Chapter 1499: Collecting the Essence Souls of Demon Beasts

The other three Fourth-stage Netherworld Spiders sensed danger. After letting out an extremely strange screech, they transformed into three streaks of light and flew towards the depths of the Myriad Puppet Mountain Range. Simultaneously, tens of thousands of Netherworld Spiders frantically charged towards Wu Chang and Li Ling'er.

The hum of swords resounded loudly. Nine green lotus flowers spun rapidly, releasing countless green petals that transformed into incredibly sharp green sword energies, striking the Netherworld Spiders. For a moment, booming sounds were continuous, and waves of air rolled.

The dense green sword energies struck the Netherworld Spiders, turning them one by one into a bloody mist. A nauseating scent of blood permeated the air.

Wang Qingshan flew in on a streak of green sword light, his brows furrowed. The Qunyang Immortal Couple's strength was considerable, yet they had been trapped by the Netherworld Spiders. It seemed these spiders were indeed difficult to handle.

With a flash of green light, the nine green lotus flowers transformed into nine misty green flying swords, returning to Wang Qingshan's sleeve and disappearing.

"Fellow Daoist Wu, Madam Wu, are you alright?"

Wu Chang let out a sigh of relief and smiled wryly, "Fortunately, Fellow Daoist Wang arrived in time, otherwise my wife and I would have lost our lives here."

"It's been many years, and Fellow Daoist Wang's divine abilities have greatly improved. Even a mutated Fourth-stage Netherworld Spider would perish if trapped by your sword formation."

Li Ling'er exclaimed, a hint of envy in her eyes. Wang Qingshan had effortlessly trapped and killed the mutated Fourth-stage Netherworld Spider with his sword formation.

"Mutated Netherworld Spiders? Why do I feel they're not that impressive?" Wang Qingshan had a strange expression. His flying sword was crafted from Glazed Bamboo, one of the ten great spirit bamboos, and also incorporated Gengjin Sand. With a sword formation laid out, not to mention Fourth-stage demonic beasts, even Nascent Soul cultivators might not be able to withstand it. But then again, if Netherworld Spiders were so easy to deal with, why would the three great sects seal off their habitat? The Northern Border was teeming with experts; they wouldn't be helpless against Fourth-stage Netherworld Spiders, would they? According to intelligence, there were over twenty Fourth-stage Netherworld Spiders. If each of the ten great sects in the Northern Border sent three Nascent Soul cultivators, that would be thirty Nascent Soul cultivators. Eliminating the Netherworld Spiders wouldn't be difficult, so why were they sealed off?

Wu Chang and Li Ling'er's mouths twitched slightly upon hearing this. They had also killed a Fourth-stage Netherworld Spider, but it was nowhere near as effortless as Wang Qingshan's feat.

"Fellow Daoist Wang, you might not know, but the Fourth-stage Netherworld Spiders we dealt with had only recently advanced to that stage. Otherwise, they wouldn't have been so easy to handle. By the way, Fellow Daoist Wang, I'll join you in pursuit. We need to capture a mutated Fourth-stage Netherworld Spider alive to understand its divine abilities and habits, so we can find a way to deal with them effectively."

Li Ling'er urged him. Ordinary Netherworld Spiders were relatively easy to deal with, but the mutated ones were more troublesome. They had been ordered to capture a mutated Netherworld Spider to discover its weaknesses. Originally, capturing a Third-stage mutated spider would have fulfilled their mission, but after witnessing Wang Qingshan's strength, Li Ling'er decided it would be better to capture a Fourth-stage mutated Netherworld Spider instead.

"I can take care of myself, so you two go ahead without worry! Don't venture too deep into the Myriad Puppet Mountain Range; it would be troublesome if you encounter the Spider King," Wu Chang cautioned with a solemn expression.

Wang Qingshan nodded and said, "My clan members are arriving soon; they will handle these low-level Netherworld Spiders. Fellow Daoist Wu, please be careful." The green sword light beneath him surged, transforming into a long green rainbow that sliced through the air and sped away. Li Ling'er put away her Fire Dragon Pearl and pursued him.

At this moment, Wang Yingjie and others also arrived. There were still tens of thousands of Netherworld Spiders.

Wu Chang gripped the red iron rod with both hands and swung it frantically. The sound of rushing wind roared, and rolling flames swept forth. A huge explosion sounded as Netherworld Spiders were smashed into minced meat one by one.

