"This is... the Heaven-Slaying Lotus?" Suddenly, Hua Sheng, who was at the front of the group, recognized the lotus flower and exclaimed in surprise.
"The Heaven-Slaying Lotus? What's that?" Of course, many people had no idea what the Heaven-Slaying Lotus was, thinking it merely looked extraordinary.
"Hehe, this lotus is rare and can be used to refine an antidote pill. If sold to the right buyer, it can fetch a high price," Hua Sheng explained.
"How much can it sell for?"
"I think it could easily sell for dozens of spirit stones."
Hua Sheng spoke with a beaming smile, his face full of the excitement of discovering treasure.
The others immediately lost interest. With a dozen people splitting just a few dozen spirit stones, no one would get much.
Before entering the forest, they had agreed that any spiritual herbs they discovered or harvested would be shared equally among them.
While the lotus seemed harmless at first glance, Xu Yang suddenly furrowed his brow. He noticed something unusual about it. Sending his spiritual sense into the pond, he quickly discovered the issue.
"Hurry up and pluck it already. Stop wasting time. We have more important things to do," someone urged impatiently.
Hua Sheng nodded and was about to step into the pond to pick the lotus when Xu Yang suddenly intervened.
"Stop! Don't go. It's dangerous."
Hua Sheng froze mid-step and quickly retreated, startled by the warning. Turning to see it was Xu Yang, a mere Qi Refining cultivator, he became annoyed.
"You're just a Qi Refining weakling. What could you possibly know? Can you stop shouting nonsense?"
Xu Yang shook his head. "There's real danger in that pond."
Hua Sheng sneered coldly. "This tiny pond, dangerous? The only danger is to someone like you at the Qi Refining stage. I'm at the Golden Core stage. I suggest you stop spouting nonsense, or I might just kill you."
Hua Sheng warned Xu Yang sternly.
Xu Yang sighed inwardly, feeling exasperated. Why is it that whenever he tells the truth, no one believes him?
Some ponds, though they appear small, can be unfathomably deep.
Though Hua Sheng had scolded Xu Yang, he still felt an inexplicable unease as he approached the center of the pond.
Abruptly, he picked up a boulder as large as a person and hurled it into the middle of the pond with great force.
With a loud splash, the boulder struck the water, sending waves several meters high.
But soon, the pond returned to calm, and nothing happened.
Hua Sheng shook his head and shot Xu Yang an angry glare.
The others laughed and teased, "What's wrong? Do you really think a monster is going to pop out of that tiny pond and eat you?"
Grinding his teeth at their words, Hua Sheng brushed off his lingering doubts. They were right. This pond was small and serene—there couldn't possibly be any danger.
Resolute, he stepped forward. With a few light taps across the water's surface, he leapt to the Heaven-Slaying Lotus.
Standing beside the pristine white lotus, Hua Sheng smiled. See? Nothing happened. He realized he had been overly cautious earlier, even allowing himself to be intimidated by a mere Qi Refining cultivator.
How embarrassing. Once this was over, he vowed to make that Qi Refining brat pay for scaring him.
Hua Sheng bent down to pluck the lotus flower. He tugged at it once—nothing happened. He tried again—still, it wouldn't budge.
"Hmm?"
Hua Sheng was puzzled.
Suddenly, the pond stirred, and the movement was earth-shattering.
A black, hairy leg, thickly covered in fine hairs, extended nimbly from beneath the water.
It immediately seized Hua Sheng by the shoulder. The leg was as thick as Hua Sheng himself.
A pitch-black head emerged from the water, its blood-red eyes glowing like lanterns, radiating an ominous and evil aura.
In no time, the creature's entire body surfaced—it was a massive black eight-legged spider.
Its body was the size of a house, and most striking of all was the pure white lotus blooming atop its head, swaying gently in the breeze.
The spider's eight long legs resembled tree trunks, tall and sturdy.
Hua Sheng, dangling from one of the spider's enormous legs, was tossed straight into its mouth.
With a chilling crunch, blood sprayed everywhere as the spider chewed him into pieces and swallowed him.
The people on the shore stood frozen in shock. They hadn't expected this seemingly harmless little pond to conceal such a deadly threat!
Their first thought was relief—thankfully, it had been Hua Sheng and not one of them. Otherwise, they'd be the ones dead.
However, they soon realized their relief was premature.
The black spider suddenly turned its glowing red eyes toward the shore. Then, it moved.
From its mouth, it spat out a white thread, shooting it like a beam of light.
A woman standing near the edge of the pond didn't even have time to react before the thread wrapped around her.
In the next instant, she was yanked into the spider's mouth.
With a series of crunching sounds, the spider savored its meal. Flesh and blood flew everywhere, and within three seconds, the woman was entirely devoured.
"Run! Run! Quick, it's a monster!"
Zhong Qi's hair stood on end as he shouted and took the lead in running away.
For a moment, he moved with such vigor that even a young man couldn't have matched his speed.
Xu Yang's lips twitched. In truth, he really wanted to say, "If only you'd listened to me earlier, you wouldn't be in this mess now."
As someone who had lived for over 100,000 years, Xu Yang knew that his words were always the truth. Ignoring him was a sure way to meet disaster.
Suddenly, the giant spider fixed its gaze on Zhong Qi, who was fleeing.
Among the group of Golden Core cultivators, Zhong Qi, as a Nascent Soul cultivator, stood out like a crane in a flock of chickens, making him an obvious target.
The spider wasted no time, moving its eight long legs and chasing after Zhong Qi.
Despite its massive size, the spider was surprisingly fast thanks to its long legs.
With just a few strides, it halved the distance between itself and Zhong Qi.
"Go buy me some time!"
Zhong Qi suddenly grabbed Xu Yang and flung him backward as a distraction.
"Hmm?"
Xu Yang raised an eyebrow at the old man's actions.
Without warning, Xu Yang grabbed Zhong Qi and hoisted him up.
Then, step by step, Xu Yang walked toward the giant spider.
Zhong Qi was stunned by Xu Yang's immense strength and seemingly suicidal behavior.
"What... what are you doing? Let me go!"
Zhong Qi began struggling, but the overwhelming spiritual energy emanating from Xu Yang completely suppressed him, leaving him powerless.
"You're not a Qi Refining cultivator!" Zhong Qi exclaimed in shock.