NOVEL NEXT Chapter 418: So Dramatic?
After breakfast, I checked today's fortune and found everything to be unfavorable.
Jiang Yuan decided to respect fate's arrangement. Holding a Blue Star Flower, he raised the goodwill of the little elf You Meng alone, then returned to continue pioneering with the Bluebird.
It really was not very smooth; whether felling trees or digging through ruins, there were no extra rewards, and occasionally, even the basic materials were scarcer than usual.
Fortunately, when night fell in the wilderness, the fortune reversed directly, and everything became favorable.
He sent the Bluebird into the Mizing Ridge dungeon, headed straight for Spiders Valley, determined to finish the side quest that had been pending for so long as soon as possible. This way, Miss Eight could receive the inheritance, cultivate successfully, and reunite with her family sooner. She might even return to Spiders Valley to revive the race.
[Incomplete Evolved Form of the Parasitic Bee Demon: The Parasitic Bee Demon excels at inhabiting spider bodies, devouring them completely before breaking out. This incomplete form was entangled and poisoned by webs before it could break out, with a complete dormant bee demon inside, extracting Life Origin possible.]
"Is this thing half-dead?" Jiang Yuan looked at the massive black-footed spider he had cleared out and gasped, "Really alive! It's been dormant for thousands of years and still hasn't died, how amazing is that?"
He was a bit curious to pry open the spider shell to see what was inside, but worried the scene might get out of control, he ultimately chose to grab it instantly and refine it!
[Life Origin +5]
"There's indeed a big difference between the living and the dead!" Jiang Yuan watched as the hard-earned 5 points from last night doubled directly after refining an incomplete form, heading straight to another seemingly parasitized giant spider.
The night went very smoothly indeed; as he moved deeper, there was less and less spider silk, no need to cut the way open with scissors at every step, and he soon reached the Spider Race's habitat—Divine Spider Mountain!
Miss Eight had mentioned only that the Divine Spider Mountain looked like a spider, its cave interiors crisscrossed and perfect for web-weaving seclusion and cultivation, and the abundant treasures left by generations within it.
When Jiang Yuan heard it then, he thought it was merely where the Spider Race went for seclusion and cultivation. It was only now upon arriving that he realized the entire mountain was the main body of Spiders Valley.
Looking up, the enormous mountain mass shrouded in white spider silk was nearly impossible to see the top of, with eight "legs" standing on the ground, crafted stair-like.
He instantly understood the description on the wanted poster about Jia Yi's residence.
The Divine Spider Mountain was so large that its entire structure could be divided into specific directions and its interior constructed of spider webs into layers with numbered caverns, imagining the lively scenes of thousands of spiders gathering here thousands of years ago.
[Zhu Zhirui: Valley Master of Spiders Valley, presiding over a secret technique using toxic spider webs to enwrap all intruders, perishing together with the enemies]
In the center of the valley below the mountain was a massive altar, at the center of which sat the deceased old man who was once the master of Spiders Valley, looking indeed very aged from his appearance.
But since he could still preside over the secret technique to perish with the enemy, why did he have no awareness when the treasure was stolen?
With the strength of the Valley Master and the clan leaders, they shouldn't have been confused by Jia Yi's small Enchanting Array, so why did no one find him?
"Wasn't everything supposed to be favorable? How come I can't find any task clues?" Jiang Yuan made a circle, even extracted Life Origin up to 50 points, but the task had not progressed at all.
As time passed by, he felt a bit melancholic looking at the heaps of dead bodies, displeased and kicked a stone scattered on the ground to vent his anger.
"Thud!"
A fist-sized stone was kicked away, hitting a corner wrapped in webs, making a hollow sound, seemingly indicating a space behind the webs.
Jiang Yuan stepped forward to clean away the spider silk and tapped on the exposed mountain body.
There really was a hollow spot!
He took out the mining pickaxe and dug a few times, revealing a small hole, from which a little figure fell out.
"Wuuu... I dare not again! I was wrong!" A semi-human, semi-spider body rolled out as a black shadow floated out, whimpered for a few moments, then found an ordinary human without any spiritual energy fluctuation before it, the young spider demon's face showing a cunning smile, "You're not here to catch me, hehe!"
Jiang Yuan kicked out a little boss, feeling a bit dumbfounded immediately.
Apparently, everything being favorable meant a stroke of luck beyond reason, he could even dig out a little imp, and this little imp was a "familiar face"—the details identified by the system showed it was Liu Liu, the kid who disappeared after being involved with Jia Yi in the journal!
"Who said I'm not here to catch you?" Jiang Yuan swung out the Soul Refining Banner, "Little thief, do you know what a disaster you've caused?"
Liu Liu's remnant soul turned pale upon hearing, glanced around at the corpses and taunted coldly, "Taking back what's ours, how can it be called stealing? Don't interfere with our business! My grandpa said that once he successfully refines the treasure, I'll be the future Valley Master of Spiders Valley!"
Jiang Yuan: ???
"Jia Yi is your grandpa? You're Liu, he's Jia, how does that lineage work?"
"Huff!"
Liu Liu evidently didn't want to say more, turning into black smoke trying to drift away.
Jiang Yuan flicked the Soul Refining Banner to immobilize him and looked at his thin short health bar with a sneer, "Just a little imp like you, you think you can escape me? Confess honestly, I can let you reunite with your grandpa Jia Yi inside the Soul Refining Banner."
"Soul Refining Banner?" Liu Liu only realized afterward, turned to see his own corpse, and cried out in despair, "How did I die? I hid so well, grandpa said... those bee demons were only temporary reinforcements, once he became the Valley Master and gained the inheritance, he'd drive the bad ones away... No! I can't die! How can I be Valley Master if I'm dead..."
The little imp was broken upon seeing his own corpse, Jiang Yuan pressed the advantage, "You were deceived by Jia Yi. You took the risk to steal the treasure, yet he never protected you."
He also found it very strange, why on his way so many demon cultivators had their souls extinguished, even if the incomplete evolved forms were dormant no soul forms were seen, only this grandparent and grandchild duo both turned into grudges?
Isn't a demon cultivator's death supposed to mean obliteration, leaving no chance to become a ghost?
"Impossible!" The little imp was both afraid of being swallowed by the Soul Refining Banner and angry, shouted, "We are the rightful inheritors of Spiders Valley! Otherwise, how could I have easily withdrawn the treasure through bloodline power?
My surname differs because we follow our mother's name. Back then... my grandpa's grandpa was supposed to be the Valley Master, but because his father remarried and had another son, not only did it strip him of his inheritance right but also kicked him out to be left to die! My grandpa's grandpa had to marry into another family for survival, but our bloodline inheritance had no issues. We can still gain recognition from the treasure! We rightful lineage bore the disgrace, hiding our names, just waiting for the right moment to bring Spiders Valley back to our rightful rule!"
Jiang Yuan couldn't help but raise an eyebrow, thinking, is it that sensational?
There must have been at least a dozen races, tens of thousands of spider demons living in Spiders Valley, and due to your power struggles inviting wolves, the whole clan got wiped out?
The contrast was too big; it was hard for him to accept that the reason for the extermination was so simple. He grunted coldly, "What method did Jia Yi teach you to steal the treasure without being discovered?"