SQLJBFDTW Chapter 37

Chapter 37: Devouring Alone – A Painful Yet Joyful Experience

Seeing the massive demonic shadow formed by countless spider demons engulf Chao Jianxue, the hearts of several people trembled.

It’s over!

While Yu Wei and the others were still slaughtering the spider horde, one person broke through the encirclement from the side, flew away, and plunged into the closing mouth of the demonic shadow.

“It’s no good, there are too many!”

Nan Shan and Qiu Shui frantically fought off the spiders crawling onto their bodies. Looking up, they saw Yu Wei leaping forward with his sword, attempting to cleave through the spider horde, but he couldn’t penetrate. His sword struck the incredibly hardened spider shells, producing an ear-piercing noise.

“Junior Brother! Be careful!” Qiu Shui exclaimed in alarm.

Yu Wei blocked a spider demon slamming towards his face, his movements fluid yet filled with ferocity.

“Our Senior Brother Tan Zhou also went in just now!” A Tianyao Sect disciple rushed to their side, anxiously saying.

Qiu Shui was worried. It was hard to say if Senior Brother’s level could last even a moment. After all, Chao Jianxue’s performance in past secret realms was hard to evaluate.

She kicked away a corner of the spider horde, panicking. Yu Wei, sword in hand, flipped down from the spider demons and said in a deep voice, “Go to the six-way fire formation positions! I’ll open the sword formation.”

As soon as these words came out, the others had a backbone.

Even when he himself was trapped, Yu Wei had never used such a flustered tone, showing how truly anxious he was.

Equally anxious was Chao Jianxue, who rolled into the demonic shadow. He had been quick-witted and fast-handed, and as he was being swallowed, he had pulled out the demon core from the spider demon’s abdomen.

Inside the demonic shadow’s body, another shadow pounced at him, simultaneously uttering a vicious threat:

“Give it back to me!”

Chao Jianxue once again maxed out his evasion skills, quickly hid the demon core in his Thousand Mile Bright Heart, and held up his sword to block the slender, hard leg-like appendages growing out of the shadow.

Oh my god!

He gritted his teeth, narrowed his eyes, and clearly saw the spider demon’s transformed appearance.

A human body with spider hands, a blood-red demonic mark on its forehead, the clarity in its eyes completely eroded by demonic energy, replaced by a chaotic darkness.

Chao Jianxue’s heart leaped into his throat, and he almost wanted to cry.

The spider demon shrieked and clung to the wall, flying towards him like a phantom.

In the face of danger, he controlled the Thousand Mile Bright Heart to unleash an astonishing sword intent, pushing back the spider demon. The latter pounced again, and the two, one man and one demon, became entangled in a fierce struggle.

The inside of this demonic shadow was extremely hard, and there were countless sharp spider legs, leaving countless small wounds on Chao Jianxue’s body. He couldn’t care whether they were poisonous or not. In this life-or-death situation, he desperately circulated the Thousand Mile Bright Heart, contending with the demonic energy.

The spiritual energy of his Golden Core cultivation withered and replenished, and the pain emanating from his dantian made his scalp tingle.

The spider demon’s pupils became scarlet rhombuses, staring at him with horror. Suddenly, it seemed to smell something, its eight hands guarding against the Thousand Mile Bright Heart as it lowered its head to sniff.

“…Giggle… You are a demon…” it uttered in a low voice, accompanied by a sizzling demonic sound and a strange laugh.

Chao Jianxue’s heart shrank, and in that moment of hesitation, he was stabbed in the shoulder by a barb on its leg.

He suddenly felt weak and desperately pushed away the spider demon.

The spider demon no longer rushed, leisurely waving its limbs as if sharpening its blades.

“Too bad it’s not pure… giggling, the demon realm, the human realm, neither can tolerate you… obediently wait for death…”

Wait for death… he wouldn’t wait for death! He finally had a chance to live again… he would never wait for death!

Chao Jianxue suddenly became fierce, the Thousand Mile Bright Heart trembled, and a great light erupted, illuminating his face and the spider demon’s.

In the spider demon’s multiple pupils, he saw his own equally strange eyes and the faint pattern on his forehead.

A strange power, yet one originating from his core, suddenly surged from his dantian. He gripped the Thousand Mile Bright Heart, and the sword intent, like a landslide, swept out, instantly cutting off its limbs.

A look of fear appeared on the spider demon’s face, and it quickly climbed onto the wall, retreating backward.

It knew his secret, so Chao Jianxue naturally couldn’t let it go so easily.

Even more, he couldn’t let it out to be seen by Yu Wei and the others.

Chao Jianxue’s spiritual energy revolved rapidly around him, and white light gathered on the Thousand Mile Bright Heart. Under the effect of the Thousand Mile Bright Heart Technique, he felt an inexhaustible amount of spiritual energy.

He now had all the strength and means!

“Mommy, mommy, mommy—” the spider-made “walls” began to cry out.

