### **Chapter 94: Five - The Ghost-Eye Cave**
The only regret was that his left arm wasn't original. The power of the Nine Awakened Dragon Sinews struggled to stack with the Divine Strength Corpse Arm; the two were incompatible.
It had to be said, this was a pity.
But it was still acceptable. After all, the Divine Strength Corpse Arm was an external force, fundamentally different from his innate strength.
Now, with the Flood Dragon Strength body refinement technique, if he could cultivate it to perfection and break through to the ninth layer of body refinement, his physical strength would eventually catch up to the external force of his left arm, gradually achieving harmony and integration.
His vitality and blood could also be greatly enhanced to meet the demands of the Vitality and Blood Barrier during his future breakthrough to Foundation Establishment.
He was quite diligent about this.
His strength improved step by step, with daily feedback and gains. This situation was unimaginable to outsiders and made Wang Yu even more enthusiastic about cultivation.
Once the *Corpse Demon Secret Art* was perfected to the third grade, he could use its power to regenerate his severed arm, completely resolving the issue of his incomplete body. If he grew impatient, he could also seek spirit pills that regenerate severed limbs.
There was no rush for these, however.
In the following days, Wang Yu gradually settled down at Spider Mountain. He occasionally met up with Si Tu Hong, and life was relatively comfortable.
Thus, another year passed.
The seasons turned at Spider Mountain, but the temperature variation was minimal, maintaining a comfortable year-round temperature of around 16-17 degrees Celsius. Wang Yu had recently taken his second refined Coldblooded Pill.
Throughout this year, he had seen little external change.
His cultivation increased by 23 units of spiritual power. His progress in the seventh layer of Qi Refining was more than halfway complete, with the spiritual power in his Dantian sea accumulating to 220 units.
Averaging it out, he still needed about four years at his normal pace.
It was now the 9th month of his 10th year as an outer disciple. Adding the few months of his spirit slave life, he had been cultivating for over eleven years.
Reaching the seventh layer of Qi Refining at 27 years old, it was foreseeable he would break through to the eighth layer around thirty. He absolutely had the potential to attempt Foundation Establishment within his lifetime.
One morning.
The veiled female leader announced the rotation for the spirit field teams. After a leisurely year, it was Wang Yu's turn to enter the Ghost-Eye Caves and begin working for the growth of the Spiderheart Grass.
He had been looking forward to this for a long time.
Si Tu Hong often needed to enter the Ghost-Eye Caves and had described the effects of the Ghost Eyes to him. A top-grade Ghost Eye required a late to peak first-grade Ghost-Eye Spider.
Each spider had eight eyes, but only about half were effective.
The "losses" incurred during the hunt constituted the disciples' benefits. How much they could take depended entirely on their skill.
A top-grade Ghost Eye could increase spiritual power by 4-5 units. The refinement time varied from person to person. Si Tu Hong needed nearly three months to refine one. Wang Yu didn't know how long he would need.
But this was clearly an opportunity for rapid cultivation growth. Refining four per year could increase spiritual power by 16-20 units, almost doubling his efficiency.
With an upper limit of ten, it was considered a relatively precious treasure. After all, items that could be used concurrently with cultivation pills without interference were rare.
Unfortunately, this item only provided such benefits to cultivators of the Yin-Cold attribute, limiting its application, but it still held significant value and wasn't cheaper than pills of the same grade.
Moreover, it also had the effect of enhancing eyesight.
With this rotation, Wang Yu could finally explore the Ghost-Eye Caves, and he felt a sense of anticipation.
On another note, a year had passed at Spider Mountain, and Wei Zhong hadn't sent anyone to cause trouble for him. He had three theories.
First, the other party simply didn't know about him.
Second, Wei Zhong was entangled by the other True Disciples, busy dealing with his own troubles and had no time for him.
