A bone fan appeared in Hongniang’s hand. She covered her mouth and complained resentfully, “When His Excellency comes to trouble me later, it’ll all be your fault, you ill-fated enemy!”
But that ill-fated enemy had already moved!
Chao Jinsui’s movements were extremely fast.
It had been a long time since she had felt this kind of freedom in mobilizing spiritual energy at will—
This time, having regained control of her body, she discovered the changes in herself.
Perhaps her understanding of the First Layer Gale Realm had deepened further; her speed was fully thirty percent faster than before!
Countless spider silks attacked!
Hongniang followed closely behind, the Eight-Bone Fan turning into eight streaks of flowing light, fiercely severing several spider threads flying toward Chao Jinsui!
Chao Jinsui moved like a gale, incredibly light as she passed through countless spider silks and leapt onto the back of the enormous spider.
This Gu King was gigantic, its body covered in hard black armor, so tough it could be used as excellent material for artifact refinement but she aimed at the joints between the spider’s legs—there were no armor plates covering those places.
Recalling in her heart the sensation of the “Qianjun Realm,” her form was like an autumn goose as she fiercely slashed toward one of the spider’s legs. The Kunlun Sword burst with golden light, a strike with the force of a thousand jun—
The spider let out a shrill, agonized scream, and one leg fell in response!
The spider rolled wildly, spewing endless venom, spider silk spreading down like a heavenly net—Hongniang’s eight-section bone fan thrust out fiercely, directly slicing the spider silk apart!
Clearly, this action had completely enraged the Gu King!
Thousands upon thousands of small spiders poured out from beneath the Gu King, swarming forth in overwhelming numbers.
“Hongniang, fall back!”
The Kunlun Sword absorbed the surrounding spiritual energy, and slowly a layer of frost covered the blade. Chao Jinsui opened her eyes, and the Kunlun Sword suddenly transformed into thousands upon thousands of tiny frost swords, carrying rustling wind as they fiercely pierced through countless small spiders ahead, leaving a layer of ice upon the ground that froze many of the small spiders in place!
Chao Jinsui in front, Hongniang behind, the Kunlun Sword severed a full six of the great spider’s legs!
The great spider felt intense pain; it began to roll wildly from side to side, its enormous black limbs smashing into the ground, each strike leaving a deep crater, as if trying to drive away that troublesome human cultivator in this way!
Yet precisely because its movements were so large, when it rose up, Chao Jinsui suddenly noticed sharply—beneath the enormous spider were white humanoid cocoons!
Between the cocoons and the spider were fine silver threads, like tubes delivering nourishment.
She immediately realized that the spider was drawing power from those white cocoons!
Did that mean Lingyun might not be dead yet?
She saw the great spider rolling in pain nearby, at any moment able to crush those white cocoons—she had no idea which cocoon contained living people and which held those already dead, and it was even more impossible to seize all of them.
But the great spider was still rolling in fury, smashing the ground again and again, at any moment able to crush those cocoons beneath it.
She stopped, hovering in midair, thinking for a moment.
Suddenly, she flew to the front of the great spider—creatures this large had very poor eyesight and could only lock onto a general direction; its dark green eyes were filled with frenzy.
But at this distance, it definitely saw her!
The spider shrieked and lunged forward!
Chao Jinsui nearly got sprayed by venom; retreating step by step, she lured the great spider farther away.
Her mind was stretched to the extreme. After cautiously luring the spider far away, she shouted: “Hongniang, do you see those spider threads? Together, let’s tie this big thing up like a zongzi!”
Hongniang: “I see them—retreat quickly!”
Chao Jinsui moved like a drifting leaf, swiftly leaving, then suddenly pushed off with the tip of her foot, flying toward the enormous spider thread at the top of the hall!
She grabbed the resilient spider silk, pulled hard, then rapidly retreated, her figure crossing paths with Hongniang midair!
The two of them were like shuttles, weaving an extremely complex piece of work in the air.
The next moment, Chao Jinsui shouted, “Pull tight!”
She and Hongniang exerted force at the same time!
The giant spider was suddenly wrapped and bound tightly by the spider silk! Just as it was about to struggle in rage, they both yanked hard, and the giant spider immediately let out a shrill scream.
She rushed forward and also wrapped the spider silk from Hongniang’s hands around her own—
“Hongniang, quick! Go find the people!”
Chao Jinsui pulled the bindings taut, then leapt onto the giant spider—
The giant spider was desperately trying to free itself from the entanglement.
The first thing Chao Jinsui did was stab out with one sword on each side, piercing straight through the spider’s pair of ghastly green eyes!
Her movements were fierce and swift!
The spider shrieked, but because of the intense pain, it temporarily stopped spraying venom outward.
Hongniang arrived in front of the cocoons. The eight-section bone fan flew out, slicing open the thick cocoon shell with a swift cut.
But most of what lay inside were only skeletal remains.
Inside one of the cocoons, Lingyun had long heard the growing noise outside. Gritting her teeth, she forced herself to gather a bit of strength, widening her eyes, trying hard to make some movement.
But all her strength had already been used up in her earlier struggles.
She didn’t know how to draw the attention of the people outside. Anxiety drenched her in sweat, and she grew weaker and weaker.
Who knew how long had passed, when the spider silk she could never tear apart suddenly split open from the outside. Lingyun smelled fresh air, and tears fell in drops. She could not even open her eyes. On the verge of death, she murmured, “Young Sect Master… is that you?”
Hongniang dug her out from inside.
She could not hear any reply for a long time. After a while, she finally heard Hongniang say, “Your Young Sect Master is killing the big spider to avenge you!”
Lingyun instantly smiled, completely reassured, and fainted.
