Legendary Son-in-Law: The Man with Poison Talismans

However, by this time, he had already poisoned the phantom spiders in the distance as well.

Lin Mu stared at the Exploding Spiders that rushed out through the poisonous mist, then glanced at the Phantom Spiders that were still hatching, and muttered, "Alright, I'll have to clear them out manually."

He glanced back at the Flying Eagle Guards behind him, speaking quickly but clearly: "Stop using single-target skills, the Exploding Spiders are too fast to aim accurately. Lay down Fire Walls, fill the entire casting range, then unleash Ice Roar upwards, don't let them get close."

One of the Flying Eagle Guards slapped his forehead and exclaimed in realization, "That's right! How come we didn't think of that before..." His tone was tinged with regret.

This was the first time they had ever seen a combination of Phantom Spiders and Exploding Spiders. Although the instructors had taught them about it during their theoretical studies, they completely forgot it when they got nervous on the battlefield.

They had tried area-of-effect spells before, but the spiders here generally had high magic resistance, so fire walls and ice roars did very little damage, wasting mana and not taking away much health. They gave up after two rounds.

But the Exploding Spider is different. It only has 100 HP and 0 defense. Although it moves quickly, it is countered by continuous area-of-effect damage like Fire Wall. As long as it is laid on the ground, the spiders will rush in and die.

The mages of the Flying Eagle Guard immediately sprang into action.

Walls of fire stretched across the ground, and crimson flames spread across the land outside the city, like an ever-expanding net that covered the entire area within the Flying Eagle Guards' casting range.

After the fire wall was laid, the Ice Roar rose up immediately. Blue and white ice rings swirled and exploded above the fire wall, and shards of ice wrapped in cold air pelted down.

A stark contrast of ice and fire ensued. The dark red, exploding spiders that rushed into the fire wall were scalded, displaying a string of damage numbers above their heads. Then, an ice roar crashed down, shattering them into ice shards that scattered across the ground.

One after another, the Exploding Spiders fell down, and the Phantom Spiders' offensive was thus forcefully suppressed.

Lin Mu did not look back at the Flying Eagle Guards.

He stood at the base of the wall, facing the phantom spiders covered in green poison, and raised his hand, sending out one soul fire talisman after another.

The bright yellow light flickered on and off against the dark red sky, its rhythm even and uninterrupted.

After receiving the Celestial Venerable's inheritance, his speed in flicking fire talismans increased by nearly twice as fast as before. The protective talisman at his fingertips had barely flown out when the next one was already unfolding in his hand.

Each time a fire talisman landed on the phantom spider, a four-digit number would appear above its head: -1120, -1097, -1115...

The Phantom Spider has only 10,000 HP, and a single fire talisman takes away one-tenth of that.

Before ten images were taken, the first phantom spider's carapace cracked, its silk loosened, and its entire body collapsed, never to move again.

The second and third birds, too, shattered, weathered, and disintegrated into a pile of fragments under the continuous bombardment, as if slowly melting in place, dried by the sun, and carried away by the wind, ultimately leaving only a grayish-white remnant.

With the source cut off, the number of Exploding Spiders also decreased sharply, and the remaining Exploding Spiders were quickly wiped out.

And so, the monsters were defeated one after another.

In the fields outside the city, a thick layer of spider remains had been laid out, the grayish-white carapace fragments mixed with dark purple bodily fluids, glistening with a damp, bloody light under the crimson moon.

It's good that, under the rules of this world, the monster's corpse will be swallowed by the ground beneath its feet. Otherwise, at this rate of accumulation, the remains would have already piled up to the height of a person, and those monsters could easily cross the defenses of the skeletons and divine beasts by stepping on the corpses of their companions.

New spiders are still emerging from the edge of the forest, but at a noticeably slower pace.

Lin Mu glanced at the edge of the forest where monsters were still emerging in the distance, and estimated in his mind whether the thick layer of debris on the ground was slowing them down, or whether their respawn rate was too fast for him to clear.

Whatever the reason, it's a good thing overall.

The space behind him was limited, so the Flying Eagle Guards took turns going forward to attack.

When someone runs out of mana, they retreat to the back, open a potion bottle, tilt their head back and gulp it down, then wait for their mana bar to recover before taking over again; when someone runs out of energy, they retreat to the inner side of the city wall, lean against the wall to catch their breath, and then come back to take over for the person in front.

The team is like a machine that's getting smoother and smoother with each other. Everyone has found their place. Although there are still occasional glitches and bumps, it's much better than the initial chaos.

Some of the White Sun Gate guards even took the opportunity to sneak into the formation, standing behind the Flying Eagle Guards, and mimicking their rhythm by throwing fire talismans and lightning spells.