The spider demon dissolved its transformed form, stumbling around, becoming the image of a demonic woman. She cried out in terror, “Why are you killing me! What did I do wrong! I’m also a demon! I did nothing wrong! I just want power! I want a nest!”

Chao Jianxue grabbed her appendage and dragged her to the ground: “You’re not a demon, you’re a monster.” She was using humans as breeding wombs; a normal demon wouldn’t do such a thing. That’s why the small spiders were bursting out of those people’s stomachs.

The consequence of becoming a monster was either being killed or falling into the bottom of the Fumo Pass to become nourishment for a great demon.

“I need children! I need children! Only then can I become strong—”

Later, Chao Jianxue learned that for spider demons, the number of offspring represented the strength of their power.

And the reason this spider demon had become a monster was probably because her own reproductive ability was inferior to other females in the tribe, giving rise to a demonic heart that made her think of using human bodies as containers for her embryos.

As for why it was men, female spiders naturally couldn’t conceive independently.

Looking at it that way, these dead men had all harbored evil thoughts towards the spider demon’s transformed appearance, and their deaths were deserved.

But she borrowed wombs to give birth, and her demonic nature was deep.

Chao Jianxue raised the Thousand Mile Bright Heart, the tip of the sword flashing a cold light: “Strength is not only obtained through this path.”

Gestation was the seemingly easiest way to gain power, but there were other difficult paths that required reshaping through storms and tempering by flames.

Don’t fall into the trap of the tribe’s expectations.

The sword formation opened wide, and countless silver-white lights fell from the sky, and the giant spider demon began to struggle.

Nan Shan and Qiu Shui came forward to pull Yu Wei back: “There are too many spiders! It’s too dangerous, don’t get yourself killed too!”

Yu Wei was tense all over, his lips tightly pursed, faintly revealing a crimson color between them. He had bitten them until they bled.

He rapidly chanted incantations, and his hair and sleeves fluttered with the turbulent spiritual wind.

“Open!”

The formation’s light flared up, and raging flames swept up the spider horde, and the sword light fell quickly. But as the outer spiders were burned, new spiders filled the shell. The giant spider horde struggled back and forth, trying to escape the formation.

Seeing this situation, Nan Shan and Qiu Shui quickly ran back to their respective positions in the formation, using their spiritual power to reinforce it.

But as time passed, the spider horde showed no sign of dispersing, and Chao Jianxue was likely already in grave danger.

Qiu Shui bit her lip and said, “Should we quickly send a message to the sect leader…”

Nan Shan couldn’t free his hands and shouted to Yu Wei in a rough voice, “Yu Wei! Can you hold on?”

Yu Wei didn’t respond; he stared intently at the spider horde, as if trying to bore a hole through it. He urged the magic incantation even more urgently, and the flames rolled upwards.

Suddenly, a crack of light shone from inside the spider horde.

With the spiritual energy colliding, Yu Wei withdrew his hand to avoid the sword intent. He was pushed back five steps by the strong impact, his back slamming against a tree trunk.

The others were all pushed backwards and looked up in confusion, struggling to see what had happened.

The crack of light vibrated with spiritual energy, and the spider horde disintegrated from the inside, becoming fine sand, swirling and dancing with the flames that soared high.

A figure stood suspended in mid-air, holding a long sword horizontally in front of his chest. The silver-white sect robe was adorned with plum blossoms, the ribbon tying his hair was gone, and his long hair fluttered in the wind.

“Chao…” Nan Shan stared in amazement.

Qiu Shui’s legs went weak, and she cried with joy, “Senior Brother!”

Chao Jianxue withdrew the Thousand Mile Bright Heart, passed through the fragmented flames, and landed on the ground.

The flames swirled around him, the bright light dazzling.

And then…

His limbs went limp, and he knelt weakly on the ground, cold sweat dripping from his forehead.

The others came back to their senses and immediately surrounded him.

“How are you? Can you stand up? Did you fight the spider demon?” Nan Shan asked.

“What exactly happened? How did the spider horde suddenly crack open?” Qiu Shui asked.

“Where is Senior Brother Tan Zhou? Did you see Senior Brother Tan Zhou?” the Tianyao Sect disciple asked.

“Senior Brother, say something!” Qiu Shui said worriedly.

Chao Jianxue heard his vision blurring and waved his hands at them repeatedly.

Go away, air, he needed air, he couldn’t breathe…

A cool hand gripped his, and Chao Jianxue was suddenly pulled out of the circle.

The air was immediately fresher. Yu Wei was still reliable… Opening his eyes, he saw Yu Wei looking at him intently, his face full of concern.

Chao Jianxue was sure that the demonic part of his strength had been exhausted, and his body was now empty of spiritual energy, so there was nothing to worry about.

He leaned weakly against Yu Wei, closed his eyes tightly, and breathed out his last sigh: “I can’t do it anymore!”

When he was exhausted to the extreme, all he could do was sleep, but it seemed like he wouldn’t be able to sleep well. The side effects of the Thousand Mile Bright Heart Technique were strong, he couldn’t even lift the Thousand Mile Bright Heart, and his whole body ached as if someone was holding his meridians and pulling them left and right, wanting to poke hundreds and thousands of holes in them.

