Starting as dockworkers, they swept through Chongqing.

Xilun glanced at it but did not stop him.

Because the spider started spinning silk again.

Dozens of spider silks came from all directions, even denser than before.

The spider silk crisscrossed in the air, falling in layers as if controlled by someone, trying to trap the three of them in the center of the cave.

Samuel and Luca were prepared, each dodging through the gaps in the spider silk.

However, the densest part of the spider web is still where Siren is located.

Clearly, they had been constantly luring the spider to attack Siron during their previous battles.

Xilun snorted coldly.

The Thunder Spear was raised.

The power of the Overturning Sea Technique rises from the soles of the feet, the water swirls along the spear shaft, and the thunderous energy flows within it.

Instead of forcefully severing all the spider silk, he gently shook the gun.

The water flowed along the spider web, pulling it to the side.

A few strands of spider silk that fell first were deflected and instead became entangled around Luca, who was rushing towards them.

Luca's expression changed, and he swung his double axes in quick succession, but his left arm was still stuck to a strand of spider silk.

It was in that very moment.

Xilun moved.

His figure suddenly blurred.

Luca only felt a flash of lightning before his eyes, and Xilun had already crossed the gap in the spider silk and appeared three feet in front of him.

too close.

The short axe is supposed to be good at close combat.

But at this moment, Luca felt that the spear was faster, colder, and more ruthless than the short axe.

A dazzling flash of lightning condensed at the tip of the spear.

Lei Ling's aura gathered along the gun barrel, like an eagle folding its wings at the gun tip.

Luca roared and blocked with his right axe.

Samuel reacted instantly, striking Xiren from the side with his palm, trying to force him to defend.

West Lund did not return to defend.

He simply activated the third lightning pattern completely.

Big muscles like a dragon.

Lightning power coursed through his entire body.

The spear tip pierced out.

Crack!

The short axe shattered instantly.

The ferocity in Luca's eyes froze.

The gun tip pierced his chest, protruding from his back and drawing a trail of hot blood.

Behind Luca, the spider that pounced furiously opened its mouth.

""

Xilun's wrist jerked.

The Thunder Spear carried Luca's body forward, its tip plunging deep into the spider's mouth.

Thunderous energy erupted.

boom!

The spider's enormous head suddenly swelled, and countless human faces on its abdomen simultaneously emitted a shrill, mournful shriek.

Luca was trapped between the gun and the spider, his sternum shattered, his eyes filled with bewilderment.

He seemed to want to say something more.

But blood and foam welled up in his throat, and in the end, he could only make a muffled gurgling sound.

Xilun remained expressionless, straining his arms.

The nine layers of surging tide advance in succession.

The spear tip continued to press down, piercing through the spider's head and reaching the perfect black crystal at the junction of its chest and abdomen.

哢.

A fine line appeared on the surface of the black crystal.

The spider's eight legs twitched violently, its web vibrated, and the entire cavern trembled.

Samuel stopped several feet away, his face ashen.

He saw Siren kill Luca with a single shot.

They also saw that the shot pierced through the spider leader.

This scene felt like a cold hand gripping his heart tightly.

Luca is not weak.

Ranked fifty-eighth, it can even briefly contend with a perfect expert after its outburst.

But against Xilun, it only lasted a few breaths.

For the first time, Samuel clearly realized that his judgment of Siron had been wrong from the very beginning.

It wasn't Xilun who caught up with him.

Instead, Xilun had already surpassed him and moved to the front.

This realization made it almost impossible for him to breathe.

"impossible……"

Samuel murmured.

"How did you improve so quickly?"

The spider collapsed to the ground with a thud.

The enormous body rapidly disintegrated into gray-black mist.

Luca's body fell to the ground as well, his chest hollow and charred, but his eyes were still open.

pat.

A perfect black crystal fell among the rubble.

The crystal is entirely black with a smooth, flawless surface, yet its interior seems to contain the slow, flowing currents of deep-sea tides.

Xilun drew his Thunder Spear, wiped the blood off the tip, and looked at Samuel.

"Are you done talking?"

His voice was very calm.

"Say what you want and then die."

Samuel's pupils contracted.

Xilun has already taken its first steps.

step.

Two steps.

Every step felt like stepping on Samuel's heart.

Samuel wanted to back out.

But he cannot back down.

If he withdraws, all his hard work, patience, and self-respect over the past six months will become a joke.

He looked at Xilun and suddenly laughed.

His laughter was low and hoarse, with a hint of madness.

"You think I really didn't prepare anything?"

Xilun's pace never stops.

Samuel suddenly ripped open his shirt.

