"So, this is Chu Yi? Not bad looking."
Qin Zheng squinted, staring at Chu Yi for a while. He licked his lips and said with a smile, "Now that you’ve come to the Qin Family, you’re one of us."
The spider lifted its head, its six scarlet eyes fixated on the fresh flesh before it, fangs slightly bared, stained with viscous saliva.
"Hello, Grandpa. I’ll make sure to protect Sister Jiang," Chu Yi said politely, his expression unchanging.
Bika blinked as well, mimicking a New Year’s greeting gesture.
Qin Zheng smirked, glanced Chu Yi over, and said with a smile, "You’re still a student, right? How about this: when you graduate, you marry Qiuyun?"
Jiang Qiuyun puffed her cheeks, fuming, "Who rushes people into marriage the moment they meet?!"
Qin Zheng said scornfully, "You’re not getting any younger. If you don’t find someone, do you plan on living alone forever? Single for life?"
At the same time, he looked at Chu Yi’s youthful, handsome face and took out something, saying kindly, "Chu Yi, right? I don’t have many of these Magic Potions left, so I’m giving this one to you."
This was a Magic Potion. Inside, it looked like a swarm of fireflies swirling around.
Magic Potions are precious; top-tier ones can even involve the path to godhood and possess miraculous powers.
"It’s actually this one..."
Jiang Qiuyun’s beautiful eyes widened. This potion had a lovely name, "Summer Night Fireflies," and was Dawn Star-grade.
Its effect allows the user to undergo a Spiritual transformation, giving them a chance to break through their current realm and advance to the next!
The price to pay is a portion of one’s lifespan.
This Magic Potion involved the manipulation of time.
Of course, it was only Dawn Star-grade due to its many limitations.
She glanced at her grandpa curiously. She suspected he’d taken out this Magic Potion to make Chu Yi jump from an upstream point of the River of Time to a downstream one, allowing him to reach the Gold level.
At that time, Chu Yi would be under thirty, and under the influence of time, he would have matured into a man, making it easier to matchmake the two of them.
But in Chu Yi’s eyes, this was not a Magic Potion at all.
Instead, it was a tentacle stretching down from above. Its flesh split open like petals, revealing a putrid skull shaped like a round bowl. This bowl was filled with viscous liquid, in which countless poisonous insects, snakes, and ants crawled—bizarre and grotesque.
Seeing Chu Yi hesitate to take the Magic Potion, the Demon Spider let out a sharp hiss. Its head, splitting along a central axis down its forehead, revealed countless scarlet limbs.
"Don’t be shy. As long as you treat Qiuyun well, I’ll be satisfied."
Qin Zheng wore a cryptic smile, his wise eyes concealing pure malice.
"When an elder bestows, one cannot decline. Thank you, Grandpa."
Chu Yi accepted the bowl made from a skull, glancing at the Demon Spider-humanoid. The latter seemed to sense something; its head cracked further, and it let out a low growl.
Who the prey is remains to be seen.
Chu Yi licked his lips, sneering internally.
"Alright, Qiuyun, you head back first. Chu Yi and I still have some things to discuss," Qin Zheng said kindly, his gaze calm.
Jiang Qiuyun nodded. She was curious why her grandpa was sending her away to talk to Chu Yi alone. Could it be a test? Testing the potential of the King’s Cub? Or training Chu Yi?
With these doubts, Jiang Qiuyun exchanged a glance with Chu Yi and excused herself, her figure vanishing from a corner.
Suddenly, a sweet, sanguine scent permeated the air.
"Grandpa, this artificial sun must be very expensive, right?"
Chu Yi tilted his head back, daring to gaze at the writhing ball of flesh above.
The sky was a dim gray, dominated by a massive, bloated meatball that constantly deformed and expanded, filling his entire vision.
It was indescribable, inconceivable, unseeable. This scarlet meatball parasitically housed a grand will, radiating majestic heavenly might and pouring down scarlet light.
The void shimmered with scarlet hues, yet in Chu Yi’s Clock Eye, these appeared as blood-red insects, tinier than dust motes, forming a flowing river of color that filled the entire world.
The blood-light shone on his face. Instead of warmth, there was a soft, slick caress, as if from a tentacle, with tiny, sharp fangs that pricked painfully.
The most bizarre thing was that the sun seemed to have majestic figures writhing within.
Even with Chu Yi’s eyesight, he could only barely discern that these were beings of indescribable shapes.
They formed a circle, their bodies bound by chains, chanting loudly towards a deep-red mass at the center.
Scarlet King, World Devourer, Ancient Dominator...
"Oh, this was modified from a King-level, light-type Pet Beast. I spent quite a lot of materials on this sun back then," Qin Zheng laughed, not noticing Chu Yi’s unusual state. "I’m getting old. Walk with me; we can chat as we go."
Chu Yi nodded. He let Bika and Lulina go off to play while he accompanied Qin Zheng, walking on the undulating, fleshy ground.
As they walked, Qin Zheng appeared full of vigor. The Demon Spider’s head, however, kept casting greedy glances at Chu Yi, as if considering where to take the first bite.
"Grandpa, the air is quite refreshing, isn’t it?" Chu Yi said with a smile.
"Young man, taking walks is very beneficial for refining one’s Spiritual power."
Qin Zheng stroked his beard with a smile, moving swiftly, showing none of the sluggishness typical of his age.
Chu Yi couldn’t hold back his curiosity and asked, "Grandpa, you have silver hair yet a youthful complexion, and you’re as sprightly as ever. Your breathing is calm, and your mind serene. You must be at the peak of the Dawn Star stage. May I ask, Grandpa, for how many years have you been in cultivation?"
"Hahaha, as expected of my granddaughter’s chosen one! Sharp eyes indeed. However, time waits for no one; sixty years have passed in the blink of an eye."
"Oh my, how shameful. Since contracting my Pet Beast, I’ve only been in cultivation for less than a month," Chu Yi said with self-reproach. He lifted the Divine Hand, which was encircled by a ring of dazzling white light that formed a Star Ring, and declared, "That’s nothing compared to your ability to steal the day for the night and pass off fakes as genuine, Grandpa! I saw through you at a glance—you’re not human!"
Qin Zheng faltered. "Ah?!"
"Bold demon! I demand you show your true form!"
The Divine Hand burst with brilliant radiance, like a living, flowing entity. It suddenly pierced Qin Zheng’s skull, and the rustling sound of gnawing spread rapidly.
With a fierce hiss of steam, the Demon Spider-humanoid’s head was ripped open, and a massive flow of deep crimson erupted.
Qin Zheng let out a miserable scream. The entire world’s atmosphere changed; a blood-colored hurricane swept through, and the lurking great beast shed its disguise, revealing its true form.
The ball of flesh squirmed, interweaving a deep-red light that radiated throughout the space as a powerful will prepared to descend.
He crushed the Demon Spider-humanoid’s body with one hand and tossed aside the Skull Potion.
Chu Yi squinted, a torrent of gray mist shrouding his figure. Blood gushed from his entire body as his human skin peeled off, transforming into a Soul-Calling Banner!
His left eye filled with Twilight Light; the clock within it turned, manipulating time.
Simultaneously, within the Chaotic Burial Mound, the recently slumbering Flower of Desire was summoned once more. Its massive, bloated body, filled with endless desires, hurled itself directly onto the fleshy mass that was nurturing a will!
Close the gates, release the hound!
The Flower of Desire could only think, ???