Chapter 554 - Spider Empress
Chapter 554: Spider Empress
Xia Fei keenly sensed light tremors coming from under the Eternal Ice Plains.
At present, he was over 600 miles away from the Law of Ternary Spectrum’s boundary. Xia Fei was a speed ability user, and such a distance was no more than a stone’s throw away for him, so he had inadvertently ventured too far out.
Knitting his eyebrows, Xia Fei climbed up the right side of an icy mountain, staying hidden by the mountainside as he curiously looked down at the plains below.
It was as if there’s something trying to burrow out from underneath,” Xia Fei said solemnly.
“Could it be a spider? Oro said that the Ice Spiders stay thousands of meters underground,” Phantom curiously asked.
Xia Fei shook his head. “Unclear. Let’s wait and see.”
The tremors were becoming greater, and several minutes later, even the mountain that Xia Fei was on had started shaking! It was as if an earthquake had erupted from out of nowhere!
*Rumble!*
The huge icy mountain split into two! A fissure from below surfaced!
Xia Fei lost his balance, but it was a good thing that he had not lost his balance because of the severe tremors. He hurriedly changed his liquid war armor’s form and used the four hooks that grew from his limbs to grip the icy surface tightly.
Furball suddenly lifted his head and glared into the distance; his eyes were filled with fighting intent, seemingly having sensed danger.
Xia Fei pressed on Furball’s head. “You don’t have to do anything. From today onward, all you’ll ever do is eat and sleep, becoming a proper glutton so that you can grow up quickly. Just focus on accumulating your energy; who knows when I may rely on your help one day.”
Furball pouted. The holy beast Shatterstar understood humans very well after spending so much time with Xia Fei, so he knew that being called a glutton was no compliment, and Furball was seemingly displeased with that.
*Boom!*
The plains abruptly exploded!
“A sinkhole! It’s a sinkhole!” Phantom exclaimed.
They saw a huge black hole appear across the once icy surface, over ten kilometers in diameter, and so deep that they could hardly make out its bottom!
*Roar!*
A strange cry could be heard coming from within, shocking the ears painfully of anyone within earshot!
Spider!
A gargantuan white spider came crawling out from the sinkhole, and it was letting out a series of frightening roars as if it were in great pain.
“Such a huge spider! Could it be the Spider Empress?!” Phantom’s expression was grim.
Xia Fei did not say a word. What he was concerned with was not the terrifying size of the spider but rather the figure on top of the spider!
Xia Fei had no idea how the Law Emperor, who had been hunting him down, Mu Qiubo, had actually managed to get himself on the head of the spider, half his body seemingly merged into the spider as if he were using some bio-fusion technique!
If Mu Qiubo truly had an ability to control these spiders and to control the Empress amid this swarm of spiders, then every Ice Spider in this place would without a doubt listen to him and become Xia Fei’s enemy!
Xia Fei was originally able to move about rather freely here in the ice plains because there were these Ice Spiders that would attack both Xia Fei and Mu Qiubo indiscriminately. Furthermore, Xia Fei was able to depend on his Crafty Approach to very nimbly shuttle among the Ice Spiders like fish in the water while keeping his distance from Mu Qiubo. The latter would have to first get rid of the spiders harassing him before he could reach Xia Fei, thereby slowing him down tremendously. By the time Mu Qiubo managed to kill his way to Xia Fei, the latter would already have been long gone.
Now that all the Ice Spiders were under Mu Qiubo’s control, that would come up to tens of thousands of evil creatures he would have to face! Xia Fei was severely at a disadvantage here!
That gigantic spider crawled out of the sinkhole, and right behind it was a mass of spotted spiders. They were small in size but moved very quickly, with colorful chitins.
In nature, a colorful palette did not just mean pretty; it also meant dangerous!
Just like the pretty and poisonous tree frogs, anyone who accidentally touched them would find themselves poisoned. They were very lethal!
