Chapter 155 - The Terror of the Darkweaver Spider

"I've seen the injuries a young Darkweaver Spider inflicted on Kui Chong," Ao Wen said. "The toxin is insidious and even the young ones seem quite large. You have a beast core from a Matriarch Darkweaver Spider? Just how mighty of a beast was that?"

"It's hard to say for sure," Alchemist Ma Xiaohou confessed. "You have to understand that this beast core is something of a cursed treasure. Not in that it brings misfortune but in that, no one who has possessed it has gained the capability of doing anything with it," she explained. "According to the story I was told when it came into my possession, the beast core is over a thousand years old, dating to a time before Lantern City was built. In those days, Darkweaver Spiders lorded over the entire valley under the rule of a powerful Matriarch. The spiders built their nests in the vast network of caves that are now spirit crystal mines."

"So who killed the Matriarch to claim her beast core?" Ao Wen asked as the story drew her in. Turning Leaf town was so isolated that things like the history of the other towns on the peninsula were rarely discussed and this was the first she'd heard that the Darkwood Valley had once been ruled over by a fearsome spider matriarch! 

"The Vulture King," Alchemist Ma answered. "It was the start of the Vulture King's kingdom in the Darkwood Forest. The Vulture King kept the beast core of the Darkweaver Matriarch as a kind of trophy but it never managed to overcome the toxicity of the beast core to consume it. When humans arrived in the valley to begin mining spirit crystals, the Vulture King traded it to the first Lord Mayor in exchange for a promise that he wouldn't contend for the peaks of the ridges and would confine the construction of the city to the valley."

"So that's why the city stops short of the ridgeline," Ao Wen said in understanding. "I wondered why there weren't any homes or even watch towers built on the summits of any of the surrounding hills."

"The current Lord Mayor has improved our relationship with the Vulture King dramatically, but not enough to claim the high ground from it," Ma Xiaohua acknowledged. "That, however, is unrelated to the beast core. Since it was acquired by the first Lord Mayor it's been traded again and again, sometimes to people who felt they could use it, other times to people who felt it would gain in value and that they would make a profit from possessing it. It landed in my hands relatively recently, but I've set it aside until I can make a breakthrough to Master Alchemist. The core comes from a beast at least as powerful as a Martial Champion and the toxic energy cannot be purified with less than a Master Grade technique. Given enough years, I might be able to develop a technique based on the flame purification art you taught me," she speculated. "But I believe that you already possess a sufficiently advanced technique to process the core, though you may not yet have the strength to do so." 

"It's hard to say without seeing it," Ao Wen said, considering carefully whether she wanted to be the latest in what sounded like a long line of unsuccessful owners of this potent treasure. "Truthfully, I likely need to experiment on the beast cores of lesser Darkweaver Spiders before I attempt anything with the core in your possession. You said the Vulture King killed their Matriarch but clearly there are still Darkweaver Spiders in the mines for Kui Chong to be injured. Has a new Matriarch risen? How prevalent are these beasts?" 

"That's hard to say," Ma Xiaohua answered with a shrug. "Darkweaver Spiders are named such because the webs they spin are thick in Darkness energy. In the dark caves of the mines, even the best lanterns cast plenty of shadows for a spider to hide a web in. Darkweaver Spiders are patient hunters. They strike at people who are alone when they hunt by themselves but any female can spawn dozens of children when her eggs hatch and females seem to have the ability to command their young until the spiders reach maturity," she explained. "There have been accounts of female Darkweavers descending on groups of cultivators with two dozen of their young in order to feed her offspring. With dozens of children, they were able to weave webs of darkness over the exits to the mining shaft, blocking off methods of escape for all but the luckiest of cultivators." 

"Do you know much about how they fight?" Ao Wen asked, carefully considering whether or not this was something she should bring the others in on as a training opportunity. Hunting in the caves would help her cultivation of the Hidden Night Steps and a narrow field could be advantageous to Feng Xi's archery practice. Tang Jin's light-based cultivation could also be an asset against the heavily darkness-based creatures and Zhang Bai's barriers could shield them from many kinds of attack. 

"I don't know much, but I've been told that once they sink their fangs into a victim they tend to retreat to let the venom do its work," the alchemist explained. "They also use their webs to slow and obstruct their prey to give the venom more time to cripple their victim. Once they retreat into the darkness of their webs, they become as good as invisible. Once bitten, even if a person is able to flee, it's most often a delay of the inevitable as the spider follows them from darkness until they collapse from the venom. If I remember correctly, Kui Chong only survived because he wasn't far from a group of other minors who were able to carry him out of the mines," she added. "He was very lucky." 

"Thank you," Ao Wen said, cupping her hands in acknowledgment of the value of the information that the other alchemist had provided. "I'm interested in this Matriarch's beast core, but as you yourself have explained, no one in a thousand years has been able to make use of it, even if most owners have been unqualified to make the attempt. I'll have to do considerable research of my own to gain anything from it and that will include taking the risk of hunting some of these Darkweaver Spiders," she said, slowly working her way to what she felt would be a fair deal and one that she was willing to make. 

"I'm willing to let you observe my treatment of Chou Chai, but the technique I'll be using to treat the other two is a personal secret that I'm not willing to share," Ao Wen said flatly, making her boundaries clear. "Of course, I'll answer questions and explain the technique if you'd like, I won't restrict you to passive observation," she added. "If that's acceptable in exchange for the Matriarch Darkweaver Spider's beast core then we have an arrangement. If it isn't then I'm afraid I can only let you observe Kui Chong's treatment in exchange for the herbs you've brought to use in his treatment."

Alchemist Ma closed her eye and took a deep breath as she considered Ao Wen's offer. It seemed like observing whatever technique she planned to use on Gau and Lang Fei wasn't going to be possible at all. Paying with such a valuable beast core for just one additional set of techniques felt horribly lopsided but if she didn't, Lord White would surely find fault with her reluctance. Still, it took several breaths of time before she was willing to accept Ao Wen's terms. It wasn't just about losing a valuable treasure. Ma Xiaohua had originally obtained the beast core in the hopes that she could turn it into a weapon against Lord White, if not to regain her freedom than to claim revenge for what he had done to her. Giving up the core for a chance to earn his favor might give her a measure of freedom back but nothing would truly free her until the man was dead or she found a way to escape Lantern City. 

In the end, she had no real choice and she knew it. If it was just about her own learning, she would never accept Ao Wen's terms. But with Lord White's demands binding her like the webs of a Darkweaver Spider, she truly didn't have the ability to refuse. "Your terms are acceptable," she finally said, opening her eye. "I have one additional condition, however," she added, attempting to claw back at her method of escape if everything else failed. "I'd like your notes on Darkweaver Spiders and the beast core of the Matriarch. I know you have greater sources of knowledge to draw on, so any insights you're able to gather will help me in using lesser beast cores from the spiders that can still be found in the mines. As long as you agree to that, we have a deal." 

"Alchemist Ma, that's very reasonable," Ao Wen said, standing to extend a hand. "I may not finish my study before I leave Lantern City but you'll receive a copy of everything I learn before I leave and I'll send along any additional findings I make as long as I'm still on the peninsula. Now, let's go take care of Kui Chong and Chou Chai," she said with a genuine smile.