Chapter 197: 188. Grind Battle

188. Chapter 188: Grind Battle

After a quick round of preparations, the group set off toward the old district, with Zheng Gong driving.

The Heping Financial Tower was not far from the old district.

That was precisely why Zheng Gong had received the distress signal from Gu Mengping.

"Everyone, get ready. The distress signal said the old district is swarming with spider monsters, some of them terrifyingly powerful—stronger than ordinary ferocious beasts. The greatest threat is the spider queen: enormous in size, possibly at the level of a transcendent being."

Zheng Gong, driving as he spoke: "Speaking of the spider queen, I can't help but recall the time Li Yi, I, and Wang Jian went on a mission together. We had a clear shot to kill it, but some ferocious beast interrupted us. Wang Jian said then that this thing would cause great disaster one day—and he was right."

"It's not too late to act now," Li Yi said calmly. "Zheng Gong and Yuan Mingjin will provide sniper support. The rest is up to me and Lin Yue."

"Alright, I'll follow your lead," Zheng Gong nodded.

Yuan Mingjin also confirmed he had no issues—long-range sniping was his strength; if he could secure a safe position to kill the spider people, he'd be glad to.

Lin Yue said: "Li Yi, the most important goal of this mission is to find and kill the spider queen. Only then can we fully resolve this incident and claim the credit. I know a bit about Gu Mengping—he's a strong cultivator, said to have ties with Yang Yi. He's working for the Investigation Bureau now, and his goal is clear: to secure a slot."

"So we're rivals. If he fails to complete this mission, it's an opportunity for us."

"Lin-jie, the mission is important, but our safety matters too. You said Gu Mengping is strong, yet even he couldn't finish this task—think of the risks. We can't let our eagerness for glory put us in danger," Li Yi said.

He hoped Lin Yue would calm down, not let her mind be clouded.

In Tianchang City, no few Spirit Sensing experts had fallen on hunting missions; even Team Leader Zhang Lei was unconscious. The danger of these tasks was obvious.

"Li Yi, you're right. The mission matters, but so does our safety," Lin Yue took a deep breath, steadying her agitated heart. "Then we'll act as the situation demands. If an opportunity arises, we strike. If not, we treat this as a trial run."

"That's the spirit," Li Yi nodded.

After a brief discussion, the vehicle soon entered the old district.

"Zheng Gong, avoid those buildings ahead. I passed by there before—those residential towers are haunted," Li Yi suddenly warned.

Hearing this, Zheng Gong sharply swerved, changing course immediately: "What? Already haunted?"

"The scope of the supernatural events is expanding—that's extremely dangerous. It must be resolved soon," Yuan Mingjin murmured. "But no one dares touch this mission. The Investigation Bureau is frantic. If anyone can resolve the old district's supernatural events, I'd say even skipping all other tasks, the Golden Academy slot is guaranteed."

"Supernatural events? Forget it. I'm terrified of ghosts. Even weak ones are hard to handle—anything involving souls can knock you out like Zhang Lei and turn you into a Silent One," Lin Yue quickly shook her head.

But the speaker meant nothing; the listener took it to heart.

Solving the old district's supernatural events could earn a slot?

Li Yi's eyes flickered.

He had battled Ghost Messengers across the Four Seas and Eight Continents, and at home he kept a Hanging Spear—a spirit artifact capable of slaying vengeful ghosts. Could he, if used properly, resolve the supernatural events of the old district?

But he immediately suppressed the thought.

His current strength was insufficient. To fight ghostly entities, he needed to break through to Qi-Channeling. Only then, with his blood and qi consolidated, could his fist aura kill vengeful ghosts—that would be his true chance to act.

If he charged in now with these minor tricks and failed, he'd be dead.

As he pondered,

Suddenly,

The vehicle screeched to a halt by the roadside.

"I see spider people—lots of them heading this way!" Zheng Gong's anxious voice rang out. He immediately opened the door and grabbed his sniper rifle from beside his seat.

He chambered a round with swift, clean motions, aiming straight ahead.

The others reacted instantly.

Yuan Mingjin grabbed his rifle, opened the passenger door, flipped onto the roof, and set up his sniper.

