Nightmare Breakthrough

The cave trembled as the beast was once again blasted into the wall, Xiao Wen's punches shutting down any counterattack attempts. The Nightmare heaved herself from the rubble, her grotesque legs scraping against the stone, mandibles clicking in a rhythm that made the hairs on the back of Xuefeng's neck stand up. Her golden barrier still shimmered faintly, the unnatural glow pulsing as if breathing.

Wuying kept her daggers close, eyes locked on the beast. "So what's the plan? We just keep feeding it Spirit Qi until it bursts?"

"That's basically it," Xiao Wen confirmed, brushing dust off her sleeves before glancing toward Xuefeng. "Are you alright?"

Xuefeng exhaled sharply, shaking his head as if trying to rid himself of the lingering weight of the massacre they had just witnessed. "I'm fine," he said, more to convince himself than anyone else. The blood, the plea, the dying gasps—he shoved it all deep down. "Any attacks work?"

Xiao Wen nodded. "Yeah. It doesn't matter if it's physical or elemental—everything gets absorbed and turned into Spirit Qi. Even the force behind a punch contributes, though not much."

Without another word, she pulled out her Spirit Beast Token, and with a flash of golden light, Lulu, her majestic White Winged Tiger, materialized beside her.

"Rooooaaar!" Lulu's cry echoed through the cavern, making the very air vibrate with her dominance. The Nightmare froze for a split second, her legs twitching in hesitation. Rank 6 Spirit Beasts were apex predators, and despite her barrier, the Nightmare's instincts screamed at her to flee.

But then, as if remembering her newfound invulnerability, the spider straightened, mandibles clicking in defiance. She wasn't prey anymore. She was untouchable.

"Good," Wuying murmured, stepping closer to Lulu and running a hand through her thick fur. The tiger purred in response, pressing into the touch before turning her gaze toward the Nightmare, eyes gleaming with the anticipation of battle. "If Lulu can join in, we can overwhelm her faster."

Xuefeng tightened his grip on his Black Flames Slayer, the smoldering heat of his weapon licking up his forearm. "What's the highest stage a Nightmare can achieve?" he asked, eyes still locked on the spider.

Wuying frowned, scanning the beast's shifting form. "I've never heard of one evolving beyond Rank 5. But with that barrier... there's no telling what its true limit is."

Xuefeng let out a slow breath. "Then let's not give it the chance to evolve."

He was the first to attack. With a flick of his wrist, black flames surged forward, crashing into the Nightmare's carapace. As expected, the golden barrier flared to life, swallowing the fire whole. The Nightmare didn't so much as flinch.

"I like your passion, boy." Xiao Wen grinned, stepping forward and summoning a barrage of fireballs, each one an inferno of destruction. They struck the Nightmare in rapid succession, pushing it back against the cavern wall.

Xuefeng followed up immediately, extending his sword into a fiery whip and lashing it at the golden barrier, detonating small bursts of Spirit Qi with each impact. Each explosion sent shudders through the air, but the Nightmare remained unharmed, drinking in the energy like a glutton.

Lulu joined the fray, releasing massive air bombs that crashed into the spider's barrier, amplifying the flames with their concussive force.

Only Wuying remained on the outskirts, daggers clenched in frustration. Her combat style was built for close-quarters execution, and with the battlefield consumed by explosions and fire, she had no way to engage. She bit her lip, making a silent vow—I need more ranged techniques.

The battle raged for minutes, relentless and unyielding, before the Nightmare suddenly convulsed.

A sickening crack echoed through the cavern as its body expanded grotesquely, limbs elongating, muscles swelling beneath its hardened exoskeleton. A deep crimson hue began to seep through its body, replacing its dull, earthy tones.

Then, with a spine-chilling screech, it finished its transformation.

Rank 5 Bloody Nightmare.

Xuefeng's stomach turned. Its fangs had doubled in size, the serrated tips dripping with venom so potent it sizzled as it hit the stone below. The new form radiated malice, a predator reborn.

Then, it moved.

But not toward them.

