Chapter 330: Weaving a Spiderweb with the World: The Spider God

In midair, fierce Gang Winds buffeted the Tai Sui God.

The Spirit Root World has no atmosphere, only a layer of violent Gang Wind.

Moreover, the oxygen in midair is extremely thin. Only first-rank Mages can set foot in it to explore.

Throughout history, it’s not that no Mages have ever explored the sky; it’s just that none of them could break through the Gang Wind layer to reach greater heights.

Qi Suian was now stuck in the same predicament.

’No wonder only Immortal Mages can charge the Celestial Sect and ascend to the Upper Realm,’ he thought. ’Just breaking through this Gang Wind layer is a monumental task.’

The area he was in was still the periphery of the Gang Wind layer; he hadn’t yet gone deep inside.

If they were to press on, both Qi Suian and the Tai Sui God would have to resurrect afterward.

"AI, what’s the status of the scan?" Qi Suian asked.

At this point, Qi Suian could only rely on the Tai Sui God’s reconnaissance network.

[The Gang Wind layer contains high-concentration energy flows, creating strong interference. The reconnaissance network cannot effectively acquire data.]

"High-concentration? How high?" Hearing this, Qi Suian thought for a moment before asking, "What if we blast it open with a missile?"

Qi Suian had thought of a brute-force solution.

The missile he was talking about wasn’t one of his trump card ICBMs, but it wasn’t a conventional missile either.

It was a missile enhanced with a series of modules: elemental, abyssal, armor-piercing, and more.

While its power couldn’t compare to the Floating Cannons, which could one-shot targets everywhere and even affect space, the data from the reconnaissance network suggested that opening a breach would be no problem.

[An attempt can be made. Prepare for launch?]

"Follow procedure and blow it up." There was no way Qi Suian was giving up.

On the Tai Sui God’s back, a launch silo slowly emerged. A missile launched in an instant.

It spiraled into the depths of the Gang Wind layer, then erupted with a deafening roar, tearing a gaping hole in the layer.

"Quick, the second one!"

Because the first missile was hindered by the Gang Wind, it had only created a fault line; it hadn’t completely broken through the layer.

However, he didn’t move. Qi Suian keenly sensed a strange aura emanating from the breach.

The feeling was like looking out through frosted glass.

It could be a beauty, or it could be a beast.

Qi Suian wouldn’t make a move until he saw what was truly there.

The second missile was immediately launched.

It was about thirty percent faster than the last one.

This was mainly because the breach in the Gang Wind layer was already writhing and repairing itself.

In about three minutes at most, the hole would be completely sealed.

If Qi Suian wanted to observe again then, it would be simple enough—just launch another missile.

So he had to be fast. If he was too slow, the first missile would have been wasted.

The second missile whistled through the air and hit its target. The explosion of physical gunpowder combined with Extraordinary energy blew open a path for Qi Suian to advance.

At the same time, it also allowed Qi Suian to see the truth of what was in the sky and what the so-called Celestial Sect really was.

’So you have to ’charge’ it just to go die? Couldn’t they just deliver themselves to the doorstep?’

What met his eyes was not the barrier or giant gateway he had imagined.

Instead, it was a segmented limb from some colossal insectoid body, coiled over the Spirit Root World.

The limb was made of a carapace-like material covered in fine hairs, resembling part of a spider. It was clamped tightly around the outer layer of the world.

The carapace was covered in strange, writhing patterns. As if sensing Qi Suian’s gaze, they began to squirm.

Combined with the fine hairs, they morphed into a bizarre face—not quite human, not quite beast.

Even more terrifying, the face’s gaze fell upon Qi Suian, and it broke into a smile.

That glance was as if it was smiling right at him.

Fortunately, this fleeting, horrifying glimpse ended quickly. As if stimulated by this part of a terrifying being that spanned who-knows-how-many-worlds, the Gang Wind layer rapidly closed up.

"What... what is this unnamable thing..."

’The world... is a node in Its woven web...’

The moment he saw the face on the spider leg, Qi Suian received a massive influx of knowledge related to Spiritual Roots, including the process of how the parasites evolved into them and the truth of their final evolution.

"The Spider God, Atrek Nakaya."

’Why does that name sound familiar? Is it like an Ancient Dominator from the Cthulhu mythos?’

In his previous life, Qi Suian had some passing knowledge of Cthulhu, but having lived this long, he couldn’t possibly remember everything clearly.

So he’d forgotten most of it.

’But it’s not all bad news. Atrek Nakaya doesn’t seem to care about the Spirit Root World.’

The being was so powerful that the life and death of a world were beneath its notice.

It cared even less that a weakling like Qi Suian had gazed upon one of its legs. In fact, it had generously bestowed upon him the knowledge he sought.

’As for how it knew? How could a being that weaves worlds into its web not see through his thoughts?’

’The real problem to solve is the Spiritual Root parasites. They became Extraordinary due to some insignificant influence from Atrek Nakaya.’

’Their ultimate goal is to become Its kin.’

’And now, they are on the verge of success.’

The extinction of Immortal Spiritual Roots was the result of their transformation ritual being discovered by Mages, who then carried out a large-scale extermination.

