Chapter 106: The Spider God [Please Vote]

At dawn the next day, the streets of Kun City wore a scene of utter desolation. Everywhere lay blackened craters and charred corpses.

Breathing—slow, deep, and heavy—echoed from within one of the secluded courtyards at the headquarters of the Azure Flower Society. The air was thick with the pungent scent of medicinal herbs, and white steam billowed in dense waves.

At the center of the courtyard stood a massive bronze cauldron set over fierce flames. Inside, a scarlet medicinal broth boiled furiously.

Li Yang was naked, submerged in the cauldron. With every rough breath, the blood and qi within him surged like raging seas, endlessly crashing against the golden bones throughout his body.

As that blood and qi washed through him, and as some peculiar vibration pulsed through his frame, threads of golden radiance seeped from between his bones, shimmering like scattered stars and coursing through him with the flow of his blood.

Li Yang focused inward. In the cells of his body, the faintly dim silhouettes of the golden centipede now opened their eyes in unison, emitting silent hisses. Like starving infants, they voraciously sucked at the golden gleam within his blood.

By the time the sun climbed high overhead and the medicine in the bronze cauldron had turned completely murky, Li Yang finally exhaled a long breath of stale air and rose from the cauldron.

Yesterday’s backlash from the current of human destiny had cost him dearly, but it had also let him see the means of the old Daoist from Purple Skies. The power of this golden centipede form was indeed extraordinary.

This was only half the golden centipede’s power refined, and it already possessed such might. One could only imagine what would happen if the six-winged golden centipede were fully melted down.

It might well result in a complete transformation, forging an undying body on the spot. That was by no means impossible.

"Flower Spirit, have you finished packing your things?"

After stepping out of the small courtyard, Li Yang glanced at Flower Spirit, who was pacing back and forth at the entrance to the side room, uncertain and hesitant, and asked her.

"Brother Li, do you really not want to return to Ever-Victorious Mountain with us? Or else, why don’t Sister Sun and I stay in Kun City and wait for you here?"

Seeing Li Yang, Flower Spirit lifted her head to look at him, her face full of reluctance and pleading.

After yesterday’s assault on Kun City by the rebel army, Li Yang had already felt that this place was no longer safe. He also needed to seek out that evil deity and seize its divinity. Taking Flower Spirit along would be inconvenient.

Now, with the addition of the helpless and defenseless Sun Ruyan, it would be even less suitable to leave such a young girl, who had just suffered a great catastrophe in Kun City, here alone.

Though he and Doctor Sun had only met by chance, they did share some measure of fellowship. Li Yang naturally could not simply abandon Sun Ruyan, who now had no one to rely on. After much thought, he decided to send them back to Ever-Victorious Mountain first.

For his sake, Chen Yulou would surely look after her somewhat. At the very least, it would give her a chance to survive in this chaotic age.

"Yesterday you saw it for yourself. Kun City is now in ruins and far from safe. The world is in turmoil everywhere, so it’s safer for you to return to Ever-Victorious Mountain first. Once I’m done with my affairs, I’ll naturally go to Ever-Victorious Mountain to see you."

He gently stroked Flower Spirit’s little head, comforting her softly, though his tone was filled with unwavering resolve.

"Zhou Xiong, on the road you must be extremely careful and vigilant. See that you safely deliver the two young ladies to Ever-Victorious Mountain. Do you hear me?"

Leading the two women out of the courtyard, Li Yang looked at Zhou Xiong, who had long been waiting outside with several prepared carriages, and issued his instructions in a solemn voice.

"Rest assured, immortal master. For the safety of the two young ladies, I have sent out every death warrior in the society this time, and I will personally lead the escort. I guarantee I will deliver them to their destination unharmed."

Faced with Li Yang’s order, Zhou Xiong answered with emphatic certainty.

"Good. I hope you won’t disappoint me. Take this letter. When you reach Ever-Victorious Mountain, give it to Chen Yulou, the chief of the Mount-Clearing Sect. He will naturally understand what I mean."

Li Yang took a letter from his robes and handed it to Zhou Xiong, then stepped forward and lifted the carriage curtain, signaling the two women to board.

"Brother Li..."

Flower Spirit looked at Li Yang, her big eyes overflowing with reluctance. Sun Ruyan’s face was likewise full of panic and unease.

