The ice ultimately shattered under the fierce impacts from the group of spiders, and that piercing sound served as a wake-up call for everyone.
"The spiders broke through the ice. Judging by the number of spiders, there are a lot of them. We need to get to an open area quickly." Dan Feng glanced behind and saw the spiders already squeaking as they charged toward them.
Moreover, this cave wasn't suitable for using a long spear—it was far too narrow.
"Huff… huff…" Roxy, being pulled along by Dan Feng as they ran nonstop, was panting heavily.
"No choice then. Excuse me, Roxy." Dan Feng said to Roxy, then scooped her up by the waist, holding her steadily in a princess carry.
"Eh?" Roxy instinctively wrapped her arms around Dan Feng's neck before realizing she had been picked up by him.
"Your stamina probably can't keep up with us. This is the only way." Dan Feng explained to Roxy.
"I understand. O murmuring turbid stream! [Water Flow!]" Roxy raised her staff and cast water magic.
A torrential surge of water poured out from the magic stone, washing over the group of spiders and slowing their movements considerably. Their bodies were now thoroughly drenched.
"Bear the turbid flow of the glacier! [Ice Strike!]" Roxy cast water magic again. Since the spiders were already wet, freezing them was extremely easy.
In this way, the four of them successfully escaped back to the open area on the first floor.
Dan Feng gently set Roxy down.
"Here's the plan: Roxy and Galdaruf release fire magic to burn the air inside dry. Then, the moment you finish, I'll use earth magic to instantly seal this cave shut." Dan Feng stated calmly, showing no trace of panic from the recent chase.
This was the confidence that came from his own strength.
Roxy and Galdaruf nodded in unison and began chanting.
"The tiny spark shall burn the immense grace to ashes! [Fire Blast!]" ×2.
The flames transformed into two scorching, blazing arrows that shot toward the cave with the force of thunder.
Dan Feng immediately used an earth wall to completely seal the cave entrance.
The Fire Blast quickly consumed all the oxygen inside the cave, and once it was depleted, the flames went out.
The group of red spiders inside was suffocated to death.
"I really didn't expect that with so many demon wood outside, this group of spiders could still survive. I wonder what they've been eating to stay alive." Dan Feng shook his head. Not long ago, he had predicted there wouldn't be any monsters inside, only to be proven wrong now.
"What do we do now? Keep checking the other caves?" Mayibeia asked, seemingly completely unfazed by the earlier crisis.
"We have no choice but to keep exploring. I hope the next caves are more spacious than this one. That way, I can deal with monsters more easily." Dan Feng said with a face full of regret.
Dan Feng really wanted to kill monsters because killing them increased his progress bar. If there had been space to properly use Cloud-Piercer, he would have charged in directly.
Using magic in a labyrinth also had its limitations. Fire magic and water magic had to be used cautiously; wind magic dealt limited damage to monsters, and earth magic risked accidentally causing the labyrinth to collapse.
The four of them reformed their formation and stepped into the next cave.
Dan Feng took the lead at the front, with Mayibeia in second position to protect the two magicians.
This was the second cave. It no longer carried the sense of exploration from the first one—only vigilance remained.
The cave was much larger than the first. Who knew—there might be even more red spiders here than in the previous one.
Dan Feng thought this as he advanced steadily inward, the cyan wind still swirling continuously around Cloud-Piercer.
When they delved deeper, they indeed encountered those spiders.
The spiders' senses were extremely sharp; they instantly detected Dan Feng and the others.
"Looks like we're fighting this time. If anyone gets injured, be ready to retreat at any moment!" As soon as the words left his mouth, Dan Feng gripped Cloud-Piercer and charged without hesitation toward the spider at the very front.
The spear tip plunged straight into the spider's head, and wind magic immediately spread from the tip, slicing the spider into pieces.
"The cold king who rules over death shall freeze all things! [Ice Spear Blizzard!]" Roxy chanted calmly. Spears of ice gathered around her—this was her signature magic and also her strongest one.
Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh!
The ice spears shot out like bullets, striking those terrifying-looking spiders and killing them one by one.
Dan Feng grew increasingly fierce in battle. Cloud-Piercer in his hands flashed like lightning with every swift swing, each movement carrying a sharp whistling wind that prevented the surrounding spiders from getting close.
