Recruit black physique to start practice in wasteland

Chapter 2506, Chapter 2604 Spider - Chapter 05 Hard Bones (Two-in-one, please give double monthly votes)
Chapter 2604 Spider (Second Update)
In the world of cultivation, bullying the weak or the many bullying the few is against public order and good morals.

However, since the Lingyun Sect disciples made a prior statement, it's a different story; at least it's not considered killing someone without prior instruction.

The key is that in several worlds, there are a lot of True Venerables with great virtue, and True Venerable Qu's group of five can definitely act together without any problems.

These five could easily invite some more True Venerable Daoist friends.

Upon hearing this, the cultivators from other realms could only say that they wanted to prevent war between the three mortal kingdoms and avoid widespread bloodshed...

In any case, they eventually gave up on making things difficult for the empire, and the matter is now closed.

However, the Empire was not satisfied. They dared not cause trouble for the cultivators, but they were unwilling to let go of the Federation and the Alliance that were secretly pushing things along.

They had been thinking of finding a pretext to unify the three kingdoms, and now the opportunity had come.

However, to perform this operation, you must first contact Digital Phantom.

The cultivators have already said that they cannot bear to see the Three Kingdoms go to war, and the empire needs to find a powerful backer to support it.

It is particularly noteworthy that with the emergence of cultivators and the complete defeat of the alien races, the Federation and the Alliance have halted their downward trend.

Currently, the condition of these two Guojia companies has begun to slowly recover from the bottom.

However, destruction is easy but reconstruction is difficult, and it will take at least one or two generations to fully recover.

But there is no doubt that the situation in the Alliance and the Federation is improving day by day.

If we don't seize this opportunity, it will be much more difficult to unify the Three Kingdoms once the enemy has recovered.

Therefore, the empire tirelessly sought out cultivators to deliver messages, even sending the Xiao family's only supreme being to try and contact the Digital Phantom.

The news eventually reached Qu Jianlei, leaving him somewhat amused and exasperated: Here we go again... It's like pressing down one gourd only to have another float up.

He ignored the Empire's request until five years later, when new news arrived: cultivators from beyond the realm had traveled to the Maiden Starfield!

Previously, Qu Jianlei had kept the news about the Girls' Star Domain a secret, and only the five-person group knew about it.

Han Li once wanted to go, but Qu Jianlei said he couldn't leave, because there were people in both the Tree Clan World and Houde who wanted to advance their ranks!
Just running back and forth between the two places was enough to give him a headache.

Even though it's still early for Duogan and Jing Yuexin to advance to the next level, Qinglong's advancement is not far off.

Most importantly, the Girls' Starfield is truly dangerous.

If the Five True Venerables go as a team, their self-preservation should be fine... but if they get trapped, that would be troublesome.

They don't need to be trapped for too long, twenty or thirty years isn't too long, right? But Qinglong might be delayed.

Seeing that he was serious, Han Li didn't bring it up again. Unexpectedly, this news was recently unearthed by cultivators from outside the region.

Previously, the cultivator with profound virtue had a clear objective and almost never contacted the people of the Empire.

The imperial government also intentionally concealed this news and would not mention it proactively—it was a relic created by cultivators.

The empire only wants to use cultivators, not to bring back an emperor emeritus. Everyone knows the saying that it's easy to invite a god but hard to send him away.
However, these cultivators from other regions... are really hard to describe.

Regardless of the circumstances, they entered the game too late, didn't acquire enough resources, and had already had ample contact with the mundane world.

They learned about the Girl Starfield, especially that the Digital Phantom had been inside. How could they possibly resist?

When Qu Jianlei heard this news, he was speechless: "Will they die if they don't make trouble?"

This was the first time Qingkong Zhenzun had heard this news, and he couldn't help but ask, "There's such a place? Why didn't you tell me sooner?"

"That's where I discovered the Nightmare Demon," Qu Jianlei replied casually, "as well as Yi He and the meteorite with the Nascent Soul Sword Intent..."

These are things that everyone knows, and he's not afraid to say them.

Even with Qingkong's composure, he couldn't help but twitch his lips upon hearing this. "You mean, a Great Venerable has perished?"

“I’m not sure about that,” Qu Jianlei replied casually, “but there’s a high probability.”

