Ancient Strengthening Technique

AST 883 – Five-Headed Demonic Spider, Battle

Qing Shui wasn’t sure if that Golden Jiao was a Martial Emperor level demonic beast. Even if it wasn’t, he speculated that the strength of the Golden Jiao had to be somewhere close. In the presence of such formidable strength, Qing Shui wouldn’t be able to survive if he didn’t have the Realm of the Violet Jade Immortal as an outlet of escape.

If he sensed that something was amiss, Qing Shui would escape into the Realm of the Violet Jade Immortal without hesitation. He had taken half a day to detour around this area. Even though he wasn’t as afraid as he thought would be, he was still nervous that he would accidentally encounter a demonic beast of such level again despite taking the effort to detour around its lair.

The Golden Jiao’s lair was quite close and was less than 200,000 li from the forest. It wouldn’t be strange if he were to bump into it in this 100,000 li area. This was because this area was near the border of its territory. Thinking about it now, its range of activity could be considered normal for a Golden Jiao of its size. If he had to blame something, it would be his own lousy luck.

After multiple encounters with demonic beasts that had superior strength, Qing Shui was beginning to realize how ill-prepared he was and how weak his powers were. At the same time, he was able to see the difference between those powerful beasts and himself, which was sufficient to motivate him to catch up to that level in order to defeat them.

There were no known Martial Emperors in the World of the Nine Continents, and Qing Shui certainly knew he wasn’t worthy of becoming one yet. He hadn’t reached the heights of his limit yet, so naturally he wouldn’t be able to penetrate into the circle of those who were far superior to himself.

Martial Emperors were nothing uncommon in the Demon Gate and the Lion King’s Ridges. These sects were essentially the spikes soldered into metal sheets – impenetrable and dominant. The woman in the crystal coffin could be a Martial Emperor as well, despite the obscurity of her cultivation realm. Moreover, she had been sleeping inside the crystal coffin for years. As for how long she had slumbered, he had no clue….

It had been three days since Qing Shui had left the Golden Jiao’s lair, and he had not encountered any demonic beasts in his path yet. He knew that he was still within the Golden Jiao’s territory, so it would be impossible to encounter another demonic beast that would dare to wander into this area foolishly.

Knowing this, Qing Shui mounted his Fire Bird and flew in the sky without fear. He sped through the air quickly with his next goal in mind – to go to the highest peak of the mountain to look for the Sky Penetrating Grass he desired. He estimated the distance from the lesser Sky Penetrating Grass and speculated that the Sky Penetrating Grass of more than 5,000 years should be somewhere on top of the highest peak.

Perhaps that was linked to the origins of the herb’s name?

However, Qing Shui quickly dismissed his theory when he recalled the appearance of the Sky Penetrating Grass. The herb may be small, but it was perfectly straight and magnificent as if it could pierce through the sky with its form. Moreover, there were also several white spots on top of the herb, much like the glittering specks formed by the silver stars in the night sky.

Perhaps this was the real reason why it was named as the ‘Sky Penetrating Grass’. In any case, Qing Shui still maintained the belief that the Sky Penetrating Grass he sought could be found growing in places of high altitude.

With that in mind, his place of interest should be at the peak of the lofty mountains. However, that was easier said than done, as there were countless mountains within a million li of the perimeter. He was perplexed at first, but as he recalled his inability to venture through the deeper parts of the forest due to his current strength, he decided that he would travel to the mountain peaks within 500,000 li, or maybe 400,000 li just to be safe.

Five days had passed without much trouble but then Qing Shui finally encountered another powerful demonic beast. However, this time, he had a strong urge to kill this demonic beast the moment it appeared in front of him.

Five-Headed Demonic Spider!

Of course, it wouldn’t be strange for a demonic beast this powerful to appear in this area – it was beyond question. Nevertheless, Qing Shui wanted to test his strength. He knew this beast wasn’t as formidable as the Golden Jiao earlier because he had prior knowledge about this spider from his earlier research on demonic beasts in the World of the Nine Continents.

The strength of the Five-Headed Demonic Spider was measured by the number of heads on its body. Two heads signified the strength of Xiantian, three heads signified the strength of a Martial King, and four heads signified the strength of a Martial Saint.

Naturally, five heads would mean that it was around the level of a Martial Emperor. The information Qing Shui had received did not clarify this bit any further, but one thing was certain. The strength of the Five-Headed Demonic Spider would be at least halfway on the edge of the Martial Emperor realm.

However, demonic beasts of this kind had a deadly weakness, and that would be its extremely slow speed. Fire elemental attacks would also be twice as effective against this kind of demonic beast.

Nonetheless, the spider was a king of its species – a king level demonic beast. Qing Shui had expected the spider to be surrounded by a number of demonic beasts playing the role of the spider’s minions. Even so, he thought hard about his plan and decided to try and tame it. If he failed to do so, he could always run away to safety, far from the grasp of the demonic beast.

