Chapter Four: The Hundred-Eyed Spider Queen Is No Enemy

The Ma Family.

One of the twelve great surnames of the State of Chu.

Legend has it that the founding ancestor of the Ma Family was a powerful cultivator who mastered the arts of witchcraft and venomous gu, and was appointed as the State Diviner by the first King of Chu.

Later on, generations of the Ma Family followed the royal surname of Xiong, serving as trusted confidants to the throne throughout the ages.

With their founding ancestor still alive to this day, the Ma Family firmly secured their position as one of the twelve great surnames in the State of Chu.

Their fiefdom is located directly to the west of the royal capital, guarding the capital alongside the Qu Family and the Wu Family.

The core of the Ma Family's fief is the City of Clan Ma.

Spanning a thousand miles, the city boasts towering and magnificent walls refined from countless first- and second-tier spiritual materials, inscribed with a multitude of formation arrays.

It is said that back then, the founding ancestor of the Ma Family took a fancy to this location because it contained two fourth-tier spiritual veins. He thus deployed mighty divine powers to make these two fourth-tier spiritual veins intersect at the very center of the City of Clan Ma—which is precisely the Dragon-Convergence Pond where the current ancestor of the Ma Family resides.

The Ma Family ancestor laid down layer upon layer of formation arrays here, expending vast amounts of spiritual materials and spirit stones with the intent to merge these two fourth-tier spiritual veins into a single fifth-tier spiritual vein.

Fifth-tier spiritual veins are extremely rare; across the entire State of Chu, only three families possess them. Naturally, the Ma Family could not compete with the Xiong, Xiang, and Zhuang families for such innate treasures.

However, just because it is not naturally occurring does not mean it cannot be cultivated postnatally. Having spent a millennium on this endeavor, the Ma Family has already made considerable progress.

Within the inner city of the City of Clan Ma, Ma Yunxiao, the contemporary head of the Ma Family, looked expressionlessly at the several women weeping and pleading before him.

He was a Golden Core True Person and the current head of the Ma Family.

While the position of family head might seem infinitely glamorous, Ma Yunxiao knew better than anyone else the immense weight of the burden resting on his shoulders—the livelihoods of millions of people, encompassing the direct branch, collateral branches, and alien retainers of the Ma Family.

A single wrong decision could result in countless lives perishing in vain.

"I am already aware of the matter. Return for now, and I shall handle it accordingly."

As soon as Ma Yunxiao finished speaking, the weeping women bowed and withdrew.

These women were the mothers of Ma Hehui, Ma Hexiao, and the others, hailing from the direct lineage of the Ma Family.

Possessing realms at the Foundation Establishment stage themselves, their children born from unions with talented individuals within the clan had a chance to inherit their parents' natural aptitude and bone structure.

Ma Hehui, Ma Hexiao, and their peers were precisely such individuals; born with extraordinary natural talent and bone structure, they reached Foundation Establishment in their twenties and were unquestionably included in the family's core cultivation roster.

The fact that they had led over a hundred collateral members and servants to the Thousand-Fold Valleys in search of the Golden Silkworm Gu had also been duly reported to the family elders.

Now, five Foundation Establishment members of the direct lineage, over twenty Foundation Establishment members of the collateral branches, alongside two Purple Palace experts and a hundred Qi-refining servants, had all died in the Thousand-Fold Valleys. This forced Ma Yunxiao to ponder whether something complicated was entangled within this incident.

In a single day, so many life plaques had shattered. The five direct lineage and twenty-odd collateral members aside, were Purple Palace cultivators realms so easily achieved?

With even two Purple Palace experts having fallen, could it be that some major event had occurred in the Thousand-Fold Valleys?

Ma Yunxiao knew the personalities of Ma Hehui and the others quite well; although somewhat arrogant, they were certainly not lacking in situational awareness.

They surely would not have provoked beings they could not afford to offend. Could someone have deliberately set a trap to massacre the new generation of the Ma Family?

Pondering for a moment, Ma Yunxiao said, "Third brother, take the Gu Guards and investigate the situation in the Thousand-Fold Valleys."

