CHAPTER 23: CHAPTER 23: THE NAIVE AND LOYAL SPIDER DEMON [SEEKING COLLECTION AND RECOMMENDATION TICKETS] _1

Since ancient times, heroes have cherished beauty, and beauties have loved heroes.

They had initially planned to use Sha Chen. They even believed that the spider spirits who wanted to kill him—especially Seventh Mother, whom Sha Chen had captured—were doomed. But as it turned out, Sha Chen showed mercy and cherished beauty.

In a mythological world where strength reigned supreme and killing was as common as cutting grass, such a precious quality was invaluable. Sha Chen actually possessed it!

In fact, they were also greenhorns. Otherwise, they wouldn’t have fraternized with the centipede spirit of Huanghua Temple, calling him brother. They valued feelings greatly. They were deeply moved by Sha Chen’s actions and, for a moment, stunned.

Sha Chen, thinking they weren’t agreeing, said, "If you don’t agree, how about this? I’ll make another concession. I feel guilty about destroying your Wash Dirt Spring. As long as you don’t bother... disturb me, we’ll be even. I’m willing to give you ten tons of Mysterious Heavenly Water."

He had the Fog Dew Universe Net; he could produce as much Mysterious Heavenly Water as he wanted. Giving them ten tons was enough for the sisters to bathe for several days and was his way of expressing his apology.

The spider spirits were even more moved. It was clearly their fault, yet Sha Chen was still willing to compensate. This, they felt, was what a true man did.

Even if they were inexperienced, they shouldn’t have been moved so easily. But everything is relative; with Bai Yulong, who didn’t know how to cherish beauty, as a contrast, Sha Chen seemed all the more precious.

Seventh Mother immediately said, "General for Folding the Curtain, I agree. Let this be the end of it."

The other spider spirits seemed to understand without words and nodded, saying, "It was our fault to begin with; we were too aggressive. We won’t trouble the General anymore."

Upon hearing this, Sha Chen felt very comfortable. It seemed the matter was resolved.

Muzha heard it and felt a headache. Was the matter really resolved?

Sha Chen quickly released them and formed a huge water ball, filled with Mysterious Heavenly Water, which was even more spiritual and clear than the water of the Wash Dirt Spring. The spider spirits were overjoyed upon seeing it.

After they accepted it, Sha Chen waited for them to leave so he could continue his seclusion.

But then, Seventh Mother said, "General for Folding the Curtain, we were wrong first, and you responded to our wrongdoing with virtue. We truly have no way to repay you, but if you’re willing, you can come to our Cave of the Silken Web. We are willing to offer ourselves to you."

The other sisters also nodded frequently.

Demons are straightforward, daring to love and hate. Along the journey to the West, there were plenty of demons who captured Monk Tang and wanted to marry him.

However, Sha Chen almost cursed out loud. Wasn’t this supposed to be over? How can they turn around and try to entrap me!?

He thought to himself with a cold snort, Thinking of luring me out to become a demon? Wishful thinking.

He sternly refused, "Sorry, I do not wish to become a demon."

Seventh Mother was somewhat disappointed and asked, "Does the General look down on demons?"

Sha Chen replied, "No, it’s just that I don’t like fighting and killing."

Seventh Mother said, "Neither do we. We just bathe in the Cave of the Silken Web, practice cultivation, and occasionally catch some game in the woodland to eat, that’s all."

After a long silence, Sha Chen finally decided to play his trump card, "I... don’t like to bathe."

The spider spirits fell silent for a moment then said together, "In that case, we sisters won’t disturb the General’s cultivation. We’ll take our leave."

And then, they flew away.

Sha Chen heaved a sigh of relief and continued with his seclusion.

The distant spider spirits gathered together, chattering amongst themselves.

"He said he doesn’t like to bathe; that must be an excuse, just to get rid of our advances."

"We pushed too hard, just like when we are hunting prey. The harder you push, the more they struggle."

San Niang said, "But we are spider spirits; on the web, the more the prey struggles, the tighter they become ensnared."

Seventh Mother said, "Sisters, I think I might have fallen for him. Look, he captured me, not only did he release me but he also gave me Mysterious Heavenly Water. It’s like a token of engagement! I’ll come back again in the future."

The spider spirits all returned to the Cave of the Silken Web, giggling and laughing.

If Sha Chen knew that his gift of Mysterious Heavenly Water was counterproductive, he would have rather died than given it.

