Ancient Strengthening Technique (Portraits of Beauty)

Chapter 813

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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 b.u.mp 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 Gra.s.s he desired. He estimated the distance from the lesser Sky Penetrating Gra.s.s and speculated that the Sky Penetrating Gra.s.s 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 Gra.s.s. 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 Gra.s.s". In any case, Qing Shui still maintained the belief that the Sky Penetrating Gra.s.s he sought could be found growing in places of high alt.i.tude.

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 pa.s.sed 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 eyeb.a.l.l.s could send s.h.i.+vers down one"s spine.

Its eight giant legs towered like stalks of movable pillars. Its l.u.s.trous legs glimmered with a brilliance like Coldsteel. The body of the Five-Headed Demonic Spider was entirely silver gray in color and its outer sh.e.l.l 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 a.s.sault 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 a.s.sault. If he could succeed in his attempt, then victory would be a.s.sured. 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 b.a.l.l.s 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 b.a.l.l.s" and the poisonous 10,000 Years Frosted Iron b.a.l.l.s 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 s.h.i.+vers 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 acc.u.mulated 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 a.s.sault 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 ma.s.s 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 h.e.l.l"s Inferno fireb.a.l.l.s 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 s.h.i.+eld 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 b.a.l.l.s to Coldsteel Beads

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AST 884 – Taming A Five-Headed Demonic Spider

The demonic spider seemed to have lost its battle wits the moment the Primordial Demon Refining Furnace appeared within its vicinity. This kind of situation had happened before, and the affected beast would be weakened greatly in terms of its power and it would be inflicted with intense fright as well. If the beast was used for demon refining, it would rather fight to its death than subject to itself to the immolation to the demon refining. Of course, it would not retaliate as long as Qing Shui wasn"t planning on using it for demon refining.

The Five-Headed Demonic Beast fixed its gleaming green eyes on the Primordial Demon Refining Furnace with uneasiness. The beast remained still, and somewhat ignored Qing Shui who was standing on the side. He didn"t mind one bit and continued to a.s.sess the situation between the beast and the furnace.

Capturing the demonic beast was initially difficult, as the spider possessed a strength that may prove to be too powerful for Qing Shui to handle. However, the spider"s powers were already debuffed, and he also had the Primordial Demon Refining Furnace to a.s.sist him in the acquisition process. Hopefully, Qing Shui thought, the capturing process would go much smoother without any sudden problems.

If he could capture a demonic beast like this, he would be able to cultivate it and make it stronger with the aid of his medicinal pills. Moreover, he had a feeling that he could use those "pellets" to restore the severed heads and this could also allow the spider to gain an exponential increase in its ability.

The spider already possessed an impeccable strength, which almost felt like the strength verging into the realm of the Martial Emperor. Maybe if he tried it this time……..

A sense of excitement overwhelmed Qing Shui"s heart as he glanced at the half-crippled Five-Headed Demonic Spider. Both the Diamond Gigantic Elephant and Fire Bird still had a long way to go to achieve their next growth and Qing Shui was already content with the Thunderous Beast as a semi-automatic battle beast with the capability to act accordingly. He had rarely used the Jade Emperor Queen Bee and the Gold-Silver Colored b.u.t.terflies in his battles, and the horde of Jade Emperor Bees had been a.s.signed to harvest the Queen Bee Nectar instead.

Even though the Five-Headed Demonic Spider wasn"t a ranged attacker, the beast had the potential to become even greater and more powerful than its current form. For the time being, Qing Shui deemed the Five-Headed Demonic Spider potentially useful for his subsequent battles. With such potential, this beast could even achieve multiple breakthroughs to become an extremely superior battle beast in its destined future.

Qing Shui"s spiritual energy enveloped the Five-Headed Demonic Spider carefully and gently.

The spiritual energy then promptly entered into the spider"s mind. It was more convenient and easier for Qing Shui as the beast only had one head remaining on its body. If he had to tame this demonic beast while it had multiple heads, he might encounter extreme difficulties in his endeavor – essentially, it would be impossible.

At the same time, Qing Shui repeatedly hit the surface of the Primordial Demon Refining Furnace as the energy from his body transferred into it in a consistent flow. The gleaming light surrounding the ancient air of the furnace glowed brighter, followed by a series of faint beast callings echoing in the air. The spiritual callings felt magnificent and shuddering, which was sufficient to frighten this demonic beast with absolute certainty.

Qing Shui"s spiritual energy continuously disrupted the spider"s spiritual energy as he tried to make the spider recognize his superior power and authority. With the furnace"s terrifying ability, the Five-Headed Demonic Spider had no choice but to concede to its fear as it s.h.i.+vered in uneasiness.

Just then, Qing Shui took out a pellet that was refined from the core of the deity statue. He had made up his mind – if he could capture this demonic beast, then essentially he had nothing to worry about within the 30,000 li depth of Sky Penetrating Mountains. After all, the Five-Headed Demonic Spider could be considered a powerful demonic beast with a territorial dominance characteristic.

Qing Shui took the Crimson Pellet and placed it in front of the Five-Headed Demonic Beast. He continued to infuse his Qi into the Primordial Demon Refining Furnace while targeting the Five-Headed Demonic Spider with his spiritual energy to distract the beast from resisting the temptations of the Crimson Pellet.