These colorful spotted spiders were the same, but beyond just being poisonous to the touch, they were also capable of spitting poison!
Weird black and white spiders followed right after. Half black and half white split right down the middle, these spiders were big, with spikes growing out from their backs which made them resemble very much like an oversized hedgehog.
What followed after were just the normal Ice Spiders, and their numbers were the most, juxtaposed with their lowest status among them. The spotted spiders and black and white spiders would abuse these Ice Spiders from time to time, and the latter could only take this without any resistance.
“Heavens! Are… Are there a million spiders out here? Could that guy have sent every single spider alive on this planet?!” Phantom was in shock.
The endless sea of spiders swarming by the foot of the mountain made for a very fearsome sight. Xia Fei had no idea how Mu Qiubo did it, but he knew deep down that he would clearly be at an absolutely disadvantageous position from here on out, and there was no way he could effectively fight back.
Mu Qiubo’s cultivation was originally much higher than his, and now, after having gained command of this spider army, the power he wielded was horrifying!
‘Time to leave!’ Xia Fei thought to himself. As long as he could return to the Law of Ternary Spectrum’s boundary, no matter how powerful Mu Qiubo was or how many spiders were in his command, he would not have any way of targeting Xia Fei. As for what he could do afterward, Xia Fei decided to leave that conversation for later.
Just as Xia Fei was about to turn back to whence he came from, Furball suddenly let out a low growl. For some reason, Furball had already shown a strong dislike to these large white spiders from the beginning, treating them as his enemies, and inadvertently letting out a growl.
Furball was not particularly loud, but due to his penetrative power, even something hundreds of miles away could hear him as clear as day.
The spider swarm was deep in the fryer now. A roar from a holy beast was nothing simple, and though they were not the same species as Furball and did not fear him, they still could not help but get a little nervous. Even Mu Qiubo could hear Furball’s growl, and he turned his sharp eyes over to where Xia Fei was.
With a mirthlessly laugh, Mu Qiubo waved an arm and sent the thousands of spiders moving, surging right for the icy mountain Xia Fei was currently on!
The spiders all over the wild lands became like a huge army!
Without even having the time to scold Furball, Xia Fei began sprinting away. Furball had acted purely out of his bestial instinct, an expression of his strong desire to kill a strong foe and how he naturally intended to battle.
The spotted spiders were the fastest, though they were still far from being able to catch up to Xia Fei. The biggest threat actually came from those black and white spiders!
They were flat on the ground, their backs had sharp spikes which were like spears that could suddenly shoot out into the sky, raining down on the land like a perforating storm.
“Ranged attacks! Those spiders were actually able to attack from such a long range!” Xia Fei was very surprised to learn this. His body abruptly made an emergency turn, running in an oblique direction as he gained speed, all in an attempt to avoid the sharp spear-like spikes.
The gigantic white Ice Spider Empress let loose a bellow, and the surface of the ice around instantly turned sticky like glue, drowning half of Xia Fei’s foot as a result.
“Not good! This monster has a special ability; it’s capable of controlling ice!” Phantom exclaimed.
With the icy surface changed, Xia Fei experienced a massive decrease in his speed. Even if he devoted all his effort to running, he could only achieve 10% of his top speed, dropping down to 3000m/s!
Speed was Xia Fei’s weapon, and it was also the basis by which he kept himself safe. There was no need to mention just how bad it was for him to see such a great drop in his speed.
Turning back to sneak a peek at the spider swarm chasing him, though their speed decreased as well, it was not as significant as Xia Fei’s. This was because they had eight legs, and each of them were slender and sharp. Even if they plunge into sticky liquid, they would still be able to maintain a higher speed.
The situation was hardly optimistic. Xia Fei was not only incapable of escaping from the creatures hunting him down right behind him, he also had to deal with the spikes that could come falling down from the sky at any time!
Soon, the agile spotted spiders caught up to Xia Fei. With lithe bodies and fine hair growing on their legs, they were able to float on the surface of liquid ice and advance at high speeds!
