Its pure black body didn’t reflect light, as it was entirely covered with rigid bristles measuring a zhang in length—black and hard, guaranteed to pierce through anyone they stabbed.
Its sixteen eyes, however, emitted a red glow, flickering in and out of visibility through the mist of the abyss, adding to its eerie presence.
Feng Miaojun spoke hoarsely: “Is this…” Apart from the Ao-Fish, this was the most visually shocking creature she had ever seen, perfectly suited to appear in nightmares as the ultimate final boss.
“The Cliff Mountain Spider King,” Tie Xinning said in his usual tone, clearly having seen it more than once. “Only one exists in each nest, dwelling alone in the abyss where it weaves its web.”
This was the leader of all spider demons, with such a formidable appearance, no wonder the Yao and Jin countries chose to negotiate peace with it. Presumably, if the spider demon group it led had been weaker, humans would have exterminated them without hesitation.
All peace talks were established on the foundation of power.
This enormous abyss was its exclusive territory, with many small spider demons coming and going, helping clean its body and maintain the web.
The silk web spun by the Spider King was thicker than ordinary spider webs, with each strand as thick as a fist. Yet it was woven just as densely; Feng Miaojun peered over and saw only a pale white expanse, unable to see what lay beneath the web.
“What’s below the spider web?” The Spider King appeared lazy, but she could tell at a glance that it seemed to be guarding something. Otherwise, with the underground palace being so vast, why would it choose this specific location?
Tie Xinning noticed the curiosity in her eyes: “Want to know?”
“You know?” Surely the area beneath was the forbidden zone of the spider’s lair—how would Tie Xinning know about it?
A strange smile suddenly appeared on Tie Xinning’s face: “Why not try and see?”
He had always maintained the demeanor of a dignified elder brother, but this smile sent chills down her spine. Just as alarm bells began ringing in Feng Miaojun’s mind, she saw Tie Xinning raise his leg and directly kick a nearby Morongduo beast over the cliff!
His movement was as graceful as flowing water, even remembering to flutter his robe sleeves, but it happened so quickly that Feng Miaojun had no time to react. The poor Morongduo, along with the cargo it was dragging behind, plummeted into the abyss!
Who knows how much strength he used, but the giant beast fell much faster than free fall would allow, covering the hundred-zhang distance in the blink of an eye. Almost as soon as its wail began, it crashed into the center of the Spider King’s web!
Falling and bouncing back up, the combined weight of the Morongduo beast and its cargo, plus the force of Tie Xinning’s kick, created a shocking impact that tore through three layers of the spider web with a ripping sound!
Of course, the giant spider web had over twenty layers, so the Morongduo couldn’t completely pierce through it. However, the Spider King, who had been pretending to be a fossil, was immediately startled and swiftly scurried over, waving its six legs.
Feng Miaojun’s heart sank like a stone: “You…” By now, how could she still naively believe that the man before her was her “senior brother”?
But “Tie Xinning’s” hand was already pressing on her shoulder, applying slight force that rendered her immobile. This man took her along as he leaped forward, flashing more than a hundred zhang in an instant, while covering her eyes with his palm and laughing: “It’s better not to watch what comes next.”
The Morongduo fell onto the web with its four legs pointing skyward, instinctively struggling non-stop. The Spider King naturally wouldn’t allow it to act freely—its front legs scratched while its mouth spewed silk. The clumsy giant beast rolled like dough under its claws, and in the blink of an eye, it was bound into a massive cocoon. Though it was a demon king, these actions were instinctive, no different from those of an ordinary spider.
Just as it was about to secure the final layer, the Morongduo exploded.
This beast weighing several thousand jin exploded without warning. The Spider King didn’t even see the mist of blood before its sixteen eyes were engulfed by the white light from the explosion.
That light was like staring directly at the midday sun, only thousands of times more intense. This perpetually dark and enclosed abyss suddenly seemed as if it had been placed beneath the sun to be baked, becoming transparent with the scorching light.
This unexpected light attack caught the Spider King off guard, injuring its eyes before it could defend itself. It emitted a creaking screech, suddenly retreating more than ten zhang, and then slightly raised its head, shooting a spray of spider silk toward the direction from which the Morongduo had fallen!
The spider silk was sticky and viscous, hardening instantly upon contact with prey. The Spider King’s ability to react to the situation was remarkably quick, immediately counterattacking the enemy assault. Feng Miaojun and Tie Xinning had indeed been standing there originally; if Tie Xinning hadn’t moved them in advance, they, along with the dozen or so people behind them, would have been pinned to the wall.
The screams of these people sent chills down the spines of onlookers. Ordinary spiders could inject venom into their prey, dissolving limbs into nutritional fluid for easy consumption. The Spider King’s venom was a thousand times more potent—even a splash on these people’s skin could immediately penetrate their bodies, dissolving their tendons, bones, and internal organs simultaneously!
The pain was incomparable, and yet they remained conscious until their final heartbeat, approximately fifty breaths before they would truly transform from unfortunate souls to unfortunate ghosts.
Feng Miaojun’s vision was blocked by a warm palm. She heard only a thunderous boom as violent air currents rushed past her ears, followed by continuous screams and wails around her, with someone crying out: “My eyes!”
The next moment, Tie Xinning removed his hand, and she saw that a third of the people in their group had fallen, writhing and howling on the ground.
On their faces, where eyes had once been, only black holes remained, with blood gushing forth.
She didn’t know that the intense light that even the Spider King couldn’t withstand had affected these humans even more severely. Their retinas were burned in an instant, forever robbing them of sight.
Many people, unable to bear the pain, rolled on the ground and quickly tumbled over the cliff edge.
No matter how profound the Spider King’s cultivation was, it couldn’t make its eyes impervious to weapons. Twelve of its sixteen eyes were blinded instantly, with only the four eyes facing its back spared due to their angle. Being closest to the Morongduo, it directly bore the brunt of the explosion, leaving its hardened exterior riddled with craters like the surface of the moon. Its chest had a huge bloody hole, and two of its legs were severed.
Ordinary explosives could never have harmed it in the slightest, but this was Mountain-Shaking Thunder!
A specialized weapon meticulously developed by the Haoli Empire for siege warfare and mountain demolition. Just one could reduce half a mountain to dust; only five would be needed to level a towering peak like Cliff Mountain!
This item was exceedingly rare and precious—who knows where Tie Xinning had obtained it. And heaven knows how many he had planted on the Morongduo beast! The entire mountain trembled under the explosion’s power, with rocks of all sizes falling.
Feng Miaojun hadn’t witnessed the Mountain-Shaking Thunder’s explosion firsthand, or she would have understood that the Spider King was already a legendary great demon with extremely high cultivation. Otherwise, what creature could survive such an explosive force at close range?
Protected by Tie Xinning, Feng Miaojun was relatively unharmed except for the ringing in her ears and mind. When she opened her eyes, she beheld an entirely different scene at the bottom of the abyss—