Volume I: The Emperor's Sword Chapter 143: Frost Kill

The Blood-Feather Spider perceived the prey's attempt to escape.

As a predator, the Blood-Feather Spider classified all living creatures nearby as food. Even though it was already full, it intended to wrap everyone into cocoons and store them away.

The Blood-Feather Spider never planned to let a single living thing go.

Driven by the spider silk, more than thirty Blood Barbarians came charging wildly. Their towering physiques ran side by side, actually unleashing the momentum of a galloping army of thousands!

Unable to escape the Web of a Thousand Threads, everyone could only prepare for a desperate, near-death struggle.

Yun Que glanced sideways.

Lando was frantically communicating with her brother, making gestures and asking questions in extreme anxiety.

The monster-transformed Gumuer had a bloody mouth and could only emit guttural, eerie laughs. His sanity had undoubtedly suffered devastating damage; even if he recognized his sister, he could no longer articulate the truth.

As for how he had become this ghostly figure and how he had been chosen as nourishment for the Blood-Feather Spider, Lando knew nothing at all.

Seeing the Blood Barbarians charge in a murderous frenzy, the monstrous Gumuer suddenly shoved Lando aside and met them head-on.

Having already fought fiercely by Lando's side for quite some time, he was heavily wounded, yet he was still struggling desperately in battle.

Protecting his younger sister had become the sole remaining belief lodged in his heart.

Lando wiped away her tears and transformed into her Blood Barbarian state.

Her barbarian people understood the laws of survival well; in their current predicament, only continuous and fierce combat offered a chance of ultimate survival. Sorrow and tears were utterly useless.

The group gradually gathered together, joining forces to resist the onslaught of the Blood Barbarians.

Finding a gap in the Web of a Thousand Threads or digging an escape tunnel was practically impossible.

During this clash, Yun Que distinctly felt the pressure spike dramatically.

The Blood Barbarians were already endowed with immense natural strength, but after being controlled by the Blood-Feather Spider's silk, their power was enhanced once more, turning them into true monsters!

The combat prowess of this group of Blood Barbarians was now no weaker than tier-two demonic beasts.

They were practically equivalent to cultivators in the early Foundation Establishment stage!

As soon as they clashed, two people were killed one after another, filling everyone with shock and despair.

They could not drag this out any longer...

Yun Que glanced at the spatial vortex outside the spider web, and without further hesitation, he directly deployed the Thousand-Army Talisman.

A wisp of black light rose from the surface of the talisman.

Immediately afterward, billowing black smoke surged upward!

The black smoke blanketed the surroundings like a thick fog, and the ambient temperature plummeted sharply.

Faint battle cries echoed from all directions.

The sounds grew louder and more urgent, accompanied by the rumbling thunder of hooves. The rolling black smoke actually transformed into charging cavalrymen!

These cavalrymen rode tall black horses, clad in heavy armor and wielding long spears. Two points of scarlet light flickered through the gaps in their helmets!

Armored cavalrymen materialized from the black smoke, numbering in the hundreds and thousands, looking like heavenly soldiers and celestial generals descending from an otherworldly battlefield!

At this moment, standing amidst the black smoke, Yun Que felt as though he were standing on a real battlefield, personally experiencing the magnificent scale of a clash between two great armies.

Charge!!!

Guided by the flying sword driven by Yun Que, the armored cavalry formed ranks and charged forward.

The Blood Barbarian taking the brunt of the charge barely managed to shatter a few elite riders before being engulfed by even more, his corpse mercilessly flattened beneath iron hooves.

Such terrifying might left everyone utterly awestruck.

"The opportunity is now! Eliminate this pack of Blood Barbarians!"

The appearance of the Thousand-Army Talisman ignited hope in Zhou Yuanliang. He roared as he slashed forward, and the others immediately followed suit.

This moment presented the optimal golden opportunity to annihilate the Blood Barbarians!

Yun Que slew two formidable enemies in succession, bathed in blood, his flying sword having broken countless blades.

The others also reaped their own kills.

A single deployment of the Thousand-Army Talisman directly eradicated over ten Blood Barbarians. Coupled with the fierce assaults launched by the group, fewer than ten Blood Barbarians remained, most of whom were missing limbs—arms and legs severed—their combat effectiveness vastly diminished.

After the cavalry charges swept through, they dissipated into wisps of gray vapor one after another.

The Thousand-Army Talisman in Yun Que's hand shattered accordingly, utterly ruined and rendered completely useless.

brushing away the talisman's residue, Yun Que's eyes were filled with lingering reluctance.

He had originally not wanted to use this Thousand-Army Talisman, for it contained his father's painstaking efforts, crafted jointly by his father and Yu Qingfu.

Only a single use had remained for the Thousand-Army Talisman; once used, it was spent.

There was not even a chance to preserve it—it had completely turned to dust.

With no time to sentimentally mourn a talisman, Yun Que shouted loudly:

"Strike while the iron is hot! Clear out the Blood Barbarians!"

The surviving disciples joined forces with all their might, finally finishing off the remaining half-crippled Blood Barbarians in the shortest time possible.

Thus, the grand plan that the barbarian race had plotted for over a full year was thoroughly shattered.