A dark blue rune was affixed to his chest, surrounded by tiny silver patterns, and it was rapidly melting.

An extremely dangerous aura erupted.

Xilun's eyes narrowed.

The runestone exploded.

There was no fire.

Only a thin beam of deep blue light, as thin as a finger, shot out from Samuel's chest in an instant.

too fast.

It was so fast that even Xilun's Thunder Eye perception could only capture a blurry line of trajectory.

He forced himself to the side, while simultaneously holding the Thunder Spear horizontally in front of him.

laugh!

The deep blue light grazed the gun barrel and then swept past Xilun's left shoulder.

The sea monster's blood-red cotton coat was instantly pierced.

The flesh on his shoulder melted away silently, leaving a charred, bloody hole the size of a thumb.

A sharp pain shot through me.

Xilun rolled over to avoid the subsequent sweep of light.

Samuel was pale, clearly having exhausted his trump card, yet he still wore a sinister smile.

"This is the Sea Abyss Talisman that my family gave me to protect my life."

"It was originally intended for someone like Tinos."

"Siren, you should be grateful that you forced me to use it!"

He forced himself to rush forward.

The power of the palm is concentrated.

He knew that Xiren was injured.

This kind of rune not only pierces through flesh and blood, but also temporarily corrodes the flow of vital energy. As long as he can seize this moment, he still has a chance.

Samuel was like someone clinging to the last rope, his eyes filled with nothing but stubbornness.

As long as Siron is killed.

The perfect black crystal belongs to him.

The Bone-Melting Grass belongs to him.

Elena will realize that she misjudged him.

The inner court will remember him again.

The family will once again support him in his attempt to reach the fourth tier.

He is not a loser.

He is by no means a loser!

Samuel rushed to within three zhang of Siren.

Just then, Xilun, who had rolled to his feet, raised his head.

Those eyes were cold.

The coldness left Samuel feeling suddenly empty inside.

Siren did not raise his gun.

He simply opened his mouth.

A faint, almost pure black aura slowly emanated from his mouth and nose.

The air suddenly turned cold.

The spiderwebs in the cave withered silently, and the damp watermarks on the surface of the gravel condensed into gray-white frost.

Samuel's expression changed drastically.

That nightmarish feeling is back.

The Sea of ​​the Dead.

Cold, shallow water.

Corrupt organs.

The fear of not being able to breathe.

"No!"

Samuel stopped abruptly, wanting to back away.

But it was too late.

The breath of the Styx transformed into a black mist, rushing into his mouth and nose.

Expert-level Styx Breath no longer merely corrodes flesh and blood.

It's like an icy river, rushing directly into the depths of the soul.

Samuel's vision went black.

He heard many sounds.

The questioning from the family elders, the ridicule from the inner disciples, Elena's disappointed silence, and the sound of his own panting on the training ground time and time again.

He saw his younger self, entering the Holy Light Monastery for the first time, standing at the foot of the magnificent stone steps, looking up at those geniuses high above, and vowing in his heart that one day he would stand at the very front.

At that time, he wasn't trying to beat anyone.

He just wanted to prove that he deserved to be seen.

But I don't know when it started, everything changed.

He began to fear falling behind, fear being replaced, and fear the disdain in others' voices when they mentioned him.

So he seized upon every comparison, every bit of jealousy, and every ounce of resentment.

Until he dragged himself into this black water.

"I……"

Samuel opened his mouth.

Black smoke seeped from his nostrils, the corners of his mouth, and his ears.

His skin quickly turned ashen, fine wrinkles appeared at the corners of his eyes, and his flesh looked as if it had been bitten hard by time, becoming withered and heavy.

He knelt on the ground, bracing himself against the rubble with his hands, coughing violently.

Each cough brought out dark red blood foam.

Xilun withdrew the breath of the Styx.

A feeling of emptiness came from my chest.

The power of the expert-level Styx Breath is indeed terrifying, especially against Samuel, who had already been injured by him once and whose mind was traumatized; it was almost a fatal restraint.

However, the consumption is also considerable.

When the death energy is drawn from his lungs, even his own flesh and blood feel a brief chill.

This can only be used as a surprise tactic.

We cannot rely on it.

Xilun gripped the Thunder Spear tightly, the Thunder Dragon Heart pounding heavily, the warm thunder power rapidly repairing the shoulder injury and dispelling the lingering chill within his body.

Samuel looked up.

He looked at Xilun, his eyes no longer filled with hatred, but also with an indescribable sense of bewilderment.

Why...?

His voice was so hoarse that it was almost inaudible.

Why do you always win?

Xilun walked up to him.

