Blood Spider Valley.
Behind the mountains, at the Blood Pool Altar.
This altar stood over two hundred and seventy meters tall, providing an unobstructed view of the entire Blood Spider Valley.
"Tianze, my son, who has inflicted such wounds upon you?!"
Atop the altar, an old man with long whiskers, dressed in a blood-red robe, his hair and beard both white, hurried towards the young master of Blood Spider Valley, who lay on the ground, and the Blood Demon Spider that was gasping its last breaths.
The elder was none other than Zhu Mo, the master of Blood Spider Valley.
"Cultivator, it was a cultivator from the mountains!"
The young master of Blood Spider Valley struggled to rise and spoke to Zhu Mo.
"A cultivator from the mountains? Weren't you on your way to marry the Sixth Princess of White Tree Nation? How did you cross paths with a mountain cultivator?"
The elder quickly bent down, pressing his hand on the young master's chest to infuse him with internal energy, while asking with a look of surprise on his face.
"It must be her, she must have brought the mountain cultivator here!"
Zhu Tianze said bitterly.
After uttering these words, he began to vomit blood profusely.
Although Xu Taiping's Bull Horn Mountain Crumble strike was blocked by the Blood Demon Spider beside him, the fierce force of the punch still caused severe internal injuries.
"Fetch the blood pill!"
Zhu Mo shouted to a subordinate nearby.
"Father, hurry, please summon the ancestor, the cultivator is on our heels, I would have been caught had I been any slower."
Zhu Tianze suppressed the churning blood in his chest and urgently reminded Zhu Mo.
"Don't panic, Tianze. I've seen my share of mountain cultivators, and I doubt he'd dare to storm Blood Spider Valley alone."
Zhu Mo continued to heal Zhu Tianze.
Meanwhile, the blood pill was delivered, and without a word, Zhu Mo helped Zhu Tianze swallow it and began to use his own internal energy to help dissolve the medicine's power.
"Father, listen to me, we must summon the ancestor, this mountain cultivator is not like the others, even Uncle Blood Fang couldn't withstand a single punch from him."
Zhu Tianze urged.
He had been terrified by Xu Taiping's punch earlier and now only wished to call forth the Blood Spider Ancestor immediately.
"The ancestor is at a critical juncture in his seclusion, how can we disturb him now?"
Zhu Mo frowned.
The Blood Spider Ancestor had been in seclusion for three years, and it was presumed he was at the most critical moment of his breakthrough. Zhu Mo dared not disturb him.
"Boom!"
Just then, a loud noise came from the entrance of Blood Spider Valley.
Zhu Mo immediately stood up with a vigilant expression.
Looking from the altar towards the entrance of Blood Spider Valley, he saw a massive blade shadow cleave through the narrow pass at the entrance, obliterating the defenses of Blood Spider Valley in a single stroke.
Then, he saw a figure on horseback charging straight towards the altar.
Wherever this figure passed, blade shadows flew and saber qi dominated.
Whether it was the subordinates of Blood Spider Valley or the Blood Demon Spiders, none could withstand a single blow from his saber, as he charged towards the altar with unstoppable momentum.
It was as if he were the legendary ancient general who could take on a thousand enemies alone.
"Rumble!"
In just a short moment, Zhu Mo saw the figure cut through half of Blood Spider Valley.
"Ancestor, only the ancestor can deal with this person!"
Without any hesitation or concern, Zhu Mo pulled out a piece of blood jade from his bosom and crushed it forcefully.
"Bang!"
The moment the blood jade shattered, a mist of blood enveloped Zhu Mo.
"Zhu Mo, you useless thing, who allowed you to disturb my meditation?!"
After a while, a sharp and angry old voice echoed above the altar.
"Ancestor, Blood Spider Valley is in peril, please come out of seclusion!"
Valley Master Zhu Mo knelt down and pleaded.
It was no wonder he was distraught; the sight of Xu Taiping charging through Blood Spider Valley alone was enough to unsettle anyone.
"Useless, useless!"
The Blood Spider Ancestor roared in anger again.
