206: Chapter 206 The door is welded shut; no one is allowed to leave work!

The four of them clung to the rocky wall at the edge of the sinkhole, sneaking deeper into the abyss.

They suppressed their presence the entire way, moving as silently as cats, deliberately avoiding the spiderweb meshes hanging down from above.

Night Crow, relying on his natural affinity with shadows, walked at the very front like a shadow blending into the darkness. A dark glow flickered from his fingertips from time to time as he sensed the energy fluctuations ahead.

Young Master Gu Lingfeng automatically took on the responsibility of bringing up the rear and guarding the flanks,

sand grains already condensing into a thin layer of armor on his body's surface.

Mentally, he was clearly not having an easy time either.

Ye Xiao, however, was in the worst shape.

His body was tense the entire time, his neck stretched straight, and his gaze was locked onto the dense cluster of "spider chandeliers" overhead,

not even daring to breathe too loudly.

He swore he had never seen such a SAN-draining scene in his entire life.

The only one whose vibe seemed out of place was Su Ming, who walked at the back of the line.

With his hands in his pockets, he strolled leisurely, his eyes scanning the layered meshes repeatedly as he muttered calculations under his breath.

"Tier 4 ones can be considered a bonus, Tier 5 ones should be worth tens of thousands, and Tier 6... tsk, at least a hundred thousand base. There must be dozens of them here, right? Isn't this way more efficient than playing with birds with that kid Ye Xiao?"

Just as Su Ming was mentally calculating the total value of this wave of "fixed assets", Night Crow suddenly stopped in his tracks.

"Wait."

He raised his hand, signaling everyone to stop.

He pointed two fingers diagonally upward to the right.

Everyone's eyes followed his gaze.

In the outermost mesh, two Tier 4 Shadow Demon Spiders were struggling violently.

Their eight legs clawed frantically within the spider silk, stretching the originally smooth threads taut and causing fine cracks to appear on the surface.

This formed a stark contrast with the motionless "cured meats" hanging beside them.

"We didn't disturb them,"

Night Crow could clearly sense that the energy fluctuations flowing through the spider silk were becoming chaotic.

"It wasn't an external disturbance; the sustaining power of this giant spiderweb itself was decaying from the inside."

"Crack!"

A crisp sound echoed.

One of the Tier 4 Magic Spiders finally snapped the last thread of spider silk,

its massive body crashing to the ground. Its eight sharp chelicerae scraped against the floor, letting out a series of hisses.

The freed Magic Spider immediately locked onto Su Ming and his three companions by the rock wall,

its hind legs suddenly tensing as its massive body turned into a gust of foul-smelling black wind, pouncing straight at Night Crow at the front of the line.

However, the instant the Magic Spider pounced in front of him...

Night Crow's figure vanished from the spot.

In the next second, a dark afterimage flashed past the side of the Magic Spider.

Swoosh...

A flash of cold light suddenly appeared.

Night Crow reappeared, his dagger precisely slicing into the weakest gap of the soft armor connecting the Magic Spider's head and thorax.

The massive spider head separated from its body, tumbling far away, spraying dark green bodily fluids all over the ground.

The entire sequence of movements was smooth as flowing water, fast to the extreme!

"...Badass."

Ye Xiao spat out those two words from the bottom of his heart.

He knew Night Crow was strong, but he didn't expect him to be this strong.

A Tier 4 Magic Spider, insta-killed in one move.

Although he could also insta-kill one, he could absolutely never do it with such effortless ease.

Young Master Gu Lingfeng nodded in approval.

As expected of someone trained by Instructor Ying Wuhen. This 'Shadow Kill' secret technique indeed had some serious merit.

Night Crow sheathed his dagger, but his brow furrowed even deeper.

Su Ming stepped forward and casually touched the spider carcass. The body vanished, stored into the System space.

"What's wrong, Xiao Yazi?"

"Pfft... gahaha..."

Ye Xiao couldn't hold it in and burst out laughing.

