Chapter 65: The Wrong Way to Clear the Level

The Jin army had suffered so many defeats that even Meng Jingzhou had fallen into despair, convinced that victory was impossible.

"Can I really win?" Meng Jingzhou asked himself in the cave, finding the answer to this question too bitter to voice.

"Huh, a spider?" Meng Jingzhou noticed a spider spinning its web.

The spider failed repeatedly but kept trying, greatly impressing him.

"The spider keeps trying despite repeated failures," he thought. "Am I not even as good as a spider?"

Greatly encouraged, Meng Jingzhou rallied his spirits, determined to fight the Liang army once more.

"The Liang army is stronger than ours, but the gap isn't insurmountable," he reasoned. "How can we give up after just a few defeats? If I abandon hope, what will become of Jin?"

"I believe that with a proper strategy this time, victory is possible!" Meng Jingzhou clenched his fists, a plan already forming in his mind.

After several defeats, he had become familiar with the Liang general's tactics. The Liang general's repeated victories would surely lead to overconfidence, and Meng Jingzhou could exploit this by feigning defeat and a panicked retreat, luring the Liang army into a canyon where he could then encircle them.

This time, he would surely catch them off guard and live up to the expectations of the elders of Jin!

"Thank you for the lesson," Meng Jingzhou said, clasping his hands towards the spider. Without its inspiration, he would surely have lost all hope, and there would truly be no chance of victory.

There were many insects in the cave, and to show his gratitude, Meng Jingzhou caught one and placed it near the spider.

The spider, however, seemed to misunderstand Meng Jingzhou's gesture, seeing him as an enemy, and bit him.

"It's a poisonous spider..."

Meng Jingzhou's head spun, and he fainted.

It was unclear how much time had passed, perhaps a few minutes, perhaps more than ten, but it wasn't long. Meng Jingzhou woke up feeling his body brimming with strength.

"What's happening to me?"

Meng Jingzhou felt that some change had occurred in his body. His sight, hearing, and perception were all stronger, and his body was more agile than ever before, as if he had been reborn.

His right hand instinctively moved, his middle and ring fingers curled, and white silk shot out from his wrist.

"What the hell is this?"

The white silk stuck to the wall. Meng Jingzhou tugged at it hard and found it exceptionally tough.

"Why does it look like spider silk?"

Meng Jingzhou pressed both hands against the wall and to his surprise, his hands could stick to the surface, allowing him to easily scale walls.

"I remember being bitten by a spider..." he mused. "Wait, where's the spider?" When Meng Jingzhou found the spider, it had already been killed by a praying mantis.

Meng Jingzhou crushed the mantis, avenging the spider.

He seemingly inherited the spider's tenacity, reorganized his army, and prepared to fight the Liang army again.

On the eve of the decisive battle, he donned night clothes and, using his newfound powers, carried out a solo decapitation strike, directly killing the Liang general.

The Liang general was dumbfounded. As fellow generals, shouldn't they face each other on the battlefield and engage in a decisive duel? Instead, he had skipped straight to the end, general killing general.

The Liang general had cultivator guards by his side, but they weren't as agile as Meng Jingzhou, who successfully killed the Liang general.

The Liang general was a rare military genius. After his death, the army was leaderless with no one to take command of the Liang forces, allowing Meng Jingzhou to lead the Jin army to crush them.

Meng Jingzhou cleared the level.

At the headquarters of the Immortal Cult, the Cult Master and Vice Cult Master, having observed Meng Jingzhou's method of clearing the level, remained silent for a long time.

A second way to clear the level had indeed appeared.

The Cult Master rubbed his forehead, asking, "What's with this spider? How does a bite grant spider abilities?"

"If I bite a spider, will it transform into a human?"

The Vice Cult Master was also bewildered. He pondered for a moment, as if something clicked, then pulled out an ancient text from his storage ring, pointing to a passage and saying, "Found it! Look, the ancient texts record that on the Central Continent, there once lived a peculiar spider. Its own strength was no different from an ordinary spider, and it never bit humans. However, anyone bitten by it would undergo a physical mutation."

"This type of spider went extinct tens of thousands of years ago."

The Vice Cult Master analyzed logically, "The conflict between Jin and Liang occurred one hundred thousand years ago, and we are perfectly recreating that historical scene. Therefore, theoretically speaking, it's possible for this peculiar spider to appear in the cave."

The Cult Master nodded. "It seems this Meng Jingzhou not only has perseverance and a sharp mind but also good luck."

The concept of luck is ethereal, and perhaps only the legendary 'Aura Reading Technique' could truly evaluate one's fortune.

However, it can be somewhat reflected in other ways. For example, among the many people attempting this level, Meng Jingzhou is the only one who was bitten by a spider and mutated, indicating his extraordinary fortune.

Those with excellent fortune would find their cultivation path smooth and achieve great success in the future.

"Let's observe others," the Cult Master said. "I don't believe there's a third way to clear the level."

Lu Yang watched the spider repeatedly weave its web and fail, falling into deep thought.

"A spider's web can catch prey," he mused. "So why did 'waiting by the stump for rabbits' fail? Aren't both just waiting in place for prey to come? What's the difference?"

"Is it because insects are mindless and just blindly stumble into the web, while rabbits are smarter and know to avoid trees?"

"If insects are mindless, then spiders must be too. So, is the spider's continuous failure and re-weaving a display of willpower or just foolish persistence?"

"Even rabbits know not to hit a tree, so why do some people insist on hitting a wall before turning back?"

Lu Yang's thoughts wandered far and wide.

He wasn't discouraged after his failure, merely taking shelter from the rain in the cave and pondering a way to defeat the enemy.

Now, watching the spider weave its web, he thought of many questions that seemed profound but were ultimately useless.

Suddenly, a praying mantis appeared and ambushed the spider while it was unprepared. The spider bravely resisted, using the advantage of its web, but the mantis was swift and fierce. After a few rounds, it killed the spider.

Lu Yang witnessed this process thoughtfully. He stood up, recalling the mantis's movements.

In terms of technique, he studied how the mantis skillfully used its two flexible forelimbs. In terms of footwork, he studied its sudden leaps and evasive movements in all directions.

"Imagine myself as a mantis..."

Lu Yang murmured to himself. He felt as if he had learned something similar before and was very talented in this regard.

Lu Yang became like a human mantis, combining strength with flexibility, fierce and swift. Any opponent would fall before his martial arts.

The Jin general in history was at the Mid-Qi Cultivation stage. Lu Yang inherited the Jin general's cultivation level, also at the Mid-Qi Cultivation stage.

By the end of his practice, he directly transformed, becoming a large praying mantis. His forelimbs struck out rapidly, and with one punch, he shattered the cave.

Lu Yang exclaimed, "So this is the legendary Mantis Fist passed down in the martial arts world! Its power is immense, but ordinary people can't learn it."

Lu Yang simplified the Mantis Fist, making it easy to learn, and widely promoted it within the army. The Jin army's combat power directly surpassed that of Liang, and they simply pushed through without needing any special tactics.

Lu Yang cleared the level.

"Who clears it like THIS?" the Vice Cult Master fumed.

(End of Chapter)