CH 77

Xiao Yu and Han Kexin crossed the river directly to the other side.

The mutated slime was left in place by Xiao Yu and entered the corpse of the basilisk, devouring and assimilating it from the inside.

This first order monster boasted immense power within its massive body. By devouring it, the mutated slimes would not only amplify its strength but also enhance its spiritual power. However, while it may not advance after assimilating that power, it has the potential to reach the peak of the elementary level.

After a wait of around five minutes, Xiao Yu caught sight of Jiang Xiaowen soaring in the distance. Her flight was elevated to great heights, which was a double-edged sword—while it made her quite conspicuous for others, it also made her a tempting target for monsters.

But Jiang Xiaowen was too preoccupied with anxiety to be concerned about the danger. Her only priority was to locate Han Kexin and Xiao Yu swiftly, disregarding her own safety.

Xiao Yu and Han Kexin stood on a spacious, unoccupied plain and signaled toward the sky. Upon spotting their gesture, Jiang Xiaowen beamed with happiness and promptly descended.

“Xiao Yu, Teacher Han, was the monster killed by you? Are you both okay?” Jiang Xiaowen burst into tears, patted her chest, and said, “I was so worried; very worried.”

One was her beloved; the other was a constant caregiver and protector. The former was her sweetheart; the latter was a mentor, a companion, and like family to her. Jiang Xiaowen couldn’t bear the thought of anything happening to either of them. Upon seeing that they were both safe and unharmed, she finally relaxed and let go of the worry weighing heavily on her heart.

Not long after, Du Tao led the others to meet up with them.

The basilisk had been defeated, the crisis had been fully resolved, and the disaster of the river crossing had finally come to an end. However, two of their own were nowhere to be found, and it was likely that they’d met their demise. Death was once a distant and enigmatic concept, but since arriving in this world, the constant demise of their companions has made it all too close and almost tangible. Everyone’s perspectives and attitudes towards life underwent profound transformations, a change that shook them to their very core.

Xiao Yu and Han Kexin’s spiritual power was greatly exhausted, and many people were injured, so the team was forced to stop and rest temporarily.

Thanks to the basilisk’s presence, all the nearby monsters were likely scared off, presenting the perfect opportunity for everyone to wash their grime-covered bodies in the water. Sun Dazhu and Sun Fei took advantage of this and caught a few large fish, which they cooked into two pots of broth. The fish was pollution-free and untainted—a product of nature. Prepared by the skilled hand of Chef Sun Dazhu, it was a feast for the senses, its taste incomparably delicious.

Out of everyone except for little Tian Tian, Jiang Xiaowen’s appetite was usually the smallest. But this time, her behavior was surprising, as she polished off two entire bowls of fish broth to her satisfaction.

Han Kexin smiled and said, “Xiaowen, when did you become such a glutton?”

“The fish broth is delicious.” Jiang Xiaowen blushed slightly and rubbed her head with her small hands while sweetly saying, “I’ve always had a fondness for fish; it’s been a childhood favorite of mine.”

The little girl, Tian Tian, voiced out in a melodious, cute voice: “It turns out that sister Xiaowen is a cat!”

Yun Yun and the rest followed suit, as the entire group erupted in joyful laughter. In truth, however, there was nothing particularly humorous about the situation. but perhaps due to them wanting to release their pent-up stress that had been building up over time, they let out a cathartic laugh that helped lighten the atmosphere. Everyone had learned to embrace Wang Chao’s approach to finding joy amidst hardship. The loss of two team members weighed heavily on everyone’s hearts, but they couldn’t reveal their sorrows.

Ready for departure, Xiao Yu called out to the mutated slime. Upon its return, the slime had significantly grown in size. Its absorption of the basilisk’s power caused its body to become more translucent, with a seemingly gentle flow of water visible within.

Xiao Yu’s heart moved, and he used his mind to communicate with it.

Sure enough, the mutated slime had learned a new, unranked water-attribute magic skill called “Water arrow.”

Even though the unranked magic skill was insignificant, Xiao Yu was still very pleasantly surprised to discover that the mutated slime could acquire its opponents’ abilities to a limited extent after devouring them. This only highlighted the vast potential of his battle pet. Its capabilities were far beyond what he previously expected, with almost limitless potential.

Xiao Yu took out two soul gems and threw them toward the mutated slime to replenish its lost energy.

The team set off down the road once again.

Du Tao retrieved the map, scrutinized it closely, then announced, “We’ve covered one-third of the journey after crossing the river. Ahead lies the Black Forest, another dangerous area teeming with wandering monsters. Everyone should stay alert.”

After everyone had washed and rested, they felt energized and began to trek towards the dark forest that Xiao Yu had previously traveled through and marked on the map .

The Black Forest was not extensive, and Xiao Yu could traverse it in just ten minutes at his full pace. However, this forest was abundant with highly toxic black blood oak trees, which prompted him to exercise extra caution and make special records and marks. The black blood tree secretes highly poisonous substances, and a single sting from its thorns could lead the body to be paralyzed in an instant, while the heart would stop beating in a short time, ultimately leading to death. 

The Black Forest was unlike any other forest, with sparse tree growth due to the long-standing poisonous substances. The soil around these trees was highly toxic, so there was no vegetation, only rare poisonous weeds that were valuable for alchemy and, thus, were mostly harvested by the team following Xiao Yu’s instructions.

