Now Bai Jie's Skill · Stealth Camouflage could remain effective for 40 minutes.
With this skill to assist him, Bai Jie dared to walk like this along the grassy edges of the campus paths.
Climbing a tree as usual, hiding among the branches and leaves, and releasing his stealth camouflage, Bai Jie gazed at the college building where he once attended classes, his emotions a turbulent mix.
Just last month, he had still been sitting in those classrooms, attending lectures, playing with his phone, nodding off to sleep.
Now it felt like a lifetime ago.
The spider just watched quietly like this, staying for an entire afternoon.
The dismissal bell rang, and Bai Jie saw faces that were once very familiar but now felt somewhat strange.
Chen Zhang, the Class Monitor, Teacher Zhao, Wang Xiaofan...
They walked out of the college building, chatting and laughing, discussing things, some heading to the library, others to the cafeteria.
Bai Jie felt a warmth in his chest, wanting to walk among them.
But he did not move, because he was an eldritch creature, a man-eating demon spider.
Bai Jie's gaze finally settled on the receding backs of Chen Zhang and the Class Monitor, Xia Qimeng, walking side by side.
"Since when did they get so close?" A faint sourness stirred in his heart.
"Well, it's not bad, being able to see my son find love seems pretty good... it's just a pity for the class monitor, that fresh flower, sob sob..."
At that moment, another wave of students came out of the college - it was the New Media class.
Here they come!
Bai Jie gathered his focus. Whether Wang Miaoyin had been parasitized by the eldritch purple light would be known depending on whether the system gave any prompts.
"Why hasn't Wang Miaoyin come out yet? Their entire class has finished, hasn't it?"
But Bai Jie did not spot Wang Miaoyin among the crowd. He then entered the college in stealth to check each classroom, and every single one was empty.
"Didn't come to class? The campus is even locked down, what is a young girl like you doing skipping class? Could it be you climbed the wall to go hook up somewhere?"
"A blemish on the school's discipline and ethos!"
Bai Jie felt somewhat dejected and had no choice but to return to the spider residence.
There was no way he could search the girls' dormitories floor by floor - there were too many dorm buildings, and he had no idea which one Wang Miaoyin was in.
Bai Jie watched his Satiety drop to 59%, feeling terrible and anxious.
His obsessive-compulsive tendencies kicked in; he always felt that if he wasn't above 60%, he would have no sense of security, as if he might starve to death.
Thus, Bai Jie decided to hunt in the back mountain.
The back mountain of Xingchuan University was neither small nor large, roughly the breadth of over twenty basketball courts.
Bai Jie began his search from the shaded side of the back mountain first.
If the sunny side of the back mountain occasionally had couples setting foot there, leaving behind chromosomes, or class barbecues leaving food scraps—
Then this shaded side was truly a desolate wasteland, rarely trodden by humans, cold and damp. But it was precisely because of this that venomous insects could be born.
Before long, Bai Jie caught sight of a centipede as long as an adult's forearm. Without a second word, he wrapped it up in spider silk, tied it into a bundle, hung it on a tree, and planned to retrieve it on his way back.
Target: Scolopendra subspinipes (Chinese Red-Headed Centipede)
Vitality: 0.1
Body Length: 30cm
Status: Stable
Although this insect had no numinous essence, and its Vitality was low, it possessed a certain degree of toxicity.
Bai Jie could use his Talent · Poison-Refining Gu to absorb its toxicity and convert it into his own Vitality. Though the improvement was negligible, it was better than nothing, and could also add a bit to his Satiety.
As Bai Jie roamed around, venturing ever deeper, venomous insects became increasingly plentiful.
He even saw several species of venomous spiders, such as black widows, red chelicerae spiders, and Hesmao long-tailed spiders.
Bai Jie felt no sense of "meeting one's own kind, eyes brimming with tears."
No more wrapping them in spider silk - he directly shot venom containing corrosive digestive fluids, striking them all dead.
Then he began feeding on them right there on the spot. After all, spiders, no matter how small, were still meat.