Young Master Gu Lingfeng also turned his head away, his shoulders shaking.

Night Crow stared at Su Ming, his face covered in dark lines.

"Who are you calling Xiao Yazi?"

"You naming failure!"

"Is that any way to address someone?"

Su Ming shrugged, looking innocent.

"There's already someone surnamed Ye in the team, we have to differentiate, right?"

Night Crow gnashed his teeth. "You can call me Xiao Mo."

"Alright, Xiao Mo."

Su Ming readily agreed, then waved his hand. "Stop laughing, everyone. Let's listen to Xiao Mo analyze the situation."

Night Crow ignored them, pointing at the headless spider carcass still twitching on the ground, and said in a heavy voice:

"Something is indeed off..."

"If the Magic Spiders were in a state of sacrifice, their consciousness and power would be suppressed to the absolute lowest point. It would be impossible for them to break free on their own."

"Unless..." He raised his head, looking up at the spiderweb overhead which was trembling more and more violently.

"...They were forcibly sealed!"

Before his voice could fade,

in more than a dozen meshes adjacent to where the web had just broken,

the writhing of the trapped Magic Spiders intensified in unison,

and more spider silk began to show visible cracks.

"This is trouble..."

Young Master Gu Lingfeng squatted down, picking up a piece of broken spider silk to sense it with his fingertips for a moment, his expression growing grimmer by the second.

"This is a Symbiotic Seal Matrix. The vital signs of all the Magic Spiders are completely bound to the spider silk network."

"Then why don't we clear them out one by one while they aren't fully awake?"

Ye Xiao scratched his head. "Four against one, we can wear them down slowly..."

"Wear them down my foot,"

Young Master Gu Lingfeng cut him off directly.

"This kind of matrix is most vulnerable to external force. Once our attack intensity exceeds a certain threshold, the entire web will instantly collapse completely..."

"Over a thousand Tier 4 and Tier 5 ones, plus dozens of Tier 6 elite Magic Spiders, will break free at the same time!"

He pointed to the endless darkness overhead.

"That shabby city wall of Dingxi City wouldn't last ten minutes against them."

Ye Xiao's words caught in his throat.

They couldn't fight head-on. Fighting would be equivalent to personally triggering a city-destroying disaster.

Nor could they ignore it, because the Seal itself was decaying. Even if they did nothing, a complete collapse was only a matter of time.

To make matters worse, the clues regarding Night Crow's father were at the deepest part of this sinkhole.

If they went deep into the core now, and the Seal collapsed midway,

the entire team would be completely overwhelmed by the spider swarms attacking from both front and rear, with no way to retreat.

"The only way..."

Young Master Gu Lingfeng clenched his fists and made a decision. "I will stay here to support Brother Su Ming, hold the entrance of this main passage, and delay them as much as possible."

"Xiao Mo, you and Ye Xiao take the exploration side path on the rock wall and bypass to the core cavern. You must find the clues, or rather, find the source controlling all of this as quickly as possible!"

"Wait, what about me?"

Before Night Crow could reply, Ye Xiao was already protesting, pointing at his own nose.

"I'm a person too, you know? How did I become the dead weight?"

Young Master Gu Lingfeng glanced at him, really wanting to say 'You are the weakest, you won't be of much use on either side,' but he held his tongue.

"I'll go! I'll go with Xiao Mo!"

Ye Xiao also knew he wasn't good at group fights, so he stiffened his neck and said, "If there's danger, I run fast!"

"..."

Everyone was left speechless.

He said it so righteously, they almost thought he was going to say 'If there's danger, I'll cover the rear'!

"That works."

Su Ming nodded unexpectedly; he had indeed witnessed the speed of Ye Xiao's [Thunder Flash Instant Step].

"You accompany Xiao Mo. If you encounter danger, run first, then come back and call me."

He paused, then looked at Young Master Gu Lingfeng again.

"You go with them too."

"Huh?"