Just then, Han Li, who had nothing to do, strolled over and said, "If the Great Protector is interested, he can calculate the risks."

Qingkong didn't rush to perform divination, but instead glanced at him and asked, "You know that too?"

“I suggested it last time, and you heard it,” Han Li replied casually, “but I’m worried about being trapped… I can’t leave!”

The Great Protector's eyes darted around. "You're worried about being trapped, so you won't object if I go instead, right?"

"Whatever," Han Li replied nonchalantly, "but I advise you to find a few more True Venerables to accompany you."

He's not usually that generous, but now that cultivators from other realms know about it, how can he possibly stop people from his own realm?

However, Qu Jianlei couldn't leave, and neither could Qingkong—observing the Azure Dragon's ascent was a task assigned by the Lingyun Sect!

The Grand Protector finally did some divination, then his eyelids twitched. "This divination... is very strange."

Han Li already knew how dangerous it was there, and upon hearing this, she said with schadenfreude, "Then it wouldn't be bad for you to send a clone to scout ahead."

Qingkong Zhenzun shook his head without hesitation, "I'm not like you, I can't afford to cause trouble!"

After a pause, he added, "In that case, let them do what they want. They're just some Nascent Soul cultivators anyway."

If even two or three True Venerables cannot withstand the danger, what kind of tricks can a group of Nascent Soul and Golden Core cultivators play?
Moreover, the Asura world and the Tree Clan world still have considerable resources.

Even if the profits aren't as high, the returns are still quite good, so why take such a big risk?

Of course, despite saying that, the Great Protector still harbored some resentment in his heart.

He came to this other world to seek opportunities, and he would never have thought he would encounter such a sect mission.

In the blink of an eye, another three months have passed.

On this day, Qu Jianlei, as usual, performed a divination to predict Qinglong's advancement. Upon seeing the result, he was immediately stunned, "What the hell?"

The probability of Azure Dragon advancing to the next level suddenly dropped by more than half, and ominous signs appeared.

He was calculating the probability of the impact causing the body to leave its body. Even if it was only one percent, there couldn't be any ominous signs, right?

The real Qing Ning was also there; he was already used to Qu Zhenzun's divination—as long as he was on guard, that was enough.

When he saw the other person react like this, his heart clenched. "What's wrong?"

Upon hearing the other party's explanation, he frowned, raised his hand to calculate, and asked suspiciously, "Why can't I calculate it?"

"Don't you know your own level of divination skills?" Qu Jianlei looked at him helplessly. "I don't know either."

"Perhaps a doctor cannot heal himself," Qingning offered herself a reason—Qing'er's relationship with him was truly extraordinary.

Then he looked at Qingkong, "Then... I'll have to trouble the Great Protector?"

At this moment, he has a cooperative relationship with Lingyun Sect. The other party provides protection for free, and he allows the other party to sense Qing'er's condition outside.

Therefore, when he asks for a favor, there is no issue of being presumptuous, nor will he incur any favors—everyone shares the same interests.

The True Venerable Qingkong possessed extremely strong divination abilities. He raised his hand to perform a quick calculation and was also taken aback. "This...it's alright...True Venerable Qu, you?"

Qu Jianlei glanced at him and thought to himself, "You're only good at predicting cause and effect. Let's wait for Han Li to come."

"That's strange," the Great Protector said, unwilling to give up. He took out the chessboard and pieces and calculated again. "Where is there any ominous sign?"

Qu Jianlei had a sudden thought and secretly calculated Han Li's appearance. Before long, Han Li appeared with Song Yue'er.

After hearing the divination results, he also took out his counting rods and started calculating.

Qingkong looked at his counting rods suspiciously, "This is... a change of equipment?"

Han Li ignored him, and after finishing the calculation, she frowned slightly. "As expected, there is an ominous sign, and it comes from outside!"

"What are you two doing?" Qingkong looked at him, then at Qu Jianlei. "Why do they feel... the materials are a bit similar?"

Fortunately, after the two made the divination tools, they both chose to seal their auras; otherwise, the Great Protector would have been able to sense them.

Qu Jianlei thought for a moment and replied, "A threat from the outside, then there is a cause and effect."

"Should we calculate the cause and effect?" Qingkong was quite good at this. "Let me rest for a few days before we calculate it."