Not a single one of the hundred mutated Blood Barbarians survived, marking a total and utter failure for the barbarians this time around.

Before anyone could catch their breath, the enraged screech of the Blood-Feather Spider rang out once more, a piercing sonic wave sweeping across the area.

Having gained experience, the group immediately circulated their spiritual energy to seal their ears.

When the screech subsided, the Blood-Feather Spider's eight solitary eyes rolled incessantly, showing that this demonic beast was in a state of extreme agitation.

All the Blood Barbarians it controlled had been slaughtered, much like having a beloved toy snatched away. In its blinding fury, all eight legs moved in unison as it rapidly crawled toward them.

"Spread out!" Yun Que issued the command. "First, find its weakness, then attack it together!"

The group immediately scattered, each manipulating their flying sword, following Yun Que's orders implicitly.

Facing a tier-four demonic beast, logically speaking, twenty-odd Qi Condensation disciples should have had zero chance of winning. Yet after truly engaging in combat, they discovered that the Blood-Feather Spider's true combat prowess was not as terrifying as they had imagined.

Although its aura remained at the peak of tier-four, its physical strength and speed did not reach the terrifying levels of a true tier-four beast; instead, they were roughly on par with a tier-three demonic beast.

Yun Que used his flying sword to hard-block the violent strike of a single jointed limb, sending his entire body flying backward to crash heavily onto the ground.

After scrambling back up, he felt his blood roil violently, nearly coughing up blood.

Despite being injured, Yun Que felt no worry whatsoever; instead, a surge of pleasant surprise welled within him.

"The Blood-Feather Spider hasn't fully hatched yet!"

Yun Que was the first to notice something unusual about the creature. Blood occasionally dripped from the demonic beast's tail section, and its color was far lighter than that of the rest of its body.

"Attack its tail!" Yun Que shouted.

Because the cocoon of the Silkworm King had been forcibly severed, the Blood-Feather Spider had been unable to complete its incubation. It possessed only the aura of a tier-four demonic beast without the actual strength of one, and its bleeding tail was its greatest vulnerability.

Despite differing by only a single tier, the gap between a tier-four demonic beast and a tier-three demonic beast was immense.

At this moment, Yun Que figured something out.

No wonder the moment the Blood-Feather Spider appeared, it immediately tore open the hundred cocoons buried around the perimeter and unleashed the mutated Blood Barbarians—it was using the barbarians as weapons to slaughter the thousand-odd Sword Palace disciples.

Without those Blood Barbarians, had they faced the Blood-Feather Spider at its tier-three level alone, the human side might have had an even greater chance of victory.

What a cunning demonic beast!

Yun Que felt a covert shock ripple through him.

Even though its strength was only at the level of a tier-three beast, it was still not to be underestimated, and Qi Condensation cultivators would find it extremely difficult to withstand.

Those eight jointed limbs were like eight sabers; anyone caught by even a glancing blow would surely spew blood.

The demonic beast knew its own weakness and kept its rearmost two limbs constantly protecting its tail. Zhou Yuanliang had attempted a sneak attack several times, only to return empty-handed.

The spatial vortex not far away began to show signs of weakening, and the people grew increasingly anxious.

Yun Que took a deep breath and began forming sword incantations.

He was employing the Flying Frost Sword Technique.

The first two stances were of little use against a tier-four demonic beast, so what Yun Que was channeling was the third stance!

It was the very same move that Senior Sister Xue Ziyi had previously executed by the riverside, freezing the Golden Flood Dragon.

In the current situation, only by pinning down the Blood-Feather Spider for a brief moment could Zhou Yuanliang and the others deliver a fatal strike to its tail.

And the ultimate method for pinning down a demonic beast was none other than the Flying Frost Sword Technique.

Although he had yet to fully master the third stance of the sword technique, given the current predicament, there was no other choice; Yun Que could only try his absolute best.

As the sword technique unfolded, frost and snow fell in an instant, and extreme cold descended!

With his astonishing talent in the Dao of the Sword, Yun Que successfully executed the final stance of the Flying Frost Sword Technique.

"Ice Kill!"

The Snow-Trace Sword transformed into a sky full of flying frost, descending with a howling shriek.

The massive spider demon, even as it brandished its limbs, was instantly transformed into an ice sculpture, motionless.

"The only chance!"

Zhou Yuanliang practically roared as he swung down his sword with every ounce of his remaining strength.

Mu Qingyao and the others simultaneously urged their flying swords, slashing toward the spider's tail.

Clang! Clang! Clang!

The sound of piercing through iron plating echoed endlessly.

Zhou Yuanliang's full-strength sword drove straight from the spider's tail into its abdomen, and bursting sword qi erupted within, shattering the demonic beast's internal organs.

Crack! Crack!

Breaking free from its icy confinement, the Blood-Feather Spider thrashed wildly across the ground, letting out shrill squeals before its long claws curled inward and went completely still.

Having finally slain the demonic beast, the surviving group collapsed collectively onto the ground.

Before the survivors could even let out a cheer, a despairing sight unfolded before their eyes.

Outside the spider web, the spatial vortex that had been within arm's reach completely vanished at that very moment.

The entrance to the illusion realm had closed.