Chapter 318: Who Is the Real Villain? (Requesting Monthly Tickets! Requesting Subscription!)

"Demon Linghu?"

Upon hearing the name, Wu Xian raised an eyebrow, a wry smile appearing on his face.

"Interesting. These spiders must truly value Shi Yi—knowing Old Hu has already revived, they still dare to come knocking. Are they always this bold?"

Saying this, he leapt away, soaring off the back of the ancient progenitor beast beneath him, vanishing in the blink of an eye, leaving only the Shi Shi Ziling family staring at each other, each reading the helplessness in the others' eyes.

…

"Dugu Baitian Pavilion! Are you truly going to pretend deafness and dumbness, refusing to return the Double Soul Eye?"

The golden giant spider roared in fury, its mouthparts flaring wide as it emitted a piercing, shrill bellow.

As previously mentioned, Shi Yi had joined Dugu Baitian Pavilion to fully resolve the issue of his Supreme Bone's imperfect fusion with his body, seeking the lost ancient art of Dugu Baitian to mend his final flaw and become truly perfect.

At that time, the power of the Double Soul Eye and the Supreme Bone would be entirely his, granting him an unshakable foundation of absolute dominance within his realm.

In truth, had the original story unfolded as written, Shi Yi would have succeeded—he obtained the Dugu Baitian Art, perfectly fusing his Supreme Bone with his flesh. Had he not lost his mind and used it against Shi Hao, the original owner, the outcome of the Great Shi Duel might still have been uncertain.

But unfortunately, this world holds no room for "what ifs."

Because of Wu Xian's arrival, Shi Yi not only failed to enter the ancient holy academy but was also mysteriously beaten senseless, his Double Soul Eye sealed in the process.

Afterwards, Wu Xian helped Old Gourd Vine revive, granting Dugu Baitian Pavilion a great favor, and in return made one demand: to seal off Shi Yi's cultivation cave and secretly imprison him, while publicly claiming he had obtained the Dugu Baitian Art and needed prolonged seclusion to comprehend it and seek breakthrough.

Moreover, before leaving Dugu Baitian Pavilion, Wu Xian specifically set up forbidden seals outside Shi Yi's cave, preventing him from projecting his spiritual will into the Virtual Spirit Realm, eliminating any possibility of leaking the truth.

Because of this, during that period, the Wang Family and the Yu Clan knew nothing of Shi Yi's true condition, truly believing he was breaking through a bottleneck and dared not disturb him.

Until over a month ago, Wu Xian stormed the Wang Mansion, deliberately revealing the truth that Shi Yi had been "broken" by him, shattering their dreams and plunging them into utter despair.

As time passed, the news spread like wildfire, soon reaching all of Shi Country and nearly half of the Wasteland.

Naturally, the Demon Linghu—also entangled in interests with Shi Yi—learned of this. To prevent years of resource investment from going to waste, they immediately gathered multiple Venerable-level supreme experts and arrived at Dugu Baitian Pavilion, pressuring them to hand over Shi Yi.

Dugu Baitian Pavilion was equally helpless.

In truth, their sect's principles would never allow them to imprison a disciple—but Wu Xian had granted them great favor, and even the Support Spirit himself endorsed it, so they could only ignore the Demon Linghu's threats, activate their grand formation, and block the Venerables outside.

To be honest, setting aside appearances, the giant spiders of the Demon Linghu now resembled the side of justice and righteousness, while Dugu Baitian Pavilion had become the evil faction from xianxia novels, oppressing the protagonist—it was truly bizarre.

"Good! Good! Good! Since you're so shameless, don't blame me for being merciless!!"

Seeing Dugu Baitian Pavilion refuse to respond, the Golden Spider Venerable laughed bitterly in rage and spat out a beam of golden light.

Immediately, a giant spiderweb appeared in the high sky, each strand glittering brilliantly, as if adorned with sun, moon, and stars, rumbling loudly. Then, under the Golden Spider Venerable's control, it descended upon Dugu Baitian Pavilion.

Soon, the spiderweb clashed with Dugu Baitian Pavilion's protective formation, both emitting dazzling light, appearing evenly matched.

But this balance didn't last long—the Dugu Baitian Pavilion formation began dimming visibly, its countless runes flickering like power cut off.

In contrast, the celestial lights within the spiderweb grew brighter, its aura more terrifying, as if it were absorbing and enhancing itself with Dugu Baitian Pavilion's formation energy.

"Heavenly God's Broken Formation!"

The head of Dugu Baitian Pavilion said grimly: "Legend says the ancestors of the Demon Linghu were a Heavenly God, leaving behind many safeguards—this formation is one of them."

"Though broken, its power is not to be underestimated. When activated by a supreme expert, it can rival a deity!"

Hearing this, the Dugu Baitian Pavilion disciples sighed.

In truth, Dugu Baitian Pavilion's formation was no weakling—it originated from the Dugu Baitian Sect of the Upper Realm. Though incomplete, under equal conditions, it was not inferior to the Demon Linghu's broken formation, even slightly superior.

But they were too weak—none among them were Venerables. Even pooling their strength, they could not unleash the formation's true power.

Hummm—

A strange sound echoed as, deep within Dugu Baitian Pavilion's garden, the spectral image of a towering ancient tree rose from the ground, its leaves emerald green, radiant with auroras, shrouded in mist, as if reenacting the scene before creation.

"Support Spirit!"

The Dugu Baitian Pavilion disciples were thrilled.

Old Gourd Vine had been in seclusion for half a year, with little news emerging; now, with enemies attacking, it finally reappeared—and judging by its condition, it had truly revived, brimming with vitality, not a trace of weakness remaining.

"Dugu Baitian Pavilion's Support Spirit!"

The Golden Spider Venerable, commanding the Heavenly God's Broken Formation, was startled upon seeing Old Gourd Vine.

Though he had long known the old vine had revived, suspected to have lived a second life, seeing it in person still shocked him—after all, it was ancient, existing since the Ancient Era, surviving to this day was already a miracle, let alone reviving again—it defied all logic.

As he thought this, auroras began flowing across the surface of the gourd vine.

One tendril shot forth like a jade-glowing battle spear, ignoring spatial distance, piercing a star within the Heavenly God's Broken Formation, shattering it—its aura instantly weakened.

The Golden Spider Venerable grunted, his body trembling violently, bloodlines cracking open, yet he made no move to flee, instead roaring to the sky: "What are you waiting for? Strike together—crush this old vine!!"

No sooner had he spoken than several immense auras materialized in the sky.

The crowd looked up in shock—five figures now hovered above, differing in size and shape, yet each radiating terrifying power.

Among them, a giant bird radiating blue light was a pure-blooded Azure Phoenix from Qingtian Divine Mountain, its strength equal to the Golden Spider Venerable's.

Another was a humanoid creature with wings on its back and a vertical eye on its forehead—also a Venerable-level supreme expert.

Finally, three more beings appeared together: a white tiger, a lion with a mane, and a giant elephant.

They were the Three Beasts of Xiling Beast Mountain, each ruling a domain alone. Though none had broken into the Venerable realm, together they surpassed ordinary Venerables—even full-grown pure-blooded creatures feared them.

Clearly, the Golden Spider Venerable had come prepared, secretly summoning multiple strong allies to set a trap and kill Dugu Baitian Pavilion's Support Spirit.

(End of Chapter)