"Eldest brother, do you suspect that another family is deliberately targeting our Ma Family?" Ma Yunzhi asked.

Ma Yunxiao nodded. "Who does not know that our Ma Family protects its own? Two Purple Palace experts, five direct members, and over twenty collateral members died inexplicably in the Thousand-Fold Valleys. If the Ma Family takes no action at all, we will lose all our dignity."

"During this period, apart from our Ma Family, the only ones who entered the Thousand-Fold Valleys were the Hong and Lan families," Ma Yunzhi said.

Ma Yunxiao shook his head. "Even if it were the Hong and Lan families, unless they joined forces, could they ensure not a single person from our Ma Family survived?"

Ma Yunzhi nodded thoughtfully. "That's true. The Hong Family has the Zhuang Family behind them, while the Lan Family has the Xiang Family. The Zhuang and Xiang families cannot possibly ally with each other."

Ma Yunxiao shook his head again. "It's not entirely impossible."

Ma Yunzhi was startled. If the Hong Family and the Lan Family united, wouldn't that mean the Zhuang Family and the Xiang Family were going to unite?!

Could the purpose of uniting the prime ministerial power and the military power be the royal power itself?!

Ma Yunzhi was frightened by his own conjecture. If the Zhuang Family and the Xiang Family truly formed an alliance, then the State of Chu would no longer know peace.

Ma Yunxiao's expression remained completely calm. "It is not necessarily the Zhuang and Xiang families. At present, the national power of our Great Chu is rising day by day, and our internal domains are stable. The Zhuang and Xiang families would not be so unwise, especially with the State of Wei and the State of郑 right at our borders."

"It could be a cooperation between the Hong and Lan families, or perhaps their junior disciples united privately."

"Perhaps it is not the Hong and Lan families at all, but rather that Hehui and the others encountered some malevolent spirits or demonic beasts."

"It is even possible that people from the State of Wei or the State of Zheng made their move; after all, they would have no regard for the prestige of my Ma Family."

Ma Yunzhi was already dumbfounded. He looked at his eldest brother. Ever since his brother became the family head, his entire temperament seemed to have changed, making him completely different from the eldest brother of the past.

Ma Yunxiao sighed with a trace of fatigue, "Third brother, the position of family head is by no means some infinitely glorious and wonderful thing."

"Though it may seem that the entire family's resources and manpower are at my disposal, inexhaustible and boundless, sitting in this position brings my brother nothing but a tired heart."

"Every move I make is under the scrutiny of the entire clan. I walk on thin ice with my heart in my mouth, terrified that a single bowl of water not held level will incite dissatisfaction within the clan and create divisions among us."

"Therefore, in everything, your brother must be cautious, cautious, and even more cautious; prudent, prudent, and even more prudent."

"So many family youths have died, and countless people are watching my every move. But how could they know how massive a tempest a single careless misstep by your brother could cause?"

Hearing this, Ma Yunzhi felt a pang of heartache and quickly said, "Eldest brother, rest assured, this younger brother will share your burdens."

Ma Yunxiao nodded and instructed, "When you go to the Thousand-Fold Valleys, go with high visibility; but as for investigating the situation, proceed with utmost caution."

"If it is verified that the Lan and Hong families did this, ponder it repeatedly and prioritize stability. If it is verified that it was not those two families, but outsiders who did it, purge all outsiders in the Thousand-Fold Valleys."

"The dignity of the Ma Family must not be lost."

Ma Yunzhi nodded repeatedly. "Rest assured, eldest brother; this younger brother understands."

"Go do your work," Ma Yunxiao waved his hand.

Watching Ma Yunzhi leave, the fatigue and helplessness on Ma Yunxiao's face vanished instantly, replaced entirely by cold indifference.

"If I were a Nascent Soul expert at this moment rather than a Golden Core, how could I be burdened by these trivial matters, and how would these storms arise within the clan?"

"Only the Nascent Soul! Shatter the core, and birth the infant!"

Jiang Sheng and Lin Fan were as yet unaware of the events transpiring in the City of Clan Ma.

The Thousand-Fold Valleys were far more than ten thousand miles away from the City of Clan Ma, requiring one to cross several fiefdoms in between.

