Chapter 93: Wu Ghost Eye Cave

Unfortunately, his left arm was not original, making it difficult for the power of the Nine Dragon Living Tendons to integrate with the Divine Power Corpse Arm. This inability to merge was regrettable.

However, it was not entirely bad. After all, the Divine Power Corpse Arm was an external force, ultimately distinct from his inherent strength. With the *Dragon Strength* body refinement technique, if he could cultivate it to completion and break through the ninth layer of body refinement, his physical strength would catch up to the external power of his left arm, gradually achieving harmony and integration.

His vital energy and blood would also greatly increase, ensuring he could meet the demands of the vital energy and blood threshold required for a future breakthrough to Foundation Establishment. This was something he took very seriously.

His strength improved step by step, with daily feedback and gains. This continuous progress was something outsiders could hardly imagine, and it further fueled Wang Yu's dedication to cultivation.

Once the *Corpse Demon Secret Art* was perfected to the third stage, he could use its power to regrow his severed arm, completely resolving the issue of his incomplete body. If he couldn't wait, he could also seek out spirit elixirs for limb regeneration. These things were not urgent, though.

In the following days, Wang Yu gradually settled down on Spider Mountain. He occasionally met with Situ Hong, leading a relatively comfortable life. Another year passed in this manner.

The seasons rotated on Spider Mountain, with little temperature variation, maintaining a comfortable 16-17 degrees Celsius year-round. Wang Yu had recently taken his second improved Cold Blood Pill.

In this year, he had changed very little. His cultivation increased by 23 strands of spiritual energy, meaning he had completed more than half of his cultivation at the seventh layer of Qi Refinement. The spiritual energy in his dantian and qi sea had accumulated to 220 strands.

At his normal pace, he would need another four years to advance. This marked the ninth month of his tenth year in the outer sect. Including his months as a spirit slave, he had been cultivating for over eleven years.

At 27 years old, being at the seventh layer of Qi Refinement, it was foreseeable that he would break through to the eighth layer around thirty, with a definite prospect of reaching Foundation Establishment within his lifetime.

Early this morning, the leading veiled female cultivator announced the rotation of the spirit field team. After a year of leisure, Wang Yu was now to enter the Ghost Eye Cave and begin working on cultivating the Spider Heart Grass. He had been looking forward to this.

Situ Hong frequently entered the Ghost Eye Cave and had described the effects of ghost eyes to him. A high-grade ghost eye needed to be produced by a first-order late to peak stage Ghost Eye Spider. Each spider had eight eyes, but only half of them were effective. The "losses" incurred during the hunt were the disciples' gain; how much they could take depended entirely on their skill.

High-grade ghost eyes increased spiritual energy by 4-5 strands. The refinement time varied among individuals; Situ Hong needed nearly three months to refine one. Wang Yu didn't know how long it would take him. However, this was clearly an opportunity to rapidly increase his cultivation. Refining four per year would increase his spiritual energy by 16-20 strands, almost doubling his efficiency.

With a limit of ten, it was considered a relatively precious treasure, especially since it didn't interfere with cultivation pills and could take effect simultaneously, making it quite rare. Unfortunately, this item only benefited cultivators with Yin-cold attributes, making its application range somewhat narrow. Nevertheless, it was still quite valuable, no cheaper than pills of the same grade. Moreover, it also improved eyesight.

With this rotation, Wang Yu could finally explore the Ghost Eye Cave, and he felt a slight anticipation.

On another note, a year had passed, and Wei Zhong hadn't sent anyone from the sect to trouble him. He had three theories. First, the other party simply didn't know about him. Second, Wei Zhong was entangled with other true disciples, eager to deal with his own problems, and had no time for retribution. Third, True Disciple Su sought peace, handing over Fatty Duan, thus completely resolving their grievances. However, this could mean the conflict had merely gone from overt to covert, making it even more dangerous.

He leaned more towards the first and second possibilities. Particularly regarding the incident where the Wei clan of Waterfall Mountain was framed, he had never learned the follow-up. He had been frequently building rapport with Situ Hong lately, precisely to use his intelligence network to obtain information.

Since he was about to enter the Ghost Eye Cave, he proactively invited Situ Hong to go with him. Disciples from Cold Blood Peak had to mix with disciples from Five Yin Peak to gain access to hunt spiders in the cave. This served both as mutual supervision and mutual support. Of course, more often than not, if two to four people entered, only one would come out, or sometimes no one at all. What happened was obvious. Whether it was due to ill will or unfair distribution of spoils, the death rate remained persistently high. In just one year, fifty to sixty disciples from both sides died. By this calculation, in ten years, there would be precisely two or three hundred people left, roughly the same number as when everyone first arrived and the handover was completed, which was terrifyingly stable.

"Brother Situ!""Junior Brother Wang~"

From a distance, the two warmly greeted each other. As they drew closer, Situ Hong lamentably complained, "Junior Brother, you're finally in rotation! Those fellow disciples from your peak are all incredibly overbearing. They constantly talk about ghost eyes and refuse to share them equally, saying 'whoever kills it, it's theirs.' That's reasonable, but they also tried to rob me! Don't they know who Situ Hong is?"

Wang Yu: "..."

From what he understood, every seven days, twenty-one teams were formed to enter twenty-one different Ghost Eye Caves. Regardless of the team's size, upon exiting before sunset, they had to submit 20 ghost eyes and five spider corpses. The Spider Heart Grass required body fluid, which was essentially spider blood, just not red. The Ghost Eye Caves were not interconnected, and each cave had tens of thousands of Ghost Eye Spiders that reproduced rapidly, so killing a few more didn't really matter. As long as the Spider Queen lived, she laid thousands of eggs each time, allowing for easy reproduction and growth.

"Anyway, let's not talk about that anymore. It's been a year since I came to Spider Mountain, and this is our first time teaming up. How should we distribute the spoils, Junior Brother? Do you have any ideas?"

Wang Yu nodded. "First, prioritize meeting the mission requirements. After that, what's killed by whom belongs to them. If we both attack the same target, we'll distribute based on contribution."

"Agreed." Situ Hong consented, then subtly shifted the topic. "For the mission, using common ghost eyes will suffice. I'm more interested in the premium quality ones produced by first-order peak Ghost Eye Spiders."

"Understood. That's what I plan to do as well, Senior Brother."

Wang Yu readily agreed to everything. After registering at the foot of Spider Mountain, they received the token for Cave No. 5 and quickly proceeded inside.

The spider hunting mission was equivalent to venturing deep into a monster den, fraught with extreme danger. The dense cobwebs inside the cave could easily reveal the invaders' positions. Therefore, almost all teams had experienced sneak attacks from Ghost Eye Spiders. Furthermore, the complete darkness inside severely limited visibility, making combat difficult and requiring thorough preparation. While monsters of the same rank were generally not as powerful as disciples from major sects, in specific environments like this, it was hard to say who would have the upper hand.

"Junior Brother Wang, this is a Luminous Orb. It can emit light for eight hours."

"Thank you."

Wang Yu didn't refuse. He cultivated the Yin Moon Nether Pupil secret art, a Nascent Soul-level technique. Even without entering the "Moon Gaze" state, he could see in the dark. This was, after all, a transformative secret art similar to the Corpse Demon Secret Art, with permanent effects on the body. Its high grade meant it possessed far more than one mystical property. There was no need to discuss these secrets with Situ Hong. Additionally, the effect of his Night Concealment Spell would be enhanced in the dark environment, making Wang Yu feel as if he were in his element.

"Let's go in."