Not only was the Five-Headed Demonic Spider afraid of fire, its movements were terribly slow. Moreover, the spider lacked range attacks and relied solely on melee combat to win fights. However, the spider had the ability to use its webs to attack in close range battles to a certain degree. It could also summon a horde of spiders to attack its foe. In addition, the spider’s attacks were all poisonous, which could corrode its opponent’s defense, inflicting greater damage at the same time.

Similarly to the Blackjade Poisonous Spiderweb, the web of the Five-Headed Demonic Beast has a high corrosive ability and was able to corrode everything it ensnared within a few seconds, including metals of the ‘false divine weapon’ grade.

The silk also has an extremely high tenacity and was also highly cohesive in nature. Anything ensnared by the web would eventually deteriorate from the deadly constriction of the web. The corrosion would penetrate the skin and muscles and slowly move towards the inner organs. In conclusion, the poison of this spider’s web was extremely vicious and should not be underestimated.

Once stuck to the web, the poison from the layers of web would seep into the opponent and consume everything. The limited speed of the Five-Headed Demonic Beast was a sort of blessing for its enemies, otherwise, the spider would be too deadly and terrifying. Even so, no one would dare to provoke the spider, lest they wished to die a painful and horrible death.

Moreover, although the speed of the Five-Headed Demonic Spider was comparatively slow, and it was significantly slower than demonic beasts of the same level, not all Martial Kings or Martial Saints would be much faster than it. This was despite the fact that the Five-Headed Demonic Spider was known to have a slow speed.

The Five-Headed Demonic Spider appeared to be as enormous as a mighty mountain. Its heads seemed quite ferocious, and one look at its green slick eyeballs could send shivers down one’s spine.

Its eight giant legs towered like stalks of movable pillars. Its lustrous legs glimmered with a brilliance like Coldsteel. The body of the Five-Headed Demonic Spider was entirely silver gray in color and its outer shell spider was as solid as an armor. When the spider spotted Qing Shui within its territory, it let out a horrible cry that could pierce the eardrums of those who heard it.

This was Qing Shui’s first time hearing the cries of a spider. He didn’t think it would be this horrible to his ears……..

Nevertheless, it was time to attack!

Since he had made up his mind, Qing Shui placed the Thunderous Beast and himself at the limit of their attack range, and without further ado, he commanded the Thunderous Beast to release its Thunderbolt attack.

Thunderbolt!

Speed wasn’t the Five-Headed Demonic Spider’s forte, so naturally the damage from the Thunderbolt was deadly. Not only was it deadly, Thunderbolt could also decrease the spider’s speed progressively each time it was struck by the attack.

The piercing cry rang out once again, but this time, numerous spiders appeared from afar. However, these spiders were significantly smaller than the Five-Headed Demonic Spider, most of them had two heads, three heads, or even four heads on their bodies. Surprisingly, the majority of these spiders were at the level of a Martial Saint.

The Sky Penetrating Mountains was indeed a place of wonder and complications. From what Qing Shui could see, there were hundreds of demonic spiders crawling toward his direction. Seeing a field of gigantic ‘spiders’ made Qing Shui shudder in disgust and horror.

He spared no time and called out his Fire Bird as he knew that all spiders were vulnerable to fire. It would be a walk in the park for the Fire Bird to kill all these weaker spiders within seconds due to the bird’s formidable prowess.

Meanwhile, the Thunderous Beast continued to blast the Five-Headed Demonic Spider with its Thunderbolt attack again while maintaining a distance. Qing Shui, the Thunderous Beast, and the Fire Bird retreated slowly as they continued their assault against the horde of spiders.

Descending Heaven Talisman!

Fiery Golden Eyes!

Emperor’s Qi!

In an instant, the Five-Headed Demonic Spider had slowed down greatly. Even though the spider’s original speed could not be considered that slow compared to the Thunderous Beast, the Thunderous Beast was now able to match it with its current speed since it had debuffed the spider with the Thunderbolt attack.

Qing Shui was able to keep up the pace since he had consumed a Gale Pellet earlier. Despite the Fire Bird being faster than the Thunderous Beast, it would not be able to match against the speed of the Five-Headed Demonic Spider without the debuffs either.

In any case, Qing Shui was aiming to match the Five-Headed Demonic Spider’s speed for at least a brief moment so that he could retreat slowly as he continued his assault. If he could succeed in his attempt, then victory would be assured. As long as he could maintain the balance for a period of time, then his strategy would definitely work.

Violet Lightning Strike!

Qing Shui took the opportunity to strike with his Primordial Flame Balls and aimed the poisonous 10,000 Years Coldsteel Beads towards four different heads of the Five-Headed Demonic Spider. At the same time, Qing Shui followed up his attack with a Binding Talisman as well.