He was somewhat unwilling to accept that his divination abilities had been suppressed by the two younger generation, so he decided to wait until his energy and spirit were restored before calculating again with all his might.

Five days later, the Great Protector actually calculated the result. "Holy crap, how... how could it be the Zerg?"

The location of this nebula was originally within the territory of the Tree Clan.

Currently, both the Treants and the Zerg are experiencing a significant reduction in their spheres of influence.

So Qingkong Zhenzun was very puzzled. Even if the Zerg still had the ability to attack, they couldn't have run this far, right?
"The Zerg?" Han Li raised an eyebrow upon hearing this. "With so many of us protecting the Dharma, how could it still cause an ominous sign... That's interesting."

Qu Jianlei then asked, "How long will it take for this karma to manifest?"

“I can’t see it clearly,” Qingkong Zhenzun shook his head, “but it should be fine in the short term… How could you two have calculated this?”

They changed their equipment, Qu Jianlei and Han Li both knew it perfectly well, but neither of them said it.

Previously, the two were inferior to the Great Protector in terms of divination of cause and effect, but after switching to instruments imbued with the aura of creation, things became truly different.

"Let's do some more divination in a couple of days," Qu Jianlei replied, seemingly changing the subject. "I'll do another divination to see what their path will be."

The Zerg's methods of attack are not limited to one kind; what he fears most is the kind of divine descent that leads to godhood through incense offerings.

A divine descent is even harder to defend against than a projection; it might even descend silently upon the secluded Azure Dragon without alerting them.

Qing Ning understood this as well, and upon hearing this, she nodded to Qu Jianlei, "Thank you all!"

The three True Venerables, who were skilled in divination, joined forces for the first time ever, taking turns to perform divination.

To avoid alerting the other party, the three were very careful to control the intensity, gradually increasing the force little by little.

Finally, a month and a half later, the three True Venerables pinpointed the source of the ominous sign—it was a spider!
This spider is quite well-known among cultivators in the Houde Realm; it is recognized as a half-step Nascent Soul cultivator!
Nascent Soul cultivators can't defeat this guy, and even two or three True Venerables wouldn't fare well.

The key issue is that the planet this guy occupies has relatively limited resources, so it's not worth the effort to fight it right now.

Therefore, the cultivators only cleared away its outer perimeter and did not go to the home planet to deal with it for the time being.

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Chapter 2605 A Tough Thing (Third Update, Seeking Double Monthly Tickets)
In the world of the Tree Clan, there are quite a few half-step Nascent Soul cultivators like this spider; they are all tough nuts to crack.

Previously, the virtuous cultivators did not pay attention, but when they attacked the half-step Nascent Soul cultivator, they paid a considerable price.

However, after some consideration, everyone realized that it wasn't worthwhile, so they temporarily put aside the few half-step spirit-splitting creatures.

It's not too late to tackle these tough challenges once we've gathered most of the resources.

Especially after the appearance of cultivators from outside the realm, because their True Venerables cannot act at will, they basically will not touch even a half-step Divine Realm cultivator.

The virtuous cultivator would naturally pick on the weakest target first; otherwise, wouldn't that be foolish?

Fortunately, Qu Jianlei and the other two were careful enough to improve their divination abilities little by little; otherwise, the backlash alone would have been enough to cause them a lot of trouble.

After figuring out the source, the three spent another half month calculating when the other party would make their move, which should be three months later.

The final date was set by Qu Jianlei, who even hid in his cave for it.

Han Li and Qing Kong were not surprised, because they both knew that Qu Zhenzun's cave contained treasures capable of resisting a split-level spirit.

As for what the treasure actually is, they were both eager to know, but there was no need to insist.

It is somewhat regrettable that Qu Jianlei did not calculate the methods used by the opponent when they attacked.

However, this really can't be forced. For a mere True Venerable to predict the actions of a Half-Step Nascent Soul cultivator several months later is already enough.

The key point is that he did all this while trying not to alert the other party.

Han Li believes that not being able to figure out the specific methods is not a big deal. "Why not just go and attack them directly?"

Qu Jianlei supported his idea, but said, "Even though we're so far away, we can still influence this place. Let's ask a couple more friends for help."

