19: Chapter 19 The Soaring Kill Value

"Formation!!" Captain Wu Feng's roar exploded.

Four veterans instantly formed a diamond battle formation, shielding the student soldiers in the center.

"Shattering Glow Seal!"

Wu Feng let out a violent roar and unsheathed his saber. A white light rune appeared out of thin air, spinning as it merged into the blade, which immediately emitted a wisp of milky-white light.

The blue trait, Shattering Glow Seal, was an Energy-type ability that could enchant weapons to deal massive extra damage.

The Spider King did not attack immediately.

It hovered in mid-air twenty meters away, its eight compound eyes coldly scanning the crowd as its abdomen pulsed, spraying massive clumps of sticky webs that blanketed the sky!

"Scatter! Don't get caught in the webs!"

Wu Feng slashed out, his white saber light instantly tearing through three webs.

But there were too many webs; Wu Feng dodged frantically but was still ensnared by one.

"Not good, the captain is in danger!"

The four early-stage Rank 2 veterans immediately rushed to his rescue, no longer able to look after Lin Mo and the others behind them.

They had no choice; they knew Wu Feng's life was paramount. If he died, they would all perish.

A sticky web grazed Lin Mo's left shoulder. Lingyan Steps activated instinctively, his body drifting like smoke to narrowly avoid it.

But Zhou Dongmei to his right rear wasn't as lucky. She dodged back in terror, only to stumble right into the path of another web.

"Ah—!!"

The incredibly sticky silk instantly cocooned her, leaving only half of her terrified face visible.

Zhou Dongmei struggled desperately, but the silk tightened, and venom began to penetrate her combat suit.

"Save... save me..."

Her voice quickly faded. Her Rank 1, Level 4 physical constitution was no match for the venom on the web, and she lost consciousness in moments.

"Watch out for the Spider King's silk! It's venomous!"

Lin Mo immediately warned the others.

Normal Ghost-faced Spiders' silk is non-toxic, but the Ghost-faced Spider King's silk contains a trace of venom.

Though weak, it required at least a Rank 2 physical constitution to resist. For these Rank 1 Awakeners, getting hit meant an instant loss of combat capability.

A cold light flashed in Zhao Fansheng's eyes. Pretending to "rescue," he secretly kicked a piece of rubble toward Lin Mo's back while shouting, "Lin Mo, duck!"

Had Lin Mo actually ducked, he would have been caught directly by another web falling from above.

But Lin Mo didn't duck at all.

The moment the rubble flew toward him, he used Lingyan Steps to shift a meter to the left, leaving only two faint smoke-like afterimages behind.

The web missed.

Meanwhile, that piece of rubble "happened" to strike the calf of another boy nearby who was trying to dodge.

The boy cried out in pain, his movements slowing by half a beat.

A web fell right over him.

"No—!!!"

The scream lasted only two seconds before the silk tightened and the venom seeped in. The boy's body quickly turned black, and he stopped moving.

The second one.

Zhao Fansheng's pupils constricted. Lin Mo's evasive maneuver was faster than he could comprehend.

That was definitely not the speed a Rank 1, Level 2 Awakener should possess. He knew Lin Mo's trait was Swift Step, which enhanced speed, but it shouldn't be this fast.

But he had no time to dwell on it as the battle erupted in full force.

The Spider King moved rapidly, shooting dozens of silk threads with a metallic luster from its abdomen!

These threads were so fast they left afterimages. Their tips were barbed; once they hit, the barbs would expand and hook deep into the flesh.

"Clang, clang, clang, clang—!"

Wu Feng swung his saber frantically, severing most of the silk.

But the other four veterans weren't so lucky. Though they were Rank 2 Awakeners, they were only at the early stage, and the barrage of silk soon had them struggling to cope.

To make matters worse, the ordinary Ghost-faced Spiders began to close in.

At least twenty mid-stage Rank 1 Ghost-faced Spiders swarmed from all sides, attacking with venom, tripwires, and webs.

The remaining four student soldiers were instantly thrust into a perilous situation.

"Back to back! Don't scatter!"

A veteran roared, but he was pinned down by three spiders and couldn't break away to help.

