139: Chapter 139 Extreme Cold of the Earthly Fiends, Demonic Spiders Block the Way, Sword Slays Evil Spirits

Lin Qi avoided all surveillance and quietly sneaked into the Forbidden Ground on the school's back mountain.

The back mountain here was usually sparsely populated, with very few students ever coming by.

Now, as the night deepened, even patrolling security guards were rarely seen. Lin Qi moved like a ghost, entering the restricted area with a few quick flashes.

He saw a slanted stone tablet.

Four large characters were written in red paint on the stone tablet—"Extremely Dangerous".

Next to it was a line of small, blurry characters that roughly meant, "Enter at your own risk; life and death are your own responsibility."

"Quite straightforward," Lin Qi thought to himself.

The corner of his mouth twitched. This kind of warning sign was useful for ordinary students, but for him, it was completely redundant.

This so-called Forbidden Ground was not some pavilion or tower, but a natural karst cave.

The cave entrance cracked open on the mountainside, looking like a gash torn open by some kind of force.

As soon as he stepped into the cave entrance, Lin Qi felt a wave of chill rush toward him.

It wasn't ordinary cold.

It was a cold that seeped out from the marrow of one's bones.

It was like invisible ice cones trying to pierce into a person's body. Under the erosion of this cold air, the True Qi that originally flowed smoothly within Lin Qi's body slowed down by a few degrees.

Around the cave entrance, the color of the rocks was much darker than outside. A strange, indescribable fishy smell also permeated the air.

Lin Qi knew that this place led directly to the depths of the earth.

What gushed out was not Spiritual Qi that nourished all things, but the "earthly demon yin fire" that eroded the bone marrow.

If an ordinary person approached, just breathing this yin-cold aura would be more than their body could bear, let alone going deeper.

When ordinary professionals encountered this kind of environment, their bodies would instinctively reject it. This earthly demon yin fire was like a deadly poison to them.

But for Lin Qi, it was not so.

Feeling this chill, a flame instead lit up in his eyes.

His Physical Body was no longer a mortal frame. With his Silver Bone newly formed and lightning Body Tempering, this yin-cold was not a threat to his body but rather a special kind of tempering.

"Sure enough, this is a good place."

A hint of anticipation surfaced in Lin Qi's heart.

This icy yin fire was the best "whetstone" for him. It could stimulate his Physical Body and allow his Silver Bone to progress further.

Lin Qi set off, walking toward the depths of the cave at an unhurried pace.

He walked very steadily, each step carrying a special rhythm.

The pebbles beneath his feet crunched under his weight, but the sound was quickly swallowed by the bottomless silence behind him.

The light inside the cave grew darker and darker.

It was so dark he couldn't see his own hand in front of his face.

Lin Qi didn't care. His Listening Strength expanded, and everything around him was clearly reflected in his mind.

Even minute changes in the airflow could not escape his perception.

The further he went, the darker the surrounding rocks became. From the initial grayish-white, they slowly turned deep black.

In some places, black ice crystals had even formed. They hung on the rock walls, emitting a faint, cold glimmer.

This light was very weak, yet it was enough for one to see the extreme cold of this place.

Lin Qi could feel that the liquid True Qi within his Dantian was running even faster.

The power of lightning within his Silver Bone also began to grow active, as if its instincts were triggered by this chill.

The dragon-shaped jade pendant tucked in his chest also began to heat up. It no longer felt like an ordinary piece of jade but like a living thing.

A faint light emanated from the surface of the jade pendant. Although this light was very weak, it carried an ancient aura.

It seemed to be longing for something—longing for that unique energy deep within this cave.

Lin Qi quickened his pace.

He knew he was not far from his goal.

Finally, Lin Qi reached the bottom of the karst cave.

This was a massive underground space.

In this space, there was a giant pool. Black "magma" tumbled within the pool.

The color of this magma was even darker than the surrounding rocks. It wasn't red, but black like ink.

Even stranger was that this magma had no heat. It emitted a heart-palpitating cold air. This chill was countless times stronger than what he had felt at the cave entrance.

Lin Qi guessed that this chill was already close to the legendary "absolute zero."

"earthly demon yin fire is indeed extraordinary." Lin Qi looked at the pool before him, a hint of excitement in his eyes.

