Yuan Ming and the three Green Wolf Beast Slaves were in a deadlock when Ba Yin finally caught up and joined the battle without a word.
He charged out suddenly with a barbaric collision, heading straight for Yuan Ming.
In haste, Yuan Ming could only cross his arms in front of him, but he was still knocked backward by the formidable ghostly strength, slamming heavily against the mountainside.
Yuan Ming felt a sweetness in his throat, and a mouthful of fresh blood already spilled from the corner of his mouth.
"Indeed very strong."
In his heart, he made a judgment about Ba Yin. With his current strength, a direct confrontation was absolutely out of question, especially with three others assisting from the side.
Just then, Yuan Ming suddenly heard a rustling sound above his head, followed by a cascade of small stones rolling down from the mountainside behind him.
"Finally here."
After murmuring, Yuan Ming unexpectedly undid the Fur Cloak Technique, reverting to his human form.
This action was akin to disarming on the battlefield, leaving Ba Yin and the others somewhat surprised, unclear about what he intended to do.
Yuan Ming had no intention of explaining. He immediately took a paper package from his bosom, viciously tore it open, and scattered its contents over himself.
The red and white powder instantly coated his entire body, spreading a pungent odor.
Ba Yin wrinkled his nose, then heard one of the Green Wolf Beast Slaves say, "Boss Ba Yin, this seems to be… Beast Repelling Powder."
Though he didn't know what was going on, he vaguely sensed something was amiss.
"Don't mind it, hurry up and go, kill him for me," Ba Yin bellowed.
The three Green Wolf Beast Slaves lunged at once. Yuan Ming, who had reverted to his human form, did not use the Fur Cloak Technique again but instead turned and scrambled up the mountainside.
One of the Green Wolf Beast Slaves sprinted swiftly, its forepaws grabbed a protruding rock on the mountainside to leap forward, and it opened its huge mouth aiming to bite at Yuan Ming's calf.
Just as its fangs were about to sink into Yuan Ming's calf, a "whoosh" sound of something cutting through the air suddenly rang out.
Immediately afterward, a black sharply-pointed bone spur flew past Yuan Ming's back, instantly piercing through the head of that Green Wolf Beast Slave, splattering blood everywhere.
The body of the Green Wolf Beast Slave, propelled by the powerful inertia of the bone spur, crashed to the ground, dead on the spot.
The other two Green Wolf Beast Slaves, seeing this, were terrified, halting their forward momentum abruptly.
Lifting their heads to look up towards Yuan Ming, they saw a huge hole in the rock face above, from which a giant black head was poking out.
The head was as large as an ox's, covered in black short fur, with eight neatly arranged compound eyes on the top and a pair of curved mandibles below, shimmering with a dark luster, and notably, a sharp black horn on the top of its head.
"What the hell is that?" one of the Green Wolf Beast Slaves exclaimed.
His voice immediately caught the attention of that strange head—eight eyes staring straight at him. The sharp horn on its head flashed darkly, and a black bone spur was suddenly shot out swiftly.
The Green Wolf Beast Slave reacted extremely fast, immediately dodging to the side.
The black bone spur grazed his back, cutting just a scratch, but missing the vital parts.
Seeing that its strike missed, the bizarre head moved quickly, extending forward, coming fully out of the hole. Subsequently, its whole body and eight spear-like black spider legs also crawled out.
It clung to the steep rock face, its eight spider legs firmly nailed into the crevices of the rocks, as stable as Mount Tai, without any sign of falling.
"A Single-horned Wolf Spider, why is there such a thing here?" Ba Yin couldn't help but shout.
As soon as his words fell, looking back at the Green Wolf Beast Slave who was just scratched by the bone spur, he had already collapsed on the ground, black blood leaking from his mouth and nose, already dead.
The remaining Green Wolf Beast Slave, seeing this, was even more petrified on the spot.
"Such potent venom."
No sooner had Ba Yin spoken than another black bone spur was already whistling through the air, heading straight for his face.
He immediately swung a hand to flick the bone spur, using the original force to twist its direction, sending it flying back towards Yuan Ming.
Seeing this, Yuan Ming quickly dodged to the side, then once more climbed upwards.
He was the closest to the Single-horned Wolf Spider, which had already sensed his presence.
However, because his body was covered in Beast Repelling Powder, the Single-horned Wolf Spider did not attack him immediately. Instead, it prioritized attacking Ba Yin, who posed the greatest threat.
The Single-horned Wolf Spider rapidly scurried down, speeding towards Ba Yin, its eight spear-like spider legs supporting its body, reaching Ba Yin in just a few strides.
Its spider leg tips were extremely sharp, constantly thrusting at Ba Yin.
Ba Yin could only wave his badger paws, continuously deflecting with the tips of his claws, setting off a series of metallic clashing sounds.