Young Master Gu Lingfeng was stunned.

Su Ming said as if it were a matter of course:

"It's safer if the three of you go together. With your earth-element defense, even if you run into a Tier 7 Spider King,"

"you can at least hold out for a few seconds, which is enough time for me to rush over."

"Then, Brother, you..."

"I'll guard this place alone."

Su Ming's tone was as casual as saying, 'I'm going downstairs to buy a pack of cigarettes.'

As soon as these words were spoken, the entire area fell into a dead silence.

"No way!"

Young Master Gu Lingfeng was the first to object. "Brother, I admit you are strong, but those are over a thousand high-tier Magic Spiders!

How could you possibly hold them off alone?

Even a Tier 7 powerhouse would..."

"I can sneak in alone without disturbing any Magic Spiders,"

Night Crow also took a step forward, his tone grave.

Su Ming felt helpless.

Why was it so difficult to explain his combat power to these normal people?

He didn't bother wasting his breath and directly gestured to Ye Xiao.

Ye Xiao's mouth twitched.

Again?!

"Give me a hit."

Under the horrified gazes of Young Master Gu Lingfeng and Night Crow,

Chidori condensed on Ye Xiao's fingertips, and he struck directly at Su Ming's outstretched left arm.

"Crack!"

Thunderous light exploded with a terrifying momentum.

Su Ming's arm was completely unharmed.

Not even a single hair on his skin was singed.

Young Master Gu Lingfeng: "..."

Night Crow: "..."

"Understand now?"

Su Ming clapped his hands. "I'll only defend and not attack, purely taking the damage. Holding out until you guys return is absolutely not a problem.

If any of you stay behind instead, it's certain death!"

Seeing more and more cracks appearing on the spiderweb,

and even hearing the harsh scraping of spider claws,

the situation was extremely urgent!

Young Master Gu Lingfeng and Night Crow exchanged glances and could only grit their teeth and agree.

Su Ming immediately took a step forward, puffing out his chest and standing righteously in front of the main passage,

carrying a sense of tragic heroism.

He chin-nodded at Young Master Gu Lingfeng:

"Build an earth wall behind me, as thick as possible, to completely block the path."

"Don't let any stragglers slip through and delay your important business."

"Brother... are you for real?"

Young Master Gu Lingfeng's eyes grew slightly red, his voice trembling a bit.

Su Ming frowned and urged impatiently:

"Stop dawdling! Hurry up and build it, then get going!"

"Alright!"

Young Master Gu Lingfeng clenched his jaw, let out a loud shout, and pushed his SS-Rank Talent to its absolute limit.

The black stone ground beneath his feet shook violently as countless black-gold sand grains shot into the air,

stacking and compressing frantically behind Su Ming!

"Rumble..."

A heavy sand wall spanning over ten meters and three meters thick rose from the ground, slowly sealing the only escape route completely shut.

"Brother Ming!"

At the final moment before the sand wall fully closed, Ye Xiao clung to the gap and shouted at the top of his lungs,

"Take care!!"

Su Ming didn't turn around, simply waving his hand casually with his back to them.

"Boom!"

The sand wall closed completely, and the world fell instantly silent.

Right at this moment, the outermost spiderweb finally experienced its first large-scale collapse.

Over a dozen hideously shaped Shadow Demon Spiders broke out of their cocoons,

and among them was even a Tier 5 elite that was visibly a size larger!

Their eight crimson compound eyes swept across the empty bottom of the pit,

finally locking onto that single figure in unison.

"Hiss...!"

Amidst the ear-piercing hisses, over a dozen giant spiders charged simultaneously.

Su Ming looked up, watching the gaping maws and chelicerae rushing toward him.

Instead of fear, a wide grin spread across his face,

revealing an incredibly bright smile.

"Sorry, everyone, but the door is already welded shut!"

"Before sparks start flying from my clothes from all the rubbing,"

"nobody fucking thinks about getting off work!!!"

...