The newcomer approached with graceful, swaying steps -- an exceedingly beautiful, elegantly striking woman.
Her features were delicate and pretty, appearing to be around twenty-five or twenty-six years old. The corners of her eyes carried a trace of coldness, which paired with her exquisite and cool countenance like a snow lotus upon an icy mountain, possessing a singular charm.
Her skin was fair and tender, radiating a healthy luster at the same time. She wore a long green dress beneath a moon-white cloak with bamboo branch patterns -- pure, serene, and refined, giving off the aura of an abstinent young married woman.
No need to ask -- the demon spider instantly knew.
She was the Wu Gu Clan's elder -- Long Bingheng.
In the next moment, the voice belonging to Bai Zhi was transmitted into the woman's consciousness, even colder than the air itself:
"Has the Wu Gu Clan grown tired of living? Daring to trespass here."
The refined woman's expression did not change as she coldly spoke: "You have committed too many sins, bringing too much suffering and terror to this city. It is the duty of my Wu Gu Clan members to suppress malevolent evils."
"You need only know that today is the day you die!"
The Ice Mirror Butterflies in the sky simultaneously emitted her voice, echoing and resonating, carrying the imposing manner of lofty righteousness.
"Well said!"
A clear male voice seconded.
"No matter if you are Bai Zhi or Nyx, these names shall be sealed in dust, and you will ultimately fall here."
At Long Bingheng's side, five figures appeared in succession -- Zichen, Li Wang, Jianxin, Gui Yu, and an arrogant young man wearing light tactical uniform.
The arrogant young man had a round face, high nose, thick, sweeping brows, and large, bell-like eyes. Between his brows was thick, overweening conceit, and his words were contemptuous. The words just now had all come from his mouth.
"What I despise most are insects, especially things like spiders. I can't wait to see you hacked to pieces." He looked toward the demon spider's position with complete disgust.
Hearing this, the demon spider's heart was as calm as still water, nor was it surprised the other party could see it, for it had not deliberately hidden among the leaves, and its invisible form had been outlined by the falling snowflakes.
But Wang Miaoyin couldn't hold back.
"Huh? How is it that a corpse is speaking?" Wang Miaoyin glanced at the young man, scrutinizing him with curiosity as she smiled faintly.
"Hmph! So you're that Wang Miaoyin? To save your own life, as a human you've fallen to the level of a slave. How pathetic," Yinhe said icily.
Long Bingheng furrowed her elegant brows slightly.
"Enough, Yinhe, say less. Don't forget our objective," Gui Yu reminded from the side.
The demon spider fixed its gaze on the man called "Yinhe" and immediately understood -- it was his psychic power that had locked onto its precise location in the rear mountain.
[Target]: Yinhe
[Vitality]: 249
[Body Length]: 172cm
[...]
So this was an A-rank Secret Keeper -- neither a lifeform classification note nor a spirit essence reaction.
Bai Jie was briefly stunned. It had never imagined a human's Vitality value could reach such heights -- something that defied common sense.
After all, even Jianxin's Vitality hadn't broken one hundred.
The demon spider simply deactivated its Invisibility Camouflage, leaping onto a massive boulder to directly face the four Ice Mirror Butterflies in the air and the six humans on the ground.
Its horrifying and uncanny form was completely revealed!
Eight deep, bluish-purple eyes gleamed with nearly tangible killing intent!
At this moment, hundreds of Enforcer robots had also completely surrounded the mountaintop.
"Very well!"
"Humans, you... are quite interesting!"
Suddenly, a captivatingly charismatic voice that resonated through the soul appeared in the ears of every person on the mountain.
That's right -- it echoed in each person's "ears"!
Zichen's expression immediately changed. "What's going on? Can this demon spider speak now?"
What had just occurred was an ability produced after the demon spider's Talent: Mysterious Forbidden Domain had awakened to 15%. Unlike before, when it could only transmit thoughts telepathically, it could now project physically audible sound through its psychic power, enough to encompass the entire rear mountain!
"This sovereign gives but one warning: if you withdraw now, this sovereign may still spare your lives."
