Chapter 77: Spider Eggs or Fruit

“All right, I won’t argue with you anymore. You saw it yourselves—the patch of Spirit-Awakening Grass has been devastated by the spiders, and there’s hardly anything usable left. I was able to collect no more than ten stalks.” Senior Brother Ding spoke with a candid air, making it clear he wasn’t trying to fool the other three.

“There are three of you. I’ll share one stalk with each of you, as a gesture for having endured hardship together. That’s all I can give—if you insist on more, we’ll just go our separate ways. From now on, if we cross paths, it’ll be every person for themselves.”

The trio exchanged glances. They could hear the sincerity and confidence in his words. Truth be told, they had only just entered the secret realm, and it was unwise to make enemies so soon. No one had gained much yet, and to start a fight now would be the height of folly.

Both sides clearly shared this outlook, and so no one pressed further. None of them were fools, and so an agreement was reached and peace restored. At dawn, the five split into two groups, each picking a different direction, and parted with courteous bows.

When Ji Yao woke the next morning and reviewed the images from the night before, nothing in particular moved her—except the mention of that brown egg, which caught her attention.

Brown in color, shaped like a fruit, and impossible to move.

Just these features alone, combined with the task entrusted to her by Situ Jing, meant that whether it was truly a spider egg or not, she had to make this trip. Having resolved to do so, Ji Yao felt no rush to seek out Dongfang Shun right away.

Besides, from what the five had said, the Blackstone Spider King was already slain. Even if there were any spiders left, they would only be insignificant juveniles. Only one night had passed, and with a wealth of self-made ancient talismans for protection, it wouldn’t hurt to investigate.

Leaving her spatial retreat, Ji Yao did not immediately withdraw the concealment array. Only after ensuring, through her spiritual sense, that no one was nearby, did she put away the array disk and reveal herself.

It could be said that, at her current level, few cultivators at the peak of Qi Refinement could match her spiritual sense. She was quite confident in her ability to detect others. What’s more, she hadn’t emerged directly from her spatial retreat. The array disk served as a cover—if anyone did see her, at most they’d covet the array disk, never guessing she had another method of hiding.

Following the direction the others had come from, she saw plenty of spider silk and hand-sized dead spiders along the way. With these clues, it took her only an hour to find the likely battlefield.

The Spider King’s body was gone; whether taken by someone or dragged off by other beasts, she couldn’t say. The site had been leveled, trees toppled everywhere, the ground slick with viscous webs.

Many tree trunks bore gaping holes as wide as bowls—clearly the work of a giant spider’s sharp spear-like limbs, a testament to how fierce the battle had been.

According to their account, the Spider King had stubbornly guarded the fruit, refusing to leave it. When they lured it away to steal the so-called fruit, they found themselves unable to move it.

That meant the fruit must still be there, unmoved.

Ji Yao conjured a fire spell, carefully burning away the thick webs carpeting the ground, clearing a narrow path for herself.

She pressed on and soon found a patch of ruined Spirit-Awakening Grass by the entrance to a den. There wasn’t a single intact stalk; all of it had been trampled and mixed into the soil, a sight that pained Ji Yao deeply.

The entrance of the den was heavily veiled in spider silk, with a few Blackstone Spiders still scurrying about, thickening the webs.

Ji Yao began to suspect—the treasure they guarded might really be the Blackstone Spider King’s egg. Whatever it was, she was here now, and had to see for herself.

She flung a fireball talisman, setting the webs alight. The acrid scent of burning silk mingled with the sharp hissing of spiders, but the entrance was soon cleared.

Proceeding with caution, Ji Yao continued to burn away spider webs before advancing. The Blackstone Spiders’ pincers and fangs were venomous—one careless bite and the wound would harden like stone. Their silk, besides being extremely sticky, also had a numbing effect.

That’s why Ji Yao took her time, clearing as she went. At last, she reached the depths of the den. She took out a glowstone commonly used in the cultivation world, rubbed it with spiritual energy, and a cold, ghostly light illuminated her surroundings.

Behind a massive web, she saw a brown, basketball-sized fruit. The lower right corner of the web had a gaping hole, just large enough for a person to duck through.

There was no longer any danger of the Spider King’s return. Ji Yao, without hesitation, burned away the huge web to get a better look at the suspected egg.

If not for the pitted surface and the all-too-familiar markings, she might have mistaken it for the Spider King’s egg. The main thing was its size—it was several times larger than she’d imagined.

If its weight matched its volume, Ji Yao wasn’t sure she could move it at all.

Regardless, she had to try. Focusing her spiritual energy in both hands, she grasped the sphere and lifted with all her might.

As expected—not the slightest movement.

She tried tugging and pushing from different angles, using all her strength, but the object was immovable, as if it had grown from the earth itself.

Lingering too long here was unwise. This was the item Situ Jing had tasked her to find, though she still had no idea what it truly was, let alone how to handle it. Ji Yao decided to call for help.

She sent her spiritual sense into her space, using the method Situ Jing had left to summon her over and over. At last, the Universe Disk flew out from the bamboo lodge, and Situ Jing’s figure appeared in the courtyard.

“Senior, please look at the item before me—is this the fruit you mentioned?”

Situ Jing extended her spiritual sense, taking in the scene outside. She had expected something, but not something this enormous. There was no need for Ji Yao to elaborate; she immediately understood why she’d been called.

“Girl, the secret realm restricts our cultivation, so I cannot manifest in person. I’ll enter your body through the Universe Disk. Memorize these hand seals, and in a moment, empty your mind as I instruct.”

Before Ji Yao could respond, a series of images appeared in her mind, followed by Situ Jing’s voice echoing directly in her sea of consciousness.

“Begin the hand seals.”

Without hesitation, Ji Yao pressed all eight fingers together before her chest, thumbs aligned in preparation.

“Now switch the hand seals and clear your mind!”

Her ten fingers danced through the intricate gestures. As she emptied her mind, she vaguely heard herself chanting arcane verses—words she was sure she’d never heard before, and could never reproduce on her own. The sensation was strange, as if her soul were infused with some wondrous power.

When a brilliant light flared between her hands, she heard Situ Jing again.

“Push the light onto the fruit and immediately focus your mind!”

Obeying, Ji Yao thrust the light towards the brown sphere. As her thoughts snapped back into place, she saw the basketball-sized fruit enveloped in light—then, in a flash, it vanished.

Situ Jing’s weary voice sounded once more.

“The fruit is now secured in the Universe Disk. I must return to the space to recuperate for a while. Unless it’s a matter of life or death, do not summon me. If you are in true danger, I will sense it myself.”

Ji Yao instantly realized that the process of collecting the fruit must have greatly depleted Situ Jing’s soul, hence the need for rest.

With her task complete, Ji Yao did not linger in the gloomy spider den. Retracing her steps, she hurried away from the nest.

Once she’d put sufficient distance between herself and that place, she took out the array disk Dongfang Shun had given her, and saw that his red marker was now blinking—signaling they were close enough to communicate via the device.

Tapping the blinking spot, a line of text appeared on the disk:

[You’ve gone deeper? Are we changing our meeting place?]

Ji Yao used her finger as a brush, inscribing with spiritual energy:

[No need. Stick to the original plan. I’m on my way.]