Techniques and Dao

Chapter 43 Long-haired Wolf Spider
"Bingou! Look!" Taishang Xiaojun pointed at the giant wolf spider and danced with joy. "Look! Look! I told you it was a spider!"

"What's so great about having such a bad reputation!"

Hua Sheng scrambled and rolled to dodge, but when he reached the edge, he was unable to escape the magic array, just like Tai Shang Xiao Jun, and ran out from the center of the array.

"There's no way to escape, it's truly tragic!"

The newly born long-haired wolf spider saw the three uninvited guests. It spread its eight huge, hairy legs and crawled towards the nearest one, Tai Shang Xiao Jun.

"It really does have eight legs, it's really fast!" Tai Shang Xiao Jun said, then did a somersault and jumped behind the hairy wolf spider.

The long-haired tarantula glanced at Wei Yu outside the formation, then at Hanamoto right in front of it, and decisively pounced on Hanamoto!
"I knew I'd be the unluckiest one!"

Hua Sheng continued to dodge forward, but the more he ran, the more violently the strings on the ground vibrated, and the accompanying sound echoed throughout the walls.

Tai Shang Xiao Jun called out from behind, "Hua Sheng, the more you run, the more obvious you become!"

"I'm so nervous my jaw is about to drop. If I don't run, am I just going to wait to die? I've already died once, do I have to die twice?" Hua Sheng shouted.

“Last time you died without knowing why, this time at least you’ll die knowing why!” Wei Yu teased him.

"I said, you two just stood by and watched me run for my life, are you even human?" Hua Sheng shouted as he fled.

Wei Yu and Tai Shang Xiao Jun exchanged glances, then answered in unison, "No!"

That was a perfectly reasonable and truthful answer. But at that moment, Hua Sheng didn't find it funny at all. He felt like an amateur spectator walking a tightrope high in the air, on the verge of falling and shattering to pieces at any moment.

"Alright! I was just worried you'd get stiff from sitting on the crane for so long, so let's warm up with some exercise!" With that, Wei Yu jumped into the formation, her slender figure wedged between Hua Sheng and the giant tarantula, and raised her hand, saying, "Tarantula, tarantula, calm down!"

The giant wolf spider seemed unfazed and lunged at Wei Yu, only to be met with a muffled thud as if it had crashed into an invisible glass wall. It turned out that Wei Yu had already cast a spell to erect an invisible wall between herself and the giant wolf spider.

The tarantula tentatively moved forward a few times and climbed a few steps up, but couldn't find a way to get over the transparent wall.

Just as Hua Sheng was about to breathe a sigh of relief, he saw the wolf spider open its sharp jaws and bite down hard on the invisible wall. With a snapping sound, Hua Sheng clearly saw the wolf spider's mouth get even closer. The invisible wall that had been so difficult to penetrate before was now pierced through by the wolf spider's sharp jaws!
The tarantula then began to gnaw and tear pieces of the wall apart, before climbing out through the gaps it had created!

Wei Yu frowned slightly and swiftly unleashed an ice spell, a blizzard blasting from her hand. A thick layer of ice instantly covered the giant wolf spider's exoskeleton, but this did little to halt its advance. Even as the power of Wei Yu's blizzard intensified, the giant wolf spider remained unmoved, its advance towards the two showing little sign of slowing.

Seeing the aggressive approach of the other party, Hua Sheng said to Wei Yu, "This giant spider is really tough; it seems ordinary spells won't hurt it. Do you know any Lingxiao-level ice spells? If so, try some stronger incantations!"

“It’s already at the Lingxiao level!” Wei Yu stared at the monster in front of her with a serious expression.

This was the first time Hua Sheng had seen Wei Yu with such a serious expression, and he thought to himself that they were really in big trouble this time! Wei Yu herself was not trapped by the magic array, but Hua Sheng and Tai Shang Xiao Jun were trapped in the array with nowhere to escape.

At that moment, Wei Yu flipped her hands, and the ice and snow transformed into ice blades, which she began to stab at the wolf spider. Before Hua Sheng could even cheer, the ice blades slid off the spider's thick exoskeleton, leaving not a single mark where they had pierced its flesh.

"What happened? I clearly saw the ice blade pierce in!" Hua Sheng rubbed his eyes.

"That's right. It really went in."

"Then why wasn't it damaged at all? How could it heal so quickly?"

“It’s not healing,” Wei Yu said. “It’s going back to a second ago.”

"A second ago? It can travel through time?"

"This String Cave is very strange; it contains countless time vortexes. Every time it inflicts damage on the Great Wolf Spider, it reverts to its unharmed state from a second ago. Therefore, no offensive spells can harm it!"

"Then Wei Yu, you go first! Leave this to me and Tai Shang Xiao Jun!" Hua Sheng began chanting all the offensive spells he could think of, preparing to fight the giant wolf spider to the death.

"What nonsense are you talking about! How can I leave while you're still here?" Wei Yu's tone left no room for compromise.

