Chapter 42: Staff of the Demon Spider, Opening the Silver Chest

Cao Xing glanced at the Frost Wolf Winter beside him.

It was also a Level 10 creature, meeting the requirements for advancement.

As long as he advanced it to Tier 2 as well, all of his recruited creatures, except for Ilena, would be Tier 2!

So, he handed the Heart of Strength to Assam as well.

"Assam, go ahead and let your Winter complete its advancement. A powerful knight needs a powerful mount to unleash his full combat power."

Hearing this, Assam tremblingly took the fiery red crystal from Cao Xing's hand.

He looked at Cao Xing gratefully, saying no more.

Instead, he turned and walked straight up to the Frost Wolf Winter.

"Winter, accept the power bestowed by the Lord!"

"Let us defend the Lord's glory to the death!"

With that, he threw the power crystal directly over.

The Frost Wolf Winter also seemed to know that this was something that could make it stronger.

The moment Assam threw the crystal down, it opened its massive mouth and bit down directly.

Crack!

The sound of the crystal shattering rang out, and a powerful force surged within its body.

In an instant, Winter's aura began to grow at a terrifying rate!

Cao Xing saw that Winter's already thick limbs had bulked up by another two sizes.

Not only that, but its body size was also rapidly expanding!

From its original three meters in length, it skyrocketed to nearly four meters.

"Roar!"

A terrifying roar echoed through the cavern.

Just standing there, this ferocious giant wolf gave off a powerful sense of oppression!

Cao Xing nodded in satisfaction once again.

Then, there was the final reward, [Staff of the Demon Spider (Blue)].

This thing was the first blue equipment Cao Xing had ever looted, and he was highly anticipating its attributes.

[Staff of the Demon Spider (Blue)]

[Quality: Excellent]

[Attack Power: 31–37]

[Additional Effect ①: Spirit +10]

[Additional Effect ②: Novice Magic Amplification (When launching a magic attack, there is a 40% chance to increase the magic damage of this attack by 10%)]

[Additional Effect ③: Command Demon Spiders (Summons 5 Level 10, Tier 1 Demon Spiders to assist in battle. The Demon Spiders last for 60 seconds. Effect cooldown: 300 seconds)]

…

After reading the equipment description, joy appeared in Cao Xing's eyes.

"Is this what blue equipment is like? So strong!"

Not only did it increase his Spirit by 10 points, but it also came with an effect to summon Demon Spiders.

He equipped it immediately, and his Spirit surged significantly.

Cao Xing nodded in satisfaction.

Then, he looked at Assam and the others and ordered, "Search the cavern, everyone. See if you can find any treasures."

Upon receiving the order, Assam and the others began to take action.

A few minutes later, Sarah made a discovery in a corner of the cavern.

"There's a treasure chest here."

Cao Xing was instantly delighted upon hearing this and walked over.

In a corner of the cavern, in an area covered by spiderwebs, a Silver Chest was indeed hidden.

"Nice, another Silver Chest," Cao Xing said in delight.

After slicing through the spiderwebs, a system prompt appeared.

[An unlocked Silver Chest has been discovered. Open it?]

Cao Xing clicked to open it directly.

Clang!

[Successfully opened the Silver Chest.]

[Obtained Noble Backpack (Green) *1]

[Obtained Railway Track Crafting Blueprint *1]

[Obtained Medium Shelter Construction Blueprint *1]

[Obtained Large Rations *12]

[Obtained Medical Kit *3]

"Oh? A backpack dropped? And a crafting blueprint for railway tracks?"

Joy appeared in Cao Xing's eyes.

"Not bad at all. This way, I can make more tracks and connect all the mines near my territory."

Cao Xing nodded in satisfaction and began to check the attributes of the backpack and the other shelter blueprint.

[Noble Backpack (Green)]

[Backpack Capacity: 40 slots]

[Additional Effect: Charisma +4]

(Note: Charisma is a hidden attribute and will not be displayed on the status panel.)