He pulled the dragon-shaped jade pendant out from his chest.

Once the jade pendant left his body, it immediately erupted with a soft light. This light carried an extremely strong suction force. It trembled like a child who had been hungry for a long time seeing food.

Lin Qi did not hesitate.

With a flick of his wrist, he threw the jade pendant into the center of the pool.

"Splash!"

The jade pendant fell into the black magma.

At the moment of contact, the black magma in the pool immediately began to boil.

With the jade pendant as the center, a massive vortex began to form. The vortex spun rapidly, emitting a strange "humming" sound. Driven by the vortex, the black magma surged frantically toward the jade pendant.

The jade pendant was like a bottomless pit. It crazily devoured the earthly demon energy. The magma in the pool decreased at a visible rate.

Lin Qi stood by the edge of the pool, quietly watching all of this.

He could feel a power awakening within the jade pendant. This power was far stronger than before and was rapidly filling up.

As the energy drained, a muffled roar came from the bottom of the pool.

The roar was very low, like some giant beast whose slumber had been disturbed. It carried intense anger and warning. The entire karst cave shook a few times along with it.

"Hmm? Something's there?"

Lin Qi raised an eyebrow.

He knew this place wasn't simple, but he hadn't expected a living creature to be hidden in this pool.

The roar from the bottom of the pool became clearer and clearer.

Gravel began to fall from the rock walls of the karst cave.

Lin Qi looked up.

By the faint light emitted by the jade pendant, he saw a massive dark shadow slowly crawling down from the depths of the rock wall.

It was a giant spider, its entire body covered in black ice armor.

Its body was as tall as two Lin Qis, and its eight legs were as thick as pillars. A faint blue light flickered at its joints.

Numerous eyes were densely distributed on its head, each glowing with a malicious red light.

On its back was a thick layer of ice crystals. These crystals were pure black, appearing exceptionally eerie under the dim light.

This was an Earth Demon Spider.

Lin Qi searched through his mind.

He obtained all the information about this monster: a Lv.35 Elite monster. It was highly toxic and possessed an ice attribute. It inhabited such extremely cold places, surviving by devouring the energy within the earthly demon yin fire.

The Earth Demon Spider's eight eyes instantly locked onto Lin Qi.

It treated Lin Qi as "food" invading its nest.

Lin Qi didn't move. He just looked at the giant spider.

A "hissing" sound came from the Earth Demon Spider's throat, sounding very agitated. Its body shook as it opened its cavernous mouth.

"Chii—"

A massive white spider web was sprayed out from its mouthparts.

The web rapidly expanded in the air, carrying a foul stench as it swept down toward Lin Qi's head!

Lin Qi flashed to the side.

His body drew an afterimage in the air, dodging the web.

"Yu Step!"

The spider web missed and slammed hard against the rock behind Lin Qi.

"Sizzle!"

A tooth-aching sound rang out.

Under the corrosion of the spider web, the hard black rock emitted a large amount of black smoke.

The rock was quickly corroded into a puddle of black water that flowed onto the ground. This black water emitted an even stronger stench.

"This web is not only sticky but also highly corrosive," Lin Qi thought.

He narrowed his eyes.

He knew he couldn't touch this web. Once it got on him, even his Physical Body would have a layer of skin corroded away.

Lin Qi's hand reached toward his back.

"Clang!"

The zhan ye heavy sword was pulled out by him.

The three-hundred-jin Meteoric Iron heavy sword emitted a low hum in the darkness. Faint purple lightning flickered within the lightning patterns on the blade, outlining a wild aesthetic.

"Just right, I'll use you to test my newly repaired blade," Lin Qi said calmly, looking at the Earth Demon Spider.

He wasn't afraid in the slightest. Instead, Battle Intent burned in his eyes.

Seeing Lin Qi pull out his heavy sword, the Earth Demon Spider was clearly enraged.

This tiny human actually dared to draw a weapon against it in its own nest?

Its eight legs quickly sprang off the ground.

"Whoosh!"

Its massive body catapulted toward Lin Qi like a cannonball. Its speed was astonishingly fast, reaching Lin Qi almost in the blink of an eye.

The Earth Demon Spider opened its hideous mouthparts, intending to swallow Lin Qi in one bite.