"It's too dangerous! We can't let you lose your life here!"

"Shut up!"

“Wei Yu! I am just a mortal. Even if I had eaten an elixir of immortality, my lifespan would not have increased much! But you are different. You are a spirit, and you can live for hundreds or even thousands of years. If I die today, I will at most live a few decades less. But if you die, you may live a thousand years less.” Hua Sheng shouted, “Don’t stay here, leave quickly!”

Wei Yu turned her head, her eyes slightly red, and said, "You idiot! What time is it, and you're still arguing about these trivial things!"

Suddenly, Tai Shang Xiao Jun's voice came from behind the tarantula: "Hey! Hua Sheng, you're playing the hero again! Don't act like an old man, shouting for women and children to go first on a sunken ship."

A figure leaped into the air from behind the tarantula; it was Taishang Xiaojun. A golden light flashed in his hand as he grabbed the earring from his left ear. The earring instantly transformed into the two longswords, Gan Jiang and Mo Xie.

In mid-air, Tai Shang Xiao Jun grasped the two gleaming longswords, gracefully vaulted high over the back of the tarantula, and landed nimbly in front of Hua Sheng and Wei Yu. He twirled the longswords in his hands and said, "The performance time has arrived! The correct lines are: Neither of you should leave. Stay here as spectators and watch me deal with this monster!"

"Let me show you what the Soaring Tai Chi Sword Control Technique is! This is the real hardcore immortal incantation!" Tai Shang Xiao Jun released his hands, and the two swords flew out of his grasp and into the air, then shot towards the giant wolf spider at the same time. With a series of clanging sounds, sparks flew from the hard shell on the wolf spider's head, and its huge body was forced to retreat repeatedly by the two flying swords.

This god-like Supreme Lord gave Hua Sheng hope of escaping the Panxian Cave!
As the two divine swords, Gan Jiang and Mo Xie, relentlessly attacked the wolf spider, employing a myriad of varied offensive tactics. When he was close enough to grasp the two swords, he would sometimes wield Gan Jiang in mid-air, combining it with the flying Mo Xie sword to execute sword techniques; at other times, he would switch to wielding Mo Xie, combining it with the flying Gan Jiang sword to perform a dual-sword technique. Furthermore, the divine swords could also transform into flying swords, allowing Taishang Xiaojun to use them as a foothold for flight.

The two divine swords, wielded by his Lingxiao Taiji Sword Technique, bloomed like lotus flowers, instantly radiating a chilling light throughout the cave. This relentless, layered attack forced the giant wolf spider back dozens of steps.

Following a barrage of attacks, Tai Shang Xiao Jun gripped the Gan Jiang sword tightly in his right hand and controlled the Mo Xie sword in mid-air with his left. The Mo Xie sword, as if guided by its own eyes, danced and gathered power in the air before slamming into one of the wolf spider's long legs with a sharp crack. The instant a fissure appeared in the leg, Tai Shang Xiao Jun descended from the sky, Gan Jiang sword in hand. With a snap, one of the wolf spider's long legs was severed at the root.

Before Hua Sheng could even cheer, just as Wei Yu had predicted, the severed leg of the giant wolf spider that had fallen to the ground disintegrated into individual points of light, which then vanished. Meanwhile, many points of light gathered at the wounds on the giant wolf spider's body, and finally, the long leg was restored to its original state.

This means that no matter how you slash it, the giant tarantula's wounds will return to their previous state, making it difficult to cause any further damage.

"It's so awkward to never get hurt!" Tai Shang Xiao Jun muttered after landing.

Wei Yu said, "It seems extremely difficult to defeat this guy! Can you think of any other way to subdue him?"

"I've got it. The only way is to fight fire with fire." Tai Shang Xiao Jun had a sudden inspiration. He summoned his twin swords and pointed them at the ground. The two swords fell from the sky and stuck straight into the ground. He ran to the swords, gripped the hilts, and forcefully pried them to the side, causing the energy strings that were originally scattered on the ground to be pried up.

Hua Sheng, who was standing to the side, immediately understood the intention. He ran to the sword in three quick steps, grabbed the energy string on the ground that was emitting a fluorescent green light, and shouted: "Rise!"

The energy string was pulled out of the ground as if it were being unraveled. Wei Yu had also arrived, and the three of them worked together to pull out one. Then they pulled out a second and a third.

Hua Sheng, Tai Shang Xiao Jun, and Wei Yu each held an energy string in their hands, then lashed out at the giant wolf spider like whips, each grabbing one of the spider's legs. Although the wolf spider's three legs were bound, it still had five long, sharp legs, which quickly severed the energy strings wrapped around its legs.

Taishang Xiaojun summoned Gan Jiang and Mo Xie to try again. This time, they first bound the giant wolf spider's two legs and used their swords to firmly pin the energy strings wrapped around its legs to the ground. Then, the three of them pulled on the energy strings in their hands, this time binding a total of five legs. Although they bound more legs than before, as long as one leg was not bound, the giant wolf spider would use that leg to quickly cut off the energy strings wrapped around the other legs and break free.

