Chapter 470: Chapter 460: This Place is Perilous
Having found these spiders’ weaknesses, Lin Yun felt much more at ease. He had thought they would be incredibly formidable, but this was it?
While these spiders had their strong points, their shortcomings were too fatal.
This was why Lin Yun pursued the Hexagonal Warrior; if he often worked in teams, he could specialize in one area. However, in the Cultivation World, team combat exists, but more often, it is individual combat.
The social environment being what it is, humans are inherently a social collective, everyone knowing how to unite friends and attack opponents. Yet, when it comes to specific battles, higher-level cultivators often prefer to fight alone, because a team can’t always be together at all times. Once broken up one by one, that becomes a deadly flaw.
Once an enemy captures your weakness, it’s the end of both your life and your path.
But a person’s energy is limited, and it’s unrealistic to master everything. It could take ten days or even half a month to grasp a minor spell, and an even longer time is needed to use a powerful one fluently and effectively.
Therefore, the first thing cultivators learn is often how to run away and defend.
The cultivators of this world are excessively cautious.
Just like the Tribal Chief who took his horse and fled into the night.
Escaping from the Underground Palace, Snowstep saw a blaze of golden flames. In this world, the only person Snowstep had seen with golden flames was Lin Yun.
Has he come to save me?
Moved to tears, Snowstep whinnied loudly. The Tribal Chief quickly grabbed Snowstep’s muzzle to silence it, but Lin Yun had already heard the horse’s cries.
Good grief, Snowstep really has been captured. Letting Snowstep make noises now, could it be they want to lure me over?
Well think again, I’m not going!
If the horse is gone, so be it. As long as the people are alive, that’s good.
Lin Yun deliberately waited for Dongfang Hongyue to bring people over. Now, all he needed to do was maintain his current state. In fact, he could have killed the three spiders instantly but he didn’t. Instead, he just upheld a circle of fire to keep the spiders at bay.
Although lighting a fire consumed Spiritual Power, Lin Yun certainly didn’t lack Spiritual Power.
In the light of the fire, Lin Yun also strained his eyesight, looking in the direction of the horse’s cries.
Bet you didn’t expect me to have clairvoyance!
Wherever his gaze went, Lin Yun witnessed a sight beyond belief: a man, wrapped in various cloths, standing on a Giant Spider, the same species as the ones surrounding him, but larger and with seven spots of a more vivid color.
As Lin Yun looked over, the man also turned his head, and with that one gesture, brought mental contamination to Lin Yun.
"Ah, my eyes, they’re so ugly, how can someone be this hideous?"
Lin Yun quickly covered his eyes, trying to forget that horrific sight, but the image was etched deeply into his mind, impossible to shake off.
This man truly was that horrifying!
As Lin Yun covered his eyes, the fleeing Tribal Chief also heard Lin Yun’s cries of pain. In a moment of rage, he shouted, "You insolent thief, your audacity is too much! My men, I cannot stomach this!"
He could accept being chased, but not being called ugly. Being ugly was one thing, but to overdo it so dramatically. Were you bitten by my spider or something?
"Chief, don’t be impulsive. He’s clearly provoking you on purpose. There must be an ambush behind us. We should retreat!"
"Aaargh!"
After a bout of impotent fury, the Tribal Chief still chose to retreat. They all felt that since Lin Yun dared to be so brazen, there must be others behind him. For the greater good, they had to withdraw.
Luckily, Lin Yun’s attention was captivated by the man on the Giant Spider, and he didn’t notice the others nearby. Otherwise, everyone would have been provoked, and no one would have remained rational.
The Tribal Chief’s real name was Xu Xifeng, and he was once a handsome man. Standing at eight feet tall with a jade-like complexion, he used to stand out among the deep forests of the Southern Border.
Though the Southern Border is small, it has Eighteen Fortresses, each with their own Gu Worm Techniques and ancestral customs.
Some tribes of the Southern Border practice "walking marriages," where the identity of a child’s father may be uncertain, although the mother is always known. Therefore, tribes typically appoint a woman as the Tribal Chief, and only the Chief can wield the most core Gu Worm Techniques.
Other tribes follow the customs of the Central Plains, practicing monogamy instead of walking marriages.
Therefore, people from both sides secretly envy the other’s practices while publicly criticizing them.
Over time, the Southern Border split into two factions: those practicing walking marriages formed the Black Wind Tribe, and those against it formed the White Wind Tribe.
Despite sharing common ancestors, Black Wind regards White Wind as aliens, while White Wind sees Black Wind as barbaric. With years of conflict escalating from verbal spats to armed confrontation, and now to irreconcilable differences, the friction between them is beyond resolution.
Xu Xifeng’s Bajiao Village was originally part of the White Wind Tribe. According to White Wind tradition, Xu Xifeng was the legitimate heir to the village. However, Xu Xifeng’s father died early, and his mother, secretly allying with the Black Wind Tribe, orchestrated a walking marriage one night without the women of the village knowing, coercing involvement with Black Wind men.
That night, Bajiao Village fell into unprecedented chaos, and Xu Xifeng gained a sister.
