Chapter 340: Interlude

Chapter 340: Interlude

Having had his fill of attacking Hui, Chen Wuya settled down on the spiderweb beside him. The taut webbing thrummed with his weight, and he bounced a few times, black wings fluttering as he adjusted his grip.

Senior thats attached to my core. It actually hurts quite a bit, Hui protested weakly.

Oh, Chen Wuya said, his voice flat.

Hui sighed, resigned to his fate. I shouldnt have brought up Senior at all. Whod know Id invite calamity simply by mentioning his name? Is this the so-called speak of Cao Cao, and Cao Cao shall appear?

Do you want me to tear you open again? Chen Wuya asked, tipping his head to regard Hui with a black, beady eye.

No, Senior! Please forgive me, Hui replied.

A fading sensation fell over Hui, along with an onslaught of memories. He frowned, furrowing his brows, and finally took a deep breath. He failed. Wildman is dead.

Strung up in the spiders web, Hui had hung, limp and motionless, until Chen Wuyas arrival. Although he had been in the web for some time, the spider neglected to attempt to eat him and entirely left him alone after the first few days. Probably because I smell like a plant. It knows Im not good to eat.

Though it should still be able to absorb my spiritual energy. This spider-beast is well, almost completely a beast. Nothing like Zhubi. Does it completely lack intelligence, even to the point that it doesnt recognize me as a spiritual being it can absorb?

Mmm. Not all beasts are like your Zhubi. In fact, the spiritual beasts who arent raised by cultivators often fail to gain intelligence or become more than mere beasts. Taking on a human form is the mark of a well-raised beast, or an extremely lucky or heaven-defying wild beast whos reached extraordinarily high cultivation. Chen Wuya paused and looked at the spider in the distance, disdain flickering in his black eyes. Especially for a beast like this one. Bloating itself on the demonic qi of its masters rotting body theres almost no hope for it to gain intelligence or a human form.

Thank you for your guidance, Senior, Hui replied.

How little did your master teach you? This kind of thing is common knowledge, Chen Wuya retorted, casting a side-eyed glance at Hui.Updated from novelb(i)n.c(o)m

Hui coughed awkwardly.

Chen Wuya shook his head and continued. Its different for demons, of course. But theyre a special case.

What are demons, then? I thought they were well, a kind of subtype of spiritual beast, Hui confessed. It varies from novel to novel, but sometimes, the words are used interchangeably, for evil beasts, and sometimes, theyre entirely different species. Given Bao Huli being the first demon I saw, and one already at fifth stage, I simply thought she was a subtype of beast.

Since your masters teaching was so deficient, allow this Grandmaster to explain. You arent incorrect. Demons are a subtype of demonic beast or spiritual beast, a subtype that has excellent prospects for cultivation and a high chance of awakening a human form. Theyre born from high-realm spiritual or demonic beasts bloodlines in a word, theyre similar to blue-blood cultivators who are born into sects with great prospects or a cultivation level from birth, Chen Wuya explained. Fox demons are an example, born from an ancient ninth-realm fox demonic beast who had a great many children, to the point that the majority of fox demonic beasts nowadays are in fact fox demons, and even mortals know of fox demons and tell tales of their trickery.

Then is Zhubi a demon? Hui asked.

Cutting off his own immortality? Hui murmured, horrified. What a price to pay! Im not sure I could put my immortality on the line for anything.

It only shows how desperate he is to raise this person, Chen Wuya continued.

Hui awkwardly raised his hand to his chin, thinking it over. I didnt sense him putting any blood qi into the array. Could it be it hadnt passed the critical point at which he had to step in himself, yet? Then that means Han Qin is still fully charged, ready to attempt to summon whoever back again. The only thing holding him back is finding a vessel, and Im completely unclear on what that means. He threatened to put it in me, so clearly I qualify, but what counts as a qualifying vessel?

If it is a person, Chen Wuya muttered.

Eh? What does Senior mean? Hui asked.

Chen Wuya laughed and took to the air. Ragged wings beat the sky, and he vanished, rapidly dwindling to a black dot.

Hey! Come back! Hui thought. He sighed. Right when we were getting to the good part Wait, hold up! I never asked him for clues on how to adapt the soul array to transfer the sects souls back into their bodies!

Frustrated with himself, Hui shook his head. He looked at the smaller soul array, then took a deep breath. First couldnt make a breakthrough with this array. He couldnt sufficiently comprehend it. But he didnt dare to plant it inside himself. Naturally. He carries the sects souls in our ghost bannerahem, soul flag, and hes studying the original array. He cant afford to make mistakes.

On the other hand, arent I in a unique situation here? Han Qin cant lock this area down. He can only visit in his clone form. His powers are severely limited, for whatever reason.

If I want to study the array closer, why dont I implant it in myself? As long as this clone remains here, he cant use the array to summon back whoever, and I can always remove the array before I leave.

Hui hesitated another moment, then grit his teeth. Theres no gain without loss! Argh, Ive already lost two clones, but but if this is the key to unlock the sects survival, I cant overlook it! He extracted the array from the bottle, and in the space of a breath, branded it onto himself.

Immense pain lashed over his body, surging from the array inside him. Hui held his breath and curled his hands into fists. Ow, ow, owcome on, focus. Study it!

As the array bonded to him, he closely watched the process. The array first synced with his soul, the two pulsing in kind, then circulated around. The outer marks twisted back and forth, almost like a combination lock, then snapped into place. The array settled in, feeding off his soul to maintain itself, and slowly faded away.

Sync and that lock sequence. If I can do that with all the souls inside the ghost banner, then isnt that half the problem, solved? Once theyre all locked onto, Ill be able to handle them all at once. Then its just a matter of matching them back to their bodies and reviving them.

Hmm, let me study this and the rot qi a bit longer. He cast a longing look at the spider beast in the distance, and a thought came to him.

For practice, what if I set an identical array on the spider beasts soul? It wouldnt be a true beast contract, nor would it allow me to control it at will, but if I pulled it off, it could serve as a basis for extracting my sects souls and for gaining control of the spider beast!

Excited, Huis eyes sparkled. He delved into his soul again, carefully studying the array. This time, he began casting his own versions next to the existing soul array, adjusting the two as he did so. Once I can perfectly cast this array spider beast, watch out!