“It’s a Titanic Golden Spider.” Zhang said calmly.
Once the spider was in full view Zhang pulled out his 2nd dagger and shot it toward the monster’s head. In an instant the dagger punctured one of its eyes and plunged into its brain killing it.
Titanic Golden Spiders rank at level six but are one of the more dangerous demonic beasts to run into. Their silk is extremely durable and hard to deal with. While they also possess neurotoxins which would render those that are bitten by them unable to fight back. That and the fact that they live in massive colonies of hundreds of thousands and may even reach up to the millions.
So the longer a queen Titanic Golden Spider was around the stronger it is.
“I’m collecting it’s silk and venom of course.” Zhang replied as he formed canteen with essence and began storing the spider's venom within it. Unlike the Lightning Eater’s poison, the spider’s venom was not as power but it would have its uses.
Once he collected all he could and store it within his interspatial ring Zhang turned back toward the group.
“Why? Didn’t you just kill the monster that was making everyone disappear?” One of the sailors asked.
A mixture of relief and fear fell upon the group. Relief that they were not close to the colony of spiders but fear that there were hundreds of thousands of those monsters lurking around down here somewhere. Just knowing that they were out there chilled the members of the group to the bone.
While galloping through the passage on top of their steeds the group began encountering large spider webs. They had not encountered any before on the trip so seeing the webs made the group remember the horrifying beasts that made the webs.
However, the group did not encounter any more spiders and soon a light at the end of the tunnel could be seen. Light shone in from the exit of the cave and once the group reached the exit they would not have to fear the Titanic Golden Spiders anymore.
Although the Dragon’s Maw is dangerous it is definitely not as dangerous as encountering a whole colony of hundreds of thousands of man eating demonic beasts. Inside the Dragon’s Maw there were demonic beasts but these beasts stayed in their own territories and did not attack unless provoked.
“WE MADE IT!!” One of the sailors screamed.
“Quickly! Rush for the exit now!!” Jian Wei cried how.
“GRAB ON!!” Zhang screamed as he tossed his chains to everyone. And with a sweeping motion of his hand he sent one of the Inferno Wind Walkers into the Ruler's Domain. There were simply too many people to all fit within the domain and he was not going to play favorites.
Zhang launched his dagger into the wall of the pit lodging it between the rocks. Thank to this the group was no longer falling. Well besides one man whose gripe slipped when the chain jerked as the dagger lodged itself into the wall.
“Fuck… Of all the times for it to appear.” Zhang cursed.
Using the wall as a kickstand Zhang propelled himself away from the group. Then from his hand shot out his 2nd dagger which pierced one of the spider’s eyes. Had it landed a few inches elsewhere then the spider most likely would have died. The dagger that he launched although missing the spider was able to lodge itself in one of the walls preventing Zhang from falling down deeper into the pit.
“We have your back brother!” Yuying yelled.
“Alright time to get down from here.” Zhang said as he jumped over and grabbed the end of the chain everyone was gripping.
When he landed he saw the fate of the man whose grip slipped and the fate of their horses. Surprisingly enough the two Inferno Wind Walkers survived the fall but sustained heavy injuries to which Zhang treated.
Once the fire was lit it illuminated a part of the chamber. In the distance Zhang could see something reflect the light from the torch and walked closer. When he walked closer he was stunned. It was a pile of ice jade bricks!
A short while after the rest of the group had descended and caught up to Zhang and he provided everyone with a torch. He then told them about the bricks that he found. Upon hearing what Zhang said a weird look appeared on Jian Wei’s face however he did not say anything.
The group began walking in one direction hoping to find an exit and not to run into anymore spiders. They found a tunnel and entered it the tunnel stretched for miles on end and after a few hours the group finally was able to navigate through it.
Thinking back Zhang remembered the Xi Ning mentioned that there was a hidden spring that was great for cultivation along the path however Zhang only saw signs of where there used to be water.
That was when Jian Wei yelled out.
“The Sai Empire?” Zhang asked
“Over the countless years the exact location of where the capital city had been long forgotten but to think we would be the ones to find it. When you told me about the ice jade bricks I had a feeling that they were related to the Sai empire. This is because it was said that before the capital sank the emperor had order for thousands of those bricks to be made so he can create a grand palace out of jade. But before construction began the entire city disappeared.”
“Alright looks go but we can stay for long or else we may run into those spiders again.” Zhang said.
Once in the water Zhang felt its energy rush into him. What Xi Ning said was true the lake possessed high concentrations of energy and just by soaking in it one’s power would slowly raise.
As they got closer the group noticed that one some of the ruins there were strands of webbing. However, they did not see or hear any of the spiders so they kept moving forward. After a while they reached the center of the lake where the ruins of the palace had ended up.
A massive gate was still standing and it most likely was the entrance into the palace. By the gates side there was a small crack in the wall which probably happened when the city fell into the earth.
Surprisingly the interior of this part of the palace was pretty much intact. Statues were still standing with slight damage and treasures from the ancient empire was lying about on the floor.
Zhang of course wanted to go take a look at the treasury. An ancient empire that ruled over the warring states region had to be filled with treasure and the best treasures of course with be in the empire's treasury. There had to be lots of mystical weapons, riches, and other unique things just there waiting for him to take.
Jian Wei had told them to look for a small cube made of jade, he mentioned that this was the imperial seal of the empire. However, after searching the entire throne room they found nothing except golden plates and this and that.
The group began heading toward the treasury but before leaving Zhang with a wave of his hand took the throne made of gold and jade. Only the trio and Jian Wei had interspatial rings so naturally only they could take large things such as this throne while the sailors would take smaller things.
Everyone in the group had to work together to push the gate else it would not even budge. Once the room opened and the light from their torches shone into the room they could see mountains of dazzling gold.
“Thank you my lord.” All of the men said in unison.
The trio was going to pick out the more unique items before just storing away their portion of the gold.
“I found it!” One sailor yelled out
The sailor wanting the merit of being the one to present the imperial seal to his lord run toward the skeleton and began working the seal loose from its grasp.
“Get back now!!” Jian Wei screamed with a face filled with horror.
When the man looked up the blood in his face drained and became pale as a piece of paper.