One of the guards from Bai Ri Men muttered under his breath as he flicked a fire talisman, "The Heavenly Venerable's poison is truly potent... No wonder the fight here is so easy."

Some of the Flying Eagle Guards felt that this side was too crowded, so they tried to find other gaps, but the difference became immediately apparent once they moved to a different position.

Without Lin Mu's poison, without that dark purple armor in front, and without the divine beast perfectly positioned to fill the gap, those Crimson Moon Spiders were fiercer, faster, and harder to fight than they remembered. Before they knew it, their formation was broken up.

Chapter 285 Level 4 Fire Talisman

As time passed, the ground outside Bai Ri Men City was littered with not only the remains of monsters but also potions and equipment, with glittering lights scattered among the monster remains.

The gazes on the city wall fell on the shimmering ground, then moved away; no one dared to go out and pick it up.

Meanwhile, they were curious why the new Celestial Venerable didn't go down to rest during such an intense battle.

It's been so many days, and the figure in pure white has hardly moved an inch.

Someone whispered, "Isn't he tired?"

What puzzled them even more was that the female warrior was even more ferocious.

The Celestial Venerable occasionally needs to stop and drink a couple of sips of potion, wait for the blue bar to return, or sit against the wall to eat a couple of bites of dry food and drink a few sips of water, or simply sit on the ground and close his eyes for a short nap.

But that dark purple figure never left that spot from beginning to end, maintaining a steady slashing rhythm with the Dragon Slayer Blade without stopping for a moment, and without even taking a sip of medicine.

Someone stared at the figure for a long time, and finally couldn't help but whisper to the person next to them, "Doesn't that person's Crescent Slash consume mana? And that monster's attack is so high, how come her health bar keeps disappearing?"

"I don't know... Look, her health bar hasn't moved at all, and she hasn't replenished her mana bar either. This is too outrageous."

"Could it be the legendary level 100 warrior? It is said that if the level is very high, the health bar and mana bar will become extremely thick, and the self-healing will also become incredibly powerful."

"I've heard there are even higher-grade magic blood stones that can automatically restore health and mana, and they're several levels better than the ones we use."

The group looked at each other, none of them able to give a clear answer.

They never imagined that the female warrior was a skeleton.

In fact, Lin Mu also wanted to rest.

He stood at the base of the wall, flicking out one fire talisman after another. His legs were starting to ache, and his fingers were stiff from holding the talismans for so long.

But he discovered a phenomenon.

As he continued to clear the spiders outside the city, the pillar of light in the Bai Ri Men barrier seemed to slowly brighten.

He took out the compass left by the Celestial Venerable and glanced at it. The fine runes engraved on the bronze surface were faintly glowing, and the dark luster deep in the patterns was a few degrees brighter than before.

He could sense that the compass was drawing some kind of energy from the fallen monster corpses and feeding it back to the barrier, allowing it to last longer.

He even had a gut feeling.

If he wanted to, he could easily control the barrier through this compass and re-enclose those corners of Bai Ri Men City that had been left out.

But after thinking about it, he decided not to do so for the time being.

Although those corners of the wall were exposed, it was precisely because they revealed the barrier that the monsters outside the city had an opportunity to attack, allowing him to continuously clear out the spiders through this gap.

Once the corners are completely enclosed, the monsters have no way to break through, which makes it difficult for you to use the advantageous terrain to farm monsters. In this case, you can no longer replenish the energy of the barrier.

In reality, the main force is the skeletons and divine beasts tanking the damage in front. Lin Mu himself only needs to apply poison from behind and occasionally throw a few fire talismans to deal with the phantom spiders and steel-toothed spiders in the distance, or the blood zombies that are difficult to deal with up close.

Lin Mu was also a little hungry at this point.

He sat cross-legged, munching on a biscuit and drinking water, still pondering the unexpected smoothness he felt when he flicked the fire talisman earlier.

Just then, a voice suddenly rang in my mind, strong, deep, and steady, like the voice of an old celestial being, speaking slowly and deliberately: "The Soul Fire is ignited by thought and fueled by qi. Swiftness is not the speed of the hand, but the speed of the thought. Before the thought arrives, the talisman is already lit; before the talisman falls, the fire is already burning. When the spirit is settled, the fire is sharp; when the soul is gathered, the talisman moves swiftly. Abandon form to control qi, abandon qi to control spirit, and use the primordial soul to control the spiritual fire, only then can you obtain the true essence of the Soul Talisman..."

