Chương 162: Chapter 51: The Seven-Colored Venomous Spider

Reyn stood over the cooling corpse, a faint, cynical shake of his head the only eulogy offered. The man had played the part of the hidden hunter with perfection, slaughtering two peers with practiced ease, only to fall just as effortlessly to Reyn's blade. In the cultivation world, the transition from predator to prey was a sudden, violent pivot. Life and death were not distant poles but a revolving door, spinning on the axis of greed and momentary lapse.

The irony of the 'mantis stalking the cicada' was a cliché for a reason—it was the fundamental law of this brutal realm. His gaze shifted to the Mu Jade Sword. It lay in the dirt, radiating a soft, verdant luminescence that seemed at odds with the gore surrounding it. As Reyn's fingers closed around the hilt, a strange resonance hummed through his marrow. He stroked his chin, his eyes narrowing as he processed the spiritual feedback.

"Eight blades in total," he murmured, his voice a low rasp in the silence.

"They act as anchors, each sensing the others. Three are already in motion, claimed by those swift enough to seize them. A fourth pulse is close—dangerously close. I must move."

"Zhupu, fall back!" Yang Dawei's voice cracked like a whip.

"This beast ignores spiritual techniques! It feeds on the very essence of our spells to bolster its own strength. Use the physical weight of your artifacts!" He didn't wait for a response. With a sharp slap to his storage bag, a heavy artifact surged into the air. It was a somber, ancient-looking piece, forged from a material that defied classification—neither true metal nor weathered wood.

Under the frantic surge of his Qi, the tool expanded, swelling until it loomed like a small mountain over the Seven-Colored Venomous Spider.

"Strike!" Below, the spider—a monstrosity the size of a grinding stone—hissed. It exhaled a plume of iridescent, multi-colored miasma that coalesced into a shimmering, viscous dome. The creature's multifaceted eyes gleamed with a chilling, almost human contempt. It didn't even attempt to dodge the descending mass. Yang Dawei felt a surge of predatory triumph. He poured every drop of his cultivation into the strike, forcing the artifact to grow even larger.

It tore through the air with a piercing shriek, a mountain of dead weight aimed at the spider's core. BOOM! The impact shattered the silence, the force of the blow causing the venomous shield to ripple and distort violently. But Yang's smirk died before it could fully form. Within breaths, the brilliant spiritual light coating his artifact began to flicker and die, swallowed by the rainbow mist. The massive tool shriveled, returning to its original size, now pitted with rust and corroded by a foul, acidic rot.

It fell to the earth, a dead piece of scrap.

"Damnation! That mist... it eats through spiritual bonds!" Yang's face twisted in agony at the loss of a prized treasure. Enjoying the story? Show your support by reading it on the official site. Li Zhupu's heart hammered against her ribs. A Primordial Variant that devoured spells and dissolved artifacts was a nightmare she hadn't prepared for. She recalled her own weapon in a blur of motion, retreating until she stood shoulder-to-shoulder with Yang Dawei and the grim-faced Zi Luanxing.

"It's a Primordial Variant," Zi Luanxing hissed, his eyes darting for an exit.

"Our techniques are useless, and our treasures are being digested. Cousin, we should find another path. This is a stalemate we cannot win."

"Impossible," Yang Dawei countered, his jaw set in a hard line.

"The map is clear. The entrance to the secret realm is nestled right behind this beast's lair. We cannot bypass it without waking the mountain. More importantly, the entrance itself is a gauntlet; leaving this monstrosity at our backs is a death sentence." Li Zhupu looked between them, her brow furrowed.

"Then how, Brother? If we cannot touch it, how do we kill it?" Yang Dawei's hand hovered over his storage bag, his expression hardening into a mask of cold resolve.

"Time is a luxury we no longer possess. To end this quickly, I will use the gift Master bestowed upon me." Li Zhupu nodded, a flicker of hope returning to her eyes. She and Zi Luanxing immediately blurred backward, creating a wide berth for the coming storm. Yang Dawei withdrew a slip of ochre-yellow parchment. It was an ancient talisman, its surface etched with a single, minimalist stroke that depicted a scimitar as thin as a cicada's wing.

He channeled his Qi with reckless abandon, his face paling as the talisman drained his reserves like a parched desert. When the paper finally ignited into golden flames, a one-foot-long curved blade manifested in the air, humming with a lethality that made the very atmosphere tremble.

"Execute!" The blade vanished. There was no sound of passage, only the slow dissolution of its afterimage. CRACK. The Seven-Colored Venomous Spider didn't have time to hiss. The scimitar bypassed the mist entirely, cleaving the creature's massive skull in a perfect, vertical line. The grinding-stone-sized body slumped into the dirt, its life force extinguished in a heartbeat. Yang Dawei exhaled, beckoning the blade back. It circled him once before shrinking and sinking into his dantian, vanishing into his core.

"Incredible, Brother!" Li Zhupu gushed, her eyes shining with renewed adoration.

"To slay such a beast in a single stroke..." Zi Luanxing let out a breath he hadn't realized he was holding.

"With a high-grade Dan Treasure in hand, Cousin, you could likely hold your own against a Golden Core master, if only for a moment." Yang Dawei brushed the praise aside with a practiced wave, though the smugness in his eyes was impossible to hide.

"It is the Master's power, not mine. This treasure has two uses left—enough to see us through the realm's heart. Let us move." Once the toxic mist dissipated, they harvested the beast's inner core and a few vials of its potent venom. They moved with renewed caution, their senses strained as they approached the cliff face indicated by the map.

"Spread out," Yang commanded, clutching the Azure Jade Plate.

"The entrance is here. Find the seam." It was Li Zhupu who found it.

"Here! Brother, Zi Luanxing, over here!" Yang Dawei rushed to the stone wall, his breath hitching as he traced the hidden runes.

"Yes... this is it." He held the jade plate aloft, his fingers dancing through a series of complex mudras. The plate began to glow with a soft, rhythmic pulse, hovering in the air as it synchronized with the hidden mechanism.

"Open!" He pointed a finger, and the jade plate struck the stone like a key. A ripple of crimson energy washed over the rock, revealing a massive, blood-colored gate. Veins of liquid light flowed across its surface, looking disturbingly like fresh, uncoagulated gore.

"Go," Yang whispered, his eyes alight with greed. They stepped through the threshold, and as the last of them crossed, the bloody gate shuddered and dissolved into the mountain, leaving no trace behind.