The forest was thinly populated with trees, allowing sunlight to penetrate in narrow beams, creating stripes of light and shadow. The tall trees rose from the ground, with broad umbrella crowns that spread out. The leaves and branches were all a gloomy, gray-black hue, giving the woods a somber and dreary atmosphere.

Just as she rounded another tree, Jiang Xiaowen was taken aback as she encountered a group of behemoth creatures before her. Their grotesque and unsightly appearance startled her and filled her with a sense of dread. The creatures were a group of giant spiders, each the size of a car, with striking purple-red bodies covered in sharp, upright fluff. They appeared to be highly dangerous. The spiders’ bodies were dotted with numerous small holes, tightly packed like a hornet’s nest.

When several human beings appeared all of a sudden, the spiders also found them at the same time, and the monsters reacted almost instantly and ran to chase and kill them.

Jiang Xiaowen attempted to use her mental power to control one of the spiders, and her spiritual power enveloped the surrounding area. However, as soon as she penetrated a spider’s spiritual consciousness, she encountered a strong, violent force that repelled her mental power. This demonstrated that the spiders had formidable mental strength and were capable of resisting Jiang Xiaowen’s mind manipulation.

Dream Dust!

Jiang Xiaowen’s attempt to control the spider failed, so she swiftly spread her wings, releasing a shower of luminous light particles that enveloped the spiders. The sudden light stunned the monsters, halting their movements for a few seconds. Yunyun on the side immediately shot an arrow, piercing the eye of the leading spider. The arrow’s immense power burned the creature’s head to charcoal and killed it instantly.

Xiao Yu happened to see this scene when he arrived and immediately shouted: “Don’t move forward; these spiders have very powerful poison; whoever touches them will die!”

The members of the Hawk team, poised to attack, were taken aback as the spiders broke free from Jiang Xiaowen’s spiritual illusion and were no longer in their trance state. Right then, a burst of purple poisonous smoke spewed from the monster’s body, emanating from their numerous small pores, covering their whole bodies, and accelerating their speed to cover all directions.

Seeing this, Xiao Yu frowned and immediately shouted: “Everyone, fall back; don’t engage them in close quarters. Xiaowen, summon the half-abomination to fight; their poison won’t work on it.”

Hearing Xiao Yu’s order, Jiang Xiaowen immediately took out the half-abomination sealing scroll, untied the silver thread on the scroll, and urged it to fly into the air with her spiritual power. The scroll released a flurry of magic symbols that coalesced into a shape. A violent dark energy exploded in the forest, and the burly, half-abomination’s figure materialized amidst the summoning array. The figure’s fearsome aura caused the nearby poisonous spiders to pause and retreat.

Under Jiang Xiaowen’s control, the half-abiomination’s body rushed straight up like a cannonball. Its speed was incredible, and the two poisonous spiders had little time to escape being attacked by the monstrosity. With a boom, the half-abomination’s body squeezed against the two spiders and slammed them into a tree. When the half-abomination burst out of the black blood oak tree, a large hole appeared in the tree, and the two poisonous spiders were crushed into meat paste, their limbs separated.

The half-abomination let out a deafening roar from both of its mouths, causing everyone’s eardrums to hurt as the sound wave reverberated throughout the area. The spiders, intimidated by its force, quickly scurried away and avoided confrontation. The monstrosity lifted one of its arms, brandishing a hammer, and slammed downward with immense power, hammering the ground heavily.

Boom!

A surge of powerful dark energy burst out from the ground, striking and instantly obliterating three poisonous spiders with its violent impact, leaving behind only fragmented bits of flesh and charred legs scattered about.

As the hammer descended, the arm wielding the slaughter knife made a swift slash. The red energy transformed into a razor-sharp blade and shot forward, striking the two poisonous spiders square on. The immense force instantly reduced them to shreds.

The half-abomination had five arms, and it could release different combat skills at the same time, which made it even more powerful and terrifying.

Tian Hongguang, Sun Fei, and several newcomers were awestruck by the half-abomination’s formidable combat abilities. They couldn’t fathom how Jiang Xiaowen, a seemingly delicate and soft-spoken girl, could wield such a fearsome and monstrous creature and control it freely.

In truth, the half-abominations’ strength far surpasses what is currently being displayed. After all, Jiang Xiaowen was not fully proficient in controlling it yet, and could only unleash a fraction of its fighting prowess, only manfesting  a power roughly equivalent to the middle-stage of the first order realm. If the half-abomination were to unleash its full power, it would become a terrifying existence at the peak of the first order, several times more powerful than it is now.

However, Jiang Xiaowen hasn’t used the half-abomination for a long time and lacks complete mastery of the mind manipulation skill. nonetheless, Xiao Yu was already very satisfied with her current level of control. With time, Jiang Xiaowen will grow more familiar with the big guy’s fighting style and strength, gradually unlocking its true power.

After the battle was over, they started picking up their spoils as usual.

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For the following time, Jiang Xiaowen used the half-abomination to clear their path, making progress all the way down unhindered. However, the half-abomination was not a self-sustaining machine and required a significant amount of energy to maintain its movements and activities. As a result, it had to be replenished with numerous soul gems, and Jiang Xiaowen’s prolonged control also greatly depleted her spiritual power. She eventually had to recall the half-abomination as she could no longer sustain its usage.