Within a single day, she had endured such calamity: not only had her father died, but her family’s shop had been lost as well. She herself had become a lone and helpless girl. And now even the familiar Kun City had become this.

Had she not met Li Yang, her fate would likely have been no better. However strong she tried to be, she was still only a girl not yet twenty. Faced with the unknown road ahead, her heart was now filled with confusion and helplessness.

"Take good care of Miss Sun. Rest assured, once I have finished my business, I will definitely come to Ever-Victorious Mountain to find you!"

Watching the carriage gradually move away, with Flower Spirit and Sun Ruyan leaning out of the window, their faces full of reluctance, Li Yang could never have imagined that this farewell might become eternal. By the time they met again, all had long since changed, and people and places alike were no longer the same.

...

After seeing Flower Spirit off, Li Yang looked at the mess strewn across Kun City's streets and the lingering stench of smoke in the air, then walked out of the city without once looking back.

The wind howled.

Thunder crackled.

Having just left Kun City not long before, the sky suddenly roared with violent wind, and rain as large as beans smashed to the ground, bursting into sprays of fine water.

Li Yang, clad in black and white robes, stood on the open plain and looked up at the torrential rain in the sky, unable to help frowning.

Though rain of this degree posed no real obstacle to him, it was still enough to sour one’s mood. No one liked such a leaden sky and miserable weather.

On the boundless plain, Li Yang casually drew from his robes a worn beast-skin map—the very one given to him yesterday by that Daoist Ruan in the residence of Marshal Xu.

Raindrops pattered down from the sky, but whenever they neared Li Yang, they were repelled by a strange vibration emanating instinctively from his body, sliding away from his side.

After confirming the direction, Li Yang’s figure turned into a blur. He braved the gale and raced toward the mountains.

His speed had already approached the limit of what the human eye could follow. Especially in such torrential rain, if an ordinary person saw it, they would surely think they had seen a ghost.

After a full afternoon of running, Li Yang finally stopped. Standing amid the mountains, he looked at the darkening sky overhead, let out a long breath of stale air, and a faint flush of unnatural red rose to his face.

He took a pill from his robes and swallowed it, then waved his hand to release the Golden Toad. Sitting atop its head, he soothed the surging blood and qi within his body.

With Li Yang’s current stamina, he had already surpassed the limits of ordinary men. Such exertion was merely a warm-up to him.

The reason he had chosen to travel in this manner was simply that he had felt a whim and wanted to taste the thrill of running at extreme speed, while also searching the mountains for the medicinal herbs he needed.

Beyond that, it was also to conserve enough strength. After all, he was injured at present, and excessive depletion of his spiritual power and blood and qi would affect the recovery of his wounds.

"Caw..."

Seeing Li Yang slack off and use it as a mount, the Golden Toad puffed up its bulging eyes and let out a displeased croak.

"You lazy toad, all you know is how to demand rewards!"

Seeing that the Golden Toad showed him no courtesy at all and immediately began asking for benefits, Li Yang could only take out a discarded pill from his robes and toss it to it.

Boom-boom-boom... plop-plop-plop...

Amid the endless mountains, a huge three-legged toad was hopping swiftly along, occasionally flicking out its tongue to drag medicinal herbs from the surrounding grass and ravines.

Upon its head sat a young man in black-and-white robes, holding a beast-skin map in one hand and from time to time pointing out directions with the other.

"This should be the place."

After traveling through the night, Li Yang looked at the location marked on the map and surveyed the surrounding terrain.

He put away the Golden Toad and became a streak of golden light, shooting upward and looking down from the sky.

Sure enough, in a ravine not far away, there was indeed a village stronghold.

The stockade had been built beside a waterfall, in a very secluded location. Coupled with the water vapor rising from the falls, had Li Yang’s eyesight not been extraordinary, he really might not have found it.

To enter the stockade, one had to pass through a narrow mountain ravine. No wonder Marshal Xu had returned empty-handed.

This place was indeed steep and treacherous, easy to defend and hard to attack. All around were sheer cliffs and broken precipices, with only a narrow ravine available for men and horses to pass through.

Ordinary people wanting to capture this place would have to pile up corpses to do it. No matter how many troops they had, so long as that ravine was blocked, they could do nothing at all.

Li Yang sprang down. In the middle of the stronghold stood a massive totem pole soaring into the sky.

It exuded a special aura that gave Li Yang a faint, familiar sense of recognition.

