The thick fog, like invisible tentacles with bared fangs and claws, entangled Duan Litang and Ye Li's clothes. The two held the Stone of Light tightly, and in this mysterious space, they groped along the remaining breath of the beast, and moved forward step by step towards the cursed land. The ground under their feet was soft and seemed to swallow them at any time. Every step they took made a dull "puff" sound, as if they were stepping on rotten flesh. All around, the twisted branches of the dead trees stretched out wantonly, like hideous ghost claws, and strange purple moss hung between the branches. Under the weak light emitted by the Stone of Light, it flashed with mysterious fluorescence, as if whispering an unknown and strange story.

  "Litang, listen." Ye Li grabbed the corner of Duan Litang's clothes, her voice was very low, revealing a bit of nervousness. The long whip in her hand was like a lively creature, instantly sweeping across the bushes on the right. In an instant, a burst of fine "rustling" sounds came from the bushes, as if countless tiny claws were eagerly scratching among the dead branches and leaves. Duan Litang's heart tightened, and he quickly raised the Stone of Light high up, and the light instantly dispelled a small piece of darkness. However, the scene that came into their eyes made their backs cold - densely packed dark green eyes, flashing cold murderous intent in the shadows, turned out to be a group of strange-looking monsters. These monsters are spider-like, but have bat-like wings. When their mouthparts open and close, they drip corrosive mucus with a pungent smell. The mucus falls on the ground and instantly corrodes into small charred pits.

  "It's the Erosion Spider Demon!" Duan Litang took a breath of cold air, and his pupils suddenly shrank to the size of a needle tip. In the ancient books of Yongye Port, he had read about this kind of monster. They feed on the power of light. Wherever they go, the light is devoured, leaving only endless darkness. Before he finished speaking, a Erosion Spider Demon took the lead and flapped its wings. The frequency of its wings flapping was very high, and it actually brought a sharp and piercing scream, like a sharp blade scraping metal, piercing the eardrum. Duan Litang didn't have time to think about it, and swung his sword to cut it. The blood sword was wrapped in a sharp momentum, cutting through the air, making a "swoosh" sound. However, the moment the blood sword touched the monster, the corrosive mucus was like a natural enemy, and instantly corroded a charred gap on the sword body, and a pungent smell spread. At the same time, the long whip in Ye Li's hand stretched out like a spirit snake, accurately wrapping around the neck of another spider demon. But the spider demon reacted very quickly, spraying a stream of mucus with its backhand. Ye Li couldn't dodge in time, and the long whip was instantly corroded and riddled with holes. The leather on the whip broke into small pieces and fell off one after another.

  At the critical moment, the Light Stone in his hand suddenly trembled violently, and the light suddenly surged like ignited gunpowder. The erosion spider demons seemed to be in great pain, making piercing wails, and wisps of green smoke began to emerge from their bodies, as if they were burned by a raging fire. Duan Litang saw this and his heart moved. He immediately used all his strength to activate the power of the blood contract in his body and madly merged it with the power of the Light Stone. In an instant, a golden beam of light shot up into the sky. Wherever the light reached, it was like the sun melting snow. The erosion spider demons turned into ashes and dissipated in the air, leaving only pieces of black dust.

  However, the noise caused by this battle was like a boulder thrown into a calm lake, causing even greater waves. With a loud "boom", the ground suddenly cracked, and a huge crack quickly spread. Then, a spider as big as a hill broke out of the ground, and its appearance seemed to make the whole world tremble. The spider's abdomen was inlaid with countless gems emitting faint blue light. In each gem, there was a soul of a former victim. Those souls struggled in pain in the gems, making faint whimpers.

  "It's the Spider Lord!" Ye Li's voice trembled, and fear spread in her eyes. The Spider Lord's mouth opened and closed, spitting out a huge black spider web, which was like a black sky, instantly covering the entire area. Duan Litang reacted quickly, grabbed Ye Li's hand, jumped up, raised the blood sword high, and slashed at the spider web with all his strength. With a "clang", the blood sword collided with the spider web, but only left a shallow white mark on it, as if it was slashed on indestructible steel. The Spider Lord's eight compound eyes flashed with cruel and cold light. It waved its thick long legs, and the ground suddenly cracked into abyssal cracks. Bursts of black mist gushed out of the cracks, like a passage to hell.

