Spider Lair

At the garrison camp, atop the same tall mountain, Gongsun Tuo stood with his hands behind his back, gazing toward Ten Thousand Peaks Forest. He seemed to have spent the entire night there.

Gongsun Tuo looked rather grim. Just moments ago, a disciple of the Earth Master Hall had brought him news.

Last night, Yang Xiao had led a pack of demonic beasts in a surprise attack on the camp, inflicting devastating losses. Dozens of disciples had died, and that was only the Earth Master Hall. Including the other factions, the death toll must have exceeded a hundred.

Suddenly, Gongsun Tuo looked to his right. A white-haired elder was walking toward him through the air. Though the elder appeared to be walking, a gentle breeze lifted him with every step, carrying him a hundred meters at a time.

"Gongsun, you owe me an explanation for this." The elder approached Gongsun Tuo and demanded an answer.

Only Feng Su, the palace master of the Heavenly Master Palace, possessed such cultivation and dared question the hall master of the Earth Master Hall.

"Brother Feng, this was indeed an oversight on my part. Once we catch Yang Xiao, the Heart of the Earth he carries will belong to your Heavenly Master Palace. Consider it my apology." With matters having reached this point, recovering the Heart of the Earth was no longer their only concern.

Feng Su snorted coldly. "Do you really think I'm a senile old fool? Hundreds of cultivators failed to catch that brat. You think you can catch him now?"

Gongsun Tuo flicked his sleeve. "Fu Shi has already found Master Bowen. Once we bring him here, that brat will have no chance of escaping."

At this, Feng Su's pupils contracted slightly. "The Human Master, Kong Bowen? I heard he was traveling the Heaven Domain, appearing like a divine dragon whose head is glimpsed but whose tail is never seen. You actually found him?"

Hearing that name, Gongsun Tuo looked a little more cheerful. "Someone merely spotted him near Slaughter Heaven City. I never expected Fu Shi to actually find him."

Just then, Elder Fu Shi, dressed in black robes, escorted a young man in white up the mountain. He bowed to Gongsun Tuo. "Hall Master."

Seeing Feng Su beside him, he bowed again. "Palace Master."

The two ignored Fu Shi and turned their attention to the young man in white behind him, both cupping their hands in greeting. "Master Bowen."

The young man was handsome and no more than eighteen, yet these two powerful figures of Slaughter Heaven City treated him with such respect. Any cultivator from the city who witnessed this would have been astonished.

Kong Bowen returned their greeting. "Hall Master Gongsun, Palace Master Feng, there's no need for such courtesy. Elder Fu Shi explained everything on our way here. All I need now is an object Yang Xiao kept on his person, and I can help you find his hiding place."

Gongsun Tuo let out a long breath of relief. This was the best news he had heard in the past two days. Turning his right hand over, he produced a scrap of black cloth. "This piece tore off Yang Xiao's clothing while he was fighting our Earth Master Hall disciples. Will it do?"

Kong Bowen accepted it with a smile. "A scrap of clothing is perfect."

Holding the scrap between his fingers, Kong Bowen looked deep into Ten Thousand Peaks Forest. His gaze swept in every direction, as though searching for something. Suddenly, he tossed the cloth into the air, formed a series of hand seals, and sent out a streak of spiritual light. The scrap transformed into a Flying Crane in midair.

Kong Bowen pointed in a particular direction within Ten Thousand Peaks Forest. "Travel ten thousand li that way, and you'll reach Yang Xiao's hiding place."

"This Flying Crane will help you keep tracking him."

Gongsun Tuo and Feng Su both smiled at his words. Gongsun Tuo instructed Fu Shi beside him, "Hurry and take the Flying Crane to Old Master Huangfu Qi."

He turned back to Kong Bowen. "Master Bowen, why not spend a few days at the Earth Master Hall afterward? We'll be sure to treat you well."

Feng Su stepped forward. "Master Bowen, come to my Heavenly Master Palace instead. Our surroundings are lovely, with pleasant scenery, clear breezes, and a bright moon."

Kong Bowen smiled. "I only came to help you locate Yang Xiao. I still have my travels through the Heaven Domain to continue, so I won't impose on you."

Gongsun Tuo and Feng Su's expressions stiffened. The former took out a Storage Ring and handed it to Kong Bowen. "Then we won't keep you, Master Bowen."

Kong Bowen accepted it with a smile and headed down the mountain. At the foot of the mountain, he glanced back toward Ten Thousand Peaks Forest and murmured, "How strange. I've never seen such peculiar fortune. It seems unreal and illusory, soaring straight into the clouds. Looking closely, I can see no end to it, yet it also resembles an abyss.

