Chapter 59: A Swarm of Demon Spiders

"Hiss!"

The demon spider hissed at Gune again, its body leaping into a blur as it shot toward him.

At that moment, Gune's demonic source energy was extremely difficult to mobilize, but relying on his thick "soul source nucleus," he possessed a certain ability to fly.

Gune quickly descended.

But he still failed to evade the attack.

A sharp limb struck Gune squarely on the forehead, sending him tumbling to the ground.

Seeing himself on the ground, Gune breathed a sigh of relief.

"Still, this thing's attacks are really fierce." He touched his forehead, where a wound had already formed.

"Hiss!" The demon spider charged at Gune again.

Gune suddenly pushed off the ground with all his might, his body shooting away like an arrow, narrowly dodging the demon spider's attack.

Though his flight speed was inferior, his physical speed was not slow.

Standing on the ground, Gune could maneuver freely.

"Hiss!"

Finding that this worm-like creature had evaded its attack, the demon spider hissed and charged at Gune once more.

Relying on his physical speed, Gune began evading the demon spider while quickly considering countermeasures.

"First, this mysterious demon spider seems to possess some peculiar ability or means to restrain all energy flow."

"Perhaps it's not even an ability or means, but merely an inherent trait—like that guy Ankalu, whose existence makes him invisible, while this demon spider's existence prevents others' source energy and such from functioning effectively."

"My demonic source energy can still circulate, but it's as slow as a snail—essentially useless in combat."

"My blood power, however, circulates noticeably faster than my demonic source energy."

"But even at seven or eight times that snail's pace, it's still insignificant in battle."

"Overall, my physical strength can be fully unleashed." Gune's eye twitched; this was hardly good news.

Just as he was pondering, Gune's eyes suddenly lit up as if an idea struck him.

"If I'm not mistaken, when I first entered, my physical body should have been heavily suppressed, to the point of being unable to move."

"But I could still move."

"It must be because my body absorbed the Dominator's flesh, allowing me to break free from that suppression."

"Similarly, my transcendent blood, having absorbed trace amounts of blood from the Dominator's flesh, can circulate at a certain speed, but since the absorption was minimal, the efficiency is mediocre."

"On the other hand, my demonic source energy, which transformed from source energy due to the condensation of demonic runes,"

"should logically not be suppressed either, yet it is severely restricted."

While dodging, Gune glanced at the demon spider that kept attacking him.

"If I'm right, this demon spider is a peculiar creature with some Dominator bloodline, which is why it possesses such incredible traits."

"This demon spider's strength is only at the regular eighth-tier level, not even one-star, but its ability is far too bizarre and unique."

"It can essentially strip any transcendent of their powerful attack capabilities, even rendering them immobile, before devouring them."

"If this demon spider ever enters the Oya Continent, it would be a catastrophe. I'm not sure if it affects Divine Envoys, Ancestral Spirits, or even Saint-level beings, but without a doubt, any transcendent master would be doomed before it, with no means of resistance."

While evading, Gune began secretly gathering blood power, and at the same time, [Blood Source · Great Blood Dream Curse] started to manifest as a spell from his soul.

When he tried to mobilize his soul power, what once took a single thought now moved with agonizing slowness.

A spell that could be cast in an instant, [Blood Source · Great Blood Dream Curse], now required a full thirty seconds for Gune to barely complete.

But Gune was not in a hurry; he continued to circle the demon spider while building up the spell.

By the time Gune had fully accumulated the power of [Blood Source · Great Blood Dream Curse], the blood power had also gathered to a sufficient degree.

"Hiss..."

The demon spider hissed again and lunged.

"Die!"

The powerful soul attack of [Blood Source · Great Blood Dream Curse] coalesced into a mighty soul spear that slammed into the demon spider's soul.

This strike carried all of Gune's Dark and Destruction principles.

"Crack!"

It shattered the demon spider's soul completely, and the residual force continued to ravage it.

"Hiss... hiss..."

The flying demon spider collapsed to the ground, wailing in agony.

Gune manipulated his blood power, combined with the World principle, to restrain the screaming demon spider.

Then he unleashed the power of his Blood Sea, attempting to drag the severely wounded spider into it.

At that moment, the injured demon spider seemed to sense the danger.

"Hiss... hiss..."

It shrieked frantically.

Gune's expression changed slightly.

This creature was calling its companions.

"Get over here!" Gune gritted his teeth and strained to activate the Blood Sea's power.

"Rustle..."

A projection of the Blood Sea continuously emerged around Gune, gradually pulling the demon spider into it.

Just as Gune fully dragged the demon spider into the Blood Sea,

Hiss...

Hiss...

Hiss hiss...

...

From both sides of the passage, seven or eight hissing sounds rose and fell, rapidly approaching.

Gune's face changed, and he immediately leaped toward the energy barrier.

He quickly opened the energy barrier's door, slipped through, and recited the spell to close it.

No sooner had Gune closed the door,

"Boom!" A dull thud.

A massive demon spider, seven or eight meters in size, appeared on the opposite side and slammed into the energy barrier.

"Hiss..."

Its eight ferocious eyes glared at Gune with murderous intent, and sharp hisses emanated from its mouth.

Then, "Boom, boom, boom..." It struck the barrier several more times.

Within Gune's field of vision, seven or eight similarly large demon spiders followed the passage and gathered on the other side of the energy barrier.

All of them hissed sharply at Gune.

Fortunately, this energy barrier was constructed by predecessors using special means, reinforced by source energy over centuries, and was not something these transcendent master-level demon spiders could destroy.

"If I hadn't escaped and been surrounded by so many demon spiders, I'd surely have died inside and been torn apart and eaten. But after rebirth, I would gain corresponding transcendent resistance."

"Rebirth is indeed powerful; that's my true way to survive in this bizarre and eerie world." Gune thought to himself.

With a wall between them, Gune had no fear of them breaking through.

Calming his mind, Gune carefully sensed the flow of his demonic source energy, blood power, and spiritual power.

"The suppression is noticeably stronger than before."

Gune glanced at the demon spiders across the barrier.

"The stronger the demon spider, the greater the influence. What a terrifying species. If they entered the Oya Continent or even the Holy Feather Dark Source, they could slaughter all comers of the same rank, utterly invincible. Even in the Holy Sea Gall, without a proper countermeasure, they would be an invincible species at the same rank."

Then, Gune began to retreat, while also sensing the range of the influence.

After retreating about ten thousand meters, Gune finally felt his demonic source energy and blood power suddenly loosen.

"A ten-thousand-meter range is their area of influence. Within this range, they affect all source energy beings, soul beings, and even physical bodies. As for elemental beings, mechanical beings, or demonic beings, it's unclear. But devilish beings are certainly affected; my devilish soul power was barely usable earlier."

"Rune principles, however, are unaffected."

"First, let me analyze and digest that demon spider."

Gune immediately sat down cross-legged.