Shen Hanyu led the three girls to retreat further back, trying as much as possible to avoid being affected by the Silver Emperor Heavenly Falcon.
Tian Meng was still marveling in the mental sea, seeming very interested in the matter.
"Hanyu, bro thinks this guy is going to fight that stinking spider to the death. If it really comes to that, we can just watch from the side for now. That way, we can also fish in troubled waters later, hehe he..."
Tian Meng's voice, carrying a somewhat familiar tone, rang out.
Shen Hanyu did not reply, but his intention was roughly the same. No one could refuse such a fortuitous encounter. Although it carried considerable risk, the rewards it brought were extremely generous.
Whether it was the Silver Emperor Heavenly Falcon or the Violent Snow Spider Emperor, both were top-tier ice-attribute soul beasts. In their specialized fields, few soul beasts could surpass them.
Unfortunately, their cultivation years were still too low. Otherwise, Shen Hanyu definitely wouldn't mind having them become soul rings for the Cold Heaven Spear.
Although he temporarily could not absorb the next soul ring, every part of such soul beasts was a treasure. If another soul bone dropped... tsk tsk, that would really be striking it rich...
"Tian Meng, according to what you just said, that thousand-year Silver Emperor Heavenly Falcon won't die in the short term, right?"
Shen Hanyu asked.
Tian Meng nodded and said:
"The Violent Snow Spider Emperor greatly enjoys the struggle and despair of its prey before death. Although its cold poison is indeed a top-tier deadly toxin, in the short term, that Silver Emperor Heavenly Falcon truly has no life-threatening danger. Why are you thinking of..."
Shen Hanyu nodded and continued:
"Indeed. With your cover, coming and going freely in the hands of a thirty-thousand-year soul beast shouldn't be difficult, right..."
In the mental sea, Tian Meng's small eyes turned, nodding thoughtfully. Then it revealed its signature smile, though there was inexplicably a somewhat perverted meaning in it...
...
A quarter of an hour later, Shen Hanyu found the deeply hidden cavern beneath a decayed giant ancient tree.
Lifting the ice and snow covering it, Shen Hanyu let out a slight sigh of relief and sincerely praised:
"Regardless of anything else, just this guy's ability to dig burrows is much stronger than the Earth Cave Demon Spider's. If not for your detection, I think finding this place would have taken some more time."
Tian Meng chuckled and said:
"For spider-type soul beasts like this, how could their massive burrow system have only one entrance and exit? Bro just found the emergency exit this thing uses to deal with urgent situations. Alright, now let's go in and explore, hehe..."
Shen Hanyu nodded, then directly leaped inside.
...
After walking downward along a damp passage for a moment, pure white spider silk, like snow, began appearing on the surrounding cave walls. From time to time, a few silk-like threads hung down, emitting faint glimmers in the darkness.
Tian Meng carefully examined those spider silks and warned:
"Hanyu, try not to touch these spider silks. These silks are connected to the Violent Snow Spider Emperor's mental power, which you humans call an alarm measure. Once touched, the Violent Snow Spider Emperor will immediately detect that someone has entered its lair."
Shen Hanyu nodded. In the darkness, avoiding these faintly glowing spider silks was not too difficult; for him, it was even easier.
Dust and clumps of soil occasionally fell from the cave ceiling, as if an earthquake had occurred. Shen Hanyu knew this was likely the Silver Emperor Heavenly Falcon going berserk above, starting to attack the ground in an attempt to find the exact location of the Violent Snow Spider Emperor's lair.
With nearly thirty meters of frozen soil above, even for the Silver Emperor Heavenly Falcon, it would probably take a very long time to break through. The time left for Shen Hanyu was still quite sufficient.
Tian Meng acted like an unscrupulous map, navigating for Shen Hanyu through one crisscrossing tunnel after another. The complexity was even greater than a maze.
Of course, calling this place a large underground maze would be more appropriate.
Passing another junction, Shen Hanyu smelled an extremely pungent stench from far away. Even he, who often dealt with the foul odors from soul beasts, couldn't help covering his nose and mouth, because the smell was truly overwhelming.
Tian Meng, watching the excitement in the mental sea without minding the trouble, explained with a laugh:
"All of the Violent Snow Spider Emperor's meals and excretions are in this cavern, and there's little ventilation here. The temperature is also much higher than on the surface. Over time, even in this extremely cold environment, the foul odor will slowly ferment. Of course, the closer you get to its true lair, the stronger the smell becomes."
Shen Hanyu rolled his eyes and continued groping forward.
Sure enough, the further he went, the thicker this enchanting "fragrance" became, eventually reaching the point of stinging the eyes.
Tian Meng's tone became a bit more serious as he said:
"Hanyu, it's just ahead. Bro advises you to prepare yourself..."
After walking the final stretch, the view suddenly opened up.
This was clearly a naturally formed underground cavern. The surrounding walls were all rock, and many tree roots hung down from the cave ceiling.
Even more shocking was that the entire ground was piled with a thick layer of corpses and bones. There were even many half-eaten, casually discarded remnants of flesh piled into small hills in certain corners, currently emitting waves of foul odor. One could vaguely see the high-protein creatures wriggling within... making one feel a wave of nausea.
Large spider webs were woven overhead. Faint, painful screeches could be heard from not far ahead, along with the sound of something slowly crawling across the webs.
Shen Hanyu shifted sideways, hiding behind a protruding rock, and observed the scene outside.
A miniaturized Silver Emperor Heavenly Falcon was tightly wrapped in white spider webs, hanging upside down on the cave wall. Dark red blood from its body was slowly dripping along the webs, finally falling into the mouth of a massive white spider below.
The white spider's seven huge spider legs were firmly planted on the web. The first leg on the left was clearly only half there, the other half missing without a trace.
Besides that, the Violent Snow Spider Emperor had more than ten large wounds of varying sizes on its body. Some places had not yet healed, still revealing bone-deep injuries.
Tian Meng examined it and said:
"Yo, no wonder this Violent Snow Spider Emperor dared to provoke its natural enemy, the Silver Emperor Heavenly Falcon. It turns out it had already suffered an attack from the Silver Emperor Heavenly Falcon. Although it luckily escaped, the injuries on its body are really severe. In its current state, let alone fighting the Silver Emperor Heavenly Falcon, whether it can survive much longer is questionable."
Shen Hanyu also examined it and nodded in agreement, saying:
"Tian Meng, first deal with this Violent Snow Spider Emperor and those small spiders. This Silver Emperor Heavenly Falcon has clearly been poisoned by the Violent Snow Spider Emperor's cold poison and probably won't live much longer either. While the big one above hasn't fully figured out the situation below, let's settle things here first..."
Tian Meng nodded in agreement. Then an invisible mental force slowly drifted toward the Violent Snow Spider Emperor.
A moment later, Tian Meng let out a sigh of relief and said:
"Alright, this guy's mental power wasn't strong to begin with. Bro just casually invaded its mental sea, and unexpectedly, it had no defenses at all. Now it's basically unconscious. You can make your move."
A dark gleam flashed in Shen Hanyu's eyes. He then swiftly speared down the newly thousand-year Silver Emperor Heavenly Falcon, slammed it hard against the surrounding cave wall to knock it out, dragged it by the leg, and headed back the way he came.
Previously, Shui Bing'er and the other two girls had actually been following Shen Hanyu from far behind. Although the soul beasts on the surface had mostly been scared away by the Silver Emperor Heavenly Falcon, Shen Hanyu was still not entirely reassured. So he left marks and hints along the way, allowing the three girls to follow him into the cavern. They were probably waiting in some safe tunnel now...