Long Ge hung his head low and said in a solemn voice: "Yes, Lord Bai Zhi. From this day forward, Long Ge swears to serve only you unto death."
In the span of a few words, Bai Jie had very swiftly finished giving instructions, and conveniently untied all of Long Ge's bindings.
"Should you ever harbor any thought of disloyalty or disrespect, you will suffer the backlash of the power within you. Don't try any petty clever tricks. Young man, take care of yourself. Go."
"Lord Bai Zhi, then I... can I really go?" Long Ge's face was full of uncertainty.
He had originally thought he was dead for sure. He never expected that disaster would lead to blessing — not only would he keep his life, he'd also gained a tremendous fortuitous opportunity.
"Scram."
Receiving Bai Jie's decisive answer, Long Ge only then faced Bai Jie with a bow, retreating with extreme caution as if treading on thin ice.
...
When he first discovered the Wu Gu Clan's arrival, what Bai Jie had in mind was to silence them all, leaving not a single one alive. He absolutely could not let the news that he was here be exposed.
But midway through, he abruptly changed his mind, and thus spared Long Ge and Long De, injecting them with Mutation Venom.
There were two reasons:
First, to extract intelligence about the Wu Gu Clan from their mouths. Second, to plant a spy inside the Wu Gu Clan's Inner Hall who would obey his orders.
After a round of evaluation, Bai Jie ultimately chose Long Ge as his chess piece.
This choice had an important major premise — that the Mutation Venom needed to simultaneously serve as a deterrent to Long Ge while also acting as a lure to tempt him.
At the same time, this choice was not without hidden risks. For instance, if the Mutation Venom suddenly lost its effectiveness, or if Long Ge single-mindedly wanted to perish together with Bai Jie... and so on, any of these could bring immense disaster upon him.
But after Bai Jie sensed Long Ge's mental state and assessed the overall situation, he believed he could control these risks.
An even more significant motive behind this choice was — a single tree cannot support a great hall.
The "Agent System" could not be sustained by Lin Binbin alone. Bai Jie needed more power and needed more intelligence.
After all, in this world dominated by humans with highly advanced technology,
for Bai Jie, as a mutated spider, an eldritch creature, to live a life free of worldly strife was basically impossible.
He had to swiftly acquire the strength to crush any hostility.
"Eh, where did that little airhead go?"
Sensing that Long Ge had descended the mountain, Bai Jie suddenly noticed the gold-and-white little snake was gone, but he did not take it to heart.
The bitter battle was over. Although none of the spoils Bai Jie had reaped contained numinous essence, he could still absorb their blood essence through Skill · Bite, which could likewise be converted into Vitality.
Bai Jie first used spider silk to bundle up the Killer Bees' mangled remains, planning to use them as "snacks" during his leisure.
As for the Fire-Eating Ant colony that had been roasted into black charcoal powder, Bai Jie directly disregarded them — they no longer even held the value to serve as "snacks."
Next, Bai Jie began absorbing the Volcanic Ant Queen's blood essence.
His Vitality slowly climbed. Without even taking the time it takes a stick of incense to burn, the absorption was complete.
His Vitality had risen from 64 to 75.
Bai Jie felt hot all over, with a spicy sensation in his mouth, as if he'd just eaten a hotpot meal. The satisfaction was indescribable.
The next target was the Bloodthirsty Undying Spider.
The Undying Spider's Vitality when alive had only been 28, even lower than the Volcanic Ant Queen's, yet it had brought Bai Jie a full 10-point boost to his Vitality!
Vitality: 85
Satiety: 90%
"Crap, I'm already stuffed. And there's still a giant python waiting for me back home..."
Bai Jie's belly had visibly swollen a full size larger, bulging out.
Even though he wanted to take care of the blood essence inside the Calamity Python in one go, his stomach seemed not to allow it.
Back at the spider nest, Bai Jie could only gaze at the python and shed empty tears.
At the same time, he also discovered a "thief" of a little snake...
"What are you doing..."
Bai Jie stared at that little snake, which was continuously gnawing on the cooked flesh of the Calamity Python, and froze on the spot.
"Mmph... I'm, I'm just munching on stuff..."
Bai Huahua sent over her voice, bite by bite, without stopping to deliver shredded meat into her mouth.
The little snake's slender body had already been stretched to a full double its size, truly resembling a corn cob more than 30cm long.
"Forget it. Seeing as you assisted too, and such a huge body — I can't finish it all anyway, and it would just be taking up space."
"However..."
Bai Jie's tone shifted at this point: "When you're done eating, you have to help me work. Help me wipe the bloodstains off this tree clean."
Bai Jie guessed that a little snake that had evolved into an Awakened Form lifeform should have some water-related abilities.
"Hurts the eyes? Big sister Bai Zhi, don't worry, this meat doesn't hurt the eyes."
Bai Jie was speechless.
He then went about on his own, untying the spider silk from the python's body, then slicing the trunk into several pieces, all hidden away on the floor web of the spider nest, to avoid being exposed outside for humans to discover.
"I meant for you to wipe it clean, not that the meat hurts your eyes."
Finally, under Bai Jie's patient explanation, Bai Huahua at last grasped the meaning. She did not disappoint, spitting out bloom after bloom of water splashes, which made the bloodstains on the tree trunk less conspicuous.
...
Another few hours passed. It was already close to the early hours of the morning. Seeing that his Satiety had at last slightly decreased, Bai Jie couldn't hold back anymore and spoke up.
Just as he was about to take a bite, he was immediately assaulted by a thick, strong snake odor.
"That little airhead lied to me. This meat hurts the eyes like crazy!"
Nevertheless, Bai Jie still forcibly endured the snake odor and activated Skill · Bite.
Unlike when devouring the previous two Gu creatures, Bai Jie's Vitality was rapidly increasing!
86, 87, 88... 93, 94!
Truly worthy of a terrifying existence whose Vitality had reached 60 before death.
As for why the Wu Gu Elder had only 49 Vitality right after becoming the Calamity Python, but then after being struck by Bai Jie's electric arcs and regaining consciousness, surged to 60 — Long Ge had revealed the reason.
It turned out that because the Wu Gu Elder's shamanic power level was insufficient to control the Calamity Python, he had employed the "Method of Taking Gu Into the Body." By borrowing part of the Calamity Python's power, he turned himself into a Gu-creature body over a short period.
But this art had one major hidden danger: if the transformation time exceeded the limit, one would be counter-devoured by the Gu creature, have their consciousness erased, and thoroughly become the Gu creature.
Because the Wu Gu Elder had been knocked unconscious by Bai Jie's electric arcs and was unable to actively release the "Method of Taking Gu Into the Body,"
the pitiful Wu Gu Elder, before he even had a chance to really make a move, had already died in his coma.
Long Ge and Long De had also seen the Wu Gu Elder undergoing changes and immediately decided to flee, but they had been captured and brought back by Bai Jie.
What fought Bai Jie afterward was in actuality the avatar driven by the Calamity Python's original consciousness.
Not the Calamity Python's full form.
After the time it takes to drink a cup of tea had passed, Bai Jie had already absorbed half of the Calamity Python's blood essence using Bite.
His Vitality stopped at the value of 99.
After the time it takes for another cup of tea passed, his Vitality showed no change whatsoever. But Bai Jie was not surprised.
Because he saw that in his Status Panel, after the Vitality field, a "Maximum Value" notation had appeared!
Bai Jie knew what this signified, and so his heart was like a sea surface enduring a violent storm — there was no way to calm down.