76: Chapter 76 Aren't we pretty strong too?

Su Wan's fingers reached into her quiver again, drawing another special arrow with crimson patterns wrapped around its shaft.

Without pausing, she drew her bow—aimed at the Blood-Patterned Snapping Spider's largest compound eye—and released!

The arrow pierced the air, flying straight toward the target.

The Blood-Patterned Snapping Spider's reaction was extremely fast; almost the instant the arrow reached its eyes, its leftmost front giant claw swung up like lightning, the tip pointing directly at the arrow shaft, intending to swat it away.

However, at the very moment the tip of the claw was about to touch the arrow shaft—

"Boom!"

Intense fire suddenly exploded in the air, as the scorching airwaves and thick black smoke instantly expanded, swallowing the Blood-Patterned Snapping Spider's head along with several of its compound eyes.

With its vision obscured, the Blood-Patterned Snapping Spider's movements suffered a brief delay.

At this moment, Su Wan didn't even need to speak.

With the tacit understanding of long-term cooperation, Lin Jianqiu lowered her center of gravity, exerted force with her legs, and darted forward close to the ground.

At the same time, Chen Yanzhi quickly crossed his hands in front of his chest, a faint blue cold light glowing at his fingertips.

The spell formed instantly, and several bursts of biting frost erupted from beneath the Blood-Patterned Snapping Spider's other supporting legs, immediately freezing them into a thick layer of ice and pinning them to the ground.

Lin Yuanfan wasn't idle either; he stretched his hands forward, a faint green light glowing in his palms as a gentle yet swift wave of energy traveled several meters, accurately enveloping Lin Jianqiu.

Lin Jianqiu only felt her body lighten as her speed suddenly increased by nearly half.

Her already swift figure now turned into a blurry afterimage, closing in on the Blood-Patterned Snapping Spider in the blink of an eye.

A flash of blade light!

"Crack!"

The sharp blade hacked fiercely into the joint of the Blood-Patterned Snapping Spider's forelimb, the crisp sound of the carapace shattering clearly audible.

A section of the claw nearly thirty centimeters long, its tip as sharp as a spear, snapped off and tumbled to the ground, trailing thick, dark green bodily fluids.

"Screee!!!"

The Blood-Patterned Snapping Spider let out a high-frequency shriek that was inaudible to humans but pierced directly into the mind.

Then its mouthparts suddenly swung open, and several strands of thick, venomous spider silk were no longer aimed shots but shot out indiscriminately in all directions like an out-of-control fountain!

Several strands of spider silk came flying straight at Lin Jianqiu, who had just retracted her blade and hadn't yet retreated!

Lin Jianqiu's pupils constricted, and she immediately turned her head to look toward Su Wan.

"Get down!"

Su Wan's calm voice rang out again.

Another arrow had already been fired before she spoke. The moment it passed Lin Jianqiu, it suddenly burst apart, and a large net made of energy, shimmering with silver-white light, unfolded out of thin air, perfectly blocking the path in front of Lin Jianqiu.

"Sizzle, sizzle, sizzle!"

The venomous spider silk all hit the net; the silver net fluctuated violently and its light dimmed rapidly, but it ultimately did not break.

Taking advantage of this gap, Lin Jianqiu tapped her toes and instantly retreated several meters.

...

Afterward, the two sides became locked in a struggle.

Arrows pierced the air, blade light flashed, and ice spikes and spider silk intertwined.

The coordination of Su Wan's team grew increasingly seamless, but the Blood-Patterned Snapping Spider's carapace was hard and its vitality tenacious; every attack was not easy.

After less than three minutes of attacking.

Their side was already panting heavily, chests heaving violently and sweat soaking their hair.

Su Wan's fingers were trembling slightly from continuously drawing her bow.

Of course, the Blood-Patterned Snapping Spider wasn't faring well either; it looked miserable, with several of its walking legs severed or heavily damaged, and dark green bodily fluids constantly seeping from the cracks and holes in its carapace, pooling into a small puddle beneath it.

The three of them turned their gazes back to Su Wan, their eyes filled with inquiry: should they continue the attack or take this opportunity to escape?

A brief weighing of options flashed through Su Wan's mind, lasting only an instant.

"One more time!" Su Wan gritted her teeth, her voice echoing through the woods.

She quickly pulled a uniquely shaped arrow from her quiver, pinched the fletching with her fingers, gave her wrist an imperceptible twist, then drew the bowstring to its limit and let go!

The moment the arrow left the string, it made a strange humming sound. Mid-flight, the arrow shaft suddenly split; although it didn't quite reach the point of one becoming a hundred, it instantly transformed into dozens of sharp streaks of light, covering the Blood-Patterned Snapping Spider like a sudden downpour of metal!

The Blood-Patterned Snapping Spider instinctively raised its remaining walking legs to protect the vital points of its head.

"Puff, puff, puff, puff!"

A dense sound of piercing rang out. Most of the arrows were deflected or stuck in the carapace, but several still managed to burrow into the gaps between the plates.

Taking advantage of the moment the Blood-Patterned Snapping Spider was distracted, Chen Yanzhi pressed his hands heavily onto the damp soil.

His face was pale, and his overextended Mental Power made his temples throb, but his movements didn't falter for a second.