Li Yi and Lin Yue burst from the vehicle, stepping onto the street, eyes glowing as they scanned their surroundings and quickly assessed the situation.

But the next moment,

All of them narrowed their eyes in shock.

The walls of the nearby residential buildings were crawling with spider people—every surface covered in a gray, churning mass, deeply unsettling. Not just the walls: the ground, nearby cars, lampposts—all swarmed with spider people.

A quick glance revealed at least a hundred.

"How can there be so many?" Lin Yue was stunned.

"As long as the spider queen isn't killed, they'll keep reproducing. But this reproduction rate is terrifying. Or is the old district rich in food, causing their numbers to surge? Back in the danger zone, it wasn't like this," Li Yi narrowed his eyes, speaking low.

"Rich in food? What do these things eat?" Yuan Mingjin called from the roof.

"What else? Humans, of course," Li Yi said.

"Damn it! These beasts!" Yuan Mingjin cursed.

Zheng Gong immediately asked: "Li Yi, do we move? There are too many—we can't handle this alone."

"What's to fear? Only a hundred or so. Their strengths vary. We can grind them down for hours—wipe them all out. Save your ammo. Shoot the largest ones first—they're strongest. The small ones aren't much of a threat," Li Yi said.

"The key target is one especially huge, pure-white spider person—that's the queen. If you spot it, switch to special rounds and kill it instantly. Don't hesitate."

"Now, move."

As he spoke,

"Bang! Bang!"

Two gunshots rang out.

Yuan Mingjin and Zheng Gong fired, instantly killing two of the largest spider people perched on the building.

But the sudden attack instantly alerted every nearby spider monster.

Unlike the scattered few Li Yi had encountered before, these spider people, once gathered, abandoned their old habits. Instead of scattering at the gunfire, they surged toward them with terrifying speed.

A dense, churning tide of spider people—large and small, like marching ants—sent chills down the spine.

"This—" Zheng Gong and Yuan Mingjin were instantly panicked.

So many—no sniper rifle could handle this. They'd need missiles.

But this was the old district—no large-scale weapons allowed.

"Don't panic. These spider people are numerous but weak. You two handle sniping. The rest is up to me and Lin Yue." Li Yi downed an entire bottle of Golden Nutrient Liquid in one gulp, tossed the bottle aside, and strode forward.

"Be careful, Li Yi," Lin Yue stepped beside him, took a deep breath, eyes glowing, fists clenched.

"You too, Lin-jie."

"Bang! Bang!"

Two more shots rang out—two more spider people fell. Zheng Gong and Yuan Mingjin rapidly cycled their bolts, continuing to fire without pause. The numbers were too great—every second delayed meant one more monster alive.

As the two emptied their first magazines and switched clips, the spider people reached them.

But Li Yi and Lin Yue stood firm, blocking the narrow street.

"Kill!"

At that moment, Li Yi's vertical pupils glowed, his blood surging. He stepped forward, a wave of heat rushing out, then lunged like a tiger.

His fist exploded—shattering one spider person's body, sending it flying.

As his fists rained down, each strike sending out lethal techniques, the spider people rushing him were flung aside. Blood and severed limbs sprayed everywhere. Alone, he held back a vast wave of monsters.

"Is Li Yi really this strong?" Yuan Mingjin's eyelids twitched.

In one glance, he'd killed over a dozen spider people. Such combat power was monstrous—no wonder he dared lead them into this.

Zheng Gong had already witnessed Li Yi's ferocity—he alone could match dozens of Spirit Sensing cultivators, even face off against Spirit Awakening experts head-on. These spider people couldn't overwhelm him by numbers alone—unless the queen appeared.

"Li Yi's fists have grown stronger…"

Lin Yue, who also trained in fist arts, felt his power the moment his punches cracked through the air.

Each strike shook the soul, sending chills through the heart.

But Lin Yue was no weaker. Her movements were agile and swift; with her Spirit Sensing, she effortlessly dodged every attack, then struck—her fist slammed into a spider person's head, leaving a deep dent. The creature collapsed instantly, dead without a drop of blood spilled.