At the same time, he nimbly used footwork to evade spiders attempting sneak attacks from behind, instantly killing them with wind magic.
Dan Feng's gaze remained fixed on the spiders that were intimidated by his presence.
Yet what occupied his mind wasn't how to deal with the enemies before him, but how to kill even more spiders more efficiently.
Time passed minute by minute. After a period of intense fighting, the spiders here were finally mostly cleared out.
Galdaruf and Mayibeia began searching the spider corpses for anything useful, but it seemed these spiders had nothing particularly valuable on them. In the end, they found nothing.
Without lingering any longer, the four continued forward until they reached the end of this area.
At the end was a flight of stairs leading downward.
For a place that looked like it had been dug out by ants, the existence of such neatly arranged stairs was surprising. One could understand if the entrance had stairs built by ancient explorers, but constructing them this deep—weren't they afraid of collapse?
"This should lead to the second floor of the labyrinth." Dan Feng said after observing the surrounding environment.
Without waiting for a response, he stepped onto the stairs to the second floor, following the Lamp Spirit without hesitation.
The scene on the second floor wasn't much different from the first—also covered in spider webs.
However, the spiders here were noticeably larger than those on the first floor. Their more massive size gave off an even stronger sense of oppression.
Still, for Dan Feng and the others, these spiders posed no significant threat.
Their coordination was seamless, and they easily passed through the second floor, continuing deeper into the labyrinth.
Soon they found the stairs to the third floor, but a foul stench wafted up from below—like the smell of meat that had been rotting for a very long time.
"There's something unusual on the next floor." Dan Feng said based on instinct. With something like a system template, he could probably be considered part of the Vidyadhara race, right? His sense for danger was extremely accurate.
"Better to stay cautious. We shouldn't rush out immediately afterward. Let the Lamp Spirit go in and scout first."
They followed this plan. The Lamp Spirit slowly floated out from the stairwell entrance, carrying its light as it flew inside.
The light illuminated the third floor, allowing Dan Feng and the others to clearly see what was there.
It was a vermilion-colored giant spider. Judging by its appearance, this had to be the queen—no doubt about it.
"That spider is huge—almost as big as a Red Dragon." Mayibeia said in slight surprise.
"Have you seen a Red Dragon before?" Roxy glanced at the spider, then at Mayibeia, and asked curiously.
She had heard her teacher describe the appearance of a Red Dragon, so she was somewhat curious about such a powerful creature.
"No, I've just heard other adventurers talk about the size of Red Dragons."
"This spider seems to be resting?" Dan Feng observed the motionless spider illuminated by the Lamp Spirit and guessed.
"No, I feel like it's already sensed us. It's just waiting for prey to walk right into its trap." Galdaruf said to Dan Feng while looking at the spider webs beside it. Spiders rarely hunted prey themselves; they relied on their webs to capture intruders.
This spider had probably sensed them and was pretending to rest, actually waiting for them to step onto the web so it could hunt them down.
"This time, let's use ice from water magic to strip the webs of their stickiness." Galdaruf raised his staff and began chanting.
Roxy also started chanting. Mana rapidly gathered at her magic stone, causing the surrounding temperature to drop noticeably.
Immediately after, two Ice Strikes shot toward the giant spider. Along the way, the webs on the path were frozen solid.
"Let's go—the webs are frozen." Dan Feng seized the moment, swinging Cloud-Piercer to instantly shatter the frozen webs.
The crystalline ice shards sparkled like gems under the Lamp Spirit's light, signaling the start of this battle.
Just as Galdaruf had said, this spider had already discovered them long ago and was merely pretending to rest to ambush them.
When Dan Feng drew near the spider, the enormous creature seemed to sense his approach. Its massive body began to tremble slightly.
Although it had been hit by the Ice Strikes earlier, the damage wasn't significant to the spider.
Its tough webs had neutralized most of the ice damage. With such an enormous body, its main trait was durability.
The instant Dan Feng closed in, the spider suddenly lunged at him with astonishing speed—too fast to react.
At the same time, it opened its hideous maw and spat out a strand of purple silk.
The silk looked extremely viscous and was clearly highly toxic. Being caught in it would spell disaster.
Seeing this, Dan Feng immediately leaped aside without hesitation, nimbly dodging the spider's attack.