The voice seemed to rise from the depths of his consciousness. He could almost see the old celestial being standing before him, his white beard swaying slightly in the morning light, looking at him calmly, as if he had been preparing to tell him this for a long time.

He didn't stop chewing, and the sound didn't stop either, continuing to seep into the edges of his perception.

"...The spirit is bound to the talisman, and the fire resides within the soul. When performing the incantation, one must clear the mind and eliminate all distractions, embracing the primordial unity, allowing the spirit and soul to merge with the talisman, the spiritual fire stored yet not dissipated, condensed yet not dispersed. Before reaching the enemy, it is as faint as a wisp of light in the vast emptiness; the instant it touches evil, it bursts forth into a raging inferno..."

Just then, a blood zombie walked over.

The thing was about the size of a small calf, with taut, grayish-brown skin and muscles wrapped around a body of solid, muscular muscles. Its two arms were unusually long, almost reaching its knees when they hung down, with a few white, sharp claws protruding from their fingertips.

His head was bald, his face was dry and sunken, and a pair of cloudy, yellowish eyes stared at him lifelessly. A faint smell of putrid blood lingered around him.

It moved very slowly, as clumsy as a stone pillar being pried open, each step accompanied by a heavy dragging sound.

Lin Mu listened with interest and subconsciously began to raise his hand.

Then he suddenly realized that his body seemed to have been taken over by something.

Raising its hand, sprinkling poison, and flicking fire talismans—every action was executed automatically, landing precisely on the blood zombie.

Just like the offline cheat I used in a game in my past life, it saves time and effort.

Unbeknownst to him, the blood zombie had reached the bottom, and a notification surfaced deep within his consciousness:

[Experience gained: 140000]

Lin Mu glanced at it briefly. The blood zombie had only dropped a bunch of potions on the ground, red and blue, in large and small bottles, but no Blood Drink.

Then he felt the voice slowly receding, growing farther and farther away, fading into the distance.

That feeling of being taken care of is also dissipating, like a teacher who teaches step by step, slowly returning control to him.

He closed his eyes and glanced at it, and found that the line in the status bar, 【Soul Fire Rune Lv.3】, had changed to 【Soul Fire Rune Lv.4】.

At this moment, after the blood zombie was killed by the skeleton, it revived from the pile of wreckage and stood up again.

Seeing this, Lin Mu used red and green poison to strike the blood zombie at the front, causing the dark red and gray-green poison to explode alternately, resulting in the numbers -109 and -109 appearing above the resurrected blood zombie's head.

Then Lin Mu raised his fan, and a pale golden six-pointed star appeared beneath his feet, as if something had briefly lit up before going out.

At the same time, two protective talismans flew out from his waist. The patterns on the talisman paper were bright, and the edges were ignited with crimson flames. As if drawn by a force, they circled each other and sped out, landing precisely on the blood zombie's chest.

Chapter 286 Fiery Sword Technique

A burst of fire erupted with a muffled thud, and a blinding light spread from the blood zombie's chest. The shockwave, carrying pale golden patterns, spread outwards and struck Lin Mu's face.

A four-digit number also appeared above the blood zombie's head.

-1641.

Several Flying Eagle Guards nearby witnessed this scene and whispered, "This is... a level four Soul Fire Talisman?"

Lin Mu didn't explain much, he just put his hand down and stood at the base of the wall, but a different feeling welled up in his heart.

When the fire talisman landed, he felt that not only was its power increased, but his perception of the flame itself was also clearer. It was as if a layer that had been covering it had been lifted, allowing him to perceive the details of the fire talisman rubbing against the air as it flew, to perceive how it spread after hitting its target, and to perceive the subtle temperature changes as the flame spread outwards at the moment it exploded.

He felt that his understanding of fire had also deepened.

He suddenly remembered his own skeleton.

Back when it was at the Royal Martial Arts Academy, it had watched many warriors practice the entire process of charging up, concentrating fire, and unleashing flames when practicing the Fiery Sword Technique. It had also tried to imitate it many times and learned the skill book, but it just couldn't use it.

Lin Mu leaned against the wall, first gathering the feeling left by the level four fire talisman, then closed his eyes and, following the summoning line connected to the skull, used his mind to directly transmit the insight and the fire of the fire talisman to it.

Let it feel how the fire talisman condenses at its fingertips, locks onto its target, and explodes. The voice of the Royal Martial Arts Academy instructor explaining the Fiery Sword Technique rises from its memory:

"The fierce fire is not an ordinary flame, but a battle energy transformed from the dantian. Ordinary people wield blades and merely swing them with brute force, drawing fire to the blade. The fire dissipates and the energy floats away, exhausting the fire in one blow. This is an inferior method."