Demonic beasts and humans were made different. No matter how strong a demonic beast was, its intellectual capability could never be compared to that of a human being. Once the demonic beast had validated one person, it would not change its mind. The stronger the demonic beast was, the more loyal it would become. This was also the case for the Five-Headed Demonic Spider. If it were to accept Qing Shui"s "pellet" willingly, then it would swear loyalty to him for eternity.

The possibility of the Five-Headed Demonic Spider being a demonic beast king was of no concern to Qing Shui any longer. A demonic beast king could only be captured by experienced beast tamers or those with unique bloodlines, albeit with the same low capture rate. Qing Shui admitted his excellence over beast tamers, but as for the cultivators with a unique bloodline, he had only heard rumors about them and never had the chance to acquaint himself with one.

Time was ticking away and Qing Shui began to feel nervous. When he caught the Ten Thousand Poisonous Violet Sable back then, he had used a Flower of Life to tame it. Now that he had encountered the Five-Headed Demonic Spider in this area, he decided to capture it first before he began his journey to find the Sky Penetrating Gra.s.s at the peak of the mountain.

The Gold-Silver Colored b.u.t.terflies though, were an unexpected case. They were easily captured after they had succ.u.mbed to the presence of the Jade Emperor Queen Bee.

Qing Shui didn"t know if the Five-Headed Demonic Spider had other weaknesses but he was certain that the spider was half a step into the Martial Emperor realm – its breakthrough was near.

However, the demonic spider could easily lose its life whilst pursuing the breakthrough to Martial Emperor if was not careful. Demonic beasts have a stronger desire for power compared to most human beings. In their world, the laws of the jungle were everything – the strong would always rule over the weak.

Qing laughed as he saw the Five-Headed Demonic Spider struggling to escape from the temptations of the Crimson Pellet. The spider was tempted by its desire, but couldn"t bring itself to fall into Qing Shui"s trap. This was his plan all along – it was crucial for the demonic beast to recognize its owner for the taming process to be complete. Most demonic beasts would not recognize a weak person as their owner. In the spider"s perspective, Qing Shui could be considered strong since he was able to severe four of its heads at once, much to its contempt.

Demonic beasts have simple thoughts, any form of a.s.sault – sneak attack or by poisonous means – were essentially the same to them. In a way, that might have contributed to the spider"s hesitation toward the pellet. Of course, Qing Shui"s Primordial Demon Refining Furnace definitely had a huge effect on this spider, but the most lethally enticing factor right now would be the Crimson Pellet in front of its eyes.

Qing Shui currently had an 80% chance of capturing the spider. With a boost of confidence, he took out eight more Crimson Pellets and swayed them in front of the demonic beast. He did so to tempt the spider into submission as the Crimson Pellets could only be consumed twice at most. Anything more would be useless and ineffective.

After the time it took for an incense to burn had pa.s.sed, the Five-Headed Demonic Spider finally opened its enormous mouth.

With a smile curved on his face, Qing Shui was quite ecstatic as he took a Crimson Pellet and hurled it into the Five-Headed Demonic Spider"s mouth.

It was a success!

This spider was truly a demonic beast at the Peak Martial Saint level. Even so, he believed that the beast could potentially become a Martial Emperor of the lowest level in due time. Even though Qing Shui didn"t have a good understanding of the Martial Emperor grade, he had a feeling that the Golden Jiao and the woman in the crystal coffin were both Martial Emperors of the lowest level as well.

Qing Shui thought that it would be best for the Five-Headed Demonic Spider to quickly advance into the Martial Emperor Realm since it had already become his own demonic beast after all.

The spider gave a loud piercing screech, as if it was telling Qing Shui that it had become significantly stronger.

Qing Shui approached the spider with his physical senses suppressed and his spiritual sense expanded. The energy capacity of the Five-Headed Demonic Spider kept increasing at an accelerated rate, flowing violently between its veins to refine every part of its body.

Suddenly, one of the severed parts of the spider began to form an obscure flesh surrounded by blood, until the figure finally began to form into a ferocious head. The head seemed slightly different, with the color of the head becoming as white as the moon. Qing Shui discovered that the spider had forced out a fresh new head with the use of its energy despite it being painful to do so. The spider wouldn"t have become this miserable had Qing Shui not sliced off its heads in the first place.

The third pellet!

Fourth pellet!

And the fifth pellet!

The pellets had allowed the Five-Headed Demonic Spider to not only recover its powers fully, but to allow the spider to grow stronger in the process. The growth of the spider had essentially confirmed his suspicion, that the core used for the concoction of the Crimson Pellet was indeed from a powerful Divine Beast.

Qing Shui couldn’t care less whether the core was from a Divine Beast or not. As long as the Crimson Pellet could benefit him in a long run, then it was enough. Qing Shui was elated as he looked at his demonic beast proudly. He had finally succeeded in taming the Five-Headed Demonic Spider on his own.

The energy capacity of the Five-Headed Demonic Spider had slowly returned to normal. As the beast c.o.c.ked its head toward Qing Shui again, he took out another Crimson Pellet and fed it to the spider.

The Five-Headed Demonic Spider remained still as it slumped onto the ground as Qing Shui looked on silently and patiently. He could feel a large portion of the energy within the spider fluctuating rapidly and increasingly forceful.

Screech!

Qing Shui was almost deafened by the piercing cry of the spider!

Suddenly, Qing Shui opened his eyes and retreated immediately, while at the same time, the Five-Headed Demonic Spider exuded a faint layer of light akin to the glow of the pale white moon.

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