Chapter 80 – Massacre

Chapter 80 – Massacre

Although the demonized beasts had undergone their first wave of enhancement, with some reaching mid-tier Rank 1, they were still no match for Cheng Yang and his group of powerhouses.

As they advanced, Cheng Yang activated his “Flower Shifting” skill whenever they encountered large groups of demonized beasts. The six human-shaped cannons began their bombardment. Whether it was early-stage Rank 1 demonized beasts or mid-tier monsters, they all fell before Cheng Yang’s onslaught.

Treading over the corpses of demonized beasts, Cheng Yang’s group arrived at the eastern outskirts of Xiangcheng City. About a hundred meters ahead, a passageway was completely filled with demonized beasts.

They had been here once before, five days ago. At that time, Cheng Yang had been forced to retreat due to insufficient strength when facing these long-range attacking Spotted Hairy Spiders. But now, things were different.

Cheng Yang’s defense had reached 12 points, more than double the attack power of early-stage Rank 1 demonized beasts. Even if he stood still and let countless early-stage Rank 1 beasts attack him, he wouldn’t be worried.

“Lord, how should we fight? Use Flower Shifting again?” Liu Hao asked softly from behind a wall.

Cheng Yang shook his head. “This time, I’ll handle it alone. You all just watch.”

Liu Hao hesitated. “That doesn’t seem wise. Even though you’re strong, there are nearly two thousand demonized beasts…”

Cheng Yang smiled. “I’m at the peak Apprentice level now. The strongest among them is only late-stage Rank 1, and there’s only one. This group poses no threat to me.”

Seeing Cheng Yang’s confidence, Liu Hao and the others fell silent. They didn’t have a clear understanding of Cheng Yang’s true strength, but they knew one thing – if things turned dangerous, Cheng Yang could always escape.

Cheng Yang ordered them to hide in the ruins and stepped out alone. Within seconds, he was within fifty meters of the spider horde. The spiders noticed him immediately, their eight long legs twitching restlessly, creating an eerie screeching sound.

Without hesitation, Cheng Yang charged forward to within twenty meters and unleashed his Ice Spike technique. A barrage of icy spikes rained down, instantly killing six or seven Spotted Hairy Spiders.

The attack enraged the spiders, and since Cheng Yang was now within their attack range, they began spraying webs at him. Cheng Yang’s sharp eyes immediately spotted a bluish-purple spider among the horde – a mid-tier Rank 1 Spotted Hairy Spider that could potentially harm him.

During the cooldown of his Ice Spike technique, Cheng Yang launched an Ice Sphere, accurately hitting the spider leader’s head. The powerful attack instantly shattered its skull.

About ten spider webs hit Cheng Yang’s body, but they simply bounced off as if hitting a mirror. Cheng Yang responded with another round of Ice Spikes…

It was a one-sided massacre. Early-stage Rank 1 Spotted Hairy Spiders fell in droves under Cheng Yang’s attacks.

After several minutes, the late-stage Rank 1 spider leader, hidden among the horde, seemed to realize that its minions’ long-range attacks were ineffective. It commanded the horde to charge at Cheng Yang, attempting to surround him.

Cheng Yang sneered. Did they really think they could trap him so easily? Didn’t they know he could fight with his back to cover?

As he continued attacking, Cheng Yang retreated until his back was against a broken wall. There, he stood his ground, focusing all his attention on the spiders charging from the front.

After killing about a hundred spiders, Cheng Yang suddenly felt a gust of wind above him. He dodged just in time to see a massive object crash down where he had been standing.

It was a Spotted Hairy Spider. How had it fallen from above?

Before Cheng Yang could figure it out, several more spiders dropped from above. If he hadn’t dodged in time, they would have crushed him.

“Damn! I forgot these things can climb walls!” Cheng Yang cursed inwardly. He had been so focused on their inability to penetrate his defense that he’d forgotten spiders could walk on walls.

If it were just the spiders falling from above, Cheng Yang wouldn’t be worried. But now, if he focused on dodging them, he wouldn’t be able to handle the horde charging from the front. With over a thousand spiders, they could easily bury him alive. No matter how strong he was, being completely buried would render him helpless.

