The scenery blurred past Fang Chang like a carousel spinning out of control. The mist-shrouded forest below grew larger and closer in his vision as he hurtled downward.
He instinctively activated his newly gained innate skill, "Harden."
A black sheen briefly flickered over his metallic carapace, making it appear unchanged on the surface. However, the oppressive aura radiating from his body became even stronger. His defense stat doubled in an instant, surging from 208 to 416.
As Fang Chang plummeted through the misty treetops, he fought to stabilize his form and spat out a 5-meter-wide white web, one of his racial skills, "Poison Web." Thanks to his recent evolution, the skill's cooldown had reset, and now it became his lifeline.
The web stretched downward, snagging on two thick branches of a massive tree below, forming a makeshift hammock suspended mid-air.
Fang Chang landed heavily on the web, causing the threads to tighten to their limit.
CRACK!
One of the branches supporting the web snapped under the strain, rebounding the web and the attached branch back toward him.
HP -10.
The impact was jarring, but the web significantly slowed his fall, buying him a critical moment to act.
Fang Chang shot out another web directly below him using this brief reprieve.
This second web absorbed his weight for just half a second before snapping under the immense force. The web split apart, and Fang Chang's body slipped through the gap, resuming his fall.
He quickly deployed a third web, which held up slightly longer than the first two before eventually collapsing.
Poison Web's usage limit was reached.
With no more webs to rely on, Fang Chang continued his descent, hurtling toward the forest floor below.
The trees became denser as he fell, and he crashed into branches one after another. The collisions sent him careening in different directions, sharp twigs puncturing his carapace and embedding themselves into his flesh.
HP -18.
HP -33.
HP -105.
Fang Chang's HP continued to drop as his body endured relentless impacts. Fear gripped his heart as he realized just how close he was to death.
This fall was a gamble—a desperate attempt to escape the Titan Giant Ape. He knew there was no surviving a direct hit from the beast's mountain-sized fists. But now, faced with the relentless onslaught of gravity and nature, his gamble seemed even riskier.
His HP dwindled until finally, with a thunderous "THUD!", he crashed into the ground, creating a deep crater.
Fang Chang stared at the numbers flashing on his interface:
HP: 1/550.
"...I survived."
Relief washed over him as his pounding heart gradually steadied. His vision blurred, darkness creeping in from the edges, and moments later, he lost consciousness.
Fang Chang had no idea how long he remained unconscious. When he finally came to, he assessed his condition and let out a bitter laugh.
His body was in shambles.
Seven and a half of his eight legs were broken. Only half of one front leg retained enough function to move, albeit weakly. The rest were either severed at the base or completely numb and useless.
Checking his status panel, he noticed a faint glimmer of hope:
Name: Fang Chang
Species: Dark Armor Demon Spider
Spirit Power: 2,173 years
Evolution Points: 730
HP: 47/550 (Recovering slowly)
Strength: 126
Attack: 134
Defense: 208
Speed: 171
His HP had begun to recover.
Fang Chang remembered the skill he had acquired from devouring the slime earlier: Regeneration.
Regeneration LV1: Restores 3 HP per hour.
Although the recovery was slow, it had become his lifeline in this desperate situation.
"Three HP an hour... I must have been unconscious for more than ten hours," Fang Chang calculated. The realization filled him with gratitude for his earlier decision.
Had he chosen to evolve into the Dark Scythe Demon Spider, he wouldn't have had the defense or the regeneration needed to survive this ordeal.
Fang Chang raised his gaze toward the cliff he had fallen from, his eyes burning with determination.
Whether it was Tang San or the Titan Giant Ape, he vowed not to let them go unpunished.
"Thirty years east of the river, thirty years west—don't underestimate a desperate spider!" Fang Chang declared inwardly, though his current condition forced him to temper his ambition.
For two full days, Fang Chang lay in the crater he had created. He drank dew from nearby leaves to stave off thirst and endured hunger as best he could.
His HP gradually climbed back to about one-third of its maximum, and some of his more severe wounds began to heal.
However, his broken legs showed only slow progress. Three previously numb legs had regained some sensation but remained too weak to support his weight. The severed ones had started sprouting tiny buds of regrowth, resembling miniature stumps.
With the rain finally letting up, the muddy water in the crater receded, leaving Fang Chang feeling slightly more comfortable.
Just a few more days, and I'll be able to move again, he thought optimistically.
But fate had other plans.
From a nearby burrow, a fiery red ant-like spirit beast emerged. It moved erratically, following some scent trail that led it toward Fang Chang.
The ant was about 10 centimeters long, its body covered in fiery red armor. Most striking was its pair of oversized mandibles, nearly half its body length, which gave it a fearsome appearance.
Species: Fire Ant
Spirit Power: 10 years
HP: 10/10
Strength: 1
Attack: 2
Defense: 1
Speed: 1
The Fire Ant scurried closer and eventually stopped about 20 centimeters away from Fang Chang.
Using its massive mandibles, it picked up a piece of blackened debris from the ground—a fragment of Fang Chang's broken leg—and carried it back into its burrow.
Fang Chang exhaled in relief.
"Good thing it didn't notice me," he muttered to himself, realizing he was in no condition to fend off even such a weak creature.
But his relief was short-lived.
Not long after the first Fire Ant disappeared, a second, slightly larger one emerged from the burrow.
Then a third.
And a fourth.
More and more Fire Ants began pouring out of the hole, their focus unmistakably on Fang Chang.