Chapter 1254

Bei Ze Lao Guai saw from afar the raging flames in the direction of Heavenly Star Manor, his heart sank, he rushed full speed toward Heavenly Star Manor, upon approaching he saw the entire Heavenly Star Manor already fallen into a sea of burning flames, several dozen disciples had escaped from the fire and were fighting it there, but their meager strength could not stop the fierce blaze.

The sight before him made Bei Ze Lao Guai's eyes almost split, he grabbed a nearby disciple and roared: "What's going on? What exactly happened?"

That disciple, still shaken, stammered: "Report… report… to the elder… just now a fierce, evil iron-faced man rushed in, killing anyone he saw, and set fire to Heavenly Star Manor…"

Bei Ze Lao Guai seethed with rage, gritting his teeth: "Why didn't you stop him?"

"My martial arts are lowly…"

Bei Ze Lao Guai suddenly reached out, his five fingers like hooks, jabbing into the disciple's celestial cap; the disciple didn't even grunt before collapsing limp on the ground, five blood holes appeared on the top of his head, Bei Ze Lao Guai donned the Li Fire Cloak and without hesitation charged into the sea of fire, his true concern was the Entwined Cave, where he had painstakingly nurtured the Five-Colored Spider King; the Spider King had now cultivated an inner elixir, a mature inner elixir not only prolongs life but also doubles one's martial prowess, for poison cultivators the benefit is even greater, hence Bei Ze Lao Guai's anxiety.

The fire set by Yan Tianlu was quite successful, aided by the wind, it soon spread throughout Heavenly Star Manor.

Bei Ze Lao Guai relied on the Li Fire Cloak to shield himself from the fierce flames, rushing forward in the blaze; using his familiarity with Heavenly Star Manor's terrain, he quickly arrived before the Entwined Cave, disciples' corpses lay everywhere, mostly charred black by the fire, their true cause of death indiscernible, but Bei Ze Lao Guai didn't care.

After entering the Entwined Cave and going some distance in, he found the fire had not spread here; the cave interior lay with disciples' corpses scattered haphazardly, Yan Tianlu's inner tension peaked. Just as he was about to approach where the Five-Colored Spider King resided, suddenly a burly black-clad figure burst out from within, saying nothing, and threw a punch at Bei Ze Lao Guai.

Bei Ze Lao Guai's body swayed like a willow in the wind, he leaned backward, spitting out a puff of black water mist from his mouth; the black-clad man hastily abandoned his attack, shielded his eyes, and shot past over Bei Ze Lao Guai's head.

Bei Ze Lao Guai did not rush to pursue, instead immediately charged into the cave.

What he saw almost made Bei Ze Lao Guai faint from pain, yet he saw the Five-Colored Spider King lying still deep in the cave, its eight long legs all severed; it looked like a dull, lusterless stone, the ground flowing with Lan-colored blood traces.

Bei Ze Lao Guai yelled in anger, he quickly stepped up to the Five-Colored Spider King and drew a dagger, preparing to split its body to see if the inner elixir remained inside; just as Bei Ze Lao Guai was about to act, the Spider King's corpse split open, a icy blade of light shot straight at him, its momentum like a great river, vast and mighty.

Bei Ze Lao Guai first repelled one attacker, then seeing the Five-Colored Spider King slain, his mind went into turmoil, unprepared for someone hidden inside the Spider King's body; at this critical moment he retreated at astonishing speed, so fast that he left behind afterimages.

Yet the opponent's blade speed was also astonishing; though he failed to emit blade qi, the edge still struck Bei Ze Lao Guai's chest, blood spraying; a wound about a chi long was cleaved into his chest.

At the same time, the black-clad man wearing a bronze mask withdrew and returned, launching a pincer attack from behind; taking advantage of Bei Ze Lao Guai being forced to retreat, he dealt a heavy blow to his back.

Bei Ze Lao Guai felt the wind of the fist from behind; at this moment dodging was impossible, he could only endure the blow head-on, with a bang! the punch shook his body violently, and a mouthful of blood spurted out.

The two who jointly attacked Bei Ze Lao Guai were Hu Xiaotian and Yan Tianlu. According to Yan Tianlu's original plan, they would leave immediately after setting fire to Heavenly Star Manor, but Hu Xiaotian thought that leaving like that would not be a heavy blow to the Variegated Gate, Bei Ze Lao Guai would be unscathed, and burning Heavenly Star Manor would only provoke a fiercer retaliation; better to go all the way, they stayed to await Bei Ze Lao Guai and kill him.

Thus Hu Xiaotian decided to hide inside the Five-Colored Spider King's body; since this spider was so important to Bei Ze Lao Guai, he would surely return to look for it, letting Yan Tianlu flee first to create the illusion of escape, then strike unprepared with a blade to assassinate him. Even if this blade could not kill Bei Ze Lao Guai, Yan Tianlu could withdraw and return, and together they should be able to kill him.

Bei Ze Lao Guai indeed fell for the scheme, first being slashed by Hu Xiaotian hidden inside the Five-Colored Spider King, then receiving a heavy punch from the returning Yan Tianlu; even under the pincer ambush of two top masters, Bei Ze Lao Guai was not killed on the spot—this man is not only a grandmaster of the poison school, but his martial arts have also reached the top tier.

