Don't think about going back when you're this badly injured

"Sss—haa! Sss—haa!"

The Spider Queen gasped for breath, its remaining five stabbing legs now reduced by two more, leaving two legs on one side of its body and one on the other. Not only that, but the nine crimson eyes on its head had mostly gone blind.

Battles between demonic beasts showed no mercy; they fought on pure instinct, every strike aimed to kill. Though the Spider Queen was in a miserable state, the Six-Whiskered Catfish was hardly better off.

It had been under the constant influence of the Spider Queen's Slow Demon Eye and injected with a massive dose of venom. Now, covered in wounds and unable to move, it was bound into a tight bundle by the Spider Queen's tough silk, lying motionless on the web.

The victor was decided—the Spider Queen had won, but at a heavy cost.

"So it's over already," Ji Ruo clicked his tongue. "Tch, they really went at it."

Liang Shixian lowered his voice to warn him: "Ji Ruo! Stop talking. If that thing notices us, we're done for!"

The Spider Queen had lost most of its spider legs, barely managing to steady itself on the web. Still, victory made all of this bearable.

Demonic beasts had a unique way of advancing. Devouring powerful demonic beasts, spirit beasts, or martial artists could drastically boost their strength, and any injuries sustained in battle would heal at a terrifying speed. As long as they survived, no matter how severe the wounds, winning was all that mattered.

Of course, a demonic beast's evolution path wasn't fixed. After devouring certain powerful beings, its very species might change.

Ji Ruo could almost foresee that once the Spider Queen devoured and digested the Six-Whiskered Catfish, its life form would undergo some transformation. At that point, it might no longer be a Nine-Eyed Demon Spider.

After the Spider Queen panted for a while, the remaining demonic eyes on its head suddenly glowed red.

Ji Ruo and the others lay on the ground, watching as the web that had served as the battlefield contracted, binding the Six-Whiskered Catfish even tighter.

At the same time, strands of silk wrapped around the Spider Queen's own body, forming into stabbing legs and sealing its wounds—it was using silk to repair its broken form!

Of course, those silk limbs didn't have the strength of its original body, but they were barely enough to use as makeshift legs for movement.

It had no intention of devouring the Six-Whiskered Catfish here. A demonic beast undergoing advancement was extremely vulnerable, and doing so here would be dangerous.

No matter how tempting the Six-Whiskered Catfish was, it had to hold back. Only after returning to its cave and weaving a new web would it begin the devouring process.

By the way, demonic beasts were called such not only because of their bizarre advancement methods but also because they each possessed one or more special abilities.

For example, the Nine-Eyed Demon Spider had the Slow Demon Eye, which could reduce a prey's speed.

Moreover, as a spider-type demonic beast, it also had several common spider abilities.

Such as 'venom production' and 'silk manipulation.'

"Thump!"

The Spider Queen landed heavily, carrying the dying Six-Whiskered Catfish on its back, no longer as nimble as before.

It slowly trudged toward its cave.

Liang Shixian and the others barely dared to breathe. The situation was different now—speaking carelessly would get them caught!

But Ji Ruo thought for a moment, then suddenly climbed out of the mud.

"Ji Ruo! What are you doing?!" Liang Shixian exclaimed in shock.

The Spider Queen was too badly injured to notice them. Letting it leave seemed like the best option.

Yet Ji Ruo considered it, then pointed at the Spider Queen's struggling, halting figure and said, "It's hurt this badly, going back alone—I'm worried."

"Why do you care about it?!" Liang Shixian was nearly losing his mind. "Lie down, quick! Don't let it spot us!"

"No!" Ji Ruo said seriously. "We can't just stand by and watch it die!"

The others: "???"

Even Li Nannan, still numb from the paralysis, was baffled.

Do you even know what you're saying? That's a demonic beast!

Stand by and watch it die? Is this really the time to be thinking about that?!

Before they could talk him out of it, Ji Ruo scrambled up and charged forward.

"Hey there! Hey, don't go! You're hurt that bad, it's not safe going back alone!"

The mud-caked youth, his face so filthy his features were unrecognizable, waved his arms as he chased after her, his concerned words sounding as if he truly had the Spider Queen's well-being at heart.

Of course, if the mud on the youth's palms hadn't quickly dried and cracked, revealing the crimson flesh beneath, his act would have been far more convincing.

The severely wounded Spider Queen paused at the sound, its injuries so heavy that its reactions were sluggish.

By the time it realized something was wrong, Ji Ruo had already reached its back. Before the Spider Queen could turn around, he leaped high and landed on top of it.

A pair of crimson, scorching-hot palms slapped against the dark purple silk covering the Spider Queen's body.

The motion seemed gentle, like a light pat on the shoulder of a departing friend.

"Hey there, why not stay a while? You're hurt this bad, no need to rush off."

Ji Ruo spoke soothingly, but his Iron Sand Palm, radiating intense heat, rubbed rapidly against the dark purple silk—this thing was worthy of being a demonic beast on par with the peak of the Qi Pulse Realm; even its silk had higher heat resistance than an ordinary Nine-Eyed Demon Spider's.

But it was useless!

Ji Ruo's Iron Sand Palm had already reached the 'Mastery' level—theoretically, a level only attainable by Qi Pulse Realm martial artists. Its temperature was extremely high, and with the rapid friction at this moment, the dark purple spider silk ignited in the blink of an eye.

First, a spark; then, it spread swiftly.

Ji Ruo had already leaped away, nimble as a monkey, quickly climbing up a nearby tree.

"Hiss! Hiss!"

Spider silk was highly flammable. Once it caught fire, it was difficult to extinguish.

At this moment, the Spider Queen's body was covered in a thick layer of spider silk, originally used to control her injuries and movement, but now it had become her death warrant.

Amidst the roaring flames, the Spider Queen screeched and rolled on the ground, desperately trying to put out the fire.

But once the Nine-Eyed Demon Spider's silk was ignited, even dousing it with water could hardly extinguish it. How could it be so easily put out?

The severely injured Spider Queen was scorched by the flames, adding injury to injury.

And the dying Six-Whiskered Catfish was also burned by the fire.

But it no longer had the strength to struggle.

Ji Ruo crouched on a tree trunk, watching the Spider Queen writhing in pain on the ground below, and couldn't help but sigh:

"If you didn't want to stay, why didn't you say so earlier? You're such a big spider—why are you rolling around and throwing a tantrum?"

The dark purple spider silk was highly toxic. Now that the silk was ignited by the flames, a purple poisonous smoke slowly rose.

The Ten Thousand Beast Mountain Secret Realm, lacking a sun, still had its own cycle of day and night.

It was currently daytime. Light resembling sunlight poured down from the sky, piercing through the treetops, casting dappled patches of light on the forest floor and onto the Spider Queen, who was still shrieking in agony.

Ji Ruo mused thoughtfully: "So this is the legendary 'sunlight on the incense burner gives birth to purple smoke'? So your name is Incense Burner, huh?"

As the purple poisonous smoke began to rise, he had already left the treetop, helped up Li Nannan, whose body was still somewhat numb, and called for everyone to move toward the upwind direction.