"We have limited manpower. Even with the twin swords, we can only hold off five legs at most. We're short-handed!" Tai Shang Xiao Jun said angrily.

Seeing that the two swords Gan Jiang and Mo Xie could temporarily hold off the giant wolf spider, Hua Sheng suddenly seemed to remember something and said, "I have a plan, but I don't know if it will work."

"We'll know once we try!" The Supreme Lord was at a loss for what to do.

"These two sides are time wormholes. Entering either side will take you back about half a minute to the present. If we sprint towards a time wormhole at an even faster speed than before, since part of the journey will be outside the wormhole, could we stop our past selves?"

Tai Shang Xiao Jun opened his mouth wide: "That makes sense! I'll come and try it!"

"I'm afraid it might not go so smoothly," Wei Yu offered a different opinion.

"How do you know?" asked the Supreme Lord Xiaojun.

Wei Yu said, "Taishang Xiaojun is a deity. Both deities and Buddhas transcend the Three Realms and are not bound by the Five Elements. In the past, present, and future, deities and Buddhas are unique beings. It is impossible for a deity to travel to the past and become two deities."

"We'll have to try to find out!" Before Tai Shang Xiao Jun could finish speaking, he added breathlessly, "As expected, it won't work."

Hua Sheng knew from his words that he had indeed tried it. The reason he hadn't seen him run was because he had traveled back to the time before the attempt.

“Each time I travel through time, I can catch up to my past self about half a minute ago. But the next time I do, my past self suddenly disappears, and there’s no way to stop me,” Tai Shang Xiao Jun described.

Wei Yu said, "Things that can be grasped across time must be made of matter. Only beings like the Spirit Race and mortals, who are made of matter, can do this."

Wei Yu had already tried, but for some reason was blocked by the time wormhole and could not cross it.

Therefore, among the three, only Hanamori is theoretically capable of doing this.

Hua Sheng didn't hesitate for a moment. He immediately began to rub his hands together, saying, "Supreme Lord, I'll trouble you to lead me through the time wormhole. Your magic power is stronger than mine, so when we see my past self, we'll use a freezing spell to immobilize me in place. Then we'll speed up and freeze ourselves again. We'll keep going faster and faster until we have enough people. After that, we'll release the magic and swarm forward, using energy strings to firmly bind this giant wolf spider!"

Taishang Xiaojun glanced at the giant wolf spider. Knowing that Gan Jiang and Mo Xie couldn't hold it off for long, he made up his mind and said, "Alright! Let's go!"

"give it to you!"

"One, two, three! Charge!" the two shouted in unison, and then began to rush towards the Bodhi tree.

Tai Shang Xiao Jun grabbed Hua Sheng by the collar, and the two moved quickly together, accelerating each time they passed through a bright spot. Each time they passed, Tai Shang Xiao Jun would shout, "Freeze!"

At first, Hua Sheng could distinguish when he was in reality and when he was in the wormhole. But after a few traversals, the flashing lights gradually increased to a dizzying pace. He could only close his eyes, cover his head, and rush forward blindly. As the speed increased, Hua Sheng could feel himself being lifted up by Tai Shang Xiao Jun, leaving the ground and suspending in the air.

He had no time to care about anything else, because, just like before, as he passed through the time wormhole, Hanamori's head began to ache and he started hallucinating. Scenes flashed through his mind like slideshows.

He couldn't even distinguish between hallucinations and reality. Accompanied by a severe headache, he kept seeing inexplicable images. First, he saw Wei Yu with her back to the starry night sky, tears streaming down her face as she touched her cheek; then the scene shifted to another, where Wei Yu was no longer wearing her Taoist robes, but a pure white wedding dress, holding a birthday cake; next, he saw Tai Shang Xiao Jun picking up a dry twig in front of him, only to have her hand burned by the twig; then, he saw a girl with ocean-blue eyes and a young monk in a red robe. These incomprehensible images began to intertwine, blurring into a dynamite-like color, until they dissolved into a white light, leaving only the intense headache.

"I can't take it anymore, stop! My head is going to split open!" Hua Sheng suddenly fell to the ground. The headache, as if he had been cleaved open by a sharp axe, caused him to lose his sight instantly, and he could not see anything in front of him.

"Are you alright?" Hua Sheng heard Wei Yu ask him, but everything was pitch black. It wasn't until several seconds after he went blind that the outline of Wei Yu's face gradually appeared in Hua Sheng's eyes.

"My head hurts so much. Did we succeed? Did we have enough people?" Hua Sheng asked, rubbing his head.

"We did it!"

Hua Sheng vaguely saw Wei Yu's concerned eyes; she was pointing behind her with her slender finger.

"Hana-sei, we now have seventy-two of you!"

(End of this chapter)