"Because you're always looking at others."

Samuel was stunned.

This statement is sharper than the breath of the Styx.

His lips moved as if he wanted to refute, but in the end he only let out a low laugh.

His laughter contained hatred, resentment, and a hint of weariness that even he himself was unwilling to admit.

"What do you know..."

Samuel said in a low voice.

"Someone like you... of course wouldn't understand."

Xilun offered no explanation.

He raised the tip of his gun.

Samuel stared at that cold glint, and the instinct for survival in his eyes finally overwhelmed everything.

He suddenly crushed the identity tag at his waist.

A sudden burst of silvery-white light enveloped his body.

The tip of Xilun's spear pierced through, but only left a blur.

Samuel disappeared into the cavern.

On the gravel ground, only a pool of dark red blood remained.

Xilun frowned, but there was no possibility of giving chase.

The identity card teleportation is a rule set up by the Dean and Elders. Once triggered, it is difficult to interrupt unless a fifth-tier expert intervenes.

Samuel survived.

But with the breath of the Styx entering his body, even if he doesn't die, the hunting day is completely over.

Whether he can recover in the future depends on the monastery's treatment and his own luck.

Outside the cave, the roars of beasts suddenly became chaotic.

After the spider leader died, the outer black soul beasts indeed lost some kind of restraint, and their auras dissipated. Some fled into the depths of the stone forest, while others tore each other apart like madmen.

Xilun bent down and picked up the perfect black crystal.

The crystal felt cool and heavy to the touch.

With just a light touch, the power of the Overturning Sea Technique was felt to be so pure as to be almost crystal clear.

This one is more valuable than the previous three complete black crystals combined.

He then walked toward the sea monster skeleton beneath the spider.

The bone-deep grass grew there quietly.

Three dark leaves swayed gently in the gray mist, their pale veins resembling fine bone patterns, and the ash at their roots emitted a cool, medicinal fragrance.

Xilun did not touch it directly with his hands.

He took out the jade box, carefully cut open the surrounding rotten marrow, put the Bone Nether Grass inside with its roots, and then used a spirit-sealing talisman to seal the box.

Only after doing all this did he glance at Luca's body.

Luca's identity card was not broken.

That shot was too fast and too heavy, piercing his heart and spine directly, leaving him no chance to even crush his identity token.

Xilun's eyes remained unchanged.

If you're going to kill, you have to be prepared to be killed.

A few clumps of spider silk remained on one side of the cave.

Xilun walked over and used his lightning strike to cut off a small bunch to preserve.

This spider silk is exceptionally tough. If we could take it back to the armory and have it processed, it might be useful as material for repairing protective gear and making restraint items.

Footsteps could be heard in the distance.

Elena's voice rang out from outside the passageway.

"Silon!"

When she rushed into the cave, her face still showed some tension, and the bloodstains on her shoulder seeped out again as she ran.

Seeing Xilun standing there, she first breathed a sigh of relief.

Then she saw Luca's body on the ground, and then saw the black and red bloodstains all over the ground, and her pupils contracted slightly.

"What about Samuel?"

"He crushed his identity token and left."

"That's what Xilun said calmly."

Elena remained silent for a moment.

She didn't ask why it had turned out this way.

She had suspected this possibility from the moment Samuel proposed the collaboration.

But when the result was actually presented to her, it still chilled her to the bone.

Those who once walked together eventually turned against each other in the Blackwater Abyss.

This is not unexpected.

But it inevitably seems absurd to some.

You are injured.

Elena saw the bloody hole in Siron's shoulder and quickly approached.

Xilun glanced down.

"Flesh and skin injury".

Elena ignored his judgment and took out a bottle of medicine and clean bandages.

"sit down."

Xilun looked at her serious face, paused for a moment, and then sat down on the stone next to her.

Elena cut open the torn fabric on his shoulder and poured the medicine onto it.

The medicine made a slight hissing sound when it touched the wound.

Xilun didn't even flinch.

Elena's hands moved steadily, but her voice was a little lower.

"He really wants to kill you?"

"Um."

"Luca too?"

"Um."

Elena bit her lip.

She wanted to say something, but in the end she just wrapped the bandages around and around.

"Samuel will not let this go."

Xilun said, "He won't have another chance anytime soon."

With the expert-level Breath of the Styx entering his body, even if Samuel is teleported away, he must immediately receive high-level Holy Light healing.

If treatment is not timely, the deathly aura will continue to erode his internal organs and spirit.

Even if I don't die this time, I'll be badly injured.

Elena looked up at him.

"You just used the Breath of the Styx?"

Xilun nodded.