The delicate-looking legs of the Single-horned Wolf Spider kept colliding with the sharp claws, but instead of being damaged, they forced Ba Yin into a position where he was constantly exposed, leaving streaks of blood on his body.
Shortly, blackness spread over his wounds, a clear sign of poison.
Yuan Ming took the opportunity to start climbing rapidly, and soon reached the cave where the Single-horned Wolf Spider resided.
He flipped himself into the entrance, immediately greeted by an indescribable complex odor.
Yuan Ming glanced around and saw on both sides of the entrance clean-gnawed Bai Gu and scattered pieces of tattered and incomplete flesh.
In the center of these filthy objects, there lay a dark red object, resembling a Lingzhi herb, its texture similar to wood but with a slight animalistic writhing motion.
"That's right, it's the meat Ganoderma mentioned in the 'Herborist'," Yuan Ming's eyes lit up, immediately overjoyed.
Some days ago, when he was out hunting, the prey he had already injured disappeared after running into this secluded valley. Later, when searching, he realized it was taken by the Single-horned Wolf Spider.
When he came to check, he found this meat Ganoderma and knew it was a precious Spiritual Medicine recorded in the 'Herborist' and was tempted to take it away.
However, after trying, Yuan Ming realized he was no match for the Single-horned Wolf Spider, so he devised the plan to drive the spider and swallow the wolf, luring the Green Wolf Gang that was chasing him to snatch the treasure in the chaos.
Seeing the treasure before him, Yuan Ming immediately walked forward, dug up the palm-sized meat Ganoderma completely, wrapped it in Beast Skin prepared in advance, and tucked it into his chest.
With the item in hand, Yuan Ming moved to the entrance, planning to observe the outside situation before making further plans.
However, no sooner had he reached the entrance than a terrifyingly pale human face suddenly dangled down, its round eyes staring straight at him.
Those eyes were pitch black like ink, devoid of any whites, giving off an exceedingly sinister look.
Yuan Ming jumped back, startled, and only then did he clearly see that the pale human face was actually a special pattern located on the head of an entirely black spider.
This spider was much smaller than the Single-horned Wolf Spider, its eight legs as thin as twigs and its body both slim and long, but its head was remarkably round and bore a pale, dismal human face.
As Yuan Ming watched it, it also watched him, but in those black eyes, nothing could be seen.
Then, the strange human face suddenly split into a grin, revealing no teeth and not even a mouth; it was as if there was only a tangible yet intangible skin stuck on the forehead of the spider.
This eerie sight made Yuan Ming's scalp tingle, and he instinctively wanted to flee.
But the cavern on the cliff was shallow, and there was only one exit, trapping Yuan Ming inside.
He had no choice but to use the Fur Cloak Technique, transforming into a White Ape. In a pile of Bai Gu, he blindly grabbed a bone, not knowing from which beast, and readied himself to throw it with the Energy Storage Arm.
Before he could use it, the ancient bone snapped with a "crack".
Yuan Ming hastily picked up another bone, but it also crumbled with a squeeze.
He cursed under his breath and reached for another one, preparing to throw it when he suddenly realized that something felt off. On closer inspection, he discovered that what he held was not a bone but an Ancient Bronze Sword covered in rust.
Just then, the human-faced spider launched its attack first, sending a delicate spider leg speeding towards Yuan Ming like a steel spear, faster even than the Single-horned Wolf Spider.
Yuan Ming, having no time for anything else, hastily placed the sword horizontally to block.
A sharp clang resonated!
The long sword collided with the spider leg, sparking a burst of sparks.
Yuan Ming felt a great force strike him, causing him to involuntarily step back. He then looked at the long sword in his hand and found that it was only slightly chipped, but otherwise unscathed.
Then, the attack of the human-faced spider came again, two spider legs thrusting in, continuously and aggressively targeting Yuan Ming from both sides.
As Yuan Ming swung his sword to block, he desperately pushed towards the direction of the cave entrance.
The limited space inside the cave restricted his movements, putting him on the defensive.
While under attack from the spider legs, Yuan Ming pressed closer to the entrance. Then, the small abdomen of the human-faced spider suddenly contracted, and from a small opening in its belly, a burst of white fluid shot out, expanding in mid-air into a white spiderweb heading straight for Yuan Ming's face.
Upon seeing this, Yuan Ming blocked the thrusting spider legs with his sword and, with his hand open, grabbed the spiderweb, swirling his arm to entangle it, immediately rolling it into a knot.
A sharp, intense pain shot through his palm instantly, a powerful corrosive force seeping into it. Even with the protection of the Ape Skin, the flesh in his palm was instantly corroded, leaving deep wounds.
The burning pain caused Yuan Ming's eyes to bulge in anger as an uncanny ferocity, seemingly not his own, was ignited.
With a shout, he held the sword horizontally in front of him to block the attacks, his body abruptly lunging forward, and his burned hand clenched into a fist, smashing fiercely into the thrusting spider leg.