The sea of clouds before Jade Void Palace had been dyed dark purple, and experts from every faction had gathered into a spiritual-light barrier stretching for several miles. On the left were the remnants of the Dragon Clan led by Ao Guang, steam billowing like waves; on the right were Feng Yao and Qilin Cang's clansmen, their flames and earthen armor reflecting one another; in the center stood Donghua and the other hidden grand cultivators, the auras of the Wood Spirit, Lei Ze, and others interweaving to form a stable defensive line. Xuan Fu and Donghua stood side by side toward the rear of the formation, their azure robes and white garments complementing each other as talisman light quietly resonated with the Wood Spirit aura.
"The Demon Spider Commander's fiendish power has already eroded the Kunlun Dragon Vein. If we don't break through its core soon, the spiritual-light barrier will collapse within three hours." Donghua condensed a wisp of emerald Wood Spirit between his fingers and gently touched it to the Stealth Talisman Array Xuan Fu had laid down. "Fellow Daoist, your talisman array can isolate fiendish detection. It's perfect for concealing us while we search for its weakness."
Xuan Fu gave a slight nod, and his Spiritual Sense spread along the Wood Spirit Power. He had long since integrated the purifying power of the Demon Suppressing Talisman into the formation's foundation. At this moment, borrowing Donghua's Wood Spirit perception, he clearly captured the flow of energy within the Demon Spider Commander's body—the black-and-red origin formed after it devoured the Malevolent Spirit Crystal. It was like a beating heart, with countless fine fiendish threads coiling around it. The ends of those threads seemed faintly connected to an unknown space in the Kunlun Underground.
"It's drawing on the Dragon Vein's origin to nourish itself, and there seems to be an external force pulling on it." Xuan Fu lowered his voice. His fingers swiftly traced the air, and Cyan-Golden Stream talisman patterns condensed in midair. "I'll use the Rigid and Soft Talisman Array to restrain its web threads. Fellow Daoist Donghua, use Wood Spirit Power to bind the origin threads. The other experts should attack its eight leg joints. That's where the fiendish power is weakest as it circulates."
Before he had finished speaking, the Demon Spider Commander let out a shriek that shook the universe. Its ten-thousand-zhang body suddenly dropped, and its eight hooked legs crushed the clouds. Countless black spider threads shot forth like torrential rain. The fiendish aura on them turned the ground into scorched earth upon contact, even corroding the air with tiny black spots. Ao Guang roared, and steam condensed into a thousand-zhang wall of water. Feng Yao's flames transformed into a Fire Phoenix and surged upward in an attempt to intercept the threads, but the corrosive force pierced through them instantly. The water wall collapsed, and the Fire Phoenix dissipated with a mournful cry.
"What terrifying corrosive power!" Qilin Cang's face went pale. His earthen armor swelled by three feet as he stepped in front of everyone. "Activate the defense!"
Just as the spider threads were about to touch the spiritual-light barrier, Xuan Fu abruptly raised his hand. The Cyan-Golden Rigid and Soft Talisman Array suddenly unfolded. The array was like a rotating Taiji Diagram. Its rigid force forcibly deflected the spider threads, while its soft force dissolved the remaining corrosive aura. At the same time, dozens of Purification Talismans flew from his fingertips. Their emerald light scattered like stardust, rapidly purifying the fiendish aura in the air and temporarily stabilizing the defensive line.
"Move!" Seeing this, Donghua's Wood Spirit Power surged. Countless emerald vines drilled from the ground like long snakes and wrapped around the Demon Spider Commander's eight legs. Carrying innate vitality, the vines perfectly countered the fiendish power. The moment they wrapped around the giant legs, they began to seep inward, attempting to interrupt the flow of energy.
Ao Guang, Feng Yao, and the others also reacted. The Dragon Clan's Water Dragons, the Phoenix Clan's fiery feathers, and the Kirin Clan's stone spikes attacked simultaneously, all striking toward the spider's joints. The hidden grand cultivators displayed their own divine abilities as well. Lei Ze's thunder, the Wood Spirit's thorns, and wave after wave of attacks fell on the Demon Spider like meteors chasing the moon.
"Clang, clang, clang!"
The attacks struck the Demon Spider's black scales, ringing like metal against metal. They left behind only faint white marks, instead enraging it. Cruel light flashed through the scarlet eyes on the humanlike head of the Demon Spider Commander. Its eight legs kicked off violently, sending its enormous body crashing toward the spiritual-light barrier. At the same time, it opened its mouth and spat out a black-and-red origin beam. Wherever the beam passed, space collapsed outright, carrying the might to destroy everything.
