Ling walked through the thicket of the trees, encountering many Spirit Beasts in the Yellow Zone along the way, he was cautious enough to not raise their agro towards him, which would only tire him before reaching the Red Zone of the Bramble Maze Forest.
The terrain was getting harder, he had to descend the huge and tall cliff using the dangling ratan roots that grew abundant, intertwining to each other like spider's cobwebs in irregular manner.
Before long, as he dwells deeper into the valley he sensed the Qi Energy was thickened, suffocating, even.
Upon reaching the base of the valley, he realized that he had entered another place where no ordinary human could survive.
'This place must be the very center of the Red Zone.' Ling muttered inwardly.
It was a full moon night, so the visibility was quite perceivable even though the canopy zone of the forest was quite dense.
Treading his way to find his prey, Ling eventually encountered the inhabitants of the Red Zone. He's proning on the ground, holding his breath to stay as still as possible.
An eerie silence soon enveloped the whole area, not a single noise was heard.
Stab! Stab!
He heard the sound of multiple legs, marching from behind. The ground trembles slightly as the creatures strode its way through the dense forest.
Ling took a glance and saw the eight dozens of meters tall legs, walking calmly like shadows of walking columns.
'Giant Tall Legs Spider?! This area is not supposed to be its habitat. What makes it come all the way here?'
Suddenly, a loud screeching voice echoed throughout the valley in the distance. Something was calling the giant spider.
At this moment, Ling had found out the reason why the giant spider was marching all the way down to the valley.
It was a mating call from its opposite sex, or rather, another Spirit Beast mimicking the mating call to lure the giant spider.
The eight-legged Spirit Beast marched forward in such terrifying speed despites its massive size. Bulldozing the tree lines to open the path.
Ling quickly got up and followed the giant spider from a safe distance since the latter had been focused on the mating call.
A moment later, Ling ended up at the swamp with a putrid scent of rotting carcasses. He quickly climbed the tallest tree to gain a vantage point to oversee the fight between two Sky Rank Spirit Beasts.
In the middle of the swamp, there was a huge boulder and the One Tusked Salamander perched on it.
Ling's body shuddered when he saw the strange creature. It looks like a humongous crocodile, with slimy skin covered with black mucus.
At the top of its head, there was a glowing tusk which was able to produce any kind of abnormalities within the vicinity. And the swamp itself was the product of the salamander's hunting method.
The Giant Spider was agitated upon finding out that it had been fooled by the salamander. It lashed out the cobwebs from the spinneret to ensnare the big ass lizard.
However, the salamander was so agile and elusive since the swamp was its own natural habitat. The cobwebs were immediately melted upon touching the swamp's surface.
As the two Spirit Beasts were having such fierceful fight, Ling assessed the situation calmly, waiting for the perfect moment to onslaught both of them.
Ling recalled the lesson that he learned from a book that he read back in the Zhao Sect Pavilion.
"Make your enemies fight each other first. When they're in the critical state between life and death, strike them without mercy!"
It was a vicious and yet very effective method to get rid of multiple parties at once!
As the battle raged on, neither Spirit Beasts were willing to lose the fight. Despite being less intelligent than humans, Spirit Beasts do have some instinctual pride as living creatures.
Eventually, the moment that Ling had been waiting, come to present itself as a window of opportunity that he couldn't let go.
As the fight between the two behemoth creatures reached the climax, Ling took out the Iron Spear from his Storage Belt.
He leaped to the air, the surge of his Qi Energy made the two Spirit Beasts caught in surprise as Ling Zhao threw his spear using his Battle Skill: Starfall Strike.
Of course, Ling did not brazenly shout out the name of his skill which would make his position to be compromised.
The Iron Spear lashed towards the giant spider's head, stabbing its eyes and causing it to flail in pain, shaking its head erratically.
On the other hand, the One Tusked Salamander was caught by the cobwebs, reducing its movement speed significantly.
Ling leaped from one tree to another at high speed while cutting down the branches to let the moonlight bathe the swamp to diverge the salamander's attention. He knew that nocturnal Spirit Beasts are very sensitive with lights.
He summoned his Blood Spear from his right palm, plunging downward and using the full moon light as his advantage.
With the First Movement of the Heavens Defying Spear, Ling used the Thunderclap to send thousands if not hundred thousands of volts upon the swamp.
Jolts of blue electricity enveloped the whole swamp, dancing wildly and illuminating the dark swamp. Brighter than the moonlight itself, electrocuted the salamander and toasted its skin into crisp. However, the big ass lizard was very tough and able to regenerate its wound.
"Take this!"
Right at this critical moment, Ling Zhao's battle instinct told him to summon the Infernal Flame which was slumbering inside the Blood Spear.
Ling also combines the Four Winged Eagle's ability to further increase Infernal Flame's burning power by its wind attribute.
He charged frontward as he brandished the fiery spear with both hands. The brightness of the flame made the lizard confused about what was even happening and petrified in place.
"Die! You motherfucker!"
Ling ignored the searing heat on his skin. If it wasn't for his refined body, Ling might have burnt into a pile of ashes by now.
Alas, the Blood Spear was able to pierce salamander's heart, evaporating its bodily fluid almost entirely. Except, the huge tusk which could be used to make a good weapon.
"Maybe I can forge a new weapon out from this tusk." said Ling, putting the tusk inside the Storage Belt.