"Best not to provoke this man. If the Earth Master Hall's payment hadn't been so generous, I would have left at first glance."

Deep within Ten Thousand Peaks Forest, the direction Kong Bowen had indicated led straight to Yang Xiao's current location.

When Kong Bowen revealed his whereabouts, Yang Xiao felt a sudden pang of dread, as though something terrible was about to happen.

Shaking his head, he put the iron pot back into his Storage Ring and set off deeper into Ten Thousand Peaks Forest. His current location was still within the forest's middle reaches. Soul Seed Realm demonic beasts could be encountered here, but only rarely.

The farther he traveled, the stronger the surrounding beasts became. Every thousand li, he would encounter a Soul Seed Realm beast entrenched in its territory. He even spotted a towering aura from afar, one that only a Living Spirit Realm demonic beast could emit.

The instant he saw that aura, Yang Xiao turned and fled. An existence like that was not something he could afford to provoke.

The surrounding undergrowth grew ever thicker. Venomous snakes, centipedes, spiders, and other demonic beasts occasionally sprang from it. Fortunately, their cultivation was low, and Yang Xiao could kill them with a wave of his hand.

Yet the farther he ventured, the higher the beasts' cultivation grew, and the more potent their venom became. Yang Xiao suspected he had entered the territory of venomous demonic beasts.

He no longer dared walk on the ground. A venomous creature could leap out of the grass at any moment, and he had no idea whether he would survive a bite.

Owning a Mid-Grade Spirit Artifact made from a Hundred-Spirit Poison Spider, he understood all too well how formidable venomous beasts could be. An accidental bite was no laughing matter.

With his Heavenly Eye active, he used Void Stroll to continue deeper into the forest, ten meters above the ground.

Rumble!

Yang Xiao traced a formation in the air. Nine bolts of heavenly lightning struck down, blasting a nest of spiders charging up from below into scraps.

The farther he traveled, the more venomous creatures he encountered, sometimes entire nests of them. Beneath his Heavenly Eye, everything within a hundred li lay within his sight.

There was more than one spider nest nearby, along with a nest of venomous snakes and another of centipedes. Living in groups certainly beat going it alone. With so many nests of venomous creatures clustered here, even some Soul Seed Realm beasts dared not approach.

Suddenly, Yang Xiao stopped. In a flash, he landed on the ground and looked down at a puddle of venom.

Its smell was familiar, as though he had encountered it somewhere before. He lowered his gaze to the Hundred-Spirit Spider Rope at his waist. The venom smelled exactly like the rope, only much stronger.

He seemed to have discovered something remarkable. The venom on the ground was clearly more potent than that of a Hundred-Spirit Poison Spider. Perhaps a Soul Seed Realm Thousand-Spirit Poison Spider lurked nearby. If he obtained its venom sac, Yang Xiao could try crafting a high-grade Spirit Artifact, the Thousand-Spirit Spider Rope, which would suit his current cultivation perfectly.

Yang Xiao activated his Heavenly Eye and searched his surroundings, spotting another trace of venom not far away.

Walking over, he found that this venom was fresher than the previous puddle. There was also a pool of black blood on the ground. It seemed the Thousand-Spirit Poison Spider was injured.

Yang Xiao followed the trail until he finally discovered a spider cave.

When he saw what lay inside, Yang Xiao swallowed. Nine-Spirit Poison Spiders carpeted the cave in a writhing mass, with two Hundred-Spirit Poison Spiders among them. The sight made his scalp prickle.

After some hesitation, Yang Xiao decided to give it a try. A Spirit Artifact that suited him was hard to come by, after all.

Circling the cave, he connected to the Earth Vein and blocked outside detection. Then he took out the Thundercloud Fan and formed one Nine Thunder Formation after another overhead. He exhausted his magical power three times and replenished it three times, until the clouds above were frighteningly black.

Yang Xiao retreated into the grass. Today, I'll blast these spider spirits with lightning—pah, blast the Spider Lair.

He triggered the Nine Thunder Formations. Hundreds of bolts of ordinary lightning crashed down together, instantly splitting open the Spider Lair. Hundreds of Qi Condensation Realm Nine-Spirit Poison Spiders turned to ash beneath the heavenly lightning, while the two Hundred-Spirit Poison Spiders were scorched into charcoal.

Hiss!

A strange shriek rang out for ten li around. A colorful spider the size of a wild ox flew out of the sea of lightning, its eight eyes scanning in every direction for the fiend who had wiped out its descendants.

Yang Xiao lay flat on the ground, not daring to make a sound. The Nine Thunder Formation could kill Hundred-Spirit Poison Spiders, but it could only severely wound a Thousand-Spirit Poison Spider.