“All expenses are on me,” said Qingning Zhenzun in a very proper manner, “including the two of you… the three of you.”

"Do I lack what you have?" Qingkong scoffed dismissively.

Who doesn't know that Qing Ning has almost gone bankrupt in order to help her Daoist partner advance to the next level?
The Grand Protector was genuinely concerned about, "That guy dared to make such a move, he must have some treasure... How do we calculate that?"

"It's based on your contribution," Han Li replied naturally. "If you can defeat it single-handedly, the treasure is yours!"

“This…” Qingkong glanced sideways at Qu Jianlei, “Wouldn’t that be inappropriate?”

“I have no objection,” Qu Jianlei said decisively. “Then you’ll go alone?”

What a joke! Even if there are treasures, there's a high chance they're part of the incense-burning deity system, so taking them wouldn't be of much use.

I have no idea what this Great Protector was thinking, that he would have such thoughts. It's truly strange.

"I just said it offhand," Qingkong Zhenzun chuckled, then his expression turned serious. "Me, the five of you, plus Song Yue'er?"

Even if the seven True Venerables were to fight together, they could probably put up a fight against a true Nascent Soul cultivator.

However, Qu Jianlei was not as optimistic as him. "I think... let's bring Lingshan along too. What treasures does Baiqiao's clone have?"

"What could a clone possibly have?" Venerable Qingkong objected, the key point being, "If he sees something good, that would be a huge problem!"

Ultimately, it all comes down to his identity. If he weren't a member of the Lingyun Sect, what could Baiqiao do even if he was envious?
In the end, eight True Venerables went to the Spider's home planet—the extra ones were not Thousand Illusions clones, but True Venerables brought by Min Ning.

This female cultivator named Xiwu was exceptionally beautiful and aloof. She was quite famous in Houde and had many suitors, but she was usually serious and rarely smiled.

Anyway, Han Li's face darkened when he saw her. "Why is this girl here?"

However, Song Yue'er and Xi Wu got along quite well. The two female cultivators chatted and laughed together, a rare pair of true venerable best friends.

However, Song Zhenzun still favored Han Li, and soon quietly explained, "The two of them just teamed up..."

There aren't many True Venerables willing to cooperate with Minning.

Firstly, he has a Lingyun background, but it's not legitimate, which makes outsiders wary, and those within the sect don't consider him one of their own.

Secondly, there's his reputation for being petty and calculating. Although he behaves normally within the group of five, he does have this reputation.

Xiwu is known for disliking dealing with Qianxiu, and only people like Minning, who only talk about interests, can have some relationship with her.

In short, there are only about a hundred True Venerables active in the Realm of Virtue, and who doesn't know who?
However, the relationships between them were too complicated, and Qu Jianlei often felt that he "didn't even understand how to get along in the dormitory group".

Fortunately, when facing the group of five, True Monarch Yugiri did not put on airs and immediately declared that he only wanted to see what a half-step Divine Realm cultivator was like.

However, she then added that as long as she was there, there was no need for anyone to be wary of illusion attacks.

"Pretty good," Qu Jianlei thought it was good. When True Venerables form a team, isn't that exactly what they want? Each has their own strengths.

The opponent's illusion techniques, or rather, their methods of preventing illusions, may not be unparalleled by the True Venerable, but they are certainly stronger than those of everyone present.

Han Li glanced at him and sent out a divine sense, "Don't you think she's being pretentious?"

"Huh?" Qu Jianlei looked at him in surprise. "Did you run into a snag with her?"

"What's on your mind all day?" Han Li shook his head speechlessly. "It's just that I don't like it."

“Let’s go,” Qu Jianlei shook his head, “Let’s do another divination when we’re almost there.”

Since there was still plenty of time, the eight True Venerables did not travel to the Spider Mother Planet together, but instead split up into two teams and acted separately.

They first arrived at the vicinity of their home planet, within a radius of hundreds of billions of kilometers, and began clearing the area.

The Half-Step Divine Transformation Spider is infamous, and ordinary cultivator teams dare not approach within a hundred billion kilometers.

However, there are already cultivators billions of kilometers away. After all, fortune favors the bold, and the closer one is to danger, the greater the potential reward.

The eight True Venerables chased away all the cultivators who were active in the vicinity, without explaining why, and also issued a gag order.