"He had a very powerful runestone that almost hit a vital spot."

Elena fell silent.

She knew how calm Xilen was when she said "almost," which showed just how dangerous that moment had been.

She tied the bandage around Xilen's neck, her fingers pausing for a moment.

"I'll agree to fewer of these kinds of collaborations in the future."

"A good harvest," said Xilun.

As he spoke, he took out the perfect black crystal and the jade box.

When Elena saw the perfect black crystal, her eyes first lit up with surprise, but then she was completely stunned the moment she saw the Bone Nether Grass inside the jade box.

"Bone-Melting Grass?"

Her voice even softened a bit.

"Um."

"This thing... is enough to make even the top ten in the inner court covet it."

Elena took a deep breath, her expression becoming extremely serious.

"Don't let too many people know. Perfect Black Crystal is fine; someone can get it during the Hunting Day anyway. But Bone Nether Grass is different. It's related to Bone Nether Elixir, and it's related to your chances of advancing to the fourth tier."

Xilun closed the jade box.

"I know."

Elena glanced at Luca's corpse.

"Where are the people outside?"

"After the spider died, the Black Soul Beasts scattered, and they should be coming in soon."

Xilun stood up.

"Leave first."

He did not immediately refine the perfect black crystal.

A battle had just taken place here, and Samuel teleported away. The disciples outside might not know what happened inside the cave.

Staying here will only cause more trouble.

The two quickly searched the cave hall and, after confirming that nothing was missed, returned along the same route.

The spider silk in the passageway is losing its luster, and in many places it has turned into dust.

The battle outside is nearing its end.

Several inner court disciples stood disheveled at the edge of the stone forest; some were injured, and others were severely exhausted.

As soon as Xilen and Elena came out, everyone's attention immediately turned to them.

The gray-haired youth looked behind them and his expression changed.

"Where are Samuel and Luca?"

Xilun looked at him.

"Luca is dead, Samuel crushes his identity token and leaves."

The expressions of the group changed drastically.

"How is that possible?"

What happened inside?

"Where is the Black Soul Beast leader?"

Xilun raised his hand.

A wisp of the aura belonging to the perfect black crystal flashed and disappeared from the palm of his hand.

Everyone's breath hitched at the same time.

Greed flashed in some people's eyes, but it was quickly suppressed by fear.

Luca is dead.

Samuel was forced to withdraw.

That third-tier extreme-realm spider also died.

And Siren is still standing here.

That's enough to explain the problem.

Xilun didn't explain further, only saying calmly, "The spider leader is dead, and the outer Black Soul Beasts have scattered. According to the agreement, you hold off the horde while I kill the leader. You can divide the remaining fragments of Black Crystal among yourselves."

The gray-haired youth's lips moved slightly.

He wanted to ask Samuel if he had been injured by Siron.

I'd also like to ask if there are any other treasures inside the cave.

But when he met Xilun's calm gaze, he suddenly couldn't utter a single question.

There are no inner court rules in the Blackwater Abyss.

If Samuel can use his fists, then Celen can certainly kill.

Moreover, Samuel has already been teleported out alive.

The truth is none of their business now.

"Walk."

"Sirlen said to Elena."

The two did not linger and turned to disappear into the gray mist.

The disciples behind him stood there, silent for a long time.

Only after Xilun's aura completely disappeared did the gray-haired youth look down at his trembling hands.

He suddenly realized that the rankings of the inner court would probably change again after this hunting day.

At the center of the change, however, remains the man named Celen.

A heavy gray fog hung in the air, and the low, hoarse roars of the Black Soul Beast echoed intermittently from the decaying stone forest.

After leaving their lair, Xiren and Elena headed east, bypassing two collapsed areas until the scent behind them completely disappeared, before stopping at the foot of a cliff.

The cliff face was eroded by the water flow, creating a narrow crack.

The crevice was only two zhang deep, but at the end it led to a natural cave. The ground was dry, and gray-white stones were scattered all around. Several crystallized stalagmites hung from the cave ceiling.

Xilun first used the butt of his gun to clear away the rubble, then bent down to inspect the ground.

There were no footprints.

There was also no slime or claw marks left by the Black Soul Beast.

Elena took out the silver-gray disc and infused it with her energy. The disc slowly rotated in the hole, its patterns remaining a pale silver, untouched by the gray-black that represented spiritual pollution.

"Safe for now."

She put away the disc, sat down with her back against the stone wall, and let out a long breath.

When she was restraining the beasts earlier, her shoulder injury wasn't serious, but as she ran, blood still soaked a small patch of her clothing.

Only when I relaxed did the pain belatedly surge up.