The others wanted to come over, but were stopped by Yu Wei: “Senior Brother has fainted.”

Chao Jianxue thought that it was too painful to faint, but he couldn’t move at all, so he would just pretend to be unconscious.

“Senior Brother Tan Zhou!” Over there, the Tianyao Sect disciple shouted in surprise.

Tan Zhou also walked out of the flames, slightly injured.

According to him, after entering the spider horde, he fought with the small spider hordes that were crowding in, and at a critical moment, the spider demon was killed by the sword light.

He bowed to Yu Wei and the seemingly unconscious Chao Jianxue.

“Thank you for your help. The Tianyao Sect doesn’t need the demon core this time, so I’ll give it to this…” he glanced at Chao Jianxue, “…Senior Brother.”

Yu Wei also cupped his hands: “You’re welcome.”

They wanted to take Chao Jianxue back to the sect, but as soon as Chao Jianxue moved, he “ow”ed and jumped up, grabbing Yu Wei and crying out in pain, “Don’t move, don’t move! I can’t stand it!”

Yu Wei calmly reached out, his fingers probing his wrist, and said in surprise, “Several meridians are broken, Senior Brother?”

Chao Jianxue was covered in cold sweat: “Let me heal! Let me heal!”

Nan Shan said, “Let’s go to a nearby clinic to save him!”

Tan Zhou and the others hadn’t left yet, and said at this time, “Why not go to the Tianyao Sect?”

This place was closest to the Tianyao Sect.

But Chao Jianxue’s identity wasn’t suitable for going there.

Yu Wei paused, urged his spiritual power, and the frosty aura once again invaded Chao Jianxue, making him shiver, but the pain in his meridians seemed to be frozen, and the pain was reduced a lot.

Yu Wei said, “We won’t bother your sect.”

He said concisely to Nan Shan and Qiu Shui, “We’re going back to the sect.”

Chao Jianxue was carried on his back and immediately gasped, his whole body felt like it was falling apart, but fortunately it was frozen by Yu Wei’s Cold Soul Art, and he could bear it.

They flew to the Wuwu Sect’s teleportation formation as quickly as possible.

The burning smell of smoke filled the air, and Tan Zhou narrowed his eyes meaningfully as he watched them leave.

“Senior Brother… let’s go back quickly…” the disciple next to him wiped his sweat with fear after experiencing this.

Tan Zhou nodded and said, “Tell Mo Zezhi for me that I’ve seen the person he hates to death. And…”

He didn’t say the rest, just smiled.

–

The bitter taste of medicine filled the entire room.

Nan Shan and Qiu Shui squatted outside, picking herbs, and were often frightened and turned their heads frequently.

The reason was none other than Chao Jianxue’s miserable screams, which were truly, too miserable!

He didn’t know what kind of harsh medicine Elder Lin used, but the soup that was boiled out bubbled with strange bubbles, and then he forcibly pressed Chao Jianxue into the medicinal bath, and then let Yu Wei use magic to fix Chao Jianxue in place.

Chao Jianxue called to heaven and earth without response, soaking until he was unconscious and in unbearable pain.

Elder Lin coldly sprinkled medicine and said, “In addition to repairing the meridians, there is also spider demon poison, how did you get like this! Stop shouting, Yu Wei, seal his mouth!”

Chao Jianxue widened his eyes: “Don’t do this, I can’t even scream!”

“The more you scream, the worse the wounds get!” Elder Lin continued coldly.

Yu Wei took a step forward embarrassedly: “Senior Brother, hold on.” He added another mouth-sealing spell.

Chao Jianxue couldn’t wait to turn into a water ghost and drag him down to feel the power of this medicinal bath.

After tossing and turning all night, he finally repaired all the meridians.

In fact, the Thousand Mile Bright Heart would slowly repair itself, but Chao Jianxue didn’t dare to say it, and if he really waited for himself to get better, he might have to suffer for a few more days, so he silently endured it with tears streaming down his face.

As for that demon core, he really devoured it alone again.

At that time, he drew all the spiritual power in his body, and the demon core was being stored close to his body. The Thousand Mile Bright Heart Technique didn’t know why, but it also drew away the demonic power on it and turned it into his own. In the end, only an empty shell was left.

He showed them the empty shell. Seeing that he was as weak as a gossamer and his face was as white as gold paper, they said one after another, “Forget it, it’s important for you to heal.”

Chao Jianxue nodded with tears in his eyes and buried his head in the quilt.

He had taken a big advantage, and he couldn’t help but laugh secretly in his heart, but because of the pain in his body, he couldn’t laugh, and finally made a sound that seemed like sobbing.

“…”

Nan Shan said, “I’ll go wash some more herbs.”

Qiu Shui: “I’ll go with you!”

After a long time, Yu Wei’s voice came through the quilt: “Senior Brother, don’t take risks in the future.”