Xuefeng sat cross-legged on the moss-carpeted ground, his breath slow and even as tendrils of Spirit Qi flowed from the luminous stones surrounding him. The air smelled faintly of pine and damp earth, the canopy overhead swaying gently in the breeze. Dappled sunlight flickered across his face, but in his focused state, he barely registered the world around him.
Then, without warning, Ling's voice sliced through the calm like a blade. I've found the Nightmare Lair.
His eyes snapped open. Already? A flicker of satisfaction curled his lips, but it vanished when Ling added, We're not alone though. There's a group of cultivators already engaged in battle inside the cave.
Xuefeng's smile faded. Damn. If they didn't move quickly, their entire mission could be for nothing.
He rose in one fluid motion, brushing dirt from his pants. His Spirit Qi reserves were nearly replenished anyway. Turning to Wuying and Xiao Wen nearby, he relayed the news. "Ling located the Nightmare, but someone else beat us to it. They're already fighting it."
Wuying's expression tightened. Her fingers brushed the hilts of her daggers—a habitual gesture of readiness. "Then let's go," she said firmly. "But we'll observe from a distance first. We're not bandits. First come, first served. Only if they can't handle it, we'll step in."
Xiao Wen gave a dry chuckle. "You people are too soft here. In the Central Region, the strong take what they want. Mercy just gets you killed."
Xuefeng shrugged. "If the Liu Clan starts snatching resources from under people's noses, we'll only breed resentment. Chaos helps no one."
Xiao Wen threw up her hands. "Fine, fine. I'm just along for the ride."
"Let's move," Wuying urged, already adjusting her daggers. Her resolve was clear—she wouldn't let this opportunity slip away.
"Follow me," Xuefeng said, hastily shrugging on his shirt before plunging into the forest. His voice was tight with anticipation, eyes glinting in the half-light. Ling's directions rang clear in his mind, guiding his steps along the narrow deer trails. Behind him, Wuying and Xiao Wen moved like silent shadows, their presence a steady reassurance.
They encountered a few Spirit Beasts along the way—furtive shapes rustling in the undergrowth—but deftly skirted them, unwilling to waste time or their Qi. After about ten minutes of weaving through the dense foliage, Ling's urgent summons led them to the base of a rocky cliff that marked the valley's border. A yawning cave mouth loomed there, surrounded by thick strands of webbing. At once, a dull clash of metal and bestial shrieks reached their ears, echoing from within.
Xuefeng slowed, noticing one of his clones stationed near the cave entrance. The clone watched them approach with an unnerving stillness, its golden form faintly luminous in the dim gloom. The dense webs framing the entrance looked like something out of a fever dream—ropes of sticky silk hung down in tattered sheets, glimmering with droplets of condensation. A stale, acrid odor drifted out from the depths, enough to churn the stomach.
"They're fighting inside," Xuefeng murmured, peering into the darkness. A gust of damp air brushed his face, as though warning him to keep out. Every instinct in his head whispered that stepping into the lair of a Nightmare Beast was a fool's errand. "Should we go in?"
"Of course," Xiao Wen replied matter-of-factly, already pushing aside a swath of webbing. Wuying slipped in behind her, daggers at the ready. Their calm acceptance of this macabre setting made Xuefeng swallow his nerves and follow suit. You've fought a Rank 4 Metal Bear, he told himself. You can handle a spider… right?
Ling left several clones outside, posted as sentries. If anyone else tried to sneak in, the real Xuefeng would know.
Inside, the cave passageway was surprisingly spacious—wide enough for all three of them to walk side by side. The jagged walls bore long scratches as though some enormous, clawed creature had chiseled them out of the rock. Every few feet, lumpy, bulbous web-nests clung to the stone, quivering with unseen life.
Their footsteps echoed ominously. The deeper they went, the louder the sounds of battle became. Soon, they emerged into a cavern so immense it felt like an entire cathedral carved from stone. Towering stalactites loomed overhead, dripping moisture like a slow, maddening clock. And in the center of it all, surrounded by the flicker of Spirit Arts and the clamor of clashing weapons, loomed a monstrous spider, easily fifteen meters tall.
Its glossy black carapace glistened beneath pale crystals jutting from the cavern walls. Eight spindly legs—sharp as scythes—lashed out at the thirty-odd cultivators encircling it. Worse still were the countless orbs of webbing stuck to every surface, each the size of a human head—eggs. Thousands of them. The mental image of what might hatch from those eggs made Xuefeng's stomach clench.
He let out a low whistle. "So… Miss Nightmare, is it?" he remarked dryly, eyeing the eggs in horror.
Wuying and Xiao Wen exchanged looks of faint exasperation at his grim joke, but neither commented. Instead, they focused on the pitched battle before them. The Nightmare—a hulking queen spider—hissed, revealing vicious fangs the size of daggers. Sticky droplets of venom dripped onto the cave floor, sizzling on impact.
Amid the chaos, one voice rose above the din—an older cultivator with a ragged scar twisting across his cheek. He swung a halberd in sweeping arcs, projecting waves of greenish Qi. "We need to work together to bring this thing down!" he roared. "Once it's dead, we'll split the loot evenly, got it?"
An enormous man hefting a battle-axe nodded agreement. "My group's in. Better than getting slaughtered if we fight separately!"
In the end, every ragtag band of cultivators seemed to concede. They turned their collective force onto the wounded spider, which had sustained countless slashes and stabs. The giant creature skittered back, pinned against the far wall near a cluster of half-formed egg sacs.
Xuefeng watched from the shadows, a pensive frown drawing his brows together. "Should we join them?" he whispered. "Help land the finishing blow and grab a share of the loot? At the rate they're going, it won't take long to—"
"Wait," Wuying cut in, voice low. Her eyes darted over the spider's movements, shoulders tense. "Something's off."
Xiao Wen nodded in agreement. "Yes. Look at how few injuries these cultivators have. This spider is Rank 4, possibly higher. They should be half-dead by now from a fight like this, yet they look almost fresh."
A shiver snaked through Xuefeng. He glanced more closely at the spider. It was letting itself be driven back, legs scrabbling at the rock. Is it playing them? He remembered all too well the cunning sometimes shown by higher-level beasts—like a predator toying with prey. "All right," he conceded softly. "We hold off. If we jumped in now to warn them, they probably wouldn't listen anyway."
Wuying gave a tight nod. "Exactly. They'd just think we were trying to cheat them out of their kill."
Below, the scarred man braced his halberd, green Qi pulsing along its shaft. "Positions!" he yelled. "We hit hard on my signal—go for the head, the legs, everything! Don't let it escape!"
Thirty cultivators tensed, some channeling swirling auras around their weapons, others chanting incantations under their breath. The Nightmare's many eyes gleamed with reflected light, each orb black and fathomless. Then, with a guttural roar, Scarface slashed the air with his halberd, unleashing a crackling green beam. That was the signal.
A torrent of ranged attacks surged forth: blazing fire, shards of ice, flickers of lightning, and an avalanche of blades. The melee fighters lunged for the spider's bladed legs, seeking to hack them off. As the deadly barrage closed in on the Nightmare's torso, its eyes flashed with golden radiance. A strange ripple of power pulsed outward.
Xuefeng and Xiao Wen stiffened simultaneously, a chill washing over them. Ling's voice and Lang's voice each echoed in their minds: Fate Qi—there's Fate Qi coming from that Nightmare!