"Not good! Fall back!" Xuan Fu's heart tightened. He immediately activated the Universe Folding Talisman and teleported himself and Donghua several miles away. The other experts also fled one after another. The spiritual-light barrier was shattered by the origin beam in an instant, and the ground exploded into a ten-thousand-zhang-deep ravine. Black fiendish aura surged from it, transforming into countless lesser fiends that pounced toward everyone.
"This monster commander's defenses are far too astonishing!" Ao Guang stabilized himself while panting, his dragon robe torn in multiple places. "Our attacks can't harm its core at all!"
Xuan Fu said nothing. His Spiritual Sense remained firmly locked onto the black-and-red origin within the Demon Spider Commander's body. He had discovered that when the origin beam was fired, the origin had dimmed for an instant, and the fiendish threads connecting it to the underground had briefly fallen into disorder. "Its origin is powerful, but it needs the fiendish power underground to replenish it! We must sever its connection to the underground!"
He quickly took out the Fiend Spirit Origin and Demon Core he had collected earlier. Talisman patterns flew from his fingertips as he began condensing a new talisman. Cyan-Golden Rigid-Soft Talisman Power, emerald Purification Talisman Power, and pitch-black Malevolent Spirit Talisman Power intertwined in his hands, gradually condensing into a three-colored talisman—the Demon Suppressing World-Breaking Talisman. This talisman possessed the purifying power of the Demon Suppressing Talisman, the penetrating power of the Rigid and Soft Talisman Array, and the Power of Destruction from the Fiend Spirit Origin. It was designed specifically to target the Demon Spider's fiendish core.
"Fellow Daoist Donghua, could I borrow your Wood Spirit Power for a moment of cover?" Xuan Fu held the Demon Suppressing World-Breaking Talisman in his hand. "I need to get within a hundred zhang of it to sever the fiendish threads."
Donghua nodded. His Wood Spirit Power surged once more, and countless vines grew wildly, forming an emerald barrier that tightly bound the lesser fiends. At the same time, he condensed a Wood Spirit Pearl between his fingers and hurled it toward the Demon Spider Commander's eyes. "Fellow Daoists, please hold it off for a moment!"
Ao Guang and the others understood. They launched another attack. A Water Dragon, Fire Phoenix, stone spikes, and thunder struck simultaneously toward the Demon Spider's head and torso. Although they could not inflict serious injuries, they successfully drew its attention. The Demon Spider Commander roared and swung its eight legs, blocking the attacks one by one. Its scarlet gaze remained fixed on Donghua, clearly treating him as the main threat.
Xuan Fu seized the opening, activated the Universe Folding Talisman, and transformed into an almost imperceptible streak of Cyan-Golden Stream that flew like a ghost toward the Demon Spider Commander's abdomen. That was where the fiendish threads were densest and where its core connection to the underground space lay.
The instant he drew near the Demon Spider, Xuan Fu felt a suffocating fiendish pressure. The corrosive aura radiating from its black scales nearly melted his talisman body. He immediately activated a Purification Talisman, enveloping his entire body in emerald light, while circulating his Rigid-Soft Talisman Power to its limit and dodging the sweeping legs and spraying spider threads.
A hundred zhang, fifty zhang, thirty zhang...
The distance grew shorter. Xuan Fu could clearly see the fiendish threads writhing beneath the scales like blood vessels. Their ends connected to the depths underground, continuously drawing in fiendish power. Just as he was about to activate the Demon Suppressing World-Breaking Talisman, the Demon Spider Commander suddenly sensed his presence. Its scarlet gaze snapped toward its abdomen, and it opened its mouth to spray out a dense black mist.
The black mist contained extreme corrosive and hallucinatory power. The instant it touched him, the light of Xuan Fu's Purification Talisman dimmed several degrees, and his Spiritual Sense briefly fell into disorder. "Not good!" Startled, he immediately activated the Malevolent Spirit World-Breaking Talisman. Pitch-black talisman power erupted, carving a passage through the black mist. At the same time, his figure folded through space again, instantly closing to within ten zhang of the Demon Spider's abdomen.
"Break for me!"
Xuan Fu abruptly hurled the Demon Suppressing World-Breaking Talisman. Three-colored talisman light surged, piercing the Demon Spider's scales like a sword and precisely striking the core node of the fiendish threads. As the talisman light erupted, its purifying power furiously devoured the fiendish aura, its rigid-soft force tore the threads apart, and its malevolent spirit power destroyed the node's origin connection.
"Roar—!"
The Demon Spider Commander let out a shrill howl. The scales on its abdomen exploded, and its black-and-red origin violently trembled as the fiendish threads connecting it to the underground snapped instantly. Its aura suddenly plummeted. Its enormous body staggered back several miles, and its scarlet eyes filled with pain and fury as it glared at Xuan Fu. "Insect! This Venerable One will tear you to pieces!"
