At the moment the spirit sword slashed down, the massive figure in Li Yunxian’s eyes finally revealed itself in full.
Nine fluffy white tails, looking like clouds, filled the entire space in an instant.
It was a Nine-tailed Fox.
A Nine-tailed Fox with the blue flame pattern she knew so well engraved on its forehead.
Li Yunxian’s gaze remained unchanged, and the hands holding her sword did not tremble in the slightest.
Her world-shattering Sword Intent did not waver or hesitate as she slashed down fiercely at the Nine-tailed Fox.
The Nine-tailed Fox let out a low cry, followed by a crisp *clink* as something appeared beneath Li Yunxian’s blade. It was something the fox had forcibly pulled from the Void to block her Sword Intent.
There was no spiritual power in the Gap in Time; the only methods the opponent could use were his innate divine abilities.
The sound of shattering beneath Li Yunxian’s blade was like a fragile, hastily constructed space being broken apart. Her sword did not stop, pressing down on the Nine-tailed Fox with all her strength.
A second clear shattering sound rang out. The Nine-tailed Fox tilted its head slightly, and its form rapidly shifted, finally turning into the familiar human figure she knew.
Su Wenjing looked at Li Yunxian with a face full of shock. He gritted his teeth, circulating his innate divine ability to resist her spirit sword.
Hearing the constant, layered explosions echoing around them, Su Wenjing said with suppressed anger, “Yunxian! What are you doing? It’s me! Stop!!”
Li Yunxian tightened her grip on the spirit sword. The spiritual power she had been holding back was completely unleashed. The sudden surge in Sword Intent carved a gap through the entire crevice in time.
The escaping Sword Qi ground the items remaining in this space into fine powder. The layers of space blocking her path in front of Su Wenjing shattered completely under this single strike.
Su Wenjing’s eyes widened. He looked at the blade slashing toward him without any pause in utter disbelief.
“Yun—” Before the last syllable could escape his mouth, a spray of bright red blood erupted first.
The full-strength strike landed. Li Yunxian’s breathing did not change as she stared at the tragic, breathless body of Su Wenjing lying on the ground.
Li Yunxian did not move.
A few breaths later, she raised her wrist again and gripped the spirit sword. Having already prepared spiritual power supplements, she had recovered more than half of her reserves during that brief pause.
Surging Sword Intent condensed on the spirit sword once more.
Still without a hint of hesitation, Li Yunxian held the spirit sword and slashed down at Su Wenjing’s corpse. The purpose of this strike was clear: she intended to reduce the body to ash.
The “corpse” of Su Wenjing on the ground reacted.
The crisp sound of Li Yunxian’s sword striking something appeared again. The sound of things breaking was even more violent than before, echoing in endless layers.
But… so what?
She followed the sword path.
The sword path that broke through all things!
The endless stream of things blocking her spirit sword only managed to slow the descent of her blade slightly. They could not stop her.
They were unstoppable!
The corpse of Su Wenjing lying on the ground snapped its eyes open. Its slashed body suddenly leaped, completely avoiding Li Yunxian’s second downward strike.
It did not dare to take that heaven-shattering second strike!
The strike missed, its power scattering throughout the already unstable Gap in Time, causing the entire space to become shaky in an instant.
With several *ping-pang* sounds, over ten of the channels originally connected to this gap were instantly extinguished.
Li Yunxian paid no attention to these changes. She raised her head slightly, looking at the eerie sight where countless threads were sewing the slashed body back together from several meters away.
Li Yunxian frowned slightly and spoke as if she were negotiating. “Can you not do such a creepy thing using that face?”
The face, which was split in two, opened at a bizarre angle. Teeth began to grow out from the crack, and a strange voice echoed from all directions. “How did you recognize me? Isn’t he the one you love?”
Hearing that curious yet certain voice, Li Yunxian raised an eyebrow. That certainty only came when the opponent was absolutely confident that their ability was flawless.
“You can actually directly influence my perception?” Li Yunxian said, surprised. “Are you from the Yao Race or some creepy entity?”
Something that could influence the consciousness of someone at the Tribulation Stage couldn’t possibly be an artificial fashu or magic tool. It had to be a naturally nurtured innate divine ability.
Li Yunxian didn’t expect an answer. She casually continued, “I’m a bit embarrassed that you’d say he’s the one I love.”