Compared to Li Yi's brute force, Lin Yue's strikes were precise—perfect control of power. One punch killed each monster, always striking vital points, no wasted motion.

Her clean, efficient killing made her a sleek panther weaving through the monsters.

Together, they held the line—truly blocking the spider people's charge.

Zheng Gong and Yuan Mingjin didn't idle. They kept firing—each bullet killed one spider person, always targeting the largest to maximize damage.

Li Yi's blood boiled, pupils blazing, his body drenched in blood. He pressed forward, never retreating, showing no fatigue.

But he wasn't unscathed.

Several spider people's strange palms struck him—but his Qiu Long Leather armor and formidable physique absorbed the blows without harm. Still, some targeted his vital points—directly at his head. Only then did his Spirit Sensing warn him; he dodged and countered with a backhanded punch.

Fist aura exploded, air reversed—spider people couldn't even stand, flying backward instantly.

This combat was brutal, bloody.

In under five minutes, the street was littered with spider corpses, the stench of blood thick in the air.

But the battle wasn't over.

Li Yi and Lin Yue still fought, like two relentless machines, holding firm against the tidal wave of monsters.

"Eye Strike!"

Suddenly, Lin Yue was surrounded. Forced, she activated her Eye Strike technique—several spider people rolled over, eyes rolling back, collapsing.

With the brief reprieve, she lunged forward, punching through the encirclement again.

"Will these things ever stop?"

Even as a Spirit Awakening expert, Lin Yue's stamina was draining fast. If their numbers kept rising, she'd be exhausted—forced to retreat.

She stole a glance at Li Yi.

But he was still fierce, his fists cracking with power, strength unweakened. She couldn't help but wonder: was she the Spirit Awakening expert—or was he? Why was his physical condition so high? How could he fight this long without tiring?

Lin Yue didn't know: Li Yi trained both martial and cultivation paths. He wasn't just a Spirit Sensing cultivator—he was also a Blood-Refining martial artist.

These two distinct paths granted Li Yi an immensely powerful physique.

As he'd said—he could fight for hours under such conditions.

The four held their ground for a full fifteen minutes.

"I'm out of bullets," Zheng Gong said anxiously.

"I still have two special rounds, but I can't use them here." Yuan Mingjin, a professional marksman, had instinctively saved two special rounds, not firing them all.

They stopped firing now.

The sniper rifle had grown scorching hot; even if there were bullets left, they could not continue firing, or the barrel might burst.

After all, on so many missions, they had never fired continuously for over ten minutes.

"When I get back from this mission, I'm loading a thousand rounds in the vehicle. The Bureau's special rounds are hard to get, but regular ones are plentiful." Zheng Gong couldn't help cursing.

They had prepared thoroughly—and yet they'd run out of bullets.

Yuan Mingjin said: "This is an exceptional case. Normally, we don't use three rounds in a single mission. But the spider-men haven't increased in number—they've actually dwindled. Damn it, you don't realize how many there are until you're fighting. At least a few hundred spider monsters were nearby, all surging toward us."

"Is Li Yi even human? He's still fighting, not tired at all."

He looked again at Li Yi in the middle of the street, stunned once more. The gun was exhausted—why wasn't he?

A dozen minutes of fierce combat seemed short, but this was a cultivator unleashing full power in high-intensity battle.

If it were him, he would have collapsed from exhaustion by now.

Yet Li Yi remained terrifyingly fierce—almost irrational.

Lin Yue was still fighting too, but she was gasping for breath, drenched in sweat, her fist power faltering. When she punched, no sound echoed—but she still killed a spider-man.

Clearly, her physical condition was dire; she could no longer channel her full strength to deliver a punch.

Fortunately, the battle was nearly over.

The street was littered with spider-man corpses. Though a dozen or so still lingered, they dared not charge forward again, instead scuttling back and forth along the nearby walls, wanting to flee but too afraid to move. It seemed these spider-men obeyed some command—an instinct they could not defy.

"Bang!"

Another punch swung out.

One spider-man was pierced through the body, flung backward, and died on the spot.

Li Yi was drenched in blood. He finally drew back his fist and stood still, ending the battle.