Therefore, the ripples in the City of Clan Ma could not possibly affect the Thousand-Fold Valleys.

Lin Fan did not lead Jiang Sheng directly toward that secret realm. Instead, he first scattered the personal clothing, storage bags, and other items of Ma Hehui, Ma Hexiao, and the others within a radius of a thousand miles before returning to their original path.

"The Ma Family excels in venomous gu. Let them scatter those storage bags and clothing items and search to their hearts' content," Lin Fan laughed.

"By that logic, I suppose the spirit stones and magic tools must have been marked by them as well. Are we still keeping them?" Jiang Sheng asked.

Lin Fan, however, took it for granted. "Naturally we must keep them. Once we leave the Thousand-Fold Valleys, wouldn't it be wonderful if we went straight to the State of Zheng or the State of Wei to sell them?"

"In the future, when you and I seek to form our cores, the resources required will be immense. Not a single drop of these magic tools and elixirs can be wasted."

Jiang Sheng could not help laughing. "Your words make you sound rather adept at managing a household."

Lin Fan let out a disdainful hum and led Jiang Sheng onward.

After walking another five or six hundred miles, Lin Fan pointed to a cave ahead. "Brother Yuanchen, look, by passing through this cave, we will reach that secret realm."

Jiang Sheng sized it up and used his divine sense to perceive it.

That seemingly ordinary cave entrance was actually dense with fine, transparent spider silk, covering the entrance and its surroundings in thick layers.

It looked like a most ordinary cave entrance, but once anyone approached and touched those spider silks, it would alert the demonic beasts within the cave.

This was both a trap and an alarm bell; the moment any living creature inadvertently brushed against the spider silk, its presence would inevitably be perceived by the entities residing within the cave.

Jiang Sheng looked at Lin Fan. He did not believe Lin Fan was unaware of this. Could this be a deliberate arrangement by Lin Fan?

"Brother Yuanchen has noticed?" Lin Fan smiled.

Jiang Sheng nodded.

Lin Fan explained, "Brother Yuanchen may not know, but not just the cave entrance—the ground for several miles around is covered in these spider silks."

"Inside this cave is a nest of hundred-eyed spiders, and the spider queen possesses the strength of the Purple Palace realm. These spider silks were laid down by her."

"When I came here before, I had a bout with her without killing her. Afterward, I made an agreement with her that if I pass by her dwelling, she and her progeny are not to obstruct me."

"And if she should have the potential to form a core in the future, I will also lend her a hand."

Jiang Sheng chuckled lightly. "That certainly sounds like your style—exploiting every single point that can be utilized."

"Let's go, let's go meet this Hundred-Eyed Spider Queen," Lin Fan said as he released his spiritual power fluctuations.

Soon, accompanied by a sound of fine friction, a hundred-eyed spider the size of ten zhang appeared before Lin Fan and Jiang Sheng.

This hundred-eyed spider had already reached the late Purple Palace realm. Since her strength could no longer advance by even an inch, she could only await an opportunity to gain the possibility of forming a core.

Without a doubt, the Hundred-Eyed Spider had placed all her bets on Lin Fan.

Seeing Jiang Sheng following behind Lin Fan, the Hundred-Eyed Spider spoke, "Is this the good friend you mentioned?"

Lin Fan nodded. "Indeed. Have Fairy Mu and the others arrived yet?"

The Hundred-Eyed Spider replied, "Not yet."

Lin Fan smiled. "It seems we are among the early arrivals. Since that is the case, we will head over first. I must ask the Queen to grant us passage."

The Hundred-Eyed Spider plucked two strands of white silk from her body and handed them to Lin Fan. "This is what I promised you."

Lin Fan accepted the white silk and wrapped it around his wrist. "Rest assured, Queen Lin does not make promises lightly. Since I have promised, I will certainly fulfill it."

The Hundred-Eyed Spider stepped aside to clear a path.

Imitating Lin Fan, Jiang Sheng wrapped the white silk around his wrist, nodded to the Hundred-Eyed Spider, and followed Lin Fan into the dark, pitch-black cave covered entirely in spider silk.