Wujian Xuanrui took three hundred years to grow, three hundred years to form buds, and another three hundred years to bloom. It matured upon blooming, requiring a total of nine hundred years, with the flower lasting only one month. It was a supreme medicinal ingredient for broadening spirit veins.
To immortal cultivators, Wujian Xuanrui was a precious treasure. To demonic beasts, it was the same. Over the nine hundred years of its growth, budding, and blooming, it gathered vast amounts of spiritual energy nearby, attracting demonic beasts to guard it.
The demonic beast guarding the Wujian Xuanrui was a spider—its full name was the Five Spirits Moon Illusion Spider. But in Gu Changhuai’s eyes, it was just a spider, and an extremely cunning one at that.
They had not yet located the direction where the Wujian Xuanrui grew when, midway along the path, Gu Changhuai’s mouth was suddenly covered. Just as he tried to call out to Rong Ye ahead of him, he felt a tightness around his waist. He looked down and saw a pitch-black spatial rift appear beside him. A white spider silk shot out from it and swiftly wrapped several loops around his waist.
Hm?
Before Gu Changhuai could even feel surprised, the spider silk suddenly tightened. The other end seemed to pull with force, yanking him away with a slight tug.
Help!
In broad daylight under the clear sky, it dared to rob him outright!
Before being dragged into the Five Spirits Moon Illusion Spider’s lair, Gu Changhuai blinked furiously. Unable to speak, he could only make muffled “mmph mmph” sounds from his throat, trying to catch Rong Ye’s attention.
Unfortunately, just before he was completely pulled into the pitch-black space, Rong Ye ahead showed no sign of noticing, not even turning his head.
…Fine, fine, fine. Rong Ye was deaf.
The Demon Venerable was wise indeed!
It was time for the Cultivation World to change dynasties!
The Five Spirits Moon Illusion Spider used spatial rifts as its lair and excelled at creating illusions. It loved collecting human skins, targeting the most beautiful ones first.
Its power wasn’t yet sufficient to create a small world that could fool anyone completely, but it released a toxin that delved deep into a person’s memories, compelling them to endlessly recall their most cherished moments from the past.
In reality, the poisoned victim’s golden core was sealed in a spider cocoon in deep slumber, while their cultivation base and physical body unknowingly became nourishment for the Five Spirits Moon Illusion Spider.
The spider’s lair was a realm of darkness. As soon as Gu Changhuai was bound and dragged in, he felt himself fall into an oval-shaped ball made of spider silk. He lay inside it with a soft sensation against his back, and the silk began releasing its toxin. The narrow space quickly filled with a sickly sweet scent.
Gu Changhuai frowned and pulled his sleeve over his mouth and nose.
It wasn’t that he feared falling into an illusion—the Shadow Demon of the Demon Clan was born for slaughter, and this toxin had no effect on him. It was just that the smell was nauseating.
After the toxin had been releasing for a while, he felt the ball he lay in shake and tremble, as if it had landed on solid ground and was being dragged forward.
The surroundings were silent, save for the continuous friction sounds.
Gu Changhuai perked up his ears and listened. He wasn’t sure where he was being transported, but he could tell he wasn’t the only one. Suddenly, he heard two heavy thuds nearby as objects hit the ground, and his own cocoon stopped moving with the sounds.
There was a rustling outside, likely the spider repeating its earlier process. Then, his cocoon started moving again.
Gu Changhuai hesitated.
Could Rong Ye have been caught too?
No, that couldn’t be. If it weren’t for fear of exposure, the Five Spirits Moon Illusion Spider wouldn’t even have the ability to bind him—let alone Rong Ye.
But it made no sense that he was caught right behind Rong Ye without the Immortal Lord taking any countermeasures…
At that thought, Gu Changhuai suddenly realized the truth and couldn’t help but laugh in anger.
Fine, fine, fine. Rong Ye wasn’t deaf—he had used him as bait. Once the spider followed the bait to its nest, they could find the Wujian Xuanrui, right?
Insidious!
Gu Changhuai ground his teeth in secret, vowing to list three hundred assassination methods the moment he got out.
He felt the two cocoons beside him being dragged along parallel to his own. He didn’t mind, but the other two might. He didn’t know when Rong Ye would come to rescue them, so the pair next to him had better hold out and not get drained into husks.
Just as he thought that, the heavens and earth shook violently, accompanied by several distant rumbles of explosions.
He’s here.
The Five Spirits Moon Illusion Spider let out a shrill screech and immediately abandoned the three cocoons it dragged, darting toward the source of the noise.
Almost the instant the spider left, Gu Changhuai sliced open his cocoon. He really couldn’t stand that sickly sweet toxin smell. He glanced around—the two other cocoons lay nearby.
The three cocoons were tied to a single strand of silk and casually placed on the floor of a vast cavern. Looking up, he saw numerous empty shell-cocoons hanging from the ceiling, still glowing faintly. Without intervention, the spider would have hung them up too.
The cavern was ringed by dark tunnels—roughly seventeen or eighteen by his quick count—leading to a complex network of twisting paths.
Explosions continued echoing from some of those openings. As Gu Changhuai slashed open the shells of the other two cocoons to rescue their occupants, he muttered, “This commotion… it wouldn’t be blowing up its offspring, would it?”
Otherwise, why would the spider leave in such a hurry?
One cocoon yielded a fair-skinned boy of sixteen or seventeen. The other… gave Gu Changhuai a headache. Unexpectedly, it was Kong Huai, who should have been leading outer sect disciples on their trial.