*Thup thup—*
Once near, these spotted spiders spat out gobs of black mist from their mandibles in an attempt to poison Xia Fei to death!
“Chain Blockade!”
These spiders were poisonous, so even though Xia Fei had the protection of the silvery liquid war armor, he had no intention of putting it up against the poison either. As he had no idea just how poisonous they were, keeping his distance proved to be the smartest option.
Five tornadoes whipped up, like a tropical storm that churned up behind Xia Fei!
These black mist not only failed to get anywhere near Xia Fei, they had actually gotten blown back!
These spotted spiders were unable to withstand the powerful spatial tears, and their bodies all got shredded into pieces by them!
A huge amount of poison got released, so much so that the poisonous mist turned the sky murky gray! The surface of the ice turned strange, like plenty of ash had fallen upon snow.
Xia Fei’s Chain Blockade technique was akin to tornadoes, carrying the poisonous remnants from the spotted spiders as they continued onward. The black and white spiders behind, which were attacking from range, did not have the resistance to poison like the spotted spiders, so they immediately began melting upon contamination, as if they had been assaulted with highly corrosive acid!
“So it’s a corrosive poison!” Xia Fei’s heart shuddered when he realized, secretly making the decision not to let any of these scary spotted spiders near him.
Through his ingenious counterattack, Xia Fei left the spider swarm behind him by several dozen miles, and he could already make out the boundary of the Law of Ternary Spectrum ahead.
As long as he was able to get within the zone, these spiders would all be rendered useless no matter their numbers.
“Crap! We’ve been surrounded!” Phantom yelled.
Xia Fei saw a sea of spiders swarming around the restriction boundary. It turned out that the spider army had divided themselves, with one harrying Xia Fei while the other had already circled around to block out Xia Fei’s intended escape route.
Without an advantage in speed, it would not be easy for him to carve out a path through the spiders!
The white Spider Empress had been left far behind. It most likely did not have much strength left to give chase because it had used its ability to affect the icy plains. Additionally, Mu Qiubo did not use any movement techniques to close in their distance because his body had been fused with the Spider Empress. Therefore, it was not easy for him to move with it.
The most powerful Spider Empress was with Mu Qiubo, and that was the advantage Xia Fei had, while the clear disadvantage was the million low-ranking spiders before him!
Gritting his teeth, Xia Fei circled to the northwest direction to get away from the swarming spiders in front of him, hoping to find a weak spot that he could attempt to blitz through.
Two fists would have a hard time taking on four foes; Xia Fei was not afraid of these Ice Spiders, but there was no way that he could deal with a million-strong spider army all at the same time! Retreat was the only option!
There were simply too many Ice Spiders, though, so the surrounding boundary was thronging with them. Xia Fei tried to penetrate into their ranks but failed. Instead, he ended up breathing in two lungs full of poisoned air! The cunning spotted spiders had used their poisonous mist around the boundary, making it so that Xia Fei had great trouble even if he tried to force his way in.
His lungs sustained light spasms of pain. His armor’s air purification system filtered out most of the poison particles, so Xia Fei hardly breathed in any poison. This bit was not too much a problem, but Xia Fei would be unable to withstand it if it was in larger doses. His rapidly pumping heart would promote faster circulation of blood in his body, and that allowed the poison to quickly get absorbed all over his body; Xia Fei had studied some medicine, so he understood the logic behind this.
Arching his eyebrow, Xia Fei firmly decided to abandon trying to get back behind the boundary and ran straight out toward the west!
No matter how powerful an ability was, it should not be able to affect the entire planet. As long as Xia Fei could get out of the Spider Empress’s range of control, he could find another opportunity to do battle!
Inside the restriction boundary, the Lionheart Emperor Oro sighed as he muttered to himself, “West? You might as well risk your life at breaking through the boundary; at least you’ll still have a shred of hope surviving.”