Bei Ze Lao Guai leaned against the western cave wall, the wound on his chest continued to ooze blood, his beard stained with blood from the spray; he coldly regarded the two, Yan Tianlu guarded the cave entrance, his bronze mask hiding his true face; as for Hu Xiaotian, having used Tendon Changing Bone Shifting and changed his appearance, his current look was that of an ugly hunchback, no matter how great Bei Ze Lao Guai's abilities, he could not recognize their identities.

Bei Ze Lao Guai slowly nodded and said: "Killing my beloved pet, striking from the shadows, you are truly shameless!"

Hu Xiaotian raised his long blade, coldly saying: "Cut the nonsense, die!" He swung again, a fierce blade qi burst from the blade, flashing like lightning as it slashed diagonally at Bei Ze Lao Guai.

Bei Ze Lao Guai moved his steps; even after being wounded, his speed remained uncanny, the blade qi only struck a phantom afterimage, Bei Ze Lao Guai let out a strange cry, yet he saw green worms crawling across his chest wound, soon covering the cut Hu Xiaotian had made, the bleeding began to staunch. At the same time, from the earth cave's four walls, small holes, and crevices, colorful little spiders crawled out.

Yan Tianlu had thought he had killed the Five-Colored Spider King and the poisonous insects would disperse, but he did not expect that upon Bei Ze Lao Guai's appearance, countless poisonous insects would immediately emerge; he inwardly cursed, sending a mental message to Hu Xiaotian: "The situation is urgent, retreat!" Though their martial arts were strong, they had few ways to deal with poisonous insects—being bitten would be no laughing matter.

Hu Xiaotian had no intention to flee, he stepped forward and swung another blade at Bei Ze Lao Guai—opportunity must not be lost, hard-won as this chance to kill Bei Ze Lao Guai was, he could not let it slip.

Bei Ze Lao Guai's footwork was marvelously swift, he dodged Hu Xiaotian's attack again, his body crawling along the cave walls like a spider, as tens of thousands of spiders surged forward like a tide, many covering his body.

Yan Tianlu looked at the writhing poisonous insects everywhere, feeling a wave of nausea, yet he noticed those insects seemed wary of Hu Xiaotian, not advancing beyond about three feet around him, whereas they showed no such restraint toward him, swarming thickly like a rising tide to engulf his feet; Yan Tianlu sighed, preparing to urge Hu Xiaotian to flee quickly, when he heard Hu Xiaotian send a mental message: "You go first, I'll deal with him!"

It turned out Hu Xiaotian also discovered that these poisonous insects dared not approach him; he had originally thought it was because he possessed immunity to all poisons, but recalling his life-and-death struggle with the Five-Colored Spider King in the cave earlier, those tiny spiders had shown him no fear, so why had they suddenly begun to fear him and avoid him in such a short time? Hu Xiaotian immediately realized that the only change in himself since then was gaining a Five-Colored Spider King's inner elixir—could that be the cause?

Bei Ze Lao Guai saw the countless spiders refusing to approach Hu Xiaotian, feeling great surprise, he faintly guessed that the Five-Colored Spider King's inner elixir was almost certainly on Hu Xiaotian's person; his heart filled with both hatred and joy—he hated that Hu Xiaotian had killed his poisonous pet, yet rejoiced that he still had hope of reclaiming the elixir from him.

Hu Xiaotian flourished his long blade with a flourish, attempting to step forward; the ground teemed with spiders that clearly feared him greatly, and as he moved his feet, they scattered aside.

Bei Ze Lao Guai suddenly let out a strange howl, lunging through the air at Hu Xiaotian; his body had already been covered with a thick layer of insect armor, his bulk increased by more than double, turning him into a giant.

A flash of blade light, Hu Xiaotian swiftly struck, rolling blade qi surging toward Bei Ze Lao Guai; this strike successfully hit the opponent's arm, but could not penetrate deep, Bei Ze Lao Guai's insect armor exploded apart like a blast, spiders blanketing the sky and ground surged toward Hu Xiaotian; though these spiders were wary of Hu Xiaotian, they were now all provoked by Bei Ze Lao Guai and could not help themselves.

Hu Xiaotian's body spun in place, his cutting wind condensed into a blade-light shield protecting himself.

Bei Ze Lao Guai's insect armor receded, his body now wrapped in a layer of silvery spider silk, the wound Hu Xiaotian had just cut was concealed, making Bei Ze Lao Guai appear unharmed; he coldly regarded Hu Xiaotian: "Heaven has a road you refuse to take, Hell has no gate you barge in—today I will let you die beneath the devouring myriad insects."

Hu Xiaotian smiled narrowly: "Forgot to tell you one thing, Lu Qingyuan is already dead—he died in the mouth of a great spider, is he your disciple?"

Bei Ze Lao Guai's most beloved disciple was this one; hearing of Lu Qingyuan's death, grief welled up in his heart instantly, he nodded, spread his arms, and let out a great roar; from his mouth flew golden little worms, in an instant the entire cave interior filled with golden light. (To be continued~^~)