‘I thought my feelings for Su Wenjing were only at the level of liking him.’
The opponent didn’t care what Li Yunxian said. It watched as she raised her sword against it again during that brief exchange.
“Have you lost your mind!” the opponent shouted in an urgent, unbelievable tone. “If you keep attacking, this entire space will collapse!! Both you and I will be lost in the torrent of time!!”
Li Yunxian looked at the creature and stated plainly, “That’s true. Since it’s so dangerous, why don’t you run away?”
As her words fell, her third strike swung down.
However, this strike was no longer aimed at the twisted monster, but at the space surrounding herself. Dense, explosive sounds erupted all around her.
At some unknown point, these things had rapidly swarmed to Li Yunxian’s side and entangled her. They were things that existed somewhere between the physical and the intangible.
Only after they were sliced down by her sword and fell from her body in wisps did she faintly confirm what had been blocking her blade all along.
“Spider silk…” Li Yunxian’s voice turned solemn.
She recalled the sensation of these threads breaking when her spirit sword slashed down just now.
Considering this was an other race that had occupied the dark side of the interstellar world for nearly 10,000 years, its strength was bound to be astonishing. But for a single thread to have such strength…
This was the first time Li Yunxian had encountered an opponent of this caliber across two lifetimes.
“I don’t believe I’ve ever heard of a spider-type Yao Race,” Li Yunxian continued.
“Are you a creepy entity? It’s no wonder you know so much about them and even developed the technology to turn humans into them.”
Seeing that the silk threads meant to control her had been discovered, the opponent’s urgent tone changed. Its voice became aggrieved. “Are you trying to fish for information from me?”
The creature dropped its disguise. A humanoid being with five compound eyes on an androgynous face appeared before Li Yunxian. Those five eyes were filled with tears, as if trying to put on a pitiful display.
“I can tell you anything. Just let me go, okay? I never wanted to hurt you. I’ve only ever eaten bad things; I just want to survive. I didn’t want to turn humans into creepy things.”
“That method was something your Ren Clan researched yourselves. I only learned a little of it. I never intended to harm people,” it said miserably.
“I just heard their wishes and kindly fulfilled them. I’m just a little Beauty Spider. I haven’t done anything bad.”
Li Yunxian heard the creature’s sobbing. However, her heart sank rapidly.
Data about Beauty Spiders flashed through her mind. Li Yunxian hadn’t interacted with many of this world’s other races.
In Shenzhou, she hadn’t had time to explore the wild areas. In the interstellar world, most of her knowledge of other races came from battles within *Wanwuwu*.
Since *Wanwuwu* only supported a cultivation level up to the Golden Core stage, Li Yunxian hadn’t seen many of the other races that were born strong. Her knowledge of the Beauty Spider was limited.
However, that lack of knowledge wasn’t because the creature was powerful. It was because Beauty Spiders were too weak.
Or rather, the entire insect category was too weak. Most insects couldn’t even reach the entry level of cultivation.
Their lives were usually short—some born in the morning and dead by dusk. The Qi Refining Stage was basically their limit.
Across two lifetimes, Li Yunxian had never seen an insect at the Foundation Establishment stage. They were so rare that they weren’t even given their own category, being crudely lumped in with the Yao Race.
Li Yunxian’s knowledge of Beauty Spiders only came from her understanding of Artifact Crafting materials. A Beauty Spider at the Qi Refining Stage was an excellent material for specific hallucinogenic magic tools.
Specifically, they were for interstellar-style dating sims and romance entertainment facilities. These tools could directly construct the image of the person the user liked most.
That was why these spiders were called Beauty Spiders.
They were naturally timid and easily frightened, preferring to hide in their nests and release hallucinogenic pheromones to lure prey into their webs.
But this one before her…
Various thoughts surfaced in Li Yunxian’s mind, but the question she asked was very strange. “Then, to you… am I a good thing or a bad thing?”
The Beauty Spider’s crying paused. It slowly looked back at Li Yunxian and grinned. “Bad, of course~”
In an instant, countless spider silks erupted, filling the entire Gap in Time. The creature’s form vanished, and one Su Wenjing after another appeared within the space.
“Yunxian…” They opened their eyes, looking at each other in confusion. They acted as if they had suddenly been snatched into this space and couldn’t understand the situation, yet their movements were faster than the next.