Peering through the grass, he saw several charred wounds on the Thousand-Spirit Poison Spider's body, left by the Nine Thunder Formations. There was also a deep wound on its abdomen, from which blood flowed without stopping.

Yang Xiao instinctively clenched his fist. He had guessed correctly: this Thousand-Spirit Poison Spider was badly injured.

Connecting to the Earth Vein, he gathered the soil into a gigantic palm that slapped the Thousand-Spirit Poison Spider into the sky. Taking advantage of its severe injuries, Yang Xiao soared upward with the Thundercloud Fan in hand.

He opened the fan, revealing the scene of Thunderfall upon its surface, and swept it toward the sky. Wind and clouds shifted, and a gigantic hand of mist descended, slapping the Thousand-Spirit Poison Spider into the ground.

When the mist cleared, the Thousand-Spirit Poison Spider twitched twice on the ground, then gradually went still.

Yang Xiao took two steps forward, then stopped again. In his experience, the previous Hundred-Spirit Poison Spider had been highly intelligent and adept at feigning death. How much more cunning would a Thousand-Spirit Poison Spider be, having fought its way out from among countless spiders?

Caution kept a ship sailing for ten thousand years. Yang Xiao summoned Heaven's Left Hand again and brought it down upon the Thousand-Spirit Poison Spider.

As it turned out, he had worried too much. The Thousand-Spirit Poison Spider remained motionless; it was already a corpse.

Approaching the Thousand-Spirit Poison Spider, he extracted its venom sac. As for the carcass, he decided to forget it. He feared eating it would poison him to death.

He then retrieved the venom sacs of the two Hundred-Spirit Poison Spiders from the Spider Lair and cleared out the corpses inside.

With the Thousand-Spirit Poison Spider entrenched here, the nearby venomous creatures dared not approach. It would make a convenient temporary shelter.

He set up his iron pot on the spot. After working for so long, he was rather hungry, so he boiled a demonic beast to fill his stomach.

Yang Xiao sat cross-legged and drew upon the Earth Vein Qi here to craft Hundred-Spirit Spider Ropes, giving himself some practice first. After all, high-grade Spirit Artifacts were much harder to craft than Mid-Grade Spirit Artifacts. Moreover, the Earth Vein Qi here was not dense enough. It would suffice for Hundred-Spirit Spider Ropes, but not for a Thousand-Spirit Spider Rope.

As it happened, the Storage Rings he had acquired this time contained enough materials for two Hundred-Spirit Spider Ropes and one Thousand-Spirit Spider Rope.

After a round of Earth Vein Qi and heavenly lightning, Yang Xiao put two Hundred-Spirit Spider Ropes into his Storage Ring.

The results proved that he had considerable talent for artifact crafting. Both attempts had succeeded, and after being strengthened by the Nine Thunder Formation, both were exceptional pieces for their grade.

Flying high into the sky, he gazed into the distance. Ten Thousand Peaks Forest certainly had plenty of peaks. He urgently needed to strengthen himself, so he had to find somewhere with dense Earth Vein Qi and craft the Thousand-Spirit Spider Rope.

Yang Xiao's gaze settled on a spot encircled by three tall mountains, their slopes resembling flood dragons soaring skyward. In the Carefree Scripture, this terrain was called Three Flood Dragons Seizing the Dragon. It was an excellent place for artifact crafting.

Yang Xiao flew over and landed where the Three Peaks converged. There were many demonic beasts here, but most were at the Sea Condensation Realm, with Soul Seed Realm beasts being rare.

He did not provoke the surrounding beasts. Instead, he parted the ground, descended a hundred meters underground, and raised a Blue Stone House on the spot.

To prevent attacks from underground demonic beasts, he added soundproofing, aura-concealing, and small defensive formations around the Blue Stone House.

He sealed the way he had come, leaving two small holes for air to circulate.

Yang Xiao entered the Blue Stone House, took out the materials for the Thousand-Spirit Spider Rope, and summoned Earth Vein Qi. Crafting a high-grade Spirit Artifact this time would be different from his previous attempts.

Ordinary Earth Vein Qi could no longer melt the materials. Yang Xiao increased his magical power output, and the Earth Vein Qi gradually condensed into a mass of yellow flame.

Earth Vein Flame was excellent for crafting Spirit Artifacts. His cultivation had been too low to condense it before, but ever since he had broken through to the Sea Condensation Realm, he had possessed enough magical power.

Of course, any other Earth Master who wished to condense it would never be able to master it without reaching the Soul Seed Realm.