Xuefeng's eyes widened as he tracked its path. "It's not coming at us—it's going for the eggs!"

"What?!" Wuying's breath hitched as realization dawned. "If it hatches them now, we'll be facing millions of them at once!"

The Nightmare wasted no time. One of its blade-like legs reached toward the cluster of massive, web-wrapped eggs lining the cavern walls, and a surge of Crimson Spirit Qi poured into them.

"No!" Xiao Wen roared, flashing forward with an explosive burst of speed.

She was too late.

The webs around the eggs disintegrated like dry parchment, and out spilled thousands of newborn spiders—each one no larger than a fist, but teeming with raw, unrestrained hunger. The horde twitched violently before their tiny eyes flared red.

And then, all at once, they moved.

The cave floor rippled like the surface of a disturbed lake, the spiders swarming forward in a living tide.

Xiao Wen landed a brutal kick to the Bloody Nightmare's head, sending it skidding away from the eggs, but the damage had been done.

"Take care of the smaller ones! I'll handle the Nightmare!" Xiao Wen barked, golden flames licking up her arms.

She was done holding back.

Xuefeng's eyes locked onto the blade she now wielded—a golden longsword, its surface pulsating as though alive. Golden flames coiled around it, flickering hungrily. It wasn't just any weapon.

That was a Rank 6 or higher Spirit Artefact. One with its own sentience.

His grip tightened on his own sword. I need to learn how to upgrade my weapon.

"Xuefeng!" Wuying's voice snapped him back to reality. She was already in motion, cutting through the newborn spiders with ruthless efficiency. "Focus!"

"Right." Xuefeng inhaled sharply, activating every Spirit Aura Artefact in his arsenal.

The fiery aura from his Lizard Core wrapped him in an inferno so intense that nearby hatchlings combust on contact. The smell of singed chitin was overwhelming—an acrid tang that caught in the back of the throat.

Xuefeng ignored the smell, throwing himself into the slaughter. He kept one hand clenched around a Spirit Stone, siphoning raw energy to replenish his depleted Qi reserves, while the other brandished his sword, flickering with black flames that danced hungrily along its edge. Each time the newborn spiders skittered too close, he slashed in a blur of motion, the dark fire licking across their segmented bodies. Tiny limbs curled and twitched as they fell, screeching in death throes that echoed against the cave's jagged walls.

Above him, Lulu tore through the horde like a divine beast of destruction. She barreled into the thickest mass of scuttling arachnids, her massive paws smashing entire clusters in a single swipe. Each thump of her claws shook the ground like a miniature earthquake, sending globs of viscous spider fluid splattering across the cavern floor. Now and then, she unleashed compressed air bombs from her maw—pulverizing any group of spiders unlucky enough to be caught in the blast. Their bodies struck the walls in showers of gore, leaving the rock slick with pulsing sacs of half-formed innards.

In minutes, the relentless wave of spiderlings slowed, then ceased altogether. They left behind a battlefield of charred spider corpses, the air thick with the acrid stench of burnt chitin. Xuefeng exhaled heavily, his body slick with sweat and spider blood. His blade, wreathed in dying embers, dripped with remnants of the newborns he had just finished slicing through.

Wuying approached from the side, her daggers coated in a thick, dark substance, the remains of her relentless slaughter. She wiped her brow and offered him a nod of grim acknowledgment. Just as she opened her mouth to speak, Ling's cool voice echoed in Xuefeng's mind like a sudden chill:

A group of cultivators just entered the forest. They're headed straight towards you.

Xuefeng's pulse quickened at the warning. Can you lure them away? he asked silently, tightening his grip on the hilt of his sword as he glanced around. We should be done here soon.

I'll send clones to distract them, Ling replied, her tone clipped with urgency. But I can only buy you so much time.

"What's going on?" Wuying asked, noticing the flicker of concern darkening Xuefeng's eyes.

He gave a curt shake of his head, already moving. "We've got another group of cultivators closing in on us. We need to end this as soon as possible."

Wuying's expression hardened as she sprinted after Xuefeng, joining Xiao Wen in the main assault.

"Time to burn it all down."