"Don’t tell me it’s really this coincidental."

Standing on a sheer cliff, looking at the densely packed patterns on the totem pole and the spider-shaped statue at its top, Li Yang could not help but feel deeply uncertain.

"Who goes there!"

Soon, Li Yang was spotted by several natives bare-chested and covered in vivid tattoos. The men raised bows and arrows, aiming at Li Yang standing on the cliff as they shouted their challenge.

"That eyesight is really not bad."

Seeing that he had been discovered, Li Yang simply leapt off the cliff and landed straight beside the totem pole.

BOOM!

With a violent tremor and thunderous crash, the ground was immediately blasted into a deep pit.

"Who are you? Our Zama tribe has not wronged you, has it?"

The huge crash immediately alerted the people of the tribe. An old man with gray-white hair and a face lined with greasy paint, supported by several sturdy men with dark skin and equally tattooed bodies, walked over.

Around his neck hung a necklace woven from animal bones. Though his frame was lean and worn, his eyes were bright and clear, utterly unlike the cloudy gaze of an ordinary elder.

He also emitted a special fluctuation imperceptible to ordinary people. Not only the old man, but the strong men beside him were the same, though not as intense as the elder’s.

"Your tribe has indeed not wronged me. I merely heard that you possess a clear-source fruit tree here. As the saying goes, an innocent man is guilty only when he possesses a treasure. I have come upon hearing the news."

Looking at the still undried bloodstains on the totem pole beside him, Li Yang narrowed his eyes. That was clearly not beast blood.

This tribe of natives was actually using living people to sacrifice to the totem deity. No wonder this totem deity was called an evil god.

Ordinary totem deities only required occasional offerings of beast flesh and blood. Only those totem deities that had gone down the crooked path and were eager to strengthen their spiritual nature would accept human sacrifice.

For human blood contains a kind of spirituality absent from ordinary beasts.

That was also why many legends spoke of monsters devouring people. In truth, humans themselves were not so very different from ordinary beasts.

The only special thing about them was that intelligence was innate; thus their flesh and blood also carried a trace of spirituality. Consumed over time, it helped demonic creatures awaken their own intelligence. This was why most man-eating fiends were not especially powerful, but rather the sort of spirits and goblins that had only just begun to gain some measure of wisdom.

"Are you the helper invited by that band of warlords too?"

Hearing Li Yang’s words, the old man instantly became alert.

"Great Shaman, there’s no need to waste words with him. Let us seize him and sacrifice him to the gods!"

Before Li Yang could answer, the sturdy men beside the elder had already fixed their hungry eyes on him. Each cracked his knuckles, eager to make a move.

"Truly bold."

Seeing the utter lack of fear in their expressions, Li Yang could not help but smile.

If it were an ordinary man, seeing an enemy descend from the sky, smash a giant hole in the ground, and remain unharmed himself, he would likely be terrified out of his wits.

Yet in their eyes, Li Yang saw no trace of fear at all.

"Loose the arrows!"

The old man knew the enemy was not to be trifled with, but faced with Li Yang’s blatant hostility, he did not waste breath. He simply led the men to fall back, then raised a hand. The archers already waiting nearby immediately loosed their arrows.

Faced with the countless arrows, Li Yang did not even glance at them. Instead, he drove a punch into the totem pole beside him and sneered, "An old acquaintance has come. How much longer do you intend to hide?"

BOOM—CRACK—RUMBLE...

"Ah... the totem!"

A burst of strange, garbled incantation followed, and the old man roared in fury. Then he chanted a long and awkward spell, a peculiar force radiating from his body as it drew upon the power of the totem pole.

"Roar... die!"

Compared with the elder’s rage, the strong men beside him were even more furious. The colorful tattoos covering their bodies suddenly blazed with multicolored radiance. Their eyes turned blood-red, and like charging bulls, they rushed at Li Yang.

"It really is divine power."

Looking at the strange yet familiar radiance on the men’s bodies, Li Yang spread his hands and surged forward toward them.

Thump-thump-thump... plop-plop-plop...

With several dull thuds like sacks bursting, the strong men were immediately sent flying backward at even greater speed than before.

Several brilliant sprays of blood were left hanging in the air.

Screech...

The instant the men died, a sharp, piercing cry suddenly split the air. With ripples spreading through the void, a gigantic spider—vividly colored and terrifying in aspect—appeared in midair.