He slapped Kong Huai’s face hard. “Wake up, wake up.”
Seeing Kong Huai dazed and groggy, Gu Changhuai wound up and delivered a resounding double slap: “Wake up! Wake up!”
The crisp slaps and the rapidly swelling red cheeks finally roused Kong Huai. He opened his eyes, smacked his lips, and mumbled in confusion, “Dad, where’s my pork knuckle…”
When he saw Gu Changhuai standing before him, his senses returned. He leaped up like facing a great enemy, shielding Gu Changhuai behind him and scanning the surroundings. “Junior Brother Gu, be careful—there’s danger!” As he spoke, he tugged at his cheek, hesitantly touching it. Strange, why did it hurt…
Gu Changhuai gave Kong Huai no time to react. He pulled the boy from the other cocoon and shoved him into Kong Huai’s arms, saying solemnly, “Senior Brother Kong, thank goodness you intimidated the Five Spirits Moon Illusion Spider. Otherwise, we’d all be its meal. While it’s gone, let’s hurry and find the Immortal Lord!”
Kong Huai: “R-Really…?” He clenched his fist bashfully. “So I’m that impressive.”
Gu Changhuai urged him. “Yes, Senior Brother. Quick, carry him on your back. If we don’t go now, the spider will return.”
“Right, right.” Kong Huai nodded eagerly, hoisting the boy onto his back. He glanced at the seventeen or eighteen tunnels, momentarily unsure which way to go.
But Gu Changhuai was already at one entrance. “Senior Brother, this way. There are drag marks on the ground here—it should be the exit.”
A long drag trail was conspicuously visible at the mouth. Kong Huai followed immediately.
Gu Changhuai led the way, asking, “How did you get caught, Senior Brother? Do you know this young Daoist friend?”
“It’s a long story.” Kong Huai sighed. “This is Pei Tianyi, the second son of the Enforcement Elder. He snuck after the Immortal Lord, and I was worried, so I followed. Who knew we’d get caught just entering the inner layer.”
Pei Tianyi, still under the toxin’s effect and unconscious, snoozed soundly on Kong Huai’s back.
Gu Changhuai glanced over and smiled faintly. “Commendable courage.”
Bratty kids were always full of energy.
That name, though… Gu Changhuai pondered for a moment and remembered.
In the original story, Pei Tianyi was a cannon-fodder villain on the protagonist’s growth path. Jealous that the protagonist apprenticed under Qing Lian Immortal Lord, he repeatedly harassed him.
Gu Changhuai sighed inwardly. The protagonist’s shadow hadn’t appeared yet, but the cannon fodder and golden finger had both shown up.
The deeper they went, the closer the sounds of fighting and explosions grew. Kong Huai trembled with fear, as if walking on a knife’s edge with every step.
Gu Changhuai remained unfazed, silently counting down in his mind.
Five.
Two more consecutive explosions.
Four.
The Five Spirits Moon Illusion Spider let out a dying wail in desperate struggle.
Three.
The entire cavern seemed to shake.
Two.
The thud of a heavy object crashing.
One.
Three feet ahead, a sword flew in and severed the path, instantly opening the cavern. Gu Changhuai looked up toward the sword’s origin.
Rong Ye withdrew his hand, summoning the sword back. He stood there in his spotless dark-green robes, surrounded by countless charred spiders and cocoons at his feet. Not far away lay a massive, colorful spider, motionless and dead.
Kong Huai burst into ecstatic tears of relief in an instant. “Immortal Lord!”
Gu Changhuai scanned the area. A faint scent of spiritual treasure lingered in the air, but the Wujian Xuanrui was nowhere to be seen—it had clearly been collected. He pondered thoughtfully, then lifted his gaze to meet Rong Ye’s. Gu Changhuai froze before he could react, but Rong Ye seemed to glance over casually, his eyes brushing past him lightly before withdrawing.
“…” Gu Changhuai glanced at Rong Ye again with some lingering doubt in his heart. Something felt off, but with Kong Huai as cover, his identity should remain undiscovered. Otherwise, Rong Ye would have struck him down already.
The internal time flow of the spatial lair carved out by the Five Spirits Moon Illusion Spider differed from the outside world. What felt like a short while inside equated to half a month outside.
The Xinnan Immortal Sect’s outer sect disciple trials scaled with strength, and the time had come for them to end. Before concluding, the five teams gathered at the Lingtai Slope entrance for a headcount before boarding the immortal boat back to the sect.
The still-shaken Kong Huai and the yet-to-wake Pei Tianyi were prioritized onto the immortal boat.
Thanks to Rong Ye, Gu Changhuai, as his attendant, didn’t have to squeeze in with the crowd and got his own room.
Shortly after the immortal boat took off, he finally had a chance to meet up. In the quiet room, the door opened and closed. Hua Mei sat down at the table.
This was their first meeting since entering the Xinnan Immortal Sect.
Their eyes met.
Gu Changhuai: “…”
Hua Mei: “…”
Gu Changhuai hesitated to speak: “…”
Hua Mei: “…”
Gu Changhuai: “…”
Hua Mei slammed the table in frustration: “Laugh if you want to!”
Gu Changhuai’s lips curved up, and he couldn’t hold back a stifled laugh. After chuckling for a good while, he finally stopped and asked amiably and calmly, “…If I may be so bold, how did you get singed?”
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