After succeeding, Xuan Fu turned without hesitation, activated the Universe Folding Talisman, and instantly fled back to Donghua's side. The previous strike had nearly exhausted more than half of his talisman power. His talisman patterns had dimmed slightly, and his Spiritual Sense was also somewhat fatigued. "It worked! Its origin connection has been severed, and its strength has fallen sharply!"
Donghua hurriedly sent him a wisp of pure Wood Spirit Power to help him recover. "What divine might, Fellow Daoist! Now is the perfect time to kill it!"
Ao Guang and the others also saw the Turning Point, and their morale soared. "Kill!" The Dragon Clan's Water Dragon condensed once more and charged toward the Demon Spider with thunderous force. Feng Yao's flames transformed into a sky full of fiery feathers, while Qilin Cang's stone spikes fell like torrential rain. The hidden grand cultivators unleashed their divine abilities again, pouring a dense barrage of attacks toward the Demon Spider Commander.
Although the Demon Spider Commander's strength had greatly decreased, it remained ferocious. It roared and swung its eight legs as its black-and-red origin erupted again, spraying countless black flames to block everyone's attacks. The black flames carried a powerful Aura of Destruction. They burned the Water Dragon to nothing, and the fiery feathers were extinguished one after another. The battle once again reached a stalemate.
While absorbing Wood Spirit Power to recover, Xuan Fu observed the battlefield. He discovered that although the Demon Spider Commander's black-and-red origin had dimmed, it remained tenacious. Moreover, deep within the origin seemed to lurk an extremely faint strand of Golden Patterns. This pattern was not fiendish power. Instead, it carried a strange Sense of Order, resembling the aura of some ancient existence within the chaos.
"This monster commander's origin seems to have been modified..." Xuan Fu was secretly startled. He recalled the mysterious gaze he had sensed in the chaos earlier, as well as the strange timing of the Demon Tide's appearance. He faintly felt that an invisible hand was manipulating everything from behind. The Demon Spider Commander might merely be a chess piece.
At that moment, the Demon Spider Commander suddenly stopped attacking. Its black-and-red origin rapidly contracted, and its enormous body began twisting and changing shape. Its eight legs gradually shortened, its humanlike head grew even more ferocious, and a pair of black wings unexpectedly sprouted from its back. Its aura began rapidly rising, faintly showing signs of breaking through to the mid-stage Quasi-Saint realm.
"Not good! It's going to detonate its origin and die with us!" Ao Guang paled in shock and turned to flee.
Feng Yao and Qilin Cang also turned deathly pale. The power of a Quasi-Saint detonating its origin was enough to destroy the entire Core Area of Kunlun. They had no way to resist it. The hidden grand cultivators also retreated one after another, fear appearing on their faces.
Donghua's brows knitted tightly. His Wood Spirit Power surged to its limit as he attempted to condense a Defensive Barrier. "Fellow Daoist Xuan Fu, do you have a way to stop it?"
Xuan Fu's Spiritual Sense remained firmly locked onto the black-and-red origin within the Demon Spider Commander. The strand of Golden Patterns was becoming increasingly clear, seemingly directing the detonation. He rapidly circulated his Spiritual Sense, and countless talisman combinations flashed through his mind. Suddenly, he thought of a method. "If we combine the Demon Suppressing Talisman with the Rigid and Soft Talisman Array, we might be able to suppress its origin detonation. But we'll need to work together!"
He did not hesitate. He immediately activated his remaining talisman power. The Cyan-Golden Rigid and Soft Talisman Array unfolded once more, while hundreds of Purification Talismans flew out and merged into the formation. "Fellow Daoist Donghua, lend me your Wood Spirit Power to stabilize the formation's foundation! Fellow Daoist Ao Guang, envelop the formation in steam to strengthen its soft force!"
Donghua and Ao Guang immediately complied. Wood Spirit Power flowed into the formation like a network of veins, while steam wrapped around the formation, turning it into a gigantic ball of water. The aura of Rigid and Soft Harmony grew increasingly intense. Xuan Fu rapidly formed seals with both hands, and the talisman array suddenly expanded, covering the Demon Spider Commander.
"Don't even think about it!" The Demon Spider Commander roared. Its black-and-red origin erupted to its limit, and the aura of detonation grew increasingly dense. The surrounding space began to tremble violently as countless tiny cracks spread outward.
The instant the talisman array collided with the Demon Spider Commander, its rigid force forcibly suppressed the erupting origin, while its soft force attempted to dissolve the detonation's energy. The Purification Talismans furiously devoured the fiendish aura. The Demon Spider Commander let out a pained shriek, its body twisting endlessly within the formation as its black-and-red origin flickered between light and darkness. The detonation process was forcibly delayed.