The noble, faintly magnetic voice echoed once more across the entire rear mountain, brimming with the confidence of one in total control.
"You're the one who should surrender, Bai Zhi! If you give up resistance, you and Wang Miaoyin can avoid the suffering to come instead," Yinhe sneered.
The other humans, including Long Bingheng, did not speak, clearly agreeing with Yinhe's words.
"Good, very good."
The demon spider let out a light laugh. "Truly arrogant boasting..."
But the next second, the soul-cleansing laughter transformed into a cruel curse:
"Since you clearly had a path to live yet refused to take it, then be buried here forever."
Boom!
In an instant, the humans present felt the sky grew slightly darker and the air thinned, with a premonition of impending catastrophe descending.
Goosebumps rose on both Zichen and Li Wang's skin.
They actually beheld -- one after another, doors that transcended dimensions, seeming to come from hell itself, slowly rising from the ground and opening!
"Bai Zhi... can actually summon this many Anomaly creatures at the same time!"
The serene expression on Long Bingheng's elegant face gave way to shock, and even Yinhe, who had never seen such a display before, momentarily held his breath.
Though Jianxin and the others had seen the demon spider summon Anomalies before, having such an intense concentration of dark aura fill the entire environment was still hard to stomach.
Clang, clang, clang...
A total of nine black doors, arranged in a ring around the demon spider, and from them emerged all manner of spine-chilling, horrifying dark creatures.
The dark creatures formed a three-layered circular battle formation with the demon spider at the center.
Dozens of white-bone skeletons, armored and armed, arrayed in strict formation, stood in the outermost ring.
Interspersed among the skeletons stood another type of humanoid, faceless black creature, with sleek, oily skin reminiscent of a whale's texture. Inward-curving double horns crowned their heads, bat-like wings flapped soundlessly, and their limb ends were all hideous claws. Barbed tails swung back and forth without purpose, aggravatingly disquieting.
They were Night Gaunts, their faces devoid of eyes, noses, ears, or brows, revealing only a wide mouth full of sludge and dense, fine teeth, chanting obscure and chilling incantations.
At the feet of the skeletons and Night Gaunts, blood-eyed, sharp-fanged Hellhounds howled on their own, their frenzied barking echoing through the mountain forest.
In the middle ring of the formation:
Fifteen Howling Moon Werewolves with bulging, knotted muscles, standing over two meters tall, howled at the sky, their primal hunting desires nearly bursting forth.
Also present were five Savage-Blood Minotaurs, three meters tall, dark brown all over, muscles covered in blood-red patterns, gripping giant axes, their lower halves concealed by animal hides.
Above the heads of the werewolves and minotaurs, countless vampire bats circled in the sky above, coalescing into three dark-red clouds of blood.
Over a dozen ghostly specters floated in midair, similar to the Yin Spirits Gui Yu summoned, but with only upper-body illusory forms, like projections, while their lower halves were shrouded in mist, indistinct.
As for the demon spider's immediate vicinity, besides Wang Miaoyin, there stood ten Dark Elves and one Nightmare Beast, forming the innermost core battle ring.
The Dark Elves held swords and bows, their skin a black-bluish hue. Both male and female had exquisite features, tall and graceful frames. In every gesture and every subtle glance, they naturally exuded a wicked, noble, and beautiful temperament.
Among them, the Nightmare Beast was the very one that had once forced Gui Yu to retreat -- like a warhorse from hell, intermittently snorting red flames from its nostrils.
Skeleton Undead, Night Gaunts, Hellhounds, Howling Moon Werewolves, Savage-Blood Minotaurs, vampire bats, Specters, Dark Elves, Nightmare Beast -- at this moment, they all descended one after another!
After leaving these nine terrifying species of dark creatures upon this mortal world,
the nine black doors slowly contracted and vanished...
Immediately,
an evil aura wantonly diffused across the mountaintop. Light was devoured, the air was saturated with a sulfurous, pungent stench. Horrifying, monstrous roars, cries, and murmurs intertwined, echoing in the humans' ears.
Was this still the mortal world?