Nine-Spirit Poison Spider

At the summit of Worry-Free Mountain, a group of disciples lined up outside the Food Hall, drooling as they peered inside. Lei Miaoyan's cooking was simply too delicious, leaving disciples who ate roast meat all day utterly hooked. Almost no one cooked for themselves anymore; they could no longer stomach their own food.

Before long, Senior Sister Lei Miaoyan emerged from the Food Hall and removed her apron. She turned her hand, and a flash of spiritual light revealed a rosewood box. The disciples obediently stepped forward one by one, each dropping a low-grade earth vein crystal into the box with a clack.

Inside the Food Hall, Yang Xiao and Shen Laodao sat on either side of Wang Huhu. The already short bench left her so squeezed that her little face scrunched up.

One on her left and one on her right, they each picked up morsels of food and placed them in Wang Huhu's bowl.

Sitting across from them, Dongfang Mingyue frowned slightly. She rose from her bench, walked over to the two men, picked Wang Huhu up, and returned to her seat.

The two exchanged glances. They couldn't afford to provoke this ice-cold fairy, so they obediently continued serving Wang Huhu food.

Suddenly, a cold gleam flashed, and the chopsticks in their hands snapped in two. They looked up to see Dongfang Mingyue calmly sheathing her Azure Edge Sword.

Both shuddered. We can't afford to provoke her. Definitely not.

They took out fresh pairs of chopsticks and quietly ate their own meals.

Yang Xiao examined the two hundred thousand li of spiritual energy in his Qi Sea and considered his next steps.

Two months had passed since he obtained the Carefree Heavenly Master Chapter. As his spiritual energy grew, his absorption rate had also increased. He had exhausted all the earth vein crystals Butcher had brought him and had covered one-fifth of the distance to the sea condensation realm.

Once the four finished eating, Yang Xiao headed toward the Scripture Pavilion. Simply absorbing spiritual energy no longer did much to improve his strength, and he had no cultivation resources. Half a month of seated cultivation was worth less than absorbing a single low-grade earth vein crystal.

He reached the first floor of the Scripture Pavilion and went to the Artifact Refining Chapter section. Earth Masters could use Earth Vein Qi to forge Spirit Artifacts and increase their strength.

After thinking it over for three days, Yang Xiao had decided to forge one himself.

He leafed through one artifact-refining manual after another. The Fire Cloud Sword—he knew no sword techniques. The Tiger Fang Spear—he knew no spear techniques either.

"Hmm!"

Yang Xiao stopped turning pages. The book in his hands recorded a method for refining something called a Spider Spirit Rope.

He opened the manual. The Spirit Spider Rope was a low-grade Spirit Artifact that cultivators could deploy in battle to poison their opponents and rob them of their ability to fight. If an opponent's cultivation was weaker, being entangled by the Spider Spirit Rope could even kill them on the spot.

Most of the materials needed to make a Spider Spirit Rope were easy to obtain. Even the rare ones could be replaced with other materials. But one ingredient, the venom sac of a Nine-Spirit Poison Spider, was not only rare but irreplaceable.

Yang Xiao frowned. He liked the Spirit Spider Rope very much, and it was also a Spirit Artifact that could be upgraded. If he could find a Hundred-Spirit Poison Spider, he could refine a Mid-Grade Spirit Artifact, the Hundred-Spirit Spider Rope. It could severely wound Sea Condensation Realm cultivators and even affect Soul Seed Realm experts.

Closing the manual, he decided to ask Senior Sister Lei Miaoyan. She had lived on Worry-Free Mountain for so long and had started cultivating as a child. Perhaps she knew where to find a Nine-Spirit Poison Spider.

Knock, knock, knock!

Yang Xiao knocked three times. After a moment, Senior Sister Lei opened the door and stepped aside. "Please come in."

He entered. A fragrance drifted through the air, and when he inhaled, he caught the scent of flowers mixed with another unusual fragrance. He stole a glance at Senior Sister Lei. It seemed to be her natural scent.

Lei Miaoyan walked to the table and sat down, then looked at him. "Why are you standing there in a daze? Come sit down."

"Thank you, Senior Sister," Yang Xiao said with a bow.