「At this moment,」

Muzha had a headache. Looking at the boundless Flowing Sand River, he felt a sense of helplessness. He resolved all of this? He refused even when seven beauties offered themselves to him? No, I don’t believe it. This must be his strategy of feigning disinterest to get what he wants. Sooner or later, he will fall.

Muzha even wanted to check if Sha Chen, inside the Formation, was secretly gloating over winning the spider spirits’ favor. Unfortunately, he couldn’t see and could only leave, disappointed.

Actually, he also suspected Sha Chen wasn’t feigning disinterest. After all, they were already his for the taking; there was no need to play hard to get or risk things by being overly clever. It was very likely that Sha Chen truly did not desire the spider spirits.

There’s still plenty of time, Sha Chen, Muzha thought. You will definitely not escape the radiance of Buddhism.

Muzha left.

It was only after Muzha had left that Sha Chen, within the Formation, truly let out a sigh of relief.

In fact, when the spider spirits appeared, he had already sensed that someone else must be nearby. So, he used his Fiery Golden Eyes to look and that’s how he spotted Muzha. Muzha didn’t know that he had been discovered by Sha Chen.

It was precisely because Muzha was there that Sha Chen became even more cautious. He couldn’t afford any missteps, or he would fall into Buddhism’s trap. With Muzha gone, and no longer under surveillance, he could cultivate in peace.

Having received the reward of the [Primeval Chaos Dao Method], Sha Chen immediately discarded the Eight-Nine Profound Art and switched to cultivating the Primeval Chaos Dao Method.

Three months passed before Sha Chen barely grasped the basics of the Primeval Chaos Dao Method. Even so, his cultivation speed was still much faster than when he had achieved minor success with the Eight-Nine Profound Art. It now took him only about ten days to fully refine a first-class Immortal Elixir. Furthermore, he could assimilate sixty percent of its medicinal power, thereby avoiding much waste.

Sha Chen was overjoyed. Feeling the steady improvement of his cultivation level within him, he experienced a profound sense of stability.

Thus, things continued. 「About another year passed.」

Three hundred first-class Immortal Elixirs had nearly run out, and new elixirs were still far from being cultivated. Sha Chen was getting anxious.

At this moment, his cultivation level broke through. He reached the Mid-stage Golden Immortal Realm.

"Host’s cultivation breakthrough detected. You have the following choices."

"Option one: Immediately emerge from the water and become a demon, claim a mountain as king, or join the Sect of Interpretation and become a disciple of a Saint. Reward: [Demon Binding Rope]. Demon Binding Rope: A Magical Tool of Nuwa, very effective against demons with strong demonic qi."

"Option two: Continue to meditate in seclusion, striving for further progress. Reward: [Netherworld Elixir]. Netherworld Elixir: An elixir from the Nether World, capable of changing one’s physique and increasing one’s potential."

Sha Chen was momentarily stunned, then overwhelmed with joy. He had heard of the great reputation of the Netherworld Elixir and had always wanted to obtain it. He hadn’t expected to obtain it so soon, especially as he was feeling his cultivation becoming increasingly difficult.

Besides the lack of cultivation resources, the main problem was his insufficient talent. Talent truly determined many things: the speed of cultivation, the heights one’s cultivation level could reach, efficiency in absorbing resources, comprehension of Cultivation Techniques and Divine Powers...

It could be said that talent and potential greatly influenced a person’s future.

Even with the Primeval Chaos Dao Method, the most it could achieve was to allow Sha Chen—who might have originally only been able to cultivate to the Immortal Taiyi Realm—to reach the Golden Immortal level. This was the maximum change it could bring about for Sha Chen.

But if Sha Chen wished to surpass the Golden Immortal realm and reach the Greater Primordial Golden Immortal Realm, solely relying on the Primeval Chaos Dao Method was unrealistic. Talent was a necessity. Otherwise, it was like an ordinary person holding the ’Analects of Confucius.’ Those without talent might only parrot scholarly phrases without understanding them, while those with talent could govern the world with just half the ’Analects.’

Although Sha Chen also lacked resources, the more pressing issue was the lack of talent. He had enough resources for half a year, but the talent shortfall was an immediate and urgent problem.

Without hesitation, Sha Chen extracted the Netherworld Elixir and swallowed it to refine it right away.

「Three days later,」

Sha Chen found his cultivation speed was several times faster than before.

He went from being a minor talent to a talent, removing the word ’minor.’