"Senior Wu, we'll lend you a hand!" Wang Yingjie said loudly. He conjured a palm-sized white jade bottle and sent a magical incantation into it. The bottle then sprayed out a vast white cold wind, striking the Netherworld Spiders. Their bodies froze at a visible speed, turning into ice sculptures as the ice layer spread rapidly.

Chen Xudong conjured eighteen gleaming white talismans, which transformed into eighteen streaks of white light and vanished into the swarm of Netherworld Spiders. Boom! A huge booming sound rang out as the eighteen streaks of white light exploded, unleashing rolling cold air that froze a large group of Netherworld Spiders.

Suddenly, heavy rain poured down from high in the sky. Large raindrops transformed into incredibly sharp blue sword energies, striking the frozen Netherworld Spiders. Boom! A huge booming sound echoed as the ice shattered, and the Netherworld Spiders were also turned into a bloody mist.

The Wang family's Foundation Establishment cultivators each conjured Second-stage Fire Crow puppet beasts, numbering over two hundred. After emitting sharp "caw-caw" sounds, the Fire Crow puppet beasts suddenly spat out red fireballs, which smashed onto the bodies of the Netherworld Spiders.

Two ape puppet beasts, over ten zhang tall, wielding giant axes and hammers, charged into the swarm of Netherworld Spiders. They frantically swung their axes and hammers, attacking the spiders.

Low-level Netherworld Spiders struck by the giant axes were immediately split in two, while those hit by the giant hammers were instantly flattened into a mass of flesh.

Although the number of Netherworld Spiders was vast, most of the Third-stage spiders had been eliminated by Wu Chang, leaving fewer than ten still alive. Wang Yingjie, Wang Jiyun, and Chen Xudong teamed up, adopting a strategy of divide and conquer to eliminate the remaining Third-stage Netherworld Spiders one by one.

Booming sounds were continuous as the Fire Crow puppet beasts incessantly spat out red flames, striking the Netherworld Spiders and sending fiery light soaring into the sky.

Only Fourth-stage Netherworld Spiders could fly; low-level ones were completely incapable of aerial movement. Ordinary Netherworld Spiders feared fire and soul attacks, so the Wang family cultivators had brought a large number of Fire Crow puppet beasts to combat them, which proved indeed effective.

Low-level Netherworld Spiders attempting to attack the Fire Crow puppet beasts with silk, venom, or fire found it difficult to hit them. Conversely, when the Fire Crow puppet beasts unleashed fierce flames, the sheer number of spiders, crowded together, made them easy targets for the red flames.

Repeated huge booming sounds rang out, and Netherworld Spiders fell one by one.

Without Fourth-stage Netherworld Spiders to command them, large numbers of the creatures scattered and fled. Wang Yingjie and the others did not pursue them. Tens of thousands of Netherworld Spider corpses lay in the giant valley, and the air was permeated with an extremely foul, bloody stench.

Wang Yingjie conjured a banner as black as ink, with a black lotus flower embroidered on its surface. He frantically waved the banner with both hands, causing strong winds to arise and the banner's surface to glow brightly. Green light clusters, the size of pigeon eggs, flew towards him. These green light clusters were the spiritual essence of the Netherworld Spiders; this Black Lotus Banner was specifically designed to collect the spiritual essence of demonic beasts.

The Wang family required a large quantity of demonic beast spiritual essence for refining puppet beasts. It was said that there were millions of Netherworld Spiders, so besides their objective of exterminating the creatures, they also had the crucial task of collecting their spiritual essence.

Tens of thousands of Netherworld Spider spiritual essences flew into the Black Lotus Banner, and the black lotus flower on its surface erupted with dazzling dark light.

Wu Chang did not stop them. If the Wang family cultivators didn't collect the demonic beast spiritual essence, it would simply dissipate on its own.

After a while, Wang Yingjie put away the Black Lotus Banner, then he, Wang Jiyun, and Chen Xudong landed before Wu Chang.

"Your juniors greet Senior Wu," Wang Yingjie and the other two bowed respectfully.

Wu Chang waved his hand and instructed, "Dispense with the formalities! Quickly clear the battlefield. We won't be staying here for long. Once Fellow Daoist Wang completes his mission, we will leave immediately."

"Yes, Senior Wu," Wang Yingjie and the other two replied in unison. Besides their spiritual essence, many parts of the Netherworld Spiders' bodies could be used for artifact refining. Tens of thousands of spider corpses represented a significant fortune.