As for the so-called Celestial Sect, ascension, and so on, it was all actually a sacrifice from the Spiritual Root parasites to the Spider God, Atrek Nakaya.

Only qualified sacrifices could be offered to the Spider God—in other words, the Immortal Mages who successfully "ascended through the Celestial Sect."

Confronting such a terrifying being directly, there was simply no chance of survival.

Even if there was, observing even a part of Atrek Nakaya from up close would contaminate you with an overwhelming amount of information.

After their last failure, the Spiritual Root parasites suffered a heavy blow, leaving behind only three Immortal Spiritual Roots as a contingency, plotting to complete the ritual once more and become Its kin.

’So Luo Geng is the Priest vessel chosen by the Spiritual Root parasite race.’

’The protagonist, gifted with talent... he’s a perfect fit.’

’Good thing I didn’t get an Immortal Spiritual Root. I was so close to getting screwed over.’

’Thank goodness my protagonist halo is strong enough.’ Qi Suian mused that when he handed over the Immortal Spiritual Root, Endless Universe, it was possible his intelligence had been lowered.

Otherwise, with his greedy nature, he would have probably started a fight first instead of decisively handing it over after sensing something was wrong.

This lowering of intelligence wasn’t just about a drop in IQ; it could also affect one’s logical thinking.

"I guess this is a blessing in disguise." Qi Suian thought, looking at the knowledge of Spiritual Root parasites in his mind. "I can now create the Immortal-Grade Spiritual Root needed for a more advanced abyssal form myself."

’The failed appendages from before can serve as raw material for the Immortal Spiritual Root.’

Normally, the abyssal form could only reach the Top-Grade Spiritual Root level, as an Immortal-Grade Spiritual Root was not a normal thing.

But who could have guessed Qi Suian would be so lucky? He had directly obtained the Extraordinary knowledge related to the Spiritual Root parasites, giving him a chance to perfect it.

’Huh, I wonder if the Doomsday Game is okay?’ Qi Suian suddenly thought of the game that had been tormenting him for so long.

It didn’t take a genius to know that this crappy thing was no match for the Spider God, Atrek Nakaya.

Theoretically, the Doomsday Game also "saw" it. Just because Qi Suian was fine didn’t mean the Doomsday Game was.

He opened his panel to check. Not much had changed. Qi Suian tried to open his inventory and other functions, but they were still sealed.

’Looks like it’s fine. Maybe it was shielded,’ Qi Suian thought with a sigh of relief.

He was worried the Doomsday Game wouldn’t have survived and would have just keeled over.

He couldn’t stay in the Spirit Root World for a second longer.

The other Doomsday Worlds were better, at least they weren’t the property of some unnamable being.

If Qi Suian were to be stuck in this world, he’d be totally screwed.

Evidently, the Spider God Atrek Nakaya looked down on the Doomsday Game, which was why it hadn’t made any big moves.

It was like a multi-billionaire, who wouldn’t likely go out of his way to bully a beggar, and might even offer some charity if they crossed paths.

And hadn’t Qi Suian just received the Extraordinary knowledge of the Spiritual Root parasites?

Not only did he feel no humiliation, he even wanted to say, ’Hey, great one, why don’t you give me some more charity? I can take it.’

Unfortunately, he didn’t have the guts to blast the Gang Wind layer a second time.

The first time could be explained as an accident, and the being, finding him interesting, had sent him a little trinket.

If there was a second time, there was no telling what the consequences would be.

Qi Suian cherished his life and was afraid of death; he certainly wasn’t going to gamble on what a second time might bring.

’We might be giving each other the cold shoulder, but we can’t live without each other, can we?’

"If it weren’t for me, Doomsday Game, could you ever have gotten such a sweet deal?" Qi Suian muttered as he began to descend.

He didn’t care if the Doomsday Game could hear him or not; he’d said his piece.

The Doomsday Game remained aloof, offering no reply whatsoever.

’Next is to stop them... but I can’t beat him.’

Qi Suian’s face fell. Luo Geng was very strong; he was no match for him at all.

At the same time, his mind raced.

’In that case, I’ll just have to dig up the roots.’

’I may not be able to handle Luo Geng, but surely I can handle the Spiritual Roots?’

Qi Suian possessed the complete Extraordinary knowledge of the Spiritual Root parasites.

Therefore, creating a genetic weapon that targeted the Spiritual Root parasite race was entirely possible.

With the help of his protagonist halo, Qi Suian was confident he could wipe out the entire Spiritual Root parasite race within a hundred days.

Even if he couldn’t kill them all, they would turn into Spirit Root Insect People zombies. When only the Immortal Spiritual Roots were left, let’s see how they’d perform their ritual then.

All the Spirit Root Insect People were, in fact, the precursors to becoming kin. They were just waiting for everything to be ready to shed their human skins and become part of a grand ritual.

Upon success, whether they were Spirit Root Worms, Spiritual Root parasites, or Spirit Root Insect People, they would all be completely transformed into unnamable kin.

As for these three, they were actually the three stages of a Spiritual Root.

The Spiritual Root parasite is the normal state of a Spiritual Root, the nymph stage, while the Spirit Root Worm is the cocoon stage.

The Spirit Root Insect People, naturally, are the adult stage.