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  At the moment of life and death, the shadow of the mythical beast slowly emerged in the light of the Light Stone. The voice of the mythical beast was deep and powerful, shaking the air: "Use the light as a guide to break its core!" Duan Litang understood instantly, and firmly aimed the Light Stone at the gem in the abdomen of the Spider Demon Lord. The light instantly condensed and turned into a sword-like beam of light. With the force of thunder, it pierced the largest gem in the center. The Spider Demon Lord let out a deafening roar, and his whole body trembled violently. A huge wound opened in his abdomen, and countless souls floated out of the crack. They flickered faintly in the air, like stars, and then gradually dissipated and returned to heaven and earth.

  After this fierce battle, Duan Litang and Ye Li were already covered in wounds. The long whip in Ye Li's hand was almost scrapped, with holes and cracks all over the whip, and only a few leather strips barely connected; Duan Litang's blood sword was also covered with dense cracks, and the sword body was uneven, losing its former sharpness. But they knew that time was running out and they could not afford to slack off. They endured the pain and fatigue and continued on their journey.

  As we went deeper, the surrounding environment became more and more eerie. The air was filled with a pungent stench, as if countless corpses were rotting in the dark, which was disgusting. On the ground, pieces of white bones began to appear, and some of the bones still had strange glowing patterns on them. These patterns emitted a faint light, as if telling of their extraordinary and glorious past.

  Finally, they arrived at the valley where the beast was. However, the scene before them made them feel depressed. The valley was covered by a pitch-black barrier, and the beast's painful roars could be heard from time to time. The sound was full of despair and anger, like the last struggle of the trapped beast. Duan Litang walked forward and pressed the stone of light on the barrier. In an instant, light and darkness collided violently, and ripples appeared on the surface of the barrier, like a calm lake with a huge stone thrown into it, making a "sizzling" sound.

  "It's useless, mortal." A cold and gloomy voice came from the barrier, as if it came from the Nine Nether Hell. Duan Litang looked in the direction of the voice and saw a figure slowly walking out from the depths of the barrier. It was a woman in a black robe. Her face was completely covered by the shadow of the hood, revealing only a pair of eyes with a strange purple light, flashing coldly in the darkness. "This curse is the most powerful forbidden technique of the Dark Palace. How can you two tiny mortals break it?" The black-robed woman's voice was icy and piercing, as if it was frosty.

  Ye Li clenched his fists and asked angrily: "Are you also from the Dark Palace?"

  The black-robed woman sneered, and the sound echoed in the valley, revealing endless mockery: "It used to be, but now, I just want this beast to suffer forever. The secret it guards must never be known to the world."

  Duan Litang's eyes were firm, like a burning torch, staring at the black-robed woman: "No matter how many difficulties and obstacles there are ahead, we must lift the curse of the beast!" After saying that, he once again used all his strength to activate the Stone of Light, and the light was like a surging tide, constantly pouring into the barrier. Seeing this, the black-robed woman quickly formed seals with her hands and muttered something. In an instant, countless black chains stretched out from the barrier, like a venomous snake with bared fangs and claws, and entangled Duan Litang and Ye Li. The chains were covered with sharp barbs, deeply piercing their skin, and blood flowed down the chains, dripping onto the ground, soaking the land red.

  Just when they were about to collapse, the roar of the beast in the barrier suddenly became more intense, as if rekindling hope. A golden beam of light shot up from the inside of the barrier, like a sharp sword, instantly breaking part of the black chain. Duan Litang and Ye Li were inspired by this, and seized this fleeting opportunity to try their best to activate the Stone of Light. In the fierce battle between light and darkness, the cracks on the surface of the barrier became larger and larger, making a "crackling" sound, as if it was about to break.