"Push harder!" Xuan Fu gritted his teeth. The light of his talisman patterns surged, almost as if he were burning his origin to activate the formation. Donghua, Ao Guang, and the others also poured in their own origin power. The formation's light grew brighter and brighter, gradually suppressing the Demon Spider Commander's aura.
Just as the Demon Spider Commander's black-and-red origin was about to be completely suppressed, the Golden Patterns deep within the origin suddenly erupted. A tiny golden beam shot out from the origin and pierced through the talisman array in an instant. The beam was incredibly fast and carried an indescribable pressure as it shot toward Xuan Fu.
Xuan Fu's heart jolted. He wanted to flee, but it was already too late. He could only instinctively activate the Defensive Talisman Array, and a Cyan-Golden barrier instantly unfolded.
"Pfft!"
The golden beam pierced through the barrier and struck Xuan Fu's talisman body. He felt a wave of excruciating pain as several cracks instantly split across his talisman patterns. His Spiritual Sense fell into disorder, and he spat out a mouthful of golden Talisman Blood.
The Demon Spider Commander seized this opportunity. Its black-and-red origin suddenly erupted, breaking free of the talisman array's suppression. It transformed into a streak of Black Flowing Light and fled toward a rift in the Kunlun Underground. It had clearly abandoned its self-detonation and chosen to escape.
"Don't let it get away!" Ao Guang roared furiously. He wanted to pursue it, but Xuan Fu stopped him.
"We can't catch it..." Xuan Fu wiped the Talisman Blood from the corner of his mouth, his face pale. "That golden beam is no ordinary thing. There must be an even more powerful existence behind it. Moreover, the underground space it entered is saturated with fiendish aura. Pursuing it rashly would only be courting death."
Donghua nodded as well, looking at Xuan Fu with concern. "How serious are your injuries, Fellow Daoist? That golden beam seemed to contain some kind of Law Power. Ordinary treatment probably won't work."
Xuan Fu circulated his Spiritual Sense to examine himself and discovered a trace of Golden Law remaining in the cracks of his talisman body, slowly eroding his origin. "It's fine. I have Purification Talismans and Wood Spirit Power. I can suppress it for now." Yet his heart was filled with astonishment and doubt. What exactly is this Golden Law? Who is the existence behind the Demon Spider Commander?
At that moment, the spiritual light of Jade Void Palace suddenly surged once more, and a gentle voice rang out. "Fellow Daoist Xuan Fu severely wounded the Demon Spider and severed its fiendish source. Your contribution is immense. This palace possesses Innate Jade Fluid, which can aid you in healing your injuries. Please enter the palace with Fellow Daoist Donghua so that we may speak."
Xuan Fu and Donghua exchanged a glance, both seeing surprise in each other's eyes. The grand cultivator of Jade Void Palace had never appeared, yet had now taken the initiative to invite them inside. Clearly, they had taken an interest in Xuan Fu's talisman attainments—or had noticed the abnormality of the Golden Law.
The two did not hesitate and flew toward Jade Void Palace. Behind them, Ao Guang and the others were clearing away the remaining monsters. The crisis in the Kunlun Mountain Range had been temporarily resolved, but Xuan Fu knew this was only the beginning. The existence behind the Demon Spider Commander, that Golden Law, and the fiendish space underground all foretold that an even greater storm was approaching.
The instant he stepped into Jade Void Palace, Xuan Fu felt a dense Innate Spiritual Qi envelop his entire body, easing the pain of his wounds considerably. At the center of the palace, a hazy phantom floated among the clouds, radiating a gentle yet vast pressure.
"This junior, Xuan Fu, together with Donghua, greets Senior." The two cupped their hands and bowed simultaneously.
The phantom gave a slight nod. A milky-white spiritual fluid slowly flew over and stopped before Xuan Fu. "This is Innate Jade Fluid. It can neutralize the Law Power eroding your body. However, you must tell me honestly: do you recognize the Golden Patterns within the Demon Spider Commander?"
Xuan Fu accepted the Innate Jade Fluid, his heart stirring. It seemed that the grand cultivator of Jade Void Palace had also noticed the abnormality of the Golden Patterns. Just as he was about to speak, his Spiritual Sense suddenly caught a familiar aura coming from the direction of the underground fiendish space.
This aura was identical to the mysterious gaze he had encountered in the chaos!
Xuan Fu's expression instantly turned solemn. That mysterious existence had actually been hiding within the fiendish space beneath the Kunlun Underground all along!
At that moment, the Innate Jade Fluid had just touched the Golden Law within his body when it suddenly began to fluctuate violently. The Golden Patterns surged as well, and a strange symbol emerged on his talisman body.
The instant the phantom saw the symbol, its aura suddenly grew solemn. "This is... the Chaos Annihilation Talisman Seal!"
Before you continue