Overlord: Welcoming the Birth of the King
Chapter 35: Overall Level 9LV, Caster Level 8

Of course!

Apart from their silk, gallows spiders also possess certain toxins. However, they need to first capture their prey before injecting venom through their fangs, making the process relatively slow.

With Tang Zheng's speed, these gallows spiders couldn't even get close to him!

The iron sword continuously sliced through the air, the sticky fluid coating its blade rapidly evaporating under high heat, intensifying the already foul stench in the air!

Time passed minute by minute.

The whooshing sounds of sword swings intertwined with the screeches of gallows spiders!

After a while...

Tang Zheng stood panting heavily, one hand resting on his knee, surrounded by dismembered remains of gallows spiders.

Nearly a hundred gallows spiders - about two-thirds had been slain by Tang Zheng in one go, while the rest had fled into the forest where pursuit was impossible.

Tang Zheng exhaled deeply.

Failing to eliminate them all was unavoidable. His current arsenal indeed lacked any wide-area attack techniques.

He estimated these gallows spiders to be around level 2-3!

Don't let these levels fool you!

In the Li Yestige Kingdom, this was precisely the level range of ordinary soldiers.

Meaning, one gallows spider was roughly equivalent to one ordinary soldier!

Of course, if equal numbers appeared in the forest, a hundred soldiers facing a hundred gallows spiders would likely be massacred.

After all!

Even Tang Zheng couldn't outrun these spiders in the forest environment.

Tang Zheng speculated.

This swarm of gallows spiders was probably the strongest monster group in the peripheral zone, likely inhabiting the area between the Forest Sage Chagama and the ogre territory.

Now he finally understood why people in this world turned pale and spoke with dread whenever the Towel Forest was mentioned!

And this was just the forest outskirts. Deeper inside resided the three Forest Rulers, each possessing "Hero-class" strength. Besides the Forest Sage Chagama, the other two commanded numerous subordinates.

Yet the entire Li Yestige Kingdom only had two "Adamantite-rank" adventurer teams!

Tang Zheng dared not breathe deeply, as the overwhelming stench in the air was nauseating.

The heated iron sword worked wonders, but the smell of heated blood and dismembered limbs was suffocating!

『EXP: 2985/1000』

Ignoring the foul odor, Tang Zheng immediately checked his EXP on the status panel.

"Should be enough for two levels," Tang Zheng thought excitedly. "Level up!"

【Ability Chart】

Innate Talent: 【Player】

Overall Level: 9Lv

EXP: 685/1500

Classes:

Basic Classes: Genius 1LV (Warrior, Priestess/Priest, Alchemist, Mage, Thief)

Intermediate Class: Sword Saint 8Lv

Skill Points: 13

Passive Skills: Item Box, Slash Enhancement (8%)

Active Skills:

Warrior: Instant Reflex, Four Light Combo Slash, Quick Slash, Stealth

Magic: Papermaking (1st Tier), Heating (1st Tier), Minor Heal (1st Tier), Magic Arrow (1st Tier), Odorless (1st Tier)

Class Skills: Medicine Making, Alchemy

…………

"Finally reached level 8 and above." Tang Zheng examined the ability chart.

Overall Level 9LV!

A pleased expression crossed Tang Zheng's face as he immediately retrieved the 2nd-tier magic scroll "Item Appraisal" purchased from the Mage Guild from his item box.

Just as he prepared to unseal the scroll to acquire the skill,

He suddenly noticed the two upgraded zero-tier magics on his ability chart lacked the "↑" symbol.

Tang Zheng froze, then slapped his forehead in realization.

"Got too focused on levels. Almost forgot my current caster level isn't sufficient."

His pleased expression faded into resignation as he put away the magic scroll.

His current level gains were primarily in "Sword Saint," meaning warrior levels, while his caster level remained at 1LV like his "Genius" class.

"Focus on maxing warrior levels first."

Tang Zheng exhaled and looked at the numerous mutilated gallows spider corpses.

He remembered these spiders carried venom sacs in their abdomens.

Kneeling down, Tang Zheng dissected some dead spiders, extracting relatively intact venom sacs.

However,

Most spiders had been thoroughly destroyed by Tang Zheng, and after considerable effort, he only collected 20 undamaged venom sacs.

After finishing this task,

Tang Zheng left the foul-smelling area, though not going far, stopping under a large tree about 17-18 meters away.

Having just dealt with the spiders, he needed to recover stamina. Moreover, this area belonged to those gallows spiders.

The surviving spiders had fled, eliminating concerns about other monster attacks.

Additionally,

Tang Zheng estimated the ogre territory couldn't be far from here.

Grabbing a handful of leaves from the ground,

Tang Zheng used them as a rag to wipe spider blood off his iron sword.

The "Heating" magic effect had long faded. Recalling how increasing the sword's temperature enhanced its destructive power during combat - this method seemed quite effective!

Almost like makeshift enchantment.

Though the heated sword affected him too.

Tang Zheng gazed at the iron sword, effortlessly lifting it with one hand and performing several practice swings.

The blade sliced through air with sharp whooshes.

Each "Sword Saint" level up significantly boosted his overall strength. If this were just numerical improvements,

Tang Zheng discovered that with each level, his sword handling became more instinctive, even granting him previously unknown techniques.

As if naturally acquired or through extensive training!

This phenomenon

astonished Tang Zheng.

In "YGGDRASIL," class panels were just that, but in this world, leveling up classes felt more like gradually mastering the class's inherent abilities.

Like when forest insects attacked earlier!

Tang Zheng could effortlessly slash attacking insects without even looking, purely by instinct.

Even when facing that black-green giant snake before, various blocking techniques came naturally.

Before transmigrating, Tang Zheng was just an ordinary person who couldn't possibly possess such skills - clearly all granted by the "Sword Saint" class.

After resting about half an hour,

Feeling sufficiently recovered, Tang Zheng picked up his sword and continued eastward.

The subsequent journey

encountered no beasts, let alone magical ones, but saw increasing numbers of birds.

Various strange-looking birds he'd never seen before, with predominantly dark plumage, occasionally flew overhead or perched among dense foliage, chirping.

Frowning, Tang Zheng pressed on, though his footsteps became noticeably lighter.