This was his second time entering Senior Sister Lei's private room. The furnishings were simple. Her pink bed stood nearby, its quilt neatly folded.

Yang Xiao shook his head. What am I thinking? Looking at a girl's bed the moment I walk in—am I really that wicked inside?

Just then, Senior Sister Lei handed him a cup of tea. "Did you need something, Junior Brother Yang?"

He accepted the tea and set it down. "I want to refine a Spider Spirit Rope, but I don't know where to find a Nine-Spirit Poison Spider."

"Knowing how widely traveled and knowledgeable you are, Senior Sister, I wanted to ask whether you knew where I could find one."

Lei Miaoyan frowned slightly. "A Nine-Spirit Poison Spider? I remember encountering one in the Lianfeng Mountains when I was little. Wait a moment, Junior Brother. I'll look it up."

After speaking, she walked to her dressing table, opened a drawer, and took out a pink book as he watched.

Senior Sister Lei Miaoyan flipped through it quickly. After working through the entire book, she took another from the drawer and continued searching.

Yang Xiao sipped his tea to calm his fluttering heart. Unless he was mistaken, Senior Sister Lei was holding a notebook, and what it contained was probably her diary.

This was an ancient world. Even in his previous life, Senior Sister Lei's habit of keeping notes would have been ahead of its time.

By the time he finished his tea, he saw Senior Sister Lei break into a smile, sending his little heart thumping nonstop.

Senior Sister Lei was beautiful. Though hers was not the beauty that toppled cities and kingdoms, paired with her gentle, kind nature, she was practically the goddess of every man's dreams, his ideal wife.

Yang Xiao swallowed as Senior Sister Lei slowly approached him. Smiling, she handed him a book. "Take this notebook. It records where the Nine-Spirit Poison Spider was found."

"But once you've found it, you must return this to me. There are lots of my little secrets written in there... no peeking."

Yang Xiao instinctively accepted it and nodded.

"Pfft!"

Lei Miaoyan laughed at his dazed expression, then walked to the table and refilled his tea.

Her laughter snapped Yang Xiao out of his daze. He ran toward the door, calling, "Thank you, Senior Sister!"

Lei Miaoyan's voice came from behind him. "The Lianfeng Mountains are dangerous. Would you like me to go with you, Junior Brother?"

Yang Xiao stopped. The next instant, he dashed out of the room. His heart was racing, and he knew without looking in a mirror that his face had turned red.

Back in his room, he touched his burning cheeks. He had never dated in his previous life and hadn't had the chance in this one. To think he had actually blushed at the crucial moment. If he had thickened his skin and accepted just then, perhaps they would have been holding hands by the time they returned.

He lay on his bed and flipped through the notebook. It recorded events from when Senior Sister Lei was ten.

Most entries concerned her cultivation insights, along with two training journeys she had taken with her master, Chen Wuyou. One had been to the Lianfeng Mountains.

They had encountered a Nine-Spirit Poison Spider on that trip. Yang Xiao frowned when he saw the location. It was actually in the central region of the Lianfeng Mountains, where Soul Seed Realm demonic beasts roamed.

He instinctively thought of Shen Laodao. With him along, his life would be assured.

But the next instant, he rejected the idea. He couldn't have someone protecting him every moment of his cultivation journey. Right now, his cultivation was merely too low, and he had friends who could help him. But when he reached the end of that journey, who would be able to help him then?

He had to learn to face the howling winds and driving rain himself. Only then could he become a powerful cultivator capable of standing on his own.

The next day, Yang Xiao came to Chen Wuyou's room and bowed. "Master, this disciple requests permission to leave the mountain for training."

Chen Wuyou opened the door and frowned. "You're going alone?"

"Yes," he replied.

Chen Wuyou studied him for a long while before saying, "Be careful out there."

Watching his master close the door, Yang Xiao felt that Chen Wuyou treated him differently from the other disciples. That difference seemed to have begun when he revealed his talent as a Heavenly Master and Earth Master.

He turned and headed down the mountain, pausing as he passed Wang Huhu's room. He had two and a half close friends in the Carefree Sect: Wang Huhu, Shen Laodao, and Dongfang Mingyue, who counted as half.

Though he and Dongfang Mingyue rarely interacted, they had shared enough meals to occasionally exchange a few words.