Rifts in space opened around Li Yunxian, as if trying to tear her apart and swallow her.
Li Yunxian’s gaze fixed directly on one of the figures. While the Beauty Spider was stalling for time to charge its ultimate move, Li Yunxian was also looking for an opportunity to lock onto it.
“This is my territory!” Li Yunxian declared.
The Dao of Time filled the Gap in Time. The Wen Dao flowed silently through the fake figures, only rippling slowly over the true body of the Beauty Spider.
This was indeed her territory. The territory of her Dao of Time!
Li Yunxian instantly locked onto the Beauty Spider’s location.
Her first strike had caught it off guard, leaving it with nowhere to hide, forcing it to take the hit. Unfortunately, slashing it open had only heavily injured it; it wasn’t fatal.
As for its vital point…
Li Yunxian recalled her second strike, which had been meant to sweep through the creature’s entire body. The opponent had fled with everything it had. That meant…
Recalling its reaction during the second strike, she slowly confirmed the location of its vital point.
The spirit sword pierced through the air. All her Sword Intent condensed into a single point, stabbing straight toward the heart of the humanoid figure.
The figure’s expression changed drastically. All the Su Wenjing illusions in the space shattered, and the creature suddenly became extremely small.
A spider no larger than a palm hit the ground. Sticking to the silk nest it had arranged, it was instantly pulled away by the threads. It was heading toward one of the few remaining channels in the Gap in Time.
Li Yunxian’s expression darkened. She didn’t actually believe the creature was a Beauty Spider. No one at the Tribulation Stage would be stupid enough to reveal their true form. Especially not to an enemy.
However, she had to admit that among all the opponents she had faced, this one was undoubtedly the most cowardly, choosing to flee at the first sign of danger.
It was a Tribulation Stage expert, for heaven’s sake!
Even if its vital point had been discovered… most races only had a few vital spots, which were essentially open secrets. Once you knew, you knew; being able to actually hit them was the hard part.
In their clash of Tribulation Stage powers, other than the first strike where she had caught it by surprise, her other strikes hadn’t caused substantive damage to the spider.
Furthermore, the Beauty Spider’s overall cultivation level was clearly stronger than hers. Even with its injuries, the outcome should have remained undecided.
And yet… the thing fled without a moment of hesitation. Was this really an Evil Dao expert?
The Evil Dao focused on the self. Usually, if something went slightly against their wishes, they would be irritable, bloodthirsty, and cruel, fighting to the death!
Li Yunxian gritted her teeth. She absolutely could not let this thing escape! This master of illusions had been hiding in the interstellar world for tens of thousands of years.
Many experts had vaguely sensed its presence, but none had ever found it. If it got out now, there was no telling if there would ever be another chance to catch it.
She couldn’t imagine how much destruction an Evil Dao expert who was intent on staying hidden could cause the world. It could not be allowed to leave!
Li Yunxian’s gaze turned cold. Watching the Beauty Spider approach the channel, she didn’t withdraw the spirit sword she had swung. Instead, she used the momentum to slash down violently at the space of the Gap in Time.
What the Beauty Spider had said earlier wasn’t wrong. This space could no longer withstand Li Yunxian’s strikes.
In that case, there was no need for it to endure any longer.
*Boom!*
The entire Gap in Time shattered instantly. All the channels turned into nothingness in the blink of an eye.
The Beauty Spider, which had already stepped into the channel, let out an angry shriek, but it still couldn’t resist the force of the torrent of time.
It had been so close!
“I was going to let you go!!” the Beauty Spider screamed shrilly. It looked back at Li Yunxian with hatred.
Countless spider silks poured out, clinging tightly to Li Yunxian as they were both resentfully swallowed by the torrent of time.
***
Outside the Gap in Time, everyone standing by the backup Town-Sealing Artifact seemed to sense something. Their gazes turned toward the artifact in alarm.
The Town-Sealing Artifact hummed several times, followed by a crisp cracking sound. The module inside the artifact that connected to the Gap in Time split open.
Su Wenjing froze, looking at the artifact in a daze. “Yunxian?” He turned to look at Duan Huacai and the others beside him. “Why hasn’t she come out?”
Duan Huacai and the others, who had quickly checked the condition of the artifact, didn’t know how to answer.
Finally, Duan Huacai said hoarsely, “All the channels connected to the gap are gone. She can’t get out.”
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