Mid-jump, he shouted loudly, "Watch out! The silk is poisonous!"
However, the spider's target remained Dan Feng. When it realized its silk had missed, its many red-glowing eyes locked tightly onto him.
The spider seemed to be observing Dan Feng's every move, waiting for the perfect moment to strike again.
Sure enough, it wasn't long before the spider predicted Dan Feng's next foothold. It immediately raised its thick front leg like a spear and thrust it straight toward him.
Facing such a ferocious attack, Dan Feng remained extraordinarily calm.
He gripped the spear shaft tightly with one hand, precisely aligning the spearhead with the descending front leg.
Just as the spider's leg was about to reach him, Dan Feng suddenly thrust forward with explosive force. The spear tip shot out like lightning, piercing straight into the spider's front leg.
Cloud-Piercer could pierce dragon scales—what was a mere spider leg to it?
The spear tip drove upward from the tip of the leg. In a single instant, powerful wind sliced the entire leg in half.
Screech!
The spider let out a pained howl and immediately leaped backward, distancing itself from Dan Feng.
All of this happened in the blink of an eye.
By now, Roxy and Galdaruf had finished their chants.
Ice Spear Blizzard and Earthfall Bombardment had been fully charged.
Seeing the spider pull away from Dan Feng, the two unleashed their magic without hesitation toward the spider.
Two advanced spells struck the spider's body, followed by another agonized screech from the spider. Clearly, these two hits had dealt considerable damage.
Because of the Earthfall Bombardment, dust and smoke billowed up around that area, making it impossible to see the spider's condition.
Just as Dan Feng was about to use wind magic to disperse the dust, a strand of purple silk suddenly shot out from the smoke.
Fortunately, it only stuck to the earth wall, but the spider used the recoil from retracting the silk to rapidly close in on Roxy and the other three.
"What?!" Dan Feng was shocked by the spider's intelligence. It was moving too fast—he couldn't reach them in time.
When a magician was closed in on in melee, there was only one outcome: a gruesome death. Dan Feng didn't believe Mayibeia's build could withstand a charge from this giant spider.
"What do I do? Think of something quick!" This thought kept echoing in Dan Feng's mind at that moment.
"No—when things get like this, panicking is the worst. I have to stay calm and figure something out."
Dan Feng's gaze fell on Roxy's face. For some reason, he felt an inexplicable pull drawing him toward her.
At that moment, Roxy's cute, elongated face was filled with disbelief and panic.
Of course, none of them knew that this world operated on fate—those blessed with great fortune were destined to meet others of great fortune.
"Calm down, calm down, calm down!" Somehow, Dan Feng's mind was flooded with vivid images of the three of them dying horribly.
"I absolutely cannot let that happen!" Dan Feng thought. Then, as if time had pressed pause, everything around him changed.
At the tassel of Cloud-Piercer, the Pearl of Abyss was spinning continuously. A golden ring emerged from the black-and-white Pearl of Abyss.
Dan Feng stared at the surrounding scenery, stunned.
Beneath his feet was a mirror-like surface of flowing water. Behind him stood a maple tree radiating an otherworldly aura. And right in front of him was the spider, frozen motionless as if time itself had stopped.
"Is this… entering my ultimate?" Dan Feng looked at the scenery around him, recalling that in the game, Dan Heng's ultimate looked exactly like this.
"If that's the case…" Dan Feng's expression turned cold as he gazed at the spider and slowly raised Cloud-Piercer.
"Life and death, illusion and reality—all in a single thought."
The Pearl of Abyss began spinning rapidly.
"The cavern transforms into illusion, a long dream in one awakening!"
Dan Feng twirled the spear in a flourish, then reversed his grip on the shaft, lowering his stance into the starting form of Cloud Rider Spear Technique: North Wind, charging power.
Wind converged at the spear tip into a spiraling airflow. Dan Feng gripped Cloud-Piercer tightly with his left hand and thrust toward the spider's head as if teleporting.
"Break!"
He pierced straight through the spider's head in an instant. Then, using the momentum, Dan Feng spun 360 degrees with Cloud-Piercer to dissipate the force.
Time resumed—no, this wasn't truly stopping time, but rather Dan Feng entering a state of profound intent, so only a single second had passed in reality.