"Rise!"

Along with his low growl, the ground beneath and around the Blood-Patterned Snapping Spider's abdomen shook violently. Seven or eight sharp rock spikes, their tips glinting with cold light, suddenly burst from the earth, stabbing fiercely toward the spider's relatively soft underbelly!

Two of the ground spikes successfully penetrated, and dark green juices and bits of internal organs gushed out from the wounds.

Zhang Yuanfan abandoned any intention of attacking. His hands glowed brightly as he poured out his remaining Mental Power without reservation, activating his buff skills and casting them on Lin Jianqiu and Gu Changming respectively.

Gu Changming's figure moved almost simultaneously with Lin Jianqiu's.

He didn't choose to strike first, instead moving like a ghost along the edges of the battlefield.

After receiving the dual enhancement of speed and strength, Lin Jianqiu took a deep breath, a look of determination flashing in her eyes.

She kicked off the ground forcefully, her body soaring into the air like a cannonball, leaping directly toward the Blood-Patterned Snapping Spider's head, which was raised high in pain!

But as her body was airborne, the Blood-Patterned Snapping Spider's claw, with the sound of breaking wind, tore through the air like a giant iron spear, sweeping fiercely toward Lin Jianqiu, who had no way to maneuver in mid-air.

Lin Jianqiu's pupils constricted; she knew she had been too greedy.

"Clang!"

An extremely ear-piercing sound of metal clashing suddenly exploded!

It was Gu Changming.

He had approached the right side of the Blood-Patterned Snapping Spider at some unknown point. At the critical moment the giant claw swept in, the Tang sword in his hand slashed upward with formidable force, accurately blocking the attack for her.

The Blood-Patterned Snapping Spider's claw was blocked, its offensive halting.

A flash of relief from surviving a disaster and determination crossed Lin Jianqiu's eyes. Her momentum didn't decrease at all; instead, it became even sharper.

"Hah!"

Accompanied by a clear, sharp shout, the long sword in her hand turned into a bright streak of light. Carrying the weight of her fall and the strength of her entire body, she slashed right into the center of the Blood-Patterned Snapping Spider's largest compound eye!

"Splat!"

A thick slurry of transparent bodily fluids mixed with dark green blood suddenly exploded!

Lin Jianqiu didn't hesitate for a second. She disengaged immediately, using the momentum to do a backflip and performing a nimble side roll upon landing, quickly leaving the opponent's attack range.

Almost the same moment she escaped, the mortally wounded Blood-Patterned Snapping Spider fell into a complete frenzy.

Its massive head jerked upward before slamming back into the ground. The remaining light in its compound eyes flickered chaotically as it let out a roar mixed with pain and fury.

At the very moment its head was raised, its mouthparts wide open, and its roar at its peak—

"Swoosh!"

A faint but sharp sound of breaking air cut into this chaotic scene.

An arrow shot in from a tricky angle.

With unerring precision, it went straight through the hideous, wide-open mouthparts that were roaring!

The instant after the arrow entered—

"Bang!"

A muffled but powerful explosion sounded from within the Blood-Patterned Snapping Spider's head.

Its frantically thrashing head suddenly froze, its high-raised posture solidified, and the last bit of fierce light in its compound eyes completely extinguished.

Its mountain-like body lost all supporting strength and crashed to the ground with a thud, after which there was no more sound.

...

The massive corpse of the Blood-Patterned Snapping Spider lay across the forest clearing like a suddenly collapsed hill.

Silence fell over the surroundings, broken only by the rustling of the wind through the treetops and...

Heavy, rapid breathing.

Su Wan and the other three were scattered around, each panting heavily, either exhausted, covered in grime and sweat, or pale-faced.

But in their eyes, there was an air of unbelievable excitement.

Su Wan took a few deep breaths, forcing down the slight trembling in her arms caused by excitement and exhaustion.

She slowly raised her head, her gaze falling on Gu Changming.

Gu Changming was already standing with his sword sheathed, his breathing steady. He didn't look as disheveled as they did, appearing somewhat at ease.

But she wasn't concerned with that.

A clear smile slowly curled at the corners of her mouth, one tinged with a bit of pride, as if saying: "See? Aren't we also pretty strong?"

The atmosphere was perfect, and Su Wan was thinking about whether to take this opportunity to invite Gu Changming to join them.

She cleared her somewhat dry throat and was just about to speak.

Suddenly.

The sky darkened without any warning.

It wasn't the gradual darkening of clouds blocking the sun, but more like something had instantly enveloped them.

Su Wan was stunned and instinctively looked up.

In the next second, her pupils suddenly constricted.

A suffocatingly massive shadow was rapidly enlarging and falling from the sky above their heads!

"Boom!!!"

A deafening roar, accompanied by a violent trembling of the ground, suddenly exploded!

To one side of the Blood-Patterned Snapping Spider's corpse, another massive dark red figure crashed to the ground, its eight intact walking legs, shimmering with metallic cold light, sinking deep into the earth.

Another Blood-Patterned Snapping Spider.

One with an intact carapace, clear patterns, without a single wound—a Blood-Patterned Snapping Spider in its prime.

It slightly turned its head, which was covered in cold compound eyes, and an invisible pressure, like a physical tide, instantly overwhelmed them.