Chao Jinsui was now atop the head of the frenzied giant spider. Because the spider was violently thrashing its body, she had to kneel on one knee to steady herself.
—The spider’s head was the hardest part of its body.
She held her breath and focused. This strike mobilized all the spiritual energy in her body, tentatively compressing the spiritual energy wildly, compressing it onto the sword tip, as if towering Mount Tai were condensed into a single point—then she thrust it in fiercely—
Piercing into the giant spider’s head!
She felt as though she had touched the edge of the Qianjun Realm. Focusing her mind, she stabbed even harder.
The giant spider’s remaining legs twitched once, then went still.
✦ ─ ˗ˋ ୨୧ ˊ˗ ─ ✦
When Chao Jinsui jumped down from the giant spider, Lingyun had already fainted.
She probed her inner Mansion (Fu), and sure enough, her spiritual energy was exhausted, her vitality drained by half.
She laid Lingyun flat, stuffed a Shengji Pill given by Monk Guangping into her mouth, and also fed her every Qi-replenishing pill and Blood-replenishing pill she could find.
Lingyun had no other external injuries, but clearly, the internal depletion was far too severe.
Hongniang crossed her arms and said, “With Guangping around, that monk’s medical skills are quite good. He should be able to save her.”
Chao Jinsui let out a breath of relief. “As long as she can live, that’s enough.”
She was very fortunate.
—Fortunately, she had made her decision quickly enough. If she had been even a little slower, Lingyun would not have been saved.
Even if it meant letting the heart demon take control briefly, she felt it was absolutely worth it.
She moved Lingyun into the encirclement of karmic fire to lie down.
Then she and Hongniang continued to inspect the large white cocoons.
But very unfortunately, aside from Lingyun, who had been captured for the shortest time, the people inside the other cocoons were already completely dead.
She knew that human strength had its limits, but one must at least be “without shame before one’s own heart.”
At least today, by slaying this Gu King, there would be no more people killed.
She lowered her head and softly recited a passage from the Rebirth Sutra.
When she opened her eyes, she saw that demon overlord looking down at her, his expression very strange—
This was the real demon overlord, not that heart demon.
He had already returned carrying Madam Zi.
He had learned everything from the heart demon, but he was not shocked that she and Hongniang had killed the giant spider. Rather—who, while possessed by a heart demon, could still chant the Rebirth Incantation? She wasn’t Guangping, where was the heart demon supposed to put its dignity!
Yan Xueyi: “Don’t you want to kill people?”
Chao Jinsui: “I do.”
Yan Xueyi: “Aren’t you irritable?”
Chao Jinsui thought about it in a very good-tempered manner. “A little.”
Yan Xueyi: “Don’t you feel that your mind is full of the heart demon’s voice?”
He circled around her a few times, his gloomy gaze sizing her up from head to toe, frowning in great dissatisfaction. “Why is it that when the heart demon possesses you, there are no signs of you falling into demonic deviation?”
He felt his plan might come to nothing, his expression grave.
In truth, she was also somewhat puzzled. After all, a heart demon was no good thing. Once tainted by it, one’s dao heart could easily become unstable, and it was very likely to affect one’s mental state.
Chao Jinsui pondered: “Could it be that you talk in my ear too much usually, so I’m too familiar with your voice?”
The demon overlord’s expression changed instantly. Furious, he said, “What, you think I’m talkative?”
Chao Jinsui: “……”
Is that really the point?
Chao Jinsui roughly understood why:
The people she killed were those who deserved to be killed, the things she did were entirely according to her own heart, and she had achieved what she wanted. So even with the heart demon possessing her, she still did not waver in the slightest.
Only then did Chao Jinsui notice that the demon overlord was still holding something in his hand—
It was Madam Zi.
Yan Xueyi tossed her aside casually:
“She was just trying to find someone to seize a body. She almost got away.”
Unfortunately, Madam Zi had been a step too slow and had her fox tail seized by this demon overlord.
She had already severed her tail to survive. Once separated from the Gu King, enduring intense pain, her strength had already greatly weakened.
Now she was barely alive, unable to stir up any trouble.
Chao Jinsui stared at her for a while. After thinking, her hand quietly turned inside her sleeve, taking out a recording bead hidden in her palm and injecting spiritual energy into it. Her gaze fixed on Madam Zi as she said:
“Madam Zi, do you know about the extermination of the Hehuan Sect ten years ago?”
Yan Xueyi glanced down at the small movement inside her sleeve, raising his brows in confusion, but out of some tacit understanding, he did not speak.
Madam Zi lifted her head, her face ferocious. “Of course I know. I went there personally!”
When she married Su Baishan back then, she had stolen the Gu King.
But her elder sister, who had become the sect leader, kept refusing to let the matter go all these years, even coming to her door demanding she hand over the Gu King—
What choice did Madam Zi have? Naturally, she joined forces with Su Baishan and struck first against the Hehuan Sect!
That day when the Hehuan Sect was annihilated, she laughed with incomparable delight.
As she spoke of these past events, she was even somewhat proud.
As if slaughtering her own natal family was something to be proud of.
Seeing the smile on her face, Chao Jinsui suddenly said word by word:
“Do you know? If it had been even a step later, you might have become a demon no less than a naturally born demonic seed.”
She was clearly human, yet she had long been entangled in karmic sin.
Madam Zi froze in place, the smile on her face vanishing.
Chao Jinsui understood people like this—just like Su Liuyun, what struck them hardest was not failure, but having almost succeeded!
A naturally born demonic seed—what an immense existence that was!
Just one step away, only one step!
Madam Zi let out a shrill scream, her entire person becoming utterly twisted.