The short-haired girl, Yi Xiaoyu, calmly swung her saber and severed a spider's leg, but another spider pounced from above, its venomous fangs aiming for her neck.

A flash of saber light.

The spider was sliced in two mid-air, drenching Yi Xiaoyu in dark green fluid.

Lin Mo sheathed his blade and lunged toward the other side without even looking back.

There, two boys were back-to-back, surrounded by five spiders and already in dire straits.

Lingyan Steps at full power!

Lin Mo's figure became a wisp of gray smoke in the Black Needle Forest. Every step left an afterimage, completely baffling the Ghost-faced Spiders' compound eye system.

They lunged at the afterimages, biting thin air, only to be cut down by blades striking from impossible angles.

One, two, three...

Lin Mo, whose cultivation had reached Rank 1, Level 5, found killing these Ghost-faced Spiders effortless. Their defense was weak, and their small bodies were no match for his C-rank Saber.

[Killed mid-stage Rank 1 beast Ghost-faced Spider, slaughter value +25]

[Lingyan Steps proficiency +1, Basic Saber Technique proficiency +3]

[Killed mid-stage Rank 1 beast Ghost-faced Spider, slaughter value +25]

[Killed...]

Notifications rang out incessantly. To other students, these were lethal monsters, but to Lin Mo, they were treasures providing massive amounts of slaughter value.

Lin Mo's focus was razor-sharp. His [God Speed] talent pushed his reaction time and dynamic vision to their limits, allowing him to move through the spider swarm as if it were empty space.

Lin Mo's sudden outburst immediately relieved the pressure on those around him.

"Lin Mo..."

"He's actually... this strong!"

Zhao Fansheng hid to the side, his eyes bulging in shock.

The other three also stood agape, watching blankly as Lin Mo demonstrated how to slay the Ghost-faced Spiders with single strikes.

Not a single Ghost-faced Spider could withstand even one blow from Lin Mo.

Anything Lin Mo targeted was killed instantly.

"This is insane! Just how strong is he?!"

A boy couldn't help but mutter.

"Late-stage Rank 1... no, he must have combat power close to Rank 2 to butcher these Ghost-faced Spiders like this!"

Zhou Xiaoyu said with certainty.

She was the only other blue-trait Awakener besides Zhao Fansheng, and like him, her cultivation was at Rank 1, Level 5.

She had just killed two Ghost-faced Spiders herself.

Thus, she knew exactly how strong they were.

One-on-one, she could easily kill one, as their physical strength wasn't high and they relied on strange tricks.

But against two at once, Yi Xiaoyu could only barely defend; against three, even she would be in danger.

Because their attack methods were very cunning, and one slip-up could be fatal.

She had just been attacked by three at once, and it was only Lin Mo's timely intervention that saved her.

Now aware of Lin Mo's true strength, Zhao Fansheng's expression soured.

"Damn it!"

"This guy was hiding his strength so deeply..."

Earlier, Zhao Fansheng had intentionally triggered the silk just to cause a stir and show off to the captain.

Of course, the main reason was that their class teacher, Wang Yan, had told him to find an opportunity to get rid of Lin Mo quietly. That's why he caused the disturbance, hoping for a chance to kill him.

But he hadn't expected such a large number of Ghost-faced Spiders, which nearly put him in danger as well.

Moreover, the Spider King's strength in the distance exceeded his expectations.

Captain Wu Feng and the four veterans were unable to take down the Spider King immediately.

If not for Lin Mo's sudden outburst, the student soldiers likely would have died there.

Zhao Fansheng was starting to regret his actions. He feared Lin Mo had seen him trigger the silk since Lin Mo was right behind him.

Moreover, his intentional shout to "warn" Lin Mo was meant to frame him, but it had backfired. If Lin Mo held a grudge because of this, things would get difficult...

"Captain, watch out!" a veteran suddenly screamed.

While blocking three steel-like silk threads for his comrades, Wu Feng left his right flank exposed. Cunning flashed in the Spider King's eyes; instead of attacking Wu Feng, it suddenly turned and spat venom at an already injured veteran!

The venom was too fast for the veteran to dodge.

At that critical, hair-breadth moment—

Lin Mo stopped clearing the lesser spiders and shot toward the main battlefield like a bolt of lightning!