Undoubtedly, the Thunderous Beast was a powerful demonic beast. The Violet Lightning Strike was only able to paralyze the spider with absolute certainty for a short period of time. However, this small window of time was enough for Qing Shui’s attack to hit the spider with accuracy.

Pu Pu……

Qing Shui’s ‘Primordial Flame Balls’ and the poisonous 10,000 Years Frosted Iron Balls punctured the spider’s heads through its gigantic eyes with a formidable force.

The piercing cry was a literal shrill that could burst one’s eardrums. What came next was a shocking revelation to Qing Shui as he saw the four severely wounded heads rolling down from the spider’s body. He felt cold shivers all over his body when he heard the awful cry of the spider that sounded quite similar to the wails of a banshee.

The Thunderous Beast had also infused its accumulated power into its attack as the Thunderbolt continued to strike the Five-Headed Demonic Spider.

At the same time, Qing Shui’s Fire Bird continued its assault the incoming horde of spiders with its flames.

Additionally, the Fire Bird and the Thunderous Beast had both been fed a Gale Pellet by Qing Shui to increase their attack speed.

It was at this time that Qing Shui found the right opportunity to bring out his Soulshake Bell.

Without hesitation, Qing Shui immediate used his Soulshake Bell against the Five-Headed Demonic Beast. Based on his memory of the historical records, the Five-Headed Demonic Beast was said to possess a special kind of spiritual energy. With five heads intact, each of its heads would contain a certain amount of spiritual energy that could be used to secure its status as a formidable leader within its circle.

Naturally, the spider had become extremely furious after realizing it had lost four heads to Qing Shui’s hands. If it wanted to cultivate its heads back to its former condition, it would require more than an extensive 4,000 years to do so.

Not only was the Five-Headed Demonic Spider overwhelmed with rage, it was instilled with a profound sensation of fear as well. The spider was becoming slower, as if it had stepped into a pool of quicksand, pulling back its legs as it struggled to crawl towards Qing Shui. The Thunderous Beast, on the other hand, continued to release multiple Thunderbolt attacks from a safe distance.

Qing Shui’s lips curved into a smile – he knew he had found the right approach. This demonic beast was quite unfortunate to have Qing Shui as its opponent, as he could be considered a kryptonite to its powers. Four heads were already down before it could release 10% of its ability.

The Golden Jiao and the Five-Headed Demonic Spider were much stronger than the Snow Lion King. The lion wasn’t even in the same cultivation realm as the two demonic beasts to begin with.

The Five-Headed Demonic Beast was still screeching in pain. Suddenly, the spider turned to Qing Shui and shot itself toward in his direction with a speed a few times faster than before. At the same time, the air around the spider became distorted due to the momentum of its speed.

In that moment, the spider also spat out a sticky mass that turned out to be a huge spider web, which spread out like an uncovered tarp that attempted to ensnare Qing Shui. He could even smell a disgusting odor that felt nauseating from the spider web coming from miles away.

Qing Shui couldn’t risk touching the web but it was already too late to enter the Realm of the Violet Jade Immortal. Despite having half a breath of time, it still wasn’t enough to evade from the impending danger.

At that precise moment, Qing Shui took out the Primordial Demon Refining Furnace without hesitation and enlarged it in an instant, dropping it in between himself and the Five-Headed Demonic Spider like a small mountain in the middle of its path.

Dong!

A dull sound echoed in the surrounding, and the Five-Headed Demonic Spider was subsequently blocked from advancing further, gaining some extra time for Qing Shui. He looked at the spider web heading towards him and his Thunderous Beast. In the next moment, he held up his hand and swiftly shot a Primordial Flame.

The Fire Bird soaring in the sky followed up this attack and shot multiple Hell’s Inferno fireballs towards the spider web continuously.

The spider web was vulnerable to fire despite its robust quality. The damage inflicted by the Fire Bird’s flame attack was super effective. However, the web would not suffer any damages from ordinary fires and flames.

Luckily, Qing Shui’s Primordial Flames were powerful enough to inflict damage on the spider web. He took precautions and prepared his Violet Gold Divine Shield to stall for time for him to enter the Realm of the Violet Jade Immortal, just in case he wouldn’t be able to withstand the force of the web.

In the end, everything was fine. Qing Shui turned to the Primordial Demon Refining Furnace that had sent the Five-Headed Demonic Spider into a state of fear and took back his full control. The spider was instilled with fear and was left with one head intact on its body…….

The gigantic Five-Headed Demonic Spider with its body akin to Coldsteel finally slumped to the ground in front of the Primordial Demon Refining Furnace without moving an inch. The beast was visibly shaken as it was overwhelmed with extreme fear.

Suddenly, Qing Shui had an idea!

“Can I tame it?” Qing Shui looked at the gigantic spider with disbelief. The beast was certainly ferocious, but its cry was displeasing to his ears. The eyes of the beast were unpleasant to look at as well……….

Note: Term Change → Frosted Iron Balls to Coldsteel Beads