Last time, that mutated Spider King retreated without fighting Henry Reed. Ethan Clark guessed it was because of the weapon she used at the time—the Spider King sensed the power contained within the weapon and thus withdrew.

Lightning flickered all over his arms, and every punch was immensely powerful, each one taking down a giant mutated spider.

Although David Smith's body was weak, he could fly on his sword, which was much faster than when Ethan Clark used his own movement techniques before. So at this moment, Ethan Clark was fighting with great enjoyment.

There were many mutated spiders, but they were huge in size, so it was impossible for them all to charge at once. Within a twenty-meter radius centered on Olivia Smith and Emily Harris, Ethan Clark darted up and down, constantly dodging and leaping to avoid the attacks of the mutated spiders, always on guard against the spider silk they spat out. Yet, this did not stop him from landing punch after punch on them.

Not a single punch missed, and each one destroyed a mutated spider.

Olivia Smith and Emily Harris were both very tense at first, gripping their flying swords tightly, ready at any moment.

But in the blink of an eye, Ethan Clark alone managed to keep all the mutated spiders at bay.

Both arms crackled with lightning as he maneuvered his sword among the swarm of mutated spiders, smashing down punch after punch. Those mutated spiders that would have taken dozens of strikes with a flying sword—and even then, two or three hits to their vital spots to kill—were pulverized by Ethan Clark with a single punch each.

However, these mutated spiders were a bit better off than when Matthew Cooper was blasted to death before—back then, not even ashes were left. Now, they were just smashed to pieces.

Emily Harris stared unblinkingly at Ethan Clark, unable to help exclaiming, “Mas...ter... is just too amazing, so strong, unbelievably strong. Has Master always been hiding his true strength? A real master never shows his full hand?”

“Well...” Olivia Smith thought for a moment and shook his head slightly. “That’s unlikely. If he was hiding his strength all along, then what about when we were in danger before? If Master had this kind of power back then, Third and Fifth Junior Brothers wouldn’t have been trapped inside.”

“Yeah!” Emily Harris nodded as well. “That’s what I think too. Looks like Master suddenly got stronger, ah...”

Olivia Smith was startled by Emily Harris. “What’s wrong?”

“It’s nothing, I just suddenly thought—could it be that Master, after staying in Misty Town for so long and being wounded by the Mutated Spider King, has... also mutated?”

“No way! Even if he mutated, lightning techniques can’t be gained through mutation. Advanced lightning arts have been lost in the cultivation world for countless years. I remember the records in Yushan say that for the past thousand years, there hasn’t been a single lightning technique expert.”

“That’s true. Then how do you explain Master’s current state?”

“This...”

As the eldest senior brother, Olivia Smith was not only steady and honest, but also very thorough in his actions. He knew the most about things recorded in ancient texts, but now he was stumped by Emily Harris's question.

“Ah...” Emily Harris suddenly remembered, “Master kept telling us to shout earlier. Now that Master is fighting over there, we can’t just do nothing. We should hurry up and call out.”

“Right, right...” Olivia Smith nodded quickly, and at the same time gently wiped the sweat from his forehead with his sleeve.

Too many changes had happened to Master—his temperament, strength, lightning techniques, and those strange words—none of it made any sense.

“Third Junior Brother, Fifth Junior Brother, we’re here! If you hear us, shout loudly! Master and I will come to get you. Master is showing his power now, come and see!”

“Third Junior Brother, Fifth Junior Brother, we’re here! If you hear us, answer me!”

At this moment, Ethan Clark was fighting more and more smoothly. The mutated spiders coordinated with each other, but the gap in strength was too great—Ethan Clark's attacks could destroy them outright. That alone was fatal.

But the more Ethan Clark killed, the more he felt something was off, as if something was strange.

Strange, what exactly is wrong?

Could it be that these mutated spiders have also learned to set traps like Matthew Cooper did?

Ethan Clark was just musing to himself, but as soon as this thought arose, his mind buzzed. It triggered a vague feeling he’d had earlier, and Ethan Clark finally realized what had been bothering him all along.

From the moment they charged down until now, as he kept slaughtering these mutated spiders, he hadn’t seen the Mutated Spider King at all.

In previous direct confrontations with the mutated spiders, even if the Mutated Spider King didn’t act personally, it would at least watch from afar and constantly direct the mutated spiders to attack.

But this time was very strange. He had been killing for so long, and all the mutated spiders kept coming at him in waves, yet the Mutated Spider King was nowhere to be seen.

While Ethan Clark was still puzzled, he suddenly heard faint shouting from several hundred meters away.

Emily Harris called out excitedly, “It’s Fifth Junior Brother’s voice! Master, I hear Fifth Junior Brother’s voice...”

“Fifth Junior Brother, we’re over here...” Olivia Smith shouted, then hurriedly asked Ethan Clark for instructions, “Master, let me go meet Third and Fifth Junior Brothers.”

Emily Harris also said anxiously, “Master, let me go...”

“Why are you two fighting over it? There’ll be a chance for you to show off, but... not now.” As he spoke, Ethan Clark dodged several attacks from interwoven webs of mutated spider silk and returned to the side of Olivia Smith and Emily Harris.