But how could these cultivators not guess? It was obvious that the Great Venerable above was about to make a move against that spider.

As for the reason for sealing it off... needless to say, it was due to the existence of a half-step Divine Realm cultivator.

No matter who it is, as long as they show even a hint of malice, they can be sensed; even a true venerable might not be able to escape their detection.

The cultivators knew very well that the True Venerable's clearing of the area was for their own good, firstly to avoid being caught in the crossfire of the battle, and secondly to avoid being possessed by the remnant souls.

So everyone cooperated, and usually the Venerable One didn't need to say it a second time.

Even so, it still took about ten days to clear the area.

Because the affected area was too large, and the eight True Venerables could not use their divine sense on a large scale, they could only notify each team individually.

The withdrawal of each team will take time, and it cannot be done too hastily, lest it arouse the suspicion of the Zerg.

Twenty days later, as the last team gradually moved away, the eight True Venerables reunited to exchange their experiences.

These days, everyone is not only clearing the area, but also sensing the situation around the home planet.

Summarizing the information, we can roughly determine a few points.

First, the spatial anomaly around the home planet is extremely high, which has been confirmed by True Venerables who have been here before.

The three True Venerables who came to attack that time left in a sorry state, concluding that there were "invisible spider silk" around their home planet.

These spider silk threads are usually hidden in space and cannot be seen, but once activated, they can effectively hinder cultivators' attacks and escapes.

Once tainted, even True Venerables find it difficult to escape, let alone Nascent Soul cultivators.

If the spider silk is sticky, it's not a big problem; a powerful fire or ice spell can usually solve the problem.

However, spider silk can also cut through space—or rather, it has spatial properties attached to it, and has a certain probability of cutting out spatial rifts.

This leads to the second characteristic: the space surrounding the mother star has honeycomb-like weak points.

In other words, once a spider realizes it is outmatched, it can escape through any weak point in the space.

When it comes to the cultivation level of leaving the body, whether human or insectoid, they can basically break through space and escape at any time.

However, even this brief moment of space-breaking gave the attackers a considerable opportunity.

It can not only launch attacks, but also prevent spiders from escaping when necessary.

With these weaknesses, spiders can escape almost instantly, and are very likely to escape without a sound.

In other words, when the True Venerables went all out to annihilate their opponent, there might have been a few wisps of remnant souls that quietly slipped away.

Otherwise, the fact that this spider has managed to hold out until now without being attacked by human cultivators is truly a tough nut to crack.

Let's think about this further: what if the spider discovers that a human cultivator is going to attack it?
It can launch attacks proactively from these weak points, mostly silently, without any obvious spatial fluctuations.

In light of this understanding, the eight True Venerables did not discuss the matter publicly, but instead went into Qu Jianlei's cave to devise a countermeasure.

Because several True Venerables tacitly agreed, True Venerable Qu's cave dwelling was basically able to isolate the perception of the Divine Lord.

Finally, Shinzo Yugiri stated that, based on various indications, this spider may possess a considerably high level of illusion magic.

While these invisible spider silks certainly involve some spatial rules, the illusion also has a certain effect.

However, spiders that are skilled at weaving webs generally don't launch proactive attacks often, so they don't display many illusions.

After discussing it for a while, everyone felt a bit overwhelmed. This spider had managed its lair extremely well, and its own strength was too great.

In the end, it was the Sky-Piercing True Venerable who spoke first, "We have to fight, even if it's difficult. We can't just wait for the Great Lord to make a move, can we?"

The strength of these eight True Venerables is already close to one-tenth of that of the True Venerables in this realm.

Moreover, among these people, apart from the three from the Lingyun Sect system, most of the remaining True Venerables also have connections with Lingyun.

If they don't make a move as a team, it's almost impossible for a second True Venerable team to come and attack this place.

In other words, even if a true master team were to tackle this tough nut, it would be almost impossible to completely annihilate this spider.

As long as any remnant soul escapes, trouble will inevitably follow sooner or later.

Therefore, the Grand Protector must first set the tone; Ling Yun has an inescapable responsibility to handle this matter.

(It's the third update again. It's finally my eighteenth birthday. How bittersweet. Happy birthday to myself! Calling for double monthly votes.)