Chapter 23. The battle of strength and the indestructible.

"Fuck!" Li Chen exclaimed, feeling the persistent tingling of danger.

He had pushed his limits to dodge the silver thread, unsure if he could evade another should it strike immediately.

Yet, to his surprise, no silver thread came flying his way after a few tense moments.

Suddenly, Li Chen's hair stood on end as an intense sense of peril overwhelmed him. From behind, he heard a whistling sound—something massive was hurtling towards him.

Without a moment's hesitation, Li Chen dived to the side. He hadn't realized the sonic wave had ceased, but was thankful for it; otherwise, he doubted he could've escaped the attack in time.

As he evaded, a colossal scorpion stinger smashed into where he had just been, narrowly missing him.

"Damn!" Li Chen swore again, a chill coursing down his spine from the close call. The stinger's size made it clear it could have easily torn him apart.

Li Chen rolled on the ground before steadying himself, rising to face the source of the attack.

Not far off stood a Scorpion-tailed wild bull, larger and exuding a more fearsome aura than the one he'd slain before. Its massive tail, still embedded in the ground, its gaze locked on Li Chen with predatory focus.

'This is bad!' Li Chen thought in alarm.

He had hoped to avoid such encounters and now faced not just any wild beast, but a formidable middle-level one.

The scorpion-tailed wild bull bellowed loudly, pulling its tail free, and charged at Li Chen with terrifying speed.

With the beast so close, it reached him in an instant. Li Chen swiftly sidestepped, making the bull charge past.

Seizing the moment, Li Chen began to make his escape. But the scorpion-tailed wild bull's roar of fury echoed behind him, incensed that Li Chen had survived its assaults.

Not only the bull was enraged by Li Chen's evasion—but the queen's angry shriek filled the air too.

"Perfect, just perfect," Li Chen muttered sarcastically, quickening his pace.

But unexpectedly, the thundering steps of the pursuing scorpion-tailed wild bull ceased, leaving an eerie silence.

Stunned, Li Chen looked back to witness a shocking scene. The bull, which should have been in pursuit, was now fixated on the group of silverhead spiders—more specifically, their queen. Its eyes blazed with a wild hunger as it stared at her.

"It sensed the treasure," Li Chen guessed.

Beasts possessed keener senses than humans. While Li Chen detected nothing unusual from the queen aside from her potent aura, the bull seemed to have identified something within her that made it prioritize her as prey over Li Chen.

Seeing the two beasts turn on each other, Li Chen felt a wave of relief wash over him. He knew he stood no chance against them alone, so their sudden conflict was an unexpected boon.

Without pausing, Li Chen hastened his retreat, seeking to put as much distance as possible between himself and the battleground.

Eventually, after a significant distance, he discovered an ideal vantage point—a large rock. Climbing atop it, he concealed himself and quietly observed the tense standoff between the scorpion-tailed wild bull and the group of silverhead spiders.

The queen spider and the wild bull were locked in a standoff, each seemingly waiting for the other to initiate the confrontation.

As Li Chen had anticipated, the impulsive queen emitted a shrill, commanding shriek, leading the charge against the scorpion-tailed bull, with her spider followers quickly joining the fray.

The bull responded with its thunderous roar of fury, rushing forward, driven by a determination to emerge as the victor of this winner-takes-all battle.

Li Chen could barely contain his excitement at the prospect of benefitting from their struggle.

Under normal circumstances, the silverhead spiders would stand no chance against the might of the scorpion-tailed wild bull. However, with their queen's near indestructible body, the outcome was uncertain.

Li Chen silently rooted for the queen. If the wild bull won and gained whatever power made the queen so resilient, all Li Chen could do was flee as fast as possible. He was no match for it already especially not with it having a regenerative ability.

He could only watch and hope that the situation unfolded as he desired.

As the confrontation escalated, the silverhead spiders and the scorpion-tailed wild bull collided. The bull, ignoring the lesser spiders, bulldozed through them, focusing solely on the queen, who was its primary target.

In its disregard, the spiders swarmed the bull, their fangs sinking in, pumping their venom into its body.

Yet, the bull seemed unfazed, its life in a poison-rich environment having granted it a certain tolerance to toxins.

More and more spiders latched on, biting and envenoming, but the bull remained undeterred, charging through webs as if they were mere nuisances.

Suddenly, the queen shot a silver thread at the bull, which surprisingly did not attempt to avoid it. Instead, the bull's seemingly normal tail transformed, revealing a scorpion stinger hidden beneath its fur. The stinger then expanded, positioning itself in front of the bull to intercept the incoming thread.

The clash of the two emitted a metallic clang and sparks flew as the silver thread merely left a slight mark on the robust stinger of the scorpion-tailed wild bull.

Even though it was just a small mark, the scorpion-tailed wild bull was taken aback by the strength of the silver thread, but its shock quickly turned into rage. It couldn't believe the little spider had dared to leave a dent in its tail.

Furious, it charged forward.

At the queen's command, the group of silverhead spiders swiftly encircled her, attempting to conceal their leader, but the scorpion-tailed wild bull was undeterred. It could still sense the queen and pressed on, crushing any spiders underfoot and ignoring their venomous bites.

Realizing deception was futile, the queen unleashed multiple silver threads at the bull, but they were all deflected by its hard stinger. Each thread left more marks, and with every strike, the bull grew angrier.

It began to accelerate, furiously squashing many spiders in the process. The queen emitted a loud shriek, summoning even more silverhead spiders to surround her in defence, but they were no match for the scorpion-tailed wild bull and were squashed effortlessly.

The bull ploughed through the swarm, finally confronting the queen face-to-face. Without hesitation, its stinger thrust forward, smashing the queen into a pulp.

But before it could savour its victory, the dark fog reappeared, healing the queen. The scorpion-tailed wild bull was stunned by this turn of events, but as it saw the queen revive, it became even more enraged. The queen, infuriated by being killed, let out a piercing shriek. The other silverhead spiders joined in, creating a sonic wave that battered the scorpion-tailed wild bull.

As the sonic wave hit, the bull thrashed wildly, inadvertently crushing more spiders.

After the sonic attack subsided, the bull, visibly enraged and fixated on the queen, resumed the battle, which had devolved into a seemingly one-sided annihilation.

The number of silverhead spiders dwindled rapidly, and the queen died repeatedly, yet it was always restored by the dark fog.

Li Chen, observing from a distance, was astonished that the dark fog's healing pace remained constant.

The scorpion-tailed wild bull was visibly shocked and wearied. It had bitten, crushed, and stung the queen, but each time, the dark fog healed it. Li Chen noticed a decline in the bull's movements; it was weakened by the accumulated poison, yet it refused to relent.

It seemed to value whatever it sensed in the queen's body above its own life, fighting with relentless vigour.

After a short while, the bull managed to eliminate the entire nest, except for the queen, but it was in dire straits. Chunks of its skin were missing, blood oozed out, and its stinger was on the brink of breaking.

Then, another silver thread was launched at it. The bull, with its stinger now shattered, could not block the attack, and the thread sliced deeply into its head.

The scorpion-tailed wild bull roared in agony but remained defiant, charging at the queen with a furious roar.

The queen, in response, shrieked angrily and shot out another silver thread. With no stinger left to defend itself, the thread slashed another deep cut across the bull's head, continuing its trajectory with the intent to bisect the creature. However, after cutting through the bull's skull, the thread lost its force and sheen, coming to a stop. By then, the scorpion-tailed wild bull had already fallen, dead as a doornail.