Third, True Disciple Su sought reconciliation, offered up Fatty Duan, and the grievances were settled, but the conflict merely shifted from open to covert, becoming even more dangerous.
He leaned towards the first or second possibility.
Especially regarding the framed incident involving the Waterfall Mountain Wei Clan, he never learned the outcome. His frequent efforts to build rapport with Si Tu Hong recently were partly to borrow his intelligence network for information.
Since he was about to enter the Ghost-Eye Cave, he invited Si Tu Hong to join him.
Disciples from Coldblood Peak had to team up with Five Yin Peak disciples to qualify for entering the caves to hunt spiders. This served both mutual supervision and mutual support.
Of course.
More often than not, 2-4 people would go in, and only one would come out, or sometimes no one emerged. What happened could be easily guessed.
Whether it was malicious intent or disputes over spoils, the mortality rate remained high. In just one year, fifty or sixty disciples from both sides had died.
Calculating it, in ten years, only two to three hundred would remain, roughly matching the number present after the initial handover—a terrifyingly stable figure.
"Brother Si Tu!"
"Junior Brother Wang~"
They greeted each other warmly from a distance.
As they drew closer, Si Tu Hong began lamenting his misfortunes.
"Junior Brother, you've finally rotated. Those fellow disciples of yours from your peak are all so domineering."
"They talk about nothing but Ghost Eyes and don't allow equal sharing. They say whoever kills the spider gets the eyes. That's fair in principle, but they even tried to rob me! They should have asked around about who Si Tu Hong is."
Wang Yu: "..."
Based on his understanding, twenty-one teams were formed every seven days, entering the twenty-one Ghost-Eye Caves. Regardless of team size, by sunset, each team must submit 20 Ghost Eyes and five spider corpses.
The Spiderheart Grass side required bodily fluids, essentially the spider's blood, though it wasn't red.
The Ghost-Eye Caves were not interconnected. Each cave housed tens of thousands of Ghost-Eye Spiders, reproducing rapidly. Killing a few more wasn't really an issue.
As long as the Spider Queen lived, each egg-laying produced thousands of offspring, allowing the population to recover and grow quickly.
"Never mind, let's not talk about that."
"It's been a year at Spider Mountain, and this is our first time teaming up. Any thoughts on how we should split the gains?"
Wang Yu nodded.
"Priority is meeting the mission requirements. After that, it's whoever kills the spider keeps the eyes. If we both attack the same target, we split based on contribution."
"Agreed." Si Tu Hong agreed, then subtly shifted the topic. "We can easily meet the mission requirement with some mid-grade Ghost Eyes. I'm more interested in the top-grade ones from peak first-grade Ghost-Eye Spiders."
"Agreed. This junior has similar intentions."
Wang Yu agreed completely. The two registered at the foot of Spider Mountain, received the token for Cave No. 5, and quickly approached the entrance.
The spider hunting mission involved delving deep into the nest of communal demonic beasts, which was extremely dangerous. The dense webs within the caves easily exposed the intruders like them.
Therefore, almost all teams experienced ambushes from Ghost-Eye Spiders. Furthermore, the interior was pitch black, severely restricting vision and making combat inconvenient, requiring multiple preparations.
While demonic beasts of the same level were generally inferior to major sect disciples, in specific environments, it was hard to say who held the advantage.
"Junior Brother Wang, this is a Light Pearl. It can emit light continuously for eight hours."
"Thank you."
Wang Yu didn't refuse. He cultivated the Lunar Nether Pupils, a Nascent Soul secret art. Even without entering the "Moon Viewing" state, he could see in the dark.
After all, this was a transformation-type secret art similar to the Corpse Demon Secret Art, permanently affecting his body, and its grade was quite high, with far more than one profound aspect.
There was no need to share these secrets with Si Tu Hong.
Additionally, the Night Concealment Charm's effectiveness improved in dark environments, making Wang Yu feel perfectly at home.
"Let's go in."
**(End of Chapter)**