging the web.
The four cultivators looked up and noticed that the cliff face was riddled with caves of varying sizes.
From these caves emerged spiders, one after another.
The spiders were all pitch-black, ranging in size from over ten feet long to no bigger than a human head.
With a flick of their abdomens, they unleashed thousands upon thousands of webs, enveloping the four people below.
"Don't kill them!" the white-haired old man shouted urgently. "These are yin spiders, and they feed on bewitching bees!"
Hearing this, Shu Sheng redirected the flames he had just conjured, which were meant to incinerate the yin spiders, and instead set the webs above them ablaze.
The webs were instantly reduced to ashes.
The four fled along the cliff base, moving horizontally to the left.
Soon, the bee swarm caught up, colliding with the yin spiders on the cliff face.
Between the two species, a deep-seated hatred seemed etched into their very bloodlines.
The moment they met, both sides abandoned all thought of Song Wen and his companions, turning on each other in a fierce battle.
Whether bewitching bees or crimson nether bees, any caught in the yin spiders' webs found themselves ensnared.
However, the crimson nether bees' stingers could detach and fly through the air. Any yin spider struck by one would be poisoned and die.
After fleeing for dozens of miles, the four finally stopped.
"I think I know where the Nine Deaths Grass is," Shu Sheng said.
The white-haired old man's face lit up. "Where?"
Shu Sheng said, "Just now, when I used a fire attribute technique to burn away those spiderwebs, the flames illuminated a cave in the cliff face. I noticed a Nine Deaths Grass, about half a foot tall, growing in one of the caves, which was roughly the height of a person."
"Only half a foot tall?" the dwarf interjected, his voice tinged with disappointment. "A half-foot-tall Nine Deaths Grass is probably only thirty or fifty years old. Senior Jiang Lanruo specifically instructed us to find one that was at least five hundred years old."
The white-haired elder said, "Since there's a thirty-year-old Nine Deaths Grass in the yin spider nest, it's not impossible that there's also one that's five hundred years old or older."
Shu Sheng replied, "We know where the Nine Deaths Grass is, but there's another problem. The yin spiders killed a large number of poison bees, so the concentration of bewitching heart fragrance near their nest must have skyrocketed. We won't be able to get close enough to harvest the Nine Deaths Grass."
The white-haired elder said, "Don't worry about that. While bewitching heart fragrance is highly toxic to humans, it's a great tonic for yin spiders. The bewitching heart fragrance released by the bewitching bees is absorbed by the yin spiders' bodies. It's highly likely that the yin spiders are keeping the bewitching bees in this mountain valley as livestock."
"Livestock!" Shu Sheng's eyes widened in surprise. "If that's true, Fellow Daoist, doesn't that mean the yin spiders possess a considerable level of intelligence?"
The white-haired elder said, "Ordinary yin spiders have very little intelligence. However, the yin spider king possesses considerable intelligence, comparable to a human child of ten or twelve years old."
"What level of power does the yin spider king possess?" Shu Sheng asked.
The white-haired elder replied, "Yin spiders can only begin laying eggs and breeding their kind after reaching the Fourth-Tier. I once witnessed a Sixth-Tier yin spider king during a beast tide in Demon Subduing City. But don't worry. When we passed near the spider nest just now, the king didn't appear to stop us. This suggests its strength isn't very high, at most equal to ours."
Shu Sheng asked, "What should we do next?"
The white-haired elder said, "Wait! Yin spiders don't deplete their resources. After capturing enough poison bees, they'll let the remaining ones escape. Then, the spider swarm will absorb the bewitching heart fragrance that lingers near the nest. Once the fragrance is completely consumed, we can strike."
"How long will that take?" Shu Sheng asked.
The two Spirit Pivot Detoxification Pills would only allow them to remain in the mountain valley for six hours.
If they had to wait too long, they would have to retreat from the mountain valley and return only after the bewitching heart fragrance had completely dissipated.
The white-haired elder said, "It won't take long. An hour will be enough."
Shu Sheng nodded and fell silent.
The four of them sat cross-legged, meditating to regulate their breathing.
Just then, the green luminescence that had condensed on Song Wen's flesh after he took the Spirit Pivot Detoxification Pill suddenly began to rapidly fade.
Song Wen quickly swallowed another pill.
The green luminescence on his body intensified once more.
An hour later, the white-haired elder stood up and announced, "Everyone, the time is almost up. It's time to head to the yin spider nest."
The other three rose to their feet, but the white-haired elder continued, "Ai Kun, you will scout ahead." His tone was decisive, brooking no argument.
"Me... scout ahead?" Song Wen protested, clearly reluctant.
Scouting meant facing unknown dangers.
No one knew for sure whether the bewitching heart fragrance had truly been completely absorbed by the yin spiders, as the white-haired elder claimed.
The white-haired elder's voice was cold as he replied, "You haven't contributed a single effort on this journey. If you don't scout ahead, who will?"
(End of the Chapter)
---
📖Read (RDC) on Pa.treon@CinderTL - c1190. [+2]
🔑Read upto Ch1020 for FREE visit the pinned post on my pa. treon to learn how!🎉
💥Translated (6) Series, (4.6K+) Chapters, (6.7M+) Words.