…

[Medium Shelter Construction Blueprint]

[Area: 40 square meters]

[Capacity: 6 people]

[Extra Effect: Provides health regeneration for friendly units resting inside, recovering 0.5 HP per second.]

[Construction Requirements: Stone *120, Wood *240, Iron *20, Novice Element Crystal *5]

…

[Railway Track Crafting Blueprint: Consumes materials to craft one section of railway track in the Blacksmith Shop]

[Length: 1 meter]

[Requirements: Iron *8, Level 1 Blacksmith Shop]

…

One backpack and two blueprints; this was a very decent haul.

Cao Xing equipped the backpack in satisfaction.

Then, he looked at the Silver Chest on the ground again.

[Decompose opened Silver Chest *1?]

"Yes."

[Decomposition successful. Obtained Mithril *10]

By this point, almost everything inside this Crypt Demon Spider's lair had been looted clean by Cao Xing.

At this moment, Cao Xing's gaze drifted upward to the large cocoons wrapped in spiderwebs.

He suddenly thought, "Muxue, do you think there might be some treasures inside these cocoons?"

"Hmm?" Liu Muxue's gaze was somewhat puzzled.

After pondering for a moment, Cao Xing said directly, "Assam, help me knock these cocoons down."

Assam obeyed the command, immediately slashing out a Frost Sword Qi.

Swish!

A white cocoon fell to the ground with a thud.

Cao Xing walked up to the white cocoon and looked at the druid beside him, saying, "Andrew, help me cut open the cocoon."

Andrew's gaze was somewhat hesitant. "Lord, this is a desecration of the bodies of the deceased…"

"But if it is your command, Andrew is willing to execute it."

He waved his sharp claws, and with two quick slashes, he sliced the cocoon open.

Then, a pale human face was revealed inside.

"It's actually a human?"

Seeing this, everyone was somewhat surprised.

Cao Xing bent down and searched the body, finding an emblem engraved with petals and a longsword, as well as a few coins.

[Obtained Carter Family Crest *1]

[Obtained Coins *72]

Cao Xing checked the attributes of this family crest.

[Carter Family Crest (Accessory)]

[Quality: Common]

[Equipment Effect: Strength +1, Agility +1]

Cao Xing nodded. Although the attribute boost wasn't much, it was an accessory and didn't occupy a main equipment slot, so it was better than nothing.

Then, Cao Xing had all the other large cocoons knocked down.

Inside, they discovered many corpses, both of molemen and humans.

From these corpses, Cao Xing looted a total of 17 iron ingots, 452 coins, 6 novice element crystals, and 11 family crests.

The harvest was quite good.

At this moment, Cao Xing looked at the druid beside him, who had a somewhat guilty expression on his face.

"Andrew, this is not a desecration of the deceased, but rather to return them to their roots."

"Only by freeing them can the souls of the deceased find peace."

"Now, bury their bodies in the earth that you love most."

Cao Xing's tone was very solemn, as if he truly meant it.

Hearing this, Andrew's furrowed brow instantly smoothed out.

Placing one hand over his chest, he bowed respectfully and said, "So that was the Lord's intention. Forgive Andrew's ignorance for misunderstanding your meaning!"

A system prompt appeared.

[Your actions have moved Andrew. Loyalty has increased. Current Loyalty: 88]

Cao Xing nodded, secretly pleased.

These guys just loved hearing these high-sounding words.

Then, they spent about ten minutes dealing with the corpses.

Seeing that there was nothing left to search in this cavern, Cao Xing continued to order, "Go back the way we came and head to the other tunnel."

"By your command, Lord."

The four powerful Tier 2 creatures obeyed Cao Xing's command and began to head back.

Thud, thud, thud!

The advanced Frost Wolf took heavy steps, its aura imposing.

Its heavy footsteps echoed throughout the entire mine.

Soon, they returned to the previous fork in the road.

This time, everyone was heading to the left tunnel.

The four recruited creatures still walked in front.

Cao Xing and Liu Muxue followed behind, continuously picking up the railway tracks on the ground and some scattered ores.

[Railway Track +1]

[Railway Track +1]

[Magic Energy Stone +3]

…