Following that, the huge altar began to tremble violently, and the massive blood pool, previously filled with fresh blood, started to dry up at a visible rate.
At the same time, billows of blood mist began to rise from the cracks in the ground of the altar.
And again, the roar of the Blood Spider Ancestor came from beneath the ground—
"You useless thing, if you've awakened me just because of some insignificant pests, I will soak you in the blood pool for three days and three nights!"
Hearing this, Zhu Mo trembled with fear.
But as he raised his head and saw the figure wielding a saber light, about to cut through the entire Blood Spider Valley, the fear of being soaked in the blood pool dissipated.
"Ancestor, the life and death of Blood Spider Valley are at stake, please come out of seclusion quickly!"
Zhu Mo practically shouted this plea.
"Boom!"
With a dull thud, the blood pool completely dried up, and a thick mist of blood erupted from the bottom of the pool.
Following that, a Blood Demon Spider, nearly half the size of the blood pool, leaped up from the bottom.
"Useless thing, do you realize you almost caused my breakthrough to fail?!"
The giant Blood Demon Spider roared angrily, then lifted one of its slender spider legs and hooked Zhu Mo up to its face.
Though the spider had the body of a spider, it bore a human face.
However, this face was as large as half of Zhu Mo's body, its expression stiff and bloodless, not much different from a dead man's face.
"Ancestor, I had no choice!"
Zhu Mo quickly begged for mercy, and turning around, he pointed in the direction ahead:
"Ancestor, look quickly, that's the one, alone with his spear, he has cut through our entire Blood Spider Valley!"
Hearing this, the Blood Spider Ancestor's eyes rolled and followed the direction of Zhu Mo's pointing finger.
Then he too saw Xu Taiping, alone with his saber, causing chaos in Blood Spider Valley.
"Boom!"
Just as the ancestor narrowed his eyes in contemplation, a wave of saber qi surged towards the side of the altar.
It struck Zhu Mo and the Blood Spider Ancestor squarely.
Although the saber qi did not harm them, the chilling and deadly aura within it made Zhu Mo shiver.
Even the Blood Spider Ancestor frowned slightly.
"Interesting."
The Blood Spider Ancestor coldly watched the approaching figure while tossing Zhu Mo to the ground.
"If it had been me three years ago, not in seclusion, it might have been a bit troublesome to deal with, but now that my Spider Demon Technique has broken through to the sixth layer and the Blood Spider Spear has reached minor completion, even if you are a cultivator from the Gazing Abyss Realm, I am not afraid."
The Blood Spider Ancestor snorted coldly.
Hearing that the Blood Spider Ancestor's demonic technique had broken through to the sixth layer, Zhu Mo immediately rejoiced, excitedly congratulating the ancestor: "Congratulations, Ancestor, with this achievement, even the great general of Black Vulture Nation would not dare to battle you!"
Being a descendant of the Zhu family who had served the Blood Demon Spider for generations, he was well aware of what it meant for the Blood Spider demonic technique to reach the sixth layer.
"That general from Black Vulture Nation, I will meet him sooner or later. Today, let's start with this ignorant little cultivator as an appetizer."
A sinister smile suddenly appeared on the pale face of the Blood Spider Ancestor.
"Boom!"
As their words fell, a saber shadow over thirty meters long slashed down on the main gate of the altar's courtyard wall.
In the time it took to speak, Xu Taiping had already reached the altar.
Seeing this, Zhu Mo pulled Zhu Tianze to the side of the Blood Spider Ancestor.
"Bang!"
With another loud noise, another saber shadow slashed down.
The dense web of blood spiders around the altar and the tall courtyard gate trembled violently.
The stone gate, built of giant boulders, began to crack.
"Boom!"
Finally, with another massive saber shadow falling, the stone gate shattered and collapsed, raising a cloud of dust.
"Clip-clop, clip-clop…"
The crisp and rapid sound of horse hooves followed outside the altar.
A tall black horse, carrying a young cultivator in a Taoist robe and a beautiful young girl in a rosy dress, galloped out from the dust.
Proofreader & Editor: Lotas