After over an hour of such wild hunting, Bai Jie finally discovered something unusual.
Ding!
[Faint Numinous Essence Reaction Detected!]
Bai Jie felt joy, and then heard dense rustling sounds rising from the grass.
Dozens of palm-sized spiders emerged from rocks and undergrowth, surging like a tide straight toward Bai Jie's almost giant-like body.
Yet Bai Jie did not move, coldly watching as several spiders climbed up onto his legs first, letting them bite at will.
But these spiders' fangs seemed to be biting into solid rock - not only did they leave not a single mark, their venomous fangs even snapped first.
"A Vitality of 49 is not merely a number." Bai Jie muttered to himself.
Then, Skill · Advanced Intimidation was activated, and the spiders on his body fell like fruit rustling to the ground. The remaining small spiders also dared not approach.
Bai Jie casually picked one up and used Bite on it, but no numinous essence flowed into his body.
Several in a row were the same. Only then did he focus his gaze and inspect these spiders' information.
"The numinous essence is not on these spiders."
The thought had just flashed by when a large dark-red spider came into Bai Jie's view.
Bai Jie was momentarily stunned. "I've never seen a spider this big before, aside from myself."
The suddenly appearing dark-red spider was the size of a rooster, though in front of Bai Jie, this size was no different from a chick.
Target: Blood-Shade Spider Queen (Awakened Form)
Vitality: 21
Body Length: Leg Span 40cm
Status: Stable
(Faint Numinous Essence Reaction Detected)
No wonder Advanced Intimidation had no effect on this dark-red spider.
Bai Jie was startled. This was the first time he had seen a creature noted as an "Awakened Form." A sense of crisis welled up in his heart.
It wasn't because of the Blood-Shade Spider Queen herself, but because the scene before him made him realize - somewhere in this city, there might exist creatures even stronger than himself.
"Come to think of it, is this back mountain really this dangerous?"
Fortunately, ever since students began going missing, no one dared to run off to places with few people, such as this shaded side of the back mountain.
Otherwise, if an ordinary person happened to encounter this spider queen and her children, they would likely end up without even bones remaining.
The moment the Blood-Shade Spider Queen met Bai Jie, she let out a hiss, raising her forelimbs high.
This was not a gesture of surrender, but a display of threat.
Clearly, the Blood-Shade Spider Queen was somewhat uncertain about this hairy spider before her, whose body was twice her size and whose ornate patterns were magnificent.
But Bai Jie showed not the slightest mercy. As his mouthparts opened and closed, three poison arrows shot through the air, fiercely striking the unprepared Blood-Shade Spider Queen right in the face.
The Blood-Shade Spider Queen immediately let out a cry of agony.
At the same time, the surrounding light seemed to suddenly dim, and only a pillar of light as thick as an arm still emitted a dazzling blue-violet radiance.
The Blood-Shade Spider Queen seemed to sense a terrifying force brewing. Disregarding her injuries, she rapidly retreated, and the small spiders also scattered and fled in all directions.
Unfortunately, it was already too late.
With a boom, the blue-violet light pillar shot straight through the obstructing vegetation, colliding directly with the Blood-Shade Spider Queen's back, instantly unleashing destructive energy.
Countless electric arcs, like bone-gnawing demonic insects, completely destroyed both her back and abdomen.
Dead beyond dead.
"Sorry, even though you are their mother, I have a reason I must kill you. As for these small spiders, I can spare their lives."
Bai Jie spoke to himself in his heart, simultaneously coming to the Blood-Shade Spider Queen's mangled remains and activating Skill · Bite.
Although the deceased Spider Queen's Vitality had greatly diminished, rapidly approaching 0, the numinous essence sensed by the system had not decreased.
The pink-purple glow continuously poured into Bai Jie's body, and a profound, mysterious aura emanated from him.
His Vitality was climbing at a rate visible to the naked eye!
50, 51, 52, 53, 54...
It kept rising until 58 before stopping.