Cheng Yang leaped into action, using Ice Spikes to clear a path as he retreated rapidly. He made sure to avoid the direction where Liu Hao and the others were hiding, lest he lead the spiders right to them.

After this prolonged battle, Cheng Yang had consumed eight mana potions and killed nearly a thousand spiders.

Perhaps realizing that its minions were ineffective, or perhaps sensing Cheng Yang’s overwhelming power, the spider leader finally emerged from hiding. Surrounded by nearly twenty mid-tier Rank 1 spider captains, it charged straight at Cheng Yang.

This formation would have been formidable earlier, and Cheng Yang wouldn’t have dared to face them before reaching peak Apprentice level. But now, he wasn’t worried.

As they closed in, Cheng Yang launched an Ice Sphere at the spider leader while the horde began their assault. Both sides were long-range fighters, and the battle came down to accuracy, evasion, and defense.

In this confrontation, both sides had nearly 100% accuracy. Cheng Yang’s combat awareness, honed through over a year of battles, was impeccable, while the spiders’ web-spitting skill was innate, making them even more accurate than Cheng Yang.

Evasion, at this stage, was extremely difficult. According to divine rules, to dodge an attack, one’s movement speed needed to be ten times the attack speed. For Cheng Yang to dodge an early-stage Rank 1 demonized beast’s attack, his movement speed would need to exceed 10 points.

Compared to evasion, defense was much easier. However, evasion was clearly a higher-level skill. For instance, if one dodged an attack, the effect of a health potion would continue. But if hit, even if no damage was taken due to high defense, the potion’s effect would still be interrupted.

After the first exchange, the spider leader had lost most of its health, while Cheng Yang had only lost less than thirty health points. The difference in power was clear.

Cheng Yang pressed his advantage, firing another Ice Sphere. The projectile struck the spider leader’s massive abdomen, tearing it open.

The rest of the battle was a foregone conclusion. Cheng Yang systematically eliminated all mid-tier Rank 1 spiders. By the time he finished off the twenty-plus spider captains, he had only lost about thirty health points.

With all mid-tier Rank 1 spiders eliminated from the two-thousand-strong horde, what followed was a complete massacre.

After seven or eight minutes, only about a hundred spiders remained, scattered everywhere.

Liu Hao and the others, who had been watching from the sidelines, couldn’t resist any longer. With a shout, they charged out to mop up the remaining spiders.

Seeing this, Cheng Yang could only shake his head in amusement. They were clearly just joining in for fun. With so many of them rushing in, each person would be lucky to gain two or three spirit energy points. Given their current income, such a small amount was hardly worth their attention.

Ignoring his companions’ scramble for spoils, Cheng Yang quickly made his way to the passageway. There might still be a treasure waiting for him there.

As he reached the center of the passage, ignoring the deep fissures on either side, Cheng Yang’s eyes locked onto something on the ground ahead.

There was indeed an item there, and it was quite large. However, no matter how Cheng Yang looked at it, he couldn’t identify what it was. He quickly approached and picked it up.

“Damn! This is ridiculous!” Cheng Yang exclaimed as he finally understood why he hadn’t recognized it earlier. The object was completely covered in a layer of dirt. No wonder he couldn’t identify it.

Carefully brushing away the dirt, Cheng Yang finally revealed its true form.

It was an alchemy furnace.

After checking its properties, Cheng Yang was shocked.

A silver-grade alchemy furnace! This was an incredible find. Equipment for secondary professions was extremely rare. Even the lowest quality shop-bought items could sell for hundreds of spirit energy points, let alone this silver-grade furnace.

What made it even more valuable was that in his previous life, even after a year, no one had discovered how to craft alchemy furnaces. In fact, no one had found methods to create any secondary profession equipment.

While combat equipment could be crafted by various professions as long as one had good materials, equipment for life skills was different. Apart from purchasing ordinary items from shops, the only ways to obtain them were through dungeons or rare treasures found in the wild.

PS: Seeking recommendations, collections, and tips…