Many women in the village who prized their chastity took their own lives after that night. Stripped of his inheritance rights, Xu Xifeng, together with a portion of his kinsmen who supported him, left the Southern Border.
He didn’t seek help from other villages, as White Wind had already been suppressed by Black Wind, and he couldn’t possibly avenge himself and his clansmen by seeking refuge with them.
Thus, he came to the Central Plains, concealing his identity. By a twist of fate, he found an Underground Palace in this Human-Spider Village, and it was within this palace that he discovered the breeding method for the Yin Yang Soul Chaser Spider.
Xu Xifeng felt that he was probably the one ordained by fate.
The breeding of the Yin Yang Soul Chaser Spider required seven processes, starting with the most ordinary spider, sequentially evolving into a Yin Yang Spider, a Five Elements Bead, a Seven-Star Spider, a Seven-Poison Spider, a Seven-Soul Spider, and a Seven-Poison Seven-Soul Spider, before finally becoming the Yin Yang Soul Chaser Spider.
Xu Xifeng spent two hundred and seventy-seven years nearing success. For this, he paid a particularly heavy price. During the process of raising the spiders, he had tasted all kinds of toxins. At times, his muscles and bones became deformed. Once a man of eight chi tall, he was now hunched and his face twisted, covered in pustules.
He knew he was ugly, and that was precisely why he got so angry when Lin Yun called him ugly.
However, he had endured for so many years, paid such a heavy price, how could he let a provocation from a young upstart disturb his composure?
Though angry, Xu Xifeng still chose to leave.
From afar, Lin Yun watched them flee, puzzled.
Hmm?
Isn’t that a bit too far for a getaway?
Initially, Lin Yun thought it was a feint. After killing three spiders, Lin Yun, suppressing his disgust, strained his eyes looking around and saw only horsehair on the ground; the people were long gone.
Uh...
Are they also afraid of me?
Then why should I be afraid of them?
Lin Yun always felt that he had been somewhat rash, but given the situation at the time, it was justifiable that he had been a bit cowardly.
"Forget it, tell Hong Yue not to come here."
Lin Yun took out a whistle and blew it, but got no response.
"Could it be that it’s not man-made interference that broke our connection, but something strange about this place? Then why could we connect at the beginning?"
Lin Yun felt that something was wrong, that this place was dangerous. There was no benefit in exploring, so it was better to chase after his horse.
The strength of those people didn’t seem to be very high. If all they could do was raise spiders, Lin Yun felt he could take a chance.
Snowstep after all belonged to the Snow Maiden. If Lin Yun lost her, the Snow Maiden might not say anything, but she would be somewhat heartbroken.
If possible, he should try to save her.
Before leaving, Lin Yun thought that Dongfang Hongyue might bring people to search for him, so he wrote a few big characters on the ground.
"I am unharmed; this place is dangerous, do not enter."
Presumably, Dongfang Hongyue, upon seeing these words, would understand.
After wrapping up these things, Lin Yun quickly chased after the group that stole his horse.
A gust of wind came, and a pile of ashes slowly covered the words left by Lin Yun.
At this moment, Dongfang Hongyue could not find Lin Yun. She had a special connection to her crafted whistle, which allowed her to sense its presence from a particularly large range, and now, it was highly likely that Lin Yun, just like the last time in the Misty Forest, did not have the chance to send her a message.
This time, it was even more likely that someone had interfered with her connection to Lin Yun.
Whoever could do such a thing must be at least on the same level as her, a Cultivator. But Lin Yun had previously captured Fang Yu on the grasslands, which showed his strength was not weak. Although Fang Yu was unprepared at the time and was taken advantage of by Lin Yun, it was enough to show that Lin Yun’s ability was not as simple as it seemed.
Previously, Lin Yun had snatched Jiang Chenyu in front of many people, meaning that Lin Yun could temporarily be considered an Enlightened Realm powerhouse.
To compel Lin Yun to send a distress call, the other’s strength must be far above his. The most likely candidate was the fleeing Demon Clan Leader.
Although Dongfang Hongyue had injured Wu Xin, she had no idea how severe the injuries were. Wu Xin was a Demon with the strength of the Defiant Heavenly Realm, unknown to Dongfang Hongyue. Perhaps Wu Xin was not heavily injured at that time and was now able to track down Lin Yun; it seemed reasonable enough.
This was also why Dongfang Hongyue was so anxious; she had no assurance that she could rescue Lin Yun from Wu Xin’s grasp.
In her past actions, Dongfang Hongyue would only begin a task if she was at least ninety percent sure of success. Especially against an uncertain opponent, she would only exert thirty percent of her strength, reserving seventy percent for escape.
But this time, she had no choice.
To rescue someone, there might still be a glimmer of hope for Lin Yun; to do nothing, Lin Yun would be in danger.
In the end, Dongfang Hongyue still chose to take the risk. She remembered the last place she sensed, which might not lead to finding Lin Yun but could provide a clue.
Finally, Dongfang Hongyue arrived at the village and observed the ground covered with ashes and the words left by Lin Yun.
"Dangerous, do not enter..."