The next moment, he continued down the mountain. If Wang Huhu knew he was leaving alone, she would certainly insist on coming, but he wanted to train by himself this time.

On the mountain path, he shook his head. At worst, he would treat Wang Huhu to a few meals when he returned.

His previous trip to the Lianfeng Mountains had taken three days. Now, however, he had sufficient magical power and knew the route. He reached the foot of the mountains in less than two days.

Even though he had been here before, seeing the Lianfeng Mountains again still filled him with wonder at nature's marvels. Peak after peak joined together in an expanse whose end lay beyond sight.

Yang Xiao replenished his magical power at the foot of the mountains. Once inside, he needed to remain at his peak to face every sort of danger.

Entering the mountains, he cast the Heaven's Eye Opening Technique, and a map of the surrounding ten li appeared in his mind. His main purpose was to find a Nine-Spirit Poison Spider, with some Earth Vein Crystals to pick up along the way. Yes, to an Earth Master, Earth Vein Crystals were like money lying on the ground, waiting to be collected.

Using Shrinking Earth to Inches, he avoided the nearby demonic beasts and advanced step by step toward the Nine-Spirit Poison Spider's location. An Earth Master's idea of walking, however, differed from an ordinary person's: each step covered a hundred meters.

His figure flickered through the mountains. Whenever half his magical power was depleted, he sat down to replenish it. In such a perilous place, exhausting his magical power would be extremely dangerous.

With the Heaven's Eye Opening Technique's assistance, Yang Xiao successfully avoided the surrounding demonic beasts and slowly approached his destination.

He made four detours along the way, collecting over a hundred earth vein crystals each time.

The situation in the Lianfeng Mountains was peculiar. Earth Vein Crystals normally formed underground, but here, demonic beasts had dug passages to them and stood guard.

Half a month later, Yang Xiao looked toward a mountain peak, delight spreading across his face. This was the mountain where Senior Sister Lei had encountered the Nine-Spirit Poison Spider all those years ago.

"I hope it's still here," Yang Xiao murmured as he entered the mountain.

Demonic beasts' territories were not unchanging. Years had passed. The Nine-Spirit Poison Spider might have been killed by another demonic beast, or it might have found a better territory and left.

It was morning when he entered, and mist enveloped the entire mountain. At first, he thought it was merely ordinary morning mist.

Once inside, he realized matters weren't so simple. The mist was poisonous. Its toxicity was mild, but prolonged exposure would cause dizziness and blurred vision. Senior Sister Lei's notes had not mentioned this. It seemed too much time had passed, and some unknown change had occurred on the mountain.

To avoid startling the Nine-Spirit Poison Spider into fleeing, Yang Xiao did not open his Heavenly Eye. Instead, he gathered spiritual energy in his eyes and searched the mountain forest.

There were many poisonous creatures on the mountain: ordinary venomous snakes, spiders, and toads, as well as poisonous beasts in the Qi Gathering Realm.

Carrying his Spell Blade, Yang Xiao cleaved any venomous snakes that shot toward him in two. Whenever he encountered a demonic beast in the Qi Gathering Realm, he avoided it to prevent unnecessary fighting.

After searching half the mountain, he finally spotted silk left by a Nine-Spirit Poison Spider at a cave entrance.

He darted to the entrance and traced a formation toward the sky. By the time he had expended thirty percent of his magical power, a mass of dark clouds had gathered overhead.

Yang Xiao returned to the forest, cleared a patch of ground, and took out ten Earth Vein Crystals to replenish his magical power. The Nine-Spirit Poison Spider's venom was potent, beyond what his current cultivation could resist. He needed to remain at his peak to fight it.

Half a quarter-hour later, Yang Xiao woke from his meditation. Poisonous creatures were already slowly crawling toward him. There were simply too many on this mountain. He hadn't expected the clearing he had just made to fill up again in only half a quarter-hour.

Arriving outside the cave, he glanced at the Nine Thunder Formation overhead. Some of its energy had dissipated. The formation, which could originally unleash nine bolts of lightning, now had only eight and a half left.

He connected with the Earth Vein, and pale yellow light shone inside the cave. To avoid alerting the Nine-Spirit Poison Spider, the light illuminated only the area within three zhang of him.